Rosetta stood up from behind the desk. He came to the map not far away, his eyes slowly swept over a series of markings in the border area, and Matilda's voice came from behind him. : "In the past week, the Cecil people have added four additional troops to the defense line of Winter Wolf Castle. At the same time, the control area extends from the fortress to Shadow Swamp. Not long ago, they controlled the mechanical bridge in the Shadow Swamp area and allowed armored trains to enter the war zone. , now that line of war machines is entrenched like a fortress along the line from Shadow Swamp to Winter Wolf Castle, causing great pressure on our border offensive..."
"It seems that they are determined to do so. The idea is to be nailed down at Winter Wolf Castle... This is a strategic fulcrum," Rosetta nodded, "So we cannot rule out the possibility of them suddenly attacking Aldernan."
"It seems so..." Matilda responded, "We have now cut off the railway line from Shadow Swamp to the country, and established a new front with Winterfort as the fulcrum, and a steady stream of troops are being mobilized from the country. The Cecil people's steel chariots and motorized infantry advance tactics caused us great casualties at first, but after Earl Parlin Winterburg withdrew from the Winter Wolf defense line to the rear, he guided the front-line troops to make many plans. Effective tactics, now our extraordinary troops can effectively fight against those machines... But we still have no way to deal with the two mobile fortresses of the Cecil people."
"Parin Dong. Castle..." Rosetta whispered, "After the fall of Winter Wolf Castle, he was questioned by many in the country... Now those doubts have finally quieted down."
"Winter Wolf Castle. During the battle, one of the two main commanders surrendered, and the other evacuated early and returned to the rear. After this incident was reported back to the country, no matter how public opinion guided it, it finally affected the pride and self-confidence of the upper class that had lasted for so many years. Andersa surrendered after being seriously injured. Not to mention, Earl Palin of Winterburg was said to have escaped unscathed...many nobles considered him even more disgraceful than Andesa."
"The funny thing is, those are the only ones. People who don’t understand the military are laughing at us because they don’t go to the battlefield at all, but the real generals know that it was the two questionable commanders who bought us a chance to breathe and adjust,” Rosetta said with a tone of voice. There was a hint of coldness in his face, but he did not stay on this topic for too long, and quickly shook his head, "It seems that the war machine called the 'armored train' is more difficult to deal with than we initially investigated. "
"It is technological progress - the information investigated in the previous intelligence is obviously outdated. The original armored train was a semi-finished product, but now the Cecil people have perfected its weapons and power system. ," Matilda said with a serious expression, "That thing has strategic mage group-level firepower and city wall-like protection, and can fly freely on the track, and the entire track is protected by a powerful shield and along the way. Numerous military stations and guard towers were set up for protection, as well as small trains patrolling back and forth on the protective track. According to the description given by the Earl of Winterhold, this was a 'dynamic and both offensive and defensive' system.system, and none of our arms can deal with it...
"The Cecil people obviously put a lot of effort into designing this set of things. The purpose of its birth was not to deal with those A small and weak country has to deal with a behemoth like Typhon..."
Listening to her daughter's story, Rosetta fell into a brief thought. After a long time, he sighed softly, He said thoughtfully: "A mobile fortress can be attacked, defended, and inhabited. It is also equivalent to a continuously advancing supply line. If we build several railways to extend to the wasteland, and continuously set up forward bases under the cover of armored trains, Human civilization might even be able to counterattack the Wasteland of Gondor..."
Matilda obviously did not expect that her father would come up with such an idea, but she immediately realized the meaning behind this idea, with a smile on her face. An expression of surprise suddenly appeared: "Father...what do you mean?"
"Gawain Cecil, his eyes do see further than we do," Rosetta said , but quickly shook his head, "But now is not the time to talk about this. The key is those trains... They have strong firepower and a long range, which means they can cover the engineers while fighting while laying the railway forward. , even if we blow up the mechanical bridge and railway hub, as long as the Cecil people are willing to pay the cost, they can continue to advance unswervingly, so we must find a way to deal with that thing."
"... ...The Earl of Winterhold proposed a plan, but this plan once again faced our shortcomings," Matilda said. "He believed that against this kind of land fortress, the use of ground troops would face huge battle losses anyway. The effective method is air strike - the armored train's main gun can only attack ground targets. Although it also has smaller weapons capable of attacking the air, its firepower is far weaker than that of the ground attack, as long as it does not face that kind of deadly weapon. With the main gun, we have a chance to destroy them from the air."
"In the air..." Rosetta's eyes narrowed, but her expression did not relax at all.
"Air superiority is not on our side," Matilda said in a serious tone. "Although we have the largest air magician group and griffon troops on this continent, Cecil People drove their war machines to the sky. Facing the machines, griffins and mages were too fragile and slow - and most importantly, mages with the ability to fly and experienced griffin knights were obviously more valuable than those machines. , we can't afford it."
Rosetta thought and said slowly: "...Can we imitate or study the shortcomings of that kind of flying machine?"
"We can." Several were shot down, and the wreckage has been sent to several research facilities under the name of the Royal Mage Association and the Engineering Association, but it may be difficult to imitate it in a short time. Experts in the field of runes reported that another machine was found on those machines. A brand-new rune system that is completely different from the runes currently used by elves and humans. It is somewhat like the legendary dragon language... These runes interact with the special alloys that make up the flying machine to generate power. NowWe can neither piece together a complete set of runes, nor do we know how the materials used as the base of the runes are produced. If we want to imitate an aircraft under such circumstances...even if luck is on our side, we will not have enough time. "
"Indeed... we are chasing an unfamiliar field from scratch. We don't have this time," Rosetta said solemnly. "In a short period of time, we still have to find solutions from the fields we are good at... those Do flying machines have weaknesses? ”
Matilda nodded immediately: “Yes, and the weakness is unexpectedly simple, but also very difficult - probably to reduce weight and improve flexibility, those flying machines are not like They have solid armor and high-power energy shields like steel chariots, and their anti-gravity structures lack protection and have weak anti-interference capabilities. Ordinary arcane traps can cause them to temporarily lose power. In theory, as long as they go nearby and give them Their power structure releases a small-scale arcane impact to make that thing fall down, or at least temporarily lose control and lose combat power, but..."
"But the premise is that our mages must be able to Get close to those things alive," Rosetta said expressionlessly. "Those things fly faster, are more flexible, and have stronger offensive capabilities than mages and griffons, so their own weaknesses in strength become irrelevant. It's gone - no opponent can get close to it, and can't even catch up. ”
Matilda was speechless, while Rosetta returned to the map after a moment of silence. He seemed to have forgotten the topic he was just discussing and focused his attention again. After thinking for more than a minute on the lines and arrows representing military movements, he suddenly broke his silence: "In a few days, the next batch of troops will go to the front... Count Clement Dart will lead the reorganization The fourth legion and the last 'church volunteer regiment' then went to Winterhold. "
"Clement? Matilda was stunned for a moment, but she quickly reacted and her expression became a little complicated, "He should be the last stubborn stone among the stubborn old aristocrats... In order to undermine your new deal, he has been among the aristocrats and mages more than once." Groups are running around calling for him, but precisely because of his influence, even Hardiron can't do anything about him..."
"Palin will find a way," Rosetta said calmly, "The worst is not possible. , the Cecil people also have a way. "
"...I am worried that the Earl of Dart will simply surrender in the first battle - he probably hates you more than he hates the Cecil people. Send such people to the front , will only further weaken our power. "
"He won't. He does hate me more than the Cecilians, but he loves Typhon more than himself... I have dealt with him too much," Rosse Ta slowly turned around and looked at the foggy Aldernan outside the floor-to-ceiling window, "He knew my intentions, but he would still rush to the front line and die heroically there with hatred... If it weren't for this war , he would never do such a thing under any circumstances, but now Typhon is in trouble. ”
Matilda was silent for a moment, and then after a few secondsHe hesitated and said: "Also, about the 'church volunteer group'..."
"The priests of the God of War want this war, so I will give them this war. Those are all those who are about to lose A fanatic believer in judgment, but at least it can be used for the last time," Rosetta said with her back to Matilda, so the latter could not see his expression at all, "They accepted the order gladly, for now... It can be regarded as the last piece of the puzzle that the church can provide us."
Matilda thought, she seemed to instinctively feel the violation in her father's arrangement, but she didn't have time yet. When he opened his mouth to ask something, he heard a knock on the door suddenly from behind.
Rosetta turned around and looked at the door: "Come in."
The next second, the door to the study room was opened by someone wearing a black maid skirt and black hair. Diana appears there in a shawl. The head maid first nodded slightly to Matilda beside her, and then bent down to her master.
Rosetta looked at this lady who had been loyal to the Augustus family for hundreds of years: "What happened?"
"Standing at the Alder South Railway Company The Cecil technician still refuses to continue to provide services, and the consular officer also rejected your proposal," Diana said expressionlessly, "In addition, similar situations have occurred at railway hubs across the country."
Rosetta pondered for a moment, while Matilda stared at her father subconsciously.
The Cecil people stranded in Typhon... She has also been paying attention to this matter for a while. This war came too suddenly, and neither the party that responded to the war nor the party that "declared war" was unprepared. When the border conflict directly escalated into a hot war within forty-eight hours, and cross-border transportation was suddenly interrupted, many foreigners faced the unforeseen consequences. Awkward stranded situation. The technicians, investment businessmen and state representatives sent by Cecil were stranded in Typhon. Of course, the envoys, overseas students and businessmen sent by Typhon to the opposite side were also stranded in Cecil.
The new "international order" in the past two years has brought about this troublesome situation that no one has ever considered and faced. Previously, even if two countries that communicate with each other suddenly go to war, there will be no conflict. Such a complex phenomenon of stranded people occurred because there were no cross-border trade and technical exchanges at that time, and there were no national-level overseas students and inspection activities.
Matilda knows that many people are actively working on this matter. Some people are actively organizing the evacuation of stranded people, and some are trying to establish a "wartime access window" through various channels. Aldernan and Cecil City maintained a tenuous, difficult and discreet liaison in order to deal with such troublesome matters.
During this period, the Cecil technicians stranded in Aldernan refused to accept the orders of the Augustus family and continued to provide technical services to Typhon. This matter has attracted a lot of attention. , to be honest... Matilda even admired those bold Cecil people.
Most of them are neither knights nor mages.According to the traditional view, they are just civilians and do not need to follow any knightly code or noble code, but what they do is no worse than the knights on the battlefield.
The study maintained a slightly oppressive silence, but in the end Rosetta broke the silence: "Did anyone have a conflict with them?"
"No," Ms. Diana Shaking his head, "Following your order, we have maintained the greatest restraint - the food and drinking water supplies in the embassy and technical staff living areas have also remained normal, but now we have banned people from those places."< /p>
After a few seconds of silence, Rosetta finally exhaled and said slowly: "Tell the ambassador that he will be able to leave Aldernan in the near future, and we will be at the end of the Dark Mountains Send him out of the country."
Diana glanced at him: "In exchange for our own ambassador?"
Rosetta nodded slowly: "This matter. It's been arranged - just tell them."
"What about the technicians?"
"...If they refuse service, just refuse it and tell them they are in Austria. Dernan's safety and life will still be guaranteed," Rosetta said. "Treat them well and set up more security personnel in the corresponding blocks to prevent extreme citizens or unclear-minded nobles from causing accidents. In addition, Continue to send people to contact them when possible - contact them privately. Not everyone is a warrior with high moral character and strong will. When the transaction is conducted in private, there will always be people who are willing to turn to us."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
(Happy birthday to Operations Officer Xinxin Qianqian!)