novelraw Chapter 89
Chapter 89
89~ Blueprints~
The war situation changed very quickly, so fast it gave no time for reaction. In just two months' time, they had established communication routes with the Western Region, and even brazenly set up one of them right at Scarlet Phoenix Nation's doorstep. This was clearly provocation.
What kind of confidence did they have to provoke Scarlet Phoenix Nation here? Although the specific strength of the Western Region countries wasn't clear, the Eighteen Alliance Nations were nothing but mangy dogs.
The Empress glanced briefly at the reinforcements the Western Region was willing to send, approximately fifty thousand, neither more nor less. Thirteen countries pooling together around fifty thousand troops for support was already quite good. Their own countries still needed military strength in case war suddenly broke out at home.
But what caught her attention somewhat were the mages mixed in among those fifty thousand ordinary troops. Their numbers reached a full three hundred!
Three hundred mages. She had to admit, the aid the Western Region was giving was truly substantial, but at the same time it contained risks within.
For the Western Region to dispatch so many mages for support, they definitely had a purpose. It was definitely not as simple as just wanting to get a piece of the pie in the confrontation with Scarlet Phoenix Nation!
So what were they after? Probably these rich lands and resources of the Eastern Region, right?
Between the Eastern Region and Western Region, over the past century there had been almost only small-scale private trade. Large-scale trade had only occurred two or three times, and cooperation had never happened at all.
But this didn't mean the two regions didn't understand each other. On the contrary, the two regions had sent quite a few people to each other for learning purposes. This was mainly because the Misty Great Forest in the center of the continent blocked them, and of course there were also historical reasons...
Back then, the famous historical event of Scarlet Radiance Nation's expedition against five Western Region nations also had a certain impact.
Now, the little Princess wasn't very willing to cooperate with her, so she could only handle it herself.
The target was Glaze Nation. Different from the Western Region and the Eighteen Alliance Nations, she had to protect Glaze Nation, this ally. If Glaze Nation fell, not only would her little Imperial Consort completely explode with rage, but Scarlet Phoenix Nation's series of cooperation with Glaze Nation would also be interrupted.
Cooperation with Glaze Nation could bring enormous benefits to Scarlet Phoenix Nation and accelerate her process of unifying the Eastern Region. This was something she had never thought of before, so she had to protect Glaze Nation, whether for her little Imperial Consort or for the goal of unifying the Eastern Region.
"Help me bring Mo over."
The Empress propped up her chin and instructed Ling not far away.
"Yes."
Before long, the little Princess who had been playing with cats in the bedroom arrived before the Empress.
"What do you want now?"
"Mo, I called you here today because I want to ask for your advice again."
The Empress squeezed out a smile as she spoke to her.
After glancing at the documents, she roughly knew what advice the Empress wanted to hear.
"No advice."
"I'm serious."
The Empress stared straight at her.
"I'm serious too. No advice. Do whatever you want."
The little Princess also stared straight at the Empress as she responded.
Was she kidding? This breech-loading rifled gun, whether in range or stability, far surpassed the flintlock muskets she had designed for Scarlet Phoenix Nation. As long as all of Glaze Nation's soldiers were equipped with this thing and underwent training for a period of time, wouldn't their combat power skyrocket?
Imagine the scene of accurate kills from several hundred meters away, with three rows of soldiers taking turns firing, completing one round of shooting every five to three seconds. Before the enemy even rushed to the city gates, their forces would have to suffer losses of nearly half, right?
As for mages? The effective distance at which magic could cause damage wasn't as far as rifled guns. Within accurate shooting range, they could directly concentrate fire!
Mages certainly posed a much higher threat than ordinary soldiers, but that was only limited to the Archmage and Great Archmage levels. Between Great Mage and Archmage was a watershed, an insurmountable chasm. This was also why the number of mages after reaching the Archmage level sharply decreased exponentially.
Looking at the confident little Princess, the Empress was somewhat baffled, completely unaware of where her little Imperial Consort's confidence came from.
She hated this feeling. This feeling of being unable to grasp the development of things in her own hands really made her particularly uncomfortable.
Just as she was about to directly command the little Princess to tell her the cause and effect, after thinking for a moment she immediately abandoned this idea.
Her little Imperial Consort's attitude toward her was still one of indifference. She was afraid her little Imperial Consort's attitude toward her would continue to decline to freezing point.
So she confirmed again:
"Is Mo serious?"
"Serious."
The little Princess also confirmed again.
"I'm not joking. The Western Region side has already taken action, dispatching a quite high-quality army to the Eighteen Alliance Nations, planning a major attack on Glaze Nation."
The Empress deliberately put on an extremely serious expression.
"I'm not joking either."
The little Princess responded equally seriously.
After staring into the little Princess's eyes for quite a while, seeing no sign at all of joking out of spite, she had no choice but to give up the thought of continuing to ask.
"Alright then..."
Since the little Princess said so, she had no other way. When someone wasn't worried themselves, what was the point of you repeatedly emphasizing the severity of the situation to them?
If she were to handle it, it would be a normal interception. Have part of the forces actively attack for surprise interception raids, consuming their strength as much as possible, while the remaining forces stayed within Glaze Nation's borders.
Seven armies total. Three armies defending home, one army for surprise attacks, two armies prepared within Glaze Nation's borders, one army on standby at the border between Scarlet Phoenix Nation and Glaze Nation.
At least this was the current arrangement. The battlefield was always changing rapidly. If there were no major errors, they would proceed like this. If there were changes, adjustments could be made then, no rush.
After making the arrangements, she let the little Princess go back to continue playing with cats. She herself continued staying in the Council to review memorials. However, she had barely started when she couldn't sit still anymore. She still wanted to know where the little Princess's confidence came from.
So she called for Maid Ling.
What had Princess Mo been doing recently?
Maid Ling thought about it and gave an answer:
"Princess has been frequently sending letters back to Glaze Nation recently."
"Sending letters? What about the contents?"
"The contents have already been copied. If Your Majesty wants to see them, I'll bring them over right away."
"Bring them over."
She wanted to see what contents the little Princess had been sending back.
Before long, all the copied letters were delivered to her desk in chronological order.
"Is this all?"
"This is all, Your Majesty."
After carefully reading through them one by one, she had someone investigate.
Back when the little Princess conducted the Great Purge, she had uniquely not eliminated the eyes from Scarlet Phoenix Nation. Now they could be put to use.
"Weapon blueprints..."
The Empress looked thoughtful.
"Yes, Your Majesty. The message sent back from the eyes says it's weapon blueprints, blueprints for weapons somewhat resembling flintlock muskets, but appearing more refined."
Was this her little Imperial Consort's source of confidence? According to the message sent back, this weapon was called a rifled gun, full name breech-loading rifled gun.