The Kingdom of Britannia and the Kingdom of Francia strongly criticized the Empire’s actions, arguing that the Democratic Republic was innocent.
However, their criticism fell on deaf ears, and the western margraves, who had been waiting for this moment, immediately marched their troops into the Democratic Republic.
Within half a day of the outbreak of war, two-thirds of the territory bordering the Empire had been taken, and the territory was being rapidly occupied.
The overwhelming forces of the Empire. . . . . . .
The most frightening thing was that these were just the margraves’ territorial troops. The Empire had not yet sent its regular army.
“The margraves alone have 200,000 troops! What the. . . . . . .”
The Democratic Republic’s regular army numbered only 300,000. They had issued a general mobilization order in advance and gathered volunteers to fight for freedom, and currently had 1 million conscripts.
The problem was the size of the Empire’s regular army. The Empire’s regular army had two field armies as standing troops in peacetime. Each field army had 300,000 soldiers, so the two field armies totaled 600,000.
In addition, during wartime, they would mobilize reservists to form an additional field army and an army corps, and the military district troops alone numbered 1 million.
The Democratic Republic had to fill the number that they had to mobilize with just a reserve mobilization order, which was incredibly reckless. . . . . . .
“What did the Kingdom of Britannia and the Kingdom of Francia say?”
Foreign Minister shook his head at President Jean Bradlay’s question.
“It seems they have no intention of participating in the war yet.”
“Hmph. . . Don’t they understand that if we don’t stop them together at the very beginning, we will all fall together!”
“Urgent news! The Emperor of the Empire has authorized the individual participation of the lords!”
“What!”
The lords of the Empire’s territories could have up to 50,000 troops if they were margraves, and up to 5,000 troops if they were ordinary lords.
That meant that if individual lords participated in the war, they could send up to 3,000 troops to fight, excluding the troops necessary to maintain order in their territories.
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“Earl of Winchester.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“When can we expect the delivery of the new weapons?”
“Since we secured the production line when we started making the weapons, we can produce 1,000 ‘Oswald Rifles’ per day.
As it has been five days since we started production, we already have 5,000 rifles, which we will send to the Western Military District immediately. We are also mass-producing 100 ‘Wald Machine Guns’ per day, and we have already produced about 500 of them, which we will also send to the Western Military District immediately.”
“What about bullets?”
“We have made them to use the same caliber as the existing Winchester V series, so you don’t have to worry about bullets.”
“What is the production capacity of the Oswald Cannon?”
“We are currently producing ten Oswald Cannons per day.”
“Would you be willing to sell the license for the Oswald Cannon to the Maesterium? I will pay you a generous price.”
“Since our goal is to win the war, we will sell the license for the sake of Your Majesty and the nation.”
“I will grant you a higher peerage in recognition of your service.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“By the way, I heard that your son created these weapons.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I would like to give your son the opportunity to work at the Maesterium. What do you think?”
“I am ashamed to say that my son is currently a cadet at the Imperius Academy.”
“Oh. . . . . . . Then he will naturally be placed in the military.”
“Yes, that is likely.”
“I understand. I hope you will continue to work hard for the Empire in the future.”
After that, Winchester Nation was elevated to a margraviate and became the Marquessate of Winchester, making it the de facto overlord of the East.
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Gilgamesh came to visit Oswald after hearing that he had returned to the academy.
“In the end, you couldn’t stop it. But what’s this about new weapons?”
“I recreated the weapons I showed you when I fought you with the help of my father’s gunsmiths. Since war is going to break out anyway, it’s better to end it quickly with minimal casualties.”
“You’re trying to save the Empire, too.”
“Yes, it may seem like a cruel choice, but. . . it was for the best.”
“Perhaps it would have been easier for the Empire to unify the West and use that power to fight against Chaos. Don’t blame yourself for a war that has already started.”
“Thank you.”
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