291 – Divide and Rule (1)
Center of Reichburg, Francois Embassy banquet room.
Now, ambassadors from Stockholm, Czechia, Austria, and Switzerland are gathered here, including Francois’s ambassador, Henri von Sanson.
When people get together like this, they usually hold a fancy banquet and start by saying good things about each other, then talk about music, art, and even a little further, such as their own standards of beauty and tastes in wine.
Now here, there is no elegant music, no luxurious food, no women in fancy dresses, only a heavy atmosphere.
In the meantime, Henri, who had arranged this meeting, opened his mouth.
“hahahaha, I think I would like to hear your cultural opinions while talking about the opera that is currently being performed in Reichburg with you. “Everyone seems to be in a bit of a hurry, so why don’t we postpone this conversation until another time?”
“Of course, Ambassador. hahahaha…”
“If you call me tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I will come anytime. No, our Austrian Embassy will cover all costs directly, so how about we all go see it together to make friends? Even though we are nobles and ambassadors of different countries, isn’t it in the national interest to be as close to each other as possible? To be honest, I have wanted to build personal friendships with respected ambassadors for a long time.”
The countries on the Europa continent are prepared and ready to declare war at any time if their numbers are slightly different.
The ambassadors here, knowingly or unknowingly, are repeatedly backstabbing and sometimes beating each other up for their country’s interests in the diplomatic arena.
Therefore, everyone except himself was like an enemy of the enemy, but he was only pretending to be friendly because he was in a position to take responsibility for the diplomatic interests of the country he belonged to.
‘hehehe, f*ck, I feel dirty just having to meet you face-to-face like this during official work.’
‘A bastard who can speak so many lines wouldn’t be happy with the thought of being taken to the Grand Duchy of Austria because the price of an opera performance was a waste, right?’
‘Ah, if it’s time to pretend to be friends with these bastards, it would be better to taste my new concubine one more time… f*ck.’
They don’t show it in their facial expressions, voices, or attitudes, but they sincerely dislike each other’s dialogue from other countries.
“So, for what purpose did Ambassador Henri invite us all to gather today?”
Henry heard that and handed out to everyone a report containing the information obtained by a spy from the Francois embassy.
The other ambassadors quickly read the few pages of documents, and towards the end, everyone’s expressions began to turn pale.
“You all seem to be busy, so I’ll be blunt. Peter Yeager, who has been harassing us, is purging all those who are pushing for military expansion. As a result, Lieutenant General Manstein and others were all wiped out.”
The ambassadors sighed in relief when they heard those words.
“I’m glad we didn’t see the Reich Empire expand its military. What if, as Manstein said, the Reich Empire had over 700,000 troops in operation?”
“Don’t say anything, Ambassador Beckenheim. What would you do if Peter Yeager were promoted to marshal and said he would attack with 200,000 troops? Don’t even think, don’t talk. “Words become seeds.”
“Well, I guess it’s fortunate. Ambassador Sangsong, what do you think is the problem?”
In normal times, there are many times when the opinions of ambassadors do not agree well depending on their respective national interests.
The views on the imperial general named Peter Yeager were generally similar.
If the commander of the Imperial Army is Peter Yeager, something unimaginable and terrible will happen and only the damn Emperor Michael will die.
However, if the imperial army’s strength increases to 700,000 and Jaeger even enlists the enemy… Everyone is experiencing a numb feeling as they imagine that the military power of the Reich Empire will grow like crazy.
François and his ambassador, Henri, said rather with a grin.
“It seems to me that the Reich Empire no longer has the capacity to continue the war. Otherwise, over the past 10 years, the empire has never had a hard time, except for turning a corner in Switzerland. Why bother trying to stop the war? As Lieutenant General Manstein argued, it would be in their interest to keep pushing.”
The ambassadors listened with interest to those words.
From a diplomatic perspective, war is like gambling with a nation’s capabilities, so it is profitable to continue betting as long as you win.
The empire has already won several wars, expanding its territory by nearly 35% compared to 10 years ago, and its population also increased by nearly 25% from 30 million to 37 million.
In this era without advanced technology, the formula is that countries with large territories and large populations have strong national power.
Thanks to the selection and use of an orphaned commander named Peter Yeager, the empire achieved tremendous growth in all aspects that were standards of national power, including territory and population, compared to 10 years ago.
As the power of the Black Eagle grew stronger, it put tremendous pressure on other countries.
In that case, it would be beneficial for the empire to use its current momentum to push forward without giving the enemy a chance to rest, but trying to stop the war…
“But strictly speaking, war erodes national strength in the short term. “As we waged war while consuming ourselves like that, a problem arose called ‘supply’ that could not be solved no matter how strong the military was or how famous a general named Peter Yeager was.”
The ambassadors clapped their knees at those words.
Although Henry was confident that almost everyone else had crossed over, he did not let his guard down and spoke cautiously.
“I will be very honest. The Reich Empire had grown too large. The old empire was not holy, great, or even an empire. However, a commoner orphan named Peter Yeager appeared and grew the size of the empire to the point of shaking the beautiful balance of the continent of Europa. So shouldn’t we keep the empire in check using traditional methods?”
It’s a traditional method… If Peter Yeager had listened, he would have said this.
‘Ah, we call it Dagul. ‘Because I’m not confident in a one-on-one match, I cowardly bring in other guys and beat them up.’
However, in the international political arena, it is true that if one person is too successful, the rest of the country will be at a relative disadvantage.
In order to avoid losses, it is unconditionally beneficial to join hands and beat them in a friendly manner.
If the promise to trust each other is kept, the Reich Empire can be prevented from becoming stronger.
So the ambassadors threw their sense of cowardice and conscience into the trash can and answered with a smile.
“If a hegemony emerges on the Europa continent, our Principality of Czechia will naturally be at a disadvantage. Therefore, the creation of a hegemony must be absolutely prevented.”
“This is enough about what happened to Peter Jaeger of the Reich Empire. So let’s make that son of a b*tch leave the Reich Reich Army and make the Reich Empire shrink like it did 10 years ago!”
“Will that be enough? Let’s get rid of the empire altogether and share it with everyone here! If the plan succeeds, won’t everyone receive a bunch of earldoms even if they don’t participate in the battle? “Then I will repay Ambassador Henri greatly.”
According to deep-rooted traditions, ambassadors from each country have repeatedly committed acts such as lying, trickery, betrayal, and collaboration for the benefit of their respective countries.
Of course, it is basic not to trust the words of the other side, who are ambassadors representing other countries, but at this moment, everyone was able to come together as one.
The reason is the common enemy of Peter Jaeger and the Reich Empire, the same goal of strengthening his own country by tearing off the Reich Empire, and the greed to achieve personal success and receive huge rewards by making great diplomatic achievements.
This is because there was perfect agreement in all aspects.
‘Of course I can’t trust that son of a b*tch, but I can trust his greed and greed for the national interest.’
‘If the Reich Empire grows, they and we will all be screwed. Of course we have to keep it in check.’
Then Ambassador Henry showed the draft of the contract he had already prepared and spoke.
“If my prediction is correct, Peter Jaeger will come to us soon and say this. ‘Ambassadors, how about signing a peace treaty and stopping the war at least for a few years? ‘The more you avoid war, the better, right?’ Then, like a man, let’s say this. ‘The war-mad Reich, prepare to face punishment!’ How about we cooperate as much as possible for our country’s interests?”
The ambassadors nodded in agreement with the words, but no one was willing to sign.
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Because their every statement and action can be perceived by ambassadors and monarchs of other countries as permission or orders from the ‘King or Grand Duke’, the head of the country to which they belong.
If you sign and go around hastily, it will put your country at a disadvantage and the entire family can be wiped out in an instant.
Meanwhile, at the same time, Peter Jaeger was looking at the map of Europa in his room and muttering.
“This was said in a country where jelly is made from eels and meat is dipped in mint chocolate syrup. ‘Divide and rule.’ It means divide and rule. “How can we divide them like you said?”
In the meantime, as Ambassador Henry said, he wrote letters requesting meetings with ambassadors from each country.
On this day, Ambassador Henry, hoping that his evil plan would work, changed his meeting place and went to his favorite bar in Reichburg, where he spent a huge amount of money on expensive drinks with the woman he loved.
**
A week later, in the small conference room of the imperial palace.
“It is truly an honor to meet the ambassadors. “This is Captain Peter Yeager.”