Chapter 99 : Postwar Reconstruction
Chapter 99: Postwar Reconstruction
It did not take them much effort to seize the barracks, and naturally, the noble lord who had lost his military support did not meet a pleasant end.
Many dust-covered commoners watched the battle nearby.
When they saw the noble lord’s barracks taken down, every face showed a strange expression.
“Do you think what they said before... was true?”
“Will there really be people giving us land and grain? I’ve never heard of such a thing in my whole life.”
“It should... be true, right? We lowly folk have nothing worth deceiving over. Those soldiers wouldn’t have time to toy with us.”
As the armed forces were wiped out, the main force arrived at the manor gates.
After a gunshot, the iron gate was kicked open, and a large group charged in mightily.
Those who resisted were executed on the spot, while the unarmed ones were temporarily detained.
Villagers were then called in to identify the nobles and their subordinates who had once lorded over them.
After a preliminary screening, innocent servants were dismissed, and the rest were tied up with hemp rope and moved behind the formation.
Along the way, many commoners stopped to watch, pointing and murmuring in amazement.
In the past, it had always been groups of strong men tied up and sent away by the manor lords.
No one expected that one day, such a sight would befall the nobles themselves.
This made those who were still doubtful of the soldiers’ words begin to believe them—if they were truly in league, they would never humiliate their own kind like this.
Scenes like this were happening across the Kingdom of Alesia.
Small units of the kingdom’s army could not make any significant impact; the disparity in weaponry had already made the battle strength completely uneven.
Even with triple their numbers, the royal troops gained no advantage in direct confrontation.
Encounters with Seris Federation’s regular forces were even more tragic.
When the Seris soldiers fired two volleys in formation, their opponents had already spent at least two full magazines—ten bullets each.
In some cases, they never even saw their enemies—just occasionally a soldier fell, and only after surrendering did they realize merely three to five Seris soldiers had been there all along...
Upon hearing of Tina’s glorious record, Anna had initially rushed eagerly to the front lines, only to retreat within two days.
The technological gap in industrial warfare was undeniable.
Battles were often decided after a few rifle volleys or several mortar shells—then the enemy surrendered in full formation.
Larger-scale battles were no more than the Seris forces deploying heavier weaponry, inflicting greater casualties, and then accepting surrender.
There was nothing of the grand, heroic clashes of old.
As for the artillery corps of the Kingdom of Alesia...
Their cannons did have killing power, but the range and precision were mediocre.
Usually, after the first barrage, the front-line Seris mortar squads would instantly return fire with a triple strike, wiping them out.
You hit by luck; we hit by calculation.
You fire blindly with eyes closed, while we compute coordinates and trajectories—how could you possibly win?
At this stage, what limited the Seris army was no longer the kingdom’s counterattacks, but the poor road conditions and the overwhelming number of prisoners to manage.
On the battlefield now, a squad of ten Seris infantrymen often had to guard nearly three thousand captured soldiers.
Thus, the Seris vanguard mechanized corps had to halt their advance, waiting for the rear units to catch up and escort the ever-hungry, ever-thirsty prisoners away.
With difficulty, the Kingdom of Alesia finally found a moment to breathe.
Desperately, they redeployed troops from all regions, turning several main cities into heavily fortified military strongholds.
The king’s reasoning was simple: the Seris Federation forces had penetrated deep into their territory.
Given the vast distance, supply would be an issue—they couldn’t possibly stay long.
That meant, if the kingdom could withstand one major assault and drag the war into a war of attrition, they might be able to drive the enemy out.
At first glance, the idea didn’t seem bad—but they forgot that the grain reserves of the nobles and manor lords in each territory were more than enough to sustain Seris garrisons.
The only supplies that needed to be transported from the rear were shells and bullets; otherwise, large-scale bombardment couldn’t continue.
Meanwhile, unrest had already begun spreading within the Kingdom of Alesia.
Many great nobles had secretly reached out to the Seris military or even the federal government, hoping for some guarantees.
As long as the Seris Federation promised not to hold them accountable and spared their lives, they were willing to collaborate from within.
Unfortunately for them, all such requests were rejected.
The only terms offered were: surrender unconditionally, and you may keep one distant branch of your family—or perish with the kingdom.
Beyond the external war, the Seris Federation itself began distributing relief grain.
Unification had indeed been achieved, but what Mitia inherited was a massive, war-torn mess riddled with wounds and ruin.
During the Winter Offensive, to withstand the tremendous pressure from the Astal Family, the Kingdom of Ovinia had imposed immense burdens internally.
Exorbitant taxes aside, in the freezing snow, how could grain be transported without enough vehicles? By manpower!
When food loss on the road became too great, they simply reduced meals from once a day to once every two days.
Whip lashes during forced marches were considered nothing.
Countless people froze, starved, or collapsed to death along the way.
There had been uprisings—but all were swiftly suppressed.
Later, the regime even introduced rewards for informants and monitors among the laborers.
Most disturbances thus quieted down, leaving people full of suspicion and fear toward one another, terrified of being reported.
King Ovinia III understood very well: since he could not give the people what they wanted yet still needed to maintain control, ruling through fear and threats was just as effective.
If he could not grant a good life, he could at least reward a bullet.
During the winter, resources were hauled to the front; later, conscription took away the remaining laborers.
The uprisings had also destroyed infrastructure.
By the time all reached Mitia, the royal treasury of the Kingdom of Ovinia was utterly depleted.
No money.
No grain.
No arable land.
One more look at the situation made Mitia want to explode on the spot.
To prevent corruption and embezzlement during the upcoming relief distribution, the aid was to be nationwide—but reconstruction zones would receive the first batch, while other regions waited.
The government centrally organized transport, delivering grain to each territory under military escort, where it was then distributed to every village by headcount, at fixed quotas and amounts.
This maximized fairness and minimized the room for manipulation or vague policies.
The devastated occupied zones urgently needed rebuilding, but with prior experience, planning was easier this time.
Through a “work-for-relief” program, new civilian factories were constructed, roads paved, and bridges repaired.
Unions organized night schools for workers’ education, while new factories absorbed fresh labor.
In rural areas, vast stretches of wasteland were reclaimed and sown with crops.
The literacy classes from before continued as well.
The officers and logistics troops sent from Seris not only patrolled and maintained order but also taught the villagers new knowledge.
After Mitia’s previous military restructuring, the army had long been helping the people during farming seasons with planting and cultivation.
The soldiers and civilians were like one family—and in terms of agricultural knowledge, they were highly professional.