No Battle No Life

TL: More set-up but looks like the last one before we get some real action.

France, Paris, Palais des Tuileries

It has been about 3 weeks since the game launched and now the server was stuffed to its limits. There were supposedly 100 million players online at any one time with a few million in France alone. Everyone was doing their own things, enjoying their “second life”.

Under the governance of Tu and his Prime Minister namesake, with the a.s.sistance of the new aristocracy they put in place in the upper and lower houses of parliament and the various state departments, France was able to begin the industrial revolution ahead of Great Britain which was still embroiled in civil war.

(TL: Imagine having to play Civ or Universalis manually… With no interface… *Shudder*…)

The tax authority was quickly set up to ensure a steady flow of revenues to finance the government, after which the Banque de France was also set up, along with other state agencies that would handle customs administration, land management as well as forestry.

Commerce was revived and the stock exchange was restored. Along with a devaluation, speculative activity was closely monitored for… Everyone admired the young king’s quick moves which always seemed ahead of everyone but this was because he had the experience of ruling Prussia in the closed beta after all.

He would not spend as freely as the previous kings either. Rather, he scrimped and saved as much as he could on his personal expenses in the palace. This was heavily reported on by the public watchdog which had its restrictions lifted recently.

The set-up of the King’s Guard, and other special units was proceeding smoothly. With the recruitment of brilliant generals such as Ney, (Emmanuel de) Grouchy, (Jean) Lannes, (Laurent de Gouvion) Saint-Cyr, and Murat, the army in Paris now numbered up to 20,000 with an artillery that was among the best in Europe in both numbers and quality.

— This was something that Tu was proud of. When he was in Prussia, he had focused on developing the light infantry. Now that he was in a new place, he could try something new.

“Eh… Country ranks… France… 19th.”

The country ranks were determined by the system based on a complex scoring mechanism that rated each country on a variety of metrics. It would update every few days and each country would use this as a guide to formulating policies, alliances and even wars.

But it was rumoured that this system would be inaccessible soon, so Tu was now quickly jotting down everything he saw to aid his further plans.

“Looks like a lot of places have begun fighting… North England and Scotland, draw… Well, that’s within expectations.”

Tu sipped his drink as he read the battle logs.

The map and political situation here differed somewhat from the real world. The infamous “Europe s.h.i.t Stirrer” is currently in a state of civil war and division while Italy which consisted of many small countries then, did not exist entirely…

(TL: I don’t know why, but the UK is known as the Europe s.h.i.t Stirrer in China and this isn’t just because they want to leave the EU. You can see it for yourself, just Google or Baidu 欧洲搅屎棍.)

(TL: Pretty fair to divide UK in my opinion. I can imagine someone just trying to turtle there and then 63,528 turns later they drop a nuke on continental Europe.)

And because of the cooperation between players, many different countries sprang out of nowhere, such as the neighbouring Austro-Hungarian Empire which was the result of Vienna’s Francis’s maneuvering…

— According to the game designers, this freedom and mixed starting scenarios were for the sake of not letting players gain an unfair advantage by choosing certain countries. That was indeed a good reason and irrefutable.

Let’s continue seeing the battle logs…

“Un, Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire… Haa? Prussia won?!”

— He nearly sprayed out his drink.

But Tu really was surprised. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was ranked 5th and though they weren’t many, the country’s specialist unit, the grenadiers, were the natural counter to Prussia’s light infantry.

Grenadiers could easily clear out the light infantry with the support of line infantry after all, especially when rifles were not all too accurate in this era.

I wonder who is that new guy who stole my Prussia. Back in the closed beta, I’d spent hours poring over light infantry tactics and even then I still had a hard time in fights like these where there was a natural tactical disadvantage. Only after trial and error was I able to figure out a way around this.

“A war is happening nearby… The feudal lords in north-western France have begun skirmishing with enemies from the west? Do we have to move out as well?”

Tu hesitated as he pondered whether or not to move out and join them. He hadn’t had a clear and concrete goal yet. Right now, other feudal lords in France were also eyeing Paris, and if they lost, his faction here would have a difficult time.

(TL: France is not yet united, and I’m sure other players will s.n.a.t.c.h plots of land here and there if they didn’t get to be king.)

— It was hard getting to 20,000 strong after all. If we lose, do we have to engage in guerilla warfare after that?

— Better to wait for a while more. Paris is not yet ready, if no one comes knocking…

“Your majesty, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has declared war on us!”

The retainer’s frantic report instantly shattered Tu’s hesitation.

Alright, since you’re taking the trouble to come, then I won’t hold back either!

“In that case, no need to hold back!”

Tu pushed aside the stack of battle logs and downed the gla.s.s of red wine,

“Notify the generals to meet at the Ministry of Defence at once!”

Austro-Hungarian Empire, Vienna

The golden hall of the palace was filled with people ready to sortie. It was merely a skirmish to test the strength of their opponent so Francis, the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was not leading the troops himself this time. The one who would be leading, was the eye catching golden haired girl amongst the 10.

“Dawn, are you ready? This one is going to be an actual battle.”

(TL: Translating this name because I don’t think she is Chinese.)

Francis said leisurely as he looked at the girl.

“Your majesty need not remind me, I will accomplish my task set out before me.”

Black socks embroidered with the edelweiss covered her long, slender legs. The gloves on her arms and the insignia on her chest held the same pattern. Her silver plate armour had extreme curves to contain her full b.r.e.a.s.t.s and by her waist hung a silver rapier which she inherited from her father.

With her honey coloured waist length hair, along with her exquisite looks and full b.r.e.a.s.t.s, no one would think that she was in the prime of her teenage years.

Her white unblemished skin seemed out of place on the battlefield, and she looked like she should be in a gorgeous night gown and dancing at b.a.l.l.s instead of being ready for slaughter on the battlefield in her khaki military uniform and her cavalry armour.

“Dawn, are you really going to be leading this one?”

Another young officer beside seemed to want to stop the girl’s decision but she only looked at him coldly.

“At least I wasn’t defeated by the Prussians…”

“You…!”

The man was about to lose his temper but he held it in as Dawn was right. Amongst the 10 gathered here to lead the offensive on France, a few were involved in the Prussian battle that they had lost. The Emperor had allowed them to join this expedition, where they had a significant numerical advantage, to allow them to make up for their failure against Prussia.

— The upcoming opponent was, after all, a country that ranked more than 10 spots lower, and Francis did not take them too seriously.

“For your families, for the Great Austro-Hungarian Empire, seize the glory that lies ahead!”

Francis’s words were short, but they cut to the point and struck a chord with all the generals present.

— Humans are strange creatures that will go through tremendous pain, suffering and hardship in order to satiate their thirst for honour and victory.

“As your majesty wills, we will add another glorious chapter to the ill.u.s.trious history of the Austro-Hungarian Empire!” All 10 said in one voice as they placed their hands on their right chest, the golden rays of the sun reflecting off the golden threads that formed the royal insignia on their uniforms.

“Move out!”

Paris, Defence Ministry Meeting Room

A tense atmosphere that enveloped this place that was covered with maps. Everyone here knew that this battle was more important than attaining personal glory, and would decide the future of th greater France.

When Tu made the decision to be the king of France, he knew what it entailed and had predicted a difficult situation like this would come eventually.

If his faction were to lose this battle, a number of feudal lords would definitely secede from France and join other countries.

Between following the impotent French royal regime or joining, say, the much more powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire, most feudal lords would definitely choose the latter. If that day would come, then France’s demise would definitely be imminent.

Worse still, there was information that the southern districts are awaiting for an opoortunity to secede from officials loyal to Paris. Prussia was not a docile neighbour either.

Unlike France, even if Vienna’s Francis lost this battle, he still had the support of Budapest’s Karl. These 2 were good friends who had fought side by side in the closed beta and had seized the opportunity of the closed beta player benefits to form the Austro-Hungarian Empire which should not exist.

(TL: Karl and Francis or Franz are common first/middle names in Austrian and Austro-Hungarian Emperor names so it’s hard to say who they are using for inspiration.)

— In other words, this outcome of this battle is inconsequential to them, while it concerns the life and death pf France.

“d.a.m.n it… How can those feudal lords be so selfish? Why are feudal lords in other countries so united against invaders?!”

Grouchy, an honest, upright man couldn’t contain his anger anymore and slammed his fist down onto the meeting table in anger.

“They’re just united on paper, and the situation in other countries is probably about the same as us. Spare the table, will you?”

Lannes flicked the fist that Grouchy had slammed down onto the map on the table. They stared at each other for a moment before the tension slowly dissipated.

But the fundamental problem was unresolved and Tu was not drawing on the map non-stop. Since the closed beta until now, Tu had never felt a rush quite like today.

Challenges are not scary. Some crave challenges because they can feel the urge to fight and enjoy the rush that comes from fighting against the odds.

— Wasn’t this the very reason that Tu chose France?

Innumerable possibilities flashed past Tu and he revised the plan for attack over and over. Of the various considerations he had to keep on mind, the most critical was that he could not let the Austro-Hungarian army gather together in one place as it would be difficult to overcome the vast disparity in numbers.

— Some variation of divide and conquer has to be used. It’s a cla.s.sic that is tried and tested and is suited for a wide variety of situations after all.

— But saying it is easy. I’m not the one controlling the Austro-Hungarian army so how do I divide them?

“The Ma.s.sif Central…”

Tu had written all over the map so much so that it was almost covered by the black ink, when all of a sudden he stopped writing.

— Isn’t the nail here?

“Move out! We must be faster than the enemy!”