Right after Carolus said his piece and stormed out,
the royal audience chamber was engulfed in a fury like wildfire.
“How dare that lowly brat…!”
“If it were the old days, that bastard wouldn’t even be able to look us in the eye! Just because he made a few achievements, does he think he’s something?!”
“If I still had the position of Chief Judge, I would have thrown him in prison forever!!”
Carolus’s attitude was utterly rude.
Not just his words, but the emotions, the attitude, everything in his expressions conveyed a clear disregard.
He showed no respect for the authority of the nobility or royalty that governed the kingdom.
How could this happen? He’s supposed to be a noble, yet doesn’t he know what manners are? Even if it were an envoy from an enemy nation, they wouldn’t behave like this!
However, despite all the grumbling, no one dared speak openly in front of him.
The reason was simple: the other party’s energy was too fierce.
“Still, we can’t afford to clash with Carolus. If we do, our family will be destroyed.”
“That guy is completely insane. He’s the type to strike without warning if you provoke him…”
When ordered to abandon the defended region and retreat, he went mad and personally led his army all the way to the capital, a crushing force beyond measure.
Along the way, he wiped out a division in half a day and absorbed them,
then tore through the elite guards and the capital defense forces like a monster.
That was the image of Carolus von Royten as seen by the high-ranking officials of the central government.
In truth, he had been pushed into launching a coup by his subordinates,
but nonetheless, the visible results were undeniable.
“I don’t think I can just rely on my authority and experience to push back. I guess I’ll have to give up on trying to persuade him and take a more cooperative route.”
“He has more political sense than I thought. He knows how to manipulate public opinion.”
“For now, showing submission and cooperation seems to be the best course of action.”
And what was it like just now?
Even when the most prominent nobles of the kingdom all shouted in protest, he didn’t even blink, and instead, tried to threaten them in return.
He openly threatened to release sensitive information, intending to sway public opinion.
This was definitely not a decision that a political novice would make.
“This is a tactical retreat, a step back to move forward. He’s not completely backing down.”
The sharp-eyed nobles who witnessed Carolus’s reaction had already made their judgment.
They decided to comply with his terms where necessary.
They had just confirmed that he was the type to abandon everything and go for a final, desperate confrontation if things went wrong.
Why would they be foolish enough to resist? Rebellion requires the confidence to persuade the other party.
To these nobles, Carolus was not someone whose compromises or flattery would work.
For anything else, perhaps— but especially in matters he had personally decided.
And… honestly, they couldn’t say they were entirely guilt-free.
“It was indeed harsh not to take responsibility after ruining the entire front.”
“If he had deserted or fled the battlefield, at the very least, his noble status should have been stripped. Even nobles have their limits when it comes to special treatment.”
“Even if the catalyst was the queen’s matter, we still bear some responsibility.”
Parachute appointments, special treatment for performance, stripping achievements, neglecting subordinate units, irresponsible leadership, and so on.
How many times have the nobles wreaked havoc simply because they were nobles and were treated as such?
Even just the documents Carolus roughly investigated were a stack, and if he decided to gather everything, the papers would fill a cart.
For generations, they had lived off the blood of commoners, exploiting and ruling them as if it were their birthright, but at least they still had a shred of conscience.
If anyone questioned why they pretended not to know after making a major contribution to the worsening of the war, they would at least avert their eyes.
“Since Carolus wants an army, let’s each contribute a little to gather one. This way, we can minimize the damage each of us will suffer.”
“I think the families that caused trouble in this war should take the initiative. If they’ve caused the mess, they should bear the responsibility first.”
“Then the first priority should be the Liebert family…”
“Our family’s private soldiers are already deployed to the capital’s defense, so we don’t have the manpower. We’ll have to bring in those left behind in the territory.”
In the end, the nobles reached an agreement to allocate troops by determining their respective shares.
It was frustrating to hand over the private soldiers they had spent a fortune raising, but for now, it seemed like the best course of action.
After excluding the royal loyalists, it seemed possible to meet the target number by gathering from the remaining forces.
Some families would suffer considerable losses, but what could be done? If they caused the problem, they had no choice but to bear the responsibility.
“Your Majesty, I ask for your approval.”
“I understand.”
Once the agreement was made below, King Carl VII immediately signed the document left by Carolus.
Thus, the order to seize the military power of the noble factions was finalized.
“This is too much. Do they think we didn’t hold back from offering our troops? What do they think started this war in the first place…”
“Shut up!! Why bring that up now?! We had agreed to bury it and move on!”
“I was frustrated, alright? I won’t bring it up again, just let go of my hand.”
Though there had been an odd comment in the middle, it wasn’t really relevant at the moment.
…Well, for now.
“In the end, you made the wise choice. You thought it through well. So, how many troops are we mobilizing?”
“Since you requested over 40,000, I’ve arranged for 45,000. Mixed units recruited from various regions. Will that be enough?”
“An additional 5,000? Not bad. If you’d cooperated like this from the start, it would’ve been so much better.”
Regardless of the process, it was a fresh batch of troops equivalent to one entire army corps.
Finally, the shortage of manpower had been resolved, and the General Staff and the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, which I led, began drafting the new unit deployment plan.
First, in the west, we’ll mix half of the nobles’ private soldiers with the existing 50,000 troops and deploy them. This will immediately address the urgent situation.
Next, we’ll send 5,000 to the east and the remaining units to the north. The scale was adjusted according to the priority.
There were some opinions that it would be a waste to send everything at once, but I firmly rejected that.
Troops could always be gathered later, but solving the precarious situation at hand was the highest priority.
With the decision to mobilize a large-scale force of around 100,000, there were some officers who were overjoyed.
These were the commoners and lower-noble officers.
“The army heading to the plains alone is equivalent to two corps, right?”
“With that scale, there will definitely be new positions. I’m not hoping for a corps operations officer, but even getting an administrative officer or an assistant position would be great…”
“There are a lot of newly formed units this time. If we’re lucky, we might even land a field commander role!”
No matter which world you’re in, in a society with a caste system, the first thing considered in personnel matters is not ability, but status.
If you prioritize the lower ranks and stir up the discontent of the higher ranks, handling the aftermath becomes difficult, but the opposite is much easier.
As a result, officers from humble backgrounds always get the short end of the stick.
When it comes to assignments, they get all the undesirable posts, the ones with heavy workloads and few benefits, while the desirable and elite roles are taken away from them.
No matter how hard they work, most of the achievements are stolen by the higher-ups, leaving them with nothing.
“I got screwed over a lot during my junior officer days. Damn, that battalion commander should’ve been fragged.”
If you look purely at talent and ability, there are many people who could easily handle the duties of a colonel or even a brigadier general, but they end up stuck as majors or lieutenant colonels for their entire careers and retire that way.
These are the consequences of a caste system.
If you want to escape that kind of situation? You’d have to make a name for yourself to the point where you can crush the gap in status, build an impressive career with significant achievements—otherwise, it’s nearly impossible.
Of course, just getting the opportunity to accumulate such a career is already difficult, and I don’t need to explain that part.
Even with the outbreak of war, these injustices didn’t change much.
There were more opportunities to rise quickly and stand out compared to before, but in the end, it was the same old story.
Since they never give you the chance in the first place, you remain stuck in the same position.
“If I want to be assigned there, where should I request it? Do I go to the personnel office and ask if they’ll process it?”
” It sounds like it’ll be a fierce competition. Maybe it would be better to go to a well-known general and offer to serve them for life in exchange for their support. That might increase my chances. Maybe that’s the better option.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to go with the newly established Supreme Council instead?”
Given that, it was only natural for them to get excited about this rare chance for a life turnaround.
When I and my subordinates noticed that many promising officers, who seemed capable and eager for success, were emerging, we knew things were shifting.
“Do you want to join the new units?”
“General Roitel!”
“Did you hear what we were talking about?”
“I happened to overhear. If you’re interested… I could help you out.”
I immediately began the recruitment effort.
They were likely capable and dissatisfied with the current system, and if I played my cards right, they could become allies.
There are so many talented people lying around? How can I resist this?
“If you’re free, how about having dinner together the day after tomorrow? We can talk more in detail then.”
If I can raise these guys to the rank of captain or colonel, maintaining power will become much easier.
By controlling the junior generals in the military, the military’s command authority will naturally fall under our faction’s control.
After all, the core of military dictatorship lies in securing actual command power.
“Yes! I will definitely meet with you on that day, Sir!!”
As expected, the reactions of the recruits were ecstatic.