293 – Divide and Rule (3)
Warsaw Embassy, secret room.
Warsaw’s Ambassador Sendler spoke to me as he served tea in a voice full of pretentious kindness.
“I wanted to give our Warsaw embassy staff some nice treatment at a bar they often go to, but I heard that Captain Jaeger hates that kind of entertainment. So, I will treat you to tea that I brew myself.”
From noble mtl dot com
“Ah, thank you. “Ambassador Sendler.”
“Anyway, I’m a bit surprised that you’re looking for me again after meeting with ambassadors from other countries tonight. Of course, I am always happy to give my time to a young and wonderful person like you…”
What the diplomats say, or rather just what they say now, is a bit of a twist, but in reality it is no different from saying this.
‘f*ck, I should be sleeping too, why are you making such a fuss by coming this late? Can’t you read the situation and atmosphere? ‘Are you out of your mind?!’
I heard this, but it didn’t feel particularly unpleasant.
It’s not a diplomatic rudeness, but even by common sense standards, visiting again at 2 in the morning is something that should not be done at all.
“I am sorry, but I have something I would like to say to Lord Sendler, Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.”
Sendler frowned upon hearing my words.
“I also have an important schedule tomorrow, so I want the conversation to end as quickly as possible.”
“Okay, then shall we both open up and talk comfortably? “I’m a soldier, not a diplomat, so that’s a bit uncomfortable.”
When Sendler heard what I said, he looked as if he had ascended to heaven and was unable to say anything.
I can’t believe it when a man named Peter Jaeger, who treats monarchs dozens of years older than him, such as the King of Stockholm and the Grand Duke of Warsaw, with just a few words, says something like that…
It is said that even diplomats take 10 years to understand the unique speaking style used by diplomats, and it is really difficult for a former officer like me to speak like a professional diplomat.
I’m just trying not to show my anger in front of that gentleman, but even now, the diplomatic style of speaking with sarcasm is giving me a headache.
“…… Of course. “We are both busy.”
I spoke in a calm voice after drinking the quite fragrant black tea in front of me.
“I’ll tell you straight. “If Lord Sendler rejects the peace treaty I proposed, what do you think our empire will do?”
Sendler had a calm expression upon hearing the story.
Even though they were defeated by me in battles on land and in the sea, this time they must have gained courage from the fact that several countries have decided to join forces to attack the Reich Empire.
Just like when there is only one grasshopper, it immediately runs away from people when it sees them, but when there are hundreds or thousands of them gathered together, they attack humans.
I think there is a conviction that the empire cannot overcome the diplomatic disadvantage of being surrounded by several countries.
“Would you like to start a war? Great. We, Warsaw, will never be defeated by the Empire this time. This time, we will achieve victory and regain the territory of His homeland that His Highness Archduke Stefan lost.”
The ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw in front of me is the person representing the Grand Duke, and he seems to be threatening me because he thinks the Empire will not be able to do anything this time… I chose the wrong opponent.
“Huh, does Your Highness really think that you can win against me this time?”
“Didn’t you see that we are already on the same page? So, if the imperial army invades, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw will not fight head on, but will stay in the castle and wait. Then, it won’t be long before the five countries of François, Czechia, Austria, Switzerland, and Stockholm move and invade the empire, so why not go back?”
As I have told you several times, the Empire can win against any country head-on, provided that we fight one-on-one.
The moment it becomes 2 to 1, the win rate decreases to about 30%, and when it becomes 5 to 1, it is very difficult even if a master general who can perform at the level of Admiral Yi Sun-sin appears.
As a diplomat, I know this well and it is indeed advisable for someone to threaten me, but I have learned from old times that threats are responded to with bigger threats.
When suppressing a guy with a knife, pointing the gun makes him quiet.
Before I spoke, I held out both hands and sighed.
“I lost. “There’s no way our empire can handle this.”
Sandler smiled triumphantly after hearing what I said, but I laughed at him in my heart and said,
“So let’s do it this way. Depending on your diplomatic and military strategy, the policy you can take when your empire is surrounded by five countries is simple. The idea is to pick the weakest and completely remove the ability to resist. To put it a little vulgarly, it means plundering the entire Grand Duchy of Warsaw.”
Even though I loot, I don’t enjoy killing civilians, so I have no intention of killing people.
“Oh, I don’t kill people. No, if there are people who were unable to evacuate, we will take measures to ensure that they can enter the castle guarded by the Grand Duchy of Warsaw’s army, even if it is empty-handed. Instead, the imperial army will destroy every single field, fruit tree, workshop, mine, and other facilities outside the walls. Then, even if we withdraw, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw will lose all ability to raise an army, won’t it?”
Before I was possessed by this world, the most powerful country in the world was the United States, and it had the strongest military in the world, because its economy was the best in the world.
In order to maintain the military, the country’s economic capacity is important, and if the strategy I mentioned is used, more than 80% of Warsaw’s capacity to maintain the country will disappear.
This means that after we withdraw from Warsaw, the people will starve to death because they have nothing to eat, and the leadership will have to worry about when the people will riot.
“Roughly mobilizing around 200,000 troops would be enough for the imperial army to melt Warsaw.”
Sendler, the ambassador to Warsaw, broke into a cold sweat at my realistic threats.
“We will not try to attack an empty Warsaw, but the Grand Duchy of Czechia and the Kingdom of Stockholm will feel sorry for His Majesty the Archduke of Warsaw’s misfortune and will lead their armies into the Grand Duchy. This is because fighting the penniless Archduke of Warsaw has greater benefits and less risk than fighting an empire that is trying to fight by mobilizing hundreds of thousands of strong troops. Ah, the Kingdom of Stockholm is not in a good position to come against us, so in order to protect the empire, I plan to hand over the Duchy of Königsburg to make it easier for us to land.”
“……”
“Then the ones we have to deal with are Switzerland, Austria and Francois. To be honest, the Principality of Switzerland has a love-hate relationship with the 7th Guards Division of the Reich Empire, so it can be prevented by deploying about 50,000 troops, including the 7th Division, to the border area. I don’t know about Austria, but Francois is currently in a situation where moderates and extremists are fighting, so mobilization of troops will be relatively delayed. So, after completely crushing the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, we will invest all of the empire’s capabilities to crush the great army of Austria. And then if you beat Francois, you can somehow win.”
Warsaw, Czechia, and Stockholm are viable strategies if His Majesty really puts his mind to it, but the latter is a strategy that is bound to fail unless there is tremendous luck.
So, if those six countries join together to attack us, the empire will probably suffer a loss of about 1/3 to 1/4 of its territory.
That part will be occupied by the Grand Duchy of Austria and Francois.
In order to survive, the Empire will give up the Grand Duchy of Warsaw to the Kingdom of Stockholm and Czechia.
“If we deal with it this way, the empire will suffer great damage and will have to heal for 15 years, but the Grand Duchy of Warsaw will perish. Because I will make it so. “I’m here to tell you that.”
When the Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw in front of me heard my threat, his pupils trembled and he stuttered, saying, ‘Nah, that’s nonsense.’
I can’t really refute it.
It is clear that he realized that my threats were very realistic.
Here, I smiled brightly, held Ambassador Sendler’s hand, and said,
“Here is a proposal that will allow the Grand Duchy to survive and be good for our empire as well. It is a five-year peace treaty. If you agree to this, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw will be safe.”
If you exclude Warsaw from the anti-imperial alliance, you can completely destroy the extremely weak anti-imperial alliance, thereby protecting the safety of the empire.
“As representative of His Majesty the Grand Duke of Warsaw, please place your signet ring on this contract. Then the Grand Duchy will be safe.”
With those words, our ambassador looked at me, who was holding the fate of his country in my hands, with an expression full of fear and astonishment, and stamped his seal with a loud bang.
With this, their alliance will collapse.
And three days later, the meeting was convened again, this time with the same members as last time, except for the Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.