Chapter 881 [0878] A Strange Mistake
Time is a long river, always flowing forward.
When the Overwatch League asked for help from Demacia, the messenger deliberately concealed the relevant actions of the Noxians in the north in order to highlight the severity of the problem.
Therefore, Lux did not learn about the dissolution of the Black Forest Federation and the demise of the Ironthorn Kingdom from their channels.
On the contrary, because of the exaggeration of the Overwatch League messenger, Demacia mistakenly believed that the Noxians were trying to strengthen maritime trade for the sake of economy and focus on the south.
Originally, Demacia's reconnaissance power was relatively weak for Noxus, and there was a very high information delay problem. Now with the interference of the Overwatch League messenger, when Lux learned that the Black Forest Federation was dissolved and merged into Noxus and the Ironthorn Kingdom had perished, it had been more than three months since the incident.
As a result, the relevant construction of Yiming City has been launched and is proceeding in an orderly manner. Demacia's plan to expand its influence to the east has problems in the next specific implementation link.
The original plan was to go through Tukugul in order to go north and join Avarosa. Now that Tukugul has become the autonomous territory of Noxus again, is it still feasible to go through here?
Compared with communicating with the Black Forest Federation, borrowing the road from Noxus will undoubtedly complicate the problem. Although the relationship between Demacia and Noxus is relatively harmonious now, Noxus will not easily accept the passage of the Demacia army, and Demacia will not rest assured to place its logistics supply line on the land of Noxus.
This is the plan that cannot keep up with the changes.
In this case, the eastward plan must be modified.
The original plan to kill two birds with one stone has suddenly become neither good nor bad.
On the one hand, the army cannot continue to go through Tukugul, and Yiming City has lost the significance of a general logistics base and a material distribution center.
On the other hand, the construction of Yiming City has begun, and even if the army does not go through Tukugul and it is not used as a logistics base for material assembly, it is also a commercial city that drives the eastern economy and must continue to be built. However, considering that it will unite with Avarosa in the future, Demacia’s focus is not here.
Under the comprehensive consideration of these two aspects, the construction of Yiming City can continue, but the progress may slow down. His Majesty, the administrative power of Demacia, must transfer personnel to Fosbyro to use it as a forward base.
Lux, whose arrangement was disrupted, finally realized that he still missed some considerations when executing the strategy.
Although the plan was well made, when he was busy executing it, he relaxed the collection of information - this was certainly due to the difficulty in collecting intelligence on Noxus and the geographical isolation of the two sides, but also because he sincerely looked down on Noxus.
It is not too late to make up for the loss. It is not too late to transfer personnel from the intelligence team and add some diplomats. It is still not too late to find any reason to go to Noxus and collect local intelligence.
Lux did not expect these temporarily assigned intelligence team members to understand Noxus's strategic arrangements. He only asked them to send back Noxus's confirmation dynamics as soon as possible to reduce the delay as much as possible.
Although Demacia would not send an ambassador to Noxus for some political reasons, someone still had to do the work similar to that of an ambassador.
In this way, a delegation soon set out from Demacia, under the name of art exchange, and rushed to Noxus with many professionals from the intelligence team.
Then, what Lux never expected was that a month later, the delegation sent back a message that surprised her greatly.
"Noxus assembled a large army to go north, and unearthed Kugur to Freljord."
Wait, the Noxians' goal of assembling an army is not the Overwatch League?
They went to Freljord?
When Lux received the news, she was a little confused. She and Ino personally calculated the code and confirmed that there were no omissions in the intelligence. Moreover, according to the intelligence, Noxus dispatched a large army, and the matter should not be concealed, and there was no need to forge it.
So, the Noxians had previously purchased strategic materials in large quantities, which once raised the international price of strategic materials, but the goal was to go north to Freljord?
What are they doing?
Lux tried to put herself in the Noxian perspective, but no matter how she put herself in, she couldn't understand it - even if she thought about it for three days and three nights, she couldn't understand why the Noxians were willing to spend such a huge price to gradually collect supplies and then run to Freljord.
What are they doing, going to watch the direwolves?
Obviously, Lux didn't know what happened in the Delverhold - the destruction of the Delverhold itself was manipulated by Lissandra. For outsiders, they only knew that "the Ironthorn Mountains were filled with smoke, and later they heard that the Noxian army entered the Ironthorn Mountains", and they didn't know that there was a deal between the Frost Witch and Noxus.
So, no matter how wildly they thought, no one would think that Noxus's target was actually the Freljord people, and no one would guess that they wanted to exchange for the 200,000 skilled miners in the hands of the Frost Witch.
At this moment, Lux, who was in Yiming City, finally felt the trouble of the shadow of war. She had many doubts and puzzles in her heart, but due to the lack of effective information, she could not make an accurate judgment at all, and everything could only be based on guesswork.
If the object of speculation is rational and logical, then subsequent related issues can continue to be judged, but if things become strange or chaotic due to the introduction of some unknown variables, then relying solely on speculation will lead to misjudgment.
This point was reflected at the beginning of the construction of Yiming City. According to the information requested by the Overwatch League messenger, coupled with the estimation of the Noxus economy, from Lux's perspective, Noxus should now strengthen its internal economic construction.
Following this line of thought, it is not difficult to think that using force to take back the Overwatch League to the south can allow Noxus to share a share in the increasingly prosperous maritime trade. This not only meets the Overwatch League's request for help, but also meets the interests of Noxus. Therefore, Lux formulated a complete eastward strategy based on this.
As a result, when specific intelligence came, everything was different.
Not only did the Noxians not go south, but they also hoarded supplies at high prices like crazy and ran to Freljord. Lux could never think of what benefits the Noxians could get from running to Freljord.
In the entire Freljord, only the Raxtak Plains can be considered somewhat fertile... Wait, Raxtak Plains? !
Thinking of this place, Lux suddenly felt a chill in his heart.
Could it be that the Noxians' goal is the Raxtak Plains?
With the Noxian Empire falling apart, the Noxian economy close to collapse, and the existing Noxian territory barren of resources, if Noxus can gain a foothold in the Raxtak Plains, the most fertile in the Freljord, perhaps they can embark on an alternative journey of conquest?
Or, is the Noxians' northward journey not only for conquest, but also, like himself, related to the Howling Abyss and the Frost Witch?
In Lux's past cognition, Noxus and the Frost Witch were two completely unrelated things.
But because of the keyword "Lakstak", they were put together and a subtle connection appeared - considering that the Avarosa tribe's attitude towards Lissandra is undisguised hostility, then, will the evil witch who never hesitates to send her minions to interfere, just sit there and wait for death?
Avarosa can form an alliance with Demacia, so can't she form an alliance with Noxus?
Considering that until now, no specific information about the Delverhold has been leaked, does this mean that the fall of the Delverhold is an action of cooperation between the two sides to destroy the Ironthorn Kingdom?
At this moment, Lux finally had some subtle enlightenment. She had always thought that she had stood very high, but now it seems that it was not high enough.
Thinking of this, she gave orders without hesitation to draw the second and third special intelligence groups, one to keep an eye on Tukugul and the other to investigate the Delverhold.
The information delay caused by the distance, after estimating the time required for intelligence transmission, she judged that she did not have time to wait for the specific actions of the two special intelligence groups before starting to prepare.
After confirming the urgency of the time, Lux simply ordered to use the unfinished Yiming City and Greentooth Peak military camp as bases to start accumulating supplies and hoarding troops, and sent envoys to carry out diplomatic activities, so as to prepare for the direct march to Tukugul!
This decision was a bit risky.
But after estimating the gains and losses, Lux thought that this time it was necessary to take a risk - if Noxus did not join forces with Lissandra as she judged, the consequence would at most be a waste of supplies and manpower, plus the loss of Demacia's political credit.
However, if Noxus's target was really Laxtak, then this adventure would bring rich rewards and completely cut off Lissandra's reinforcements!
This kind of adventure... is very worthwhile!
……………………
Lux obviously did not guess the whole truth of the Delverburg incident.
But at least she got a conclusion that was closer to the facts.
The fog of war was still there, but as the Noxians began their own big moves that could not be hidden, the tip of the iceberg of a conspiracy had already been revealed under the fog.
Her decision to gather troops and stockpile supplies was decisive, because almost at the same time she made this decision, Ashe in Rakstak City received news that Lake Maurer was attacked by raiders.
Raiders from East Freljord formed a coalition and attacked settlements along Lake Maurer in the summer, which was very unusual. Many tribes suffered heavy losses.
Although there is no evidence that this incident is related to Lissandra, Ashe, who has experienced the Trial of Anivia, believes that this must be the work of the Frost Witch. After all, there is a lot of evidence to prove that the raiders in East Freljord have a very close relationship with the Frostguard tribe.
Ashe, who received the help information, immediately issued an order requiring the tribes along Lake Maurer to migrate westward and gather in the city of Folkarodna for defense. This city is the eastern gate of the Rakstak Plain. Although its danger is not as great as the Neuskara Pass, it is also a rare strong city fortress in Freljord.
Determined that this was Lissandra's attempt to disperse Avarosa's military power, Ashe decided to have the tribe shrink its forces, defend key areas, and prepare for the subsequent eastward advance of Avarosa's army.
Ashe knew very well that fighting those looters on the plains would inevitably cause Avarosa's army to fall into a quagmire and be unable to extricate themselves. When the enemy took the initiative to attack, the best way was to rely on the city fortress for defense!
As for the temporarily abandoned hunting grounds...
That could only be regarded as a necessary price.
Ashe's judgment was relatively accurate. If she hurriedly sent out mobile troops to rescue the tribesmen harassed by the looters, she would probably soon be attacked by the elite Frostguard warriors and Frostguard priests. With Lissandra's help, such a reckless attack could easily turn into a suicide attack that would send people to their deaths.
However, even if Ashe's judgment was correct, Lissandra also prepared a back-up plan - when the Avarosa tribe retreated to the city of Fokarodna, the Noxian army officially passed through Tuk'gul and entered the Freljord.
The looters, who were mainly cavalry and came and went like the wind, did not have any ability to attack the city.
But the Noxians did.
It is early summer, the mildest time of the year in Freljord. The Noxian army, which went north through the Tuk'gul area and then turned west, did not show any signs of acclimatization.
Although the commander of the army is the unreliable Draven, most of the warbands he leads have been through hundreds of battles. Even the new recruits have been trained by Darius and have a very reliable discipline.
Compared with the looters, the biggest advantage of this Noxian army lies in its extraordinary ability to attack.
Although the Noxians completely despise the city defense level of Freljord, because Darius has consistently followed the Noxian territorial expansion ideas, this army is equipped with a considerable number of engineers whose task is to build permanent fortifications in addition to combat personnel.
The daily training of these engineers is mainly construction, but if necessary, they can also pick up tools and temporarily build various siege equipment for Noxus. The giant adult earth dragon lizards that are dispatched with the army to carry supplies can also be used to ram the city walls when necessary.
If there is really a Freljord city blocking the road, with these engineers, the Noxian army will send them to the sky in a minute. Even after taking the city, they can bargain and see if they can get something from Lissandra in return!
In this way, when Ashe thought that the situation in the east would stabilize and she could gather the army to defeat the looters in one fell swoop, the news that Folkarodna was under siege and the city's defense was in danger was sent back to the city of Laxtak.
After receiving the news, Ashe was finally a little confused.
How could this happen?
The temperature has dropped, everyone should take care of their health.