On the second day after returning to Border Town Castle, Iron Axe brought back all the information he had obtained from the interrogation.
"These people are just Timothy's advance troops?" Roland asked with a frown.
"Indeed, Your Highness," Iron Axe nodded, "As you have guessed before, sending one militia after another to attack the Western Territory is Timothy Wimbledon's strategy. In addition to the Western Territory, he also used the same method to deal with Garcia Wimbledon in the Port of Clearwater. "
"Are they all civilians?"
"Not all of them, there are criminals, rats, and most of them are refugees from all over the world." He replied, "According to the enemy Knight, after Timothy forcibly recruited these people, he first used some verbal promises to stabilize them, and then they took the first batch of pills. In this way, they had no choice but to be controlled by Timothy, wanting more pills to relieve their pain and desire. "
"But they didn't know that once they swallowed the pills, there was no possibility of treatment," Roland sighed deeply, "Taking more pills would only delay their death."
"Yes, Your Highness. Timothy didn't tell the militia about the side effects of the pills, they thought that after fighting for the new King, they would be able to get the status and rewards he promised. "
"What is the purpose of this team?" Roland asked.
"Border Town," Iron Axe quickly replied, "Because Sir Vincent, who had already died, thought that the town had no walls, it would be easier to achieve the goal of a war of attrition. He estimated that a thousand militia who took the pills could be exchanged for about three thousand casualties, which would be a heavy blow to Border Town. But … "
"But what?"
"Snacker also confessed that Timothy gave them another task, which was to divide the militia into several batches to attack the town, ensuring their own safety while observing your response and combat effectiveness. I think … he should have noticed the problem of the Knight who didn't return during the last attack. "
"This time, no one returned," the Prince shrugged, "Since they are the advance troops for attrition, do these two know Timothy's follow-up attack plan?"
"They don't know much, but the scale will be much larger than the previous two attacks."
Roland's heart was suddenly filled with hatred. These were all living laborers, yet they were being used as cannon fodder in waves? Even if he defeated the enemy unscathed, it would still be a pyrrhic victory. Compared to resisting Timothy's invasion, it was more important for him to stop this meaningless war. Otherwise, after he unified Graycastle, how long would it take for the population to flourish again?
"After the arrival of the Months of the Demons, the entire land route of the Western Territory will be covered with snow, and it will be difficult for large troops to move even an inch. If we rely on ships, the queue will be very long, not to mention the huge cost, but also easy to be intercepted halfway." He said, "So if he wants to launch this attack this year, he has to do it before the winter snow comes. We have to recruit the people even earlier, at least before winter. "
"Do you intend to …"
Roland closed his eyes and thought for a moment before saying, "I want to delay this war."
"Send an emissary or send a diplomatic letter to him? I'm afraid Timothy Wimbledon won't do as you wish, "Iron Axe said in a deep voice.
"No, that won't be very useful," he said slowly, "If we want him to give up the idea of attacking, we have to first reduce the number of people he can recruit, and second, make him realize that a war of attrition is meaningless, and make him afraid of the Western Territory. I originally planned to let Barov arrange for his men to spread the news of the Western Territory's development, attracting the poor people outside the city to go there, but now it seems that the effect is too slow, and the measures are too conservative. If we want to take the people away before Timothy, we have to take the initiative to contact and recruit them, just like the last time we went to King's City. The most important thing is the Southern Territory, which has been repeatedly hit by war, followed by the Northern Kingdom, which will probably require the First Army to carry out. "
"If it's just recruitment, a squad of 50 people will be enough," Iron Axe said without hesitation, "After all, we won't be operating near the city, so we don't have to worry about confronting the enemy."
"I'll discuss the specific plan with you in detail after I've thought about it," Roland nodded.
There must be a main force guarding Border Town, and the squad sent out must also return to Border Town before the Months of the Demons. In addition, there was the Golden Dragon and the food problem: a more active recruitment policy would naturally bring back more people, but the cost would also increase exponentially. The previous plan had a higher cost-performance ratio, but now it had a strong purpose, so how to implement it, they had to carefully consider.
"But the second point you mentioned … what should we do?"
"First of all, release the news that the captured civilians will be sent back to King's City, so that Timothy can roughly know the process of the battle, and he won't try such a futile thing again and again."
"But our artillery fighting method will also be exposed," Iron Axe said worriedly.
"It won't be exposed much," Roland gently tapped the table, "except for long-range attacks and amazing power, he won't know the principle, let alone know how to make it." As long as the level of production remained in this era, even if he knew, he wouldn't be able to fight back. This was the overwhelming advantage of hot weapons over cold weapons, and it wouldn't be reversed by willpower, tactics, or numbers. "And these people will also send him a warning letter."
"A warning letter?"
"That's right, I will give an advance notice of the day of attack in the letter, and then on that day, we will raid King's City," the Prince said word by word.
"…" Iron Axe couldn't help but open his mouth wide, and after a while, he came back to his senses and solemnly saluted, "As long as it is your order, I will definitely complete it with my life!"
"Relax, I don't want you to die," Roland smiled, "This plan doesn't need the First Army to participate, it will be carried out by the witches."
How can I make Timothy fear the Western Region? He estimated that there was nothing more shocking than a direct attack on the palace. As long as Timothy realized that he was not safe, he was afraid that any plans to send troops would be somewhat restrained.
Roland's plan came from the airdrop leaflets of later generations, and in addition to dropping leaflets, he also planned to send Timothy two aerial bombs. The so-called raid was a strike from the sky, and the possibility of directly killing the new king was very small, but as long as it could play a deterrent role, it would be considered a success.
In this way, it would be difficult to determine whether the other side would insist on launching a large-scale attack.
Roland clearly realized that the pattern of this battle for the throne had changed. He was no longer as weak as he was when he first arrived, and he didn't need to disguise himself anymore. Now it was time to reveal the cards in his hand, step by step standing on the political stage of Graycastle, and let the people of the kingdom notice his existence. This had nothing to do with the desire to show off, but rather a kind of propaganda for his own territory and power.
It was useless to obtain a kingdom full of corpses and ruins. He hoped that through this declaration, more people would go to the Western Region and stand by his side.
When the sun fell behind the mountains, Roland opened the office window. The evening wind blowing on his face was no longer hot, but with a trace of coolness.
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