Even though he had promised Count Churchwick that he would carefully consider the peace and ceasefire demands put forth by Grand Duke Handra and the others, the
The most infuriating thing, however, was
Lorist's meaning was clear—the Second Prince should quit while he was ahead and stop being so relentless. After all, he was the one in the wrong. The four central Grand Dukes had always been on good terms with the kingdom during the late king's reign, and they were renowned noble houses from the old imperial era who had been loyal to the empire and made great contributions. How had they suddenly become traitors under his rule? So before pointing fingers at others, he ought to clean up his own mess first…
The Second Prince was livid at Lorist's barbed sarcasm, yet he could do nothing about it—neither in personal martial strength nor in family power did he have any leverage. To be fair, the
Moreover, when Grand Duke Fakel had gone berserk, burning towns and granaries and deliberately creating waves of refugees, it was Lorist who had resolved the Second Prince's predicament. Though Lorist had pulled many little tricks of his own, his contribution to the cause of reuniting the empire was unparalleled. In particular, the capture of the Weilongni Pass at the end of last year had created precisely this favorable war situation for the Second Prince, forcing the four central Grand Dukes to send envoys suing for peace.
Compared to the outstanding performance of the Norton family's armed forces, the family military corps brought by the other nobles might as well have been standing around doing nothing. And the White Lion Legion, personally commanded by the Second Prince, was more like a pack of laborers—suffering nearly fifty percent casualties with negligible results to show for it. The Fisablen family's reserve corps had simply accompanied the White Lion Legion to serve as cannon fodder, there to absorb the casualties. In any case, it was all barbarian cavalry who died, so Grand Duke Fisablen wasn't bothered—the more casualties they suffered, the more it demonstrated his loyalty to the Second Prince.
This was the Second Prince's greatest source of anguish: the more military achievements Lorist accumulated, the less obedient the Norton family's forces became. The four families of the Northland were in cahoots together, all following Lorist's lead. If he couldn't command Lorist, then Duke Kenmais, Count
No matter how the Second Prince tried to win them over or drive wedges between them, they remained unmoved. Take Count Shahin, for instance—the Second Prince had assigned him the lucrative task of mopping up the ennobled territories in Folundo Duchy. Shahin had expressed his tearful gratitude, leading the Second Prince to believe he was deeply loyal and could be relied upon, perhaps even lured away from the Northern Alliance by exploiting his love of money. Yet the moment Count Shahin returned to the front, he once again sided with Lorist, leaving the Second Prince with a bitter sense of futility—all the effort he'd invested in Shahin had been utterly wasted.
In name, the allied forces of the Andinak Kingdom numbered over three hundred thousand, but the Second Prince was clear-eyed enough to know that the only forces he could actually command were the White Lion Legion and the Fisablen family's reserve corps. The White Lion Legion had suffered nearly fifty percent casualties through the grueling battles, leaving roughly thirty thousand men. The reserve corps, though composed of barbarian cavalry, had also lost nearly ten thousand and were grumbling restlessly. No one was a fool—comparing the two, they were far more willing to follow Lorist's commands, which meant fewer casualties and extra pay, rather than the Second Prince's orders, which amounted to sending them to die.
As for the Third Border Patrol Corps, that was Grand Duke Fisablen's darling. The Second Prince knew he couldn't touch that corps, and he also secretly hoped it would return intact to cause problems for Lorist. Sometimes, when the Second Prince calmed down and reflected honestly, he had to admit that without Lorist's help, the campaign against the four central duchies could never have gone so smoothly with so few casualties. If the Second Prince had been in command the entire time, he would certainly have adopted a head-on approach, hammering through by brute force—and he might not even have destroyed a single duchy by now.
This wasn't the Second Prince admitting his military strategy was inferior to Lorist's; rather, it was the difference between viewing things from a king's perspective versus a general's. From his standpoint, the ideal campaign against the four central duchies would have been for the Northern Alliance's family forces and the four duchies' armies to fight each other to mutual destruction, with him stepping in at the end to reap the spoils. That way, he would destroy the four duchies while simultaneously crippling the Northern Alliance's strength and eliminating the threat they posed. That would have been the perfect outcome.
At the same time, in order to reassure Grand Duke Fisablen—who was following him on campaign for the first time—the Second Prince had no choice but to place Lorist at the front, where he was constantly parading right under his nose. And then Lorist had gone and achieved yet another great victory. Looking at the casualty figures, the heaviest losses among the Northern Alliance belonged to Duke Kenmais's two heavy infantry regiments—over thirteen hundred killed and wounded. Next was Count Shahin, who had been clearing out the noble territories, with seven to eight hundred casualties in his family forces.
It was practically a slap in the Second Prince's face. Rumors had been circulating in the army that his reputation as a great military strategist was entirely unearned.
The Second Prince felt utterly helpless. He couldn't do anything about Lorist, and Duke Kenmais and the others supported Lorist's position of not continuing the offensive. Even Grand Duke Fisablen had privately told him that one should leave room in one's dealings—why insist on driving the four Grand Dukes to complete destruction? After all, they had already submitted.
The Second Prince had no one to confide in, and his real calculations could not be brought into the open. It wasn't that he was unwilling to spare the four central Grand Dukes—he had his eye on the eleven provinces of their duchies. The Andinak Kingdom's territory was vast, but aside from a few provinces surrounding the imperial capital, the rest were not under the Second Prince's control. Those provinces around the capital had long been bled dry by his own machinations. Ever since he had conscripted three hundred thousand soldiers in his earlier attempt to unify the empire, the local areas had been stripped nearly bare. So when he returned to the capital to reclaim the throne, he had been forced to turn on the kingdom's nobles—even at the cost of his reputation—because he needed wealth, food, and military supplies to fund and prepare his armies.
The Second Prince's grand plan was this: after destroying the four central duchies, he would have eleven provinces returned to his direct control. Leveraging the excellent economic environment and human resources of those eleven provinces, all he needed was three or four more years to amass an army of five or six hundred thousand. Then he would march to the borders of the Commercial Alliance. Even if the Commercial Alliance already possessed a Country-Guarding Sword Saint and had become the largest nation on the Galentea Continent, they would still have to consider whether maintaining a mortal enemy in the form of the kingdom was worth the cost.
The Second Prince was confident that those merchants would rationally understand that his demands were modest: as long as the Commercial Alliance returned the handful of imperial provinces it had seized, peace could be achieved. And he, as the emperor restoring the empire, would graciously grant those merchants the convenience and privileges of re-establishing trade routes within the empire. He could even use those merchants to strike at the Northern Alliance's Snow Salt Trading Company—killing two birds with one stone…
This was why, after days of deliberation, the Second Prince still refused to accept Count Churchwick's peace overture. He absolutely could not allow the four central Grand Dukes to reclaim their traditional family territories—the most developed and refined areas among those eleven central provinces. Without those four provinces, the grand blueprint in the Second Prince's mind would shatter into pieces, and the plan to restore and reunify the empire would be indefinitely postponed.
But the combined noncooperation of the Northern Alliance led by Lorist and the persistent persuading of Grand Duke Fisablen finally forced the Second Prince to make a decision. He summoned Count Churchwick and had him deliver his reply to the four central Grand Dukes: the terms were simple—he would forgive the four Grand Dukes, but their family territories would need to be transferred to the provinces surrounding the imperial capital.
Furthermore, the tribute payments of the four Grand Dukes would be doubled. Grand Duke Handra, Grand Duke Folundo, and Grand Duke Sabagi would each need to pay one and a half million gold Forde. Grand Duke Fakel, however, would have to pay three million gold Forde as punishment for his crime of burning the capital city and towns. The final condition: the four Grand Dukes must reorganize their forces. They would be permitted to bring one corps of forty-five thousand to their new family territories, while the rest of their troops would be handed over to the Second Prince.
As for the various territorial nobles who had sided with the four central Grand Dukes against the Second Prince, he would reassess their titles and territories based on their families' historical contributions to the empire, reassigning them to new locations or reducing their holdings, so that they would no longer be vassals of the four Grand Dukes.
Truth be told, the reply the Second Prince offered was extraordinarily harsh—beyond anyone's expectations. Count Churchwick wanted to protest, but the Second Prince refused to see him. He sent word through his personal guards that this was the final decision and would not be changed. Count Churchwick had no choice but to leave the camp in bitter frustration and return with the message.
Duke Kenmais and the others were bewildered and privately asked Lorist why the Second Prince would propose such harsh conditions. Wasn't he obviously driving the four central Grand Dukes to their deaths? Could it be that a continuation of the war would bring the Second Prince even greater benefits?
Lorist smiled coldly, tapping the map spread on the table, and said with a sneer: "His Majesty has his sights set on those eleven provinces of the four central duchies. It's simple—for him, while gold Forde is important, it can't compare to the manpower and resources of those eleven provinces. Relying on just the few provinces around the capital to unify the empire is nothing but a pipe dream. With those eleven provinces in hand, he has the confidence to take on the Commercial Alliance."
Everyone suddenly understood. Lorist warned them to heighten their defenses. Once the four central Grand Dukes received the Second Prince's reply, there was a strong likelihood they would fight to the death. If that happened, the war would drag on indefinitely with no one knowing when it would end. Moreover, they might resort to extreme measures such as assassinations, so everyone needed to protect themselves. However, Lorist was more hopeful that the four central Grand Dukes would accept the Second Prince's terms…
"What did you say? How could they possibly agree to such harsh conditions?" Count Shahin declared it impossible. "If it were me, I would rather die than accept terms like these."
Lorist shook his head with a smile: "You don't understand. When it comes to the survival and continuation of a family line, the four Grand Dukes cannot afford the luxury of personal feelings. They will have to consider this carefully. Though the Second Prince's conditions are rather harsh, they are not entirely unacceptable. Money may be precious, but can it compare to a family's continuity? Besides, the Second Prince is only having them relocated, not stripped of their ranks—they will still hold the title of Grand Duke. Once they arrive at their new territories, they can quickly establish control. With their family forces and their domain, they won't need to worry about the future."
……
On the sixth day of July in the year 1783 by the common calendar of the Galentea Continent—more than a month and nearly fifty days after Count Churchwick's departure—the allied forces of the Andinak Kingdom remained encamped before the second defensive line of the Handra Duchy, locked in a standoff with the enemy. The Second Prince was still sulking with Lorist because Lorist insisted on not attacking. And the Second Prince could no longer lead the White Lion Legion and the Fisablen family's reserve corps into another suicide mission. Grand Duke Fisablen shuttled back and forth between them, exhausting his words of persuasion, and finally managed to calm the Second Prince down enough to agree to a continuation of the standoff for a while longer.
On that very night, battle cries suddenly erupted along the second defensive line of the Handra Duchy, and flames lit up the sky. The Second Prince, Lorist, and the others were startled awake and rushed to investigate. They discovered that the camp under attack belonged to Grand Duke Fakel's Green Forest Mountain Corps and Blood Lance Corps. The situation was rather strange—even the Second Prince was pondering whether this might be a trap designed to lure him into attacking.
At that moment, several scout riders from the Pegasus Corps brought back the blood-soaked Count Churchwick. He reported to the Second Prince that Grand Duke Handra, Grand Duke Folundo, and Grand Duke Sabagi had all agreed to the Second Prince's terms and were willing to surrender. However, Grand Duke Fakel had been ranting about fighting to the death, swearing never to submit. They had finally managed to persuade him, only for him to claim he simply didn't have enough gold Forde to pay the tribute.
Just as Grand Duke Handra and the others were discussing whether to send an envoy to the Second Prince to beg for a reduction in the tribute, Grand Duke Fakel abruptly ordered his two corps to plunder the towns and villages of the Handra Duchy—burning, killing, and looting without restraint. Grand Duke Handra sent people to stop him, but Fakel retorted: "Since you're all going to surrender anyway, this territory will soon cease to be your family domain. We might as well loot, kill, and burn everything while we can—leave nothing but a wasteland for that Second Prince!"
Grand Duke Handra was so enraged he vomited blood. He led his forces into battle against Grand Duke Fakel, and after a fierce engagement, finally managed to push Fakel's two corps back to their defensive positions. He then persuaded Grand Duke Folundo and Grand Duke Sabagi to prepare a siege around Grand Duke Fakel and his two corps before surrendering to the Second Prince. Unexpectedly, before they could move, Grand Duke Fakel was already preparing to break out under cover of night.
Fortunately, the garrison forces of the Handra Duchy stationed at the base of the mountain had been on alert and prevented Fakel from breaking through. But the situation had been thrown into complete chaos. Grand Duke Folundo was leading one corps in a direct assault on the camp held by Grand Duke Fakel's forces, and fighting erupted between the mountain and the foothills—battle was raging everywhere. Count Churchwick had barely managed to extricate himself from the melee before rushing over to request reinforcements…
The Second Prince was overjoyed upon hearing this. He urgently ordered Grand Duke Fisablen and Lorist, Count Filim, and Count Shahin to lead their family cavalry forces to reinforce the position and ensure that Grand Duke Fakel—the chief culprit—would not escape. This time, Lorist gave the Second Prince full face and immediately obeyed the order, leading the Flying Tiger Corps to the scene.
The arrival of the cavalry was the death knell for Grand Duke Fakel's two corps. The slaughter was like crushing dry weeds—they fell by the ranks, and survivors threw down their arms. However, it seemed these two corps had committed too many atrocities in the Handra Duchy, because after the soldiers of Fakel's two corps were rounded up, they were subjected to a massacre by the vengeful garrison troops of the Handra Duchy. By the time Lorist discovered what was happening, it was too late to stop it. Of the nearly thirty thousand prisoners, well over half were slaughtered. Fewer than ten thousand Fakel soldiers survived…
The clash between Grand Duke Handra and Grand Duke Fakel signaled the end of the Second Prince's war to conquer the four central duchies. Grand Duke Handra, Grand Duke Folundo, and Grand Duke Sabagi submitted to the Second Prince, while Grand Duke Fakel broke out with barely a hundred cavalrymen through the encirclement of the Handra Duchy's garrison forces and fled to the Majik Province, where he sought refuge with the Commercial Alliance. Under the guise of an exile seeking asylum, he became a displaced Grand Duke.
……