Rosetta stood up from behind the desk and walked to the map not far away. His eyes slowly swept across the series of markings on the border area while Mathilda's voice came from behind him. "In the past week, Cecil's people have already sent reinforcements to the Winterwolf Fort defensive line four times. At the same time, the area under their control has extended all the way from the fort to the Shadowy Swamp. Not long ago, they took control of the mechanical bridge in the Shadowy Swamp area and allowed the armored train to enter the war zone. Now, those war machines are like fortresses entrenched on the line from the Shadowy Swamp to Winterwolf Fort, causing great pressure on our border offensive …"
"It seems that they have made up their mind to stick to Winterwolf Fort … This is a strategic fulcrum." Rosetta nodded. "So we can't rule out the possibility of them suddenly attacking Oldenheim."
"It seems to be the case …" Mathilda replied. "We have now cut off the railway line from the Shadowy Swamp to the country and established a new front with Winterwolf Fort as the fulcrum. The troops mobilized from the country are continuously gathering there. Cecil's steel chariots and mobile infantry advance tactics at first caused great casualties to us, but after Count Palin Winterwolf Fort withdrew from the Winterwolf Fort defensive line, he guided the frontline troops to come up with many effective tactics. Now, our Extraordinaire troops are able to effectively fight against those war machines … But we still can't do anything about the two mobile fortresses of Cecil's people. "
"Palin Winterwolf Fort huh …" Rosetta said in a low voice. "After the fall of Winterwolf Fort, he was questioned by many in the country … Now, those voices of doubt have finally quieted down."
"In the battle of Winterwolf Fort, one of the two main commanders surrendered, and the other retreated to the rear in advance. After this incident spread back to the country, no matter how the public opinion was led, it ultimately dealt a blow to the pride and confidence of the upper class that had persisted for so many years. Not to mention Andesha who surrendered after being seriously injured, Count Palin Winterwolf retreated in advance unscathed … Many nobles thought that he was even more dishonorable than Andesha. "
"The funny thing is that only those who didn't go to the battlefield and didn't understand the army are laughing at it, but the real generals know that it was the two questioned commanders who bought us the time to breathe and adjust." Rosetta's voice had a hint of coldness, but he did not stay on this topic for too long. Soon, he shook his head. "It seems that the war machine called the 'armored train' is more difficult to deal with than we thought at the beginning."
"It's the advancement of technology. The information from the previous investigation is obviously outdated. The armored train was a semi-finished product, but now Cecil's people have perfected its weapons and power system," Mathilda said with a serious expression. "That thing has the firepower of a strategic mage group and the protection of a city wall, and it can fly freely on the track. The entire track is protected by a layer of powerful shield and countless military stations and sentry towers along the way. There are also small trains patrolling back and forth on the protective track. According to the description sent by Count Winterwolf, this is a 'dynamic and offensive and defensive' system, and none of our forces can deal with it …
"Cecil's people have obviously put in a lot of effort to design this thing. The purpose of its creation is not to deal with those weak small countries, but to deal with behemoths like Typhon …"
Listening to his daughter's description, Rosetta fell into a brief moment of contemplation. After a long time, he sighed softly and said thoughtfully, "A moving fortress, offensive, defensive, and habitable. It's also equivalent to a constantly advancing supply line. If a few railways are built to extend to the wasteland, and under the cover of the armored train, human civilization may even be able to counterattack the wasteland of Gondor …"
Mathilda obviously did not expect her father to have such a thought, but she immediately realized the meaning behind it. Her face suddenly showed a surprised expression. "Father … What do you mean?"
"Gwen Cecil's vision is indeed farther than ours," Rosetta said, but quickly shook his head. "But now is not the time to talk about this. The key is those trains … They have very strong firepower and a very long range, which means that they can cover the engineers as they fight and lay the railway forward. Even if we blow up the mechanical bridge and the railway hub, as long as Cecil's people are willing to pay the cost, they can continue to move forward. So we have to find a way to deal with that thing. "
"… Count Winterfort has proposed a plan, but this plan is once again faced with our shortcomings," Mathilda said. "He thinks that against this kind of land fortress, using ground troops will face huge losses no matter what. The only effective way is air attack. The main gun of the armored train can only attack ground targets. Although it also has smaller, anti-air weapons, their firepower is far weaker than the ground. As long as we don't face the deadly main gun, we have a chance to destroy them from the air. "
"Air …" Rosetta's eyes narrowed, but his expression did not relax.
"Air superiority is not on our side," Mathilda said in a heavy tone. "Although we have the largest air mages and griffins on this continent, Cecil's people have driven their war machines into the sky. Griffins and mages are too weak and slow in the face of the machines. Most importantly, the mages with the ability to fly and the experienced griffins Knight are obviously more valuable than those machines. We can't afford to waste them."
Rosetta thought and said slowly, "… Can we copy or study the flaws of those flying machines?"
"We have shot down a few of them. The wreckage has been sent to several research facilities under the name of the Royal Association of Mages and the Association of Craftsmen. But I'm afraid it's difficult to copy them in a short time. Experts in the field of runes have reported that a new rune system has been found on those machines. It's completely different from the runes used by the elves and humans. It's somewhat like the legendary dragon language. These runes and the special alloy that makes up the flying machines interact to generate power. Now we can't piece together a complete set of runes, and we don't know how the material as the base of the runes is produced. Under such circumstances, to copy the flying machines … even if luck is on our side, we don't have enough time. "
"Indeed … We're catching up with an unfamiliar field from scratch. We don't have the time," Rosetta said in a low voice. "In a short time, we still have to find a way in the field that we're good at. Do those flying machines have any weaknesses?"
Mathilda immediately nodded. "Yes, and the weakness is surprisingly simple, but it's also very tricky. Probably in order to reduce weight and increase agility, those flying machines do not have solid armor and high-power energy shields like the iron chariots. Also, because their anti-gravity structure lacks protection, their anti-interference ability is very weak. Ordinary arcane traps can temporarily make them lose their power. Theoretically speaking, as long as we go close to their power structure and release a small-scale arcane blast, we can make them fall down, or at least temporarily lose control and combat ability. But …"
"But the premise is that our mages must be able to get close to those things alive," Rosetta said with a poker face. "Those things fly faster and more flexible than mages and griffins. They also have a stronger offensive ability. So, their weakness in strength is irrelevant. No one can get close to them. They can't even catch up with them."
Mathilda was speechless. Rosetta, on the other hand, returned to the map after a moment of silence. He seemed to have forgotten the topic they were discussing just now. Instead, he refocused his attention on the lines and arrows that represented the military mobilization. After more than a minute of thinking, he suddenly broke the silence. "The next batch of troops will go to the frontline in a few days … Count Cremonte Dart will lead the reorganized Fourth Legion and the last 'Church Volunteer Corps' to Winter Castle."
"Cremonte?" Mathilda was stunned for a moment, but she quickly reacted. Her expression became a little complicated. "He should be the last stubborn rock of the stubborn conservative nobles. In order to destroy your new policy, he has been rallying the nobles and the mages more than once. But because of his influence, even Hadillon can't do anything to him."
"Palin will have a way," Rosetta said faintly. "At the very least, Cecil will have a way."
"… I'm worried that Count Dart will simply surrender in the first battle. I'm afraid he hates you more than he hates Cecil. Sending such a person to the frontline will only further weaken our strength."
"He won't. He does hate me more than he hates Cecil, but he loves Typhon more than himself. I've dealt with him too many times." Rosetta slowly turned around and looked at the foggy Oldenheim outside the floor-to-ceiling window. "He knows my intention, but he will still go to the frontline and die bravely there with hatred. If it wasn't for this war, he would never do such a thing under any circumstances. But now Typhon is in trouble."
Mathilda was silent for a moment. After a few seconds, she said hesitantly, "Also, about the 'Church Volunteer Corps' …"
"The priests of the God of War wanted this war, so I gave them this war. They are fanatics who have almost lost their ability to judge, but at least they can be of use one last time," Rosetta said with his back facing Mathilda. Mathilda could not see his expression at all. "They gladly accepted the order. For now … let's consider it the last piece of the puzzle that the church can provide us."
Mathilda pondered. She instinctively felt that something was wrong with her father's arrangement. But before she could ask anything, she heard a knock on the door behind her.
Rosetta turned around and looked at the door. "Come in."
The next second, the door of the study was opened. Diana, in a black maid's dress and black hair, appeared. The head maid first nodded slightly at Mathilda, then bowed to her master.
Rosetta looked at the lady who had been loyal to the Augustus Family for hundreds of years. "What happened?"
"The Cecil technicians who are stranded in the Oldenheim Railway Company still refuse to continue to provide services, and the consular officials have also rejected your proposal," Diana said with a blank expression. "In addition, similar situations have occurred in railway hubs all over the country."
Rosetta pondered for a moment, while Mathilda looked at her father subconsciously.
The Cecil people stranded in Typhon … She had been paying attention to this matter for some time. This war came too suddenly. Both the accepting side and the declaring side were unprepared. When the border conflict escalated into a hot war within forty-eight hours, cross-border transportation was suddenly interrupted. Many foreigners were left stranded in an awkward situation. The technicians, investors, and state representatives sent by Cecil were stranded in Typhon, and the envoys, students, and businessmen sent by Typhon to the opposite side were also stranded in Cecil.
The new "international order" in the past two years had brought about a troublesome situation that no one had ever thought of and faced before. Before this, even if two countries that had interacted with each other suddenly went to war, there would not be such a complicated situation of people stranded because there was no cross-border trade and technology exchange at that time, and there were no international students and inspection activities at the national level.
Mathilda knew that many people were active in this matter. Some were actively organizing the evacuation of stranded people, and some were trying to establish a "wartime passage window" through various means. Oldenheim and Cecil still maintained a fragile, difficult, and cautious contact in this situation to deal with this troublesome matter.
During this period, the Cecil technicians in Oldenheim refused to accept the order of the Augustus family and continue to provide technical services to Typhon. This matter had attracted a lot of attention, and frankly … Mathilda even admired the bold Cecil people.
Most of them were neither Knights nor mages. According to the traditional point of view, they were just civilians and did not have to follow the Knight's Code or the rules of nobility, but what they did was no worse than the Knight on the battlefield.
The study maintained a slightly depressing silence, but in the end, Rosetta broke the silence. "Did anyone have a conflict with them?"
"No," Ms. Diana shook her head. "According to your order, we have maintained the greatest restraint. The supply of food and water in the embassy and the technical staff's residential area is also normal, but now we have banned people from entering and leaving those places."
After a few seconds of silence, Rosetta finally exhaled and said slowly, "Tell the ambassador that he can leave Oldenheim soon. We will send him out of the country at the end of the Gloom Mountain Range."
Diana glanced at him and asked, "In exchange for our own ambassador?"
Rosetta nodded slowly and said, "This matter has been arranged. You can relay it directly."
"What about the technicians?"
"… If they refuse to serve, then so be it. Tell them that their safety and living in Oldenheim will still be guaranteed," Rosetta said. "Treat them well and set up more security personnel in the corresponding blocks to prevent extremist citizens or brainless nobles from causing trouble. Also, continue to send people to contact them when possible — in private. Not everyone is a warrior with a strong will. When the deal is done in private, there will always be people who are willing to side with us. "
"Yes, Your Majesty."
(Happy birthday to COO Shenshen and Qianqian!)
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