Chapter 1: Continental War

In an alternate world identical to Earth, a country located in the freezing climate of eastern Europa, the Orientis Kingdom, a small nation of only five million people, faces a massive dilemma as they were dragged into the continental war that originated in the nation of western Europa over political disputes and intrigues.

As a small nation, the Orientis Kingdom chose to be neutral in the continental war. Unfortunately, their neighbor, The Empire of Russ, did not like the idea of Orientis being neutral, not risking the Orientis Kingdom siding with their enemies, a group of Russ delegates visited the kingdom and "convinced" King Leo Lux Sancta to side with the United Alliance together with other members such as the Empire of Russ, Kingdom of Polska, Deutschland Empire, Kingdom of Bosnia and Principality of Bologna.

They were to fight a massive war against the Righteous Alliance which consisted of the Empire of England, the Frankish Empire, the Confederacy of the Rhine, the Republic of Dublin, the Kingdom of Belgium, and the Kurdish Empire.

Left with no choice, Orientis sent thousands of their soldiers and young men into the war, refusing to obey the powerful empire might put an end to the royal bloodline of Lux Sancta, and siding with the Righteous Alliance might prove difficult since Orientis was bordering the Russ Empire, Polska Kingdom and the Swedish Empire which is a puppet of the royals in St. Peterborough after they were utterly crushed.

The war went on for years, then it turned into a decade with the United Alliance finding themselves overwhelmed, outclassed, and outmaneuvered by the Righteous Alliance.

The United Alliance's sea trade routes were blocked by the superior navies of the English and Frankish Empires, and worse of all, their puppets and protectorates in the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and East Asia all turned their backs on them then proceeded to switch sides knowing that their masters were getting hammered in Europa.

The Republic of East America and the Confederate of Western America also joined the war against the United Alliance and as the final nail in the coffin, the Swedish Empire launched a surprise invasion in North Russ just a few hundred kilometers away from the imperial capital of St. Peterborough.

The Swedish Army formed a huge invasion force of roughly 3 Field Armies or 13 divisions or around 260,000 soldiers supported by at least 8,000 to 10,000 tanks and armored vehicles as well as fighter planes and bombers mainly given by the Righteous Alliance.

As for how the Swedish Empire created the massive field army without getting noticed was still unknown, the Russian Empire was caught off guard, yet they were still able to delay the invading Swedish Army thanks to the already existing Field Army between the border of the two empires, yet it was not enough, with only 120,000 soldiers against the 260,000 strong Swedish Army, the Russ was pushed in the imperial city despite being entrenched.

With their resources, main army, and most competent generals and leaders all focused on the eastern front, The Russ Empire found themselves surrounded and helpless with only the bone-freezing Siberia being the only way to retreat.

~+~

With the tables slowly siding with the Righteous Alliance, the leaders of Orientis Kingdom found themselves in a deadlock, while betraying the United Alliance and siding with the Righteous seems plausible, with the Russ Empire, Polska Kingdom, and Swedish Empire surrounding them, switching sides now is akin to suicide despite the Russ Empire fighting three fronts, they can still conscript peasants from their massive population and dump it into Orientis until they exhausted the Kingdom's manpower.

On the other hand, siding with the Righteous might spare their small kingdom and the royal family from getting dethroned and invaded, it's also possible to receive small punishments such as war reparations, and the worst can be as much as ceding some lands and signing some unfair treaties.

In the Royal City of Panem in the Orientis Kingdom, the King's advisors, military officers, and the crown prince, Benedictus Lux Sancta were all gathered to make an important decision on the fate of their Kingdom.

Normally, the King, Leo Lux Sancta was the one to attend such crucial meetings; however, he suffered from an unfortunate illness, as the heir to the throne, Benedictus or Benedict was the one to attend and make the final decision as the representative of the king and his people.

The meeting had been going on for some minutes now, and the atmosphere was tense, with the kingdom seemingly only having two choices.

"With the Russ busy fighting on three fronts, the possibility of them sending one of their armies to subjugate us is now smaller. They can only send their fodders to us; which we are confident to suppress from getting into the kingdom, Polska is also facing the imminent invasion of the Righteous Alliance, on the Western Front, with the Russ and Polks busy, the possibility of defending the kingdom is much higher, we just need to hold on until the Swedish penetrate further into the mainland of the Russ and for the combined field armies of Frankish and English Empire to commence their invasion of Polska, it is a massive gamble, but the side was playing has the largest possibility." Lieutenant General Ursula von Swaba, one of the most influential generals in the army and the first-ever female general, proposed an idea.

"The plan is indeed possible, however, while we are confident to hold on against a horde of canon fodders thrown to us by the Russ, we must also consider the fact that we rely a lot on them in terms of resources, such as ores, food, and military supplies which we currently lack due to the limited supply and trade embargo, if we ever turn our backs, the Russ will quickly cut off our supplies and proceed to attack us. Our supplies might end up drying faster than the fodders of the Russ Empire; we will get overwhelmed by them eventually." Baron Roy Feliz, one of the King's advisors, retorted.

Hearing Baron Roy's argument, everyone went into deep thinking again, seeing that the meeting was coming into a wall once more, Benedict sighed, gaining everyone's attention, the crown prince wasted no time and expressed his opinion.

"Baron Roy's argument makes sense, but so does General Ursula's proposal. We are left with only two choices, both will cost us something huge in return, we are, but a peaceful kingdom dragged into this war; we cannot continue to be uncertain in these crucial moments; it is now or never. I suggest we switch sides, both choices will cost us, but the latter is still better than the other, we shall now begin to vote on the matter, for those who agree to switching sides, raise your hands–"

Seeing everyone in the court hall raising their hands, Benedict nodded before finally conveying the final decision, "With a unanimous vote of the King's advisors and the military leadership, as the representative of the king and people, I, Prince Benedictus Lux Sancta, approves of the decree to leave the United Alliance in favor of the Righteous Alliance, my advisors, generals, this meeting now dismissed, go forth and enact the royal order at once!"

"As you wish, Your Highness!"

Advisors and generals all bowed before leaving the court hall as they all prepare for a much bigger challenge ahead.