The smell of war was approaching, but for the Cecil Empire, it was not the best time to start a war.
Longwind Fortress. The towering walls stood between the hills and the plains. The bastion walls that stretched for tens of kilometers faced the increasingly cold autumn wind. Under the bright sunlight cast by the giant sun, a layer of pale golden light glowed faintly. The runic bricks inlaid on the walls flickered with a faint magic halo, shrouding the entire fortress in a layer of faint energy shield. The vigilant soldiers stood on the walls and sentry towers, staring in the direction of the Typhon Empire.
Inside the fortress, a team of new soldiers was walking in a loose formation between the barracks. The instructor of the Cecil Army, who was in charge of training this batch of recruits, stood by the side of the road with a meticulous expression. However, not far away on the walls, a veteran of the fortress could not help but shake his head when he noticed the new recruits. "These soldiers can't fight at all. They can deal with the bandits in the country, but fighting the Typhon people here? Seven or eight people tied together won't be enough to kill them. "
"The training manuals of the Cecil Army can quickly put these recruits to use. At least they will know how to give orders," another veteran said.
"But they still need time to train. These recruits are probably still holding hoes and pitchforks the day before yesterday …"
Dressed in military attire, Maryland walked over the walls with his sword in hand. The conversation of the veterans fell into his ears, and the performance of the recruits also fell into his eyes.
After completing his patrol, the fortress commander returned to the command post in the castle area. His adjutant, a young man with black hair and brown eyes, was already waiting there.
"General." The adjutant stepped forward and saluted. "The scouts have sent back information."
"Hmm." Maryland nodded. "Typhon people have made a move again?"
"A group of engineering mages are building additional walls, stables, and barracks in the hills west of Winterwolf Fortress. The scale is not small. The exact number of people it can accommodate is not clear, but it is certain that they have opened at least four new wells."
"… The Black Steel Knight Regiment and the Iron River Knight Regiment are about to arrive. They are all troops that are good at assaulting fortresses," Maryland said in a deep voice. "Typhon people should not wait for too long."
The young adjutant did not speak. He was neither afraid nor shaken. His face was calm.
Maryland secretly praised the young adjutant's reaction. He then turned to the table and took a look at the report on the table.
"… The last batch of private soldiers that could be gathered nearby have also arrived at the defensive line …" The fortress commander sighed softly. "After them, the entire Eastern Region may not even have a thousand soldiers."
The situation was worrisome, but the fact was that the soldiers were stretched thin. The garrison strength of Changfeng Fortress was limited.
The Empire had just experienced a year-long civil war and a disaster that swept half of the Sacred Plains. The original main forces of the kingdom were exhausted in the continuous battles. Now, except for a few surviving elites, only the Cecil Regiment in the Southern Region could be of use. However, at least half of these troops had to stay in the country to maintain order after the war. The number of soldiers that could be sent to Changfeng Fortress was limited. His superior had sent the most elite troops and the most powerful weapons that could be mobilized, but Maryland knew that it was still not enough.
Typhon was also constantly increasing their troops in the form of mixed legions of magicians, Knight and Extraordinaries. These troops were not ordinary people that could be easily defeated by ordinary heat ray guns and a few medium-sized Longsong Cannons. To deal with them, either the elite garrison of Changfeng Fortress had to be doubled, or the Iron Throne had to be transported to the defensive line.
But there was neither of these. Maryland had done his best to mobilize the private soldiers of the nobles in the Eastern Region and a small number of mountain troops from the Northern Region to fill the gaps in the defensive line. But if there was a strong impact, these gaps would be broken in two days.
He had to find a way to strengthen the garrison strength of Changfeng Fortress.
Maryland's eyes moved on the combat map next to him. His eyes slowly swept across the buffer zone between the border of the two countries, swept across the Typhon's Winterwolf Fortress and the few outposts that had been explored so far.
The most important standard of defense was to protect oneself, and there were many ways to protect oneself. One could either make oneself invulnerable, eliminate the threat before it was hurt, or … make the enemy not dare to attack.
The garrison strength of Changfeng Fortress might not be able to be increased, but he could try to mislead Typhon into thinking that the garrison of Changfeng Fortress was still increasing.
After thinking for a while, a bold idea gradually formed. Maryland raised his head and looked at his adjutant: "Let the Mountain Army's reserve army disguise themselves as merchants and commoners, secretly bring their flags and equipment, and in two days, leave the city in batches, and gather at the Kalon Valley in the northwest."
The adjutant was stunned for a moment and was a little confused. "And then?"
"Then change back to the mountain troops' equipment and enter the fortress from the north gate. When entering the fortress, make a big commotion, but don't make it too exaggerated."
Two seconds later, the adjutant understood Maryland's intention. The young man showed an expression of realization, and then looked at the general with admiration. "Yes, you're right. That's a good idea! I'll go arrange it now! "
"That's not enough. If we're going to put on a show, we have to go all the way," Maryland quickly added. "Aren't Typhon building a camp near Winter Wolf Fortress? We'll set up camps at the north and south of the fortress, dig wells, and move some of the recruits to the new camps. Let them cook there. Also, send someone to Count Robert's territory and borrow his carriage team to transport the 'food'. "
"Yes, sir!" The adjutant stood up straight and saluted, but before he left, he was suddenly a little worried. "But general, can we really fool Typhon like this?"
"We can scare them for a while, and they'll definitely realize it later. But it's okay, as long as we can delay their attack," Maryland said slowly, but his eyes fell on the map beside him. "The construction team at the back is working overtime to lay the temporary railway, and the Iron Throne is almost done repairing. As long as Typhon hesitates for a while … they won't be able to take down Changfeng Fortress."
…
Cecil Empire, Saint Sunil City.
Preparations for the large-scale migration had already begun, and there were more and more reports about the migration of the capital on Gwen's desk.
The coronation ceremony was over, and the signing ceremony of the nobles, as well as the transfer of command of the Old Royal Knight Regiment, Royal Guards, Royal Shadow Guards, and other troops had also been completed. After a period of adaptation, the newly established government office was already on the right track, and the situation in Saint Sunil City was under control. The mission of the temporary government had come to an end. According to Gwen's initial plan, it was time to start the migration.
On the surface, Saint Sunil City looked grand and majestic, but in reality, the infrastructure was backward, and the influence of the old forces was deep. More importantly, the communication system was weak, and the command of the Cecil Army was slow. It was really not a good place to control the operation of the empire. However, moving the capital was a big deal after all, and it was not as simple as moving the relevant personnel and resources to the new place. Even if they started now, it would probably take an entire year to completely complete the transfer and reconstruction of the ruling functions.
Furthermore, during this process, Gwen also had to consider the temporary chaos caused by the transfer of the ruling functions. He had to prevent this chaos from causing a chain reaction, which would give Typhon an opportunity to take advantage of.
In the velvet study of the Silver Fortress, Gwen was placing the report he had just finished reading on the desk. Other than him, his three Great Governors were also sitting in this study.
"Eden? Alfred rejected the position in the government office, right? "Gwen looked up at Victoria Wilde, who was sitting opposite him. Victoria Wilde.
"Yes, he also resigned from his position in the palace and his honorary title," Victoria replied. "He said that he is grateful for your recruitment, but he is already old and wishes to return home to rest."
Eden? Alfred, the former Prime Minister of Francis II, a loyal old minister of the Ansu Kingdom. His family had been loyal to the Moen Royal Family since the First Dynasty and had served this country diligently for hundreds of years.
This former Prime Minister's talent made Gwen want to make an exception to recruit him, but his choice to reject the position was not out of Gwen's expectations.
"Respect his choice." Gwen nodded slightly. "Also, ask him if he is willing to be the curator of the Saint Sunil Library. This is not a position in the government office, and he can still guard the original royal collection. If he is still unwilling … let the old gentleman return home. The government office will give him a monthly pension. "
Victoria nodded. "You have considered this very carefully. He will not reject this position."
"Let's talk about the moving of the capital." Gwen adjusted his sitting position. "After I return to Cecil City, the affairs of Saint Sunil will be temporarily managed by Victoria and Bai Dewen. You two will be responsible for the follow-up work, especially the completion of the magic network from Saint Sunil to the North and West to ensure the establishment of communication. Also, all the Captical nobles, according to the size of their family, will have to send a certain proportion of their family members to the South to settle down. This should not be a problem, right? "
"Yes, they were already mentally prepared when the order to move the capital was issued." Franklin nodded, then chuckled. "Using hostages in exchange for survival, this is also one of the survival rules of the traditional nobles."
"This is not just a simple 'hostage' but a necessary part of dismantling and transforming the old nobles. Of course, they do not understand yet, which is normal." Gwen shook his head. "It's okay, one step at a time. Heti, how are the preparations for the renovation of the Kingdom Avenue? "
"Gordon has already brought people to Pompeii City. The initial materials and personnel are already in place. We will start work after the soil survey is completed."
"Very good. This part of the work is very important. Prioritize ensuring funding."
Gwen let out a sigh of relief, feeling that another piece of work was on the right track.
Kingdoms could be divided by their lords, but empires could not allow their territories to be isolated. For a centralized empire, ensuring transportation was a prerequisite for ensuring order, especially for the Cecil Empire that was in urgent need of order. The reason why Gwen dared to move the country's ruling organs from the central area to the south was because modern transportation technology could ignore this physical distance, and building modern roads was an important part of making the new transportation tools fully effective.
From Saint Sunil to the south, there was a Gorgon River as the transportation artery, and a Kingdom Avenue as the main road. Since last year, Victoria and the Ansu royal family had been working hard to repair the Kingdom Avenue, restoring the function of this road that had been abandoned for nearly a hundred years. However, the Kingdom Avenue that had been repaired according to the old standards was not enough to withstand the traffic pressure of the new era. At the same time, the previous Crystal War had also caused some damage to the Kingdom Avenue on the east bank of the Gorgon River. Therefore, from a practical point of view, Gwen decided to send a construction team from the south to rebuild a road that connected the north and south of the empire on the basis of the old Kingdom Avenue.
Typhon had an 'Empire Avenue', and Cecil would have one in the future.
While this' Empire Avenue 'was being built, Gwen also planned to build a railway line that connected the north and south on the west bank of the Gorgon River. With Saint Sunil as the center, the railway line would branch out to the east and west, forming a new' Cross Artery '.
Of course, this would be a large-scale and time-consuming project, and it would take a long time to complete. However, no matter how much it would cost, the Cross Artery had to be built. This would be the starting point of the empire's hundred-year foundation.
Putting aside how long the new Cross Artery would take to complete, the railway connecting the north and south should be completed very quickly due to the short distance. By then, from the south to the 'old capital', there would be three major transportation routes: rivers, roads, and railways. From Saint Sunil to the north, there would also be roads and railways. The transportation between the north and south of the empire would become extremely convenient. On one hand, the safety and stability of the country would be ensured, and on the other hand, the rich mineral veins from the mountains in the north could be quickly transported out to satisfy the growth needs of the hungry industrial behemoth of the Cecil Empire.
As for now, although there were no railways or roads between the south and Saint Sunil, due to the convenience of the Gorgon River and the efficiency of the new mechanical ships, there was not much to worry about. The development of the Gorgon River was also one of the reasons why Gwen dared to move the capital at this time.
"There's one more thing." After reporting the progress of the road construction project, Heidi opened her mouth again. "Ancestor, the Iron Throne has been repaired."
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