The Struggle for Command

Canglan City.

When news of the arrival of Alliance reinforcements, the retreat of the Beastfolk army, and the completion of the rendezvous mission reached the royal palace, the faces of the nobles and dignitaries were not smiling; instead, their expressions were terribly grim.

Everything seemed to be going well, but the casualty figures they had on hand made it impossible for them to be happy.

Nearly 600,000 troops were left forever on the Orc Great Plains. The Alpha Kingdom was severely weakened, and almost every noble family wept and hung white sails.

As with previous wars, the kingdom's decades of accumulated wealth and military strength were all exhausted in a single battle.

"Why is everyone so quiet now? You were crying and screaming about breaking through, and now this is exactly what you wanted!"

"Caesar III."

Clearly, he still hasn't gotten over the incident where the court officials jointly forced him to abdicate.

The King was furious, so naturally no one dared to provoke him. Everyone was in a bad mood, wanting to shift blame but unable to find a scapegoat.

With Marshal Campbell killed in action, it would be unacceptable for Caesar III to try and shift the blame onto him.

The Five Great Families of the North, who were the instigators, are undoubtedly powerful forces in the kingdom and also wield considerable influence in the court. Asking them to take responsibility would only lead to endless wrangling.

The Human Alliance is too far-reaching and too dangerous to offend. Making them take the blame would trigger an international conflict.

The Hudson, who are the easiest to bully, just lent a helping hand to everyone. Now, to shift the blame onto them is just too ugly.

We are all respectable people, and we should always leave some room for maneuver when doing things, otherwise it will be difficult to meet again in the future.

Since there's no scapegoat, we can only blame the Beastfolk. But this is a royal meeting; there's no need to be so rude. We can scold them later when we're spreading the word.

"Your Majesty, the Beastfolk are always cunning and treacherous; they might return to attack at any time. Now that the rendezvous mission is complete, please order the army to withdraw immediately!"

Duke Affierro advised.

The Alpha Kingdom, having suffered heavy losses, cannot withstand any more turmoil. In any case, the remaining elite forces of these kingdoms must be preserved.

Compared to previous wars, the Alpha Kingdom suffered the shortest period of passive defense, the least amount of land lost, and the lowest civilian casualties and domestic economic losses in history during this war.

As long as the elite seedlings are preserved, the kingdom will be able to recover its strength in less than ten years. If production in the newly reclaimed provinces can be restored, the kingdom's power may even increase further.

Despite the heavy losses, the Alpha Kingdom remains the strongest among the various human kingdoms of the North.

As long as the Human Alliance can put in the effort and cripple the Orc Empire, the Alpha Kingdom will be free from external threats for the next few decades and can focus on farming in peace.

From an overall strategic perspective, the Alpha Kingdom was actually a winner in this devastating war. It's just that the price it paid was extremely high, leaving it seemingly on its last legs.

"Then let them withdraw!"

Caesar III nodded slightly and then spoke.

Matters have varying degrees of importance and urgency, and anger can arise at any time, but matters of national importance must be dealt with immediately.

Not letting emotions influence his decision-making was a key factor in Caesar III's ability to maintain firm control over the government. Even losing a pillar of support in the army did not affect his position.

"Your Majesty, the Human Alliance's reinforcements have set off and will soon be entering our country. Then it will be our turn to launch a counterattack."

Given our geographical location, continuing to deploy defenses along the Purple Thistle Pass and Helan Fort line is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the upcoming war.

With the alliance's initial reinforcements and the assistance of the Moxi Duchy, it's time to consider rebuilding defenses and stockpiling supplies in the newly recaptured seven northern provinces, preparing for a major counter-offensive!

The Prime Minister Grand Duke Newfoundland, then suggested it.

This was not originally planned. The original idea was that the Northern Expeditionary Army would simply follow those "gentlemen knights" and wreak havoc in the Orc Empire, which would bring the enemy down.

Unfortunately, those old men weren't in a good mood. After learning that the Behemoth Emperor died from the backlash of the Longevity Secret Method, they all broke down.

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Apart from the original strongmen of the Alpha Kingdom who remained in the army, the rest went back to attend to their own affairs.

Everyone knows that you shouldn't mess with someone who's about to die. Even though the kingdom knew these people had broken their promise and caused the Northern Expeditionary Army a terrible disaster, it could only swallow its grievances.

Their rampage into the heart of the Orc Empire wasn't entirely without effect. Beastfolk slaughtered millions of Orcs along the way.

Most importantly, it dealt a blow to the Five Great Royal Families' position in the hearts of the Beastfolk, laying the foundation for the subsequent internal strife within the Orc Empire.

"Prime Minister, restoring the defenses of the seven northern provinces is not something that can be accomplished overnight. The manpower, financial resources, and material resources required are astronomical."

Moreover, we must consider the possibility of enemy sabotage at any time; the construction site could easily turn into a battlefield. Destruction can happen much faster than construction!

Given the kingdom's current financial situation, it simply cannot afford such a large-scale project. As for advancing the battle lines to prepare for a major counter-offensive, I think we should postpone that discussion.

Delgado resolutely refused.

It wasn't that he lacked strategic vision; it was simply that the Alpha Kingdom was too poor. By now, the treasury was so empty it could practically run rats around.

Having no money in his pocket left even the Finance Minister feeling helpless.

Even if all the materials used to build the defenses were sourced locally, the laborers still needed to eat. Due to the war, domestic food production plummeted, making it impossible to meet the needs of the entire population, so they had to purchase food from overseas.

Even a hero can be brought down by a mere penny, let alone the Alpha Kingdom, whose shortage is far more than a tiny fraction. The kingdom's funding gap is in the tens of millions, exceeding its annual fiscal revenue, and it's not something the Treasury Department can simply squeeze out.

"Delgado, don't be too hasty. As for the funding issue, didn't we just collect a war tax?"

If we grit our teeth and persevere, we'll always find a way. For the sake of the bigger picture, let's all tighten our belts and endure a few years of hardship.

I'll set an example by not receiving a salary from now until the kingdom's finances improve. Salaries for all high-ranking officials will be suspended, while those for lower-ranking officials will be reduced by 30-50% as appropriate.

Budgets for all departments should be reduced; rewards for meritorious officials should only be given to minor nobles, and the rest should be deferred!

The Prime Minister Grand Duke Newfoundland, said with feigned composure.

Undoubtedly, this was an offensive proposal. Since the outbreak of the war, officials' various benefits and privileges had been drastically reduced, and this further cut would leave them with even less.

As for departmental budgets, needless to say. After the outbreak of war, apart from the Military Affairs Department's expenses constantly increasing, other departments were all tightening their belts.

On the contrary, the issue of military merit rewards was the easiest to resolve. Because of the war, not only were the rewards still on paper, but even the pensions for the fallen nobles had not yet been distributed.

Even knowing it's a landmine, you still have to bite the bullet and step on it, because he's the prime minister of the kingdom.

As the head of all officials, if he didn't dare to offend people at such a crucial moment, he couldn't very well let King Caesar III personally step in and provoke hatred, could he?

"Prime Minister, this is still far from enough."

Most of the kingdom's officials are on voluntary assignments, and there are not many who need to be paid by the Treasury Department. Moreover, the Treasury Department has already owed everyone two months' worth of salaries.

The budgets of each department have been squeezed again and again. Unless you can reduce the expenses of the Military Affairs Department, you can only squeeze out a few hundred thousand gold coins at most.

The nobles' bounties had already been almost entirely misappropriated by the Treasury Department. The few million gold coins remaining in the account were only for emergencies.

The crisis we face now cannot be solved by simply cutting spending. The only solution is to increase revenue, such as by imposing another war tax or borrowing from other member states in the alliance!

Frankly, neither of these are good options.

Last year alone, we levied war taxes three times, and another one at the beginning of this year. If we levy them again now, many minor nobles may not be able to sustain it.

"When it comes to borrowing foreign debt, I think Count Francis has more authority to speak on the matter."

Delgado shrugged and said.

The kingdom's finances have held up until now without going bankrupt, and this Finance Minister can proudly declare to the world that he has done right by the kingdom.

"The Finance Minister is right; borrowing from other countries is not a good option. Looking at our past lending cases, the process is far from pleasant."

A few days ago, a type of war bond appeared in the Moxi Duchy. I think the Treasury Department could learn from this.

Compared to negotiating with various governments, it was actually easier to raise funds by directly selling interest-bearing war bonds to powerful nobles both domestically and internationally.

"Count Francis said calmly."

The Moxi Duchy's widespread sale of war bonds had already caused quite a stir on the continent. The reason they hadn't sold the war bonds to the Alpha Kingdom was because they were all "bad brothers," and no one was having an easy time.

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Francis naturally had to know about what was happening in neighboring countries.

"Our current funding gap is over 30 million gold coins. Can we borrow that much money by issuing war bonds?"

Let me state upfront that usury is out of the question. The kingdom's finances are limited and cannot afford excessively high interest rates. Even normal private lending is beyond our means!

"This is what the Minister of Finance Marquis Delgado, said solemnly."

Wanting to borrow money but not wanting to bear high interest rates is a contradiction in itself.

The nobles certainly had patriotism, but how much gold coins that patriotism was worth was still an unknown.

Moreover, with the war going on for so long, the nobles have also lost a lot of their wealth, so they may not be very rich now.

Even if everyone is willing to support the kingdom, it would be difficult for them to come up with a large amount of cash to buy war bonds, since they also need to set aside money for post-war reconstruction.

"Refer to the interest rates set by the Moxi people, and combine them with our actual situation, print a batch of war bonds to sell for emergency purposes."

However, the Treasury Department must strictly control the specific figures to ensure they do not exceed the Kingdom's repayment capacity!

Caesar III acted decisively.

The money that needs to be spent must be spent. Even without the Human Alliance army's expedition, the seven newly recaptured provinces still need to be incorporated into the kingdom's defenses after the war.

Even if we act now, we could shift the border line slightly north. After all these years, the exact border line remains a mystery.

It would be foolish not to take advantage of the Human Alliance to seize as much territory as possible.

By taking concrete actions to create a fait accompli, once the Human Alliance recognizes it, it becomes the legitimate territory of the Alpha Kingdom.

There's no need to worry about this. Even the overlords of the continent have their pride. If they let their own little brothers give up the benefits they've already gained, wouldn't that make other races look down on the human race?

As long as you don't go too far and exceed your limits, thus arousing jealousy from your allies, then there shouldn't be a big problem.

"Your Majesty, Marshal Campbell has tragically perished. With so many troops gathered at the front, it is necessary to appoint a new commander. Who do you think would be suitable?"

"Duke Affierro asked tentatively."

Frankly speaking, there are very few generals in the Alpha Kingdom who are qualified to serve as frontline commanders.

Most of the powerful nobles in the south were excluded from the shortlist for a very simple reason—they lacked sufficient military achievements.

On the contrary, the nobles in the north, having fought with the Beastfolk for many years, accumulated more military merits and had greater influence in the army.

This is both their strength and their weakness.

From the King's perspective, the most suitable commander is not necessarily the one with the most military achievements or the highest prestige; a balance must also be considered from all aspects.

Who are the candidates for the Military Affairs Department?

"I am concerned, "Caesar III asked.

This procedure is necessary; even if one has their own preferred candidate, they must first see the reactions of the courtiers.

It's best to let your subordinates handle the nomination process. It would be awkward if a general you personally nominated was rejected by the court officials.

Such matters were not uncommon in the court. Even though Caesar III was a powerful monarch, he still needed to consult with others on important personnel appointments within the kingdom.

"The Military Affairs Department has selected six candidates: the Duke Pias, the Duke Agalon, the Duke Dias, the Duke Cavadia, the Count Hudson, and the Marquis James."

As soon as Duke Affierro finished speaking, Caesar III frowned deeply. There were six candidates in total, the first four of whom were members of the Five Great Families of the North.

If Duke Arrendo hadn't been killed by the Beastfolk and his successor hadn't lacked prestige, the Five Great Families of the North would probably have all made the cut.

Without even thinking, he immediately ruled out the first four.

There was no way around it; the Northern Nobles wielded too much influence in the army. If their people were appointed as commanders, wouldn't they also have to take over the position of commander of the Standing Army in the future?

The Standing Army was already stationed in the north, and the Northern Nobles had a great influence in the army. If another Northern Nobles were appointed as the commander, the military power would probably fall completely into the hands of the northern nobles in the long run.

Without a doubt, no monarch would want to see such a situation where the power of a ruler becomes too great to control.