CHAPTER 554: CHAOS

TL: Rui88

Lieutenant Colonel James Walton, commander of the Alda Army’s 6th Infantry Battalion stationed on the Emden border, was currently very frustrated.

After waking up early in the morning, the lieutenant colonel first inspected the soldiers’ morning training as usual, then returned to his quarters to enjoy his breakfast.

Just as he took the first bite of his bread, he suddenly received a telegram from the signal tower in Lakemore.

Lakemore was the territory of the Herson family, a viscounty, and formerly one of the vassal territories of Emden. This telegram was sent by Viscount Herson himself.

The content of the telegram greatly surprised Lieutenant Colonel Walton…the neighbouring Count Bijita Bazel had led his army and suddenly entered Lakemore, on the pretext of pursuing a band of robbers. Viscount Herson, with few soldiers under his command, was unable to stop him and could only defend himself in his castle. Although Count Bazel’s army had not committed any acts of violence after entering Lakemore, they were continuing to advance towards Emden.

After the end of the Usurper’s War, Paul had brought Emden, which had been directly ruled by the Kent family, under the administration of the Administration Council. However, he had shown considerable magnanimity towards the vassals of the Kent family. After they swore allegiance to the Grayman family anew, he allowed them to retain their territories. Apart from the laws they implemented not contradicting the few basic principles given by the Alda Lord’s Court and the requirement to join the customs union, they were allowed to govern themselves in other aspects.

Making these minor lords swear anew was no pressure at all. As vassals of the Kent family, they had contributed both men and effort during the war and had accompanied their old lord, Marltz Kent, to his last moment in battle, thus fulfilling their oath to their old lord. And since Marltz Kent and his heirs no longer existed, the original oath had lost its basis for effect.

At this time, whether to oppose Paul Grayman as an enemy or to embrace him as a subject, every one of them made a rational choice.

Viscount Herson was one of the more proactive among the surrendering lords. However, his proactiveness was not like that of others…he did not lavish Paul with flattery or kiss his boots when paying homage to his liege. Herson’s proactiveness lay in keeping his territory in sync with Lakeheart Town at all times, with things like legal statutes, administrative regulations, and taxation, and even institutions like the Town Hall and the police department, to the point where an ordinary person from Alda could move to Lakemore without feeling any discomfort.

Furthermore, Herson had sent his nephew…the viscount only had daughters, so his nephew was his heir…to study at Weiss Academy in Lakeheart Town. According to traditional views, this was equivalent to sending a hostage, although Paul did not care much about this.

In the eyes of others, Viscount Herson seemed more like an administrator dispatched from Lakeheart Town to a local area, rather than a lord of a domain.

Viscount Herson’s proactiveness was richly rewarded. Whenever the lords gathered in Lakeheart Town, Paul showed him great favour. More crucially, Lakeheart Town invested heavily in his territory…building roads, establishing factories, and mining. The funds, equipment, and technology used for these ventures were all provided by Lakeheart Town. All he had to do was provide a piece of land and some manpower, without spending a single penny. After earning profits, they were split fifty-fifty.

Through this channel, the wealth of the Herson family accumulated at a speed that made others green with envy, much faster than scraping coppers from those pitiful farmers.

The Viscounty of Lakemore served as a good example. Many vassals began to emulate the Herson family’s practices to varying degrees. Even if they couldn’t… ahem, attract investment from Lakeheart Town, Alda’s methods were a good reference for how to develop their own territories.

This was especially true for Viscount Bright Sean, the ruler of Fort Bidou. During the Usurper’s War, the Sean family had been hit with a hefty indemnity, and the wealth accumulated over several generations was wiped out in an instant. They even had to go into debt to get by. At one point, Viscount Sean, unable to make ends meet, had even considered selling his territory directly to Count Grayman, whom he now served.

In short, for Lakeheart Town, Lakemore was a model base. In addition, the Herson family was now a vassal of the Grayman family and under the protection of Lakeheart Town, so Lieutenant Colonel Walton could not ignore the situation.

The lieutenant colonel hastily ate a few bites of his meal and ordered his guards to summon all the officers of the battalion, intending to inform them and then lead his troops to Lakemore to block Count Bazel’s army.

Count Bazel had also participated in the Usurper’s War, on the side of the anti-Kent alliance at the time, but he had only joined in the latter half of the war. He was recently still in negotiations with the customs union; he wanted to join but had different opinions on the allocation plan for the common tariff, so he had not yet been accepted as a formal member.

This was a lord whose relations with Lakeheart Town were neither good nor bad, but to enter the Grayman family’s territory without a word of notice was too much. Lieutenant Colonel Walton decided to use his powerful military force to make him retreat. He would first try to reason with the other party, and if the other party refused to be reasonable, then he would have to fight. Lieutenant Colonel Walton really looked down on the armies of the other territories in the Northwest Bay.

As per regulations, the lieutenant colonel first sent an encrypted telegram to Lakeheart Town, explaining the reason for this action.

Then came the matter that frustrated Lieutenant Colonel Walton.

First, Lakeheart Town replied to him quickly, but the content was somewhat unbelievable. It actually told him to let Count Bazel’s army pass, saying that Bazel had been invited by Lakeheart Town. The sender was the General Staff.

The army’s communication codes had been changed not long ago, and the encryption was end-to-end, so Bazel did not doubt the authenticity of the telegram’s content.

But if a foreign army was invited to enter their territory, shouldn’t the garrisoned 6th Infantry Battalion have been notified first? What if a misunderstanding occurred?

Despite these doubts, Lieutenant Colonel Bazel decided to follow the order and planned to send a few guides to Count Bazel’s army.

However, he then received another telegram, the contents of which made his heart pound…Lakeheart Town had been taken over by rebels, and no information from there was to be trusted. The letter was addressed “To all battalions…”, which meant that every battalion commander would receive such a telegram.

In particular, this telegram came from Area 51, and the sender was Chief of Staff Schroeder.

As one of only eight battalion commanders in the Alda army, James Walton of course knew of Area 51, but why was Lord Schroeder in that place, and what did he mean by Lakeheart Town being controlled by rebels?

Lieutenant Colonel Walton, and the officers under him, were thrown into great confusion by these two telegrams.

Which side should they believe? Lakeheart Town? Or Area 51?