Chapter 396 Split
In 1852, it was later called the "Great Avalanche".
There were so many historic events that happened this year that were enough to change the world, from the severe global economic shock caused by the plummeting stock price of Coal Spirit, to the death of Salvador, which forced the strategic goals of the two major empires of Ferros and Silver Iris to completely change... and one of the only two saints in the Silver Iris Empire, "Guardian of the Royal Court" Sandro, who suddenly disappeared mysteriously after going deep into the north and has never been heard from since.
Until now, it is just the beginning of the year.
After confirming Sandro's departure, the Ferros army bared its fangs and marched south, heading straight for the royal city. This time, the Silver Iris Empire royal family refused to yield. The royal city troops, equipped with the latest jet-powered weapons, taught the Ferros people, who had lost their saints and priests, a lesson.
I thought that the noble "beasts" of the Silver Iris Empire would be as frightened as the weak and begging people of Feroth two years ago, but I found that the royal city had armed itself quite well and it would be impossible to capture the royal city for a while.
Perhaps out of fear of the old Pope who had unexpectedly lived to see spring, or perhaps because there were many powerful members of the Lord's Prayer class within the royal city, the people of Ferros did not rashly use the White Nightmare. Instead, they gave up on confronting the royal city's army, which was on high alert, and instead attacked the surrounding cities with abundant resources but weaker defenses. With anger, unwillingness, and the cruelty and pleasure of revenge, they created countless sensational humanitarian disasters, driving countless refugees like a tide into cities that had not yet been affected by the war.
The gates of the royal city were tightly closed, refusing to accept or even provide relief to the refugees.
Other surrounding cities were also deeply mired in war, with social order completely collapsed and no time to care about the lives of refugees.
These displaced refugees now have only one way left - to go to the Ming area.
…
The queen had wanted to take advantage of the fact that the ghost and the god were in the north, and that they would both suffer losses, so that she could deal a devastating blow to the areas controlled by the People's Party.
However, these two men were more cunning than each other. The former retreated without any regrets, and the latter cowardly avoided fighting. Now they have even lost contact - no one knows whether they died accidentally or were instigated by the people of Ferros. The spies stationed in the Ferros Eternal Frozen Royal Court did not get any information at all, and only knew that King Haakon was alive and well.
All manner of unconventional measures had been exhausted, but with little success. The Silver Iris Empire had also lost its crucial trump card, "Sandro." Now, both Ferros and Silver Iris were completely drawn into the brutal quagmire of a conventional war of attrition, a test of national strength. Relying solely on jet weaponry and the elite troops of the Royal City, Amacatio could only barely defend itself, completely unable to dispatch additional forces to support the surrounding areas.
What's even worse is that the forced closed door is pushing endless resentment and despair towards her enemies, indirectly sending a large number of people to the Kuomintang... or even anger caused by a common hatred of the enemy.
The world collapsed like an avalanche, tearing apart all the order that had lasted for hundreds and thousands of years in the old world in a way that no one could predict.
The People's Party did not choose to watch the fight from afar as Wang Cheng had expected and take the opportunity to strengthen itself. Instead, it threw itself into the front line of the battle with the Fellos people without hesitation, as if the ridiculous "joint resistance to foreign enemies" was not just an excuse to gain fame, but a sincere program and practice.
This proactive fighting stance, along with the relatively equal policies and refugee relief measures implemented in the Ming area, formed a particularly sharp contrast with the Empire's indifference. This allowed them to win the hearts and minds of a large number of lower-class people, especially refugees, and their controlled areas expanded at a miraculous speed amid the war.
However, at this moment, the largest internal dispute and crisis since the founding of the People's Democratic Party broke out. A senior member of the People's Democratic Party, code-named "Ashes", an early core member known for his tough style and one of the six founders, after countless fierce arguments with Ghost had no results, chose to leave in anger with a group of soldiers loyal to him and generals who were dissatisfied with the current situation, relying on his veteran qualifications and long-accumulated prestige.
They did not turn to the Ferothians or the Imperial Army, but they no longer obeyed the orders of the People's Party, especially the Ghost.
When Greven learned all this, his mind went blank.
Rebellion, no matter what Ashes himself thinks, it is an undisputed rebellion in the eyes of outsiders.
All this was not without warning. Greven knew that his old friend had always disliked Mr. Ghost's request for "favorable treatment of prisoners", thinking it was weak, ridiculous and useless "kindness".
Moreover, the other party was in charge of finance and logistics. Part of the money that was painstakingly accumulated in the fragile wartime economy was unceremoniously wasted on the captured imperial troops. The imperial wounded soldiers consumed precious resources that should have belonged to their own people.
"Humanitarianism", damn humanitarianism.
A group of devils who killed their own people were actually given food and drink, medical treatment and healing. As long as they hadn't committed any serious mistakes, they could be paid to let them go if they didn't want to stay. However, if an enemy prisoner was treated well, a civilian soldier might die due to lack of resources!
Besides, would the Empire's soldiers treat the prisoners of the People's Army like this? Of course not! They would only kill them in the most brutal way for fun!
Especially now, with the influx of refugees into the Ming District, seizing the food and land that rightfully belonged to them, the already strained logistics system groaned under the strain. Every resource request report handed to Hui Jin was like a heavy whip, lashing out at his already anxious nerves.
He watched helplessly as the ration standards of his own people were forced to be lowered again and again, while the refugee queues grew longer and longer, and the wounded imperial soldiers in the prisoner camps continued to consume precious medical resources.
Even the newly produced "Dark Green Potion" was forced by Ghost to be sold uniformly at an abnormally low price, and even sold to the Imperial Army at the same price.
This kind of life-saving potion on the battlefield should have fetched a good price—not to say exorbitant, but at least not just above cost as it was now. It should have been on par with common potions on the market. Ashes was furious. This should have been the People's Party's most important strategic reserve and a potentially huge source of revenue, used to exchange for hard currency, purchase food and weapons, and prioritize the treatment of their bravest warriors.
But now it has become a major currency - in Ashes' opinion, this is tantamount to aiding the enemy. Those imperial soldiers drank the dark green potion today and became full of energy again, but they will probably continue to swing their butcher knives at the people's army tomorrow.
Ashes found that he could not see the so-called "long-term considerations" of this path at all. He only saw that the People's Party was being dragged down by these hypocritical "kindness" and "ideals" - so he betrayed, and even until he was secretly captured by the Shadow Chaser, he did not say a word to Greven.
Upon hearing that Ghost had ordered the secret execution of Ash, Greven rushed into his office.
At this time, the other party was looking down at the map. The military map covering the entire long table was densely marked with countless routes and marks, representing the next stage of bloody strangulation.
The loud noise of the door being slammed open didn't even make him look up.
Greven Worriff stared blankly at the dark-haired young man before him. He had clearly barged in on his own, yet he didn't know what to say. Since returning from the North, he looked even thinner, his pale face showing signs of fatigue that couldn't be concealed. A wave of pain welled up in Greven's chest before his mind could even begin to work.
"You're here." The ghost looked up and glanced at him. There was no emotion in his eyes—no sadness, no anger, nothing at all. Like an indifferent moon, he simply said, "I allow you to go see him and say goodbye to him—you have two hours left."
"...Why." Greven stared at the black-haired young man in front of him with red eyes, and just repeated softly helplessly.
He didn't even know what kind of answer he was praying for.
Why execute the ashes?
Why did Ashes rebel?
...Why has the situation come to this point?
"We have different ideologies," the ghost replied calmly. "...I'm sorry, I can't convince him anymore."
...Don't apologize, Greven thought bitterly, why apologize? Did he think he would be so weak as to blame all this on himself?
But those smoky gray eyes were still staring at him quietly, making it difficult to look directly at them.
“Since we hope to build a new world without oppression and exploitation, we must sacrifice something. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the old world and cannot take those seemingly tempting shortcuts, even if this is detrimental to our own interests in the short term. Otherwise, we will only be recreating a brand new tyrannical empire.”
“We accept refugees within our means, not out of foolish kindness, but because refugees are also targets to be liberated and the foundation for building the future.”
"Treating prisoners well and releasing the lower-ranking soldiers isn't for reputational gain, but because they'll serve as our natural voices, telling all those who have taken up arms unwillingly that there's another path to take, thereby disintegrating the Imperial Army from within. In the long run, this will far outweigh the risks."
"We're selling deep green pharmaceuticals at low prices to attack the traditional pharmaceutical market, break the old forces' monopoly on medical resources, and thus occupy our own sphere of influence. Small profits but quick turnover is our best option right now."
"He... doesn't believe it." Greven's voice was hoarse. He didn't know whether he was defending his old friend or comforting himself. "But he didn't... betray to the enemy. He just ran away. He..."
"He didn't have to believe it." The ghost stared at him expressionlessly. "He could have taken a more rational approach, argued, slammed the table and cursed, or even just rushed over and started a fight with me."
"But he chose to defect during the war and split the organization." At that moment, the delicate, dark-haired young man before him looked unusually cold. "Internal conflict will always exist. If the Limin Party lets him off today because of extenuating circumstances, more people within the Limin Party will follow suit tomorrow. Greven, this is a bottom line issue. The Limin Party will not tolerate traitors."
Greven opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't say a word. He just stood there with a pale face.
"All of this was done in secret, and many people still don't know what Ashes did." The ghost lowered his head calmly: "Go and see him, Graven."
"... Considering that he has not yet caused serious losses and has made great contributions, we will announce to the public that Ashes died a heroic death at the hands of the enemy."
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