Chapter 8

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Chapter 8: The Aryan Superman vs Great Ming War Wolf

In the autumn of 1840, the propaganda department conducted a public opinion survey, interviewing people on the streets in three cities, Berlin, Cologne, and Königsberg, collecting ten thousand evaluations of the prince regent from the public. The result was a 99.7% approval rating.

"The prince regent is a very kind person. Thanks to him, I have a job at a factory. It’s hard work, but I can earn a lot of money."

"I heard that the farming situation isn’t great, but personally, I don’t feel it. The price of food has gone down a bit, and my income has increased. The pressure of having enough to eat has lessened a lot."

"The prince regent is friendly and kind. I’ve heard his speeches, and he is a king that we all love and admire."

"Life now is much better than before, much better. Oh, it used to be such a struggle… the smelly city, the poor and homeless refugees and slaves… ever since the prince regent came to power, the country has changed a lot for the better."

Redel-Catherine Palace, the office of the prince regent.

Cabinet Secretary Schultz came to report on the government’s work for the month to the prince regent. When the prince regent saw him come in, he stood up excitedly, waving a public opinion report.

"Schultz, come see how much the people support me. Everyone thinks I am a loving father of the nation, kind and friendly, seeking the benefit of the people while maintaining the dignity and elegant nobility of a monarch." Leader One’s smile couldn’t be contained.

Schultz placed the documents on the table.

"Oh… may I see the survey questionnaire?"

"Look, look!" Leader One happily bounces on the chair.

Schultz quickly noticed the leading questions on the survey he glanced through. The interviewers were government officials from the royal office, so the respondents naturally gave positive responses.

If the questions were changed and a commoner conducted the survey, the results would be different.

Even though the survey questions were biased, the support rate of over 99% was astonishing. It showed that Your Highness the Regent had great prestige among the people of Prussia.

However, Your Highness the Regent did not have a good reputation among the nobles. He suppressed the aristocracy and weakened the Rural Junker class. The elites of the old world were deprived of many rights, leading to resentment and assassination attempts. Most were stopped by the secret police or the royal guard, with only one failed attempt in front of Redel.

Schultz, caught up in the excitement, did not present the situation objectively, so it was best not to mention the truth.

"Your Highness’s benevolent governance and good deeds have won the hearts of the people," Baron Schultz praised.

After laughing for a while, Leader One picked up Schultz’s government report to read, flipping to the end directly.

Schultz’s reports were always thick, filled with mostly irrelevant information mixed with some useful content, and ending with a simplified summary.

Leader One quickly glanced at the document and signed it. The Cabinet Secretary took the signed document with a smile and left.

Baron Schultz never tells lies, but sometimes he doesn’t tell the whole truth. He also never hides information, he just doesn’t report it.

Including Schultz, any official’s documents given to the prince regent may have various small issues, like making money under false pretenses or hiding their mistakes.

As long as the prince regent wants to investigate thoroughly, everything can be cleared up. But he can’t personally handle every little thing, so many small matters are overlooked.

It’s okay to make a little extra money, as long as it’s done legally and the work gets done.

You can hide your mistakes, but you must clean up your own mess.

Schultz’s strength is that he never gets himself into trouble that could cost him his life. He is clear with the prince regent on important matters, but on smaller issues… the prince regent doesn’t have the energy to deal with everything, so every system has its own unwritten rules.

One week later…

On payday, the Royal Affairs Director Freeman finished his morning work, went to the Ministry of Finance at noon to collect his salary, and found he had received ten pounds this month, three pounds more than before.

Freeman asked the Ministry of Finance what was going on. They replied that they had added subsidies for education and housing, increased transportation and meal expenses, so the amount of money received had increased by a "billion" points.

After much struggle, Freeman chose to report this matter to the prince regent because the increase in civil servants’ salaries was quite large. There are over two hundred thousand people in the entire civil service system, this expenditure could…

But when Your Highness the Regent heard about this, he said, "I know about this matter, and I have also agreed to it."

"Your Highness," Freeman hesitated, "But in the copy of the document I have stored, it states an increase of six percent."

What Freeman implied was that Baron Schultz was playing tricks to deceive the prince regent.

Last week, in the policy report submitted by Cabinet Secretary Schultz, there was a proposal passed by the parliament for a salary increase for civil servants.

The proposal stated a six percent salary increase for civil servants, but it was meant to deceive the parliamentarians. In reality, various "subsidies" other than salary were mixed into the complex bill, and the actual salary increase exceeded forty percent.

Leader One didn’t need to check the original bill, as he saw the brief report submitted by Schultz and immediately sensed something was wrong. However, Leader One signed it, tacitly approving the significant salary raise for civil servants.

Because he had recently promulgated an anti-corruption law to strictly regulate the organizational culture of government bodies, not allowing officials to act recklessly, establishing an honest and efficient system through strict measures.

Don’t be greedy, work efficiently, don’t have high salaries and benefits – This is impossible. So, Leader One agreed to Baron Schultz’s plan to raise the salaries of government officials significantly. If anyone dares to be greedy, I will deal with them severely.

"Nothing to worry about, Freeman," said the prince regent.

Freeman felt relieved and realized that there was no problem at all. He thought it was going to be a big issue.

As the director of royal affairs, prince regent and the Cabinet Secretary are his bosses. The shady salary increase plan also benefits Freeman. He thought that prince regent was unaware of this matter and was being fooled by Baron Schultz.

Freeman was torn between keeping the secret and accepting the high salary or reporting it and losing the high salary but gaining prince regent’s trust while earning Baron Schultz’s resentment. Freeman chose to be loyal to prince regent and now everything is perfect without any problems.

Baron Schultz and prince regent had many unspoken agreements. Schultz never crossed the line or touched on fundamental issues within prince regent’s allowed boundaries. If Schultz dared to pull any tricks, he would be lost.

Leader One believed that Freeman, the young director of royal affairs, was quite good despite being a bit straightforward and unaware of the hidden rules of the core authority layer. Leader One thought Freeman’s loyalty was assured, and with more experience, he could possibly succeed Schultz in the future.

However, Freeman was destined not to continue the era of Cabinet Secretary’s immense power. When Baron Schultz retired and Freeman took over, Eiserner Kanzler would also rise, and Anna was not as easily controlled as the current prime minister.

The prince regent asked Freeman if there were any special letters.

Freeman immediately went to his neighboring office and brought some letters that the prince regent wanted.

"The letters from your important ministers are all here."

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anna is in London attending the post-war conference on Schleswig. The six countries, including England, France, Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Denmark, have been arguing for over a week and haven’t reached any agreement.

Minister of National Defense Ron inspected the military reform situation in the Rhine District. He wrote a lot of unclear things in the letter to the prince regent, but Leader One could only see two words clearly: more funding.

Deputy Chief of General Staff Moltke, a Lieutenant General, has led Prussian mercenaries to participate in the conflicts in America, involving Mexico and Texas. He mentioned that he lacks the ability to fight in the Far East, but he is capable and experienced in fighting in America.

Lieutenant General Catherine is leading troops to the Apennine Peninsula to fight. She alternates between helping France and helping Austria, mainly to suppress the Italian unification movement.

These letters contain a lot of casual chat and personal diary entries, along with many interesting anecdotes about traveling for work. The letters are for delivering non-urgent matters to the prince regent. Important matters would definitely be communicated via telegraph.

After reading the letters, Leader One sighed and said, "My dear ministers are all busy outside. From what the letters say, their spirits are high, and everyone is working hard in their beloved professions."

Freeman reminded, "You seem to have forgotten something."

Leader One puzzled, "Did I forget someone? I have my trusted ones Anna, Ron, Moltke, Catherine, who else could I have forgotten?"

……

Far East, Yellow Sea.

「1840.10.19」

In August, we signed a treaty in Japan, in September, the majority of the expeditionary force gathered in Kowloon to rest, by October, reinforcements from India had arrived, we set off together towards the north, our destination was Dagukou.

It seems like a typhoon is coming, the winds are strong, the waves are rough, the sea is very uncomfortable inside the cabin.

Suddenly feeling nauseous, Hans turned to the basin and started vomiting, he couldn’t continue writing in his diary, he was feeling very very unwell.

Hans was not having a good time in the Far East, he couldn’t adapt to the days of sailing on the sea, he also had severe seasickness, couldn’t eat his hometown dishes… couldn’t drink his hometown wine…

The cooks for the expeditionary force were from India, and the ingredients were also brought from India. At first, Hans could handle it, but as time passed, he felt sick at the sight of the food. The Indian chefs used mysterious red and yellow powders in every dish, creating overwhelming and suffocating spice aromas, turning the meals into mush.

Today the expedition army is about to arrive at Dagukou for battle. The sea is rough, the ship is swaying, and the soldiers are feeling sick.

Hans emptied his stomach, sat down in a clean place, stared blankly with no hope.

In the Far East, his favorite time was the two weeks he spent in Japan. Hans missed his short-lived time as a lieutenant in Japan, those days were comfortable, although not as good as in Prussia, but Japan’s geishas, sake, and exotic atmosphere, oh and the rice.

The rice used to support the Japanese royal family was delicious, where was it produced, Aizu Domain… that seems to be the name.

After leaving Japan, it became miserable. The expedition army rested in a broken place called Kowloon. Although it was a good port, the infrastructure was like a broken fishing village. They lived in harsh conditions, eating mysterious mush made by Indian chefs, oh my…

Hans originally had no opinion on the Far East war, but now he has become a warmonger, eager to fight and end it quickly, regardless of winning or losing, just to go home.

The other commanders of the expedition army had similar thoughts, so when the Indian reinforcements arrived, they all headed north together to find Emperor Ming directly.

While Hans was in Japan, the expedition army didn’t capture Guangzhou and King Chu, but they achieved many victories in small cities along the southeast coast, destroying the coastal defense forces of the Ming Empire and several weak small feudal princes. Now they needed a decisive battle.

Let’s go directly north and ask Emperor Ming to sign a treaty.

The army sent more troops, and now the total number of soldiers has reached twenty-eight thousand. This is the maximum force England can draw from India, along with three thousand Polish cavalry, and over a hundred hired Kshatriya Warriors.

In the West, a Kshatriya Warrior is like a Magic Energy Knight, but in India, it refers to awakened white-skinned Aryans with magic energy. They have high requirements for bloodline, background, and appearance. If someone from a different caste or with imperfect conditions awakens magic energy, they may be seen as monsters and punished with stoning.

In the West, they don’t care much about the bloodlines of Magic Energy Users, as long as they are not black.

Whether noble, Junker, or commoner, whether German, Slavic, or Angsa, if they awaken magic energy and their martial skills are excellent enough, they will be greatly valued by the lords.

Of course, even if commoners awaken magic energy, due to limitations in living conditions and learning resources, their martial skills and magic energy may not be strong enough to be valued. Most will remain commoners for life, while a rare talented commoner Magic Energy Knight can rise in class.

In the savage land of India, awakening magic energy with impure bloodline or imperfections is a crime. Those discovered would be stoned to death.

Those Kshatriya Warriors who can survive… they are truly exceptional Aryan superhumans.

On October 20th, the Royal Navy expeditionary fleet battled the Dagukou fort, while the troop-carrying fleet landed directly from the north of Dagukou, facing only minor harassment during the landing operation.

The expeditionary army’s marines and soldiers gathered on land. Hans, feeling dizzy, was helped off the ship and, looking up, saw over a hundred Kshatriya Warriors lined up neatly.

The group of Kshatriya Warriors had fair skin, were handsome, tall, and strong. They looked different from most Indians because they were of a different race. These Kshatriya Warriors were Caucasian, descendants of the ancient Aryans.

Hitler boasted that the German people originated from the Aryans… just like the Holy Roman Empire and Rome.

Anyone was more Aryan than the Germans.

Even a random bucket looked more Roman than the Holy Roman Empire.

Hans was confused. The Polish cavalry was led by Mantofel, overseen by the overall commander Elliot coordinating the army’s landing. However, Elliot was a navy admiral and seemed unfamiliar with large-scale army movements.

The landing was quite chaotic, and it would probably take a whole day to complete.

"Shall I lead a team to scout the surroundings?" asked Mantofel.

Hans waved his hand with a bitter expression. He was feeling very unwell and suggested seeking Elliot for assistance.

Elliot agreed to Mantofel’s request and allowed him to lead the Polish cavalry to scout the enemy in the mainland and at the Dagukou Fortress.

During the investigation, the soldiers of the expedition were almost scared out of their wits.

The Ming Empire’s army, camped fifteen kilometers away, seemed to have about 30,000 soldiers, even more than the expeditionary force, and their magical energy was very strong.

Mantofel had some magical energy, but he was not a proper Magic Energy Knight. He couldn’t sense clearly. Among the Polish gun cavalry, there were two proper Magic Energy Knights, but even they couldn’t discern well, as the feedback from the camp’s magic energy was as majestic as the Alps.

"How many do you think are there?" asked Commander Elliot.

Mantofel looked serious and replied, "More than 2,000."

The expeditionary force had only a little over a hundred Aryan superhumans. Emperor Ming sent over two thousand Magic Energy Knights to confront them, a ratio of twenty to one.

Elliot started to hesitate, not really wanting to fight anymore…

After a whole afternoon of rest, Hans regained his spirits. During the night, at the expeditionary force’s command tent, Hans strongly advocated for continuing the battle, saying it was necessary.

Hans had heard many battle reports during this time, and he had a good idea of the Ming Empire’s army capability. Their firearms were a century behind, although their heavy artillery technology was decent. However, their field artillery was extremely outdated, with low power, short range, poor reliability, and not many in number.

The expeditionary forces brought a total of 28 cannons, including five- and nine-pound cannons. They can also use light guns from the warships, making a total of 120 field guns available.

"We have a big advantage in firepower, with more cannons and longer range than the Ming army. It would be even better if we can lure them to the shore for naval artillery support."

"The Ming army’s light weapons can only shoot up to 100 meters, while our rifles can reach around 250 meters with more power. Our aim is also better, and we can reload faster."

"Although the Ming army’s Magic Energy Knights are terrifying, their regular troops are behind us in every aspect. We can definitely win this battle as long as we use the right tactics."

After Hans spoke, Elliot immediately retorted, "If you think you can do it, then you lead instead!"

Hans said, "Sure, I will take charge. Do you dare to give me the command?"

Elliot fell silent. It wouldn’t make sense to hand over command to Hans. The expeditionary forces consisted mostly of soldiers from England and its colonies, with only a few Prussian soldiers on the warships, along with some Polish cavalry and mercenaries.

In this situation, Elliot had to lead himself, as he feared that giving command to Hans would result in chaos and defeat.

After careful thought, Elliot decided they must fight. Losing the battle would be just as bad as not fighting at all. Queen Victoria only wanted news of victories, so they had to take a chance.

General Elliot ordered the coalition army to land overnight and get ready on the shore quickly. He commanded the warships to stop bombing the Dagukou battery, and come to support the army at Beitang. When dawn breaks, they will lure the Ming army within the range of the ship cannons for a decisive battle!