Recaps

Victor brought the Two Rivers Fleet’s armor-piercing naval guns inland, enabling the Allied Army to crush the East Sea Alliance’s noble resistance and finish the suppression campaign by the end of October. The army then discovered that war grand dukes from the Chaos Lands had occupied several southern border counties, but exhaustion and troop shortages left it able only to reinforce the border and halt further advances.

• Victor ordered large-caliber naval guns and armor-piercing shells brought inland, and they broke through the nobles’ castle walls.
• Alex volunteered the Vela Army to capture remote fortresses, and Earl Stanley and Duke Barick approved his request.
• The Allied Army accelerated its campaign, destroying dozens of noble houses and prompting many neutral and conciliatory nobles to surrender.
• By the end of October, the suppression campaign had ended, but some Pro-War Faction nobles fled into the mountains or Chaos Lands, while war grand dukes occupied several southern border counties.
• Earl Stanley and Duke Barick sent three legions south to hold the border, then redirected other available legions to reinforce them.

After the Raine–Vela Allied Army completed its occupation of the East Sea Alliance, its leaders celebrated and compiled a report of military merits. At the victory banquet, Duke Barick offered Victor a chance to become a duke if he transferred Two Rivers County’s artillery, steam engine, and wired telegraph technologies to the kingdom.

• Duke Barick secured the support of dozens of surrendered East Sea noble families by promising to preserve their titles and relocate their fiefs near the Chaos Lands.
• The Allied Command completed its military merit report, and Duke Barick held a three-day victory banquet in Blade and Halberd City.
• Earl Stanley celebrated his likely elevation to marquis and warmly praised Alex and Victor for their contributions to the campaign.
• Duke Barick privately told Victor that his military merits had nearly earned him a dukedom and asked if he would seize an opportunity to become a duke.
• Duke Barick offered to guarantee Victor's promotion if he transferred Two Rivers County's artillery, steam engine, and wired telegraph technologies to the kingdom.

Victor considered Duke Barick’s offer to exchange a ducal promotion for the Golden Sunflower Family’s military and industrial technologies. He withheld agreement and planned to negotiate for better terms while Barick sought approval from the king.

• Duke Barick proposed exchanging a ducal title for technologies including artillery, Wired Telegraphy, and steam engines, leaving Victor hesitant.
• Victor considered the technologies’ value and secrecy, then told Duke Barick he needed time to consider the offer.
• Duke Barick said he had written to his father and promised to offer better conditions if the king agreed.
• Victor and Duke Barick parted, with Barick preparing the kingdom’s terms and Victor planning a list of what he wanted in exchange.

Victor and Alex agreed that Victor should pursue Duke Barick’s offer, while discussing the need to modernize Two Rivers County’s industry. After reviewing intelligence on the Golden Sunflower Family’s technologies, Carol I decided that Duke Barick’s proposed exchange was worth approving.

• Victor told Alex about Duke Barick’s proposal, and Alex supported Victor’s bid to become a duke while advising him to secure enough benefits.
• Victor discussed the territory’s fuel shortages, forest loss, and pollution with Alex, and planned to shift industry from steam engines to electricity.
• Carol I reviewed the records of merit and ordered the Prime Minister to prepare promotions and rewards to secure the kingdom’s new lands.
• Carol I summoned Abel to investigate the Golden Sunflower Family’s technologies, and Abel brought Nightingale’s intelligence to the king.
• Carol I read Abel’s summary and decided the Steam Engine and Wired Telegraph Technology were valuable enough to justify Duke Barick’s offer.

King Carol I granted Victor a rare special promotion to duke in exchange for the technologies, hoping to secure his support for the royal family. Four days later, Duke Barick received the decree and letter at Allied Command and saw how highly his father valued the technologies.

• Carol I decided to grant Victor a special promotion directly rather than seek the Noble Council's approval.
• Carol I prepared the promotion decree, gathered royal treasures for the technology exchange, and sent a courtier with the decree and a handwritten letter to Duke Barick.
• The courtier reached Allied Command in the East Sea Alliance after four days and delivered the documents to Duke Barick.
• Duke Barick was surprised that Carol I had so readily used his rare royal power to grant the promotion.
• Earl Stanley admired Carol I's decision to keep the technologies under royal control rather than acquire them in the kingdom's name.

Victor finalized a generous technology deal with the Raine royal house and received an immediate promotion to duke. He prepared Two Rivers County for the technology exchange and considered expanding higher education, while the Golden Sunflower Family’s wealth and territory grew substantially.

• Duke Barick gave Victor a special promotion decree and agreed to record Victor’s requests for the technology deal.
• Victor and Duke Barick agreed that Raine would pay up to one million gold coins, train its people in Two Rivers County, and build factories with Victor’s technicians; Raine’s technology rights would be limited to its homeland.
• Victor sent a telegram to Two Rivers County ordering preparations for the transfer and training, and planned to use part of the proceeds to establish a university.
• The Raine royal house offered to buy the factories and equipment at their original prices, adding tens of thousands of gold coins to Victor’s gains.
• Victor’s wealth exceeded one million gold coins in cash, and the Golden Sunflower Family’s lands reached ninety thousand square kilometers after acquiring a coastal county from the East Sea Alliance.
• Victor prepared to attend the formal promotion ceremony and banquet with the other honored Vela Nobles.

In mid-November, the Prime Minister and Duke Barick presided over a collective promotion ceremony for nobles who had fought in the East Sea Alliance, with Victor receiving the rank of duke. By the end of November 1673, the Raine Kingdom officially concluded its annexation war and gained vast new territory and population.

• The king sent the Prime Minister to the East Sea Alliance to preside over the promotion ceremony alongside Duke Barick.
• The nobles held the ceremony in the East Sea Alliance because unrest and threats in the newly conquered land required their armies to remain under command.
• Victor received the highest promotion, becoming Duke Golden Sunflower, while the gathered nobles blessed him and celebrated their wartime achievements.
• The Raine Kingdom officially ended its war to annex the East Sea Alliance at the end of November 1673.
• The Raine Kingdom annexed more than 500,000 square kilometers and a population of 30 million.

After the Raine Kingdom’s campaign against the Central City-State Coalition stalled when the king fell into a coma, Victor learned that the king had died on the battlefield. Duke Barick and Earl Stanley reached the front to restore command, but the king’s death left the kingdom’s future uncertain.

• In 1674, the Raine Kingdom reorganized its conquered Vela and East Sea territories, then invaded the Central City-State Coalition and seized fourteen city-states.
• Berlay State united the coalition’s armies and counterattacked, halting the Raine Kingdom’s advance after fierce fighting began in September.
• The king suddenly fell ill and entered a deep coma, causing the kingdom’s army to fracture and its offensive to stop.
• Duke Barick left Golden Tree City for the front and entrusted the city to the prime minister, while Earl Stanley accompanied him.
• Earl Stanley took command at the front and stabilized the regular troops’ morale.
• On March 2, 1675, Victor received a telegram reporting that the king had died on the battlefield and questioned how the news had spread so quickly.

With the king unconscious and Noble Faction armies withdrawing from the front, Duke Barick asked Alex for military aid against the Central City-State Coalition. Alex, Victor, and the other Vela Nobles agreed to support him.

• The Noble Faction's armies refused Marquis Stanley's command and left the front short of nearly half its forces.
• Unrest spread across noble territories, and Prince Balek kept the unconscious king at the front while physicians treated him there.
• The kingdom's regular army and Marquis Stanley held off intensified attacks by the Central City-State Coalition.
• Duke Barick asked Alex to send Vela troops so he could counterattack, ease pressure on the front, and eventually bring his father home.
• Alex, Victor, and the other high-ranking Vela Nobles agreed to support Duke Barick.

After the Raine Kingdom's king died, Victor and Alex reconsidered the Vela Nobles' planned intervention and agreed to send elite troops to help the royal army withdraw while avoiding deep involvement in a civil war. As Duke Barick's purge destabilized the front and the Central City-State Alliance broke through several positions, Alex ordered the Vela Army to deploy as soon as possible.

• Alex promised Duke Barick that the Vela Nobles would send five or six legions to the Central City-State Alliance front in spring, and they kept the agreement secret.
• Victor and Alex received news that the king had suddenly died and questioned whether the Vela Army should still intervene while hundreds of thousands of Raine Kingdom troops remained abroad.
• Victor traveled to Iron Tree City, where he and Alex agreed to send the Vela Army to help the royal forces withdraw but to decide later whether to intervene in any civil war.
• The Vela Grand Nobles met and agreed to prioritize the Vela Army's strength and avoid excessive involvement in the conflict between the royal family and the Noble Faction.
• Duke Barick purged suspected Noble Faction commanders, causing chaos and gaps in the front line, but Marquis Stanley reinforced the positions and preserved the defensive line.
• After the Central City-State Alliance broke through several positions, Alex ordered the Vela Army to deploy as soon as possible.

Victor led the Vela Army across the sea and through obstructive noble territories to reinforce the front in the Central City-State Alliance. He found Duke Barick exhausted and learned that the defensive line was close to being abandoned despite reports that it was holding.

• Victor sailed with the Vela Army to the Raine Kingdom, while Alex stayed behind to oversee Eastern Sea Province.
• After the king's death, nobles and members of the Royal Family spread suspicions about Duke Barick, but the Prime Minister contained the unrest in Golden Tree City and the Royal Domain.
• Victor hurried toward the front, overcoming repeated delays and banquet invitations from nobles in overseas territories.
• Victor reached the Central City-State Alliance in early April and was shocked by Duke Barick's haggard appearance.
• Duke Barick thanked Victor for arriving and said he and his teacher would otherwise have had to abandon the defensive line, surprising Victor because his intelligence had said it was holding.

Victor arrived with five Vela legions to reinforce the Raine Kingdom’s exhausted army and agreed to launch an immediate counterattack against the Central City-State Alliance. At the front, Marquis Stanley explained the enemy’s deployment and the defenses around Gourd Pass as they prepared their plan.

• Duke Barick told Victor that shortages, heavy losses, and pressure from the Prime Minister threatened the army’s position, and asked him to help drive back the enemy so the troops could withdraw.
• Victor offered to lead his newly arrived troops into battle at once, and Duke Barick agreed despite concerns that the legions needed rest.
• Victor inspected Duke Barick’s well-organized logistics camp before reaching the front and meeting Marquis Stanley.
• Victor and Marquis Stanley discussed a counterattack after the marquis identified gaps between the Central City-State Alliance’s attacking columns.
• Marquis Stanley explained the enemy’s strength and the strategic defenses at Gourd Pass, which had been expanded by the Raine Kingdom.

Victor and Marquis Stanley planned to draw the Central City-State Alliance army away from a fortress and fight it on a prepared plain, hoping to capture a high-ranking Berlay State relative. The enemy pursued the Vela Army into the trap, but the Berlay commander arrived and prepared to attack, leaving the decisive battle ahead.

• Marquis Stanley explained that his forward fortress position pinned down enemy forces, then proposed capturing a Berlay State royal relative to force the Alliance to withdraw.
• Victor brought the Vela Army to relieve the Raine Kingdom troops, assessed the enemy over two days, and planned to abandon the fortress for a prepared defensive line on the basin plain.
• Victor ordered the Vela Army to retreat from the fortress, and the pursuing Alliance troops rushed after them in disarray and suffered losses against the temporary defenses.
• The Berlay State commander restored order and chose to attack the defenses with his nearly twenty legions, including three legions he had borrowed to earn military merit.

Victor’s Vela Army shattered the Central City-State Alliance’s assault with a massive artillery bombardment and a cavalry counterattack, then recaptured Gourd Pass and helped the Raine Kingdom Army destroy the trapped enemy forces. After counting the prisoners and captured commanders, Victor and Marquis Stanley withdrew their troops rather than pursue fleeing soldiers into the mountains at night.

• After two days of fighting weakened the alliance’s attacks, Victor ordered the Vela Army to rest in shifts and prepare a nighttime counterattack.
• Before dawn, the Vela Legion’s artillery devastated the enemy’s forward formations with ordinary and High-Explosive Shells, and Victor sent the Vela Army charging into the collapse.
• The Iron Knights led the Vela cavalry through the routed alliance troops, drove them into their rear formations, and helped break the enemy lines.
• The Vela Army pursued the enemy for more than half a day and recaptured Gourd Pass, trapping over half the alliance force in the valley.
• The Raine Kingdom legion joined the Vela Army in encircling and annihilating the trapped troops, while scattered survivors fled into the mountains.
• Victor and Marquis Stanley ordered a withdrawal for the night; the following day’s tally included more than two hundred thousand prisoners, two captured rulers, and the Berlay Grand Duke’s uncle.

After defeating the Central City-State Coalition’s central army, the Raine Kingdom negotiated an armistice and began withdrawing from much of its occupied territory while retaining key border positions. Both sides treated the agreement as temporary, and Fonte vowed the conflict was not over.

• Marquis Stanley urged ending the fighting, and the Raine Kingdom used Jeralit’s capture to propose armistice negotiations with Berlay.
• The Coalition’s armies on the other fronts withdrew, and both sides concluded an armistice agreement after five days.
• Duke Barick ordered the Raine Kingdom’s armies to withdraw and prisoners to be released in stages, while keeping strategically important positions.
• Marquis Stanley wrote to comfort Duke Barick, who accepted that the withdrawal was temporary and that the kingdom could later reclaim its gains.
• Fonte welcomed his uncle Jeralit after his release and told him to prepare to marry the Grand Duchess of Alaine as part of Berlay’s annexation plan.
• Fonte watched toward the Raine Kingdom camp and declared that the conflict was not over.

Duke Barick explained how the kingdom’s successful withdrawal preserved valuable spoils and protected its forces, easing the financial and political burdens facing him. The other three armies were also retreating with losses below thirty percent, and the withdrawal was proceeding smoothly.

• Duke Barick thanked Victor and Marquis Stanley for securing a victory that helped the kingdom retain spoils and reward its soldiers.
• Duke Barick described the financial strain of compensating the troops and the political obstacles he expected from the Noble Council.
• Duke Barick told Marquis Stanley that valuable goods, art, and antiques had been evacuated to help cover the campaign’s costs.
• Duke Barick assured Marquis Stanley that the other three armies had suffered no losses exceeding thirty percent and were withdrawing toward the kingdom.

The Raine Kingdom withdrew from the Central City-State Alliance’s territory and built a fortified border line while its armies suppressed resistance in the newly incorporated region. After a month of negotiations, both sides agreed to limit and report their border garrisons, allowing the kingdom’s troops to begin returning home.

• Duke Barick assured Marquis Stanley that four legions had supplies, reinforcements, and defenses to hold the remaining border cities.
• Victor and Marquis Stanley retreated with their armies, monitoring the Central City-State Alliance as they reached the new border fortress five days later.
• The returning Kingdom Army suppressed resistance in the occupied borderlands while the Raine Kingdom built linked fortifications and prepared the region for defense.
• By the end of May, the Central City-State Alliance had stationed more than forty legions near the border, while the kingdom had fewer than twenty.
• Duke Barick negotiated an agreement limiting the kingdom to five border legions and the alliance to twice the kingdom’s number, with both sides required to report their garrisons.
• After the agreement, the kingdom’s troops began withdrawing so they could return to the interior.

Victor agreed to return to the Raine Kingdom with Duke Barick and Marquis Stanley’s forces, while the Vela provinces remained stable. Duke Barick used the returning army’s strength to suppress opposition and reassign the fiefs of nobles and royal relatives, leaving his path to the throne largely unchallenged.

• Victor agreed to bring the Vela Army back into the kingdom alongside Duke Barick and Marquis Stanley’s forces.
• Victor learned that Vela’s three provinces were stable, with only occasional clashes on the Eastern Sea Province border.
• Duke Barick executed three minor noble families and reassigned six others to Eastern Sea Province, silencing rumors and deterring further dissent.
• Backed by more than forty Kingdom Regular Army corps, Vela’s forces, and Royalist nobles, Duke Barick overwhelmed the Noble Faction’s opposition to his succession.
• Duke Barick sent troublesome Royal Family members to Eastern Sea Province with titles higher than their small fiefs warranted, limiting their influence.

Duke Barick, worried that a conspiracy within the kingdom had caused his father’s death, sought a more trustworthy personal guard. Victor proposed that noble scions from Vela serve as guards, and Duke Barick considered accepting the plan.

• Duke Barick learned that his father’s death was likely tied to a conspiracy within the kingdom and asked Marquis Stanley for protection.
• Marquis Stanley assigned his Personal Guard to protect Duke Barick, while the Imperial Guard guarded the palace perimeter.
• Duke Barick decided to recruit a new guard from overseas garrisons and sent a courtier to Vela to begin recruiting a regiment.
• Victor consulted Alex by telegram, then asked Duke Barick to accept five hundred Vela noble scions as guards who would serve for several years before returning home.
• Duke Barick welcomed the proposal’s political and security benefits but considered whether the noble scions had enough fighting ability to protect him.

Victor secured Duke Barick’s approval for a guard made up of Vela noble scions, an arrangement meant to strengthen ties between the Vela Nobles and the Raine Royal House. Alex began organizing the young men, who would serve and train in the kingdom’s heartland for three years before choosing whether to return to Vela.

• Duke Barick agreed to Victor’s request and offered promising scions the chance to remain in the Imperial Guard Legion or royal court after their service.
• Victor left assured that the guard could align the Vela Nobles with the Royalist Faction and help unite their families.
• Victor sent Alex a telegram about Duke Barick’s approval.
• Alex instructed the Vela Nobles to select brave, skilled scions aged eighteen to twenty for the king’s guard.
• Alex planned for the scions to serve and train for three years, after which outstanding members could remain in kingdom service or return to Vela.

Alex opened selection for five hundred Vela noble scions to serve in the Raine Kingdom's Imperial Guard, drawing more than two thousand applicants to Iron Tree City. After the examinations eliminated many candidates, over a thousand strong prospects remained, leaving Alex unsure how to fill the limited places.

• Vela nobles eagerly sought places for their children after Alex announced that successful scions could join the Raine Kingdom's Imperial Guard or pursue court service.
• Alex invited every eligible noble child to register in Iron Tree City, where more than two thousand scions arrived, including Marquis Great Oak-Brando, whom Victor had urged to participate.
• Alex entrusted officials with screening the applicants through written and martial examinations to choose five hundred for service in Golden Tree City.
• The three-day examinations eliminated around eight hundred weak candidates, but more than a thousand qualified scions remained, troubling Alex because the quota was only five hundred.

Victor asked Duke Barick to expand the Vela Nobles’ Guard Corps recruitment, and Duke Barick agreed to take one thousand candidates. As his coronation approached, Duke Barick also considered rewarding Marquis Stanley and other supporters while consolidating his control of the kingdom.

• Alex struggled to handle requests for Guard Corps places and sent Victor a telegram asking him to seek more places from Duke Barick.
• Victor told Duke Barick that the qualified Vela noble candidates exceeded the original five hundred places, and Duke Barick approved recruiting one thousand guards.
• Victor explained that Brando Great Oak would join the candidates and that ranks would be assigned by test results, while Duke Barick would appoint a trusted Imperial Guard officer as battalion commander and instructor.
• Duke Barick accepted Victor’s formal boundary between sovereign and subject, while Marquis Stanley kept his distance and agreed to patrol the Royal Domain before the coronation.
• Duke Barick planned to promote Marquis Stanley to duke and reward other wartime contributors, using retained border lands and military merits to benefit the Royalist Faction.

Duke Barick agreed to defer rewards for Vela’s nobles and planned to call on their troops in a future campaign, while Alex organized 1,000 young Vela nobles to travel to Golden Tree City. The newcomers arrived with gifts for the new king, entered the Imperial Guard camp, and quickly repaired their shabby assigned quarters.

• Victor told Duke Barick that Vela’s nobles would forgo rewards in exchange for their military expenses, and Barick decided to record their merit for a future reward.
• Alex arranged for 1,000 young Vela nobles to sail to the kingdom’s mainland, where Victor and Barick’s courtiers would meet them.
• The Vela cavalry reached Golden Tree City and entered after Imperial Guard officers showed the gate guards passes bearing Barick’s and Marquis Drak’s seals.
• The Imperial Guard led the Vela force to a dilapidated camp, where the young nobles guarded the gifts meant for the new king.
• The Vela nobles and their craftsmen cleared the camp, repaired its walls and barracks, and pitched tents for soldiers without quarters.

Moro considered how to handle the Vela noblemen after they settled into the cavalry camp, while Brando kept his hungry, restless soldiers from disobeying orders. The Duke of the Golden Sunflower arrived with fresh food and wine to welcome them, leaving the camp cheering.

• Moro warned his officer not to provoke the noblemen and went to consult the other legion commanders about the king’s order to make them the Third Legion’s new cavalry.
• Brando told his squad to stay in camp, obey the dukes, and avoid giving their enemies an excuse to target the Vela Nobles.
• Juke supported Brando and agreed that the soldiers should wait for their new commander before expecting conditions to improve.
• When a commotion broke out, Brando went to the gate and learned that the Duke of the Golden Sunflower had brought fresh food and wine for a welcoming feast.

Brando reunited with Victor when the duke arrived at camp with food, wine, and Golden Sunflower cavalrymen, then the soldiers celebrated a hot meal. Victor told the young officers to prepare for the king’s inspection and a possible place in the Coronation Ceremony parade, while Moro feared Victor would expose his interference.

• Brando hurried to greet Victor, who embraced him and praised his growth and service.
• Victor had the wagons’ supplies distributed, and the soldiers prepared a feast while limiting their wine because they were on duty in the Imperial Guard’s Main Camp.
• Victor told the young officers to rest, maintain their units, and prepare for the king’s inspection and a possible role in the Royal Capital’s Coronation Ceremony parade.
• Moro worried that Victor would report the obstacles Moro had secretly placed in the cavalry’s way and begged the other legion commanders not to abandon him.