202 – Partitioning (1)
Two months later, the northern army commander’s office and conference room.
When I was 25 years old, I was appointed as the commander of a regiment and was in a position to plan and explain the strategy of the war in which Ludvik was killed with a sword.
Now that I am sitting in this chair in the commander’s office as a lieutenant general, I feel very strange.
“Sir, please have some tea.”
“Thank you, Charlotte.”
“Louise has joined the official residence for the last time and has just finished packing up her belongings. And tonight…”
Today’s sleepover is Charlotte’s turn, so the look in her eyes that silently pressures her to exercise hard together at night is scary.
However, as a man who is not yet 30 years old, he cannot say such things in order to protect his pride.
‘Can’t I just sleep today?’
Damn, this all happened because His Majesty the Emperor gave me the role of stabilizing the North instead of promoting me to a general.
After saying that, Charlotte left my office for a moment.
“This is Major General Adelheit von Graham, Chief of Staff of the Northern Army. “May I come in, Commander?”
“Come in.”
“Excuse me?”
The man who opened the door saw me, about 25 years younger than him, and couldn’t hide his expression of surprise.
“I would like to be treated to a cup of tea by the Lieutenant General, but since the situation is so urgent, I will get to the point right away. Please read this report first.”
The contents of the report presented by the Chief of Staff were less hopeful and dreamy than I thought.
[Chief Ishtaven leads the pro-Stockholm Kingdom faction, and 60 tribes follow him. Chief Ishtaven has been slowly increasing his following over the past two years, and according to the Imperial Military Intelligence Department, he often meets with Major General Karpelen of Stockholm.]
I would have felt a little relieved if the guy I was meeting was only a colonel, but since he was a major general, the problem is more serious than I thought.
At this level, Chief Ishtaven would have signed a contract to receive a title and territory in exchange for moving to the Kingdom of Stockholm.
In other words, like Lee Wan-yong, the epitome of the Eulsa Five Enemies, he has the intention of selling out the northern part of the Reich Empire.
“What the heck, there are 60 tribes sympathizing with that. What is your predecessor doing now? If this situation had occurred, the Northern Army would have had to move in and attack the Kingdom of Stockholm. “Have you taken any special measures or measures?”
Hearing those words, the Chief of Staff shook his head with an expression of resentment and said.
“It’s been two months since I took office, so I don’t know much. Besides, wouldn’t you know this well if you were a regiment commander in the Northern Army? “If you carelessly intervene in the affairs of the tribes.”
“Well, if you intervene incorrectly, not only Chief Ishtaven but others may also rise up. If that happens, we don’t know what the two kingdoms of Sweden and Stockholm will do when they intervene. Taking that into consideration, I would like to ask you to cancel any measures that may result in personnel disadvantages.”
“Thank you, Commander. By the way, if you have any good solution, please let me know. “If you give me the command, even if I tell you to roll on the ground, I will do my best to roll.”
It is one of the most useless pieces of information, but 80% of the soldiers wearing stars in the Empire are serving with less than two years left before the retirement age for their rank.
So, when an opportunity rolls in front of you, it’s natural to think about doing whatever you can to take it.
Depending on what star you wear and what rank you retire with, the quality of your life in retirement, your social status, and the legacy and benefits you can leave to your family will vary.
“You should leave behind all the materials you brought with you and call Colonel Kergit.”
“Understood, Commander. “Is there anything else I can help you with or if you would like to ask for any support you need in your daily life…”
“Wouldn’t it be corruption if you directly look after my convenience? “Just go.”
If the Deputy Commander of the Northern Army turns on the light in his eyes and considers the Commander’s convenience, I may see the miracle of my official residence being converted into an actual castle in a month.
Furthermore, this is the North, which is famous for having many pretty women, and there are many female slaves who became prisoners of war.
It would be an environment in which it would be easy to steal a few female slaves to serve and bring them to me.
But now, I feel like my back is going to die from just taking care of 4 people, and I don’t want to be greedy about things like an official residence.
And there is no need to commit corruption for a living.
“If the materials I prepared are good, I will at least write that Major General Graham is competent when submitting a letter of recommendation to the Chief of Staff, so let’s go.”
After those words fell, the Chief of Staff ran out as quickly as possible and called Anya.
“Loyalty! “What business did you call me for?”
“There are only two people here, me and Anya. “Even if you’re at work, you can just call me comfortably.”
“Yes, Lieutenant General.”
When they are together, Laura tends to call them ‘you’, Charlotte ‘master’, Anya ‘my rank’, and Louise ‘knight-sama’.
In addition, Laura is the type of person who strictly respects her superiors even when they are alone during work, so I follow suit, but Anya immediately speaks comfortably.
“Ever since your Majesty sent me to the north, I thought this place would be a real mess, but this is beyond my imagination.”
“What is the situation?”
“Chief Ishtaven has gradually brought 60 tribes under his influence over time, and is suspected of being in cahoots with a major general belonging to the Kingdom of Stockholm. If we assume the worst if things continue like this, it looks like the North will be split in half.”
After hearing that, Anya thought for a moment and then spoke.
“Lieutenant General, as you probably know to some extent, the northern tribes are like wolves. It knows how to bow down to a strong person, and if it looks even the slightest bit weak or easy, it will bite its head off. This wasn’t just the case when we were just barbarians in the north. “That trend still remains.”
In the Northern Archery Cavalry under my command, Anya is a woman, so although her physical strength is a bit lower than that of a man, she is recognized by everyone for her leadership skills and management skills.
So, there are no idiots who are sarcastic or scoff at Anya who is of higher rank and more capable than them, but often when an officer in the Imperial Army who is less powerful is dispatched as a battalion commander, company commander, or platoon commander…
Competent guys become good commanders because they are evaluated for their command ability and will, but ambiguous guys had to work really hard to be recognized as commanders by their subordinates.
If we take this trend a few steps further…
“You mean the Empire’s Northern Army seemed a bit more formidable than the Kingdom of Sweden or Stockholm, which was right above it? So, by using this opportunity to betray the empire, Ishtaven is planning to receive a title from the kingdom and become a nobleman.”
“Yes, Lieutenant General. The tribal leaders of the 60 tribes who were deceived by Ishtaven must have been imagining that if they surrendered like this, they would receive the title of baron or knight from the kingdom and be treated well. “Like nobles with large estates in the empire.”
“In the Empire, much more was spent on feeding the chieftains and their tribe members than the taxes collected from the north. And the defected chiefs were given titles based on the size of their power, and their children were given the education they needed to live as nobles and even had the opportunity to enter the academy.”
According to the letters that Charlotte’s younger brother, who was accepted into the academy last year, often wrote to her, he went so far as to say that he had become quite close to one of the sons of the northern chieftain.
You idiots, if you had just pretended to conform to the imperial system for a little bit, you would have lived happily and comfortably.
I don’t understand why they bother to bring trouble.
“What do you think is the best thing to do?”
“The way to bring order to the North is simple. If you show the power and military power of the empire and the determination and strength of the commander of the Northern Army, you can prevent major problems.”
Also, I didn’t say it because I didn’t need to, but it would also be necessary to deal with Ishtaven’s head and the chieftains and tribes that were infected by him.
A friend of Yeokdeok, who went to the Department of History when he lived in Korea, said that during the Joseon Dynasty, if the Jurchen tribe caused even the slightest damage to the Korean people, they would hunt down that tribe and exterminate it entirely.
Wouldn’t it be better to cut off the heads of the fools who tried to follow Ishtaven and betray the Empire’s grace and then clean up after them?
“If this happens, we will end up in an all-out war with the Kingdom of Stockholm. “Do you think the northern army alone can fight it?”
“I don’t know that. What are you going to do, Lieutenant General?”
“Lieutenant General Peter Yeager, Khan Slayer, has been appointed as commander of the Northern Army, so I should inform all the chieftains in the North. “He wants to come to the Northern Army camp to say hello.”
If you don’t come, I’ll kill you, and if you come, I’ll spare you.
**
A week later, at the Ishtaven tribe meeting hall.
Here, the chiefs of 60 tribes, including the Ishtaven tribe, gathered and sat with serious expressions, and someone broke the silence and spoke.
“…… Lieutenant General Peter Yeager came as commander of the Northern Army. “What should I do?”