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Chapter 1053 - 1053 147 The Bureaucrat's Skill of Shifting Blame_3

1053: Chapter 147: The Bureaucrat’s Skill of Shifting Blame_3 1053: Chapter 147: The Bureaucrat’s Skill of Shifting Blame_3 Having regained his reason, Count Francis immediately broke into a cold sweat and quickly changed his tone, saying,

“Marshal, now that the news has leaked prematurely, I’m afraid it may affect the subsequent negotiations!”

What was once an accusation had been transformed into a collaboration for strategy.

With the change in nature, everything else altered accordingly.

Regardless of how the news leaked, Hudson was now dragged into damage control.

He couldn’t even avoid it; as the Grand Army Commander, he had to shoulder the responsibilities of the Commander in Chief.

“Your Excellency the Count, the problem shouldn’t be too significant.

According to feedback from below, the voices for and against the war are quite even.

I can stabilize the situation within the ranks and prevent them from interfering with the negotiations.

However, you need to accelerate the progress of your negotiations.

Whether it succeeds or fails, you must come to a resolution quickly.

If this drags on for too long, it will be troublesome once the Human Alliance receives word and intervenes!”

Hudson said with a calm demeanor.

It wasn’t that he was intentionally setting a trap; some burdens were simply too heavy to bear.

During the negotiations with the Elf Race, Hudson had readily taken on responsibility.

But the Orcs were different—they were the Kingdom’s mortal enemies.

The citizens might tolerate making compromises with the elves, but that didn’t mean they would accept the same with the Orcs.

At the moment, the Kingdom’s Army didn’t possess an absolute advantage; hastily initiating negotiations with the Orcs was unlikely to produce satisfactory outcomes for all parties.

When the time came to revisit this issue post-war, it provided ripe fodder for political opponents.

Hudson absolutely didn’t want to end up with a tarnished reputation.

So, he played the game of “no participation, no knowledge, no interference,” allowing the situation to unfold freely.

Moreover, the concern about the Human Alliance’s intervention was purely a pretext to urge the negotiation team to expedite their progress.

Message passing also took time.

Hudson firmly believed no one would dare launch a Communication Magic Array under his watch.

Even if there were spies planted by various powers within the army, it would be extremely difficult for them to relay information outside – military camps were not places where one could come and go freely.

Even if, by some luck, they made it out of the camp, the vicinity for miles around had been made barren, making it difficult to find someone for a rendezvous.

Even for a Major Noble to collude, conveying the message from the Northern Continent to the Southern Continent without exposing oneself wouldn’t be a matter of a short time.

Furthermore, since only rumors had been leaked without concrete evidence, capturing shadows and chasing the wind couldn’t lead to convictions.

The Orcs, unlike the elves, were not so valued—thousands or tens of thousands of casualties among vassal races wouldn’t impact the decisions of their higher-ups.

A few symbolic battles along the border would suffice to silence any critics.

In fact, the Alpha Kingdom was now geographically split by the Alien Coalition Army.

The Human Alliance’s control over the Kingdom was minuscule.

“Rest assured, Marshal, from our initial contact, the Orcs seem even more eager to end the war than we are.

The negotiations are progressing very smoothly.

If it’s just about reclaiming lost territory, we could sign a ceasefire right now.

The current contention is over reparations for the war.”

The words of Count Francis made Hudson inwardly criticize them as reckless.

Given the relationship between the Alpha Kingdom and the Orcs, what need was there for a ceasefire treaty?

What was really being discussed was an armistice treaty.

As long as one side was ready, war could reignite.

Since it was only a temporary truce, some issues could be handled more ambiguously.

After all, the Orc Empire didn’t have the capability to develop so much territory; letting the Alpha Kingdom occupy it temporarily wasn’t a major issue.

Perhaps in the eyes of the Orcs, allowing the Alpha Nobles to develop the great plains was like cultivating leeks for harvest.

Compared to the dense forts, it was easier to rob the Emerging Nobility.

The main problem was that they had miscalculated and not expected the Kingdom to make a strategic withdrawal.

Having been caught off guard once, the next time a war broke out and the Emerging Nobility on the borders prepared for it, it wouldn’t be as easy to withdraw.

Territorial development took time; for the Seven Northern Provinces to reach the level of the five major families in the north, it would be difficult without a hundred and eighty years of effort.

And that’s assuming the Kingdom’s support; relying solely on the capability of the territory itself, who knows when it could be developed.

In such circumstances, the future Northern Border was a huge pit.

Once fallen into, there would be no climbing out.

Each year the Orc tribes came for their “grassland harvest,” and it would strain them to no end.

The Noble Lords in those areas would struggle to organize an effective counterattack.

Moreover, this hardship wouldn’t end in a day or two; it would have to persist until the Kingdom recovered its vitality and had the strength for an “Eastern Crusade” before it could possibly end.

There was no mistake; it was an “Eastern Crusade,” not a “Northern Crusade.”

Looking at the map, after the Alpha Kingdom reclaimed the Seven Northern Provinces, the Orc Empire would not only exist to the north of the Kingdom but in fact have a greater expanse of territory to the east.

From the perspective of the Continent, it would still be part of the Northern Continent, hence the large-scale war would naturally be called “Northern Crusade,” but shifting the view to the northern part of the Kingdom, future wars could be labeled as either “Northern Crusade” or “Eastern Crusade.”

The east had a climate more suitable for humans, fertile land, and was where the Five Major Royal Families of the Orcs resided.

To venture deep into the great plains for a decisive battle with the Orcs, it was natural to focus on an Eastern Crusade.

For ease of reference, Hudson had coined a new term for the area spanning from the Seven Northern Provinces to Snow Moon Lake, calling it the “Near East Region.”

“It’s best if the negotiations are progressing smoothly.

Ending the war sooner will allow the Kingdom to recuperate and rejuvenate more quickly,” Hudson said, keeping his expression neutral.

Deep down, he had cursed countless times.

If nothing went awry, the delegation’s current insistence on demanding land from the Orcs was mainly to fulfill the land bonds previously issued by the Kingdom.

As for the quality of the land and how to address the security concerns, or if the bondholders could maintain their foothold, those issues were probably overlooked by the bureaucrats.

The Department of Foreign Affairs simply had to secure enough land from the negotiating table.

After bestowing titles for meritorious deeds and fulfilling the previous land bonds, they could silence the War Faction.

Hudson seriously doubted that the sovereignty issues of these lands would be addressed ambiguously in the treaty, with the Orcs merely temporarily relinquishing control.

The subsequent issues could be dealt with after the outbreak of the next war!

Only such ambiguous agreements, which required neither party to bear the brunt of the blame or deal with political consequences, could possibly be concluded in a short time.

Laying the groundwork for potential future troubles in the Near East was a minor issue.

After all, there were plenty of causes for conflict between Alpha and the Orcs—a few more would hardly matter.

The only ones being tricked were the future landowners.

No sooner had they been ennobled than the Orcs might come robbing.

Perhaps in the future, there would be a saying in the Kingdom: “If you have a grudge against someone, make them a lord in the Northern Provinces.”