Chapter 237: The Fall of the Empire (3)

“So, the war is getting difficult.”

Emperor Gilbert Terre Andrews sighed as he heard about the information from the front lines.

At first, when this war had been going well and the Empire had victory after victory, the domestic public opinion had been great, but recently, things had changed.

Starting with Duke Schweiker’s death, things began going downhill and there were even people amongst the nobles who began to raise opposition to the war. So far, no one had spoken directly to the Emperor, but people were slowly expressing concerns about the war.

As an Emperor, this was embarrassing. This war was the result of him fully supporting and pushing for it. That meant he was responsible for the consequences of this war. It had been great when they were winning, but as the crisis continued, the Emperor couldn’t help but be anxious. 

The position of an Emperor was an absolute but lonely position. If there was even the slightest chance, nobles would try to divide up his power for themselves. That was the law of power. 

‘Should I have them stop? Would that be for the best?’

Having heard about Antras’ death, the Emperor was feeling really nervous about this war. Duke Sebastian had sent a report saying that he would continue to fight and end the war while maintaining the current border, but Emperor Andrews was doubtful about whether that would be possible. He couldn’t trust their will enough for him to place his hopes on them when the daily reports on the war weren't all that great.

“Grand Chamberlain?”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty?”

“How much spare supplies do we have available for war?”

“There’s not much left inside the Empire, sire. If we keep sending it to them, the Empire will be all emptied out within three months, sire.”

“Hm…”

Placing his hand on his chin, the Emperor became lost in thought.

‘Three months…’

Could the war end in three months? He didn’t think that would be possible. 

Of course, a lack of reserves didn’t mean that the Empire would immediately starve to death. The Empire boasted a large and vast territory.

Even though he had moved half a million troops, he hadn’t collected more taxes than he normally would have. Why? Because the Empire had the option to squeeze other people before squeezing dry their own people - the vassal countries. 

Before squeezing the people of his own people he would squeeze dry the vassal countries’ citizens.

The Gloucester Kingdom.

The Hereford Kingdom.

The Stravin Kingdom.

It was the Imperial way to squeeze the neighboring kingdoms first, including the now-defunct Valence Kingdom, to procure war supplies.

“It’s probably better for us to be prepared in advance.”

The Emperor believed it was necessary to increase the stockpile of supplies besides the supplies needed for war. He immediately wrote an imperial edict and ordered the neighboring countries to provide supplies and military supplies. 

***

A couple of months later, a group of troops appeared on the Empire’s border.

“Stop! Stop right there!” The person in charge of border security shouted at them. “I am Viscount Pato, a member of the Imperial Border Guard. Identify your affiliation and purpose.”

“I’m Marquis Setius of the Gloucester Kingdom and I’ve brought supplies and soldiers as you requested.”

“Hm… wait a bit, then”

Although he was a Marquis of a kingdom, Viscount Pato didn’t shrink in front of him at all. Even if he was only a Viscount, he believed that a Marquis of a kingdom was at best the same rank as himself who was an aristocrat of the Empire.

“It checks out, it’s His Imperial Majesty’s imperial edict.”

After checking the imperial edict, Viscount Pato allowed them to pass. 

Once the Gloucester Kingdom’s men entered the border fortress, Viscount Pato spoke, “You sure brought a lot with you. How many men are with you?”

“I’ve brought 70,000 men.”

“Ho… His Imperial Majesty will be pleased with your sincerity.”

“I hope so.”

“Of course, he wi… keugh!”

Viscount Pato had been speaking when he was surprised by the sudden touch of a cold blade on his neck. The one on the other end of the sword was Marquis Setius who had led the reinforcement from the Gloucester Kingdom.

“This is what I’m talking about, you arrogant Imperial aristocrat.”

And with that, Marquis Setius’s sword pierced through Viscount Pato’s neck.

“K… keugh…”

With the sound of bloody rasps, Marquis died in disbelief. But with his death as a signal, the Gloucester Kingdom’s soldiers began to seize the fortress and attacked the Imperial soldiers from all directions. 

“The era of disgrace and humiliation is over. We will have the Empire for it!”

“Ooohhhh!!”

70,000 elite troops from the Gloucester Kingdom - this wasn’t for reinforcements, it was a counterattack against the Empire. 

***

The Gloucester Kingdom was just the beginning.

60,000 troops from the Stravin Kingdom. 

80,000 troops from the Hereford Kingdom.

After the vassal countries received the Empire’s reinforcement request, they had launched simultaneous counterattacks. All of them had as many troops as they could and were rebelling against the Empire. It seemed like they had been waiting for the Imperial edict to utilize the chance given by it. 

Their justifications were all the same.

[Until now, the Empire has repeatedly suppressed and exploited our country.]

[Our country was exploited beyond reason in order to supply the necessities that the Empire needed to satisfy the Emperor’s foolish ambitions of conquering the continent.]

[Our children died of hunger while families who had lost their heads of households cried tears of grief.]

[We hereby declare that we will boldly stand against the Imperial oppression. Emperor of the Empire, your arrogance will lead to the destruction of the Empire.]

The three countries had decided they couldn’t stand the excessive demands of the Empire any longer and had attacked the Empire simultaneously.

Truthfully, the vassal countries had a point. The Empire had been demanding too much from them. But the Empire had never thought that they would do something like this when they had silently suffered through it so far.

The Empire never imagined that the vassal states gathering up troops would be dangerous and had even helped them cross into the Empire’s borders. Thanks to that, the border had been completely penetrated and the armies of the three kingdoms ran wild within. 

From the perspective of the Empire, this was like a bolt out of a clear sky. 

***

BANG!

“Those insolent fools! How dare they do this?! Are they testing me?!”

Emperor Gilbert shouted harshly had he pounded his fist.

Having been hit out of nowhere, his eyes were filled with rage. If the kings of the three kingdoms were captured, it seemed like the Emperor could rip them apart and kill them. 

Seeing him like that, an old advisor stepped up to advise him. 

“Your Imperial Majesty, please calm yourself. For now, placating the three kingdoms is more important than suppressing them right now, sire.”

“Placate them? They went against my command and invaded the Empire, but you want me to placate them? Are you out of your mind?”

The old man looked doleful as he faced the Emperor’s furious shouting.

“Unfortunately, Your Imperial Majesty, most of the Empire’s national power is in the war.”

“Don’t underestimate the strength of the Empire!” The Emperor jumped out of his seat as he shouted. “Immediately order all the nobles of the Empire to mobilize. Have each family head lead his troops directly to the Imperial Capital. If a family head cannot come, have the heir come instead. This is an Imperial edict. Those who fail to obey will be held accountable.”

The Emperor left the hall after saying what he had to say. 

The nobles who were left behind murmured amongst themselves about the situation. 

“What does he mean by a mobilization order across the Empire? Does His Imperial Majesty really not understand the situation right now?”

“What kind of nonsense are you saying?”

“The armies of the three kingdoms have already crossed the border, but he wants us to lead our men to the capital? I doubt the province nobles will quietly follow his orders.”

“Then, do you have a different opinion than His Imperial Majesty?’

“I’m saying that we have to placate the three kingdoms. Are you saying you really don’t know why they’re doing this?”

“They’ve just become overconfident. How dare they aim a sword at the Empire?! They’ll have to pay for it with their blood.” 

“What a frustrating person you are! The ones who are shedding the most blood are our soldiers and citizens. How do you not know this?!”

“Shut up, you defeatist! Are you trying to destroy the prestige of our Empire while disobeying His Imperial Majesty’s order?”

“Defeatist? Aren’t you the ones who are driving the Empire to ruin without understanding reality? You Imperial dogs!”

“How dare you?!”

There was loud opposition amongst the nobles in the hall and some of them even threw down their gauntlets and challenged each other to a duel. Having been oppressed by the Emperor’s authority, the aristocrats began to question who was responsible for the war. Of course, the nobles who supported the Emperor and war stood up to face them. 

If opinions like this could not be compromised and were always argued against, then the political arena would only be a mess. And everything was happening as Siegfried had planned; he was playing with them on the palm of his hand.

Siegfried had utilized the scorched earth tactic, went to the Lester Kingdom to form an alliance, and had sent David to pour oil onto the flames of the vassal countries who had been gathering supplies to support the Empire. 

All the vassal states had felt burdened by the Empire. On top of sending the Empire war supplies, they had always paid tribute even in times without a war. Even with all that, the only reason they hadn’t been complaining was because of the Empire’s overwhelming status.  Because the Empire had such overwhelming power, it was impossible for them to fight against the Empire. That was why they had endured it even when it had been unfair.

But now, the situation had changed. 

While the Empire was still powerful, its status wasn’t as good as it used to be. Since their disastrous defeat at the hands of the Republicans during the war in the Valence Kingdom, the Empire’s prestige had slowly crumpled.

Siegfried had taken advantage of that situation and let David off his leash. For David with his excellent ability to manipulate people, this was the most appropriate mission. 

The current situation was the result. 

Due to the vassal countries’ intervention, the Empire quickly fell into chaos. The Imperial vassal countries, which had always sent them supplies whenever the Empire was running low, were now rebelling. This shook the very foundation of the Empire. 

Like the Emperor commanded, the Empire immediately tried to gather the troops, but it wasn’t easy. The invading vassal countries weren’t focused on advancing to the capital and killing the Emperor; they were destroying the land itself. It was almost as if they were trying to thoroughly pay back what had been done to them by the Empire. 

In fact, this had also been a part of Siegfried’s plan. Even if the vassal countries gathered their army, there was no guarantee that they would be able to win against the Empire. It was unknown how many men could be gathered if the Empire drafted the people and mobilized all the troops as the Emperor ordered. That was why Siegfried had told the vassal countries to sow chaos within the Empire instead of attacking the capital. 

He had muddied the waters so that the Empire couldn’t gather up its strength and the vassal countries carried it out perfectly. They raided the provinces and completely ransacked, ravaged and torched everything.

Later on, historians would say:

[The three kingdoms who had been under the control of the Empire held deep-rooted hatred towards the Empire.]

[They burned down the Empire with a vengeance bordering on madness and everywhere they passed by, not a mouse or even a single blade of grass was left behind.]

Under such circumstances, there was no way the Imperial edict issued by the Emperor could have been carried out.

In order for the Empire to gather up its strength to respond to the vassal states, the cooperation of the nobles was essential. But even if the nobles wanted to cooperate, it was impossible. 

How could they lead their men to protect the capital when they didn’t know when the invaders would attack their own lands? Unless they were blindly loyal to the Emperor, none of them were willing to carry out the reckless order. For the provincial lords, their territory was their asset, their foundation, and seat of their family.

In the end, even though the entire Empire had been commanded, less than 100,000 troops were gathered. The Emperor was furious but the provincial nobles gave excuse after excuse and didn’t participate in the war or only showed up and did as little as possible.

All of them believed it was more important to save their own territories. Some of the nobles even joined together and resisted the Imperial pressure.

[The current crisis in the Empire is all caused by the Emperor. We will no longer follow such an incompetent Emperor and so, our Eastern Coalition will part ways with him.]

Now that it had come to this point, anyone could see that the Empire was falling apart.