Chapter 1257: WW1: Front yard on fire & backyard has a hole
May 1708
Due to the urgent situation, the union summit was held in a hurry, and this time it was not in the Hague.
Hague was simply too close to the sea for most people to risk going there, so at the last minute, putting aside their disagreements, everyone chose Paris, France.
The ones who came to the summit were not all the leaders of various nations or high nobles; instead, they were representatives and diplomats sent by their monarchs, or even remnants of the forces destroyed by the Bharatiya Empire who were living in exile.
The representative of Slavic Byzantium and the representative of Austria came under this category, the former getting the least amount of importance, while the latter was only a little better.
A step above them all were the Spanish, Portuguese, and English representatives.
The top echelon in the union meeting thus fell into the hands of the king of France, Louis, the king of Prussia, Frederick William, and the doge of the Italian Federation, Leandro Contarini.
As for the representatives of the Nordic countries, they were consciously or unconsciously ignored by almost everyone in the room, not because they were not valued or looked down upon, but simply because they were in a very special geographical location where the Bharatiya Empire was very unlikely to attack. So, in a way, their position in the union had never changed, to provide supplies in exchange for industrial goods, technology, and human resources, and it was not going to change anytime soon.
The session started, as always, with the nagging of the Slavic Byzantium representative, persistently and almost desperately urging the rest of the representatives to direct the total resources of the union toward pushing back the Bharatiya Empire from the east.
The representative of the Kingdom of Austria, to add fuel to the fire, went along with this plan and further asked the union members to reconsider the suggestion they had repeatedly put forward in the past. According to the plan they had come up with, the best solution to the predicament was to once again regain control over the Suez Canal, and then, once the backyard was secured and fortified, the Western Front could gradually be dealt with.
It was a logical and well-structured plan, but sadly, this was where the Bharatiya Empire distinguished itself from the European Union. Bharat could set aside matters of the Western Front, even if it was under attack, in order to fortify the Southern Front that had also been breached, because the entirety of the Bharatiya Empire was under a single unified governance. Emperor Vijay Devaraya could make the decision to temporarily sacrifice a certain state in battle in order to win the war, but the European Union, as its very name suggests, was merely a union of states.
During mobilisation and planning, they might have been extremely united, but now that the war had come to their doorstep, who would willingly let their own country be destroyed while helping another?
Every Central and Western European representative and king knew that temporarily sacrificing the Western Front, sacrificing the British, and sacrificing the coastal regions of France, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands were the right decisions for the ultimate goal of defeating the Bharatiya Empire and regaining control over the European continent, but unfortunately humanity is not a machine that works on gains and losses alone; there are many variables like public opinion, emotions, pride, and so many other things, so even if they knew it in their hearts, none of them would make that choice.
Besides, why should they follow the plans of Slavic Byzantium and the Kingdom of Austria, kingdoms that were already things of the past? And, who could guarantee that if they indeed sent a million troops each and formed an army of over 10 million troops, they would win? Could somebody truly guarantee that?
So, since even the sane and the "right plan" could not guarantee their success, why should they not instead take a gamble on their ability to save themselves?
The representatives of Slavic Byzantium and the Kingdom of Austria became dejected as they looked at the expressions on everyoneβs faces, but they were already used to it; they had put forward this suggestion in every other union session, and every time they received a similar cold shoulder, leaving only gloom and desperation in their eyes.
The representative of Slavic Byzantium even thought that, if it were not for the fact that the union would become a joke in the eyes of the Bharatiya Empire, and in order to maintain the superficial promises that were made during the establishment of the union, he would not even be invited to the union session.
After hearing the ramblings from those two annoying representatives, the Western European representatives finally began to speak.
"Bordeaux has been attacked, and the Bharatiya Army is currently marching into the hinterlands of my kingdom," Louis XIV stated.
"Santiago de Compostela has fallen, and similarly, the Bharatiya Army is on a march towards LeΓ³n," Juan Jose Domingo Baltasar stated with a neutral tone.
In any normal situation, it would have been surprising that neither the king of France nor the king of Spain appeared angry about the current situation, but the truth was that they were simply more fortunate than some of their other union members, such as the Portuguese, who lost their capital, Lisbon, and the British, who lost London.
This news was devastating for the Union, but in their hearts, the king of Spain and the king of France heaved a sigh of relief.
The only one worried was the representative from the Netherlands, since Amsterdam was not really too far from the sea, and most of its important cities, like The Hague, Rotterdam, and Bruges, were also near the sea.
"To think that the Bharatiya Empire would actually start a war on the Western Front," Louis lamented.
Hearing his words, everyone fell into a moment of brief silence. They could not help but think back to the things that had transpired over the last two to three months.
Since they shared their intelligence networks, they collectively received information about a large Bharatiya fleet sailing through the South Atlantic off the coast of Africa, but by then it was already too late to put up any form of defence against a land attack. Moreover, most of the member nations believed that the Bharatiya would launch a naval attack; they simply assumed that the coastal cities and ports of the Western European countries would once again be targeted. Last time, the British were the sole target for such an attack; this time, they believed that more Western European countries would be targeted.
Although annoyed and in pain, most of them thought they could endure such an attack temporarily, but it was not until Alfonso reminded them that the large number of military transporter ships could actually be transporting troops, and that the Bharatiya Empire could actually be planning a landing operation, that they suddenly realised the Bharatiyas could really do such a thing. So what if a large-scale landing operation like this had never been done before? Could the Bharatiyas not do it?
Most of the railway networks were only half-finished, so it made perfect sense to pick such a time, and given that most of their resources and a lot of their troops had been tied up with the battle in the east, it made even more sense.
After that, they made preparations in a hurry, but looking at the current situation, it was clear that their preparations were completely useless.
"So what do we do now?" Louis XIV inquired, his tone no longer containing the domineering authority the king should have; instead, he sounded like any rural nobleman who was being attacked by a duke of Russia.
No one could come up with a solution; they were simply in a situation that was far too disadvantageous for them. On the eastern front, two kingdoms had already fallen, and Polish Lithuania was constantly battling the Bharatiya Army that was like a fire that never went out, relentless and unyielding. On the western front, by a sudden and devastating surprise attack, ports had been destroyed, and capitals had fallen.
Could there be a more humiliating situation for them as Europeans?
It was almost ironic comparing themselves from 60 years ago to now. Back then, they were fighting against each other, colonising everything they saw, one colony after another. They thought of themselves as the masters of the world; the Americas were at their feet, much of Asia was backward, and they had conquered up to Southeast Asia, Africa was simply too backward and was pretty much beneath them. They were the masters, they were the superior race, yet now, looking at their current detestable situation, it made some of them feel the cruel humour played by God.
"We can only depend on ourselves now," it was Fredrik I who spoke out. "We were simply too unprepared for this attack on the Western Front, and since we can no longer depend on the Eastern European countries or our colonies for supplies, all our consumption now depends on Central and Western Europe alone."
"And due to this situation, we are unable to mobilise all our troops since the amount of food we produce is not enough to feed them all."
His face was sombre, and his heart was heavy, "If worse comes to worst, just surrender."
These words would have caused an uproar if they had been said when the Union was just formed, but now, after encountering and experiencing so many difficulties, it did not look like a bad option anymore.
"Going by the way they are currently handling the conquered territories, the Bharatiyas do not seem to want to rule the conquered territory themselves."
"It looks like the Bharatiyas simply want their demands, whatever they are, to be fulfilled."
"Although it is shameful, it is much better than being wiped out."
"As long as we survive, there is always a chance to fight back."
The union session ended in the sombre and thoughtful expressions of the representatives.
