EP.234
Reich Imperial Palace conference room.
“Lieutenant General Peter Yeager, is that guy really a person? This operation he led is completely incomprehensible. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read the operation report.”
“You might think that inflicting close to 100,000 casualties out of 200,000 enemy soldiers with 110,000 casualties was a great victory achieved through excellent operations. Ha, you didn’t stop there, you surrounded the enemy kingdom’s capital and forced its king to surrender.”
“I heard that during the negotiations, His Majesty King Christian of Stockholm threatened that if he did not accept the negotiation plan proposed by the expeditionary force, he would cooperate with the Swedish army to capture the royal castle. Even though I know very well that it will never be possible with the empire’s supply capacity.”
“The fact that it was possible to supply supplies to Oslo was also achieved through Captain Keitel’s cleverness.”
The ministers continued to gossip about how out of common sense Lieutenant General Jaeger, who was not present, was.
Many emotions were crossing their minds as they chatted behind their backs.
The expectation was that they would also be recognized for their administrative achievements in supporting the victory on the mainland and that the Congo would be depleted.
Thank you for bringing me a victory that makes me feel proud as a noble of the empire.
At the same time, they are jealous of him who has outstanding capabilities that cannot be compared to their own.
I feel pitiful thinking about my children who are similar in age to Lieutenant General Yeager but are far behind in terms of capabilities.
These feelings were uniting the prince who normally supported him and the ministers who had different factions and did not care about anything other than minimal greetings and social meetings.
However, because the Minister of Military Affairs had not yet been appointed, Marshal Benner, who represented the Minister of Military Affairs, could not participate in the meeting.
On the outside, it may seem like he was an outcast, but in fact, Marshal Benner felt superiority and pity on the inside as he looked at the pitiful people who did not have outstanding sons-in-law.
At that time, “His Majesty Fernando von Reich has arrived. Everyone please show respect!”
The ministers simultaneously stopped all chatter and stood up to bow to the emperor.
“Everyone, please sit comfortably.”
The ministers sat quietly in their seats, and the emperor spoke in a voice of great joy.
“Thanks to General Gernhard von Keitel, Lieutenant General Peter Jaeger, and Colonel Anastasia Kergit, we were able to achieve a great victory in this war. Even though they are not here, we toast to their achievements!”
At the same time as those words were spoken, the finest wine was poured into the glasses in front of the ministers, and everyone emptied their glasses at once.
“Then first, let’s talk about the results achieved in this war.”
“I succeeded in escaping from the crisis of almost killing Ludvik and losing the northern territory I had acquired by Ishtaven, the traitor to the north. He also succeeded in directly punishing the traitor Ishtaven and his followers. Furthermore, he was able to kill, seriously wound, or capture 100,000 enemy soldiers on the Osby Plain, raising the status of the Reich Imperial Army and securing a huge ransom.”
Since this was a story that everyone knew through reports, there was not a single person present who seemed surprised.
For the ministers who were proud to be members of the Reich Empire, it was a very refreshing report to hear again.
“In addition, Lieutenant General Peter Jaeger’s change of strategy led to the siege of Oslo Castle, the capital of the Kingdom of Stockholm, spreading the strength of the Imperial Army throughout the Europa continent. As a result, in the peace agreement, all territory within 50km south of the Osby Plain was formally transferred, Your Majesty.”
Emperor Ferdinand of the Reich Empire was merely reconfirming what he already knew, but when he heard it again, his heart could not stop pounding rapidly.
And even though he felt grateful to Deus for giving the crown prince the good fortune of picking up Peter Jaeger, he asked back in a cold voice on the outside.
“Is that really true?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Taking all of this into account, according to the analysis produced by the Chief of Staff, the northern part of the empire will remain quiet for the next several decades.”
“Captain Keitel and Vice Admiral Yeager have done a truly great job. Colonel Kergit added a hand to that, hehe. Okay, now let’s start talking about the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ranked figures in this battle. First of all, if you have an opinion about Captain Gernhard von Keitel, please let me know.”
In fact, except in very special cases, there was no case where a deputy commander-level person exceeded the achievements of the commander-in-chief.
Even the ministers who had carried out this type of illegal practice several times were at a loss as to what to do about this problem.
After a while, the Prime Minister stood up from his seat and spoke carefully.
“Admiral Keitel’s achievements seem somewhat pale compared to that of Lieutenant General Jaeger, who personally commanded the Battle of Osby, surrounded the Oslo capital, and obtained the surrender of the King of Stockholm. However, as stated in Lieutenant General Jaeger’s report, the reason the siege of the capital was possible after the Battle of Osby Plain was because of Captain Keitel’s excellent supply support ability. So, it should be greatly rewarded.”
“How do you think specifically should be rewarded?”
“It is difficult to discuss promotion in the position of captain, so I think it would be right to award him a medal and territorial reward appropriate to his rank. “How about granting one earldom and other territories?”
In normal times, an earldom with a population of about 100,000 would rarely be granted to a captain who was considered to have made the second greatest contribution in a battle.
This victory not only raised the status of the empire but also allowed it to occupy a very large territory, so it was necessary to reward it generously.
“Then, Prime Minister, what do you think about Vice Admiral Jaeger’s award?”
The prime minister was lost in thought after hearing those words.
‘Lieutenant General Yeager’s promotion to general is already confirmed, but it is not yet time to talk about raising his rank. In this case, if we give them a high-level medal, we might be able to reduce the size of the territory to be awarded… but it’s difficult.’
Even as he was pondering this, he came up with and spoke of the most appropriate reward plan as a prime minister of an empire.
“Although he is very young, his abilities are already recognized by other captains of the empire as ‘equal to or better than theirs.’ His achievements are so great that even discussing them is meaningless. “We must promote him to captain and have him work harder for the empire.”
The Emperor nodded with a satisfied smile, thinking that he would later pay a little more bonus to the Prime Minister who spoke as he intended.
“I also think it would be a good idea to not spare a reward in consideration of their achievements, so why not give the entire place where Ishtaven and the traitors who followed him lived as a fiefdom? However, it is expected that it will take a lot of effort to rebuild the territory, so you must provide competent administrators and ample money.”
“Isn’t it too much of a barren land to be given to a lieutenant general who has made great contributions?”
“The land in the north looked barren on the outside, but when I examined it as prime minister, it was because the agricultural technology of the northerners was so poor. In fact, it is currently producing the same amount of produce as other fields in the empire, so I don’t think you need to worry.”
From the emperor’s perspective, the prime minister’s words were not bad at all.
Because in His Majesty Fernando’s mind, Peter Jaeger and Anastasia Kergit were placed there as symbols of the North someday.
They were trying to completely attract northerners, and the northern region had not yet been fully developed, so the territory’s level was low compared to land productivity and economic power.
This is because, as a count, he will be able to easily be granted a fairly large fiefdom in the future.
“Then I will do it. I will order Lieutenant General Peter Jaeger to be promoted to captain and grant the territory where Ishtaven and the tribes that follow him live. In addition, the territory given to him is somewhat barren, so I am giving 100,000 gold out of consideration for Lieutenant General Jaeger and the northerners who live there.”
After hearing the story, the other ministers seriously wondered whether they should bring up their children, who were currently languishing in the military, and nag them.
Marshal Benner smiled brightly, confident that the Marquis Benner’s family would continue to prosper in the future as his son-in-law had now been promoted to captain.
Other people present saw him with a smile on his face because he had a successful son-in-law and sharpened their swords, saying that one day he would take revenge by throwing away a pile of work.
“Finally, Colonel Anastasia Kergit recognizes her contribution to cutting off Ishtaven’s head, promotes her to brigadier general, grants her a viscount title, grants her the Hobro area, and makes it the Viscounty of Hobro. “Also, the Chief of Staff should reward the northern chiefs and soldiers who made great achievements this time as generously as possible.”
After saying that, the emperor stood up and left, saying that the other generals would discuss their work tomorrow.
He then wrote a letter to the Crown Prince from his office and sent it to him.
[The election to select the next emperor will begin, so do your best.]
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