Chapter 699 - Conquer The Entire World! (1/2)

Chapter 699: Conquer The Entire World!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The Second Northern War lasted for two years. It could be said to be the battle of the century.

Obviously, Olivia's Kaer Morhen had everything to gain from the conflict.

This was because she was in a good relations.h.i.+p with the Nilfgaardian Empire. Furthermore, Geralt and Cirilla had struck up a friends.h.i.+p with the Northern Kingdoms. This way, Kaer Morhen could remain wholly neutral and reap benefits from both sides without any fear of ramifications.

The Kings of this world, and that included Nilfgaard's Emperor Emhyr, were completely underestimating the power when magic and science fused and got used as weapons!

As the ashes of war crackled away, historians of different nationalities naturally came up with differing accounts of it. The Nilfgaardians recorded the war like so -

”The Empire and the North crossed swords again in 1267 to 1268. Following an uprising of treacherous mages on Thanedd Island, Nilfgaard could not in its goodwill, sit idly by as the North allowed magical destruction to go rampant. The Imperial Army took Lyria at lightning speed where they were met with little resistance. After a short campaign, our forces marched into Rivia and Vengerberg [1], where they were received by jubilant crowds who wanted nothing more than peace and civilization. We then advanced into Aedirn.

King Demavend's [2] attempt to stop the Golden Sun's triumphant march failed, and his forces were routed to the Pontar Valley [3] and Dol Blathanna [4].

Queen Meve [5] attempted to wage guerrilla warfare via the use of bandits and outlaws, of which the North had ample supply.

In a display of typical Nordling treachery, King Henselt [6] signed a truce with the Empire behind his allies' backs, resulting in Aedirn quickly being va.s.salize.

His Imperial Majesty, in an act of supreme benevolence, created an elven state in Dol Blathanna, raising a bulwark of tolerance against the abhorrent racist Nordlings.

King Foltest of Temeria attempted to initiate a truce with the Empire. Even so, this Nordling's word proved to have as much value as snow melting in the fields of spring. The truce lasted a mere sixteen days before it was violated. Foltest's stupidity led to the Slaughter of Brugge, followed by a number of b.l.o.o.d.y battles in the Yaruga Valley [7]. In the face of senseless and uncontrolled violence, the Imperial Army's leaders.h.i.+p took it upon itself to tamp the bloodshed and ordered a retreat to Sodden.

Sadly, Foltest's greed meant that hostilities resumed with the coming of spring. It found its peak at the Battle of Brenna, where our heroic forces faced an allied Temerian-Redanian force. To this day, the North considers said battle a turning point in the war. There is no point in debating its ethics. Far more important is the fact that this battle saw the clas.h.i.+ng of two approaches: an honorable one, presented by the Imperial Army's leaders.h.i.+p, and one of trickery and deception, conducted by the Nordlings.

His Imperial Majesty saw this as the final stage. The Northern armies employed scorched-earth tactics, caring not at all for the pain they inflicted on civilian populations. Disgusted and unwilling to take part in this type of war, Nilfgaard withdrew its armies to the south. The Nordlings then mistakenly saw this as an admission of defeat.

Via the Emperor's mediation, an armistice was drawn up and eventually signed in Cintra, putting an end to the Second Northern War.”

The Northern Realms' historians, however, recorded this war, stating that there was no clear winner, only two heavily wounded factions -

”Unlike the First War, no clear aggressor could be determined in this one. In early 1267, the kings of the North met at Hagge to plan the recapturing of Cintra. Foreseeing their intentions, Emperor var Emreis ama.s.sed a large expeditionary force to gather at the Temerian border. He then masterminded a series of events that left the North ripe for invasion - a mages' revolt erupting on Thanedd Island, Redania descending into chaos after King Vizimir's a.s.sa.s.sination. All Emhyr needed now was a pretext. He got it when Aedirnian soldiers supposedly attacked the Nilfgaardian frontier fortress known as Glevitzingen. Armed with this excuse, Nilfgaardian forces marched North, and thus began the second war.