Empire Conquest
Chapter 57 - 53: Reap What You Sow

Chapter 57: Chapter 53: Reap What You Sow

In history, the relationship between the Luosha Empire and the Western Powers was never as good as it appeared during the great wars.

For a long time, the Western Powers had always viewed the powerful nations of the East as the greatest threat. This fear of the enemy, like the tiger, was vividly reflected in Western literature, where all demons hail from the East. Before the rise of the Liangxia Empire, the Eastern demon in the eyes of the Western Powers was the Luosha Empire.

The conflicts between the Western Powers and the Luosha Empire lasted for over two hundred years.

Indeed, it was through these conflicts with the Western Powers that the Luosha Empire evolved from a small inland principality into a world-class power.

If it hadn’t been for the Tiaoman Empire swiftly achieving national unity under the wise leadership of the old Emperor, Wild I, becoming the most powerful empire on the West Continent; coupled with Wild II’s over-ambition, deviating from the old Emperor’s strategic route, and attempting to usurp the trident from his uncle’s hands, the Western Powers, led by the Bulan Kingdom, would not have considered Tiaoman Empire their primary threat nor would they have thought of reconciling with the Luosha Empire.

Fundamentally, it was because the size of the Luosha Empire was simply too vast!

Even though its eastern expansion strategy was thwarted, namely its disastrous defeat to the rising Liangxia Empire, losing all territories east of Yenisei-Balkhash, Luosha’s land area still exceeded the sum of the Western Powers, and its population was twice that of the Locke Republic and one and a half times that of the Tiaoman Empire.

In front of the powers of the West Continent, the Luosha Empire was a colossal giant.

The key issue was that the center of the Luosha Empire’s gravity was in the West Continent, always considering itself a Western power, while its eastern regions in the Giant Continent were relatively backward. It was precisely because of this that after the devastating defeat to the Liangxia Empire, the Luosha Empire was still a powerful threat to the countries of the West Continent. This also meant that when the Luosha Empire revived and once again expanded outward, the countries on the West Continent would be the first to bear the brunt.

Seeking revenge against the Liangxia Empire?

From any angle, only after sweeping through the West Continent and becoming a superpower could the Luosha Empire have the capital to challenge the already superpowered Liangxia Empire.

In fact, this was also a key reason why the Western Powers were terrified after the military revolt in the Luosha Empire.

From this viewpoint, it’s not hard to understand why the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire turned enemies into allies.

As nations of the West Continent, both the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire deeply shared a common threat from the powerful eastern neighbor, a feeling carved into their bones.

Don’t forget that during the First Empire period, the Locke Army swept across the West Continent, defeating all competitors, but fell in the icy and snowy lands of the Luosha Empire’s capital, and from there began their decline, eventually defeated by the Anti-Luo Alliance raised by the Luosha Empire and Bulan Kingdom at Waterloo. Had they not been defeated in the Luosha Empire’s capital, the First Locke Empire might already have unified the West Continent and perhaps defeated the Bulan Kingdom.

As for the Tiaoman Empire, before achieving national independence and unification, the primary threat during its stagnation period came from the Luosha Empire to the east.

In comparison, the Bulan Kingdom, being an offshore nation, did not feel the threat as intensely.

Before the outbreak of this great war, the Locke Republic joining the Alliance Group had one crucial reason: to be able to ally with the Luosha Empire.

In fact, after becoming a second-tier power, allying with maritime nations like the Bulan Kingdom to suppress the powerful nations of the West Continent became the basic strategy of the Locke Republic. To ensure national strategic security, the Locke Republic has always avoided being enemies with multiple continental powers simultaneously.

Understanding all this, it’s not hard to see how severe the consequences of the Newland Federation’s betrayal were.

If Wilkins’s ideal became a reality, naturally, it would be a joyous event for the members of the Alliance Group.

Even if the Luosha Empire had already collapsed, the remaining four giants could form a group that would encircle the globe and dominate the entire world of powerful nations.

Although this group might not last long, since internal conflicts are also quite prominent, it would definitely be able to suppress the defeated Liangxia Empire and Tiaoman Empire for decades to come. Riding this east wind, the Locke Republic would inevitably become the top hegemon of the West Continent.

As for the matters of the decades thereafter, they aren’t something to be considered now.

Unfortunately, there are no "ifs" in reality.

The Newland Federation stood up its old allies, especially the Locke Republic, which was almost utterly devastated in the great war with heavy casualties.

It is precisely because of this that some claim Newland Federation’s betrayal was the number one cause of the Alliance Group’s collapse, post-war disorder, and the chaotic international situation. Others believe that had the Newland Federation not been controlled by isolationism, the subsequent global war would not have occurred.

Is this indeed the case?

Even if this opinion holds some truth, it is still an oversimplification.

After the great war, isolationism rose in the Newland Federation, not mainly because of the huge war losses, but because the Newland Federation did not receive benefits corresponding to its efforts and status as a victorious nation. Fundamentally, this was an inevitable result of the Bulan Kingdom and the Locke Republic’s unwillingness to face reality.

What reality?

With a population nearing two hundred million, the Newland Federation had not only surpassed all the traditional empires in population but was also the second globally and the first in the West in industrial might. Its national power had exceeded the Bulan Kingdom and the Locke Republic, giving it the strength and qualification to lead the Western Powers.

Taking all factors into consideration, the overall power of the Newland Federation exceeded the total of other Western Powers!

If power dictated terms, then the post-war world order should have been determined by the Newland Federation.

The Bulan Kingdom and the Locke Republic, of course, would not agree to this.

The former was still better off since it shared a lineage with the Newland Federation.

For the Locke Republic, following the Newland Federation’s lead and letting it divide the spoils were obviously unacceptable.

At the time, such views were considered treasonous in the Locke Republic.

Not to speak of discussing them, even entertaining such thoughts was met with condemnation and denunciation.

The most evident example was during the Seba Conference, where over a dozen Locke Republic government officials were dismissed for advocating necessary concessions.

Do not forget, in this great war, the Locke Republic sacrificed millions of soldiers and nearly ten million military and civilian disabled persons.

After such immense casualties, who could accept that the outcome was to benefit another country?

Thus, the Locke Republic’s refusal to compromise forced Wilkins to make significant concessions at the conference, leading the Federation Congress of the Newland Federation to reject the president’s treaty proposal and the Federation to stand up its obligations and not join the International Alliance initiated by Wilkins.

From this angle, saying that the Locke Republic had brought it upon themselves is not incorrect.

Regardless, after the Newland Federation retreated back to Gu Continent and re-erected the wall of isolationism, only two choices remained for the Western Powers. One was to quickly adapt and accept the new power structure, acknowledging the Newland Federation as the new superpower hegemon after the Liangxia Empire. The other was to adjust their national security strategies, reconcile with former mortal enemies, and collectively resist the threat from the superpower.

Indeed, these were also the two pronounced characteristics of the post-war international situation.

However, different Great Powers made different choices.

The Bulan Kingdom and the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom chose the former. The Locke Republic, along with the Tiaoman Empire, rebuilding from the war’s ruins, chose the latter.

The post-war era thus began anew.

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