Imperial warlords: Cannons are the only truth

"President, if the Pulen people really want to completely break ties with us this time, as long as the Qian people don't take the opportunity to cause trouble, we will still have a relatively good military advantage."

Georgian Defense Minister Goldsmith Antonio is quite confident about the balance of military power between the two sides: "In the event of war, Georgia, Dunley, and Lancia can immediately deploy up to 1500 million regular troops!"

"If we were to mobilize for war, our total troop strength could at least double in a very short period of time!"

"That's why I said earlier that Algernon must have been blinded by his own ambition."

“Prun’s best option should actually be to participate in the ‘Four-Country Plan’ we proposed.”

"In that case, the four most powerful countries in the Western Luo—Jiglian, Dunli, Lanxi, and Pulun—should have no problem completing the four-nation structure."

"Algernon's ambitions are far too great; he doesn't even want a quarter of Xiro's territory!"

"Decisions made under the influence of ambition will bring great disaster to the people of Pulun."

"I believe that although public opinion across most of the Western Continent is now in favor of the Puren people, this does not affect our military advantage."

"As long as the Gren, Dunli, and Lanxi can unite as one, the Prun people and those small Western Luo countries have absolutely no chance of winning the war!"

Goldsmith Antonio said confidently, "President, I believe that this conflict instigated by the Prun people is actually the perfect opportunity for us to completely resolve this big problem of Prun."

"If we win this war, we can take the opportunity to completely wipe out this big trouble, Pulun, from the Western Continent."

"We can even take this opportunity to turn the 'Four Kingdoms Plan' of the Western Luo Continent into the 'Three Kingdoms Plan'!"

“Agreed!” Georgian Navy Minister Nathaniel Brady quickly added, “The Prun people are too arrogant now.”

"They thought that by crushing the Bola people on the battlefield and acquiring several aircraft carriers from the foreign fleet, they could really roam freely across the Western Luo Continent!"

"We should have taught those arrogant Prun people a lesson long ago."

"If war breaks out, our Georgian Navy will show the people of Prun who the true maritime hegemon is through our actions!"

“In fact—our army is no worse than the Prun’s!” Georgian Army Minister Hudson Joyce added, “if we were to rank them.”

"To be honest, the Georgian Army is absolutely qualified to be ranked among the world's strongest armies."

"The Georgian Army has completed a comprehensive upgrade of its mechanization."

"Our soldiers are well-equipped, well-trained, and their fighting spirit is in no way inferior to that of the Pulun people!"

"Although the Prun army is strong, I want to say that our Gelian army is not bad either!"

"We are absolutely capable of competing with the Puren people."

"In fact, our Gelian army can hold off the Prun army for a long time!"

"However, we still have two powerful allies—Tunley and Lansey!"

"Just as Defense Secretary Antonio just said—that madman Algernon must have lost his mind!"

"Prun's generals were also inflated by the outstanding performance of Prun's army on the Bola battlefield."

"The Puren people must really regard them as the most powerful beings in Xiluo!"

"This idea is extremely foolish."

"Actually, if they had been a little more rational, they wouldn't have let things get to this point."

"The Four Nations Plan was a golden opportunity for the people of Pulen, but they squandered it on their own."

"The current situation may not be a bad thing."

"Now that everyone has torn off the mask, there's nothing left for us to hide."

"Taking this opportunity to divide up Plen will save us a lot of trouble later..."

"Many military generals are now eager to prepare for the upcoming war!"

“Mr. President, I believe we are confident and capable of joining forces with the Dunley and Lanxi people to win this war.”

"Our generals are all in high spirits!"

"Many generals have already begun to volunteer for battle."

"They've long wanted to teach the arrogant and overconfident Prun people a lesson on the battlefield!"

Georgian President Dickens Cecil listened thoughtfully to the views of Georgian Army Minister Hudson Joyce and others.

Clearly, the pro-war faction within the Georgian coalition does not see the enormous crisis the coalition is currently facing as a bad thing.

On the contrary—the pro-war faction felt this was a golden opportunity to completely wipe out the Prun people!

Dickens Cecil, as the president of the Georgian coalition, was naturally aware of the existence of a pro-war faction and their stance within the coalition forces.

However, Dickens Cecil did not expect that the pro-war faction in the Georgian coalition would be so dismissive of the powerful Prun army.

Dickens Cecil had always had reservations about the pro-war views within the Georgian coalition forces.

Even before the outbreak of this crisis, the pro-war faction within the Georgian coalition had repeatedly suggested to Dickens Cecil that a preemptive military action be taken against the Prun people.

The pro-war faction's view is clear: since Prun has become a huge obstacle that threatens the unity and stability of the entire Western Alliance, the best solution is to use force to eradicate this threat!

The implication is that the pro-war faction believes that Dickens Cecil's policy of concessions and appeasement towards the Prun people was wrong.

However, due to the absolute authority of the president during this special period, the pro-war faction did not speak so bluntly.

However, things are different now—the Prun people started the conflict first, and have already forced the Gelian into a situation where they must fight back.

Therefore, the pro-war faction can finally express their views freely.

While Georgian League President Dickens Cecil does not entirely agree with the views and actions of the Georgian League's pro-war faction.

However, the current high morale and eagerness of the pro-war faction are undoubtedly more advantageous in dealing with this crisis.

After all, it's a good thing that the Georgian army can throw itself into this inevitable war with high morale and strong fighting spirit.

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"So—the military is very confident about the upcoming war?"

Dickens Cecil's gaze swept over Georgian Army Minister Hudson Joyce and others: "The military has confidence, and the soldiers are in high spirits, which is naturally a good thing."

"However, we must not underestimate the Prun army."

"Algernon is an utterly shameless madman, but he's also an incredibly shrewd one!"

Dickens Cecil worriedly reminded him, "Don't you think a lot of things are too much of a coincidence?"

"After the Qian Kingdom people took Qianzhou into their hands, the Daqian Zhenguo army took over the various protectorates very smoothly."

"Moreover, according to the intelligence we obtained earlier, the people of the Qianzhou states that were annexed by the Qian Kingdom do not actually reject becoming part of the Qian Kingdom."

"In particular, the Qian Kingdom implemented a series of preferential policies in various protectorates, which made the natives of each protectorate more accepting of the Qian Kingdom's rule."

"Before this crisis broke out, the overall situation in Qianzhou had actually entered a very stable state."

"The Western Luo Alliance had previously discussed countermeasures because the Qian people had created such a stable situation in Qianzhou so quickly."

"How come the situation, which was perfectly fine, suddenly turned chaotic just when a major battle was about to break out on our side?"

"To call this a coincidence is too much of a coincidence, isn't it?"

"Who doesn't know the prestige of the Great Qian Zhenguo Army these days?"

"Moreover—we have to admit that after the Qian Kingdom took over, the natives of the Qianzhou Kingdoms did indeed live a much better life than before."

"It can be said that becoming a protectorate under the rule of the Qian Kingdom is a great thing for them."

"Under these circumstances—would those guys from Qianzhou really dare to oppose the people of Qian?"

"The situation in Qianzhou is too chaotic by sheer coincidence!"

"I have a feeling there's a conspiracy at play here..."

"President, do you mean—the sudden rebellion in Qianzhou at this time is a hoax orchestrated by the people of Qian?"

Georgian Defense Minister Goldsmith Antonio continued Dickens Cecil's line of thought, "Are they putting on an act?"

"This is highly likely!"

"But why would the people of Qian do this?"

"Is it to reassure the Puren people?"

"To reassure the people of Pulun?"

"So—the Pulun people and the Qian people didn't reach an agreement?"

"They didn't collude?"

"If the Pulun people and the Qian people have already colluded, then why are the Qian people putting on this show?"

"Who are they doing this for?"

Everyone discussed this issue.

"Regardless of whether the Qian people and the Pulun people are colluding, we must prepare for the worst!"

Dickens Cecil gestured for everyone to quiet down: "If the chaos in Qianzhou was deliberately orchestrated by the people of Qian, there are only two possibilities."

"One possibility is that the Qian people want to use this method to convince the Pulun people that they will not take the opportunity to cause trouble."

"But this does not mean that the people of Qian and the people of Pulun did not collude."

"Another possibility is that the Qian people and the Pulun people have long been in cahoots, and this charade is just for show for the small Xiluo country that has joined the punitive expedition."

"Let those small Western Luo countries know that the Qian Kingdom is too busy taking care of itself to interfere in Western Luo affairs."

"In this way, those small countries will be more at ease following the Prun people down this path to the bitter end!"

"In short, if this is indeed a scheme orchestrated by the people of Qian, then there is only one ultimate goal in this scheme."

"That is—to allow both sides in this conflict to better engage in this war that will reshape the global landscape of the Western Luo Continent."

"Mr. President, do you mean—the Qian Kingdom will try to profit from both sides while we and the Puren people are both weakened?"

“That’s highly likely!” Dickens Cecil nodded. “I have a feeling that the ultimate beneficiaries of this chaos in Xiluo will be the people of Qian…”

"Shen Moshen is not the kind of guy who likes to follow the rules of the game!"

Dickens Cecil frowned and said, "So, even if the Prun people have secretly reached some kind of agreement with the Qian people, do you really think the Qian people will abide by it?"

"When they see the entire Western Luo Continent in chaos, will the people of Qian Kingdom miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?"

"I don't think so!" Before anyone else could answer, Dickens Cecil stated his opinion: "If this war really breaks out..."

"This is not a good thing for the entire Western Luo!"

"So what I mean is—while actively preparing for this war with the Prun people, we should try to have another talk with them!"

"If Algernon is willing to risk being betrayed by the Qian people to start this war, then we will fight to the bitter end!"

"Mr. President, I think there's nothing left to discuss with the Pulen people."

“Now that Algernon has chosen to completely break ties with us, he certainly won’t change his mind!”

Nathaniel Brady, the pro-war naval minister of the Georgian Union, objected to Dickens Cecil's view that he was still thinking of talking to the Prunes at this time.

"Talking to the Puren people at this time will only delay our chance of victory!"

"I believe we should strike first and launch an offensive against the Prun people before their army does!"

"The Georgian Navy is fully prepared to strike Prun at any time."

"We must strike before the Puren people to better seize control of the war!"

"That's right! There's nothing left to discuss now, and the army is ready for war."

A fervent glint flashed in the eyes of Georgian Army Minister Hudson Joyce: "We are ready to launch an attack on the punitive expedition led by Prun at any time!"

"President, we can't hesitate any longer!"

"No matter what the Qian people are planning, the best solution is to deal with the Pulun people as soon as possible."

"With just one order, the Georgian army can immediately launch an attack on the neighboring member states of the punitive expedition."

"President, I also agree with the preemptive strike strategy!"

Georgian Defense Minister Goldsmith Antonio also stated: "It would be of no use to talk to that madman Algernon at this time."

"There's still a chance that Algernon, that shameless madman, could exploit this loophole again!"

"Algernon has already tricked us once!"

“If Algernon pretends to agree to talk with us, but then launches a military offensive against us during the negotiations.”

"Then the Pulun people have seized our advantage!"