Reborn As A Crown Prince

"Do not worry, with our current expenditures we have more than enough money for the budget." He ran through his hair and glanced at the Generals below him.

"I think it"s a great idea!" A General stated with a smile, more elite units meant a stronger army...

"Your highness, what exactly will they be doing?" Sophia asked him curiously as Alexis smirked.

"Something like Intelligence gathering but very versatile in combat, in other words... they are a.s.sa.s.sins..." He answered coldly and continued,

"They will protect the Empire from internal and external threats, cleansing the nation of unwanted political parties, revolutionaries and terrorists." He shrugged.

"Next, we need to increase our police force... during these times where war is looming over the continent there will be distress and crimes will increase exponentially..." Alexis sighed.

"That will be done, your highness!" The General of the Imperial Policing Army, saluted as he nodded.

"Yesterday, I got some information that the three nations have allied and are recruiting small nations against us..." Alexis mumbled.

A series of gasps were heard from the crowd that was kneeling infront of him.

Alexis went onto explaining his countermeasures against such an adversary while also encouraging his own Generals to give their ideas regarding the situation at hand...

After the military discussions were done, he had to discuss about the economy and then hold a meeting with the representatives of the Palace of commons...

He groaned inwardly, feeling fed up of the ridiculous conversations, debates and arguments thrown around when the meeting would commence...

-●-●-●-

The Generals got their most promising soldiers, veterans and got together in an empty training ground, a few weeks later.

"The "Black Coats" how does that sound?" A General asked his subordinates while being very respectful with Sophia, who was now known as the Empess-to-be...

"I like it!" Another General replied as a few heads nodded and turned to Sophia pleading her to pick the name.

"Black Coats it is then..." She sighed and glanced at the hundred odd men who stood silently, not moving twitching in the slightest.

"They will march fifty kilometres, swim ten kilometres, train in advanced combating, have interrogation sessions where they are the kidnapped and the kidnappers and also advanced language and subject courses, all this everyday..." She simplified the schedule written by the Generals after reading it, the five Generals who wrote everything nodded in confirmation.

"This will continue for three months until it is engrained into their bodies, then comes molding their emotions and thinking processes... they need to obey the Emperor only!" A sharp eyed General spoke up while a few of his comrades frowned.

"I do not agree with turning them into mindless killers..." A General replied with a sigh.

"They will fight for the Emperor, bleed for the Emperor and die for the Emperor... that"s it." Sophia"s cold voice reverberated through the ground.

"..." The General closed his mouth but still frowned in denial.

"You all are in charge, if there is anything wrong going on, the Paladins will have your heads..." Sophia spoke to five Generals coldly as they gulped but nodded quickly...

She then left, returning back to the palace...

-●-●-●-

The training grounds were filled with soldiers either shooting rapid fire weapons or shouts while marching long distances...

All training grounds were packed throughout the Empire, the soldiers were getting ready to battle against the combined force of around a two hundred million soldiers... two thirds of the population of their own country!

But they were confident...

They had the most advanced weaponry that kept on developing faster and faster, their Acting-Emperor was not foolish enough to spend all money on them, the civilian ma.s.ses and soldiers alike were well fed and satisfied.

Everyday the soldiers gathered around the weaponry and marvelled at it"s deadly precision and easy maneuverability, mages were forced to enlist into the army, not as mages but as soldiers...

Then the mage faction was destroyed, forced to adapt to the changes which they begrudgingly had to accept and they have never regretted it since...

-●-●-●-

The Lunar soldiers in Satellia were called back, they were to be prepared for the war...

This gave the rebel army much more freedom as they quickly took over positions of the higher ups and even forced several ministers and n.o.bles to resign.

But this did not mean that they were free of harm, every once in a while a factory would be destroyed by Nox operatives which kept delaying the progression of the rebel force.

Sometimes, rebel leaders too would be found brutally a.s.sa.s.sinated at their homes making the higher ups of the rebel movement frustrated...

The message was simple, it was a warning from the Empire that they were still observing the rebels and making sure they would not take rash decisions!

"How many countries have joined us?" Amelia asked her lover after a lovely session in bed.

"...we have around twenty countries... twenty two in the Empire"s side... that leaves thirty more countries which haven"t decided yet..." Charlotte sighed and hugged the naked body of Amelia as they closed their eyes in satisfaction...

"The Empire has that many?" She asked while wincing at the numbers.

Charlotte nodded and replied, "but don"t worry, the countries we have offered our alliance to, all have high populations, we have more soldiers..." She comforted her.

"I see... goodnight then..." Amelia mumbled.

-●-●-●-

"Send in our forces to all countries that have allied with us... make sure to hara.s.s those of the opposition with artillery strikes..." Alexis spoke to Sophia who was seated on his lap.

"Wouldn"t that be a declaration of war?" She asked him softly as Alexis nodded.

"Yeah... but that"s the least of our problems, we need to strike the enemy while it is unprepared..." He then closed his eyes.

"I might be able to join the war... father is recovering well, then I can stay with you..." He chuckled and embraced her lovingly.

"I can"t wait!" She giggled and leaned on him.

The next day, Sophia, a couple of Generals and a force of around five hundred thousand soldiers marched towards the allied southern nations...

They were to be stationed in their allied countries and hopefully kill enemy soldiers!

Coincidentally, the Kingdom of Ritzburg too had sent four divisions of troops...

Their battle would be the spark of the war, later on, historians would call that day, "The Stygian dawn", the day that heralded the beginning of the dark times of the continent, but that is a story for another time...

Alexis took out a map, the countries were coloured in Sky blue, the colour of the Trium Axis, and the Empire and her allies in black.

He mused over what he had done...

Although the four Great nations had rifles, they were obtainable even for the weak countries which meant that the power they held from having strong mages vanished...

Every country was vulnerable now as mages could be easily killed by rifles...

Alexis sighed when he saw most of the countries have sided against him, he did tell Amelia that he would be the evil side so this was to be expected.

But as long as his people are by his side, Alexis could do whatever he wanted.

He had convinced his people that most of the continent was trying to destroy the Empire, paranoia combined with patriotism was a deadly weapon...

There were children waiting to enlist for the Imperial army, women demanding to fight, men vowing that they will kill every single one of their enemies!

While he was stuck in the throne, many things will be committed by both sides... whether they were to be good... or bad...

There was no turning back now and he wouldn"t turn back anyway. This was his final test, final obstacle in getting his carefree life...

-●-●-●-

"Her highness, what are your orders?" A General asked Sophia who rolled her eyes at the t.i.tle, she wore very light clothing as the temperatures of the south was slowly turning out to be too warm to the liking of the Northerners like herself and her army...

"We will enter the Kingdom Bui, our new ally and neighbour to one of those Axis pests..." She mumbled coldly.

The General saluted and left her tent to relay the orders to the rest of the officers...

-●-●-●-

The Kingdom of Bui was nothing special, the architecture was similar to that of the Republic but more southern with many artistic elements added into it.

It was quite prosperous which had been an eye opener to the soldiers that had only known and been to the Kingdom of Enleitz that was not one of the great nation...

The soldiers of the Empire spread out through the Kingdom with the officers and Sophia currently in the Capital with an army of around hundred thousand soldiers.

"King Bui the third, greetings from the Empire" Sophia nodded, she did not bow or kneel infront of someone that has no worth... they maybe in the alliance of the Empire, but the one calling the shots was her lover Alexis...

"It is my great honour to meet the personage from the Empire, please follow me..." King Bui spoke politely and motioned the party to the hallroom where they were to discuss about the war.

Once the group sat down on the sofa sets, Sophia turned to Bui who ordered his maids to serve the guests.

"King Bui, we want to know if your soldiers are prepared to invade your neighbours. Our Emperor sent five hundred thousand soldiers in order to aid you in our coming battles, the plan is to strike them while they are still preparing their forces!" Sophia stated as Bui nodded.

"We have drafted our men, there are around three million soldiers ready for battle, I will send my Generals who will work under you..." Bui answered solemnly.

Naturally, the man was against sending his soldiers to their deaths but this was a very dangerous era... one wrong move would result in devastating consequences!

He complied with the orders of the Empire and sent half of his troops and invaded the Empire of Dawn...

The Empire of dawn was a small Empire which had very bad relations with the Kingdom of Bui, they had joined the Trium Axis therefore the Kingdom had joined the Eagle Alliance.

The Dawn Empire which was dastardly invaded by the Eagle Allied forces was left devastated, millions of soldiers and civilians alike were killed mercilessly, ma.s.sacres took place in occupied areas...

It wasn"t just the allied forces that did so, but the axis forces themselves all the while preaching of their peace...

And thus, the Empire of Dawn was no more as the "sun had set" on it, people said, leaving ruins and bloodshed in it"s wake...

King Rivel immediately ordered his troops to support it"s allies, the Republic had sent most of it"s forces, the rebels had taken over it"s nation and finally sent it"s troops...

With a combined force of over seventy million from the alliance of the three Great nations marching towards the Empire, the Empire finally declared total war!

Ma.s.ses flocked at the enlistment centres, they were drafted by the Empire, factories were ordered to start manufacturing weaponry and to also invent new weapons...

...the Great continental war had begun!