EP.233
Stockholm Royal Palace drawing room.
“For a kingdom of barbarians in the northern countryside, they put a lot of effort into decorating it well. “Even compared to the Imperial Palace of the Reich Empire, it is not much inferior.”
“Is that so, Captain?”
“If you are a count of an empire, you may not know how to see works of art, but it would be good to have an eye for appreciating the arrangement of furniture and the splendor of a castle. “Until now, even the social community has been able to criticize him, but if Her Majesty’s sire’s sire lacks insight, Her Majesty Louise will be in great trouble.”
From the time I first met him in the north until now, I thought this person was not the incarnation of FM, but rather a person who lives all the principles of life according to the FM textbook.
So, even though he was the head of the Duke Keitel family, I thought he had quite a low cultural and artistic perspective, but I was somewhat surprised to see that his sophistication was much higher than expected.
In addition, I was embarrassed that someone who rarely talked about personal matters until now gave me sincere advice.
“Thank you for your advice, Captain.”
“Now, if we have made it a little more comfortable and have brought the peace negotiations to a conclusion, it is essentially over.”
“Haha, didn’t you say so, Captain? It means that everything is not over until the war is over and you receive an award for meritorious work. “I, Lieutenant General Peter Yeager, intend to faithfully carry out that order.”
“It would have been great if the young guys these days had been half as conscious as you…”
And so, the captain and I exchanged jokes and jokes in the enemy kingdom’s palace for the first time since ‘clear victory’ was confirmed.
Not long after, the door to the drawing room opened and the sound of the trumpet and the voice of the proclaimer rang out.
“Your Majesty Christian von Vasa, the King of Stockholm and the just judge who protects order in the North! “Everyone, please show respect.”
Look at how he, the idiot, messed up his diplomatic plans and started the war like a fool, and then sat in his palace trying to show his dignity by using trumpets and proclamation pipes.
As the king of a country, he may have done that because he knew that if he at least pretended not to be scared, he would be less exploited and preserve his prestige.
From our point of view, having achieved the greatest victory, it was nothing more than a foolish and foolish struggle.
However, since I had to show my respect to the king of a country, I could barely hold back the laughter that threatened to burst out and quietly got down on one knee.
“Everyone can raise their heads.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Everyone who has nothing to do with these negotiations, such as the proclamation officer, protocol officer, butler, and maid, should leave their positions.”
At the same time as those words were said, numerous maids and butlers rushed out the door.
His Majesty King Christian, accompanied by Minister of Military Affairs Oxenburg, approached with a dignified gait and sat down.
“This is going to be a long story, so please sit comfortably.”
“Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty.”
“Aren’t you thirsty after waiting for so long? “How about a cup of tea?”
“I will just accept your heart.”
After such a long wait, when preparations were completed to enter into full-scale war ending negotiations, Captain Keitel asked first.
“I would like to ask you directly, Your Majesty, what are the conditions you wish to present?”
“I will cede all territory under 250km south of the Osby Plain and pay compensation of 300,000 gold. “How about ending the war with this?”
“The conditions seem too unfavorable to us, but please present realistic conditions.”
“I think this is enough. “Isn’t this giving away a piece of land the size of the Principality of Morengia?”
“We would like to conclude peace negotiations on the condition that we receive the entire area below 50km south of the Osby Plain. Instead, there is no need for compensation.”
While Captain Keitel and the King of Stockholm were talking, I reflected on the current situation.
First of all, the Kingdom of Stockholm is simultaneously waging war with two countries, the Reich Empire and the Kingdom of Sweden.
However, if you look at the inside story, Sweden is comfortably eating away at the table full of war between the Reich Empire and the Kingdom of Stockholm.
Of course, what if we hadn’t planned for the game to be built like this?
In the worst case scenario, I would have had to do something crazy like go to war with three countries: the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, the Kingdom of Stockholm, and the Kingdom of Sweden.
I don’t think it was a waste to give this much to the Kingdom of Sweden.
After all, Stockholm is being ripped off for money and land, and our money is not worth even 1 copper (1/10,000 of 1 gold).
But anyway, I’m the one who laid the whole plan for this war, and I’m trying to step down, but is it right to let the Swedes keep doing it?
I was thinking about this while listening to the battle of wits that Captain Kaitel and the King of Stockholm were having right now, rather than getting to the point.
As a result, he came to the idea that for the sake of the empire, the Kingdom of Stockholm should not yet suffer a blow to the point of ruin.
So, we must be considerate so that His Majesty King Christian, who has been defeated, does not lose too much.
Oh, of course, I have no intention of giving up the share that the Reich Empire will take.
What we are making concessions is something that can be gained from the post-war negotiations that the Kingdom of Sweden will conclude.
“Lieutenant General Jaeger, do you have any opinions? “I just kept listening. Why don’t you try talking too?”
“No matter what, the commander is negotiating, and as the second-in-command, I cannot proceed with the negotiations over Commander Kaitel…” “
What does it matter if it helps the national interest? In addition, His Excellency Marshal Oxenburg also intervened during the negotiations between His Majesty the King and I to assert his opinion. In such a situation, it was a bit overwhelming for the Reich Imperial Army to talk to me alone.”
As the captain laid out the plates, I asked in a sly voice.
“Is it true that the Kingdom of Stockholm wants to hand over the entire area south of 150km of the Osby Plain to the Reich Empire under the condition of paying compensation of 300,000 gold?”
“That’s right, I think we’ve made a lot of concessions to this extent.”
“I understand that Your Majesty has been very considerate of us. “By the way, may I just say one word to you, Your Majesty?”
“This is the place for peace negotiations. I’ll listen to anything you can say as long as it doesn’t ridicule me and Stockholm.”
At those words, I smiled, pretending to be sincerely grateful, bowed my head to show respect, and asked.
“How do you plan on going to war with the Kingdom of Sweden?”
“After concluding a peace agreement with you, I will concentrate on the war against the Kingdom of Sweden.”
“So what do you plan to do if you fail to negotiate an armistice with us?”
Instead of responding to those words, His Highness Christian remained silent.
But I think the reason why he did it was so obvious.
There’s just no answer to the point where I can’t do anything about it, but I can’t admit it, so I guess that’s why I didn’t give any answer.
“Then give us what we want. Instead, shouldn’t you negotiate in a way that causes less damage to the Kingdom of Stockholm? “If you hold out for no reason and the Kingdom of Sweden forces push into the vicinity of Oslo, then you will have to deal with the combined forces of the Reich Empire and the Kingdom of Sweden.”
“Are you threatening me now?”
“Peace negotiations are negotiations that talk about peace, as they sound good. It is a place for dialogue to get what the winner wants from the loser. And since I am not your subject, I am willing to do that much for the Reich Empire.”
At those words, the expressions of the King and Minister of Military Affairs in front of me were crumpled, but I smiled brightly and said,
“Aren’t these peace negotiations being conducted for the worst outcome, not the best outcome? In that sense, please give us all of the territory south of 50km from the Osby Plain. Then, during peace negotiations with Sweden, you will be able to conclude a treaty under somewhat favorable conditions.”
“…….”
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“Your Majesty, now is your chance to suffer the least amount of damage. “Now is the time to find light. If you miss this opportunity, you won’t even be able to shed tears of blood next time.”
At those words, Christian nodded as if he understood.
Now, with this, we have completely taken care of the share that the Reich Empire can take, but the Kingdom of Sweden can no longer be taken over by us… so the
profits will be reduced a little more than originally thought.
But anyway, I never said a single lie to the Kingdom of Sweden, and I gave it to Sweden when it benefited it, and I never caused any harm to it.
While perfectly protecting their alliance, in the north, the two kingdoms of Stockholm and Sweden succeeded in creating a system of keeping each other in check by biting and tearing at each other.
And that night, the armistice agreement was signed according to the conditions I requested.
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