Time was of the essence; Victor's rash order had now set a war with the Sultan in motion. There was no way to take back what he did, nor was there a way to resolve this diplomatically.
With such a loud commotion in the Palace, all of the Luxenberg family were convened and made aware of what had happened. Clarisse was furious that the Sultan would demand that both her daughters be sent away to marry a heretic's son. Anton wanted to join the war for the sake of his younger sisters.
Against Clarrise's wishes, Victor allowed Anton to join the war council. It was time for him to properly join the ranks of the Luxenberg Army.
Victor convened a council with his closest advisors. Marshal Davout, General Scharnhorst and Marshal Bessières were the only advisors in the city. It would take too long to get more of Victor's trusted commanders to travel to Hannover, so plans needed to be established with just the five of them.
"Father, our army is far more experienced than the Sultans. With major armies on three continents, we can surely do a three-pronged attack on the continent, then join together to take the south of Asharan," Anton eagerly suggested.
Victor shook his head, "Anton, I can appreciate your eagerness, but one thing that makes invading Asharan so difficult is the terrain. It is beyond hot, with stretches of desert that have no water or civilisations. If we fully commit to a half-arsed plan, then we will suffer catastrophic losses."
Anton lowered his head; his youthful eagerness had made him forget that Asharan was a continent like no other. It was engulfed in sand; there was little greenery in the sea of sand. Growing crops was especially hard to do, but the Sultanate managed to get food in other ways.
"My King, I don't think that Prince Anton's idea is a bad one. Splitting our forces makes logical sense. It would be wise to stretch the Sultan's numbers thin. However, the problem lies in whether or not we can establish supply lines," Marshal Bessières stated, showing support to the Luxenberg Prince.
General Scharnhorst made a suggestion on how to deal with this problem. "Your Majesty, if we truly want to have secure supply lines, we must have the fleet be deployed in one area. It will leave us exposed, but it means we can securely transport our supply ships. Additionally, we are going to need armed supply convoys and makeshift outposts to really make sure we are able to survive in the desert."
It was a good idea, but executing it came with its risks. To ensure that the Sultan's navy could not stop Victor's supply ships, the entirety of the Luxenberg Fleet would be needed to guard convoys and their routes. Then Victor would need extra manpower to establish outposts and properly assign guards to supply trains.
Marshal Davout concurred with General Scharnhorst. "It is probably the only plan we can come up with, Your Majesty. All the other ones would end up with our army starving and dying of thirst. We will need to centralise all our supplies and then work to secure supply lines as we slowly expand into the continent."
Victor nodded. "Very well then, we will need to dispatch messenger pigeons to the commanders on Bulgar. My son, Henri, should also be informed; he will join us in this war. Additionally, Field Marshal Wellesley and Field Marshal Schwarzenberg will need to be informed of our decision. All our forces will gather in the Asharan port city of Basra, which is located in the north."
All the men were in agreement, but General Scharnhorst made a suggestion that took everyone by surprise. "My Liege, I know this is not the time, but given that we are about to go to war once more, I would like to suggest something. To inspire our troops and draw more support for our cause, I think we should reorganise the Kingdom."
"What do you mean by reorganise, General?" Victor asked, curious as to what the Prussian General was thinking.
"Establish the Holy Luxenberg Empire. Become our emperor, and use that to inspire our soldiers as they go into this holy war," General Scharnhorst suggested.
A Holy Empire, there had never been one in the history of this world. For Victor, this was a shock. To suggest such a thing now seemed slightly improper. There was no time for a ceremony, no time for some huge crowd to gather.
"There is no time to hold one. We would not be able to get everyone of importance together in time," Victor said, trying to downplay the thought.
"There is one time when we can gather everyone. Assemble all the troops here in Hannover before setting off to war. We call upon our friend, Cardinal Pompallier, to oversee the ceremony. Let this grand gesture be a blessing to your army as they go forth to war."
It was madness, but it could work. To gather all of the Luxenberg soldiers in Hannover, it would take up to 6 months. There were so many soldiers in the Luxenberg Army that Victor would need to be crowned atop the city's wall while all the soldiers gathered in parade-like fashion in the plains outside the city.
"What do you think, My King. Are you ready to forge a new history in this world?" General Scharnhorst asked.
Victor took his time to come up with a decision. This was a decision that could shake the world to its core. There would be opposition domestically and abroad in Kislev and Asharan. With Victor going to engage in a massive war, causing more unrest and allowing the chance for agitators to capitalise on his absence was risky.
The fact that Victor was taking his time to consider this decision showed how important this was. His son and the commanders present were all eagerly awaiting his answer. Their hearts were thumping loudly as Victor was about to answer.
"Very well then, let the birth of the Holy Luxenberg Empire begin on the day of our grand army's assembly."