The affair in Francis came to a close, and Li Wei returned to Fog City afterward to attend a closed-door military conference with the Empire's senior leadership.
At this conference, Her Majesty the Queen finally settled the Empire's current military objective once and for all.
Conquer Kront!
The imperial army would depart from Delai Port, conquer Deburg, then drive straight into Kront's heartland and attack its capital, Derrin. They would conquer Kront completely and restore it to imperial territory. Once Kront was conquered, the imperial army could press south and take the Sasha Alliance.
Francis's surrender changed many things. First, its alliance with the Olucci Empire naturally fell apart. With a harsh winter approaching, supplies running short, and widespread public discontent, the Olucci Empire faced an endless stream of marches, protests, and riots. The tsar therefore decisively withdrew from the war and signed a "Non-Aggression Treaty" with Kront.
Having lost the Olucci Empire's support, the Duchy of Seth was ultimately annexed by the Sasha Alliance. As things stood, the war was actually drawing to a close, ending in victory for the Kingdom of Kront and the Sasha Alliance.
Except for one problem: the Empire's declaration of war.
Precisely because of this, Kront was hurriedly transferring most of its forces to Deburg to block a possible imperial offensive.
Simply put, Kront wanted to copy Francis and build an unbreakable defensive line between Delai Port and Deburg.
Hmm... after annexing Francis, did they catch its bad habits too?
Most people had originally figured that if the enemy concentrated its forces, they should simply find a way around them.
But Her Majesty did not think that way. She demanded that the imperial army utterly crush Kront's defensive line head-on and take Deburg!
In Her Majesty's view, the Kront people's fighting spirit rested entirely