Holy Roman Empire

Upon receiving the headquarters’ orders, Major General Obodo was still somewhat confused. However, after wandering around the streets and seeing the beggars everywhere, he understood what was going on.

The Russian Army’s main forces were mostly concentrated in the Polish Region, and under normal circumstances, the severely weakened Fourth Army would never be chosen to suppress bandits.

Now that they were being tasked with this heavy responsibility, it definitely wasn’t out of trust. Given his relationship with Marshal Ivanov, the easy-credit missions certainly wouldn’t include him.

After carefully studying the materials sent by the headquarters, Obodo had mixed feelings. Accepting this mission meant that the issues of the past would be overlooked, and he wouldn’t have to worry about being held accountable by a military tribunal.

The regret was that the mission to pacify Poland was not an easy one, and even though Ivanov had ordered other units to cooperate with the Fourth Army, Obodo still had no confidence in completing the mission within the set time.

Putting down the documents in hand, Obodo instructed a young officer, "Invite representatives from the Third Army, Sixth Army, Seventh Army, and Fifth Army to discuss the suppression of bandits."

"Wait!"

The one who called for a halt was Contreras, the Chief of Staff of the Fourth Army, a middle-aged man with a full beard.

"Commander, it’s not that simple. As far as I know, the Third and Sixth Armies have been deployed multiple times and have killed more than a hundred thousand bandits, still without any effect.

If we can’t solve the problem at its root, no matter how many bandits we kill, the Polish Region won’t stabilize."

Everyone knew this problem, but no one wanted to take responsibility, so the issue remained unaddressed.

Obodo was also hoping for a stroke of luck, that the problem could be solved through military deterrence, so that he could avoid bearing a bad name.

Unlike Obodo as the army commander, Contreras felt much less pressure.

Normally, people only remember the commander-in-chief, and the one to catch criticisms would also be Obodo. Being the Chief of Staff, as long as he kept a low profile, no one would recognize him.

From Contreras’s point of view, the urgent task was to finish the mission quickly, to atone for the mistake made last time by acting without orders.

People are pragmatic. Major General Obodo had high prestige in the Fourth Army, but that was all in the past. Since the last operation failed, his prestige had plummeted to rock bottom.

No one would trust a general who has lost a battle, although strictly speaking, Obodo hadn’t actually lost. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The Fourth Army, despite heavy losses, had bought enough time for the main forces and had played an important strategic role.

Obodo waved his hand helplessly, "In theory, that’s true, but my Chief of Staff, are you sure you want to solve the problem from its root?

This involves millions of Polish refugees. Besides ’killing the chicken to scare the monkey,’ and military deterrence, do you have any other methods?"

No one wants to bear the name of a ’Butcher,’ which would stink for thousands of years. Obodo still wanted to struggle, and he wouldn’t give up without a fight.

Contreras ventured, "Perhaps we could consider sending them away. The Austrians need immigrants, right? Let’s do them a favor and send the refugees their way."

Obodo shook his head, "If the Austrians were willing to take them, the respected Marshal Ivanov would have done it already, and this task wouldn’t have fallen to us.

Not just Austria, I’ve asked all the colonial countries. Not a single one is willing to take the refugees unless we can deliver them."

It’s not that they don’t want them; they simply can’t afford them. Taking in millions of refugees at once is very difficult, not just now but even in the 21st century.

Let’s not even talk about the high cost of transportation; the key issue is the millions of people: How do you move them quickly?

If they can’t be moved immediately, then we must provide the refugees with supplies, sustaining them.

That’s not all; just getting the people to the colonies is only the beginning. We also need to take care of their settlement. Merely the language barrier could cause a colonial government to collapse.

A rough estimate shows that in the best-case scenario, it would take at least two to three years to settle so many refugees, and it wouldn’t be possible without billions of Divine Shields.

It may take three years to make people diligent, but to make them lazy takes only three days. With such a long period of non-productivity, who can guarantee that these refugees would still be willing to work?

One mishap, and a good deed becomes a disaster. Instead of creating wealth, it would add to the burden of the colonial government.

With such huge expenses and the risk involved, the payoff does not justify the effort. It’s no wonder the great Colonial Empires are reluctant to take in these refugees.

From the immigration policies of all the great colonial empires, one can see that everyone prefers to accept immigrants in a dispersed and phased manner, rarely taking in a large influx at one time.

This includes Austria. Apart from organizing immigration within the country without restrictions, the intake of foreign immigrants is always screened.

Moreover, people are unpredictable. Who can assure that these refugees, after receiving supplies, will continue to immigrate instead of simply returning home?

With so many people, relying solely on Russian integrity for supervision, no country would feel at ease.

The spirit of contract is useless against refugees; it is precisely because of its absence that people advocate for it.

If we really rely on contracts to enforce immigration, I guess upon arrival, no one would dare to take them in. Many of these people have rich experience with guerrilla warfare.

Contreras expressed his doubts, "Yesterday, as I passed by the Austrian Embassy, I saw many people applying for immigration, including beggars among them. There was no mention of refusal to take in refugees."

Obodo shook his head, "Those people are mostly German, and the Vienna Government has regulations that they can avoid a series of restrictive conditions as long as they claim to be citizens of the Holy Roman Empire.

Even so, to get through, they must know German. How many of these refugees do you think can proficiently speak German?"

The ability to form long queues outside the Austrian Embassy was also thanks to the Berlin Government’s efforts in vigorously promoting the German language in the Polish Region.

Unfortunately, the time has been too short. Along with the Polish resistance, those proficient in German are not many, and a large part of them come from the immigrants in the Rhineland region.

Of course, this "not many" is in relation to all the refugees. In fact, this "not many" still amounts to hundreds of thousands of people.

After a moment of contemplation, Contreras fiercely said, "If that’s the case, then we might as well expel the refugees to the Kingdom of Prussia and let the enemy worry about them."

Major General Obodo sighed, "That is difficult to achieve. There are too many refugees; they simply will not obey our commands. Once the news spreads, the most likely outcome is that they will flee in all directions.

Besides, before long we will be launching an attack against the enemy, and in the end, we still have to deal with these refugees."

Contreras shook his head: "Obodo, you’ve changed; the old you would never be so indecisive.

We certainly can’t expel all the refugees, nor do we need to. If we expel the majority, the remaining few won’t be able to cause much trouble.

As for future problems, we can cross that bridge when we come to it. What we need to do now is complete our mission. After the war, we will have plenty of time to deal with the refugee issue."

Obodo nodded, "Perhaps. People must grow. The lessons from last time were severe enough; now we must be more considerate in our actions, and perhaps this is the real me.

Nevertheless, your suggestion to expel the refugees is a good one, at least more acceptable than slaughtering them, and perhaps that’s what St. Petersburg wants to see."

...

With a command from Obodo, the Polish Region descended into complete chaos.

It started with the cities; the Russian Army didn’t have the time to differentiate so many people, and many ragged-dressed citizens became unintended victims.

This caused widespread panic, and ordinary people dared not leave their homes, fearful of being mistaken for refugees and dealt with accordingly.

Where there is oppression, there will be resistance.

However, how could ordinary people be a match for the army? And the Russian Army was notoriously ruthless; their method of handling this was summed up in one word—kill!

If one person resisted, they killed one; if a thousand resisted, they killed a thousand.

Ultimately, the Russians held firm to the belief that there was no problem too big that couldn’t be solved with a butcher’s knife; if there was, it just meant not enough people had been killed.

As it turned out, the storm of blood and violence unleashed by Obodo was highly effective. The refugees started fleeing on their own at the mere sight of the Russian Army’s shadow, so there was no need to arrange for the army to expel them.

Suddenly, bandits and brigands vanished from sight, either fleeing or laying low, leaving only guerrilla units to struggle in isolation.

...

At the Austrian embassy in Warsaw, Envoy Andrew was in a very bad mood; the number of people applying for immigration dropped instantly after the Russians began expelling refugees.

It wasn’t that the Russians were preventing Austria from accepting immigrants; rather, in the process of expelling the refugees, those who could have immigrated were also driven out.

It wasn’t that the Russians intentionally caused trouble; it was just that everyone was mixed in with the refugees, and unless they actively revealed their identities, there was no way for Russian soldiers to tell them apart.

Facing the menacing Russian soldiers, very few dared to step forward and reveal their identities. Most people simply went with the flow and fled with the masses.

By the time Envoy Andrew realized what was happening and protested to the Russians, it was too late. The people had already left, and the Russians certainly couldn’t be asked to bring them back, could they?

Without refugees as the main contingent, the number of people applying for immigration plummeted. Unless the criteria were relaxed, the immigration task could not be completed.

Porta Kaffa, the official responsible for immigration, asked, "Your Excellency Envoy, what did the Russians say?"

Andrew replied with a wry smile, "Regret, apologies, inability to help!"

This answer was incredibly frustrating but accurately described the situation. The Russians indeed had no solution at the moment, and Austria couldn’t afford to dwell on this issue either.

"So what do we do about our immigration work? Just recently we assured our country that we could secure at least three hundred thousand immigrants from the Polish Region.

From the current situation, it seems we may at best fulfill half of our mission. Damn those Slavic barbarians, they never think things through..." Porta Kaffa complained angrily.

Envoy Andrew fully understood Porta Kaffa’s feelings. It was frustrating to watch a cooked duck fly away, and anyone would feel the same. However, nothing would change by complaining at this point.

"Mr. Porta Kaffa, now is not the time for complaints. We best report the situation to our country promptly. What happens next is beyond our control.

However, from what we can see, there isn’t much our country can do. Now that the Russians have expelled the refugees to Prussia, these people are as good as done."

Porta Kaffa nodded in agreement, understanding Envoy Andrew’s point. "Done" did not refer to physical destruction, but primarily to a break in spirit.

When the Prussian Army controlled the Warsaw region, they distributed relief supplies once a week, and the refugees managed to maintain basic social order.

When the Russians arrived and stopped the relief supplies, social order naturally collapsed. Those with reserves were still struggling, but those without had started seeking a living elsewhere.

Foraging for wild vegetables, gnawing on bark, or turning to banditry. The Russians had just arrived, and the famine was still recent, so most people could barely stay alive, clinging to their sanity.

But as the Russian expulsion intensified, this crisis would escalate; there wasn’t nearly enough food to be found along the roads. Starving people are capable of anything.

"Eating one’s children" isn’t just a historical tale but was about to become a present-day reality.

Those who had endured such an ordeal and survived were no longer truly human but were merely upright-walking beasts, completely broken in spirit.

...