Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

The officer who had spoken first heard this, crossed his arms, and snorted disdainfully.

The general stared at Colonel Berny: "You've been pondering until now, and all you've come up with is 'The United Provincials are sure to win'?"

"Yes. But that's not the issue that worries me. What I'm concerned about isn't next year, or the year after, but five years, ten years into the future." Colonel Berny stood up, looked around the conference room, and asked his colleagues condescendingly: "After the United Provincials win this battle, what happens next?"

If the United Provincials defeat General Alpad and subsequently take control of Paratu, the internal balance of power within the Alliance will completely collapse. Once Paratu's resources are consolidated, the United Provincials will gain an overwhelming advantage over Vineta."

"Will they be satisfied with that?"

"Or will they continue their military adventures?"

"Are we really going to end the Paratu civil war?" Colonel Marx Berny rapped on the long table, heavily asking, "Or are we headed towards a much larger full-scale war?"

The conference room fell into a long silence, as Colonel Berny directly unveiled the elephant in the room. When the dark future, which had been deliberately or inadvertently avoided, was clearly presented, the Monta officers felt both angry and powerless.

"So what can we do?" The first officer to speak was furious: "The disease took root thirty years ago and has long since become incurable."

The magnetic voice sighed helplessly and said sincerely, "Colonel Berny, I understand your concerns, but... Monta Army is not the Provincial Army. What determines this is not whether we can emulate their will, but that we lack their strength."

The owner of the magnetic voice looked somewhat desolate, but his tone remained extremely calm: "We can only face this reality—since ancient times, our homeland has not been a self-sufficient land. In the past, we relied on the Empire to survive; now, our Republic relies on the United Provinces Republic."

The owner of the magnetic voice continued: "For the Monta Republic, forcibly separating from the United Provinces is like tearing off half of one's body—even dismissing the feasibility—the cost is far greater than participating in a full-fledged civil war. So as soldiers of the Monta Republic, we can only comply with the Republic's greatest interests. That is to join the side of the victors and secure the best bargaining chip for the Monta Republic—even if this act is humiliating, it is something we must do."

The conference room remained silent, and the participating officers smoked their pipes more vigorously, but this silent demeanor itself suggested they were tacitly convinced by the owner of the magnetic voice.

After a momentary pause, the owner of the magnetic voice looked at Colonel Berny and hesitantly asked, "Or, do you have any plans that could reverse the situation?"

Everyone's eyes immediately turned to Colonel Berny.

"No," Colonel Berny replied straightforwardly.

The candlelight dimmed even more.

For the senior officers present, the glow of idealism that was still shining when they first left the Ivory Tower had long faded from them. Their enthusiastic zeal, too, was worn down by bureaucratic trivialities. However, they vaguely remembered how proudly they once swore to become soldiers defending the Alliance.

Yet watching as the Great Covenant turned into a mere paper document, leaving only cold calculations of interest, though no one would admit it, everyone felt a deep-seated sorrow from the depths of their hearts.

"But, even if we consider only the interests of the Republic." Colonel Berny twisted the iron ring on his finger, saying: "We shouldn't let the United Provincials win too easily."

The others quickly understood his implication.

"It's useless," the officer who spoke first dismissed: "Even if the Seventh Legion doesn't fight, with what remains of Alpad's old and weak, there's no way they can withstand the combined assault of the United Provincials and the Vaughan People."

The first officer knocked his pipe hard, speaking in a muffled tone: "Ultimately, whether the United Provincials win gracefully or clumsily doesn't depend on us, but on the Paratu people. The Paratu people have been fighting themselves for several rounds now, and even if you brought together all the Paratu people on both banks of the Ashen Stream River, they could never match the United Provincials. What's more, how old is Alpad now? Who knows when he'll pass away, and once he's gone, who in the Paratu military government can take charge?"

The first officer became more and more frustrated as he spoke, and finally smashed his pipe, declaring: "Forget about counting on the Paratu people, the Paratu Army has long been without successors—time is on the side of the United Provincials. Instead of relying on the Paratu people, they might as well hope for the Venetian people to send troops to confront the United Provincials directly. If that were the case, the United Provincials might just lower their heads."

When he heard his colleague say that the Paratu Army lacked successors, Colonel Marx Berny once again remembered the courageous and sharp-minded Paratu Lieutenant he met at the Steel Fortress.

If all the officers under Alpad were of that caliber—no, even if just half were—no, even a quarter—then the outcome couldn't be declared so easily.

"No, the Paratu Army still 'has people'," Colonel Berny said, "Time, might not necessarily be on the side of the United Provincials."