Ch 10; Opportunity

Let's play a game called 'what ifs'. 

 

Imagine if things go my way and I succeed in extracting the desired amount of grain from the Empire. I put out the immediate fire, while at the same time consolidating the bloated government, and also started a witch hunt for curbing the separatist movement from its infancy. 

 

There's so much to do, yet, do I, or this country, have resources enough for completing all this? 

 

I highly doubt it. 

 

As much as I don't want to admit it, if I can't solve this issue, then we would had no choice but to go down into the path of expansionism. The worst case scenario, as I repeatedly emphasized. 

 

I need more grains, but from where? 

 

The Empire would throw us into an endless war if given chance, evident from an earlier containment proposal. So it's more of a poisoned chalice rather than a medicine, or even a bandage. Surrounding countries don't make it into the list of consideration. Their own chaotic situation isn't better than ours.

 

There's only two places left to choose from. West, and east. 

 

As for why I didn't put Federation on the same pedestal; the prevalent opinion from the opposition was stemming from the fact that the Eastern Coalition promised them cheap agricultural products for the less-blessed land of the north. Although the Empire has made their own counter-proposal, the fact that there's still a strong voice of opposition means the quantity offered is just that much. 

 

"I heard the Eastern War has reached a stalemate. Must be a pain fighting a giant of agriculture focused region, endlessly supplying supplies like an endless regenerating hydra from the myth." 

 

"We're pushing them back."

 

"Of course you do."

 

That much is expected. 

 

Yet, I couldn't feel the fervor of victory from their supposed winning streak. 

 

Technically speaking, the Empire's indeed winning the battle. They've been pushing the enemy's army back to their border, leveraging on that initial momentum. But that's it. 

 

The tricky thing is, the Empire cannot even attempt to assault more than this since their supply route is currently stretching too thin. But for the coalition side, this backed position meant they could quickly resupply and feed their soldiers, then once more attempt a full march. 

 

It's truly paradoxical, they pushed the enemy, yet as if by the grace of monkey's paw, their winning streak ended up making the enemy stronger.

 

However, it was entirely logical because the east was inherently a major agriculture focused entity on the continent. 

 

They had the best soil and land, even after yielding much of it to the Empire. 

 

The Empire needed to sweep them all in one swoop like they did to our Southern Alliance, but I doubt such a miracle could be done twice. 

 

That, or, sapping their strength to the point of extreme weakness. Until they cannot sustain the war. 

 

This is where I slimed in. 

 

The core of this plan is to deceive the east, promising a three way collusion of east, west and south to choke the Empire at the same time. With continuous support from them, I could even accelerate my plan and break from the Empire's grasp as I stabilize the country. 

 

Or even elevating the kingdom by creating a new alliance of the south. 

 

No. That would be too greedy. Assuming the situation where the east held well, and the Empire slowly pushed back, they might resort to an extreme option of conquest if I decided to test my luck. But then again, it looks like pacifying the south in its entirety would be my homework. We've had too many targets on our backs—I don't know to a certainty if all of our potential enemies would back out after this stunt. Most would, but it's safe to say that nothing is set in stone yet. 

 

Hmmm, I'm getting side-tracked. 

 

Anyway, to increase the winning percentage for the Empire, and for my own personal agenda, I had to present a line, hook, and sinker operation to trap the Eastern Coalition. And as per my calculation, there may be some pre-requisite that should be done beforehand but the percentage that they would take the bait itself is, I would say, close to 90%. 

 

Think about it. 

 

On paper, the coalition did back down from their initial position near the Jukchen Pass, to the Jukchen Twin Mountain Valley, where it's closer to their homeground rather than the Empire. And although this retreat has a turn-over potential by leveraging their short supply route, the morale of the soldiers participating can't be swiped away just like that. 

 

When even the bottom hierarch of the officers felt defeated, the negative atmosphere rapidly spread to the whole army. 

 

In this situation, their counter-attack won't achieve the desired result. Heck, I could even bet it won't reach half of its intended purposes. If even I, who was far from the theater, merely an observer, could grasp it, how about the Empire? Of course they knew. 

 

But again, they cannot commit an aggression without stretching the already long supply line, rife with multiple weak spots ready for guerillas to exploit. Not to mention the calm-before-the-storm atmosphere on the west. 

 

Thus, an impasse for both sides. 

 

However, when I looked into the circumstances of each side, I deduce the coalition would be more desperate than the Empire to break this deadlock and achieve definite advantage. Why? 

 

While the Empire is currently riding high on the war fervor, with nobles faction advocating for further action opposed to the royal faction that wish for current deadlock to be maintained as long as possible, the coalition side, from the beginning, did not achieve notable success. Blocked from the very beginning of their march, of course those who were responsible for lighting up the powder keg would be in precarious position the longer they were in a deadlock. 

 

In the end, the justification was on the Empire's side. They could secure strategic advantage by just staying still. 

 

Not to mention the northern theater has reached a total lull, merely maintaining vigilance. 

 

But what if, in this rickety situation, a proposal came from the south and west for supply assistance in order to choke the Empire on a three-way front? 

 

If that was me, I would be desperate enough to stamp it immediately. 

 

"That's the gist of it, Sir Ludwig. How's it? Isn't it highly possible?"

 

*** 

 

We choose the wrong person. 

 

That was the immediate thought of Leutnant General Ludwig after hearing the counter-proposal of the man in front of him. A man that, until several weeks ago, he thought of as merely a pawn for the Empire. And a pawn shouldn't have their own thoughts, all the more intelligence of this level. 

 

Of course, Philip omitted his agenda about breaking from the Empire's grasp and merely threw out a logical presentation about the idea of deceiving the desperate east. Regardless of unforeseen variables such as the security of goods, the west's response, or another southern nations move, the baseline itself is surprisingly built on solid rationale. 

 

Desperation bred carelessness. 

 

When a commander, head, leader of any kind of faction repeatedly failed on a venture they themself stamp on, responsibilities ensued. This behaviour is no stranger for Ludwig who's experienced in the high-stake nature of war. No, it's because he himself knew how crushing the pressure that he couldn't imagine himself, sitting in that high-seat of the Eastern Coalition's leader, reading the proposal and immediately suspecting the true nature of that proposal. 

 

Even if it was him, who was famous for his attention to details, won't be able to escape from its noose of evil, that perfectly exploits his psychological turmoil. 

 

This is uneasy… who would've thought a pig turns out to be a fox wearing a pig mask. We were fooled. 

 

For the Empire's sake, it should be right for Ludwig to give a green light for this proposal. But his guts blared with warning to not giving this man a single advantage to rebuild his nation, no matter what. It's unclear how things would unfold but Ludwig judged that this man should be leashed at his weakest, as in, today. 

 

However, his own position as a soldier of the Empire severely limited his own move to contain Philip as he intended. The command to elevate Vedora's weight class to contain the surrounding nation was a direct instruction from the Supreme Commander himself. Ludwig is inherently an inflexible person, the thought of defying his superior's direct instruction and his own decision paralyzed him.  

 

In the end, his actions are neither this or that, giving a green light but also checking Philip. 

 

"How would you persuade the west to jump into your plan? No, in the first place, you're just one of many small nations in the south region. You had no weight to throw around. It would be possible if you start a conquest war and merge another country with you."

 

"Such method is non-sustainable in the long term. There's too many variables must we choose war. My thought is, since we're an ally, how about deposing another kingdom, then instruct them to create an Entente with me? Triple Entente would be ideal. And there's no need for them to be functionally capable; it's merely for appearance."

 

"...then, they will see you as the Empire's ally. Why would they align themself with an Empire's ally?"

 

"Ah, that's a trade secret, but I have the confidence I could persuade them. After all, backdoor dealing is more presentable when there's mutual interest."

 

"You haven't answered my first question."

 

"The goods, Sir Ludwig. The goods, are the answer. Those western is ambitious so they would definitely see the current Empire as a really meaty dish. They won't be able to hide their drool, I promise you. If I promise them a portion of goods trickling from the east for them to rebuilt their army? Those hungry jackals won't even think twice."

 

"Then, how can I believe you won't betray us?"

 

"Sir Ludwig, I understand. I truly do. No matter how much I present you with my logic, suspicion would naturally surface. So, how about this? I will only request 65% of my initial grains petition. And feel free to attach a knight or two to monitor our movement. I'm ready to yield that much if it means having your trust."

 

—Thus, after several back and forths, the negotiation ends at 8 at night, and Ludwig promptly returns to the Empire the very next day.