Chapter 94: Bolstering The Army

In the following 10 months since the wedding, it had been a few days since Victor's 8th anniversary of being taken over by Conrad.

3 months before the anniversary, Veronica and Jacque welcomed their child into the world. A beautiful baby girl with golden eyes and purple hair. She was angelic, a perfect combination of her parent's best features. They both decided on the name, Bella Reuss. Victor was now a proud uncle, but while Jacque and Veronica, were honeymooning and looking after their child, Victor was at work. 

During the last 10 months, Victor prioritised rebuilding his army. If there had been no casualties on either side during the Maldenberg War, Victor could have had a standing army of at least 400,000 soldiers. Unfortunately for him, both sides had worn each other down in the war. When Victor opened up the system's overview tab, he specifically looked at his army stats.

'Army Size: 240,000 Infantrymen, 32,000 Cavalrymen, 880 Cannons'

His army had grown, but not to the level he had hoped. The Fontaine Faction only had slightly less than that. Now numbering 200,000 infantrymen, 28,000 cavalrymen and 600 guns. Their minimal losses in the previous war meant they could grow their army at a quicker rate and mould better-trained soldiers in the process.

Victor was able to form 8 corps now with his bolstered numbers. 1st Corps still remained under General Rapp, and 2nd Corps was still led by General Bertrand. 3rd Corps still had General Tauentzien at the helm, while 4th Corps was now commanded by General Vandamme.

5th and 6th Corps still had their respected leaders, while the newly formed 7th Corps was led by General Gimborn and 8th Corps was led by General Kamensky. Each corps had 30,000 infantrymen, 4,000 cavalrymen and 110 guns. 

When Victor looked at his map he knew he had to worry about the southern and western borders he shared with the Fontaine Faction. Sooner or later, war would come and these borders would be the battlegrounds for that war.

In particular, Kreighelm was Victor's weakest position. It had 2 bridges from The Hessen River connecting both realms together. If the Grand Duke Fontaine wanted to be on the offensive, that was the ideal place to target. Although Victor's corps system was unique to any form of warfare in the world, it would not do much in the face of overwhelming odds.

Victor had not received any new quests or rewards for any new milestones. It meant he could not rely on the system for any help at this moment. Ideally, Victor would prefer to use his corps to commit to multiple targets to divide the Fontaine army, but if he choose to start the war, he would be viewed as war hungry conqueror like Grand Duke Maldenberg.

When in deep conversation with Field Marshal Schwarzenberg, the Austrian commander made an interesting suggestion. "Why not bait them into a war, my lord? Not at the level of Grand Duke Maldenberg, but give them a half-assed reason as to why they should attack you."

He was right, if Victor could get the Fontaines to declare war on him then sending in his corps would be a justified retaliation. The only risk would be if the Fontaine army delayed their declaration to the last moment and rushed one of Victor's cities with their full force.

The two men pondered this idea for a while, even inviting Marshal Bessières into their brainstorming session. After multiple days of brainstorming, Bessières was the first to offer a good idea. "Why not declare yourself king, my lord? I am sure they would go ballistic at the thought of you creating a kingdom on this continent."

The other two men looked at him, like a genius. Victor had once declared that he wanted to become the king of these lands during a war council before the Maximillian War. Back then it was a distant dream, but now it could be a certain reality. 

Victor already controlled just under two-thirds of the continent. He had 12 cities compared to the combined 8 of the Fontaine Faction. Many interested parties from other continents viewed the Grand Duchy of Luxenberg as the dominant force in the Bulgar continent.

Declaring himself a king and establishing a kingdom would most certainly put a target on his back. Not just locally, but also abroad, Victor did not know how the rulers in the 4 other continents would feel about the ascension of a king from the northern continent.

The cogs in Victor's brain were furiously turning, there were so many variables and potential outcomes that made Victor pause before his eagerness got the better of him. Victor's only remaining quest from the system was the, 'Conquer The Grand Duchy Of Fontaine'.

If Victor established a kingdom there was always the possibility of the system granting him a hidden quest reward for becoming a king. Another possibility was that the system granted him nothing and his gamble had failed miserably.

"My lord, if we are to create a kingdom, we would need to hold a coronation to legitimise your establishment as a king. Generals would need to be summoned from all corners of your domain. Some of which, like General Kamensky would need almost 4 months, to arrive. Although, if we keep it a secret from them then it could play out well for us and give our enemy less time to react," Bessières stated.

"Once the coronation happens, our generals must hastily return to their corps to prepare for the war. If they could organise their corps beforehand and leave their adjutants in command, the corps could still operate normally, albeit not as effectively" Schwarzenberg quipped.

There were multiple factors to consider when planning this. If Victor was going to go through with a coronation and establish himself as king, he needed to be sure that there were plans set in place to quickly counteract the Grand Duhcy of Fontaine's retaliation. 

"Let us hold the coronation in 6 months, we can try to align it with my ascension anniversary. It gives my generals enough time to administer orders to their soldiers and make the journey to Hannover. Additionally, it gives an abundance of time to thoughtfully plan and prepare a grand coronation."

All 3 of the men began to act fast to prepare the Grand Duchy of Luxenberg to ascend to a kingdom.