After Alexa talked at length with Wilhelm, Adele, and Alfred, she decided to hold another war council with the generals and officers present in the Army of the Leine and Battle Group Clausewitz. All of them were given copies of the eight points presented by the rebels in advance, and they were all allowed to discuss amongst themselves and present their opinion in the matter.
Of course, Alexa also needed the input of other groups of interest in the Empire, but that wasn’t exactly a big deal for her. What mattered was ending this war in a manner that would satisfy all parties involved, including her. Unfortunately, that was a difficult thing to achieve.
“We should accept this,” said Lieutenant General Nicholas Alte of the VII Corps. “Of course, we should probably remove some of the most egregious terms, like the 5th and 6th terms, but the rest sounds quite good to me.”
“Quite good to you, because you’re a commoner,” spat General Clemens von Blucher of the XI Corps. “I cannot agree with any of this. We have force to enforce our own terms. We shall protect the ways that ensure the power of Her Highness!”
General Stefan von Bismarck made his points clear on the side. “Most of these terms will not go down well with the nobility in the rear. We might even face a rebellion from them should we agree to this. That said…the people would be quite overjoyed. Personally, I’m deeply against the 6th term, yet I admit that should Her Highness grant this, her popularity will soar to heights unseen.”
Alexa tilted her head at that. It had been explained earlier to her that most of the lands in the Empire were only owned by nobles ‘in paper,’ and they were otherwise uncultivated or undeveloped. Alfred, her knight, who was schooled in matters of economics, told her that merchant families had long pushed for being allowed to buy these lands.
Of course, it wouldn’t just be them buying it. If many peasants were to buy their own land, including merchants, commoners as a whole would find Alexa as a woman of the people. As a side effect, he also admitted that the economic potential from it was great, considering most of these lands were effectively locked out of development or were being mismanaged by nobles.
In comparison, peasants or major businesses owning it would have an incentive to try to make it commercially profitable. It was an all-around good reform in that case in Alexa’s mind, especially since she personally wouldn’t lose much. Most of the lands under the House of Wolgast was already lost to the demon horde, and the lands they did have were mostly palaces and castles in the interior of the Empire, alongside the land around them.
Since Alexa’s family held the throne, there had never been that much need for them to have much business related to agriculture. Most chartered companies owned by her family were involved in the manufacturing of weapons and ships. In Alexa’s mind, she hardly cared about a reform that would weaken her unruly nobles and strengthen the commoners, who largely viewed Alexa with fondness.
Still, it seems that a lot of folks in my armies are nobles too.
That was the major problem Alexa had. She needed to find a good balance; else, she would risk splitting her forces apart due to their differences. While many of the officers were already commoners, like Pascal, Nicholas, and Max, officers like Stefan and Clemens were of old nobility. Even if Stefan right now wasn’t speaking with outright hostility to the terms, he was likely only considering Alexa’s presence.
Inside, he probably hated it.
Meanwhile, the rest of her armies were commoners. In other words, if she would consider her response to the enemies’ demands, she would have to make sure that the side she would pick was right. The more powerful side had to be satisfied with it, while the less powerful side would have to be only mildly unsatisfied.
“What they essentially demand here is the destruction of the old regime,” Clemens spoke up again, his face red. “I thought we were fighting against them and their radical nonsense? Why are we even debating this?”
“What of the saintess?” Nicholas asked aloud. “What does she think of this? She’s been the most crucial individual in this fight, after all.”
On the side of the tent, Phoebe, who had so far been trying to make herself look little to avoid being seen, turned red. She flailed her hands wildly. “S-sorry, but I also don’t know. I have no idea what all of this means, and I wish to leave it to the experts around me. If I do want to say one thing, though…it is that I want the enemy to surrender peacefully.”
“Right…” Alexa finally spoke from her seat, placing down the piece of paper on the table. “As Phoebe said, that should be our priority. The further we go in this mess, the more bodies will be left rotting in the fields, and the more wives will find themselves widowed, and the more children will find themselves fatherless. Not discounting the families who sent their daughters here too.”
Most officers nodded in approval of Alexa’s words, though some made their displeasure subtly known by slight sighs and groans. They were mostly nobles, who, in Alexa’s observation at the moment, were the ones who really, really didn’t like the terms presented by the rebels. Only Adele, who was quite hardline at saying no to the terms that affected the nobility, respected Alexa’s words, as she also wanted fewer deaths overall.
“In any case, we will draft a response soon,” Alexa said. “Terms may be removed, or may be added. Then we’ll send it back to the enemy. If they refuse…”
“We’re going to force them to agree,” Wilhelm grinned on the side. “It shouldn’t be too hard. We just need to beat ‘em up a little bit more, and they won’t mind having a few terms knocked off that piece of paper.”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Right…” Alexa smiled. “At least now, the enemy has decided to talk to us. Even if it’s quite arrogant for them to send these demands to me as if they were god, I…” Alexa felt her chest lightening up. “It feels good to know that there’s still hope for less bloodshed.”
Of course, this might also just be a trick, a ruse even, to delay or weaken me. But I won’t let that happen, because while we’re negotiating…
The fighting had to go on.
+++
General Pascal Seyfried looked onward to the southwest of their positions using his telescope.
In the distance, the bruised and battered First Continental Army was once again on the retreat after a brief battle. They had clashed in the fields of Pielcz earlier, with the First Continental Army attempting to defend the various towns and villages in the area while using the marshy terrain as a means to slow down the advance of the Army of the West under Pascal.
Unfortunately, the enemy general, Wilson Streicher, failed. In a few hours of bitter artillery duel, alongside a few daring cavalry charges on Wilson’s left flank by Pascal’s lancer regiments, the First Continental Army found itself once again in a dangerous position, forcing it into yet another fighting retreat.
Behind Pascal, his aide, a middle-aged man known as Colonel Egon von Papenheim, a former knight from the Royal Guard, patted his shoulder with a wide grin. The noble soldier laughed heartily beside Pascal, pointing at the running rebels ahead of them.
“They’ve fled again!” Egon declared. “I say, good sir, that we should rush them at once. Our lancers and hussars stand at the ready. We can pick off their lagging formations quite easily.”
Pascal tried to ignore his subordinate as he watched the enemy’s retreating formations. Unlike Pascal, who was measured and cautious, Egon was a hothead, and as a knight, he was similar to your average cavalry officer. He was daring and bold, and he was actually the one who organized the cavalry charge on the enemy’s left flank.
Sometimes, he would even ride his own horse, pick up his own lance, and join the cavalry in their deranged charges. It was all good that he didn’t do that earlier, as the enemy managed to somewhat entrench themselves in the marshes. It was only through the weight and good spirit of Pascal’s lancers that allowed them to break through the enemy’s defense lines.
Due to the high levels of Pascal’s lancers, alongside their heavy enchanted armor, they largely weathered the enemy’s crossbows with ease. Unfortunately, such equipment and strength mattered little when it came to facing indirect artillery fire, which was now all too common in the battlefield.
Pascal lost a good ten percent of his cavalry earlier, so his response to Egon’s suggestion was simple.
“No. Not yet,” Pascal declared. “Not until the enemy decides to reposition their shützes in the rear. Remember Her Highness’s words back then.”
Pascal lowered his telescope, turned to Egon, and smiled at the nobleman. “Don’t die. Come back home. You should consider that girl’s wishes.”
“Hmph. As if that matters. We will come back home no matter what. What matters is that we bring glory to this army by putting down those rebel scums at once. Ergo, the Imperium has lost too much of its prestige. We must strike them down and earn their fear again!”
“There you go again, going on and on about our reputation. Isn’t it enough that we already forced them back? You’ll have another battle to prove ‘our’ strength once more.”
“It’s not enough. We can rout and annihilate so many of their units right now, but if we wait for their artillery to retreat as well, they will have reorganized. You do know why those shützes remained, right?”
“I know,” Pascal nodded. “They’re there to cover the retreat, obviously. And that’s why I cannot risk my cavalry, not under these circumstances.”
Pascal issued another set of orders to his men after that little debate between him and his aide. Later, he went to the tent where Sir Wilhelm’s second-in-command, who had so far closely attached himself to the Army of the West to observe and direct them, was resting. Inside, the Defense Forces officer was having his fine time with coffee, served to him by a young female lieutenant who was assigned as his aide in the meantime.
Lieutenant Sofia Neindhart stiffened up when she noticed Pascal entering, shooting a glare at Captain Richard Erhart, who was caught unaware as he relaxed on his seat.
“Captain Richard! General Seyfried is here!” Sofia snapped at him. “Stand up!”
The Defense Forces officer raised his eyes to turn to Pascal before shrugging and standing up.
“Aye, aye. Geez, you’re too much of a stickler for rules, huh? Not like ole Pascal here cares.”
“S-sir?”
As a part of the lower nobility, naturally, Sofia was a bit of a strict person when it came to protocol and rules in the military, especially since she joined here to make a name for her family after she failed to join the Royal Guard’s knight orders. On the other hand, Captain Richard, as with all commoner officers in the Defense Forces, while professional and capable, was also quite aloof about formality.
As a result, this kind of spat was inevitable. Pascal just ignored it, as he was getting used to it, and he didn’t care much, because Richard was really just here to act as Sir Wilhelm’s plant to keep watch on the Army of the West.
“Captain,” Pascal spoke up. “I’ve heard you just arrived here by horse. Where did you come from?”
“Ah. Yes, sorry. Some wyvern knight from the Royal Guard dispatched a letter to me. It’s from Wilhelm.”
“That so? I see…”
Pascal readied himself as Richard rummaged through his wallet. He seemed to have folded it inside. He handed it to Pascal, and Pascal unfolded it, scanning through the letter. It was penned by Wilhelm to be read by both Richard and Pascal.
“It seems that the sly fox wants us to aggressively pursue the First Continental Army,” Richard said, lazily yawning. “Since they’ve defeated the Second Continental Army, he probably intends to sandwich the First Continental Army between us and the Army of the Leine.”
“It says here that the enemy is starting negotiations,” Pascal frowned. “Have you read this?”
“I did. Not that it matters, it just means the enemy is now beaten enough that they’re trying alternative tactics to fighting.” That was when Richard’s face hardened again. “We should focus on our job, though, if the enemy indeed is suing for peace. That is, we have to beat them hard enough to give Her Highness maximum leverage.”
Pascal nodded, folding back the piece of paper. If that was the case, then that meant that the end of the war was near. He got out of Richard’s tent, rushed to Egon, and told his aide that he should begin organizing the hussars and lancers for another bold cavalry charge.
