Chapter 15: Horses! Horses! Horses!

In the southern border provinces of Barovsk, due to the high latitude, the sun set late and rose early, creating a rather hellish situation—soldiers fought straight through until nine at night, only to resume fierce battles again at dawn around four o’clock.

Both sides were locked in fierce combat along multiple fronts.

Meanwhile, at the Grand Duchy of Berlia’s logistics headquarters, Antoni could hardly contain his grin.

After their prince’s speech the previous night, herdsmen near the major cities had already begun to stir. Some, knowing full well that the recruitment offices were closed, still brought small stools and waited overnight outside the enlistment centers.

At daybreak, not only were the recruitment offices in every city swamped with Latvians eager to sign up, but the logistics department was also overwhelmed with herdsmen arriving to register their prized horses.

“I hear the duchy is buying horses? Take mine! My Marsha is just 50 rubles!”

“Bah! My horses are free of charge! Let me enlist, and I’ll bring my five best steeds to the battlefield!”

In these times, unless a horse came from a noble’s private stables, an ordinary draft horse on the market typically cost about 100 rubles. The herdsmen were bleeding cash.

Previously, Antoni had worried about a shortage of horses. Now, he was beginning to fear running out of funds.

Unexpected surprises kept coming. The prime minister, Slava, called him: “Antoni. Our prince promised that the first installment of funds would arrive within a week. He wants you to purchase horses according to the targets you set.”

“Really… His Highness is that generous?” Antoni could hardly believe his ears. “Then I…”

“You are to acquire horses at seventy percent of the target number.”

Antoni’s spirits immediately deflated, and he protested, “Hey! Come on, old friend! That’s not fair!”

Slava sighed. “If not for the prince’s speech last night, the most I could have allowed was thirty percent of the target.”

Antoni twitched at the corner of his eye, chatted briefly, then hung up.

The Far East was a wasteland with abysmal transportation.

Due to the bitter cold, much of the ground was permafrost, making road construction a nightmare. Many places had nothing but muddy dirt roads.

Consider a single heavy machine gun—the Sokolov model, for instance, weighed fifty kilograms in total. Given its bulk, unless a soldier could transform into a bear, hauling it by manpower alone was exhausting.

Typically, one draft horse was needed to pull a heavy machine gun.

Cannons were even more demanding. The standard 45mm anti-tank gun required horses, as did transporting its ammunition.

That was still manageable.

The larger the artillery, the more complicated it became. For example, the newest 76mm howitzer weighed one and a half tons. It either needed a truck or heavy draft horses to move it.

A single 76mm cannon required four heavy draft horses for stable towing.

Then there were horses for transporting fodder, ammunition, and machine gun carriages responsible for positioning...

An artillery company composed around four 45mm anti-tank guns and four 76mm howitzers alone required nearly fifty horses.

As for trucks… laughable. In this impoverished Far Eastern backwater, only the grand duke’s first legion could afford them.

Now, every division was scrambling for horses from Antoni. If he didn’t buy more horses, did they expect soldiers to face Amato’s steam knights and tanks armed only with rifles?

Antoni’s head ached. What could he do?

As a logistics officer, he might rake in perks during peacetime, but in wartime, he was destined to be the scapegoat.

“I hope His Highness can secure more horses.”

At that moment, where was Zhang Shan?

He had flown early in the morning to Yakus, the largest vassal state under the Berlia family’s control.

Judging by the name, which sounded so unlike Latvian, Yakus was another khanate conquered by the Latvians long ago.

In a sense, this was Zhang Shan’s first diplomatic move. Opening this front meant the vassal would accept the new master and set a precedent.

After an hour’s flight and half an hour by car, surrounded by the duke’s guards, Zhang Shan arrived at Kunits City, Yakus’s capital, where he met the nominal leader, Ilata. This man, with a decidedly non-Latvian name, was not only Yakus’s top figure but also a shaman and a count appointed by His Majesty the Emperor.

These titles formed quite a peculiar mix.

Looking upon Ilata’s yellowish face, Zhang Shan felt little warmth; Yakus’s people were a branch of the Mongols who had been soundly defeated by the Latvian emperor two centuries prior and absorbed into the empire.

As Zhang Shan expected, he exaggerated the Amato threat, but Ilata was impervious, repeating the same complaints over and over.

“Your Highness, you must understand our difficulties. Our people suffered heavy losses in the last civil war, and the herds have yet to recover their former strength.”

The hellish reality was that while the herdsmen might perish, the ruling class in any country was always the safest group.

Moreover, Yakus lay nearly 800 kilometers from the front line; if misfortune were to strike, they would not be the first to suffer. Why should he risk his life?

Zhang Shan knew he needed some hard leverage to make this man bleed.

“Ha, then you have no plans for the diamond mine within your territory?”

“What? Your Highness means…” Ilata was startled.

Zhang Shan revealed a mysterious smile. “Deep within your lands lies a diamond mine. Only I know its location…”

It was like a devil’s whisper!

Ilata nearly forgot to breathe and only responded after a long pause, “Your Highness, you must be joking?”

“Would I lie using the Berlias family name?”

Deception was impossible.

If Zhang Shan were bluffing, the Berlia family could forget becoming the overlord of the Far East; none of their vassals would obey.

Ilata immediately grasped the meaning behind Zhang Shan’s words. “Deep” implied the need for advanced mining technology, beyond the capability of nomads. Moreover, mining it wouldn’t guarantee the ability to sell the raw diamonds; unprocessed stones lost much of their value. Besides, the surrounding lands were controlled by the Berlia family—if they wanted, they could seal off his territory and airspace. How could he ship diamonds into outer space?

Crucially, the mine’s location was in Zhang Shan’s hands.

At this realization, Ilata softened his stance. “Your Highness, everything is negotiable. We Yakus have always been the Berlias family’s most loyal followers.”

Zhang Shan was not deceiving him. This world was an alternate Earth, and if his memory served, there was much knowledge to exploit—such as the western diamond mine, destined to be discovered after the war and become the world’s largest.

Although diamonds had been rendered as common as glass in his previous life, at this moment, this was a powerful bargaining chip.

What followed was naturally a pleasant conversation.

Details of the negotiation were handled by subordinates; a leader would not behave like a market hag, loudly haggling and spitting insults.

The embarrassing tasks were left to the underlings.

Within half a day, Yakus broadcast a nationwide declaration: “We Yakus resolutely support the Grand Duchy of Berlia and vow to resist the Amato invasion to the death. Our first and second cavalry divisions have assembled and will soon head to the front. Meanwhile, we will donate 30,000 horses and 100,000 sheep to the Grand Duchy of Berlia free of charge!”

The announcement sent shockwaves through the nation.

Though Yakus was vast and sparsely populated, with fewer than 800,000 people, committing two cavalry divisions was tantamount to selling the family silver to support their lord.

The Latvians had not anticipated that more surprises—some joyous, some terrifying—were yet to come.