Chapter 444
EP.444
United Kingdom Expeditionary Force Headquarters Conference Room.
All the generals, including Marshal George, the commander of the expeditionary force, were anxious.
“… Peter Yeager, that crazy guy is taking part in a war that we have almost finished.”
Strictly speaking, before the Reich Empire intervened, the war situation of the United Kingdom of Francois was in a state where it could not be said that anyone was winning.
Therefore, it was a very big mistake to say that it was almost finished, but as befits a country that was given the title of ‘a hateful country’ by Peter Yeager.
Setting aside all such important things, people appeared one by one, saying that all the current wrong situation was the fault of the Reich Empire.
“That evil Satan-like person poured ashes on the baked bread. Thanks to this, even our soldiers are agitated.”
“If they hadn’t intervened, we would have taken over all of François’ land. Then, we will not be a weak island nation on the border, but will stand tall as a hegemon that dominates the continent…” “
Because of that evil bastard, Peter Yeager, everything has gone astray, and the morale of the soldiers is at rock bottom.”
Going one step further, the fact that most of the food in the United Kingdom was so tasteless that it bordered on weirdness was all going to be blamed on Peter Yeager.
For 30 minutes, they started swearing at Peter Yeager, including grandfathers and cousins they did not know, and the commander, Marshal George, cleared his throat to lighten the mood.
“Ah hmm hmm. Peter Yeager This is the end of my criticism of that evil bastard. “Aren’t we cultured gentlemen and officers of the United Kingdom?”
It was not something the Marshal of the United Kingdom Army would say, who allowed almost unlimited looting and rape just because the soldiers’ morale had dropped a little during the occupation of Ireland a few years ago.
Everyone agreed with what he said, because swearing indiscriminately did not improve the situation.
“After Francois Carlos was defeated, the imperial army began to occupy Francois territory indiscriminately. Therefore, Marshal Bonn assumed that if things continued like this, it would be difficult to capture more than 1/4 of Francois, which was the minimum goal set before starting the expedition.”
It was an admission of ‘actual defeat’ that could not be said in front of people such as soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and low-ranking officers… but
the officers of the United Kingdom generally agreed with this statement, as they did not obtain their rank insignia through a poker game.
As they fought against the Francois Republic for over 5 years, the number of expeditionary forces departing from the United Kingdom decreased, and the supply of weapons and food from the home country also decreased significantly.
In this situation, the positive interpretation that it would be possible to win against the fresh imperial army was nothing more than groundless optimism.
“Therefore, we will have to request more military support from our home country and secure food through active looting… Does everyone agree?”
Just as everyone was about to express their agreement to that statement, there was a knock on the conference room door.
“someone?”
“I’m a messenger. I’m sorry I’m in the middle of a meeting. “Colonel Stanford asked me to deliver this letter to the Marshal, saying he thought he should read it.”
Everyone thought that Colonel Stanford, the head of the Stanford Earl family and a promising officer, would not say anything nonsense.
“Hurry and bring it.”
The messenger carefully opened the door, entered, and delivered to the Marshal a letter engraved with the golden seal of the Reich Empire.
As soon as George received it, he immediately opened the seal and read its contents.
When the formal greeting was over and the actual content came out, he ground his teeth so hard that everyone in the conference room could hear it.
“Peter Yeager, you fucking bastard!”
As soon as the five-star Marshal of the United Kingdom Army spoke the six-headed letter, the atmosphere froze.
“What exactly does it say?”
George slammed his fist on the desk very hard and lost his temper.
“Peter Jaeger, that damn bastard, proposed a peace treaty on the condition that we leave only the ‘County of Calais’ behind. “What kind of fool can you say such arrogant things about our United Kingdom?”
Peter Yeager regarded them as evil bastards with cursed tastes who went about doing all sorts of disgusting things in a corner of the island nation.
He had a very objective understanding of the capabilities of the United Kingdom, which is why he handed over this provocative peace treaty.
Just as it hurts the most when you tease a weak guy and call him a piece of trash, everyone was unable to control their anger when they politely ignored the fact that the United Kingdom was weaker than the Empire with plausible phrases.
Everyone in the conference room shook themselves and stood up.
“Let’s kill that fucking bastard, Peter Yeager. “It’s worth a try if we get additional support from our home country!”
“They say their army is 200,000 strong, but if we receive support from our home country, it won’t be difficult to restore our army to around 200,000!”
“Isn’t it time to spread the majesty of the United Kingdom to the world?”
While everyone was gnashing their teeth in anger, the military commander, Chamberlain, stepped forward.
“Even if the home country sends supplies and troops, we cannot defeat Peter Yeager. According to what I heard from Chancellor Cornwall, the troops that the United Kingdom can send are mostly peasants and low-level mercenaries.”
Everyone sat down at those words.
Peter Jaeger: To defeat that guy, it wouldn’t be enough to get 50,000 first-grade troops, but what’s the use if you get 3rd-grade mercenaries and 50,000 serfs?
“In addition, even if they send us supply support, they say it’ll only last for half a year. So, as the Commander of the Expeditionary Force of the United Kingdom, I disagree with this opinion. “We have to do ‘peace negotiations’ anyway.”
Marshal George ground his teeth so hard that he thought he might break them.
“Lieutenant General Chamberlain, what do you think we should do then? “Please tell me what you think.”
“I first found two meanings in the peace treaty they proposed.”
“Two meanings?”
“The first is that their will to sign a peace treaty with us is sincere. The second thing is, if they are going to make peace, they want to do so from a position that is completely advantageous to them.”
Then this time, Deputy Commander Stonewall asked:
“Isn’t the Reich Empire on a roll now? But why do you think your intention to conclude a peace treaty is sincere?”
Chamberlain looked at Stonewall with confident eyes and answered.
“Deputy Commander, they must have made this suggestion in anticipation of the food and material shortages they would face in the future.”
It has only been a few months since the start of the war in the Reich Empire, but there is already a shortage of supplies, so is the commander in chief of the Military Logistics Command talking nonsense about trying to end the war at this level?
‘There’s no way Peter Jaeger of the Imperial Army and the Minister of Military Affairs who creates food and iron out of the air would make such a mistake, right?’
However, unless the military commander is crazy, he would not make a fool of himself by saying something that is nothing but bullshit at such an important event, so I was very curious about the reason and basis for why he said this.
Everyone listened to him.
If they talk nonsense, give them a hard slap to make them come to their senses.
“The Reich Empire is still investing enormous amounts of food and manpower into stabilizing the territory it took from the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and three other countries.
Therefore, the empire cannot have much ‘surplus food and supplies’ right now.”
Although the remaining three countries handed over their territory, the situation was very bad because they all overexerted themselves when sending ‘1 million allied troops’.
The people and citizens who lived in Polski, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, were massacred, and other areas were also severely devastated, so that over 10 million people were forced to starve without ‘supplied’ food.
Therefore, Lieutenant General Chamberlain’s story was a very realistic analysis.
“In the meantime, Peter Yeager decided that this was the best time to secure his country’s interests, so he mobilized 250,000 troops and invaded. And as proof of that, he inflicted a huge blow on the Francois Republic army in a short period of time. And isn’t Francois rapidly taking over land like egg yolk?”
Everyone started nodding their heads at those words.
“They anticipated all of this and attacked in order to gain as much profit as possible in a short period of time. After all, Peter Yeager is just like that monster.”
“You dare take such an insane gamble even though your empire is short on supplies.”
“He is wisely crazy.”
Chamberlain chuckled as he saw public opinion shifting in his favor.
“So, if we start peace negotiations with the Reich Imperial Army. It may take some time, but as negotiations continue, they will gradually come up with reasonable conditions. Therefore, I think it is right to pursue peace negotiations now, but what is your opinion?”
Marshal George also
wanted to end the war while protecting the territory equivalent to 1/3 of Francois’s territory that they currently occupied, rather than lose everything while fighting Peter Jaeger.
“Let’s do that. “Then who will be the messenger to conduct the peace negotiations?”
Immediately after those words, one person stood up.
“This is Lieutenant General William Pitt, commander of the 7th Corps. I will personally go and risk my life to negotiate peace on reasonable terms. Please leave full authority to me.”
“I will do that. “Leave for the Reich Imperial Army headquarters with the minimum number of troops.”
In this way, the United Kingdom army planned a strategy based on their own misunderstanding of the imperial army and risked their own fate.
However, what they misunderstood was that Peter Jaeger’s Reich Empire had more supplies stockpiled than they imagined…
If they wanted to, the empire would not starve even if they fought this war for three more years.
See next episode