EP.207
There is a saying that applies to both diplomacy and war.
‘Today’s allies become tomorrow’s enemies.’
This saying has been applied to many wars that have shaken the world and is an effective diplomatic strategy that has been used for centuries.
The most representative of them is that when the Soviet Union, the leader of socialism, and the United States, the leader of capitalism, fought against Nazi Germany, they considered each other brothers, joined forces, and helped each other.
The fact is that during World War II, they emerged as superpowers on both sides and became enemies who could not live under the same sky.
What’s important is that one of the strategies I’m going to use now was inspired by this.
“It’s a good operation even before preparing for a full-scale war. “Okay, tell me anything.”
“It means breaking the alliance between Stockholm and Sweden. “The strategy is for the Reich Empire and the Kingdom of Sweden to join hands and attack the Kingdom of Stockholm.”
“The Kingdom of Sweden and the Kingdom of Stockholm already have a close alliance. How on earth do you plan to break that relationship?”
Over the past few years, the two have dispatched ambassadors to each other’s capitals, and nobles along the border have gathered together and held social gatherings in turns to actively express that we are on good terms.
As a result, politicians and nobles on the continent of Europa are confident, if not certain, that a marriage alliance will soon occur between the two.
As His Majesty said, it seems virtually impossible to break the close relationship between the two countries by any means…
“If the two countries had even had a marriage alliance, honestly, I wouldn’t have dared to do anything. However, Sweden and Stockholm are currently maintaining friendly relations, and their alliance is not of much benefit to Sweden. Because after the Kingdom of Stockholm takes over the North, the Kingdom of Sweden will only have a few pieces of gold.”
“According to the testimony of those who followed Ishtaven and the investigation report submitted by the Empire’s Foreign Minister’s Intelligence Department, it appears that those two countries have formed an alliance to amicably share the Empire’s northern territory. “That means Sweden and Stockholm will split the northern territory half and half. Wouldn’t that be a great benefit to both countries?”
“As your Majesty said, the Kingdom of Stockholm may divide its newly acquired northern territory in half and give it to Sweden in order to keep its alliance promise. But look at the geographical conditions as shown on the map. The kingdom of Sweden is so far away from the northern part of the empire that it takes a day and a half to travel by boat. Even if you occupy the northern territory, it will be difficult to dispatch troops to defend it and continue to supply food. Therefore, this will ultimately be a war that only benefits the Kingdom of Stockholm.”
No matter how important it is to expand the territory, you should only occupy the area that you can maintain with your own national power. If you are greedy beyond that, the newly occupied land will no longer be yours and will one day be lost.
If that happens, all the resources, cash, and human resources invested to occupy and maintain that piece of land will go to waste, and the damage will be enormous.
Therefore, it would be very difficult for the Republic of Sweden, as well as the Kingdom of Stockholm, which is only about an hour away by warship from the Northern Territory, to maintain half of the northern territory given to it by Stockholm.
Stockholm, which occupies half of the newly occupied northern territory, will find all kinds of excuses to start a fight with Sweden, and it will soon become difficult to manage it, so the main idea is to just give the territory to Stockholm and get a little money with the feeling of losing out. A treaty will be made.
In the process, the empire will eventually completely lose control of the North.
When Stockholm occupies the northern territory, it is easy to fight by drawing on the power of Sweden, and if it waits a little longer, it will secure a large territory for itself.
In short, it is a war that only benefits Stockholm.
“It’s just as you said. Moreover, after securing the remaining half of the north from Sweden, they will move the Grand Duchy of Warsaw to avoid being checked by us. Then, the empire will not be able to turn its eyes towards the north occupied by Stockholm for the time being.”
“If that happens, the Kingdom of Stockholm will entrust Ishtaven with the role of managing the North, and the territory of the North will be completely within the arms of the Kingdom of Stockholm. Also, from the empire’s perspective, there will be one more country facing the border.”
“Just thinking about it makes me irritated and angry. But, as you said, if Sweden allys with us, the northern part of the empire will be safe, right?”
Even if Sweden and the Reich Empire form an alliance, the northern border will never be stable.
Unless the King of Stockholm is the one who provided the root cause of this problem, and he completely abandons his greed for the North.
Because we can shake up the Northern Territory by creating at least a few traitorous children like Ishtaven, who betrayed and ran away this time.
However, even on this issue, if I engage directly with the Stockholm guys and win big, if I pull out their teeth, the North will be stabilized.
“For there to be stability, I, as commander of the Northern Army, must achieve a crushing victory over Stockholm.”
“You have never once disobeyed my expectations. I’m not going to worry about not being able to win when I’m just dealing with Stockholm brats. However, if we want to persuade the Swedes this time, we will have to give them an appropriate price. “Do you have anything in mind?”
“It would be good for the Reich Empire to receive part of the southern part of Stockholm and Sweden to receive the northern part in return for victory. In addition, we need a contract in exchange for hundreds of thousands of gold and with His Majesty’s seal.”
The emperor’s seal may be a bit excessive, but if we don’t do this, Sweden won’t even listen to our story.
Still, if it is an alliance proposal of this level, it would not be strange for the Minister of Foreign Affairs or other ministers, His Excellency, or the Prime Minister to review it at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs based on the draft I presented.
I don’t know why, but His Majesty the Emperor was looking at me as if he was very expectant of something.
“Adventure adventure. Adventure adventure. Unfortunately. The Prime Minister is busy with the Innsbruck territory issue, and the Foreign Minister has to go to the Francois Republic in a week. “Ah, I’m worried about who I should send for this.”
“Then my father-in-law…”
“He’s on vacation for a week now. There’s no need to call me. Oh, the crown prince is also currently on his way to Czechia to negotiate.”
………… This is completely out-of-the-box.
“If your Majesty leaves it to me, I, Lieutenant General Peter Jaeger, will persuade the Kingdom of Sweden, even though I still have little experience and a low rank.”
His Majesty smiled brightly and said, as if he had been waiting for these words.
“Ah, I can’t believe I’m sending you, still a lieutenant general, to faraway Sweden. The other captains might feel a little offended, but don’t worry. Because I will tell you everything. After fifteen days, take a ship from the north and leave for the Kingdom of Sweden. Appoint the Deputy Foreign Minister as your assistant and send him my signet ring and a document listing the powers you can exercise.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. “I will definitely repay your kindness.”
“Okay, go ahead. Oh, and you can also attend places like social churches. Even if I’m going on official business, it would be a good idea to take Louise with me. Since that child is your first wife and the fourth princess, she will be given a higher rank as an envoy. Also, the child turns 20 in just a month, so I hope he brings back a good story when he returns.”
When I heard this story, I was convinced.
His Majesty is making me accumulate achievements in order to promote me to captain when His Highness the Crown Prince ascends to the throne, and in the process, he is even keeping me in check to prevent me from getting close to other captains.
And when I left the office, I heard something I shouldn’t have heard.
“Lieutenant General Jaeger is only 29 years old, so he will be able to serve as Marshal for at least 25 years. No, by then, you will have achieved more achievements that are unprecedented in the history of the empire, so even if you reach the retirement age, we will insert a special clause so that you can only do it until you are 100 years old, no more, no less…”
…… Isn’t this a bit much?
**
And two months later, I was led to the palace in Oslo, the capital of Sweden.
“Hello, Lieutenant General Jaeger. My name is Amadeus von Brahe, and I am the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden. I am truly glad that you came from such a far away place. “Please sit comfortably for now.”
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