Chapter 420: Butterfly Wings (Ⅰ)

Ever since Nissisi Fortress was bombarded by fire giants, many small cracks appeared in the walls inside the fortress.

There was a gap in the wall in front of Joan, through which the voices of the conversation next door could be faintly heard in his ears.

As Joan listened, his face became serious, and he turned to Kandy and said, "Quick! Dig a tunnel to the next door!"

There was only one wall, and Kandy didn't even use the "digging technique". With the help of the weasel's hard forelimbs, he buried his head in digging, and within two minutes the crack in the wall doubled in size.

The light from the next room shone through the cracks in the wall, and the voices of the conversation became clearer.

Joan held his breath, moved to the crack of the wall, and glanced at the opposite room.

Sure enough, the two people who had a fierce dispute next door were none other than General Louis Jumonville and his friend and chief of staff Diego Antonioni!

"Louis, I know it's difficult for you to accept such a fact, but the fact is the fact, whether you like it or hate it, it's there, and you have to face it correctly."

"Stop preaching to me, Diego, I hate everything you say! Ah, the damned command! It's madness!"

"Calm down, my poor friend, you need a brandy to collect yourself."

"Okay, let's have another drink, I wish I could die drunk!"

The crisp sound of glasses colliding came from the other side of the wall. General Jumonville drank a large glass full of spirits and sat down on the armchair, his angry expression was replaced by depression.

Antonioni took a sip of his wine, walked behind his friend, supported his shoulder, and said softly, "Louis, do you still remember the story about the butterfly?"

General Jumonville rubbed his cheeks with his hands and said angrily, "Come on, I'm not in the mood to listen to your story right now."

Antonioni smiled tolerantly, and said to himself: "When the wise men in ancient times described the impermanence of the world, they always used such an analogy: when a butterfly flaps its wings, it will set off waves on the Meteor Ocean thousands of miles away. A storm."

"This sounds absurd at first glance. How can a tiny butterfly have the ability to cause a storm in the ocean?"

"However, sometimes we have to admit that this fable is very incisive, because there are subtle connections between everything in the world. These connections are difficult to detect, but they exist objectively, and they can often lead to unexpected results under coincidence."

"For example, at this moment, a butterfly flapping its wings on the land of the Far East caused a violent storm here."

"What you said is empty talk, Diego, I still can't figure it out. People in the Far East want to be independent. The people in the Ashan Empire should be the ones who have a headache. But we are Hailan people. What does the independence of the Far East have to do with our country?"

"Why should our border guards stationed on the border of the New World colonies be implicated? This is really a disaster!"

General Jumonville shouted angrily.

"Butterfly wings, my friend, these are butterfly wings!"

Antonioni smiled wryly.

"The warlord of the Far East, Rudolf Kolas, launched a rebellion, proclaimed himself king, and announced that the Far East Province would break away from the territory of the Holy Ashean Empire and establish an independent country. This is a political event that can change the world situation. It's very tense."

"Nowadays, the Ashan royal family, the cabinet, the military, and even the common people are calling for the crusade against the rebels and the recovery of the Far East. However, given the current financial situation of the imperial government, it is difficult to raise sufficient military funds to launch this counter-insurgency war. For this reason, the imperial authorities have to make a choice, Louis, do you understand what I mean?"

"Nonsense! I'm not interested in tricks like politics, but when it comes to strategic situations, I don't need your teaching."

General Jumonville said sullenly.

"The Holy Ashan Empire is like a 'clay-footed giant'. It looks strong, but its foundation is weak. Years of colonial expansion have exhausted the treasury savings. The rebellion in the Far East Province dealt a heavy blow to this clay-footed giant, exposing it Out of the weak nature."

"The expansion strategy that the imperial authorities insisted on in the past is now unsustainable. It is like a greedy person who eats too much and suffers from indigestion. Only by withdrawing his fist can he severely attack the Far East rebels."

"Yes, the truth is so obvious."

Antonioni nodded approvingly.

"For nearly a century, the Ashan Empire has continuously launched colonial expansion to the New World, and established the two colonies of Midgard and Alfheim in the Wilnoa area. This is not enough, and it has extended its greedy claws to the New World The Graberen area in the south is trying to establish a new colony there."

"However, greed always has a price to pay. Colonies need not only immigrants, but also military power and material supplies to ensure the survival of immigrants. The empire has established more and more colonies overseas, and the money, materials and garrisons that need to be invested in the construction of colonies are also Then it exploded.”

"To this day, these overseas investments have become an unbearable burden for the imperial authorities. Compared with these costly efforts, the real gold and silver harvested by the imperial authorities in the colonies is actually not much."

"Think about it, Louis, just take Alfheim as an example. As far as I know, the colonial government can't even collect taxes locally, and the rampant smuggling activities have made the customs useless. What benefits does it bring to the mother country?"

"Trade income can't even cover the cost of garrisoning troops. The more colonies you open up, the more money you waste. This is simply a loss-making business!"

Antonioni put down his empty wine glass, walked up to General Jumonville who was deep in thought, and continued:

"In fact, the imperial authorities now realize that occupying too many colonies is not necessarily a good thing. Compared with opening up wasteland in the New World, the current more urgent task is to quell the rebellion and recover the Far East province."

"After all, the Far Eastern provinces belong to the mainland of the empire. Once the rebellion spreads westward, the entire mainland of the empire will fall into turmoil and panic. Compared with this, the colonies separated by oceans are not so important."

"That's why the imperial authorities decided to abandon the colonial expansion strategy that they had insisted on for many years, and withdraw part of the garrisons from the overseas colonies, and instead invested in the Far East to quell the rebellion."

General Jumonville followed Antonioni's train of thought.

Antonioni nodded with a smile.

"The general plan is like this, but some details are worth pondering, such as the 'withdrawal of troops'."

"The security of the colony is mainly maintained by the garrison of the mother country, and the withdrawal of the troops means the abandonment of the colony."

"If you are the ruler of the empire and you have to give up part of the colonies now, then you will choose to give up the Midgard and Alfheim colonies that have invested countless manpower, money and materials for hundreds of years, or give up The Graberen colony that has just started enclosing the territory and has not had time to officially put into construction?"