Chapter 325, New King's Council
Without a leader and facing attacks whenever they tried to stick together, the million-strong army of the Kingdom of Stefano was broken up into warlords of all sizes.
The largest assembled force, at one point reaching 400,000 people, accepted the invitation of the Kingdom of Panpos and headed to an area near the border, attempting a major retreat.
But the retreat was stopped.
While crossing the river, the ferry and the troops waiting to cross the river were subjected to fierce air strikes by the Feng Falcon; the support troops on the other side were attacked by airborne special warfare elites and were forced to evacuate.
Short of supplies and hope, Stefano's remnants had no choice but to surrender in the face of the attack by multiple armored brigades and infantry divisions.
Afterwards, only a small part of the alliance's army was left behind, leading the kingdom's army mobilized from the Kingdom of Luman and the surrendered troops selected from Stefano's prisoner-of-war camp to form a defense army to ensure the maintenance of the capital and surrounding areas, as well as the logistical supply lines.
The rest of the troops gathered again and headed towards the neighboring Black Arrow Star's largest kingdom, Panpos.
At this time, the political turmoil caused by the horrific record of the Kingdom of Stefano being destroyed in just 47 days since the war began had spread throughout the world.
The King's Council was extremely terrified, and even shouted in despair that "the Angry Owls will rule the world";
Some kingdoms, however, took more practical actions.
In fact, at this moment, Queen Ispsi was not the only one deep in the Pinsel Palace.
Thirteen countries came here, either as monarchs or by sending ambassadors of high status.
These are basically small countries. Among the seven most important kingdoms on Black Arrow Star, only Luman and Stefano are there.
At the same time, the five most important powers in the King's Council, which had originally severed diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Luman, also sent diplomats.
This is exactly what Gu Hang has been busy with recently.
After he signed the last document, he finally raised his head, looked at the Queen of the Iron Curtain, and said:
"Sorry to have kept you waiting."
"You have to listen carefully to what I say next."
"There is no room for bargaining. This is a one-sided announcement. You can only choose to agree or not agree."
Ispsi took a deep breath and said, "I understand. Please tell me."
What the Governor General was going to say next was about the fate of her country. Although she could not change anything and could only passively accept the judgment of fate, she was still extremely serious.
"First, all kingdoms will be preserved."
Gu Hang's first words made Ispsi breathe a sigh of relief.
This is the biggest issue of life and death.
What she feared most was that this governor was determined to exterminate the Kingdom of Stefano.
Although she rationally judged that the probability of this happening was actually very low, as long as it happened, the Stefano Kingdom would now be completely defenseless.
Gu Hang took in all of Ispsi's expressions.
He also sighed slightly in his heart.
If possible, wouldn't he also want to implement the alliance's management system directly on Black Arrow Star and fully replicate the alliance government's system here to ensure that a highly centralized government with strong control over local civil affairs, industry, and military can be established on Black Arrow Star?
But that's not realistic.
The reason why Gu Hang was able to build up such a system from scratch on the Angry Owl Star was that he really spent two and a half years from head to toe to overthrow almost all the original ruling classes on the Angry Owl Star.
It sounds exaggerated, but it’s not.
It is true that Angry Owl is an entire planet, but firstly, with a population of 45 million, it is not as large as imagined; secondly, Angry Owl is mostly a wasteland, and the original ruling class is also quite fragile, so it is not difficult to destroy it.
But it's different on Black Arrow.
This is a complete feudal society with a deep-rooted ruling class. If Gu Hang wants to completely eliminate it, the resistance he will encounter will be too great. If he had enough power, he could have arrested all the nobles and hanged them, but he didn't do that.
After all these years of management, the productivity of Angry Owl Star was indeed much more developed than that of the feudal world of Black Arrow Star, but the problem of insufficient population and short development time was objective. With a population of 55 million, swallowing up the Black Arrow Star with a population of 400 million was like a snake swallowing an elephant.
It's not that you can't swallow it, but it's unrealistic to expect to digest it immediately.
It is not easy to eliminate the local ruling class. For example, although the Kingdom of Stefano has been defeated, with 200,000 people captured in the royal city and 400,000 people captured in the border evacuation, the noble warlords and landlord warlords who were scattered all over the ground are no threat. But if you want to eliminate them, you have to send out troops to pick them off one by one over many years.
But there are still threats from other kingdoms. How can Gu Hang have the time to deal with them?
Not to mention, once you've really finished it, the follow-up will be a real problem.
In order to build a complete set of subsequent efficient administrative systems, a large number of loyal and reliable administrative personnel are needed. This is somewhat difficult in the Alliance itself, and Zhongsi College needs to increase its efforts to fight corruption, let alone on Black Arrow Star.
Considering various factors, Gu Hang decided to adopt the strategy of eating first and digesting later.
In fact, when he had just conquered the Qinggu region and the eastern provinces on the Angry Owl Star, he had also adopted this strategy and had to temporarily leave behind a large number of the original ruling class, not to mention on the alien planet.
On this basis, Gu Hang had to give these original kings and nobles a glimmer of hope, so that they would feel that the alliance was not going to kill them all. Otherwise, he would certainly encounter the strongest resistance.
After making it clear that the kingdom would be retained, Gu Hang made it clear again.
"As long as the nobles in various places act in accordance with the laws of the alliance, the alliance will fully respect your rights."
This is the second guarantee given by Gu Hang.
At the same time, he also gave preferential conditions:
"The Alliance and the Gu family will continue to provide various types of assistance to Black Arrow Star to help gradually establish a more modern agricultural production and industrial system on the Black Arrow Star's homeland."
If it was a corrupt feudal emperor, he might not be interested in this so-called support, but Ipsi is not like that.
She even felt a sense of joy.
In the past, Black Arrow Star was not without people of insight who wanted to make some changes. But firstly, the conservative forces within the planet were too stubborn, and secondly, it was difficult to import production lines from outside. The price of obtaining the equipment and technology needed for industrial upgrading through Gu's Company was too high.
Now, both of these problems seem to be solved.
Governor Gu has largely cleared out the conservative stubborn forces of the past, and the latter's technical assistance even sounds like free.
This made Ispsi seem a little bit unbelievable.
Gu Hang said: "The Alliance will not simply regard Black Arrow Star as a ruled country. Compared to gaining 400 million slaves, I hope that the Alliance can increase its citizens by 400 million. I hope that the kingdoms of Black Arrow Star can truly become members of the Alliance."
Everyone can say nice words, but Espsi heard sincerity in Governor Gu's words.
She felt that Gu Hang really thought so.
This made her feel mixed emotions.
The good news is that her kingdom looks less likely to suffer;
What worries me is, after all this is done, will the kingdom still be a kingdom?
She couldn't help but ask, "So...what's the price?"
Gu Hang chuckled and said, "First, each kingdom will have a special agency from the alliance stationed there. From military to administration to economic development, the special agencies of the alliance have the power to intervene directly. Our special envoys will do their best to help each kingdom get back on the right track."
"We will establish a new King's Council and invite all the kingdoms to join it. This new King's Council will be different from the past and will take on greater responsibilities. The succession of the thrones of various countries must be approved by the King's Council; the military forces of various countries will be uniformly deployed by the alliance system established by the new King's Council. There will also be special envoys from the alliance in the King's Council, and it will be regarded as a part of the alliance government as a whole..."
"On this basis, the King's Council guarantees the survival of each kingdom and the rights of each royal family and nobles, but at the same time, you also need to follow the rules set by the King's Council."
This whole thing made Espsi feel very heavy.
She was able to realize the alliance's ambitions, wrapped up in a series of mild-sounding rhetoric.
The most important point here is that after participating in this new King’s Parliament, each country has essentially lost its independent military power.
All military forces will be taken away by the alliance.
This so-called new King's Council is obviously just a shell under the control of the Alliance. Parliament, parliament, what is there to discuss? It's nothing more than the kings sitting here, listening to what the Alliance people say.
If a country is unable to control its own military strength, it is like having a knife across its neck in someone else's hands. The so-called non-interference in internal affairs is pure nonsense.
If someone says they won't interfere, then they won't interfere. But when they want to interfere, what else can we do? Isn't it just to do what they say?
As for other things, such as the need for parliamentary approval for the replacement of the king, and the stationing of observers from various countries to intervene in specific government affairs, this becomes a matter of course. The knife is in their hands, so can they do whatever they want?
She opened her mouth and instinctively wanted to bargain.
But looking at the smile on Gu Hang's face, she suddenly remembered what Governor Gu had just said.
There is no room for bargaining, this is a unilateral announcement.
So how should she choose?
If so, Stefano will be assimilated into a member of the alliance in the future, and even the name may change from a country to a simple place name. But at least the kingdom can be preserved for the time being, and it sounds like the people here will be treated well.
And if you choose no, you will die.
She will die first, but she is not afraid. But what about the aftermath? The alliance has plenty of ways to find a descendant of Stefano's royal family to be the king. The final outcome will be no different from if she chooses "yes".
In the end, she could only nod helplessly to show that she understood.
…
The alliance moved quickly.
This new King's Parliament was convened four days later.
Amid protests from diplomats from the other five major countries on Black Arrow Star and more than forty small countries, the new King's Council was established.
Four countries that came to participate in the new King's Council ultimately chose to refuse to join.
It's okay, it's normal.
Gu Hang would not cause trouble for them for the time being.
The newly elected governor of Black Arrow Star is still Nestor Luman, and the member states include Stefano.
The alliance destroyed Stefano, the second largest country on the planet, in more than 40 days. The strong performance of capturing the Iron Curtain Queen did cause a great shock. In addition, there were seven small countries that chose to join this new King's Council.
As required, their army, totaling more than 200,000 people, will be assembled to form an alliance with the 300,000 troops of the Kingdom of Luman, and will be led by the commander-in-chief of the alliance, Major General Perbov, commander of the Black Arrow Star Army Group.
In addition, the new King's Council will use Queen Ispsi's authorization to establish a new Stefano Kingdom government and require uncontrolled nobles, landlords and warlords in various places to swear allegiance, otherwise they will be traitors and will be purged.
This part of the work was handed over to the new allied forces.
Stefano's new government is composed of some local nobles, some expatriates from the Kingdom of Luman, and some alliance officials. They will also do their best to convert the 600,000 captured Stefano troops, with the goal of selecting 200,000 of them to join the new alliance.
Espsi played a big role in it.
She is the head of state, the queen, and not just a figurehead. She has been a true ruler for the past decade. When she joined the Alliance, she greatly helped the Alliance's operations in the Kingdom of Stefano.
Of course, because of this, the alliance is also wary of her.
Now, she is under the close supervision of more than four demon hunters at all times, and all areas she enters and leaves must be guaranteed to be under the complete military control of the Alliance.
If she ran away and was captured by the remaining resistance organization of Stefanone, it would be a lot of trouble.
Especially now the alliance’s occupying power here is not strong.
At this moment, the alliance army's top target is still the Kingdom of Panpos.
The main army has already entered the territory of the Kingdom of Panpos.
At this moment, in the number one powerful country of Black Arrow Star, there are more than two million troops, more than two thousand Sentinel Mechas, and twelve Knight Titans.
This is already a military force that the coalition forces cannot ignore.
(End of this chapter)
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