Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 704 - 703: Tuition Fees

What are we lacking...

Andresha met the gaze of Emperor Rosetta Augustus, and in the eyes of this ruler of the Empire, she saw a profundity and calmness akin to a deep lake. This gaze made her realize that today, she was not here to plead for forgiveness or to defend herself. Her purpose here was to contribute value to the Empire.

Rosetta quietly observed Andresha.

The Winterwolf Legion faced setbacks in the recent border conflict, and the diplomatic pressure generated was borne by the emperor. The generals are expected to compile their experiences, and Duke Ferdinand Wendell will assist them in this endeavor. As for the present moment and place, the young Wolf General should be telling the ruler of the Empire how he should strengthen his army and prepare for the next conflict.

"Firstly, communication," Andresha said after a brief moment of contemplation.

"Our existing communication methods have shortcomings—the Cecil Clan’s Magical Mechanized Legion is introducing a new form of warfare. Their long-range attack strategies are diverse and flexible, allowing troops to coordinate over a vast battlefield and react swiftly. This means that the speed and extent of changes across various battlefield areas will far exceed those of the past...

"The communication Tower allows for distant communication, bridging beyond the battlefield, but it requires fixed facilities to maintain a large Array, serving only as a means of contact between fortresses; Mage’s communication spells are flexible but have a communication range of less than two kilometers, insufficient for the upcoming battlefield scale. Moreover, the casting requirements for communication spells are high, with middle-ranked Mages being scarce and those mastering communication spells typically at a commander level, unable to serve as relay communicators on the battlefield.

"The magic light cast by Signal Mages is an unobscurable communication method, albeit useful, but its application in special circumstances is limited, and we encountered just such ’special circumstances’...

"Secondly, our command system does not match our legion structure, particularly the role of advisory scholars has not been fully utilized— they should have the authority to engage in tactical formulation, not merely offer suggestions. Furthermore, there’s ineffective cooperation among advisory scholars, specifically in...

"Thirdly, we need to upgrade our equipment. Your Majesty, though it is hard to admit, we are lagging behind the Cecil Clan in terms of equipment— the Empire Corps indeed is formidable, but we have more ordinary Soldiers, and the Cecil Clan’s Magic Weapons dictate the value ordinary people can offer on the battlefield. If a vast number of ordinary Soldiers fall entirely behind the enemy in terms of weaponry, then even if the Empire Corps holds a significant advantage in a localized battlefield, we will be overpowered by the Cecil Clan on the overall battlefield...

"My reconnaissance unit has encountered Cecil scouts multiple times, and their scouts, ordinary people, managed to confront our Shadow Scouts and Reconnaissance Mages. This is a very dangerous signal..."

"The last point, which is the hardest to control, is our ’mentality,’ or rather, our handling and understanding of warfare... has limitations."

Andresha’s speech noticeably slowed when she reached the final point, indicative of the challenge in articulating despite having organized her thoughts ahead of time. Rosetta Augustus made no haste but calmly observed the young general, signaling her to proceed.

Encouraged silently by the emperor, Andresha took a gentle breath and began to explain where the Typhon Empire faltered initially and most significantly in the border conflict—

"At the beginning, the Cecil Clan had no apparent advantages. Back then, the Longwind Defense Line was practically vulnerable before the Winterwolf Legion, yet they managed to employ a deceptive tactic for a full half month, turning disadvantage into advantage. This deceptive tactic wasn’t just about putting on a show on the battlefield— over this half-month period, they executed false military movements, constructed fake fortifications, and even created fictional merchant convoys, leaking false intelligence on supplies. But what they did went far beyond this.

"Along the journey here, I learned more from my grandfather. The Cecil Clan even crafted an artificial post-war atmosphere across the entire eastern region and used changes in commercial orders to lull our royal advisors into complacency. Your Majesty, this is the most terrifying part—

"For us, war happens on the battlefield, but in the eyes of the Cecil Clan, the front-line battlefield is merely one aspect of war.

"Their market, their propaganda, their frontline Soldiers, merchants on the sidelines, even the most grassroots citizens— all their actions are part of the war, all are operating towards achieving the same goal. It’s very frightening, Your Majesty."

After Andresha finished expressing her thoughts, Rosetta Augustus fell into a brief silence, then, after several seconds, the ruler of the Empire frowned and murmured, "War is not only on the battlefield... you are right, Andresha.

"We were deceived by the Cecil Clan once, and even now, some aristocratic councilors think that those Cecil Clan’s schemes were merely a base ’trick.’ But the reality is more than this— the Cecil Clan didn’t just fabricate a lie; they orchestrated an all-encompassing illusion, from border trade orders to domestic propaganda to front-line military maneuvers. They essentially crafted an all-engulfing ’curtain,’ completely wrapping us inside it. What they perform is all we can see, even though spies stationed in the eastern region risked their lives to send out so much intelligence, even those reports were false. It is indeed very frightening, Andresha, very frightening.

"What’s even scarier is that our current provincial governor system cannot achieve a similar feat."

Rosetta finishing quietly, Duke Ferdinand only glanced at Andresha, the Duke’s eyes showing not only surprise but a trace of gratification.

People make mistakes, including those from the Wendell clan, but Andresha at least did not let those erroneous emotions interfere with her judgment as the Wolf General, or perhaps it is because of her certain obsession with the Old Anzu Kingdom that made her particularly sensitive to the Cecil Clan’s actions, connecting those seemingly scattered behaviors across different domains, analyzing them all from an adversarial perspective, and deriving conclusions most people had not thought of.

Of course, aside from this reason, her prolonged stationing at the border and long-term engagement with Longwind Fortress were also important factors in her ability to gather these conclusions.

After this, Rosetta learned many things from Andresha’s accounts, not just the changes in border region dynamics but also the internal operations of several legions and border trade progress. During this process, he invited the two generations of Wolf General from the Wendell clan to join him for lunch in his reception room until the giant sun gradually neared the horizon, marking the end of the long talk.

Today, Andresha had just returned from the border, and although powerful Order Supernatural physically does not fear such fatigue, Rosetta still let her go home to rest first, to recharge for the noble meeting tomorrow, while Duke Ferdinand was requested to stay for further discussions.

"Andresha is indeed a very perceptive child," Rosetta said blandly after the room was left with only the two of them, "She always notices what lies beneath the surface."

Duke Ferdinand bowed his head: "But this time her impulsiveness nearly ruined a major affair, Your Majesty."

"The shortcomings of youth can be compensated for with time, but sensitivity is hard to train," Rosetta said calmly, "She mentioned the ’illusion’ created by the Cecil Empire, which is actually the gap in national control between the Cecil Empire and us. What are your thoughts on this?"

"... If I may speak bluntly, Your Majesty, in my opinion, at least at this stage, the Cecil Empire as a newly established country does not exert more control over more than half of its regions compared to us. Our regional governor system has been implemented for more than a decade, whereas they still relied on the feudal lords’ oaths to maintain national integrity not long ago," Duke Ferdinand stated directly, "But if they keep developing like this, it’s only a matter of time before they surpass us in this area."

At this, the old duke paused before continuing: "As for this incident, their ability to create such a large-scale illusion in various ways demonstrated, more than their control, the effectiveness of their propaganda tools.

"A week after the Holy Spirit Plains war had just ended, information about the Cecil Legion’s great victory and the peaceful transfer of royal power was delivered via newspapers to all noble territories in their eastern regions. The common people, having no access to other news, were unaware of what happened on the Holy Spirit Plains, and the newspapers became the sole reliable source of information, being eagerly read by local aristocrats and merchants, and so... we believed the propaganda in their newspapers.

"Your Majesty, Typhon now also has newspapers, but as far as I know, they’re merely a thing for the upper affluent citizens to read, supposedly meant to play a much greater role, yet that role has been squandered.

"The Cecil Clan gave us a lesson in this area; it’s not free, so we should learn well."

Emperor Rosetta Augustus smiled slightly after hearing Duke Ferdinand’s words: "Indeed, this lesson is not cheap at all..."

As he spoke, he walked over to his desk: "It’s time to write a letter to the Emperor of Cecil. He reduced the purchase price of textiles in the new order by thirty percent; now let’s see if we can use some ink to mitigate this tuition fee a little."

Duke Ferdinand laughed: "Soon, there will be people in the council thinking we are bowing down to Cecil."

Rosetta replied with an old Typhon proverb: "To climb a peak, you must bow your head for the journey."

...

Cecil Empire, the rolling lands of the Eastern Holy Spirit Plain, around Sorinburg.

The great sun was gradually sinking, leaving only half of its giant disc hovering on the horizon, casting an orange-red glow with its mysterious wood grains and brilliant corona across the land, the light diffusing through the clouds, forming a blood-red sunset.

Clouds spread across the sky from east to west, crossing the entire firmament, and next to the war-torn Sorinburg, a temporary sentinel tower stood quietly in the sunset, with a sentinel standing vigilantly at the top, gazing in the direction of the plains west of the fortress.

The battlefield-scorched plains were riddled with craters, and a bizarre band bearing scorch marks and vibrant flower trails extended from afar, brushing past Sorinburg’s edge and stretching eastward. Around Sorinburg, several other sentinel towers rose, responding to each other, with scattered camps and makeshift houses distributed around the towers, military vehicles, and patrolling soldiers moving throughout the area, appearing to be under strict surveillance.

The sentinel moved his slightly sore neck and shoulders but kept his gaze fixed on the strictly monitored area.

He knew that was where the terrifying "Artificial God" emerged, where a gigantic fissure led underground to the dark lair of the Oblivion Association, full of hazardous mechanisms, traps, and out-of-control magic creations. Soldiers had cleared the wandering Crystal Cluster Giants in the vicinity but were at a loss against the underground lair.

The higher-ups currently lacked the manpower and energy to deal with the dark lair left by the Oblivion Association, so they could only send people to seal off the area for now, with the watchtower near Sorinburg’s western city wall being part of the blockade line.

At the designated reporting time, the sentinel activated the nearby Magic Transmission Terminal, speaking while keeping an eye on the distant plains: "Command post, this is Watchtower One, the target area is all clear..."

The sentinel suddenly stopped, tightening his gaze on the origin of the flower and scorch trail, his tone turning serious: "Hold on, something’s happening..."

There was movement from the direction of the plains, large clouds of dust rising from the fissure, as if something was emerging from the smoke, and suddenly the red-blinking lights on the tops of nearby sentinel towers lit up sequentially, and the soldiers in the camp quickly assembled.

The voice from the command post came through the Magic Transmission Terminal: "Watchtower One, respond, what’s happening?"

"Something’s coming up from the fissure..." The sentinel said in astonishment, eyes wide open, "It looks like... looks like vines... or a tree?!"