24 Round Table

It is in the middle of the Autumn of 1454, the Imperial Army decisively defeated the Royal Army at the 2nd Battle of Sommen Pass, contrast to the Summerwyn victory decades ago in the same place. But this time, the Imperial Army got the battle in its favor.

The Imperial Army, with its superior use of logistics and advanced bombard also with use of support magic, this contributed to the success of the battle for the Imperial Army. Meanwhile, the poorly-trained Royal Army which was technologically backward against the Imperial Army but was lead by the Kingdom's supposedly most "competent and talented tactician" Sir Fondee of Sienna was defeated due to his greed on taking the Imperial Bombards. Which resulted into his capture that lead to the disorganization and surrender of the Royal Army in the Sommen Pass.

Tens of thousands of Royal Army soldiers who fled from the collapsing frontline in the pass found their way into Fort Rose, until the King issued an order reducing the size of the garrison of the fort and the remnants of the Royal Army from the Sommen Pass was regrouped in Sienna.

The Royal Army had amassed a total of 415,000 troops in Inner Summerwyn, three hundred fifteen thousand in Sienna. While the rest of one hundred thousand was garrisoned in Lincliff.

And, four days after the Battle of Sommen Pass, the Imperial Army assaulted Fort Rose in the middle of the night in an unknown type of warfare. The Royal Army's 5,000 local garrison in the star fort was immediately defeated by the Imperial Army in seconds.

The time when Fort Rose fell and how did it happened remained a mystery to the Royal Army. The King and the Siennese government are now preparing for a soon possible siege on Sienna. Many from the Royal Army's circle are demoralized mostly soldiers from the previous battles against the Imperial Army and thought that the siege will end earlier and if not, in seconds.

However, not all hope is gone. The King had cooperated more with the British Army, the King has been expecting the might of the British Army after he saw the gallant metal birds flying from the skies caught his attention. He had allowed the British to build numerous military bases and installations in the Kingdom.

And, a secret military facility was built in the forests near the mountain ranges of Gardenia and the Sommen Pass in the inner part of Summerwyn. The British planned to make this base as a base of operations to harass Imperial logistics behind and conduct guerrilla warfare.

The Royal Air Force commenced an air raid into Imperial-occupied Fort Rose and released bombs from the superior British air bombers from the above, tens of thousands in the Imperial Army that night struck tragedy. As the bombs hit their roofs while sleeping peacefully after an exhausting victory party. Thousands of fresh imperial recruits and brilliant minds we're put to waste as the Imperial Army was not able to do anything against it.

They also saw the Union Jack in the warplanes from above, suggesting that they must be up against a new country. All in all, the Imperial Army suffered almost seventy to seventy-five thousand casualties in a single night.

Clause had reported the strange attack on the Imperial General Staff and the Emperor, the Holy Emperor was furious at the first news of defeat and ordered the remaining Imperial Army to march and lay siege on Sienna immediately.

The Emperor sent reinforcements to the Imperial Military Administration of Gardenia, and the Imperial Garrison in Vyonne in turn will be sent in advance before the Imperial reinforcements arrive in Vyonne. Ensuring that the Imperial Army besieging Sienna will be replenished in time before winter begins. The Imperial Army will indeed take time to arrive on Sienna. It will march from the the Imperial Military Administration of Gardenia and travel all the way to Inner Summerwyn until reaching Sienna. Arriving about 2 weeks from Vyonne, the Imperial Army will have two to three more weeks left before winter begins in the continent.

-- British Military Base, Sienna --

Meanwhile, in the British Military base in Sienna, a young soldier went to the Commander's main office to send information,

The young soldier saluted and exchanged greetings with the Commander,

"Commander!" one soldier hurriedly called the Commander,

"What is it?" the Commander asked,

"An invitation for the Commander to attend a meeting hosted by Her Majesty, Queen Anne and other rulers of the Continent in Reńe Palace by tomorrow at noon." the young soldier said to the Commander,

A letter was handed out to the Commander by the young soldier, the Commander opened it and it contained the following;

-- 1st Allied Meeting of Roseby, Conference of Sienna --

"Dear Commander George,

Her Majesty, Queen Anne of the United Kingdom is hereby inviting you to the 1st Allied Meeting in Reńe Palace, Sienna. To attend an important conference that will talk about the Holy Estermage Empire's aggressive unjust expansion into the entirety of the continent and the plan to fully eradicate the corrupt forces of the Holy Estermage Empire."

The Commander accepted the invitation from the Queen, an invitation directly from Her Majesty might mean that this meeting is of high significance since other rulers of the continent are also invited.

Night had came at the base and the Commander went to bed early. The next morning, a coach is waiting outside the Military Base for the Commander, and he used the coach waiting for him outside to reach Sienna.

The coach headed to the Reńe Palace in Sienna, it was still morning but Sienna is already filled with heavy traffic. As the foreign dignitaries had to enter roads specifically reserved for them. Several coaches from countries all throughout the continent had arrived in the outskirts of the majestic Reńe Palace.

the Commander's coach enters the lovely gardens of Reńe, before stopping in front of the Palace's entrance. The Commander stepped out of the coach and was lead by the servant to the King's Salon.

The Commander finally arrived in the salon, there is the King and Queen of the United Kingdom as well as the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Summerwyn.

The Commander saluted to the presence of his and her majesty's apparently the two highnesses of the Kingdom of Summerwyn didn't have any idea what he's doing.

The Commander bowed to the Monarchs of Summerwyn in order to avoid any insult, Commander George then sat to his designated chair.

Several minutes had passed, and several foreign dignitaries arrived in the room. The Duchess of Leońe,the President of the Republic of Italica,the exiled government of the Grand Ducal Confederacy and the Grand Bishop of the Theocracy of Esterloch.

Everyone gathered in a huge round table in the center, it was an idea proposed by the monarchs of the United Kingdom to represent the legendary Round Table by King Arthur.

"Greetings ladies and gentlemen from all over the continent, i am the Queen of the United Kingdom, Queen Anne. Queen of the Kingdoms of England,Scotland and Northern Ireland. Beside me is my husband, the King-Consort of the United Kingdom, King Winston"

"It is my pleasure to meet all of you, i hope that this conference today will result into fruition of a prosperous and peaceful future for the Continent."

"Since all the foreign attendants had come a long way just to visit this conference, we will finally begin the conference" the Queen added,

There, the Prime Minister Charles prepared his presentation in his laptop and a presentation appeared on a screen in front of the audience.

The dignitaries and the monarchs of Summerwyn we're shocked by the sudden light appearing from a screen in front of them,

The Prime Minister then began to explain to everyone:

"Ladies and Gentlemen from all over the continent, Welcome to the first-ever Sienna Allied Conference. The Sienna Conference aims to establish long-lasting peace in the continent. This Conference is to talk about the plans the British government has prepared for the future of Roseby,"

"First and foremost, the very concern of everyone right now is the expansion of the Holy Estermage Empire. The British Government has been planning an official visit to the Emperor for months now. And the British government decided to send a diplomatic envoy in advance this week to the Empire."

"That is why, the British Army had been working earnestly while anticipating a siege on this city that could also happen today, the chances are pretty much high. the Fortress of Rose fell into the Imperial Army a few days ago. Which was the last Summerwyn military stronghold to avert any foreign invasion from the west. This leaves the capital, Sienna to expose itself to the threat the Imperial Army is posing. Now, it is our turn to save the people of the continent against the forces of the Holy Estermage Empire"

"Firstly, the British government wants to cooperate with all the countries of the continent that was wrongfully occupied by the Empire, the British would support this' government's struggles against the Empire. The United Kingdom is committed in dismantling the Holy Estermage Empire and reform its institutions to turn the Empire into a democratic country. Granting everyone in the Empire equal rights"

The rulers in the room was horrified at those progressive social reforms of "equal and free rights" that will soon be present in the Empire. They can't accept the fact that they have to give up power to illiterate and retarded lowly-civilized people called peasants.

"So basically everyone in the continent must accept this ideas of 'Freedom'?" The Duchess of Leońe questioned the Prime Minister,

"If that's what you're asking milady, yes. Eventually all states in the continent must accept this social reforms that will be introduced by the United Kingdom to this conference"

The Duchess of Leońe kept silent,

"Ok, so back to the topic. As we all know, this conference will hugely be focused on the continental plan to finally exterminate the forces of the Empire. In order to do that, the United Kingdom wants that, all of the dignitaries representing their countries here. Must of course sign a friendly treaty of friendship and military alliance with the United Kingdom. A military alliance that will preserve the peace and power in the continent. In order to do that, all states present in this conference must agree to join the military pact the United Kingdom is proposing. The United Continental Pact, a military alliance that will protect and preserve the interests of its members and establish long-lasting peace in the continent"

The Duchess of Leońe was of course not an independent country, however the culture of Leońe is almost not entirely the same with the Empire. The only reason the Duchy of Leońe exists, it's because it's a duchy that is a vassal of the Holy Emperor. Thereby, making it not an independent state at least to the Westphalian point.

However, the Duchess has been looking for any signs of weakness to the Empire. And the current misfortunes the Empire has faced had convinced the Duchess to join in the Great Revolt led by the Holy Empress and secretly attend the Conference in Sienna.

The Duchess wants to establish the Duchy of Leońe as an independent state. But the "Freedom" and "Liberty" values the British had been spreading makes her think that it might be dangerous to let this ideas spread to her people.

The Duchess is a despot in nature, and she believes that she rules by her right and nobody else.

"If only i could stop this radical ideas, i guess there won't be stopping it" the Duchess thought,

"Everyone who rules by the Crown had nothing to worry about this ideas of Freedom, the powers of the Royalty will only be limited which in turn will help the economic and political development of your country. The United Kingdom has been working this ways for hundreds of years now and there has been no sign ever since that the United Kingdom will fall into anarchy." the Queen added,

"Her Majesty is indeed correct, the present government of the United Kingdom had evolved from the past three hundred to four hundred years ago, our ancestors fought a civil war that took a toll on the country. But in the end, the monarchy was restored and the United Kingdom's path into the global power of the world began. We call this type of government simply by the name of Constitutional Monarchy, in which a Monarch will distribute power to different branches and separate the powers of the state. Thereby limiting despotism and spur political debates that will hugely benefit the country in its future making decisions" the Prime Minister added,

Everyone in the room was starting to get an idea about this constitutional monarchy thing, but staunch despots like the Duchess are still doubting it.

"Uhmm, won't possibly result into anarchy?" the Duchess asked,

"That's a great questions milady, here i will present a video i made that was all about a revolution that took heavy toll in our past world"

The Prime Minister went to his video files and played a video about the French Revolution,

The French Revolution, the revolution was undoubtedly one of the most influential events in the world. the French Revolution that inspired future revolutions, the French Revolution began in the failing economic situation of the Kingdom of France. Unfortunately, the King and the foreign-born Queen of France has been slowly being unpopular at the time, the ideas of the enlightenment and the worsening financial situation of the country lead to the people claiming the monarchy for their failing financial situation. The French people had enough, and decided to storm a prison for ammunition. That didn't stopped there, the people beheaded the King and Queen of France by guillotine in a public excecution in the French capital, Paris. And an unstable French Republic was declared,

The execution of the King and Queen didn't stopped there, thousands of innocent and wrongfully tried people we're executed. This period became known as the 'Reign of Terror', as everyone who simply had aristocratic connections can be easily tried and sent to the guillotine immediately.

The Reign of Terror came to an end when Robbespiere who was behind arranging the execution of thousands of his political opponent into the guillotine, was also executed by the guillotine.

The French Revolution left a power vacuum to one military general that took advantage of the situation and seized power for himself, he would eventually invade almost all of Europe until Russia stopped his ambitions.

"And that concludes the French Revolution, i hope that the Reign of Terror of the revolution not happen to any countries here in the continent, as such the United Continental Pact will send military forces and intervene in case of a civil disturbance in one of its members"

"And also, does anyone have any demands or suggestions to a post-war Roseby?"

"Hmmm post-war? that's intriguing. Thinking how the United Kingdom is planning to win the war." the Duchess thought to herself,

"I want the Duchy of Leońe be recognized it's independence against the Empire, i want to revoke my vassalage status with the Holy Emperor."

"Wow, the Kingdom of Summerwyn does not want any territorial expansions but we would like to trade more with the British"

"Same with us from the Grand Ducal Confederacy, we want trade and military assistance"

"The Grand Bishop does not want any territorial expansions but we can trade"

"Ok, so along the post-war plans comes the war plan. The British and the Summerwyn had cooperated in the Western Front of the war. As everyone knows that the Summerywn Capital might soon face capture by the Imperial Army. As part of the joint-war plan. The British and Royal Army will evacuate Sienna while defending the capital for a short time. If the Imperial Army still showed signs of strength and more reinforcements came. We will evacuate to the city of Lincliff and start the defense of the city. The very reason we are doing this is because, we are lacking a vital resource that the United Kingdom needs, it's called oil. And we are currently excavating and exploring potential sources of oil all throughout the continent. Oil is like a black liquid substance, so if any of you heard about any substances that has properties like that, immediately report it to us and we are willing to pay a huge amount" The Prime Minister added,