Chapter 282 “Stage”

On the second day after returning to the castle in Border Town, Iron Ax brought all the information he had obtained during the interrogation.

"These people are just Timothy's advance troops?" Roland asked with a frown.

"Indeed, Your Highness," Iron Ax nodded, "As you guessed before, it is Timothy Wimbledon's strategy to send one militia team after another to attack the Western Territory. Besides the Western Territory, he also Use the same method to deal with Garcia Wimbledon in Port of Clearwater."

"Are they all civilians?"

"Not all of them, there are criminals, rats, and most of them are refugees recruited from all over the place." He replied, "According to the enemy knights, after Timothy recruited these people by force, he first made some verbal promises to stabilize them." Hold them, and take the first batch of pills. This way, they have to be controlled by Timothy, wanting more pills to relieve pain and longing."

"But they don't know that once the pill is swallowed, there is no possibility of treatment," Roland sighed deeply. "More pills are just delaying death."

"Yes, Your Highness. Timothy didn't tell the militia about the side effects of the drug. They thought that after fighting for the "new king", they would get the status and reward he promised. "

"What is the purpose of this team?" Roland asked.

"Border Town," Iron Ax quickly replied, "Because Sir Vincent, who has already died in battle, believes that the town has no walls, and it is easier to achieve the goal of a war of attrition. He estimates that a thousand militiamen who swallow pills will be exchanged for about three thousand This will be a heavy blow to Border Town. But..."

"But what?"

"Snark also confessed that Timothy gave them another task, which is to divide the militia into several groups to attack the town, to ensure their own safety and observe your response methods and combat effects. I think...he should have noticed Until the last attack, there was no question of the leader knight returning."

"No one returned this time," the prince shrugged. "Since it is an advance force for attrition, do these two know about Timothy's follow-up attack plan?"

"Not much is known, but the scale will be much larger than the previous two attacks."

Roland's teeth were itching with hatred. This is a living labor force, so just consume it as cannon fodder wave after wave? Even if he defeated the enemy unscathed, it would be a tragic victory. Rather than defending against Timothy's invasion, it was more important for him to stop this meaningless war—otherwise, after the unification of Graycastle, how long would he have to wait for the population to flourish again?

"After the Moon of Demons arrives, the entire land route in the western region will be covered by heavy snow, and it will be difficult for large troops to move forward. If it is transported by ship, the queue will be dragged for a long time, not to mention the huge cost, and it will be easy to be intercepted halfway." He said, "So if he wants to launch this round of offensive this year, he must act before the heavy snowfall in winter. The search for population will be earlier, at least the militia must be recruited before winter."

"You intend to..."

Roland closed his eyes, thought for a moment before continuing, "I want to delay this war."

"Send an envoy or a diplomatic letter to him? I'm afraid Timothy Wimbledon will not do what you want." Iron Ax said in a deep voice.

"No, that's not very useful," he said slowly, "If the opponent wants to dispel the idea of ​​attacking, one is to reduce the number of people he can search, and the other is to make him realize that the war of attrition is meaningless, and it will have a negative impact on the Western Territory. Afraid. I originally planned to ask Barov to arrange for his men to spread the news of the western frontier and attract poor people outside the city to go on their own, but now it seems that the effect is too slow, and the measures are too conservative. I want to get the population before Timothy To take them away, we must take the initiative to contact and recruit them like the last trip to the king's capital. The most important thing is the southern border that has suffered repeated wars, and the second is the northern part of the kingdom. It is estimated that the first army will be dispatched to implement it. "

"If it's just for recruiting, a team of fifty people is enough," Iron Ax continued without hesitation, "After all, they are not operating near the city, and there is no need to worry about confronting the enemy head-on."

"I'll discuss the specific plan with you after I've considered it," Roland nodded.

Border Town must be guarded by a main force, and the team sent out must return to the town before the Moon of Demons. In addition, there are golden dragons and food issues: a more active recruitment policy will naturally bring back more people, but the cost will also increase exponentially. The previous plan was relatively cost-effective, but now it has a strong purpose, and how to implement it must be carefully considered.

"But your second point... how to do it?"

"The first is to release the news that the captured civilians will be sent back to the capital, so that Timothy can get a general idea of ​​the battle process—he should not try again and again for such a futile thing."

"But our artillery combat method will also be exposed at the same time." Iron Ax worried.

"It's not exposed much," Roland tapped on the table lightly, "except for long-range strikes and amazing power, he can't know the principle, let alone make it." As long as the production level remains in this era, even if he knows it, he can't fight against it. , This is the overwhelming advantage of hot weapons over cold weapons, and it will not be reversed because of will, tactics and numbers. "And these people will send him a warning letter."

"Warning Letter?"

"That's right, I will announce the date of the attack in advance in the letter, and then raid the capital on that day." The prince said word by word.

"..." Tie Ax couldn't help but opened his mouth wide. It took him a while to come back to his senses, and solemnly stood at attention and saluted, "As long as it is your order, I will definitely fulfill it to the death!"

"Relax, I didn't want you to die," Roland smiled. "This plan does not require the participation of the First Army, but the witch will execute it."

How can Timothy be afraid of the West Territory? He reckoned that there was nothing more shocking to the opponent than a direct blow to the palace. As long as Timothy realizes that he is not safe, I am afraid that any plan to send troops will be restrained by three points.

The plan Roland imagined came from the airdrop leaflets of later generations, and in addition to dropping leaflets, he also planned to send two aerial bombs to Timothy—the so-called surprise attack was a blow from the sky, directly killing the possibility of the new king Insignificant, but as long as it can act as a deterrent, it is considered a successful operation.

In this way, it is difficult to judge whether the opponent will insist on launching a large-scale attack.

Roland clearly realized that the mode of this battle for kings had changed. He was no longer as weak as when he first arrived, and he needed to disguise himself to hide. Now is the time to reveal the cards in his hand, step by step to stand on the political stage of Graycastle, and let the people of the kingdom notice his existence-this has nothing to do with the desire to express, but a kind of propaganda for his territory and power.

It is useless to get a kingdom full of corpses and ruins. He hopes that through this declaration, more people will go to the western region and stand by his side.

As the sun fell into the mountains, Roland pushed open the window of the office. The evening wind that blows over the face is no longer scorching hot, but brings a touch of coolness.

Autumn is here.