Chapter 499 Prelude to War

The royal capital of Graycastle, the garden mansion in the inner city.

Ever since His Highness Roland Wimbledon launched a surprise attack on the palace and destroyed the Palace of Heaven, Tassa's status has been rising. All the members of "Pigeons and Top Hats" respect him, and the intelligence organization has truly stabilized.

In addition to these core personnel, more than half a year of operation has allowed Thasa to influence Skull Finger's decision-making, and he is also basically aware of the movements of other rat organizations - whether in the patrol team or on the underworld. With his bribed informants, if they just make inquiries and get paid, these people don't care who they work for. The place that is still impenetrable is the upper-class nobility, which is a place that pays attention to family background and title. The golden dragon alone will not make much difference, but through the mouse leader who is inextricably related to the great nobility, some less important information can be obtained. It often leaked into his ears.

For example, what he heard now.

"Tifeko will send a team of about 500 people to block the Chishui River?" Tasa tapped the armrest of the chair and said, "Is he really planning to do this?"

"Yes," Yanshan said in a loud voice, "at least half of them are rats from the Blood Sail Society. This is what the boss said himself. Because he is a fat man, there was an internal strife in the gang yesterday, and five or six people were killed or injured."

"He is indeed a fat guy," the clown whistled. "Think about it, what can they intercept? Merchant ships! What are the consequences of violating the king's ban? Of course, confiscate the goods and extort a lot of money. Ah! Is there anyone better at this kind of thing than a mouse? Of course... the patrol team isn't bad either."

"Since half of it is filled with rats, I think the other half is the Puppet King's guard," Hill Fox said calmly, "This morning, someone noticed four eagle-headed ships appearing at the suburban pier."

Thasa couldn't help but frowned. The eagle-headed ship was a kind of river warship with a slender hull, sails and oars, and it traveled very fast. There is a raised collision angle below the waterline, and iron hooks are also arranged on both sides of the ship. Once it catches up with the target, it can be locked together tightly, making it easier for the soldiers on the ship to jump over and fight. It is difficult for ordinary merchant ships to escape its pursuit.

"So to sum up the intelligence, the puppet king plans to send a fleet of 500 people to block the Chishui River, including four warships and more than 200 fully armed guards?" He sighed secretly, "Isn't this true? That’s good news.”

Tifeko's plan to block trade routes had been rumored long before the Evil Moon, but at that time most people thought that he would set the checkpoint near the canal, and that a complete ban on trade with the Western Territory was just talk - —After all, neither the lords of Silver Light City nor Chishui City would be happy to see themselves lose a large amount of money in vain because of an inexplicable order. Forcibly setting the checkpoint on the border between the Western Region and the Central Region will only allow the local lords to use evil hands to eradicate it. these levels.

But with four warships, the situation is different. First of all, other lords have almost no water combat capabilities. Warships can come and go freely along the Chishui River. The caravan can be intercepted anywhere, even if they want to do it behind their back. No way to start. Secondly, this reaction showed Tifeko's determination to deal with the Western Territory - even if it would lead to enemies with other lords, he was determined to do so.

Thasa looked at Hill, who nodded to him, and seemed to have thought of this, "Tifeko will probably not set up fixed levels, but use the Chishui River to attack any caravans seen. They fight on the water. There were pirates at the time, and bandits at the shore. The scale of five hundred people would be a nightmare for any caravan. In this way, the Western Territory may really be cut off from material supplies."

"I will report this news to His Highness as soon as possible," Tasa said solemnly.

Border Town purchased a large amount of food, clothing and ore resources last year, and now it has annexed Changge Fortress. Theoretically, the supplies needed will be further expanded. If the trade line is cut off, it will definitely be a huge blow to His Royal Highness. trouble, and I don’t know whether he can successfully solve this difficult matter.

Just then, the sound of flapping wings came from the garden.

Tasa stood up and pushed open the small door to the backyard. A gray falcon rushed into the house like lightning, hovering and landing on his shoulder.

Seeing that it was a letter from the West, all the circus members invariably touched their chests and bowed their heads to show respect.

Tasa took off the note, unfolded it, and quickly scanned the contents of the secret message. His heart skipped a beat!

"Ha...haha," he couldn't help but laugh out loud. Although he knew that as an intelligence officer, he shouldn't reveal his expression to others, but the news was so surprising that he couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart. Joy, "It seems we don't have to worry about this anymore."

"His Royal Highness already knows?" Hill raised his head and asked.

"No, he is about to fundamentally solve this problem," he said excitedly in a low voice.

"Fundamentally?" The clown asked doubtfully, "What do you mean..."

"That's right, His Highness's first army has set off, and its goal is the royal capital!" Tasa clenched his fists, "The time has come to pull Tifeko off the throne!"

Although he knew that His Highness would launch an operation this year, he did not expect it to be so soon. For confidentiality reasons, His Highness did not tell him the specific action plan. Until today, he did not know that the offensive was actually scheduled for spring, and it happened to coincide with spring plowing. on the time node.

"I finally... have been waiting for this day," Hill took a deep breath, suddenly knelt down on one knee and said, "If your Highness has any orders, please feel free to give them."

The other five people also knelt down, "For the new king!"

Thasa's mind agitated. Yes, he thought, if Tifeko falls, Roland Wimbledon will become the only heir to Graycastle - he will take over the crown and be crowned king, and maybe he will too. Jump into the upper echelons of power and reach a new level that you have never thought of before.

As for the chances of winning this war and whether Tifeko could stop His Highness Roland, he didn't even think about it. Anyone who witnessed the fighting of the First Army could have no doubt about the outcome of the spring offensive.

"His Highness's order is not to approach the West Gate area on the day of the siege. At the same time, the rats should be restrained as much as possible to cause chaos and the post-war order should be restored as soon as possible." Thasa read slowly according to the second half of the secret letter, "To the suffering Civilians will provide assistance within their capabilities, such as medical treatment, shelter and food supply, and will be handed over to the First Army once order is stabilized."

"Just... like this?" Everyone looked at each other, "You don't need us to trick the city gates into opening, or set fires everywhere to attract the attention of the garrison?"

"This is what His Highness meant," Tasa put away the letter and said with a smile. These orders are indeed like His Highness Roland's style of conduct, focusing more on the people and order rather than forcing intelligence personnel to participate in the battle. In addition, the order also stated that he did not take Tifeko's resistance forces seriously at all. (To be continued.)