Chapter 1407: Prologue: The Worst Ending (Part 3)

“Let me tell you what the outcome of this civil war will be, cadet.”

Cornelius said in a deep voice:

“The best outcome is for the Western Front Army to eliminate the Rainbow River Rebel Army, taking all of North Paratu; the Southern Army defeats the New Reclaimed Land Insurgents, recovering South Paratu; and immediately after, we consolidate Paratu’s resources and march east, making Vineta bow down;

“In this way, we can unify governance, completely end the situation where the Various Republics act autonomously, undermine each other, and fight internally, saving the Alliance from the abyss of self-destruction.

“Then, we must push for reconciliation, heal wounds, dispel hatred, and unite all parties—this is no easier than military conquest. It’s not an exaggeration to say that winning hearts is ten, even a hundred times harder than destroying bodies.

“But we must achieve this, because only then can the Alliance truly become a country.

“Only then can the Alliance survive the war that the Empire will inevitably impose on her.

“Only then is there a possibility, however slight, that the Pretender Emperor would not dare to look south from the start.

“Only then can we claim to have achieved the aspirations of the sages;

“Only then can we say we have fulfilled the promise of the ‘Alliance Charter’;

“Only then can we declare that the Senas Alliance is a nation that belongs to all Senarthians.”

“Long live the Alliance, glory everlasting.” Jansen Cornelius’s eyes blazed: “This is the best outcome we can hope for.”

Fritz listened blankly.

Cornelius was unfazed and continued: “The second-best outcome we can hope for is—the Southern Army is completely annihilated, while the Western Front Army fails to achieve strategic objectives and sustains heavy losses.

“Then Vineta will first annex South Paratu, and naturally, they will take North Paratu, consolidate the resources of the entire Paratu, and then extinguish us—the United Provinces Republic, unifying the Alliance.”

“This is the second-best outcome?” Fritz laughed dryly.

“Why not?” Cornelius raised an eyebrow, pointing at his own nose: “Whether it’s us or them in the outcome—me, you, the Federated Provinces, Vineta… it’s not important.

“The only thing that matters is that the Alliance must achieve true unity, otherwise she will never break free from internal friction! She will not be able to withstand the Empire’s aggression! She will be fragmented and defeated by the enemy one by one!”

“If you delivered this speech in the square.” Fritz calmly commented: “You would be considered alarmist, making a fuss over nothing.”

“Then I tell you, cadet, those who think I’m alarmist, making a fuss over nothing, are the most blind, the most ignorant, the real frogs at the bottom of the well!”

Cornelius raised his arm, pointing to the file cabinet filled with archival boxes at the other end of the office, and said with eyes glaring:

“Because they don’t understand at all what immense strength and unwavering determination our enemies possess!

“They still live in the victory of the last war, but we won last time because the enemy made mistakes.

“I have studied the Empire for a whole sixteen years, and when the next war arrives, I see no chance that Henry the Sunfire will repeat the mad emperor’s mistakes.”

Fritz turned around, his gaze scanning the massive file cabinet, almost filling three entire walls but for two gaps.

By nature, he would not easily believe any conclusion without personal investigation.

But at this moment, his intuition told him that what the former minister said was true.

“So, let me tell you what the bad outcome is.” Cornelius took a deep breath, regaining his usual majesty and solemnity:

“The bad outcome is—the Southern Army loses as expected, the Western Front Army wins as expected, Vineta annexes South Paratu, the Federated Provinces annex North Paratu, neither can gain absolute advantage over the other, and thus both sides exhaust their strength in a long seesaw battle, then the Empire takes advantage of the situation, leading to the fall of the Senas Alliance.”

Fritz felt a chill in his heart.

“That’s right.” Cornelius smirked coldly: “This is the script Henry the Sunfire most wishes to see, and this is why, even though the outcome of the Paratu civil war has been decided and the entire civil war of the Alliance is imminent, there’s not a whisper of military preparations in the north—except for the massive expansion of the navy.

“Henry the Sunfire even deliberately carried out the purge of the Southern Army at this crucial juncture, helping us remove the biggest stumbling block on the road to civil war with his own hands.”

As for matters beyond the Alliance, Fritz, as an officer of his rank, knew very little: “Are you saying that as soon as fighting breaks out here, the rebuilding of the Southern Army will immediately be prioritized?”

“Prioritized?” Cornelius let out a sneer at the ignorance: “The purge of the Southern Army has already stopped; the reconstruction of the Southern Army has been on the agenda from the start, only pushed in a hidden, unnoticeable way.

“This is also Henry the Sunfire’s consistent style. The Great Northern War was like this, the Saracen War was like this, and the suppression of the Bohemians was still like this… It is only when his iron hammer crushes your skull that you will suddenly realize he has always been watching you.”

“The ridiculous thing is,” Cornelius unknowingly spoke more and more as he passionately said: “There are countless people around us, basking in the glory of a victory thirty years ago, mocking Henry the Sunfire with the term ‘Oath Breaker,’ thinking themselves so brave, dreaming daily of winning against the North once more…”