The outcome of the campaign against the natives had already been decided.
The natives, whose basic tactic was to charge head-on with spears and swords, would be no match for our army.
Therefore, I believed the key to this Western native subjugation campaign was not occupation itself.
The real question was whether we could deliver the enormous quantities of ammunition consumed by firearms to the right places at the right time.
Could our supply units keep pace with our advance? Could we maintain a sufficient supply of bullets against natives who required several shots to kill?
These were the points I emphasized during the staff meeting.
"This battle is not a battle against the natives. It is a battle against our army's supply capability."
Until now, the Southern Army had not possessed a proper supply unit. It had been assembled in haste, and the conflict itself had not lasted very long.
The fortress in Sarsen Territory had been blown away by battleships, and Sarsen Fortress was not that far away either.
The Western capital, Forbin, was also only about 400 km from Albion.
Ammunition consumption had been low, and since the conquest had taken only about a week, the importance of supply units had not been particularly apparent.
But the battlefields we would face from now on were different.
The Imperial Center was far from the South, separated by the Arbel Mountains and the sea, making overland supply difficult.
If we tried to live off the land like a certain Japanese general, or reduced our food rations on the grounds that 'Southerners are herbivores!', we would likely be annihilated.
To deploy an enormous army numbering anywhere from hundreds of thousands to a million soldiers against the Central Army, we needed to build up our logistical capabilities starting now.
"Therefore, everyone, focus on expanding the supply units. For the time being, we will not increase the size of the Army beyond its current strength."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Of course, expanding the supply units would also cost money.
We would have to build huge transport ships to carry supplies, as well as manufacture trucks and various other equipment.
No matter how much magic simplified the manufacturing process compared to Earth, we could not escape budgetary pressure entirely.
Moreover, we were in the middle of a new submarine construction project, and we were also trying to expand the fleet.
Any other region might have gone bankrupt long ago. The only reason we were managing to hold out this long was that we were the South.
'No, actually, I'm not even sure we can say we're holding on.'
The South was recklessly expanding its army with the money it had saved and the wealth extracted from the corrupt nobles of the West. It was also taking on debt.
Naturally, our savings were not infinite, and the wealth extracted from the Western nobles would not last forever.
If things continued this way, I believed the Southern economy would inevitably collapse within a few years.
After all, a wartime economy meant gnawing away at the very companies that formed the foundation of the nation.
"If we run the country like this, won't it collapse?"
I knew that, too.
If we produced weapons instead of ordinary goods, the companies that should have been driving the economy through exports would suffer.
Once the money ran out and those companies lost their growth engines, the Southern economy would suffer an irreversible, potentially fatal blow.
There was only one way to avoid economic collapse.
We just had to win the war.
If we crushed the Eastern Navy, dismantled the Eastern Grand Ducal House, and absorbed its vast territories into the South, we could keep the economy afloat.
In that sense, perhaps it was fortunate that the East was keeping us in check.
Since war would eventually break out anyway, it would be better to let them strike first and secure the justification for our response.
'Maybe I've gained one more task.'
Once everything was over, I would have to dismantle the South's war machine with as little damage as possible.
What I wanted was not world conquest but the survival of the South. I could not afford to meet the same fate as the warmongering dictators of history.
I believed that would be my final task.
***
While the military focused on the Modernization of the Western Army and the private sector worked on weapons development, the Ministry of Intelligence was busy with its own preparations.
The Ministry of Intelligence investigated everyone without distinction, whether they were commoners, nobles, or of barbarian origin, while also examining the hierarchical relationships among the Western Barbarian tribes.
Nearly three months passed in this manner.
By the time the damage caused by the war between the West and the South had been largely cleared away, the Ministry of Intelligence had also gained a comprehensive understanding of how the West operated.
"Basically, the governance system of the Western Barbarians revolves around the three strongest tribes."
"Around three tribes? Nomads?"
Considering what the word 'nomad' meant, this was rather unusual.
People who wandered the Grassland without a fixed residence.
Tribes that lived by hunting along the Arbel Mountains stretching beyond the Western Border.
And tribes that had gradually assimilated into the West over the past thousand years, settled down, and begun to resemble the people of the Empire.
'For now, acting independently seems to be a defining characteristic of the Barbarians.'
"Recently, strong centralization appears to have begun around the three tribes. I think this may be because we have been unable to interfere with the Barbarians for the past 50 years."
"Well, that was around the time the Western Army began to collapse in earnest."
For a nation built on an agricultural society, the emergence of unified nomads was practically a disaster.
Even nomads divided into separate tribal units could inflict enormous damage along the border. What would happen if they united under a single banner?
We could see the answer by looking at the empires across Asia and Europe that had been swept away by Genghis Khan.
The West would be devastated.
Even the Empire's rulers of the past, despite knowing nothing of Earth's history, had understood this danger well.
Whenever nomadic peoples showed signs of unification, they launched large-scale offensives under the pretext of subjugating the Barbarians or something similar.
Of course, whatever territory they gained was eventually lost again, making these campaigns little more than a waste of money and manpower.
Nevertheless, because the Barbarians who gathered together were crushed each time, the Western Border had remained secure until now.
"But 50 years ago, when the Empire's accumulated corruption finally erupted, we could no longer afford to pay attention to the Western Border."
"And in the meantime, those Barbarian bastards finished sorting out their own hierarchy?"
"That is correct. They are showing signs of tribal unification centered on three powerful tribes."
"Wasn't Charles Raymonds, the former Western Grand Duke, dealing with some of them?"
"Charles Raymonds only attacked the Barbarians near the border. We have confirmed that many of those tribes had already become culturally assimilated into the West to some extent over the past thousand years."
In other words, he had left the tribes that were unifying and actually needed to be subjugated alone, choosing instead to attack those that had already assimilated into Western culture to some extent.
"That guy really did nothing but make one foolish decision after another."
At this point, the situation had become quite dangerous.
The reason nomads were nomads was that they could not settle in one place.
But what happened when their numbers grew and the need to settle in one place arose?
From then on, they would try to secure territory of their own, even if it meant invading neighboring countries.
"How far has the unification progressed?"
"They are holding regular meetings to formulate policies, and there have even been movements to elect a new leader."
Meetings to formulate policies and elect a leader?
That was exactly what the Mongol Empire's Kurultai was.
If they took just one more step, an enemy resembling the historical Genghis Khan might emerge.
Was this, too, one of the mechanisms prepared in the "original work" to bring down the Empire?
Was it intended to deliver the final blow to the Empire, already weakened by civil war, the Republic's invasion, and attacks by demonic beasts?
It did not matter either way.
The moment I decided to intervene, that future would never come to pass.
"It was about time things became dangerous. It's a good thing I decided to intervene."
"The Modernization of the Western Army is also underway to some extent. Full-scale operations should be possible in a few weeks."
The operational plan, including the supply plan, was gradually taking shape. This meeting was also intended to refine its details.
And the most important issue was how to deal with the Barbarians.
"First, the Barbarians who have assimilated into the West to some extent over the past thousand years will be subjugated to the West."
"Understood, Your Grace."
Up to that point, the discussion proceeded without any objections.
Not all Barbarians were the same, and if we could bring some of them under control with as little force as possible, that would be for the best.
The problem came next.
The three tribes, along with those showing signs of unification under their influence.
"The tribes currently occupying the Great Plains of the West are divided into three groups: Borcan, Aikamad, and Serelkas. They have been a headache for the West for hundreds of years."
For hundreds of years, the West had made various attempts to bring them under control.
They had tried cultural assimilation, pursued negotiations, and even resorted to armed conflict. There was hardly a method they had not attempted.
Yet these three tribes, in particular, had remained beyond their control.
"Does the staff think these three tribes can never be assimilated?"
"It is too early to say for sure... but for now, that is our prediction."
"Then we have no need to show mercy, either."
There was a line from a certain movie, spoken by a US military officer who had entered Afghanistan.
If you killed two out of twenty terrorists in Afghanistan, how many would remain?
The answer was not eighteen, but twenty-six.
That was because the family members and friends of those who lost relatives, friends, or parents to the US military would join terrorist organizations out of hatred and a desire for revenge.
When two terrorists died, eight more would emerge.
That was how the chain of hatred worked.
When you killed an enemy, their parents, siblings, children, and friends could come to hate you and turn their blades of revenge against us.
So there was only one answer I could give.
We had to wipe them out completely with such overwhelming force that they would never dare challenge us again.
"Borcan, Aikamad, Serelkas. Let us wipe these three tribes completely from the Grassland."
As a human being, Kyle might have hesitated, but as the leader Kyle Leopold, I could not make an empty promise about settling everything peacefully through words.
To break the chain of hatred peacefully, one side would have to endure the suffering without retaliating.
But would the three tribes, which had resisted the Empire for hundreds of years, be willing to endure?
I thought absolutely not.
Then should the West be the one to endure?
If that happened, my approval rating would collapse. The annexation of the West would fall apart, and the wartime economy I had worked to establish would collapse.
Then we would be unable to escape the Empire's destruction.
In the end, it was a problem that could only be solved if one side physically disappeared.
"For the past 100 years, those native bastards have forgotten just how strict the Empire's order can be."
Although I was not in a position to represent the entire Empire, I could say this much with confidence.
"To the natives who rejected the Empire's mercy and lived in debauchery, let us teach them how terrifying and cruel the Empire can be."
Borcan, Aikamad, Serelkas.
It was the moment the fate of the three great tribes, which had dreamed of the great unification of the Grassland and the conquest of the Empire, was sealed.
It was exactly one month before the start of the Western expedition.