On the second day after returning to Border Town Castle, Iron Axe brought all the information he had interrogated.
"These people are just Tifeko's advance troops?" Roland asked with a frown.
"Indeed, Your Highness," Iron Axe nodded. "As you guessed before, dispatching militia troops one after another to attack the western border is Timothy Wimbledon's combat strategy. In addition to the western border, he also Use the same method to deal with Garcia Wimbledon in Clearwater Harbor."
"Are they all civilians?"
"Not all, there are criminals, there are rats, and the most are refugees from all over the world." He replied, "According to the enemy knights, after Tifeko conscripted these people by force, he first made some verbal promises to stabilize them. Live with them and take their first pills. That way, they have to be in control of Tifeko and want more pills to ease their pain and cravings."
"But they don't know that once the pills are swallowed, there is no possibility of treatment," Roland sighed deeply. "More pills are just delaying the death."
"Yes, Your Highness. Tifeko 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 identity and reward he promised."
"What is the purpose of this team?" Roland asked.
"Frontier Town," Iron Axe replied quickly, "because Sir Vincent, who was already killed in action, believed that the town had no walls and that it would be easier to achieve the goal of a war of attrition. He estimated that a thousand militiamen who swallowed pills could be exchanged for about three thousand. This will be a heavy blow to Frontier Town. But…”
"But what?"
"Snake also confessed that Tifek gave them another task, which is to divide the militia into several groups to attack the town, to ensure their own safety, and to observe your response and combat effectiveness. I think... He should have noticed There was no problem with the leader knight returning from the last attack."
"No one has returned this time," the prince shrugged. "Since it is an advance troop for consumption, do these two know about Tifeko's follow-up attack plan?"
"Not much is known, but the scale will be much larger than the previous two attacks."
Roland hated his teeth all of a sudden, this is all living labor, just to be consumed as cannon fodder in such waves? Even if he defeated the enemy unscathed, it was still a tragic victory. Rather than defending against Tifeko's attack, he is more important to stop this meaningless war. Otherwise, after reunifying Greycastle, how long will he have to wait for the population to flourish again
"After the Devil's Moon comes, the entire western land road will be covered by heavy snow, and the large army will be unable to move an inch. If it is transported by ship, the queue will be dragged for a long time. "So if he wants to launch this round of offensive this year, he must act before the winter snow comes. The scavenging of the population will be earlier, at least the recruitment of the militia must be completed before winter."
"You're going to..."
Roland closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and then said, "I want to delay this war."
"Send an envoy to him or hand over a diplomatic letter? I'm afraid Tifek Wimbledon will not do what you want." Iron Axe said in a deep voice.
"No, that's not very useful," he said slowly, "I want the opponent to dispel the idea of attacking, one is to reduce the population he can loot, and the other is to make him realize that the war of attrition is of little significance, and it will have a negative impact on the Western Region. I am afraid. I originally planned to let Barov arrange for his men to spread the news of the western frontier and attract the poor people outside the city to go there on their own, but now it seems that the effect is too slow and the measures are too conservative. If you take them away, you must take the initiative to contact and recruit them like the last trip to the royal capital. The most important thing is the southern border, which has suffered many wars, and the second is the northern kingdom of the kingdom. It is estimated that the first army needs to be dispatched to carry out."
"If it's just recruiting, a team of fifty people is enough," Iron Axe continued without hesitation. "After all, it's not around the city, and there's no need to worry about confronting the enemy head-on."
"I'll talk to you about the specific plan when I think about it," Roland nodded.
There must be a main force guarding the border town, and the team sent out must return to the town before the month of demons. In addition, there are the golden dragon and food issues: a more active recruitment policy will naturally bring back more population, but the cost will also increase exponentially. The previous plan was relatively cost-effective, but now it has a strong purpose. How to implement it should 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 Tifeko can roughly know that the battle process is futile like this, and he should not try again and again."
"But our artillery fighting methods will also be exposed at the same time." Iron Axe worried.
"It's not much exposed," Roland tapped lightly on the table. "Except for long-range strikes and amazing power, he can't understand the principles, let alone make them." As long as the production level remains in this era, even if he knows it, he can't fight it. , this is the overwhelming advantage of hot weapons over cold weapons, and will not be reversed by 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 the letter in advance, and then raid the capital on that day." The prince said word by word.
"..." Tie Axe couldn't help but open his mouth wide. After a while, he came back to his senses, and saluted solemnly, "As long as it is your order, I will swear to death!"
"Relax, I didn't want you to die," Roland smiled. "This plan does not require the participation of the First Army, but is carried out by witches."
How can I make Tifeko feel jealous of Xijing? He reckoned that nothing could shock the opponent more than hitting the palace directly. As long as Tifeko realizes that he is not safe, I am afraid that any plan to send troops will be reduced by three points.
Roland's plan came from the air-dropped flyers of later generations. In addition to dropping the flyers, he also planned to send two aerial bombs to Tifeko. The so-called raid was a blow that fell from the sky, and the possibility of directly killing the new king was slim. However, as long as it acts as a deterrent, it is considered a successful operation.
In this way, it is difficult to judge whether the other party will insist on launching a large-scale attack.
Roland clearly realized that the pattern of this battle for the king 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, stand on the political stage of Graycastle step by step, and let the people of the kingdom notice their existence.
It is useless to get a kingdom with corpses and ruins. He hopes that through this declaration, more people can go to the Western Region and stand beside him.
As the sun fell into the mountains, Roland pushed open the window of his office. The evening wind blowing in the face was no longer scorching hot, but brought a hint of coolness.
Autumn is here. (., Your support is my biggest motivation.)