Chapter 17
As is often the case in fantasy worlds, this Kingdom is far from having a strong monarchy.
The Nobility rule their territories like Monarchs, the King's authority extends only to the Royal Palace and the Royal Estate, and it's considered natural for lords to create their own laws and Private Soldiers.
Aside from the fact that they don't have independent diplomatic or war declaration rights and they pay taxes, they're practically nations within a nation.
As far as I know, aside from the Republic of Albione across the sea south of the Kingdom, it's probably the same everywhere.
Even the Federal Empire, with whom we're constantly at war, started as a union of various feudal lords.
An absolute monarchy where the King can execute his subjects at will and collect all the taxes centrally? A perfectly centralized government like Joseon?
We're a long way from that. Scholars are just beginning to propose such abstract concepts.
Feudalism is the common sense and foundation of this world, and any other system is nothing more than a strange anomaly or heresy.
That was the prevailing belief of most people.
So why am I suddenly bringing this up?
It's to explain the justification for shaking down these nobles.
"Haven't the troops deployed in the war against the Empire been almost entirely conscripted and supplied from the Royal Estate?"
"That's right. The Nobility usually fulfilled their obligations by providing military support."
Our war has been waged by the army established by the Royal Family and the Reinforcements sent by Royal Loyalist nobles, consisting of Private Soldiers.
The fact that many of the soldiers are from the Great Plains means, to be precise, that many soldiers are from the Royal Estate territories within the Great Plains.
On the other hand, the other nobles who weren't part of the loyalist faction mainly used money instead of sending troops. Buying weapons, gathering provisions, or sending aid.
In short, they bought their lives with money.
Of course, there were some houses that sent their Private Soldiers, but the scale was small. Compared to the Royal Family's mobilization, it was barely a tenth.
'Come to think of it, it's strange. It's been a protracted war for 10 years, why is it being conducted like this?'
Honestly, it's a bizarre way to fight a war.
To fight a powerful nation like the Empire, it would be normal to conscript able-bodied men from all regions and issue mobilization orders to all lords.
Even under Feudalism, the Kingdom is a nation with a long history and high administrative capacity. It has its own total war system.
It's only natural to gather all the nation's resources and fight.
I have no idea why they're stubbornly scraping together manpower from only specific groups.
They can't possibly think this is efficient. Is it because of the justification for the war or some political circumstances I'm unaware of?
I'll have to have Major, no, Colonel Kaise investigate this later. If I look closely, I'm sure something will turn up.
"If we continue to fight like this, the men of the Royal Estate will be extinct. For the past 10 years, every adult male has been dragged off to the army."
"So it's time for the Nobility to make sacrifices as well."
"Exactly."
Anyway.
Getting back to the main point, this method had to change. We could no longer impose unilateral sacrifices on specific regions.
And haven't we found a good justification? The House of Liebert is famously at odds with the Royal Family.
They arranged a marriage between the Crown Prince and the daughter of the house as a gesture of reconciliation, but I heard they're still politically opposed. Perfect conditions to find fault and provoke them.
We'll use this opportunity to crush the Nobility's ability to oppose us and strengthen the stability of the regime.
"Won't there be considerable backlash from each territory?"
"Let them try. The heads of the major houses are all confined in the Capital. They won't dare to rebel for fear of their masters' lives."
In this Kingdom, the lords often leave the management of their territories to employees or family members and live in the Capital for social activities. Just like in typical Romantic Fantasy novels.
Thanks to this, controlling the aristocratic residential areas of Lahator has been quite useful, using them as hostages.
If we make excessive demands, the territories might abandon the hostages and appoint new lords, so we have to draw a line.
"General Roytel, how much do you intend to demand?"
After a moment of contemplation in response to Lieutenant General Baden's polite question, I answered.
"40,000 to 50,000. That's the limit we can squeeze out immediately."
In the long run, I believe 100,000, even 200,000 is possible.
Comparing the size of the Royal Estate/Royal Loyalist territories and the rest, they should have that much capacity.
But if I tried to pull it all out at once, I could see the second Civil War coming. Everyone would come after us to kill us.
We've barely managed to seize the Capital, why would I use such a suicidal tactic?
We're not a faction that has a firm grip on the military like Park Chung-hee or Chun Doo-hwan. We're still walking on thin ice.
If we want to hold onto power for a long time, we have to act wisely.
So, I settled on 40,000. That seemed close to the bottom line they would accept, albeit with complaints.
"I'll go and persuade them. The one who proposed the idea should see it through."
Gathering some documents and papers, I rose from my seat. To extort money from these high and mighty lords.
* * * * *
A few hours later.
As I recited the decisions made at the meeting to the Monarch and the Nobility gathered in the Royal Palace's Audience Chamber, an explosive reaction erupted.
"You're going to take away the Private Soldiers we've painstakingly raised?! Are you insane?!"
"We've already made enough sacrifices! We've given you all sorts of supplies and military equipment, how dare you aim for our people too!"
"If you're going to kidnap my people, kill me first!!"
A feast of all sorts of bizarre nonsense ensued, and when it subsided a bit, Charles VII added his two cents.
"General Roytel. There's a lot of opposition, wouldn't it be better to reconsider? It seems difficult to push this through."
I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.
These bastards still haven't come to their senses and are making a fuss. Do you think this is a matter of giving you a choice and asking?
"Alright, I understand. If you're all this upset, it's only right for our Supreme Council for National Reconstruction to make a concession."
I pretended to back down. Thinking I'd yielded, their faces brightened.
"But we'll be releasing all the records of defeats caused by you to the public, so keep that in mind."
"....What?"
"Don't you understand? Let me say it again. We'll make sure that every citizen knows about the mess you've created."
I hardened my expression. I walked among the nobles with my Guards. Towards a certain pale-faced young man hidden among the splendid robes.
"It's been a while, Liebert."
"......Carolus von Roytel."
"I've heard about you. You tried to keep up with me and ruined the entire Western Army? Single-handedly destroying an army of 150,000, that's quite a feat. Defect to the Empire, and they'll treat you like a legendary general."
They lost over a hundred thousand troops. A scale of damage rarely seen even in large-scale battles.
And it was none other than this guy who single-handedly screwed up and lost them.
Wouldn't his talent rival that of Won Gyun, Joseon's greatest general? At this point, it might be right to transfer his nationality from the Kingdom to the Empire.
"Don't, don't insult me!"
"Insults are for fabricating falsehoods. You're not even worth insulting, you idiot."
Sigmund von Liebert clenched his fists and trembled. He seemed to be holding back from throwing a punch.
But he couldn't actually act on it. If he did, he'd be riddled with holes by the Guards.
I immediately turned my gaze elsewhere.
"There's another celebrity here. The name was....Friedrich, wasn't it?"
"Friedrich von Ritenheim."
"Right, that's it. Former commander of the 27th Division, Major General Ritenheim. The idiot who disobeyed his superior's orders during an operation on the Western Front and attempted a reckless advance, losing 70% of his troops."
"....."
"It was a serious offense punishable by summary execution, but you didn't even get dishonorably discharged, let alone any punishment. I heard you were even continuing your service after being transferred to a rear position, is that true?"
It didn't end there. I continued to list the crimes of the men I saw around me, one by one.
"Herman von Effenstein. Grenadier Brigade Commander, deserted because military life was hard."
"Adolf von Schreck. Embezzled funds for supplies for the reserve troops and was demoted."
"Gregor von Kanzoff. Leaked military secrets at a bar and was caught by the Military Police."
The Kingdom has a Royal Military Academy to train officers, but it doesn't exclusively recruit officers from there.
Nobles can easily obtain positions through their family's power and connections.
Those idiots, appointed with nothing but connections and no qualifications, naturally choose to do all sorts of idiotic things.
Of course, there are those who graduated from the academy who also cause trouble, but in terms of ratio, the latter is overwhelmingly superior. And even after all that, they don't even get properly punished because of their status.
What would happen if this were revealed to the public? They'd be furious, saying, "Our sons were being commanded by these idiots?"
"If we collected all the damage the Kingdom's Army has suffered because of you, we could make a whole stack of lists. Do you think the people would love to know about this?"
"You bastard....!"
"Don't try to bluff. There's only one thing you want to say."
I shouted, glaring at everyone around me.
"After screwing around for over 10 years like this, take responsibility for your own actions, you bastards with no conscience. Did I tell you to sacrifice your lives? You should at least show some sincerity by offering your soldiers to compensate for the damage!"
I threw the documents stating the conscription of troops from nobles other than the Royal Loyalists on the floor and declared.
"I'll be back in an hour, so get it approved. I've already selected the families that will be targeted, so it's best not to try anything funny."
And when I left and returned.
The Monarch's signature was written on the document, showing signs of being crumpled.