Back in the central camp, Sodelor continued with the regular meeting. He had four advisors, all of whom had been promoted from the grassroots in the past few years. Their average age was no more than 25. Although they were not as steady as the stewards of the other nobles, they were sharp and had the most accurate understanding of the current composition of the current army.
"The results of the falcon investigation this morning have been sent over through the magic circle. The enemy's movements these days have been analyzed. What do you think? "
There was a large sand table in the barracks. As Sodelor spoke, the advisors all looked down at the map in their hands that had been copied through the magic circle. There were many different decorations in this room. Magic clocks, magic communication circles, image copying circles, and so on were all specially developed for war.
The Magic Tower of Helsinki and the Magic Tower of Pasha could even 'video communication'. It was not difficult for Edith to create such a magic circle. This was the advantage of the unified crystal standard. While the nobles still relied on carrier pigeons, the military system under Roddy's command had achieved 'instant communication' for most information.
"Commander, the enemy doesn't seem to be gathering very quickly … They don't seem to have moved much in the past three days."
Comparing the map, the advisor was a little puzzled. "The lords of the five forces haven't gathered yet. It seems that it is because of logistical problems?"
"Not entirely. The main reason is that there is too much rain and the roads are difficult to travel." Someone next to him pointed out the key point. "Look at the dividing line in the middle … The water level of the Bordeaux River has increased a lot. The troops behind the river have not crossed it. Obviously, the heavy rain seems to have flooded the bridge across the river. It is difficult to move too fast. It is not unusual for them to move at this speed. "
At this time, the advisors could not help but sigh at the importance of the 'road'. Because more than 40 arcane puppets had been built in the past few months, the speed at which they were building roads was now faster than the speed of a normal army marching. At the same time, the roads built by these puppets were not only higher than the ground, but also guaranteed that the road would remain hard after the rain. In this aspect alone, the enemy's army could not compare at all.
After listening to their discussion for a long time, Sodelor threw out a question. "When do you think is the right time to attack?"
This was the question that had been lingering in everyone's mind. Several young advisors kept drawing lines on the map with their hands, but no one dared to be the first to speak — because their army was too different from the others. Before they had actually practiced on the battlefield, no one dared to say how well they could fight.
"Commander … I think it's fine for us to fight whenever we want."
This made Sodelor laugh. He pointed at the guy who had just spoken. "Morakot, the enemy is not a farmer. There may be Magicians among them, or even Dragons. You are so confident, but there will be problems."
Morakot scratched his head and said in a low voice, "But the troops on the map obviously know nothing about us. I guess they still think that we are a thousand miles away, and their main target is the Holy Temple wall. In this situation, I really don't know what expression they will have when they see Efta's army … "
His words made the other advisors laugh. Only in this system could they understand that Morakot was not joking. And Sodelor naturally could not let this group of people be overconfident. "It seems that you have given too many problems. Everyone, listen up: from now on, carefully analyze and review the battle plan according to the timeline. I don't want to find any flaws in the plan I handed to the Prime Minister. Can you guys do it within three hours? "
Everyone's eyes suddenly focused, and some even stood up excitedly — because Sodelor's words meant that he had decided to apply for war.
Roddy's plan was strategic, but he had given the command of the battle to Sodelor, which meant that the time to start the war was up to him. If he thought it was the right time, he would submit it in writing, and Roddy would immediately judge and approve. If it was approved, it meant that Efta would enter the second stage of war preparations …
"Reporting, Commander! We will complete the mission! "
All the advisors stood at attention and almost shouted out this sentence. Sodelor nodded slowly and said firmly, "We are Efta's sharp blades. Our existence is for this moment. Don't forget the oath you took when you joined the army — for the glory of Efta! "
"For the glory of Efta!"
*****
May 8th.
"What is the Holy Cathedral doing? Are they going to give up resisting? "
Looking at the intelligence in front of him, Earl Harrison was very puzzled. Because his territory was adjacent to the Holy Cathedral, there were spies in the Holy Cathedral city who passed information. He could be considered to be the first to receive news of Rose Cross and even Efta's various activities. But the information that came in the past few days made him really unable to understand what the other party was up to.
Logically speaking, if he was on the Holy Cathedral's side, he would probably have started to clear the fields since the beginning of the year. But as of today, it seemed that only the east and south gates were closed. The other gates that should be open were still open, and there were still caravans from Efta coming in and out.
Although a portion of the army was gathered in the city, they were all Rose Cross Holy Knights and Holy Warriors, and there were less than two thousand of them. Clearly, the Viper Cross last year had dealt quite a blow to their core. And to Earl Harrison, using these two thousand people to defend the city was basically useless …
What could an army of two thousand do? If he were to gather all the troops on his side, including the logistics soldiers, the total number would definitely exceed forty thousand. Until now, Efta still hadn't sent any reinforcements. Did they really think they could defend?
"Intelligence on the north city wall, what does this say? Who can explain? "
Earl Harrison reached out and took out a piece of paper. A butler beside him quickly grabbed it and glanced at it. The information written on it was: "A large unknown object appeared at the north of the Holy Cathedral at night, but it didn't enter the city. We couldn't find its exact whereabouts after that."
He was also confused by the information. The other butlers looked at each other and finally began to search for the source of the information. In the end, they said in surprise, "My Lord … This is news from Efta's intelligence agency!"
"What? They can provide me with information? "
Earl Harrison was a little confused. He had heard of the "intelligence agency", but he really didn't expect there to be people on his side in it.
This actually showed the current chaos among Charles II's subordinates … The lords were all doing their own things and didn't have much contact with each other. Therefore, as the commander, Harrison hadn't even straightened out the various intelligence systems — or rather, his understanding of "intelligence" was to have a general understanding of the enemy's movements. As for "spies" and whatnot, gathering food was enough of a headache. How could he have the time to think about these things?
"My Lord, this is someone His Majesty Charles II sent to plant. With his information, we can deal with it more flexibly …"
"That's what you say, but what is this thing he reported? Do any of you understand it? "
Harrison's words made the group of butlers look at each other, then they all shook their heads. "My Lord, perhaps it's some kind of siege equipment from Efta?"
"They're not attacking the city! Now that they're surrounded here, it's more like they're waiting to be attacked! "
Harrison thought that these people weren't good at war, and their words were basically the same as a chicken talking to a duck, so he directly skipped over this piece of intelligence and picked up another one. "The Tusker Merchant Guild has agreed to lend us money. These people eat people without spitting out the bones, the interest is really high …"
Earl Harrison had never borrowed money to fight a war in the past. But now, in order to not starve after the army was assembled, he chose the same method as Roddy to raise gold coins — except that Harrison borrowed money in the name of the lord, and the lender was the "Tusker Merchant Guild" of the Kingdom of Karen.
Before the merchant guilds of Paar spread throughout the kingdom through a chain, the "Tusker Merchant Guild" was the most famous merchant guild in the developed eastern part of the kingdom. But no matter how big it was, it still couldn't compare to a large country like Lassiman. This could be seen from the amount of money Earl Harrison borrowed … He borrowed a total of 200,000 gold coins at an annual interest of 50%, and the agreement he signed was to pay it back next year.
Fortunately, he had the title of "Commander of the Western Expedition", otherwise the Tusker Merchant Guild wouldn't have lent so much money — on the other hand, the Tusker Merchant Guild's business was declining day by day because of the existence of the Paar merchant guild, so suppressing Efta was a common goal. But merchants didn't want to do business at a loss, and the annual interest of 50% was enough to prove this point.
After all, there was a famine in the eastern part of the kingdom last year, and there wasn't enough food this year, so the price was much higher than before. Without this money, Earl Harrison wouldn't be able to operate the army at all.
"My preparations are almost done, but why are these guys taking so long on the road? If this goes on, they won't be able to arrive at the scheduled assembly time. What's going on … "
After checking the progress of the lords, Harrison paced back and forth in front of the map and complained. In fact, he also knew the reason: after entering the summer, the rainfall increased, especially in the central and southern parts of the kingdom, and there was a flood near Bordeaux and the river basin. And the first batch of troops were advancing from the central to the north, so it wasn't surprising that the road was blocked.
But this completely messed up the original plan, and caused the line of the army that should have been orderly to be stretched thin — he originally planned to start probing in the middle of May, and launch the first wave of attack at the end of the month. But now it seemed that whether this group of people could arrive at the predetermined location on the 20th of May was a question mark.
"My lord, what about the reply to His Majesty …"
"Just say that the preparations are going smoothly, and that the food has been collected, and it is completely enough to support the attack on the Holy Cathedral!" Harrison waved his hand, "Didn't 'Cullen Era' always say that Efta's food production is amazing? When the army crushes over, I want to see how much of their words are true and how much is false! "
"But … my lord, our current food collection is not going smoothly, we haven't even received two-thirds of the estimated amount …"
"Nonsense! Of course I know, but can you say that to His Majesty? "
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
