Munitions Empire

Bear in mind, the kingdom is the one at fault first, withholding and adulterating the Northern Ridge\'s armaments, let alone allowing Suthers troops to assemble at the border while feigning ignorance.

Given such a premise, all it would take for Count Fisheo to incite the troops against the kingdom is to spread enmity within the Northern Ridge military, making it all too easy for his forces to seek justice.

Previously, the kingdom was unfazed by such possibilities, not believing the Northern Ridge Legion capable of rebellion.

But now, with the kingdom\'s military suffering heavy losses and the Northern Ridge Legion displaying unprecedented aggression, the problem has become serious.

You see, in the eyes of the King of the Leite Kingdom, rebellion is not the worst thing; an insurrection that cannot be quelled is.

And for this reason, the Prime Minister\'s suggestion to send an envoy to console Ronin Fisallo and hear his thoughts was nothing more than a euphemism for letting Count Fisheo state his demands.

Essentially, this meant: find a scapegoat, hurry to the Northern Ridge, give Fisheo whatever he wants, and don\'t let him flip the table in a rage... then, after things settle down, everyone returns to the table to continue playing.

So, upon hearing the Prime Minister\'s suggestion, the pleased King immediately looked towards a chubby minister standing in the corner.

The kingdom\'s Minister of Construction, Baus, was sixty-two years old, virtually invisible in his usual role, nothing more than a benign figure.

His position owed mainly to having a good father who secured him an earldom just before passing away.

Thus, at forty, Baus had become the kingdom\'s Minister of Construction, always a mascot-like figure in court.

Seeing King Leite VII turn to him, Baus was visibly panicked, not wanting to run such an errand at this time and could only glance helplessly at the Minister of Works beside him.

But the Minister of Works looked away innocently, seemingly unwilling to involve himself in this mess. So, the unfortunate Baus turned his gaze elsewhere.

Just as he racked his brains to find someone to help, the King\'s voice rang out, "Baus! Always loafing around, now I\'m giving you a task! Go to the Northern Ridge yourself, ask Fisheo what he thinks of the current situation."

"But, Your Majesty, I have not been feeling well lately, perhaps... perhaps..." Baus hastened to decline, waving his hands to suggest it would be better to choose someone else given his \'severe illness\'.

"Shut up!" snapped King Leite VII grimly, finalizing the decision, "It\'ll be you! Don\'t mess this up! Or else I\'ll stew your two hundred pounds of fat!"

"Yes, yes!" Baus quickly bowed his head, sighing as he pulled out a handkerchief to mop the sweat on his forehead—his good days were over, and this trip to the Northern Ridge was most likely doomed.

…

"What\'s your view on the current situation?" Seeing Tang Mo again, Ronin Fisallo had noticeably perked up.

Although only in his forties, he had previously seemed like a weary old man. Now, he appeared considerably younger.

"What view could I have? If you, Lord Earl, deign to pay me what you owe, I might survive this cold winter," Tang Mo picked up a document from the table, glancing at it casually, "They left all the plundered items for you?"

"Mmm-hmm," a smile spread across Fisheo\'s face: "Not less than what you seized, except these things represent the blood, sweat, and tears of the Leite Kingdom\'s people."

"So, do you plan to return all this blood money?" Tang Mo put down the document, truly surprised at the windfall from blocking the Suthers troops hastily returning to their land.

These unwilling Suthers soldiers had paid a hefty ransom and, through a deliberate gap allowed by Count Fisheo, had fled back home in disarray.

Now, these Suthers troops had to suppress the widespread and fiery peasant uprisings in the kingdom\'s southern region and retrieve the valuable items lost in the chaos.

"Let\'s talk about your views on the current situation," diverted Fisheo, clearly not feeling the need to return this windfall to the treacherous king.

"Not much to talk about, I have already brought you the rough draft of the agreement, which you probably read a few days ago," Tang Mo scattered the document back on the Earl\'s table, spreading his hands nonchalantly.

"All the spoils of your looting are legal war booty, and Suthers may not seek restitution later. This clause is specifically for you, and it has nothing to do with me," Fisheo recited the agreement that Tang Mo and the Suthers had unilaterally signed.

"Suthers has agreed to pay an additional 63,100 Gold Coins to cover the travel expenses of your new recruits. They must also provide compensation to those who were injured or killed in this operation." He didn\'t wait for Tang Mo to speak before continuing, "This is also yours!"

"Under the condition that Suthers guarantees not to pursue its civilians for seizing nobility properties, support for civilian attacks on the nobility is to cease. This clause is still targeting you, but in reading between the lines, it seems you\'ve set quite a deep trap for Suthers." Fisheo continued, looking at Tang Mo, finding the young man in front of him almost infuriatingly clever.

"Your troops must immediately retreat south of the Ice Crystal River, and on Suthers\' side, they have promised to seriously consider ceding the territories south of the Ice Crystal River to the Leite Kingdom during the negotiations to end the war completely." Finally, Fisheo mentioned the last of the clauses: "This is the only one that comes with some benefits for Northern Ridge."

"You see, I haven\'t forgotten about you, right?" Tang Mo smiled, his look begging for some praise.

"Isn\'t the area south of the Ice Crystal River a bit too small?" Fisheo looked at Tang Mo with some skepticism and asked.

"If I said Dunst River, do you think... Suthers would give it?" Tang Mo asked with a smile in response to Lord Earl.

Compared to the Ice Crystal River, the Dunst River is only a little more than a hundred kilometers away from the King City of the Suthers Kingdom; nobody would agree to such terms.

This would greatly increase the difficulty of negotiations, and Tang Mo, more than anyone, understood that with only 300 soldiers, a bit of bluffing was no issue, but if he really hardened the enemy\'s resolve to fight to the death, the inadequacy of his forces would be immediately exposed.

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"Moreover, even if they did give you the territory south of the Dunst River, could you defend it?" Tang Mo didn\'t wait for Fisheo to answer, continuing his questioning.

At this point, Fisheo\'s face turned red with embarrassment—he only had 1,500 soldiers under his command, and now it was clear that number was too few.

While his policy of quality over quantity gave him a training advantage and reduced the maintenance cost of his troops, during wartime, such a small number of soldiers was obviously insufficient.

Furthermore, now he had more locations to guard, and indeed, the pressure of being spread too thin was mounting on him.

"Listen to me, expand your military! At the very least, maintain a force of 4,500, the size of three legions." Tang Mo held up three fingers as he spoke with feigned solemnity.

"Expand by three times all at once?" Fisheo was startled by the number.

"That\'s not too much, four might be even better," Tang Mo smiled as he continued to up the ante.

"You\'re not suggesting this just because you want to sell more weapons to me, are you?" Fisheo eyed Tang Mo suspiciously.

"How could that be?" Tang Mo asserted with feigned righteousness, "I\'m discussing this purely based on the facts."

He went on to explain, "Firstly, you need to maintain absolute safety on the Ice Crystal River defense line. Stationing 1,500 men, the standing force of one legion, isn\'t too much, right?"

When it came to this, Fisheo seemed quite professional, thinking carefully and realizing that what Tang Mo said did make sense.

"In addition, you need to deploy a new force in the southeastern direction of Northern Ridge, whose functions include warding off any foolish attempts from the Leite Kingdom and reminding the Leite Kingdom not to forget to fund Northern Ridge." Tang Mo continued to speak with a smile.

After he finished speaking, he paused and then went on, "Moreover, you need to maintain a force in Wolf City to keep order and ensure its safety, ready to support the troops in both directions at any time."

"What you\'re saying makes a lot of sense," Fisheo nodded and said, "So I end up winning the war, but have to expand the military and buy more weapons... you become the biggest winner."

"You could also equip your troops with sticks and hoes if you prefer, as they\'re cheaper," Tang Mo coldly offered another suggestion with a scoff.

"So, you\'re saying you won\'t let go of the money I\'ve just acquired from the Suthers troops\' looting in the Central Region of the kingdom?" Fisheo said with a wry smile, "And here I was thinking I\'d made a small fortune."

"You\'re about to make a large fortune soon, this is news from three days ago." Tang Mo pulled a piece of paper from his pocket with only one line of small print: "The Minister of Construction is ordered to head to Northern Ridge."

"How is this news already here?" Fisheo was shocked by the content on the paper, his eyes widening as he looked at Tang Mo.

Tang Mo shrugged and said something seemingly out of the blue, "Ten thousand Gold Coins are not spent in vain, Lord Earl. Sometimes, throwing money around yields returns... wouldn\'t you agree?"

He placed the piece of paper on Lord Earl\'s desk: "You might as well think about how many C64 field guns to equip your three legions with."