It hadn't been that long since our army had begun arming itself in earnest.
Naturally, there was a mountain of work to be done.
Even just looking at the navy, all sorts of tasks came to mind.
Developing anti-submarine measures. Expanding the fleet. Developing new ship types...
On top of that, the manpower needed to modernize the West was enormous.
The Industrial Revolution didn't progress simply by building factories. Skilled workers and administrators were needed as well.
Naturally, that manpower had to come from our South.
Railroads?
We were trying to employ local workers as much as possible, but even that required manpower of our own.
Moreover, our own high-ranking personnel were filling the gaps in the Western administration.
With the corrupt nobles gone, countless positions had been left vacant. The incompetent West lacked the capacity to fill them, so our people were stepping in to cover the shortfall.
In effect, it was our South that was keeping the West, which was practically in a vegetative state, functioning.
The advantage was that the West had effectively become an extension of our own territory.
The people were satisfied as their living conditions improved, and the upper echelons could no longer function without our manpower. If things continued this way, the annexation of the West would proceed smoothly.
The problem was that we were short on manpower to begin with.
"In this situation, you're saying we even have to consider the relationships among the Western native tribes?"
Apparently, we were expected to take the relationships among the natives into account as well.
Some tribes raided frequently, while others barely raided at all. Some had blood ties to the West, while others had formed something resembling mutual defense treaties with one another. As a result, responses had varied depending on the circumstances.
It wasn't a decision I couldn't understand.
With corrupt nobles and a military whose discipline had collapsed, the West had been unable to repel every wave of native attacks. It seemed they had focused on stopping only the most devastating attacks and let the rest pass.
The problem was that most of the nobles who had served as the basis for those decisions had been swept away.
And now we were supposed to invest manpower and administrative resources into investigating everything from scratch and reorganizing the entire system?
When we were already on the verge of a manpower shortage?
"Do we really need to show that kind of consideration to those plundering our borders?"
The incompetent West had needed to defend itself that way.
But we didn't.
"Treat all barbarian tribes approaching the vicinity of our territory as enemies and open fire."
And if that incurred the wrath of the native bastards?
I didn't care. In fact, that was exactly what I was aiming for.
The more we attacked them, the more would come?
Let's see just how many they could bring.
Whether the natives had more people or we had more bullets, we'd find out by counting them ourselves.
"How do you plan to deploy the troops?"
"Hmm, for now, send about 100 men to each region. The first reinforcements aren't meant to attack their strongholds, but to defend our territory."
Right now, the army had far more guns than soldiers.
Because we were running a wartime economy and operating munitions factories, weapons were pouring out endlessly. The number of soldiers available to use them, however, was limited.
Then why did we keep producing weapons?
Because once we fully annexed the West, we'd have to put those weapons into the hands of the Western Army as well.
For now, we'd send around 100 troops and have them conduct Joint Operations with the Western Army.
After building trust through several Joint Operations, we'd provide them with our weapons.
That was why I judged that 100 would be enough. The numerical disadvantage could be offset by putting weapons in the hands of the local army.
"Let's train the Western Army bit by bit while we have this opportunity."
Weapons that could efficiently slaughter the barbarian tribes?
The soldiers stationed at the Western Border would probably be thrilled.
In this way, we'd familiarize the Western soldiers with our weapons and conduct Joint Operations under the pretext of subjugating the barbarians.
How could the Imperial Center object when we were subjugating barbarians who threatened the Empire?
Through lawful Joint Operations, we'd integrate the command structure, train them in modern tactics, and cultivate a sense that we were all on the same side.
All in preparation for the day we eventually marched toward the Imperial Center.
***
The ill-fated relationship between the West and the natives beyond its borders went back a long way.
In the beginning, there had been many tribes in the West, but one among them was the strongest. That tribe unified the others under its rule and became a single nation.
The tribes that had agreed to the unification and accepted its rule became the ancestors of the nobles who now made up the West.
The tribes that had opposed unification and gone their own way settled beyond the Western Border.
Before long, the Empire's golden age arrived.
The Empire offered the West broad autonomy, economic support, technology transfers, cultural exchanges, and more. Thus, the West eventually became part of the Empire.
The Raymonds house, which had originally ruled the Western region, became the Western Grand Duke, and imperial culture naturally flowed into the West.
That had happened hundreds of years ago.
While the West integrated with the Empire and became 'civilized,' the natives who lived among themselves in forests and plains retained almost all their traditional ways.
Naturally, differences between the two groups were bound to emerge.
Hunter-nomads on one side, and a centralized agricultural state on the other.
One didn't even need to look at the numbers to know which side had greater productivity.
And when hunter-nomads encountered an agricultural state, conflict was inevitable.
The natives frequently crossed the border and harassed the West. They plundered farmland, captured people, and caused enormous damage.
At least, things had been manageable before Kaiser III introduced Iron-Blooded Governance.
The Empire before Kaiser III had not tolerated such acts by the nomads.
Even if the matter concerned the West, beyond the Arbel Mountains, the Central Army would intervene directly to subjugate the nomads.
However, things changed somewhat during the Empire's dark age after Iron-Blooded Governance.
After the thirteen-year-old prince ascended the throne, the Empire began a rapid decline.
The nobles were corrupt, the spears and blades of the Imperial Army rusted, and the officer corps filled with political appointees who had no combat experience.
Thus, for the past 40 years, the central government had been unable to pay attention to the West.
Taking advantage of that gap, the nomads began rampaging again.
Recently, Western Grand Duke Charles Raymonds had resumed fighting the natives, but that had done nothing to improve the West's situation.
Charles Raymonds hadn't been fighting to stop the natives.
He simply loved war and waged it recklessly, dragging commoner conscripts along with him.
For Edwin, the lord of Eirene, a small city in the Western Border region, the situation was nothing but a headache.
"Charles Raymonds, that idiot."
During the conflict with the South, the West had lost nearly 50,000 troops in total. Its central reserves had been completely wiped out, while the natives' offensive had only grown fiercer.
A 'proposal' had arrived a few days earlier.
If you offer a certain amount of wealth, we will not attack your territory.
Edwin was enraged by the way they had treated him, a Western noble, as if he were insignificant.
But he soon came to understand the reality.
The West, having suffered a crushing defeat against the South in the territorial war, could not afford to reject the proposal.
He was gritting his teeth and preparing to sign it when—
"My lord, a message from the South!"
"From the South?"
Without warning, a message had arrived from the Grand Duke of the South's Office.
It stated that they would send support in response to the Western government's request for help.
Perhaps in the past he might have hesitated, but now was not the time to be choosy. He knew all too well how the barbarian tribes treated anyone they considered weak.
Moreover, he had heard a little about the South's new weapons.
Filled with expectation, Edwin turned to his Adjutant.
"How many reinforcements are coming?"
"Uh, well..."
The Adjutant hesitated for a moment before answering cautiously.
"About 100... they say."
"What?"
Edwin couldn't help asking again.
It was only natural. A mere 100 men clearly couldn't stop the Western Barbarians' offensive.
This wasn't a matter of technology or new weapons.
No matter how good the weapons were, they wouldn't work against the barbarian tribes.
That was because of the spells cast by their Shamans.
'A spell that makes them feel no pain.'
'A spell that makes them feel no fear.'
Barbarians who charged without fear were the terror of the Western Infantry. There was no way to stop those who charged while laughing madly, even after being impaled by spears.
The only asymmetric asset capable of stopping them, the Wyvern Knight Order, had mostly left the West following its defeat.
"How do they intend to stop a horde of barbarians charging without fear with just 100 men...?"
Edwin wasn't the only one wondering that.
The chief of the Temelikan Tribe, which was fairly large even by the standards of the Western tribes, burst into laughter upon hearing the Scout's report.
"Kahahaha! Only 100? You say they sent 100?"
"Yes. They're encamped on the flatland in front of the territory, digging in."
"I had one misunderstanding about the Southern bastards."
The plain was exactly where the Temelikan warriors fought best.
On an open plain with no cover, there was no way to stop the charge of Temelikan warriors who knew no pain.
And they intended to stop them with just 100 men?
"I heard they won a victory against the West, so I thought they were quite impressive. But to think they were this stupid."
The chief of the Temelikan Tribe, who knew little about the South's 'new technology,' dismissed it as nothing special and issued an order.
"Gather the warriors! It's time to make those who dared reject our merciful proposal pay the price!"