King

Chapter 48: Opportunities in troubled times

"The Southeast Province, Illyricum Province, and Laos Province all have invasions from the Earth's core races at the same time."

Looking at the information in his hand, Hudson didn't know how to complain. He didn't want to make people feel at ease for a moment!

I thought that the kingdom would be in luck this time, and that the mainland would be able to avoid the evil chaos in the center of the earth.

I never expected that it was not that the Alpha Kingdom was lucky, but that the time had not come yet.

If you don’t come, that’s it. If you come, the three places will explode together.

Just seeing the names of these three provinces, Hudson always feels awkward.

The Southeast Province is in the southeastern part of the kingdom, Illyricum is in the southwestern part of the kingdom, and the Laos Province belongs to the seven provinces of Northern Xinjiang.

From a geographical point of view, the locations of these three major provinces are slightly remote, as if the race in the center of the earth deliberately ran to remote areas.

Of course, strategically speaking, after understanding the internal situation of the Alpha Kingdom, there is definitely no problem in starting from remote provinces.

Not only are these provinces geographically remote, but they are also not important military defense areas for the kingdom, making them very advantageous to invaders in the early stages of the war.

However, the location of the entrance to the center of the earth is uncontrollable, and the races in the center of the earth cannot determine where the exit will fall. It is a coincidence that it happens to fall in these three places.

After a brief period of confusion, Hudson quickly came back to his senses.

There is no point in dwelling on these "coincidences".

The enemies are coming, and they must fight back.

After such a change, the most depressing person is undoubtedly the royal family. The entrance to the center of the earth, which was originally home to rare items, suddenly became a mess.

It is obviously impossible to use the power of all parties to expand the inner world and enjoy the results.

With more choices, major forces will definitely give priority to developing the entrance to the inner earth world at their doorstep.

Even if something unexpected happens in the future, the risk is relatively controllable.

If you go to the royal territory thousands of miles away, if something unexpected happens, your investment will be wasted.

After reading the information carefully, Hudson was surprised to find that all three entrances to the center of the earth had had a relationship with him.

The entrance to the center of the earth in the province of Illyricum. When he returned from aiding the Principality of Mossi, Hudson also wiped out a group of rebels there.

The province of Laos was recaptured by Hudson with his troops, and his father-in-law is still the governor now.

The situation in the southeastern province is the most special. The entrance to the center of the earth is only close to this place and is not within the legal territory of the kingdom. The real location is in the Blackstone Mountains.

To be more detailed, it is at the junction of the Alpha Kingdom and the Hessian Kingdom.

Around the hundred-mile corridor, the kingdom also had many conflicts with the Hessian Kingdom.

Before the outbreak of the last continental war, the weak nature of the Hessian Kingdom had not yet been exposed. Seeing that the kingdom was in decline due to the invasion of orcs, they ambitiously devised a strategy to advance northward.

In order to prevent Hessian invasion, with the support of the royal government, the Southeast Province also built a Blood Moon Defense Line in the border area.

However, the project was only halfway through when the continental war broke out and the original continental structure was directly overturned.

The "Hundred Mile Corridor", which serves as the buffer zone between the two countries, has ushered in a turning point in fate.

This time, it was no longer the Hessians who wanted to open the passage, but a group of nobles from the southeastern region of the kingdom.

As a representative figure, Hudson also participated in several conspiracy meetings.

It's just that the war had just ended, and everyone's pockets were very dry, so they just made a set of plans.

Later, after the establishment of the Five-Nation Alliance, the relationship between the kingdom and the Hessians improved, and everyone was embarrassed to continue clamoring for "opening up trade routes."

The sudden appearance of the entrance to the center of the earth undoubtedly provided an opportunity for the nobles of the southeastern provinces.

As long as the half-finished Blood Moon defense line over there is defended, the earth-centered races will help clear this forest corridor.

Even if the racial chaos in the center of the earth is quelled in the future, the strategic buffer between the two countries will be gone.

Having created an established fact, the Hessians would not be able to find sufficient reasons if they wanted to refuse to open a "trade road" later.

After all, the entrance to the center of the earth needs to be guarded by a large army.

The inner earth race can be defeated, but there is no way to kill them all. For a long time in the future, the entrance to the center of the earth will be a confrontation area between the two sides.

No matter how close an ally is, it still needs to "settlement accounts."

Whoever can defeat this inner earth race and bear the heavy responsibility of their counterattack will be able to control this hundred-mile corridor.

…

"Duke, His Majesty has sent a special envoy to invite you to the royal capital to attend tomorrow's palace meeting!"

After hearing the news in deep thought, Hudson nodded helplessly.

As status increases, meetings take up more and more time.

Especially in the past two years, every time something big happens in the kingdom, he is indispensable.

In addition to palace meetings, there are also many military meetings.

Meetings are indispensable for discussion on the annual military budget, the deployment and replacement of various units, the allocation of specific military expenditures, the construction of national defense facilities, etc.

The official meeting is over, there are still meetings in the territory.

Even if Hudson repeatedly reduces the number of meetings, he still has to host at least one monthly meeting every month, and the annual meeting must be held for several consecutive days.

The foreseeable meeting was over, and there were private gatherings of nobles.

For example: The nobles in the southeast region are secretly trying to open up trade routes to the Kingdom of Hesse to lay the foundation for future expansion.

Another example: the nobles in Northern Xinjiang and the Near East are secretly working together to promote a certain border defense policy.

…

On average, Hudson goes to the Royal Capital once a month to attend at least two meetings.

Including other messy meetings, I attend at least fifty meetings a year, and nearly a month every year is spent in meetings.

More than anyone else, Hudson longed for continental peace the most. This means that his annual meeting time can be cut by at least half.

Just think about it, the continent of Aslant has never been peaceful. Wanted to reduce the number of meetings unless Hudson stepped down as commander-in-chief of the kingdom.

Now all he can do is compress the meeting time and solve the problem as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, we are in the Alpha Kingdom. If it were left in some inefficient countries, the meeting time would be increased several times.

"I know, tell the person I will arrive on time."

No matter how unhappy he was, he still had to attend the meeting that the king personally sent to invite.

Hudson must personally take the lead in completing the next military deployment. This is an obligation corresponding to power.

…

It is not only the Alpha Kingdom that is in trouble. Once the elves take action, many human countries are in trouble.

There was no warning at all in advance, and suddenly the entrance to the center of the earth appeared, catching everyone by surprise.

The rules of geocentric sealing originally discovered no longer apply.

Perhaps the ancestors of various races who sealed the inner earth world did build artificial lakes on it, but they could not withstand the changes in geography.

Tens of thousands of years are enough to change many things. Lakes have turned into farmland, mountains and rivers, and grasslands... The world has already changed.

Fortunately, several large human nations still have some mobile troops in the country.

The races in the center of the earth found the exit, and they did not rush out all at once. Overall, the situation was under control.

Other human nations are in dire straits!

A moment ago, everyone was still discussing whether to provoke a full-scale war, but now it has immediately changed to "how to survive in troubled times"!

Although various countries had doubts about the geocentric seal in advance and left some backup plans in advance, when the crisis really came, they were still a little exhausted.

Kingdom of Avarat.

As the vanguard in this wave of reform, the Avarat government is relatively ambitious and took immediate response measures to the invasion of the Earth's inner race.

It's a pity that the plan was good, but it couldn't withstand the execution process and was artificially discounted.

Even so, in the last round of the invasion of the inner earth race, they still relied on their own strength to steadily suppress the enemy.

In fact, the performance of several human kingdoms was just passable.

Except for the special situation of the three countries in the Central Continent, where a large number of troops were restrained by foreign tribes and had no choice but to do anything, the remaining few countries did not ask for help.

After all, we are in a chaotic continent, and there was a continental war a few years ago. Even if we follow the soy sauce, it has also trained the team.

No matter how high your military strength is, there is still a lower limit. The elite troops from various countries are drawn out to fight, and they still have some fighting capacity.

But just "a few", no more would be enough.

It turns out that there are only two entrances to the center of the earth in the country, and the Kingdom of Avarat can handle it with ease. Now that there are four suddenly, the situation is not so optimistic.

"Didn't I say that after checking, there are no other entrances to the center of the earth in the country? Why are there two more coming out now?"

Elton VIII asked with a gloomy face.

The addition of two entrances to the center of the earth does not equal military pressure +2.

Many troubles are caused by quantitative changes leading to qualitative changes. The addition of two more enemies is not only a test for the military, but also a challenge for logistics dispatch.

With such a big change happening, someone must be held responsible.

The official who was responsible for investigating the entrance to the center of the earth was very unfortunate to become this unlucky guy.

"Your Majesty, history is constantly changing, many information has been lost, and it is inevitable that there will be omissions in the investigation.

Now there are two new entrances to the center of the earth, and there are no lakes within a hundred miles. This is obviously caused by geographical changes.

The investigation team should be responsible for this matter, but their real fault is not big! "

After the prime minister, Duke Glenarvan, finished speaking, Duke Van Aojian beside him immediately became angry.

It seems that he is defending the investigation team, but in fact he is taking responsibility for the investigation team.

Duke Glenarvan is a reformist, and the person responsible for the investigation is a conservative. The current wave of classic blame-shifting is obviously aimed at the conservatives.

Even though he knew it, Duke Van Aojian was still powerless.

Because although the prime minister fulfilled the responsibilities of the investigation team, when he specifically determined the responsibilities, the intensity was quite light.

It is unjustifiable to treat someone lightly and then accuse someone of deliberately retaliating.

Maybe when the parties involved find out, they will thank Duke Glenarvan for showing mercy.

As for immunity from responsibility, those who play politics are not that naive.

Since something happened, someone must be responsible. No matter how they explain it, the investigation team is the first person responsible.

"Prime Minister, what's the use of talking about this now? The top priority is to deal with the upcoming changes. As for accountability, we can wait until the situation stabilizes before discussing it.

With two entrances to the center of the earth suddenly added, the pressure on the military will be great. The only solution for now is to mobilize the whole country.

If you still can't reverse the situation, you can only ask the Ilibans for help! "

Duke Van Aojian decisively changed the subject.

Procrastination cannot solve problems, but some problems themselves do not need to be solved.

It is a foregone conclusion that the conservatives will take the blame, but the punishment can be postponed.

The kingdom is now at a critical juncture, and the people are very resentful about the sudden entrance to the center of the earth.

Punishment at this moment, no matter how light the crime is, will have a huge political impact.

If we can delay the matter until after the Earth Core Races are wiped out, maybe everyone will forget about them.

Even if the reformists hold on to him and want to punish him, it can be turned into three drinks as a penalty.

“Duke Van Ojan, you can have a national mobilization, but don’t mention asking for help from the Iberians.

They have been eyeing the kingdom for a long time. If they were not restricted by the Human Alliance, they would have invaded the kingdom long ago.

Asking them for help is inviting the wolf into the house.

If the situation is really critical, it would be much better to ask for help directly from the Alliance or from the Franks further away.

Of course, this is the worst-case scenario, and the current situation is not that bad yet.

Integrating the private armies of nobles from all over the country, this battle still needs to be fought.

In the past two years, although the kingdom's military reforms have not been fully successful, the military reforms of some nobles have seen results.

They are all the military power of the kingdom, and they will not hold back at critical moments! "

Prince Peter said with a half-smile.

After leading a team to inspect the three major countries, he ambitiously returned to China to promote military reform. As a result, he was poured cold water on by conservatives.

The failure to promote military reforms in the kingdom does not mean that Prince Peter has given up.

Instead of continuing to quarrel with the conservatives, he turned around and went to the reformists to promote military reform.

Under the feudal system, lords had extremely high autonomy, and conservatives would simply act on their own if they did not join the reformists.

The effect is also very obvious. They are all in their own territory, there is not so much resistance, and the military reform is progressing relatively smoothly.

Even though I only learned a little bit about it, it was still more powerful than the original army.

Military strength determines the right to speak!

Even though the reforms were blocked one after another, benefiting from the success of military reforms within the reformists, they still suppressed the counterattack of the conservatives.

The current invasion of the inner earth race is a crisis in the eyes of conservatives, but it is an opportunity in the eyes of reformers.

People will learn lessons only after being severely beaten by society and suffering big losses.

In Prince Peter's view, these old diehards will change their minds only after they have beaten the conservatives hard with the help of the race from the center of the earth.

Faced with the heart-wrenching remarks, Duke Van Aojian was very angry, but he had no way to refute it.

Conservatives can hold back on various occasions, but they have no right to interfere when others are toiling in their own territory.

Seeing the results of military reform, the royal family has fully introduced the national reserve system, and some conservative nobles are also secretly following suit.

Deep down in his heart, Duke Van Ojan even believed that the kingdom needed to carry out military reforms, but people couldn't help themselves in the political arena.

It is true that military reform can improve military strength, but it does not cost money!

Once comprehensive military reforms are carried out, financial reforms are bound to be carried out, otherwise there will be no way to generate increased military expenditures.

Fiscal reforms are not enough; supporting logistical reforms and government system reforms are also required.

Any delay in any link will affect the combat effectiveness of the army.

After a lot of hard work, most of the great cause of reform has been completed, and the rest cannot be stopped even if we want to.