Matilda Augustus, one of the best children of Emperor Rosetta, is known as the flower of the high mountains of the empire and the most dazzling pearl of Aldernan.
These dazzling halos are superimposed on her extraordinary temperament, which can make many people involuntarily feel awe of her and dare not approach her.
But even so, she has her own bosom friends.
The Wendell family heir who inherited the title of General Wolf is one of them.
"We've already met Li, so we can relax," the imperial princess smiled and nodded slightly to Andersa, "Have we not seen each other for almost two years? Last time you returned to the imperial capital, I happened to go to the fief Deal with things and just miss it."
"Necessary rules must be followed." Andersa relaxed a little, but still stood up straight, with a rather meticulous look, "The last time I returned to the imperial capital... was because of the failure of the confrontation at Paramel Heights, which is really disgraceful. , when you and I meet, I'm afraid I will be a little embarrassed... "
"The confrontation at the Paramel Heights... I heard about it," Matilda in a black dress said with a little sigh, "I can't blame you all, the situation on the battlefield changes rapidly, your judgment is at least Bring almost all the soldiers back to Winter Wolf Castle."
"...It's really hard to describe." Andersa recalled that rainy night, and finally stopped with a sigh.
The members of the mission that followed Princess Matilda were quickly arranged, and each rested in Winter Wolf Castle. Matilda and Andersa left the main hall of the castle together, and they came to the high wall of the fortress. On the road, along the road patrolled by the soldiers daily, strolling along the front line in the northwest border of the empire.
The cold winter wind blew across the city wall and raised the flags hanging on the city wall, but this cold wind could not affect the powerful high-level transcendent in the slightest. Andersa, who was wearing armor and holding a sword, walked steadily outside the city wall with a serious expression, as if she was inspecting the fortress. Matilda, who was wearing a black court dress, walked silently beside her. The skirt was supposed to be completely incompatible with the cold and windy eastern region and the mottled and thick city walls, but on her body, there was no sense of disobedience at all.
The Pearl of Aldernan walked slowly on the towering walls of Winter Wolf Castle, still as elegant and majestic as walking in the palace corridor.
"You look as if you are reviewing the troops, as if you are ready to lead the knights to the battlefield at any time," Matilda glanced at Andersa next to her, and said gently, "During the border, you have always been like this? "
"This place could become a battlefield at any time," Andersa said with a serious face. "The border cannot be relaxed."
There seemed to be a hint of helplessness in Matilda's eyes. She smiled slightly and then shook her head: "Tell me about the Cecilians, tell me about your impression of them. I was ordered to go to that country, but what I am familiar with is only the past. 'Ansu'—that new empire, how different is it from Ansu?"
"Cecil... Cecil is far more dangerous than Ansu," Andersa paused for a moment, and then continued to walk forward, "Ansu is a decaying old beast. It was once powerful and beautiful. However, it has become rotten with the rigidity of its own system and internal conflicts. Although it still retains the power to fight back, as long as it drags on for a while, it will be on the verge of death;
"Cecile is a newborn beast in the flesh and blood of this old beast, and it has developed and matured far faster than we imagined. It has a very intelligent, knowledgeable and experienced ruler, and a very efficient The high bureaucracy helped him to rule. From a military standpoint only - because that's what I'm most familiar with too - Cecil's military has undergone deeper reforms than ours.
"No, this statement is not accurate, it is not a reform, because the entire war system of the Cecils has been rebuilt, I have seen their mobilization speed and execution ability, that is, the old army cannot be achieved no matter how reformed Efficiency - at this point, perhaps we only have a few legions of extraordinary people who can match it."
Matilda couldn't help slowing down, and looked at Andersa with a little surprise in her eyes: "It sounds... you are not optimistic about the situation at all?"
"I'm just stating the facts."
"... With your temperament, it is really not suitable to stay in the imperial capital," Matilda shook her head helplessly, "Just the facts you have stated frankly are enough for you to receive countless doubts and criticisms in the parliament .”
"Just playing tricks in the parliament won't increase our army," Andersa said straightforwardly. "Ansu was weak back then. That's a fact. Cecil is strong now. It's also a fact."
"... In your opinion, is Cecil already better than us?" Matilda asked suddenly.
Andersa didn't answer immediately this time, but thought for a moment before saying seriously: "I don't think so."
"Oh? This is inconsistent with your 'statement of facts' just now."
"I have been collecting their intelligence. Although the spies we placed there have been hit hard, they are still active today. With the help of these, my advisory group and I have analyzed the situation of Cecil," Andersa said. She stopped suddenly, and she looked into Matilda's eyes, with a kind of scorching heat in her eyes, "That empire is stronger than us, they are stronger in the more efficient official system and more advanced magic technology, But it takes time for these two things to transform into 'national power', and they have not yet fully completed this transformation.
"The order after the war needs to be reshaped, and a large number of officials are exhausted in this regard; a large number of people need to be appeased, the destroyed land needs to be rebuilt, and new laws need to be promoted; the rapid expansion of the land and the relatively small military force lead them to send a large number of soldiers. It is used to maintain domestic stability, and the newly trained troops have not had time to form combat effectiveness—even if the magic equipment is easy to operate, soldiers still need a learning and familiarization process;
"They have relatively advanced magic technology, but those blueprints can only be lined up in the factory, because the ore cannot be mined in a short while, and the steel cannot be turned into a machine in an instant. Their emperor set up a new school, But how many students can be trained at the same time, and how many of these students can be successfully transformed into workers, officials and soldiers
"In the Paramer Heights, a war fortress blocked our knights. We once thought it was a trap prepared by the Cecils, but later intelligence showed that the war fortress arrived in the Paramer Heights The time may be less than an hour earlier than ours! Before that, Changfeng Fortress simply didn't have enough soldiers, nor did they have enough 'Skyfire Devices'!"
An Desha said a lot in one breath, but Matilda just listened quietly and seriously, without interrupting her friend. She didn't speak until Andesa stopped, "So, what is your conclusion?"
"The Cecil Empire is still weaker than us now, because we have professional superhumans several times as many as them, and we have superhuman armed forces, griffin legions, mages and knights that have been stockpiled for decades. These things can be fought against, and even Defeat those magical machines.
"But it takes us more than ten years to train a mage, and it can't be replenished in a short time after death. It only takes a moment for them to produce a machine, and the soldiers who operate the machine only need months or even weeks of training. Last time they only sent out A 'fortress of war', but I doubt very much, their second fortress of war is probably coming out of the factory! And do we have a second Knights of the Iron River
"As I said just now, Cecil's advantage lies in their magic technology and the system known as the 'government office', and these two things cannot be immediately converted into national strength, but this also means that, Once these two things are converted into national power, we will have no chance!"
Andersa's tone gradually became agitated.
In the cold winter wind, on the centuries-old walls of Winter Wolf Castle, the young female general in charge of the Winter Wolf Legion clenched her fists tightly, as if trying to grasp a passing opportunity, as if trying to remind The heir of the royal family in front of her made her and the royal family behind her notice the crisis that was brewing. Don't wait until the last chance is missed to feel that it is too late to regret.
"I have already written to His Majesty the Emperor and clarified my point of view to the noble council in Aldernan," Andersa said hurriedly, "Cecil is very dangerous to the empire, very very dangerous, I I can feel, I can feel that they are actually still preparing for war. Although they have been sending out seemingly peaceful signals, the changes in Longfeng Fortress are obvious to all on the border. I think the various things they are doing now Actions—whether it is to increase commercial circulation, or establish embassies, exchange students, railway cooperation, investment plans, there are problems in it... ”
This time, before Andesa became more excited, Matilda suddenly interrupted her friend: "I understand, Andesa, I understand what you mean."
Andersa stopped, and she finally noticed the deep meaning in the expression on Matilda's face.
Solemn yet somewhat helpless.
"Magic technology and the government office will rapidly increase Cecil's national strength, so they will soon become an exceptionally powerful enemy, and now may be our last chance to eliminate this enemy—otherwise, if we maintain the current development The direction, every day of delay, this chance will be slimmed down—this is what you want to say."
Andersa nodded slowly: "... yes."
"In Aldernan, similar conclusions have already been sent to the desk in Obsidian Palace."
Andersa looked at Matilda in astonishment.
"I wonder who came to the same conclusion as you?" Matilda looked at her long-time friend quietly, as if with a little sigh, "It's the aristocratic council that you call 'talking' and the royal family. Directly under the Advisory Group.
"The time to draw conclusions was three days after you last left Aldernan.
"Andersa, there are many more advisory groups in the imperial capital than here, and the gentlemen and ladies in the council are not fools—under the triple spire of the noble council, there may be selfish people, but there are absolutely no stupid and mediocre ones." people."
Andersa's eyes widened.
Facing the truth that surprised her, she didn't feel embarrassed or ashamed, because before these emotions spread, the first thing she thought of was a question: "But... why..."
"It's late, for this reason," Matilda said quietly, "the situation is no longer allowed."
Andersa couldn't help but said: "But we still occupy..."
"If there were only two countries in the world, Cecil and Typhon, the situation would be much simpler, but Andersa, Typhon's border is not the only line of defense that you guard at Winter Wolf Castle," Matilda interrupted again In the words of Andersa, "We missed that maybe the only chance, after you left Aldernan, maybe even after you evacuated the Paramer Heights, we have lost the ability to easily defeat Cecil Opportunity.
"Now, even if we still have the upper hand, we will definitely be bitten to pieces by those steel machines after being involved in the war.
"And in the south, the relationship between Gaoling Kingdom and us is not good, and there are silver elves... Don't you think that those elves living in the forest love art and love peace as well?"
Andersa fell silent.
She is just one of the frontier generals of the empire, and she is able to sniff out some international trends, which is actually better than many people.
But she could only see part of it after all, the long border of the entire empire was too wide for her.
Beside her, Matilda said slowly: "We are no longer the only powerful empire in the human world, and there are no weak city-states and alien groups around us that we can annex, my royal father, and you His father, as well as members and advisors, are carefully sorting out the foreign policy of the Typhon Empire over the past hundred years, the current international situation, and some mistakes we have made, and are looking for ways to make up for it, and are responsible for contacting the Gaoling Kingdom The Earl of Hallmark is working hard on this—he went to the Blue Rock Hills to negotiate, not just to do business with the Highmountain Kingdom and the elves."
The city wall was quiet for a while, only the howling wind rolled up the flags, agitating endlessly behind them.
Matilda broke the silence: "Now, you should understand the meaning of me and the mission I lead, right?"
"Sorry, Matilda," Andersa breathed out, "I oversimplified some things."
"Never mind—as a wolf general, you're just doing what you're supposed to do."
Andersa nodded, but her face looked very ugly.
"What's wrong?" Matilda couldn't help being a little concerned, "What did you think of?"
"It's nothing," Andersa sighed, "the embarrassment... came up."