Chapter 304
Chapter 304.
Most people don’t have much hope for Orphena’s proposal because of the stereotypical image of the Northwest Bay.
Only a few felt it was worth a try, such as the officers in charge of the army’s logistics, who knew that a large portion of the supplies and ordnance in the kingdom’s army today came from the Northwest Gulf.
In terms of food, canned goods from the Northwest Bay are very popular among the officers and soldiers, especially in the south where temperatures are high and food storage is not easy, and can be very useful when the troops have to march long distances, and when there are no towns near the garrison where they can buy or collect food.
In terms of ordnance, a weapons supplier named [Northwest Industry] occupies a large share of the kingdom’s army’s weapons and defense sources. The quality can only be described as mediocre, but thanks to the large quantity and low price, the Kingdom’s army is able to hold a steady lead over the rebels in terms of armor rate, and the Northwest Industry can be said to be instrumental in this.
Very strange, the northwest bay where so much iron to build so many weapons and defense, where the lord is not also in the war?
But it is clear that if the lords of the Northwest Bay equip their soldiers with these armaments, then the war between them can never be described simply as “peasant armament”.
As the crowd murmured, Catherine winked at Ofina, asking her to speak to her privately about the matter later.
Now that the Northwest Bay has been raised, the topic of the meeting gradually shifted to the War of the Troglodytes that broke out at the beginning of the year.
“It is clear that the line headed by Earl Parker will never recognize the legitimacy of Maltz Kent’s succession to the title.”
“Truly, the country is in a time of danger, and instead of thinking of raising their troops to serve, they are instead engaging in private rivalry, truly ungrateful.”
“This is not without its benefits, the lords of the original Northwest Duke’s line have always been contemptuous towards the royal family, Parker and other families still have their hearts towards the royal family in the end, it’s good to suppress that group of indigenous lords.”
“In the end, it’s still for their own interests, I don’t believe they are that loyal to the royal family. If there are any conflicts, we can ask His Majesty the King to decide! What’s the point of settling them privately.”
The royal representatives sent to the northwestern territories in the beginning each had their own opinion, such as Hansel Abbott who was stationed in Arda and Emerson Wilder who was stationed in Emden, in the reports they wrote to Jingyao, they tended to align with the position of their own location lords, and they also reprimanded the opposite royal representatives for reversing black and white, right and wrong, and believing in what they were saying in their letters.
These conflicting reports caused His Majesty the King and his ministers to be at a loss as to who was right and who was wrong. However, most of the people in the court were still inclined to oppose the Duke’s faction, after all, since the outbreak of the Southern Rebellion, the two counts of this faction, Arda and Bairdin, had sent a large amount of food to the kingdom’s army, which was short of food due to the fires in the name of their bannermen, and the Northwest Industry established by the lords of this faction had also provided a large amount of inexpensive weapons and armor for the kingdom’s army.
Duke Dodge pondered, “Which faction has the upper hand now?”
Ofina: “The latest news is that the Duke’s side has fallen into a decadent position, and it seems to have the intention of concentrating all of its power in a desperate attempt.”
“Neither side has any intention of stopping?”
“There have been whispers of a truce, but apparently there are no talks.”
Duke Dodge turned to Catherine and said, “Your Highness, when the strife between the Lords of the Northwest Gulf subsides, would it be possible to put them in charge of policing Veblen? Then transfer Walker’s troops to the south to deal with the rebels.”
Through hidden channels, the kingdom’s top brass had basically decided that the Duke of Veblen in the eastern realm had fallen to Giles, only that they had yet to raise their troops in response to Giles in the open. In order to prevent Veblen from raiding the rear, Catherine had to leave a team of up to 25,000 men to guard the east, which was led by Duke Walker.
The army of more than 20,000 people did nothing but merely prevented possible enemies, resulting in a great waste of troops, otherwise the main force led by Catherine would not have been blocked in the region of Fougeres and delayed in opening up the situation.
Perhaps this was the effect that Giles had thought to achieve? His allies were only responsible for distracting the kingdom’s army.
Ofina agreed with Duke Dodge’s suggestion: “Among the faction of lords opposing the Northwest Duke, Earl Gleiman played a central role, his family was sent to the Northwest Bay because of the court struggle a long time ago, and Earl Gleiman contributed a great deal during the process of collecting supplies for the army going south, so I think he must have the intention of making friends with the royal family himself. If the honor of the Gleiman family can be restored in the name of His Majesty, I think that this Count will be able to serve the country with all his heart and serve to motivate the other lords.”
Listening to the meaning of her words, it was as if she was very optimistic about the faction that Greiman was a part of.
Catherine was somewhat moved by what the two said, nodded and said, “Now that the strife between the two factions in the Northwest Bay has not subsided, and it is still uncertain who will be able to obtain the final victory, wait until the dust settles before sending a messenger over.”
Princess said so on the mouth, but in the heart can not help but some anger, if there is no rebellion, in the name of the king to send an imperial decree over, the two factions of people is to kill red-eye also have to give a few points of face to the crystal yao sit down and talk, now can only dry waiting for the emergence of the victor and to seek his support.
The only reason for this situation is that the royal family’s forces are being held back by the rebels in the south, so they have no time to worry about them. If you send someone there, you will not be able to mediate, but will cause trouble, and the already declining power of the king will be even more precarious.
Thinking of this, Catherine hated Giles the traitor even more.
At this time, Viscount Klein looked at her and said, “Your Highness, the Northwest Bay has always been relatively withered, how can those lords alone hold back the affluent Eastland.”
Catherine revealed a smile, “Looking at your expression, you should have thought of a solution long ago, right?”
Klein laughed, “Yes. We can enlist the Highland Barbarians to police the East Realm along with the Northwest Army. It’s time for Headman Zheirov, oh no, it should be Count Zheirov, to show his loyalty to the kingdom.”
Gerov, was one of the tribal heads among the rebellious tribes anyway when Catherine pacified the highland barbarian rebellion last year, it was due to his inside help that Catherine was able to quickly pacify the barbarian rebellion, and afterward rewarded Gerov as a highland earl.
Catherine is very satisfied with Klein’s advice, and in recent years she has devoted herself to promoting young generals into the top ranks of the army, with Klein and Lester being the best of them. The former is modest and thoughtful, the latter is silent and lonely, but has a natural instinct for marching and fighting, both are her right-hand men just like Ofina, and due to their similar age, they are easier to communicate with than the veteran generals.
“Let’s do it!” Her Highness sealed the deal.
As the meeting was dismissed and everyone was leaving, Catherine called out to Ofina.
“Come to my room and tell me about the recent situation of that girl Erin. Oh, and the Thunder Hammer you just mentioned in the meeting.”
(End of chapter)