Empire Conquest
Chapter 281 - 277: Sucker

Chapter 281: Chapter 277: Sucker

The Bulan Kingdom was truly the biggest victim.

Although at the root of it, the all-out confrontation that unfolded around the Fan Flame Ocean between the Liangxia Empire and the Bulan Kingdom, especially over the economic and trade interests in the Fanluo region, was the source of the previous Global War, there are no eternal enemies or friends among nations, only perpetual interests.

Moreover, the impact of the Great Depression on international order cannot be underestimated.

Despite the Bulan Kingdom making efforts to first woo the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom and then court the Newland Federation after the end of the great conflict, forming the Second Alliance Group through much trouble, fundamentally, the Bulan Kingdom’s actions were not in preparation to oppose the Liangxia Empire but were aimed at expanding overseas markets.

At that time, there were no "enemies" to speak of with the Liangxia Empire.

After the last war, the Liangxia Empire almost completely withdrew from the regions surrounding the Fan Flame Ocean, losing nearly all their investments in Fanluo. In the post-war trend, the Liangxia Empire entered a phase of strategic contraction, and tensions with other Great Powers greatly eased.

In the decade of post-war prosperity, the international situation was quite stable.

Then, the Great Depression struck.

During the golden decade, the Bulan Kingdom was aggressive in its efforts to seize the spoils of war, to compensate for the losses suffered during the conflict. With the arrival of the Great Depression, the foreign strategy of the Bulan Kingdom took a complete U-turn, shifting from strategic expansion directly to strategic contraction.

Understanding the situation at the time makes the reasoning clear.

Before the Great Depression struck, there were two major international events closely tied to the Bulan Kingdom.

First, the Luosha Federation had already been recognized by most countries, with internal and surrounding situations having stabilized, and was entering a phase of rapid development, poised to become a new industrial power.

Second, the Locke Republic reached a comprehensive reconciliation with the Tiaoman Empire by returning parts of the Alor area and allowing local residents to choose their nationality anew.

Clearly, whether it’s the Luosha Federation getting back on its feet or the Tiaoman Empire and Locke Republic turning from foes to friends, this indicated that soon, there would emerge one, or even two, Great Power-level adversaries on the West Continent. Historically, the hegemon of the West Continent has always coveted the trident in the Bulan Kingdom’s hands. Whoever dominated the West Continent would, following this, set sail to challenge the Bulan Kingdom.

There’s a saying: "Those who do not plan for the future will find trouble at their doorstep."

The reverse is also true.

With immediate worries, how can there be concern for the distant future?

This was the situation facing the Bulan Kingdom.

With their own homeland’s security unassured, how could they have the energy to concern themselves with trivial matters on the other side of the world?

Besides, even during its heyday, when the Liangxia Empire expanded abroad, it rarely made demands for territory, its pursuits aimed only at economic interests.

From the perspective of national security, the only choice for the Bulan Kingdom was strategic contraction, to first deal with the imminent threats.

When international dynamics underwent dramatic changes, the initial choice to consolidate the home base was blameless; all other Great Powers did likewise.

There were also economic reasons.

After the Great Depression erupted, encouraging increased trade was, basically, solely advocated by the Liangxia Empire, especially prior to Rofuss assuming power in the Grey Palace.

For the initial four years, the Liangxia Empire could be said to be the hope of the world.

In those four years, while nearly all Great Powers built up trade barriers, only the Liangxia Empire opened its arms to the entire world.

The Tiaoman Empire’s ability to recover swiftly through retreat and reconciliation with the Locke Republic, the Luosha Federation’s rapid revival—all hinged on the Liangxia Empire.

Without the enormous profits earned from the Liangxia market, the Tiaoman Empire would not have been able to recover so quickly after the war or, before the onset of the Great Depression, to once again surpass the Locke Republic and become the foremost industrial power on the West Continent. Otherwise, why would the Locke Republic seek to appease a defeated Tiaoman Empire?

Not to mention the Luosha Federation—the first pot of gold for their industrialization came from earnings in the Liangxia Empire!

By selling resources like oil to the Liangxia Empire, the Luosha Federation had completed its initial accumulation during the golden decade and laid the foundation for industrialization.

Bulan Kingdom was the same.

To be able to survive these years, with orders coming from the Liangxia Empire, importing oil produced in Boss Bay, purchasing ores from Ao Country, timber from Red Maple Country, and even importing farm products from Bulan Kingdom’s colonies on Xuan Continent, had all brought a taste of sweetness to Bulan Kingdom.

So why continue to butt heads with the Liangxia Empire?

Even after Rofuss moved into the Grey Palace, began implementing new policies, and thus the Newland Federation became the second engine driving global economic growth, Bulan Kingdom’s economic and trade interactions with the Liangxia Empire were hardly affected. The Liangxia Empire remained Bulan Kingdom’s number one trading partner.

The reason was simple: only the Liangxia Empire was importing oil and other resources on a global scale.

Newland Federation?

Even with a huge domestic market, the Newland Federation was also one of the largest resource-producing countries in the world.

Take oil for example, the Newland Federation was the world’s largest oil-producing country and a major oil exporter. It wouldn’t import oil from Bulan Kingdom but instead would compete with Bulan Kingdom for the market. Over the past few years, the competition from the Newland Federation had already subdued Bulan Kingdom’s oil market in the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.

In other respects as well, the Newland Federation was more of a competitor than a partner.

The most typical event was the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom’s upgrade of four "Jingang" class to Fast Battleships.

Initially, the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom planned to import high-pressure boilers from Bulan Kingdom, but the Newland Federation came out of nowhere, snatching the contract that rightfully belonged to Bulan Kingdom with an almost break-even bid. This instance also negatively impacted the traditionally friendly relations between Bulan Kingdom and the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.

Arms trade was never just simple trade!

Profit aside, political trust established through arms trade was irreplaceable by any other means.

And trust, once gone, was truly gone.

Another key point was, why should Bulan Kingdom get involved in a war that had nothing to do with them?

When the cannon fires, gold by the thousands.

If the Liangxia Empire and the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom went to war, the flood of munitions orders and oil contracts would make a swift war fortune for someone.

Bulan Kingdom was in a favorable position, pleasing both sides.

On the Liangxia side, there would definitely be an increase in oil imports. Even if not necessary, they could stock up for unforeseen wartime needs.

Even if the price of oil didn’t rise, simply the increased volume of exports would bring a great profit to Bulan Kingdom.

The Saiyi Imperial Kingdom’s military production capacity could not meet the wartime demands. Even if they mainly relied on the Newland Federation, they would undoubtedly purchase arms from Bulan Kingdom.

Additionally, there were various other materials.

No matter how capable the Newland Federation was, they couldn’t take on all the orders, and a significant portion would definitely fall into Bulan Kingdom’s lap.

Just when Bulan Kingdom was ready to make a huge profit from the war, the Newland Federation jumped in and stirred up trouble.

It could be said that they acted without giving prior notice to Bulan Kingdom.

Even after Bulan Kingdom echoed Newland Federation’s move against the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, they were not ready for war — at least, they had no plans to engage at this time!

Strategic alliances aside, Rofuss had not agreed, nor even considered offering compensation to Bulan Kingdom for the losses incurred due to the imposed sanctions,

And this became the basis for Bulan Kingdom to continue negotiations with the Liangxia Empire, leveraging issues such as the scope of the embargo, the methods, and the duration.