Chapter 685: Defensive Tactics

The atmosphere of war is approaching, but for the current Cecil Empire, it is really not the best time to start a war.

In Changfeng Fortress, the majestic city walls stand between the hills and plains. The bastion walls stretching for dozens of kilometers face the increasingly cold autumn wind, glowing in the bright sunshine cast by the giant sun. There is a layer of pale golden light, and the rune stone bricks inlaid on the city wall are slightly shimmering with magic halo, making the entire fortress enveloped in a vague energy shield. Vigilant soldiers stand on the city walls and sentry towers. , staring closely in the direction of the Typhon Empire.

Inside the fortress, a group of soldiers newly stationed in the fortress were walking in a loose formation between the barracks. The instructor of the Cecil Corps who was responsible for training these new soldiers stood beside the road with a meticulous expression. But on the city wall not far away, a fortress veteran who noticed the new recruits couldn't help but shook his head: "These soldiers can't fight at all... It's okay to deal with bandits at home, but here with the Typhons Beating? Even if you tie up seven or eight people, it won't be enough to kill them."

"The drills of the Cecil Corps can quickly put these recruits to use - at least let them know the orders." Another veteran. Said next to him.

"It will take some training time. I'm afraid these conscripts were still holding hoes and pitchforks the day before yesterday..."

Maryland, dressed in military uniform, held his sword and walked across the city wall. , the veterans' conversations fell into his ears, and the performance of the new recruits also fell into his eyes.

After completing his inspection, the fortress commander returned to the command post in the castle area, where his adjutant - a smart and capable young man with black hair and brown eyes - was already waiting here.

"General," the adjutant stepped forward and saluted, "the scouts sent back information."

"Well," Maryland nodded, "Is there another move by the Typhons?"< /p>

“A group of engineering mages are building additional walls, stables, and barracks in the hills west of Winter Wolf Castle. The scale is not small. It is unclear how many people can be accommodated, but it is certain that they have at least opened a new building. Four wells."

"...The Knights of Black Steel or the Knights of Iron River are coming soon. They are both troops who are good at attacking fortresses with heavy equipment," Maryland said in a deep voice, "The Typhons. We can’t wait too long.”

The young adjutant said nothing, neither fearful nor shaken, his face was calm.

Maryland secretly approved of the young adjutant's reaction, then turned around and came behind the table, picked up the report on the table and took a look.

"...The last batch of private soldiers that can be gathered nearby have also arrived at the defense line..." The fortress commander sighed softly, "After them, the entire Eastern Territory may not even have a single soldier." We can’t even gather a thousand-man team.”

The current situation is worrying, but the fact is the fact - the soldiers are stretched thin, and the defense strength of Changfeng Fortress is only so much.

The empire has just experienced a year-long civil war and a disaster that swept half of the Holy Spirit Plains. The original main force of the kingdom was exhausted in successive battles. Now it can be sentApart from a few surviving elites, the only ones that are useful are the Cecil Corps in the south. However, at least half of these troops must stay in the country to maintain post-war order. The number of soldiers that can be sent to Changfeng Fortress is limited - the superiors have already The most elite troops and most powerful weapons that could be mobilized were sent over, but Maryland knew that these were still not enough.

The Typhons are also constantly increasing their troops, and they are constantly increasing their troops in the form of a mixed army of magicians, knights, and extraordinary beings. These armies cannot be defeated by ordinary thermal ray guns and several weapons. Ordinary people can easily be defeated by a medium-caliber fortress cannon. To deal with them, either the elite defenders of Changfeng Fortress must be doubled, or the Iron Throne must be transported to the defense line.

But there were neither of these - Maryland did its best to mobilize the noble private soldiers from the east, and coupled with a small number of mountain regiments supported by the north, it could only fill the holes in the defense line. , but as long as it receives a strong impact, these loopholes may be broken within two days.

He must find a way to strengthen the defense of the fortress.

Maryland's eyes moved on the combat map next to it, and his eyes slowly swept across the buffer zone on the border between the two countries, the Typhonian Winter Wolf Castle and several currently explored outpost.

The primary criterion for defense is to protect oneself, and there are many ways to protect oneself, either by making oneself invulnerable, or by eliminating threats before being harmed, or... by making the enemy afraid to attack.

The garrison strength of Changfeng Fortress may not be increased, but he can try to make the Typhonians think that the garrison of this fortress is still increasing.

During some contemplation, a bold idea gradually took shape. Maryland raised his head and looked at his adjutant: "Let the reserve regiments of the Mountain Corps disguise themselves as businessmen and civilians, and secretly bring their flags and flags with them. Equipment, we will leave the city in batches within two days and gather in the Karon Valley in the northwest."

The adjutant was stunned for a moment and said, "What then?"

"Then. Change back to the equipment of the Mountain Corps and enter the city from the north gate of the fortress - make a loud noise when entering the city, but don't make it too exaggerated."

Two seconds later, the adjutant realized Maryland's intention. The young man showed an expression of sudden realization, and then looked at the general with admiration: "Yes - you are really a good idea! I will arrange it right away!"

"This is not enough, we have to do a complete show, Maryland then added, "Didn't the Typhons build a barracks near Winter Wolf Castle? We also built camps in the north and south of the fortress, dug wells, and moved some of the levies to the new camps. Let's start cooking there. In addition, we will send someone to Earl Robert's territory to use his carriage team to transport food and grass." "Yes!" The adjutant walked straight ahead. Military salute, but before leaving, he suddenly felt a little worried, "But General, can this really hide the Typhons?"

"It can scare them for a while, and then they will definitely react, but notRelations, as long as it can delay their attack is enough," Maryland said unhurriedly, but his eyes fell on the map next to him, "The engineering team at the rear is working overtime to lay the temporary railway, and the Iron Throne is about to be repaired. As long as The Typhons hesitated for a while... They couldn't take the Changfeng Fortress anymore. ”

……

Cecil Empire, Saint-Sunil City.

Preparations for large-scale relocation have begun, and Gawain’s desk is getting more and more There are more and more work reports on the relocation of the capital.

The coronation ceremony has ended, and the signing ceremony of the nobles and the transfer of command of the old royal knights, guards, royal shadow guards and other units have also ended. It has been completed. After a period of running-in and adaptation, the newly established Government Affairs Office has initially got on the right track and has the situation in Saint-Sunil under control. The mission of the interim government has come to an end. According to Gawain's original plan, Next, the migration work should be started.

Saint-Sunil is magnificent on the surface, but in fact the infrastructure is backward, the influence of the old forces is profound, and more importantly, the communication system is weak, which poses a threat to the Cecil Legion. Slow command is really not a good place to control the operation of the empire. However, moving the capital is a major event after all. It does not mean that the relevant personnel and materials are packed and taken to a new place. Even if it is implemented from now on, the transfer of the ruling function must be completely completed. Reconstruction will probably take a whole year.

And during this process, Gawain must also take into account the temporary chaos caused by the transfer of the ruling function. To prevent this chaos from causing a chain reaction, Typhon can take advantage of it.

In the velvet study room of Silver Castle, Gawain was putting the finished report on the desk. In addition to him, there were also three of his chief consuls sitting in the study room.

"Ayden Alfred turned down the job in the Council of Ministers, didn't he? "Gawain raised his head and looked at Victoria Wilder, who was sitting opposite.

"Yes, he also resigned from the palace position and the honorary title," Victoria replied, "He Say he appreciates your solicitation, but he is old and hopes to go home to recuperate. ”

Ayden Alfred was once the Prime Minister of Francis II and a loyal veteran of the Kingdom of Anzu. His family has been loyal to the Morn royal family since the First Dynasty and has been diligent and diligent. He has served this country for hundreds of years.

The former prime minister's talents made Gawain want to recruit him, but his choice to refuse to take office was not what Gawain expected.

Victoria nodded: "You have considered it very carefully. He will definitely not refuse this position. ”

“Let’s talk about moving the capital again,” Gawain adjusted his sitting position, “In my case,After returning to Cecil City, the affairs of St. Sunil will be temporarily managed by Victoria and Baldwin. You are responsible for completing the follow-up work, especially completing the laying of the magic network from St. Sunil to the north and west to ensure communication. Establish. In addition, all royal nobles, depending on the size of their family, are required to send a certain proportion of their family members to settle in the south. There should be no problem with this, right? "

"Yes, they were mentally prepared when the order to move the capital was issued," Baldwin Franklin nodded, then chuckled, "Using hostages in exchange for survival. This can be regarded as one of the survival rules of traditional nobles. "

"This is not just a 'hostage', it is a necessary part of the dismantling and transformation of the old aristocratic forces... Of course they don't understand it yet, this is normal," Gawain shook his head, " It doesn’t matter, just take it step by step. Hetty, how are preparations going for the Kingdom Avenue renovation project? ”

“Gordon has already led people to Pompeii City, and the preliminary materials and personnel are in place. Construction will start after the soil survey is completed. ”

“Very good – this part of the work is very important and priority should be given to ensuring financial support. ""yes. ”

Gawain breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that another job was on the right track.

Female kingdoms can be divided among their lords, but the empire does not allow each place to stand alone, and is opposed to centralization. For an empire, ensuring transportation is a prerequisite for ensuring ruling order, especially for the Cecil Empire, which is now in dire need of reconstruction and is in urgent need of rebuilding order. The reason why Gawain dared to move the country's ruling organs from the central area to the south , because modern transportation technology can ignore this physical distance, and building modern roads is an important part of allowing new transportation to fully exert its effectiveness.

From Saint-Sunil to. In the southern border, there is a Gorgon River as a transportation artery, and a Kingdom Highway as a land trunk line. Since last year, Victoria and the then Anzu royal family have been working hard to repair the Kingdom Highway, initially restoring this road that had been abandoned for nearly a century. Function, but the Kingdom Avenue repaired according to the old standards is not enough to withstand the traffic pressure of the new era. At the same time, the previous Crystal War also caused some damage to the Kingdom Avenue located on the east bank of the Gorgon River. Therefore, based on reality, Gawain decided Send an engineering team to the south to rebuild a road connecting the north and south of the empire based on the old kingdom road.

Typhon has an "imperial road", and Cecil will also have one in the future. p>

While building this "Imperial Avenue", Gawain also planned to build a north-south railway line on the west bank of the Gorgon River, with Saint-Sunil as the center, and extend the railway line to the east and west. Then branch and expand in each direction to form a new "cross artery"

Of course, this will be a large-scale, time-consuming and labor-intensive project, and it will take a long time to complete, but no matter how much it consumes, Cross arteries must be built - this will be the starting point of the empire's century-old foundation.

Regardless of how long it will take for the new cross arteries to be completed, the railway connecting the north and the south is due to the road.The distance is short and should be completed soon. By then, there will be three major transportation lines: rivers, roads, and railways from the south to the "old capital". There will also be roads and railways from Saint-Sunil to the north. Connected, transportation between the north and south of the empire will become extremely convenient. On the one hand, national security and stability will be ensured, and on the other hand, the rich mineral veins from the northern mountains can be quickly transported to satisfy the hungry industrial giants of the Cecil Empire. needed for animal growth.

As for now, although there are no railways and roads between the southern border and Saint-Sunil, due to the convenience of the Gorgon River and the efficiency of the new mechanical ships, there is no need to worry too much about transportation problems - Gore The development of Gong River transportation was also one of the reasons why Gawain dared to move the capital at this time.

"One more thing," Hetty spoke again after reporting on the progress of the road construction project, "Ancestor, the Iron Throne has been repaired."