Chapter 23: Catastrophe

Bai Zhizhan unfolded the newspaper and didn't disturb He Pengfei any further to let him focus on driving. After all, having sat on the train for a whole day, Bai Zhizhan just wanted some quiet time to himself.

However, when he saw the headline on the front page, Bai Zhizhan couldn't stay calm anymore.

"Don't you know about this?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Zhizhan looked up at He Pengfei.

"The news spread this morning, they say that the entire Imperial Family of the Luosha Empire has been wiped out, not even the infants were spared, none escaped. The situation is too chaotic, and many journalists from different countries have evacuated, so all the reports now are based on rumors. Up to now, there has been no official information."

The entire Imperial Family of the Luosha Empire is gone!?

Bai Zhizhan took a sharp breath in and picked up the newspaper to read it carefully again.

In fact, as early as November 3rd, five days ago, the Privy Council issued a ceasefire decree, and all the major newspapers of the Empire began publishing news of a coup in the Luosha Empire.

At that time, few people took it seriously.

After the coup, the military group that had seized power announced to the world through official channels that they would continue the war plans, ensuring that the change in power would not affect the war in any way. Not only in the past but also at present and in the future, the Luosha Empire is a member of the Alliance Group.

On November 2nd, the day before, the Alliance Group had already been broadcasting extensively the defeat of the Tiaoman Empire.

All things considered, the coup in the Luosha Empire could be seen as an internal military-political adjustment, closely related to the surrender and defeat of the Tiaoman Empire.

With the defeat of the Tiaoman Empire, the war pressure on the Luosha Empire was greatly reduced, and the tense domestic situation could be eased.

Because of this, no one was worried about the coup in the Luosha Empire.

According to the propaganda made by the Western Powers, after the defeat of the Tiaoman Empire, the Newland Federation and the Bulan Kingdom's aid supplies would be quickly delivered to the Luosha Empire, helping the military and civilians of the Luosha Empire to survive this sudden and unusually cold winter and jointly await the final victory.

If this were true, the Liangxia Empire might not last until next spring.

But now it seemed that the actual situation in the Luosha Empire was worse than the rumors. Otherwise, the coup wouldn't have spiraled out of control, let alone led to the extinction of the Imperial Family.

How severe must it have been for the entire Imperial Family of an Empire to be eradicated?

Among the news published in the newspapers, one point was emphasized, namely the drought that had swept the entire northern hemisphere since the first half of the year.

Strictly speaking, what brought down the Tiaoman Empire and the Luosha Empire was this once-in-a-century drought.

Following the severe spring drought, the Tiaoman Empire, which was surrounded by enemy nations in the West Continent and located in a high-latitude area of the northern plains where light and heat were lacking, already had a severely deficient agricultural yield. Therefore, it was the first to experience a famine and the first to fall because of it.

In the peacetime before the war, the Tiaoman Empire had to import a significant amount of food annually to feed its seventy million citizens.

One year after the outbreak of the war, the Tiaoman Empire had exhausted its strategic reserves. If it hadn't been for aid from the Liangxia Empire, they might have been defeated more than two years ago.

After that, the Consortium Group, despite the unfavorable geographical factors, continued to send troops into the heart of the Giant Continent, targeting the strategic transportation lines through the Ter Empire in order to support Tiaoman. Once the Ter Empire was defeated and the main artery was blocked, Tiaoman's defeat became inevitable.

However, the situation was almost the same for the Luosha Empire.

Geopolitically, the Luosha Empire was in the same position as the Tiaoman Empire, surrounded by enemy nations and hardly able to receive direct aid from Allies.

In the words of those strategists from the Western Powers, what actually determined the outcome of the war was, in fact, these two Empires.

Simply put, it was a matter of who could last longer!

During the war, the Alliance Group deployed troops on the Gangaro Plain, incessantly pouring significant forces into the interior of the Giant Continent. The Bulan Kingdom and Locke Republic spared no expense in repelling the Ter Empire, resolutely defending the fortresses atop the Fan Flame Ocean, all to maintain the vital transportation lines to the Luosha Empire.

Of course, this act also served to bolster the Luosha Empire's morale.

Could the Luosha Empire expect better days when the Tiaoman Empire had fallen amidst drought and famine?

The answer was clearly negative!

Not to mention the Luosha Empire, even the Liangxia Empire had difficulty getting by!

Before the war, the Liangxia Empire was the world's largest grain-producing nation and one of the major food exporters. The grain it produced every year not only ensured abundance for forty million of its citizens but also supported an additional hundred million people. Moreover, exporting food had always been a key method for expanding the Liangxia Empire's influence.

However, this year's drought had also severely affected the Liangxia Empire.

The northwest region, hit hardest by the disaster, was now littered with starved bodies.

Although the Imperial Authority tightly censored the news, forbidding any reporting on the matter, rumors had already spread nationwide, carried by refugees fleeing the calamity.

In addition, the monthly rationing standards, which kept decreasing, spoke volumes about the situation.

Do not forget, even after suffering disastrous defeats on the battlefield over the past three years, there had been no reduction in rations, maintaining a relatively high standard. Even the poorest of citizens, with active participation in labor, could be ensured of no worries regarding food and clothing. This year, to date, the rationing standard had been reduced by a quarter, and it was bound to continue dropping. By the end of the year, it might drop to two-thirds of last year's, and many would surely go hungry.

The Luosha Empire spanned half its territory in the north of the Giant Continent and the other half in the high-latitude areas of the West Continent.

Though possessing vast lands, the Luosha Empire's food production was barely self-sufficient, with incredibly low efficiency, which was sure to be unsustainable during wartime.

Undoubtedly, the disaster situation in the Luosha Empire was even more serious.

As for the Allies, they obviously had the will but lacked the power.

Within the Alliance Group, the Newland Federation was now the only one capable of exporting food and other strategic supplies, yet the surplus it could provide was not substantial. There were many in need of aid, not just the Luosha Empire, though the situation in the Bulan Kingdom was slightly better.

A critical factor was the sheer size of the Luosha Empire.

The Luosha Empire had a population of nearly one hundred million, only about thirty million fewer than the Newland Federation.

It was clear that even if the Newland Federation exerted all its effort, it might not be enough to rescue the Luosha Empire from desperate straits.

If the disaster in the Luosha Empire was especially severe, and famine had spread to cities and the military, then mutinies spiraling out of control would hardly be surprising.

In the eyes of the sheep-like populace, soldiers were loyal sheepdogs.

But where would the sheep know that the ancestors of the sheepdogs were carnivorous wolves?

Should the sheepdogs become frenzyl starved, triggering their primal instincts, not only the plump sheep might be at risk, but even the normally obsequious shepherds wouldn't be spared.

Yet, what good did it do to sigh?

No matter the tumult, it was the Luosha Empire that suffered.

Folding the newspaper, Bai Zhizhan let out a long sigh.

The car had already left the city, with fertile fields and cottages lining both sides of the road.

A mutiny in the Luosha Empire, with the Imperial Family facing annihilation, was not necessarily bad news for the Liangxia Empire, as it meant the Alliance Group would have to consider negotiating a ceasefire with the strongest opponent—the Liangxia Empire—without having achieved total victory.

Otherwise, the fall would not be limited to the Luosha Empire!