Chapter 1456: Clouds of War (Ⅰ)

On November 15, 1621, the lower house of the Fizen Council held a hearing on the dispute over the mining area between the Jotunheim colony and the imperial Midgard colony.

After the hearing, a vote was held. Without exception, members of the "Party of Order (ruling party)" advocated necessary military action to safeguard the kingdom's core interests in the New World; members of the "Priority Party (opposition party)" appeared to be in disarray.

Most of the PKR MPs adhere to the consistent anti-war stance of left-wing politicians, and advocate continuing to seek negotiations with the imperial authorities and strive for a peaceful settlement of colonial disputes. However, some members of the party claim that partisan struggles should be put aside at present, and the national interest should be the most important thing. They voted for The claim of the ruling party.

The reason why these members of the opposition party jumped back is actually closely related to the trend of public opinion in Fiji.

Just as most of the upper-middle-class groups in the empire support the use of force to compete for the magic crystal mines, the mainstream public opinion in Feizhen also criticizes the imperial authorities for lack of sincerity in negotiations, calling on the government to take stronger measures to safeguard the interests of the colonies.

In Fiji, a constitutional monarchy, the members of the upper house are all of noble origin and directly appointed by the king, while the members of the lower house are elected by voting. Politicians of any party have to please the voters (adult male taxpayers with certain property), even if It is the PKR MPs who stand on the left, and not everyone has the courage to insist on casting a vote that goes against mainstream public opinion.

More than two-thirds of the members of the House of Commons who voted for military action officially formed a proposal.

The upper house of Fiji has no veto power over the bills formed by the lower house, and can only shelve them for a maximum of 6 months. If the lower house refuses to withdraw the bill during this period, the upper house must submit the bill to His Majesty the King for adjudication.

Theoretically, the King of Fizen could refuse to sign the bill, or invalidate the bill through infinite delay, but this kind of situation is very rare—in the history of the Fizen Kingdom, most of the kings who opposed the parliament were fine Good end.

Although this bill full of gunpowder has not gone through the statutory process, it is not yet a formal declaration of war, and it has not yet touched the bloated and dull nerves of the imperial authorities, but it is enough to make the colonists of Midgard feel the biting chill of this winter in advance .

On the second day after the real Fiji threatened to use force, Sir William Nichols, the governor of Midgard, urgently summoned Baron Benedict Laval, the commander of the garrison of Linyuan Castle, to discuss countermeasures behind closed doors.

Later in the day, the consensus reached by the Governor and Commander was sent to Parliament for discussion, and was successfully voted and published in the newspapers the next morning.

The Midgard authority's proposal to deal with the threat of war mainly consists of three measures.

First of all, of course, send special envoys to the Old World to seek assistance from the home country government and His Majesty the Emperor, try to persuade the imperial cabinet to pay attention to the current crisis and pressure on the Midgard colony, increase the number of regular troops stationed in the New World as soon as possible, and beware of possible southward invasion at any time Fizen Army.

How strong the support from the mother country is, and whether the reinforcements can arrive in time will directly determine the fate of the Midgard colony.

However, after more than 1,600 years of long rule, the Holy Ashean Empire is like an old man. The bloated bureaucratic system has long become clumsy and slow, and the response to emergencies can be delayed. The inefficiency is intolerable the point.

What's more, in recent years, the attitude of the imperial authorities towards overseas colonies has basically been laissez-faire, allowing them to fend for themselves, and paying more attention to the Far East, which is directly connected to the empire itself.

It has been two years since the Far East rebellion, and the newly established Kolas government is getting stronger every day, but the imperial cabinet is still arguing with the military about whether to send troops to counter the rebellion.

The empire's finances have been in deficit for years, and even the military expenditures for the Eastern Expedition to suppress the rebellion cannot be raised, let alone sending troops across the ocean to join the war in the New World.

Especially considering that the enthusiasm of the colonists in the New World to resist taxes is no less than that of the Far East rebels. In peacetime, they would not even pay a single copper in the national tax. The noble knights shed blood and died to protect the troublemakers in the New World. How can there be such a cheap thing in the world? !

The sharply contradictory imperial cabinet and military reached a rare consensus on the issue of the New World.

It is not impossible to send troops for reinforcements, but you Midgard colonists must first make up all the taxes owed in the past few years, and bear the supplies and military salaries for sending troops, otherwise there will be no discussion!

Of course, the imperial government would not really refuse to save them, but how could they be willing to pay taxes in accordance with the law so that the unruly people in the colonies would not suffer?

Let Master Fei teach those unruly people a lesson first, and when the group of unruly people who think "the mountains are high and the emperor is far away" can't hold on anymore and have to bow their heads to the mother country government, it will not be too late to send troops to support them.

In fact, Sir Nichols and Baron Laval have long expected the attitude of the home country government. Reinforcements from the home country are hopeless, at least for a short period of time. The residents of the colony must try to save themselves and take up arms to defend themselves. homes.

For this reason, the colonial government put forward the second war preparation policy. Led by the parliament, an emergency war preparation bill was introduced to increase taxes on all industrial, commercial, agricultural and handicraft workers in the territory for military expenditure.

No one is willing to pay taxes, and the residents of the New World especially hate paying taxes, but in order to keep their property and homes, there is no way to do it, so they have to bite the bullet and pay for it.

The colonial parliament also set up a special committee to oversee the accounts of the tax. In principle, the money was earmarked for exclusive use, and could only be used to recruit militiamen, purchase military supplies, and hire labor to repair the fortifications of Linyuan Castle and Midgard Port.

The reason for the special emphasis on the defensive measures of Fort Lindeep and Midgard Port is that Baron Laval and his staff members agreed that if the Fiends launch an offensive, there are only two most likely routes of attack.

The first route is that the Fizen garrison set off from "New Avalon", the capital of the Jotunheim colony, and sailed down the Vimur River, crossing the "Iron Forest" and attacking Midgard.

If Master Fei chooses this route to go south, Linyuan Fort is the biggest obstacle on their way to march. Unless this fortress is conquered, it will be difficult for Master Fei to do anything in the Midgard area, and there is even a risk of being cut off from retreating.

In addition to this route, Fidelity has another option—the garrison of the Jotunheim colony will not move for the time being, and instead the mother country will send a fleet to attack Midgard Port directly from the sea!