Ch.170Devastation.

“Not good…”

Tiberius muttered as he read through the report showing the flow of goods being distributed throughout Amurtat.

“…It’s decreased.”

Whether it was the movement of logistics or production of goods, the volume had noticeably decreased compared to before the war began, and there was only one solution to this problem.

Ending the war.

“Damn it…”

Amurtat could still hold on.

They had only suffered losses that could still be managed with a volunteer army, and the vassal states actually discouraged the deployment of the main national forces because they viewed Amurtat essentially as a weapons factory.

Their logic was that if those people died, they would lose their source of weapons, but Amurtat’s economy was rapidly stiffening to the point where they should be grateful for this reasoning.

“It’s still too early to implement a rationing system… but if the war drags on, we’ll have no choice.”

However, what worried him wasn’t Amurtat.

What truly concerned him were the smaller vassal states whose power was significantly weaker than Amurtat’s.

In a war that had already lasted two years, even Amurtat with its powerful economy was gasping for breath. By now, the small nations far away would already be showing clear signs of decline due to frequent requisitions and the conscription of young men.

Naturally, the collapse of these states would greatly contribute to Amurtat’s defeat, so whether they liked it or not, Amurtat had to somehow prevent the vassal states from succumbing to starvation.

After all, even if people were lost, as long as they could still stuff bread and meat down their throats, they could somehow manage to survive.

*

“Damn it! Is this a ration center or a tavern? Roasted potatoes with salt soup…!”

Just as Tiberius had worried, the smallest nations began to collapse first. With the complete disappearance of the labor-capable class that could sustain society, all that remained was life in increasingly desolate fields and impoverished cities.

“Listen here, stop complaining and just eat it. There are plenty of people who can’t even get this much and have cobwebs forming in their mouths.”

“This cursed war…”

Two years had already passed since the war began.

During that time, bloody battles where tens of thousands of people crossed a river from which they would never return had been fought continuously, and as a result, the young men of the North were gradually becoming extinct.

In some countries, they even went so far as to trim the beards of children who had come of age and dress them as women. The national conscription made possible by the extensive use of gunpowder weapons was driving both Amurtat and Fahrenheit to ruin.

Amurtat needed people to hold guns, while Fahrenheit needed people to take bullets.

As they entered the year 102, the entire North, except for Amurtat and a few other countries, had fallen into a state of extreme poverty, and consequently, resources allocated to civilians were being drastically reduced.

They needed to win the war immediately, but they couldn’t reduce the food going to soldiers, and with no one to farm, the surplus production had plummeted—that was the cause.

“Damn it all! We have nothing to eat and die for, and you’re still demanding requisitions?!”

“Overturn everything! Let’s all die today! We haven’t seen a drop of oil, let alone meat, for months!”

In some countries, having never experienced such a large-scale war, administrative mistakes led to explosions of public anger and riots, which had to be hastily suppressed by Amurtat’s national army—a tragicomedy of sorts.

Afterward, they urgently conducted relief operations using Amurtat’s capital to barely pacify public sentiment, which proved that these small nations lacked the strength to participate in a war of this magnitude.

Agricultural countries with traditionally high birth rates and food self-sufficiency were somewhat better off, but commercial or industrial countries with low birth rates and little farmland were literally in a position where they might have to boil and eat the spiders spinning cobwebs in their mouths.

“Send aid to each country, preferably livestock like chickens, cattle, and pigs that are alive and can multiply, along with grains that can be eaten immediately.”

“But Your Majesty… that would mean we’d have to accept tremendous losses…”

“The alliance is about to fracture—what do those losses matter? Livestock can be bred somehow, but people cannot.”

However, the collapse of these states would mean defeat in the war, so Amurtat, accepting great losses, began to push for massive support along with a few other countries that were in better condition.

And by Tiberius’s special order, millions of livestock and hundreds of millions of tons of grain were requisitioned from the major powers of the alliance and provided to the weaker nations, which greatly relieved the smaller states.

In truth, while millions of livestock and hundreds of millions of tons of grain seemed like a lot—and indeed were—when divided among more than 100 countries, the distribution to each nation wasn’t very substantial.

But since these countries were small to begin with, even modest support was enough to get them through this year, and with some skill, it could serve as seed money to easily last for 2-3 years.

Of course, as they say, those who have eaten well know how to eat better—whether countries that were groaning and complaining during wartime would show such skill was questionable.

*

“They said they would protect the freedom of the North, but it was all lies!”

“Return our livestock and fields!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Meanwhile, the situation was unfolding exactly the same way in the Fahrenheit camp.

The endless war had led to the requisitioning of all supplies, and the consequent impoverishment of the people’s lives was the inevitable outcome for all countries engaged in total war.

However, there is no such thing as an inevitable outcome in this world, and the starving people began to raid government offices and take back the grain and livestock that were being prepared for transport.

“How dare these insolent people! Arrest them all!”

And naturally, such actions provoked the fury of the military, and through ruthless military suppression, the supplies “stolen” by the people were returned to their original place.

“Insolent my ass! We’re just taking back what should have been in our mouths in the first place!”

“Weren’t our soldiers supposed to be protecting us?!”

But since their mouths were already open and their necks ready to be cut, the starving people used their last strength to curse the soldiers who were oppressing them.

Unfortunately, to prevent such incidents, the Fahrenheit side had long since brought in soldiers from other countries, so their pleas had no effect. However, soldiers were ultimately fathers or sons from some family, and the people’s curses were remarkably effective in lowering their morale.

“Hehehe…”

“Hey, you there… what are you doing?”

“Oh! This? It’s… it’s nothing!”

“Nothing my foot…! Those are supplies! Are you secretly taking them?”

“Shh! Keep your voice down. Let’s make a deal—if you look the other way, I’ll give you half of this… We haven’t had any fat in our bellies for a long time… right?”

“H-half…?”

“Yes…! Half!”

As the civilian economy began to collapse, the military rations also became increasingly poor, and combined with the greed of soldiers who didn’t want to die, scandals involving military supply corruption and procurement fraud began to emerge simultaneously.

From the perspective of those supplying the military, with nothing left to eat themselves, they would only provide goods on the verge of spoiling, and those receiving them, with their throats crying out for food, would prioritize filling their own bellies—corruption began to take root.

“Such shameless bastards! Conduct a full investigation immediately and make an example of them!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

And this, at least, Grand Monarch Marcus would not overlook.

It was already outrageous that soldiers risking their lives in battle were eating rotten food, but for the portions to be insufficient on top of that was unacceptable, and there was no fault in his words.

In fact, the military leadership had been responding lukewarmly until now, fearing that if they cracked down on this, there might be no one left to fight. But they too understood the importance of maintaining military discipline, so when the imperial order came down, they began to execute all soldiers who had committed fraud without hesitation.

In just one week, tens of thousands of soldiers were beheaded, and as punishment for their crimes, they were tied to poles until birds had completely devoured their corpses.

No matter how hungry they had been or what circumstances they faced, military law was military law and had to be enforced.

“Frontline units, attention! March toward the coastline!”

“Yes, sir!”

“We shall crush Amurtat and bring freedom back to the North!”

And once again, an army of one million gathers.

One million troops who are oppressed for the sake of freedom and starving for the sake of prosperity.