116 to Portugal(1)
After seeing the evil deeds of Portugal with his own eyes, Emil Rose delivered the news to Lee Hwan.
In mid-August, when Lee Hwan heard the news, he was very angry.
Quang!
The secretaries said to Lee Hwan, who struck the office desk with their fists.
“It is said that blood revenge is in full swing in North America. Perhaps the Portuguese Expeditionary Force will be annihilated sooner or later.”
“… … That’s right, the dead don’t come back.”
“Then do you want me to stop taking revenge?”
Lee Hwan shook his head.
“It can’t be. Let’s show them the Jailbreak. Send a telegram to the Portuguese royal family right now. Also, send a letter to the UK, who supported them to North America.”
“What can I write?”
“It will pay its price.”
Yi Hwan was well aware that the Portuguese army had been destroyed in North America.
However, this was a fair price for the military’s massacre of civilians, and Lee Hwan thought that the price for trying to steal Eaststellar’s gold and for breaking the peace should be paid separately.
Eaststellar sent telegrams quickly to England and Portugal via telegram.
Then I got a reply from Portugal two days later.
Their answer was unexpected.
“… … We are outraged at the destruction of the Portuguese army. The royal family is insisting on paying compensation along with an official apology to our Eaststellar mercenaries.”
“Crazy. They see us very much.”
“What should I do?”
“Please return this letter to England as it is. And we will set up an expeditionary force right here.”
“An expeditionary force?”
“The Portuguese royal family seems to be out of their minds, so we need to get them to come to their senses.”
“The fleet has just returned from Suez.”
“like. Let’s take them to Portugal.”
From now on, there was no need for British thoughts.
Lee Hwan had recruited an army with the intention of destroying Portugal.
‘Perhaps if Portugal is driven to the brink of destruction, England will also be on fire.’
Right now, Britain was almost on the verge of default because it was unable to meet its rising debt, but if it could not recover the enormous armament it had given Portugal, it would inevitably go bankrupt.
Lee Hwan wanted to push Britain to the brink and force him to follow his will.
On the other hand, the East Stellar mercenaries began to gather quickly after receiving Lee Hwan’s summons.
The mercenary corps returned to the unit within 48 hours as soon as the call-up order was issued.
They were on standby in a state where they could sortie at any time, and they usually practiced repeatedly in order to effectively deal with the enemy.
The amount Lee Hwan invested in training reached 1 million Central in one year alone, and the training ground inside the Rietterkirk Military Academy was well established, reminiscent of actual combat.
As time goes by, the East Stellar mercenary corps and the military of other countries will gradually experience a difference in power.
“We will fight annihilation without prisoners.”
“Yes!”
“Let us show our wrath!”
“Oooh!”
The morale of the recruited troops was so high that it literally climbed through the sky.
***
Hearing that the Eaststellar mercenaries were advancing to Portugal, the Dutch Parliament sent Ben-Herren and his comrades.
They were of the view that the mercenaries of the Baron Easterfield belonged to the Dutch royal family.
“Even if the citizens of the Baron were killed innocently, wouldn’t it be a matter of congressional approval to mobilize troops and sortie?”
“… … It’s a dominion thing. I don’t think it deserves a report from Congress.”
Ben-Heren pointed out that Lee Hwan’s army was in principle owned by the Dutch royal family, and tried to block Yi Hwan’s sortie.
Perhaps this was an action that came out of the calculation to solidify his position by pressing Lee Hwan.
‘Should we have declared the state right away? No, in that case, he must have put some pressure on him in his own way.’
Previously, Ben Heren had suggested to Lee Hwan that it would not be good to declare the Southern Kingdom of Easterfield.
Lee Hwan was delaying the opening of the country because he thought that the financial damage might be greater than the gains from declaring the country.
But now that I look at it, I wondered if that choice was perhaps an anachronism.
He clearly expressed his position to the Dutch parliament, which came to pressure him.
“I was so shocked that people who believed in the Eaststellar Company and were willing to build and live in a North American settlement have died. Besides, they were looted and even raped. It is natural to punish the Kingdom of Portugal for ignoring their deaths. To be honest, it’s a bit disappointing to hear that everyone who knows all too well why the sortie of the mercenaries was putting so much pressure on me.”
“… … are you disappointed? We’re just showing you what the correct procedure is. But does it make sense to talk about disappointment here?”
“It’s a procedure. If so, please let me know how the process goes. What am I supposed to do?”
“First, with the consent of the Senate and the House of Representatives, to form an army and deploy an army, we must also take financial measures to raise the necessary funds. In addition, we need to sign a contract to evenly distribute the profits of the military occupation of Portugal.”
“A contract?”
“If we attack Portugal, we, the Netherlands, will inevitably have a diplomatic clash with Britain. That will probably come back as a financial blow. Shouldn’t we share the financial benefits that come from moving your army in order to be able to bear the blow?”
I was talking verbosely, but in the end it was about asking for money.
Lee Hwan was so embarrassed that he was almost speechless.
“… … After all, are you doing this for financial gain?”
“We are just making a fair claim. After all, aren’t your troops belonging to the Dutch royal family?”
“As far as I know, it belongs to our East Stellar Company.”
“The East Stellar Company is part of our Dutch royal family. Isn’t that an unchanging fact?”
He knew that Ben Heren was so ambitious that he could not control his overflowing ambition, but Lee Hwan did not understand why he came out so naive.
Perhaps there was some motive behind Ben Heren’s sobbing.
‘What the hell are you thinking?’
If it hadn’t been for a plan, I wouldn’t have been so squishy.
Ben-Herren was a strategist, but that doesn’t mean he was by no means a naive person.
Lee Hwan nailed Ben Heren that profit sharing was impossible.
“That would be a bit difficult.”
“Is it difficult? It’s just that things are going according to the due process. Does it make sense to say that it is difficult?”
“It makes no sense to me. Diplomatic relations with the UK can be arranged on my own. If that problem is solved, Gong’s opinion will be nothing more than a bullshit.”
“… … It’s tough.”
“I will take responsibility for the diplomatic relations with the UK. Is that okay?”
Ben-Heren glanced at his comrades.
Perhaps Ben-Heren had more to say, but he deliberately handed over the baton.
The senators looked perplexed.
“Well, that’s a bit… … .”
“According to your logic, the people who died in North America are also Dutch citizens. Are you politicians who do not care about the people?”
In the Netherlands, where the king was rolling in a vacant state, the popularity of the people was becoming a measure of the nation’s power structure.
At Lee Hwan’s words, the senators kept their mouths shut.
“Hum-Hum, that’s… … .”
“I will say it again. I take care of diplomatic relations with the UK on my own. So I don’t want Congress to talk about this any more.”
Ben-Heren simply nodded.
The senators looked at him with a little startled, but Ben-Heren jumped to his feet and left.
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Let us stop going back.”
“Great, great duke!”
“Go. Any further debate will be nothing more than haggling.”
Ben-Heren, who had been naive until recently, took care of himself and stood up from his seat, so Lee Hwan wondered what his true intentions were.
***
Four days after the summons was issued.
The UK has sent a reply to Lee Hwan’s letter.
They sent Patrick Rosterfield as an ambassador to express their position.
Patrick Rosterfield bowed his head as soon as he saw Lee Hwan.
“… … I apologize for my last mistake, even as I throw away the pride of a nobleman like this.”
“Are you sure you know what is wrong?”
“of course. It is all my fault that you unconditionally regard you as enemies of our British Empire, and that the Austrian Empire and its princesses have fallen to the ground.”
It was as if someone completely different from the last time had come as a messenger.
Lee Hwan could easily guess that Patrick Rosterfield was under tremendous pressure from Prime Minister John Robinson.
By now, Viscount Goderrich’s position as prime minister would be in jeopardy, and pressure from both the House and the Senate to raise the Duke of Wellington to the post of prime minister would not be negligible.
It was unclear whether he would be able to survive without Lee Hwan in such a situation.
“Now do you understand the situation? You have broken our Eaststellar-British alliance.”
“… … It’s my negligence. So please stop any further austerity.”
“We didn’t austerity because the UK didn’t seem to want any more allies. I just tightened because it was time to tighten.”
Koo!
In the end, Patrick Rosterfield knelt in front of Lee Hwan.
He begged Lee Hwan.
“… … I’d rather hit my neck! If I could turn back time, I would love to do anything!”
“There is an old saying that you can pay off a thousand nyang debt with a single word.”
“Well, what kind of cat are you?”
“Words are like gold.”
“iced coffee… … !”
“Nevertheless, you were not restrained in your words and actions, and you were rude. I believe that the price must be paid for it. Isn’t it?”
“Of course, you have to.”
“But your words and deeds have created another problem. That the UK is supporting Portugal, and that our money flowed into them to advance into North America was a betrayal of Britain.”
“That, that… … !”
“We were attacked by Portugal, and we almost lost our gold. And even the village where it was quiet was slaughtered. In return, the Portuguese army was destroyed and tried to accept the apology. But on the other side, they can’t tell the difference and they’re running rampant to get revenge on us.”
“… … Huh!”
“We will attack Portugal. If you were to say that, we would have attacked England, and we would have broken our alliance.”
“Oh, no! It can’t be, can it?”
“Then bring a token for him. You and Portugal have nothing to do with it, and we are getting a certificate stating that we have nothing to do with annihilation of Portugal.”
“… … !”
“Take responsibility for your diplomatic relations. Did you know?”
Patrick Rosterfield now had no next-best solution.
He decided to accept Lee Hwan’s offer.
“… … I will do whatever you want.”
“Good.”
It was then that Lee Hwan shook hands with him.