Originally, the relationship between the West and the South had not been very good.
This was because, before the overwhelming wave of manufactured goods produced by the South's factories, the industries of the West were being smashed one by one.
The difference in production between a region that had succeeded in modernization and a region that had not escaped the Middle Ages was enormous.
To make up for that difference, Charles chose to steal from the South.
He decided to send spies to the South to steal technology.
The spies he sent that way delivered information to Charles that the South was preparing for war.
Nevertheless, the reason Charles was not nervous was simple.
[ It seems the South is preparing for war ]
[ Recently, the South's weapons production has increased dramatically. They say they are making cannons to shoot at wyverns. ]
[ The Ministry of Land is building a curved structure out of concrete in the Sarsen region. It seems they are constructing a fortress. ]
This was because the spies, who lived in the Middle Ages, could not recognize what the South was preparing.
Originally, even technology espionage required one to understand the technology.
The spies sent by the West did not properly understand what the South was making.
Thus, all the reports that reached the desk of Western Grand Duke Charles Raymonds were nothing but underestimations of the South.
'The South bastards are trying to hit wyverns with cannons'
'The South bastards are building walls with concrete'
'It seems the South does not know what war is'
And Charles, who accepted those reports at face value, thought the South were idiots.
They might know what a cannon is, but hitting the Wyvern Knight Order with one was impossible.
How could they hit wyverns performing dazzling maneuvers in the air with something like a cannon?
And they are building walls? Against the West's Wyvern Unit?
To an aerial cavalry, a wall was a meaningless obstacle.
"As expected, lowborn things who only knew how to handle money could not possibly understand proper war."
Yes, it was certain that the South bastards had developed something amazing.
After all, he had seen with his own eyes the place where Sarsen Fortress had collapsed.
But that was, after all, only about weapons.
War was not something one could win merely because weapons or technology were superior.
Overwhelming combat experience. Mental strength that did not fear death. And the excellent teamwork of an army.
Those were areas the South, which had only just begun to expand its army, could not dare to match.
In the end, what made one win a war was air supremacy. Because it was the air force.
"It is about time I dealt with the idiots and moneybags who think they are so capable."
To Charles, whether he won or lost the war was not very important.
From the beginning, he had never once anticipated defeat itself.
His interest lay solely in what he would take away.
"Come to think of it, Aria liked the jewelry made in the South."
In Charles's head, there was only the image of himself retaking Sarsen with one perfect surprise attack, capturing Kyle, forcing him to kneel, and tearing all sorts of things out of him.
"How many South soldiers are stationed in Sarsen?"
"It is assessed as 300, Your Highness."
"Ha, only that many?"
It was just like the South, which had no proper army.
At the words that the force was only 300, Charles snorted and ordered.
"Prepare 5,000 infantry and three Wyvern Knight Orders. I will blow them all away with a single surprise attack."
"Ha, but... over the past few years, the reckless subjugation of the Western borderlands has pushed our military logistics budget to its limit! There are already many legions stationed along the Western border. If we move even more troops than this..."
Boom-!
The timid adjutant's voice was cut off by the sound of Charles slamming his desk.
"Military logistics budget? We can just beat the South bastards down and make them repay it!"
Charles could not understand the adjutant.
The South was a paper tiger that had only just begun raising an army. Why should he consider something like military logistics budget against an army that would collapse with a single tap
"Hey, Albert. Don't you understand now? This is a chance to legally clean out the vaults of those South bastards, the wealthiest in the world!"
The West always had to suffer financial difficulties.
It was because of Charles, who constantly went off to subjugate the Western border.
They had covered the insufficient military funds by plundering the natives beyond the Western border.
As a result, the natives' hatred for the West grew, and eventually the natives began periodically invading the Western border.
Whenever they invaded, he abandoned all his work and led his knight order out, delighted, so there was no way the finances could remain intact.
"You always say the finances are insufficient, right? I'm going to replenish them, and you still complain?"
From the West's standpoint, this situation was only welcome.
Until now, they could not touch the wealthy South because they were part of the same Empire, but now they had a good justification: Sarsen Fortress.
"Don't worry, Albert. Our elite troops cannot lose against the stupid South bastards."
"...Understood. I will prepare the army within two days."
"Yes, that's how it should be."
He had not thought up anything like a concrete war plan.
After all, if he occupied Sarsen with overwhelming force, the cowards would obviously surrender on their own.
Just as when dealing with the West's uncivilized natives.
"And tell that Kyle bastard that two days from now, I want to meet him in person to discuss the matter of Sarsen Territory."
"What?"
"While the South's leadership is all gathered at the meeting place, we can move the army and cleanly swallow Sarsen, no?"
It did not matter if he refused.
If he refused this meeting, they could use that as a justification to begin a full-scale invasion.
"No matter what choice he makes, all that remains for the South is defeat."
***
The confrontation between the South and the West.
In fact, when you think about it, it is a truly absurd situation.
If you compare it to 21st-century Republic of Korea, it is like the governor of Gyeonggi Province and the governor of Gangwon Province shouting that they are at war with each other and invading one another.
Normally, no officer or soldier would hear such an insane order to militarily invade the same country and same people that are running perfectly fine.
The central government would also intervene politically and physically to prevent such a thing from happening.
However, the Empire of this world was a little different.
This was because the 'Empire' was a country formed by five great powers uniting around the First Emperor.
It was a country founded not through military integration, but through voluntary union.
As such, the authority given to the Grand Dukes of each region was strong, and among the regions, the sense of a single people, that the Empire was one, was weak.
That was also why I could rise to the position of Grand Duke of the South.
The South Grand Ducal House, pushed out by capitalists and in decline, with its bloodline cut off, needed an heir.
And Kyle Leopold was a body with at least a little of the South Grand Ducal House's blood mixed in.
The South Grand Ducal House happened to lack an heir, and the Imperial Family had a burden it needed to dispose of appropriately. That was how I fell into the position of Grand Duke like a parachute.
Anyway, until now, it had been fine.
The Emperor's royal authority had been strong enough to chew up and swallow all such shortcomings.
But over the past few decades, the Empire had walked the path of decline.
The current Emperor ruined the Empire and then collapsed from illness, lying in a sickbed. The Crown Prince, who handles practical affairs, is also smitten by a woman and in a dazed state.
And what happens when the power of the center weakens could be seen clearly from the example of neighboring China.
Warlords rise.
Each raises their own force and rises up, and the Empire is shattered into pieces.
It was something that had also happened in the original work of 'Monajoh'.
The center and East, West, South, and North. The Empire, split into five, starts a war to claim this world's Heroine, Aria Leonhardt.
Men so devoted that they would even start a war for the Heroine's sake.
Truly, a world just for one Heroine.
"So I need to stamp out the seeds of war in advance."
That was the reason he had positioned the army forward in the County of Sarsen.
Because Charles, the hot-blooded Western Grand Duke who is sweet only to the Heroine, would absolutely not let this provocation pass.
One month since the County of Sarsen had fallen.
In Sarsen, which had been bustling as the South's factories were built and the
South's advanced civilization came in, the clouds of war began to gather.
Its beginning was a telegram sent by the Radar Unit.
[ Currently, there are no abnormalities at the Western border ]
[ However, over the past two weeks, the number of Western wyverns scouting around the Sarsen region has increased. ]
[ The number of reconnaissance flights detected by radar has already exceeded thirty. It appears to be an intention to thoroughly grasp the nearby terrain. ]
They probably thought they were being secretive, but unfortunately, they were not.
The Radar Unit, the eye in the sky, could see incomparably farther than mere humans.
And the conclusion that could be inferred from that was only one.
The West was preparing for war.
And its first target was probably Sarsen.
"Lucilla, how is the Anti-Air unit deployment in Sarsen coming along?"
"It is in the final stage. 300 Anti-Air Artillery troops armed with twenty A-01 76mm
Anti-Air Guns and numerous small-caliber Anti-Air guns have been deployed."
That was enough to defend against the incoming Western army.
If it was the frontline Anti-Air Artillery Division, which had repeated Anti-Air gun firing training on a small island in the southern sea for the past month, it would easily block the Wyvern Unit.
Ground troops? There is no particular need to deploy such things.
Because every Anti-Air gun, if you simply lower its gun elevation, becomes an excellent infantry blender.
Now all that remained was the West's attack.
In that situation, the letter that arrived from the West contained an all-too-blatant intention.
[ Western Grand Duke Charles Raymonds to Grand Duke of the South Kyle Leopold ]
For a hot-blooded Western Grand Duke, it began quite normally.
To summarize its contents, they were roughly as follows.
1.The matter of the County of Sarsen is indeed the fault of the County of Sarsen.
2.But could it not have been resolved by a somewhat more peaceful method?
3.It is not too late even now, so let us resolve it through dialogue. Because I want to talk, I have deliberately withdrawn all the troops from the Western border as well.
4.If you agree, let us meet two days later in Irestopol, the city midway between the West and the South.
"Oh?"
In a situation where he pretended to have withdrawn his troops while continuing to send scouts, he proposed a meeting.
It was a situation where even a first grader in elementary school could tell it was bullshit.
"So that musclehead can use his head, too."
I smirked and folded the letter.
That man Charles is probably thinking he perfectly concealed his intention.
Because he would never dream that the Wyvern reconnaissance unit had been detected.
So, he will probably begin the invasion the moment I accept this proposal and go to the meeting place.
"What will you do?"
"We should play along."
Charles Raymonds and I are both bearers of the Bloodline of the Sun.
It seems he is under the illusion that in a fight where both excellent mages are absent, his side will be far more advantageous.
And there was no opponent easier to devour than an enemy under an illusion.
"Send a reply to the West. Tell them I want to accept the meeting."