Henry sighed at this. Decades had passed since the Empire's last war of expansion, and the population had since recovered. He wondered how many would die this time.
He had heard that in the last war of expansion, over six hundred thousand serfs had died and thousands of farming villages had been completely wiped out. The exact death toll for the royal imperial Legions and the nobles' Private Armies was unknown.
The Empire's current advantages were its abundance of cannon fodder, superior forging technology, and higher crop yields.
'The King must have launched the great inspection because the losses this time have been a bit heavy,' Henry thought. 'He needs to recoup some of his strength.'
"By the way, Henry, you mentioned in your letter that your castle isn't in great shape? What's wrong with it?"
