Empire Conquest
Chapter 58 - 54 Chain Reaction

Chapter 58: Chapter 54 Chain Reaction

The reconciliation between the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire was a rather protracted and very tortuous process.

The key point is that this was not an isolated incident.

The Bulan Kingdom bore the brunt of the impact and repercussions.

Long before the rise of the Liangxia Empire, in the era when ships still relied on sails for navigation, the Bulan Kingdom, which dominated the global oceans, adopted a strategy of alliance, support, and containment to prevent the emergence of a terrestrial power on the West Continent that could pose a threat to it.

Strictly speaking, uniting with the Locke Republic to oppose the Tiaoman Empire during the great war was a specific manifestation of this strategy.

Now, the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire have decisively put aside their previous grievances and unprecedentedly joined forces to prepare to rule the West Continent together.

How can we contain such a behemoth of a terrestrial power?

Don’t forget that any terrestrial power, after its development, will seek overseas colonies and challenge naval powers.

Together, the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire had roughly 130 million people, a territory exceeding one million square kilometers, and the Locke Republic was the world’s third largest suzerain of colonies, controlling colonies with a population of over 100 million. In other aspects, the industrial production capacity of these two powers far exceeded that of the Bulan Kingdom, about 70 percent of the Newland Federation, and half of the Liangxia Empire, ranking third globally.

More importantly, the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire had significant appeal on the West Continent, and if we take the numerous small countries into account, this alliance centered around the Locke Republic and Tiaoman Empire had approximately 300 million people, nearly three million square kilometers of territory, the world’s second vastest overseas colonies, and industrial production power surpassed only by the Liangxia Empire, making it second strongest.

Such a colossus, let alone dominating the West Continent, was capable of competing globally.

Could the Bulan Kingdom ensure its safety just across a strait that was only thirty kilometers at its narrowest?

The answer is clearly no.

Historically, after the rise of a strong power on the West Continent, they would all challenge the Bulan Kingdom just across the strait of water, with some even conquering the Bulan Kingdom.

Having no alternative, the Bulan Kingdom had to draw closer to the Newland Federation.

Some might say that it was the Bulan Kingdom that first allied with the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom and extended an olive branch to the Newland Federation, prompting the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire to reconcile fully. Thus, the strategic adjustment by the Bulan Kingdom was the cause, and the Locke Republic turned to the Tiaoman Empire only when there was no other choice.

Clearly, this argument is far-fetched.

The reason is simple: the reconciliation between the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire was not something that happened overnight, it required a process and time.

Besides the Bulan Kingdom, the most affected was the newly born Luosha Federation.

However, for the Luosha Federation, this matter had both good and bad sides.

In the first few years, for the newly born and extremely precarious Luosha Federation, it was a great blessing, even a gift from God. It’s very simple: after the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire had thawed their former enmity, they first had to consider the bigger picture, then spend a lot of time integrating, followed by cleaning up the surrounding areas, at least needing to unite with the neighboring small countries, and only then moving on to external expansion.

Additionally, the defeated Tiaoman Empire needed time to recuperate and recover.

As a result, the dream of the Western Powers intervening militarily in the Luosha civil war was completely shattered.

Let’s look at it from another angle.

If this event hadn’t occurred, then after the ceasefire, at the latest after the end of the Seba Conference, the Western Powers would certainly have sent in large forces. In order to extinguish the Luosha insurrection with a swift and thunderous effort, troops needed to come from the West Continent, which would require the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire to play the leading roles.

Alas, reality was not like this.

After the alliance between the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire was solidified, even the Bulan Kingdom faced less threat than the Luosha Federation.

Regardless, the Bulan Kingdom is an offshore country, separated from the West Continent by a strait. Therefore, as long as it maintains a sufficiently powerful navy, it need not worry about threats to its homeland. The Luosha Federation, however, is on the West Continent itself, with a vast frontier thousands of kilometers wide to the west.

Clearly, when the two great powers from the west joined forces, the Luosha Federation would be the first to face the threat.

Because of this, over the next decade or so, the Luosha Federation made great efforts to fortify its western defenses, which in turn had more profound effects.

Firstly, the numerous weak nations between the Luosha Federation and the Tiaoman Empire were forced to make a choice.

Either align with the west or turn to the east.

The dozen or so countries here were, in fact, like barrels of gunpowder that, if mishandled, could spark the next great war. Not to mention that among these small countries, many emerged as new, independent nations after the collapse of the Luosha Empire.

These small countries had previously been part of the Luosha Empire, or rather, they were spoils of war from the empire’s various expansionist campaigns.

Would the Luosha Federation let bygones be bygones?

When preoccupied with its own affairs, the Luosha Federation naturally wouldn’t stir up trouble. But once it had grown stronger, the situation would be altogether different.

Indeed, this was precisely why the Luosha Federation proactively sought closer relations with the Liangxia Empire.

Faced with the emergence of a superpower to the west, the Luosha Federation had no choice but to seek assistance from their former arch-enemy, the Liangxia Empire, which they had once considered an irreconcilable foe during the war. At the very least, they sought reconciliation in order to eliminate the threat from the east and, thereby, to concentrate their military power in the west.

If the Locke Republic could reconcile with the Tiaoman Empire, why couldn’t the Luosha Federation reconcile with the Liangxia Empire?

Moreover, the Luosha Federation, established after overthrowing a corrupt imperial rule, naturally had no need to adhere to doctrines from the imperial era.

Clearly, this was a welcome development for the Liangxia Empire.

As such, after the Seba Peace Treaty took effect, the Liangxia Empire only symbolically dispatched a military force to join the military intervention initiated by the Bulan Kingdom and the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, primarily operating in occupied areas from the war period, without participating in frontline combat.

Not long afterwards, the military intervention ended in failure.

Retreating at the first opportunity, the Liangxia Empire eagerly accepted the olive branch extended by the Luosha Federation. In New Calendar year 84, the year following the end of the intervention, the Liangxia Empire signed a secret treaty with the Luosha Federation, reconciling by returning the territory it had occupied during the war.

In return, the Luosha Federation agreed to export oil and iron ore to the Liangxia Empire for the next forty-nine years.

It was this secret treaty that freed up the military forces the Luosha Federation had deployed in the east, creating the conditions for their upcoming military campaign on the West Continent.

It was also this treaty that rewrote and locked in the post-war world order.

Once again, on the Giant Continent, known as the "World Island," and across the West and Xuan Continents, two powerful military and political alliances emerged. Outside the World Island, another equally powerful group was born, evolving the two-power confrontation into a tripartite balance of power.

Yet this did not result in a stable relationship.

And it could not possibly be stable.

As long as there are interests to be had, as long as military means can still seize and secure those interests, no form of international relations can exist stably.

Not to mention that the armament race had once again become an uncontrollable wild horse.