Two weeks after the siege had concluded, much progress had been made in the war effort. Brigade Commanders So Sui and Den Yuu had sent messenger pigeons informing Victor of their success in rallying the people.
Cities in the north and east replaced their golden dragons with golden eagles. Peasants clamoured for change, and the Kingdom of Luxenberg was a worthy replacement. Both Brigade Commanders had done an incredible job spreading the news about King Victor the Saviour, King Victor the Just. They spun tales of how gracious and generous the man was. The stories may have been a tad exaggerated, but there was truth in them nevertheless.
While Den Yuu and So Sui had united half the continent, Victor had sent letters to all the major cities on the western and southern parts of the continent. He proclaimed that with King Gu Tian dead and no capable heir to replace him, he would now rule them from now on.
As a show of goodwill, all prisoners of war were released from Hunyuan, Wuwei and Xiangyang. These were mostly just officers who had to be kept locked up for safety, but releasing them did no harm to Victor and his efforts to control this land. In addition, he ordered that Brigade Commander So Sui continue south to reinforce the southern army defending against the Kislevian raiders.
When Victor had a moment to relax, he received a message from the system.
'Hidden Quest Completed!: Capture A Foreign Capital!'
'Rewards: 3x Medium-Level Foreign Commander Summon, 3x 20,000-Man Infantry Unit Summon'
These rewards had Victor frothing from the mouth; he was overjoyed to receive more potential Simbarnese troops. With the addition of 3 commanders who are Simbarnese, it made Victor confident in having a top brass made of competent Simbarnese people. He would not have to worry about drafting commanders from a previous regime that opposed him.
Victor wanted to make sure that some of these summoned soldiers could go south and support the southern army. Unfortunately for Victor, he had no southern coastal settlements waving his banner. To the people from the south, the war was still going on. News of the continent's submission and King Gu Tian's death had not reached them.
The nearest settlement that was under Victor's control was a town called Kanko. The town was located in the lower eastern part of the continent. It was a 4-week march away from the south-eastern coast.
There were three main port cities along the southern coast. Beihai was a port city located in the southeastern region. Jiuzhen was once a major trading port city that was located in the southern region; however, the constant raids from Kislev had diminished the once-thriving city. Finally, there was the port city of Yanmen, which was an important fishing city that brought in a ton of food. This city was in the southwestern region.
Victor needed these cities and their surrounding territories to be defended. They were a vital source of food for this continent, so securing them was important. With food on the mind, Victor would need to organise a few trade routes between Bulgar and Simbar. Resources could be exchanged between the two continents, and they could both prosper alongside one another.
Using his summons, Victor would use two of his foreign commander summons and two of his 20,000-Man Infantry Unit summons and have them deployed at Kanko. Brigadier Commander So Sui was already at Kanko and would most likely get the newly summoned troops to accompany him to Beihai.
It was no surprise when Victor chose all of his newly summoned infantrymen to be Simbarnese. He needed more troops who could speak the native tongue and promote inclusivity in the Luxenberg Army.
As for the two new commander summons, they both ended up being 3 star level commanders.
The first one was a senior gentleman with multiple scars across his face. He had short black hair and eyes as brown as chocolate. His uniform was exactly the same as General Kan Ki's. This 50-year-old-looking man was General Gaku Rai. Although Victor did not know it yet, this was a general who loved fighting in the thick of it. He was an infantry commander who preferred to fight on foot rather than on horseback.
The other commander was a youthful-looking man with black, medium-length hair tied into a bun. His eyes were red like rubies, and the man had a cut on the left side of his lip. Just like the other Simbarnese Generals, this commander had the same uniform as they did. His name was General Taku Kei. From his appearance, he seemed like a tender fellow, kind of like another Luxenberg commander, General Rowland Hill.
Both of these Generals would lead their troops south and join the defence of the southern coast. Hopefully, during the process, they could finally unite the continent by bringing the south under the Kingdom of Luxenberg's control.
As for the final summons, Victor wanted to save them for an occasion that may require additional troops. He never knew how the situation on this continent might unfold. At least now he had some hidden cards to play. Including these leftover rewards, Victor still had 100,000 Store Points at his disposal.
There were two pressing issues that needed to be addressed. Firstly, Victor needed to sort out the plethora of cities that had fallen under his control. The Simbar continent boasted around 30 cities, with at least two-thirds of them flying the Luxenberg coat of arms. Victor did not have enough Simbarnese Soldiers to maintain control of all of them.
The second issue at hand was the Kislevian raiders in the south. Although Victor had summoned Generals Gaku Rai and Taku Kei to lead their infantry divisions south and help the southern army, it was still not a decisive solution.
To make matters worse, there was no guarantee that the southern army would accept their nation's defeat. If things were really bad, they might try and attack the reinforcements that Victor had sent.
The only way to truly secure the south was for Victor to march his soldiers down there and see to it personally. The march from Xiangyang to the nearest southern coastal city, Yanmen, was a 9-week journey. If action needed to be taken, it needed to be done now rather than later.
Victor promptly discussed what to do with his commanders, many of whom felt that this was a needed task. With the support of his Generals, Victor led an expedition south to Yanmen.