Comment by Ronin on Pouring Money Into the Underdog Mercenaries - Chapter 40

@Ronin Going to war against France isn't really something you should just do, especially when it is at full size and you're literally in the process of recovering from widespread famine.
In this war they aren't additional forces to give an army the strength to definitely win, they are the ONLY forces.

@Arkios We don't know for certain that theyre the only forces, but even then, if France was in full-blown conflict against Germany, a nation of similar size and power, it would be the perfect time for your thousands strong, highly mobile, very experienced mercenaries to take all key positions withing a small bordering territory. Especially since after the war, no matter who wins, would hold off attacking you since they would be attacking a defensible position stocked with fresh troops. And if they play it right they could get into the G** graces of whichever kingdom wins the conflict with some politicking from the King.

@Ronin Oh, so they're planning to attack Germany, that changes things... a bit; it wasn't really shown on the map and the name didn't ring a bell.

@Arkios Think of Nio as Great Britain. The Archduke of the Land they want to take over is German, but it's French land.

@Ronin Nio is literally directly taking the "Viking" idea and running with it; let's just call them Normans, since they are planning to invady Normandy.

Also, it doesn't belong to Germany, but that has actually gotten me to Google Northumbria to figure out who it currently belongs to... it's Britain.
The plan is to wait for the war between France and Britain and invade Normandy in the confusion.
I'm guessing they'll take it during the british invasion of France, then claim they were only trying to reestablish the old pact by helping France out and taking their land back.

Ok, actually not that horrible of an idea. But they are still in the middle of recovering from a recession, so maintaining control over that area would be incredibly hard... maybe buying an alliance with France in exchange for an exclusivity contract for their mercenaries might work...
Meaning now the mercenaries get to fight in major wars and don't have any choice to refuse, just after they had a good chance to completely retire.

@Arkios Yes exactly, but if Britain wins they can just say they could still say they we're protecting the next in line for the throne and his land, and would like that land to be returned to them since they have this new massive influx of land from conquered France. And, with all the grain they will appropriate from the land they take it should at least alleviate most of the immediate starvation problems. Depending on how long the war takes, they could even begin cultivation of faster growing grain or potatoes too.

@Ronin I'm bad at geography and war stuff but isn't it because their country is still unstable and weak?
It's only started to reconstruct and now they planning a new war, maybe it makes Valdemar feel like they're trowing themselves at a risk that technically isn't even necessary if they manage their land well enough?

I'm not quite sure and reading big texts is a bit tiring so I'm sorry I didn't read... Maybe I missed the point '^^

@Synthx the Sinner (Part 1) To Sum it up, two large empires are on the brink of full blown war with each other, we will call them Empire's A and B. Nio is a smaller, third party Kingdom who is in a very good position, tactically speaking. Their biggest problem is that they are an incredibly poor island nation. But they weren't always an island nation. A long time ago Empire A kicked Nio off of the mainland and took their only fertile land, their bread basket. Well, after time has passed and nobles have done noble things, Empire's A and B have gotten into conflicts and solved these conflicts through political marriage, and it so happens that the next in line for Empire B's throne is also a high-ranking noble of Empire A, we will call this Heir the Big Pig.

@Synthx the Sinner (Part 2) The Big Pig controls what used to be Nio's breadbasket, the loss of which has caused Nio's poverty and starvation. If war breaks out between Empire's A and B, the Big Pig would immediately be in danger of becoming a high-value hostage of Empire A to be used as an important hostage, located in a very important piece of land. The problem for Empire B is that they can't save the Big Pig because there's an Empire between them. However, Nio is in prime position to not just invade and re-take their bread basket, but also use the Big Pig as political leverage. In the even Empire A wins, Nio can then hand over the Heir to Empire B's throne in exchange for keeping their bread basket, a deal Empire A would absolutely accept. In the event Empire B wins, Nio can again return the Heir to Empire B's throne in exchange for their Bread basket, a deal Empire B would, again, happily accept. Both Empire's would be far more concerned about the newly gained territory than on territory they don't overly need, especially if it means entering another war before solidifying their land gains. Both Empires would take the deal and leave the 'Nio Issue' for the future, giving Nio precious time to consolidate and reinforce, or better yet, become a new vassal state of the victor Empire.