This situation made Gustav and the Prime Minister very scared, and all of a sudden their initial anger at Caitlin for bursting the bubble turned into gratitude.
If this situation continued for a few months, it was unknown how much supplies the empire would have left. Caitlin, who was rewarded, was not very happy. She packed Marcy's luggage and Marcy set off on his journey early the next morning with the Collifers and Caitlin seeing him off.
Her silence did not mean Gustav's silence. The old man gritted his teeth and secretly checked those who resold the supplies. All those with problems were arrested and thrown into the cannon fodder camp.
In order to prevent the domestic situation from becoming more serious, Gustav gave an order and the imperial army marched out of the country in a mighty manner.
Sitting under the Tree of Life, he ended his practice when he felt someone coming. Evelyn walked towards him in a hurry. Maybe it was the advantage of being young, but the fact that Evelyn was pregnant again made the three old men very happy.
"Lin, the empire has sent troops. The queen and the prime minister are already waiting for you at the White Tower." Looking up at the Forest of Life, Xingchen was holding Evelyn's hand and walking out of the barrier.
Lin Xingchen, who was too lazy to walk, teleported to the venue directly through space magic. Seeing that most people were there, Lin Xingchen apologized and sat in his seat.
"Everyone, the Empire has already sent troops. Although it is a little later than we expected, it is still within an acceptable range. I wonder what ideas you have this time. You might as well raise them now." Queen Lydia opened the meeting.
"Your Majesty, we have been preparing for six years. We have been looking forward to this day all the time. We hope that Your Majesty can stabilize the rear for us by then. We must win this war." The Duke of Leicester was the first to stand up and express his opinion.
Everyone has also expressed their opinions one after another. In general, we must win the battle but also not allow our own development to be restricted.
"You are all pillars of the country, and please rest assured that there will be no problems in the rear while you are fighting the enemy. Whoever dares to delay the war, I will kill his entire family!" Lydia said these harsh words with gritted teeth.
"Your Majesty, the current situation can only be beneficial if everyone works together. I also believe that you will not do those stupid things. We have already prepared for many things. We might as well discuss how to fight this time." Lin Xingchen felt a headache watching them going back and forth, so he ended the topic directly.
"Yes... What the Duke of Xingchen said makes sense. Let's talk about how to fight!" The queen quickly changed the subject. She has been under a lot of pressure in recent years. Now that victory or defeat depends on this, she can't help but say a few more words sometimes.
"Your Majesty, my colleagues, I still recommend Albert as our supreme commander! If you have any suitable candidates, please speak up as soon as possible." Lin Xingchen directly threw out his ideas so that he could make plans early and finish them early.
Everyone also recognized Albert's ability. Over the years, as the governor of Kurma, he had arranged all military affairs, from troop training to garrison deployment, in an orderly manner.
"Sir Albert's ability is obvious to all, and I agree that he should be the supreme commander." It would naturally be boring now that the queen had spoken.
After kicking Albert under the table, he thanked the Queen with a flushed face and also thanked everyone present one by one.
Now that the person in charge has been decided, it is natural to start allocating resources. Under his plan, each of the five dukes of the empire has a task, and he has made the most detailed arrangements for each task. It can be seen that he already had a plan on how to fight this war.
"Your current assignment is just a plan. Wars are always changing. If there are any changes, I will send a letter through the magic butterfly. I hope we can work together to defeat the empire." Albert was not at all nervous when talking about these things. All the nobles nodded one by one under his command.
Lin Xingchen's mission was relatively simple. During the second invasion of the Empire, he led the magic army to harass everywhere and made great contributions to winning the war. This time, he also received the mission to lead everyone to fight guerrilla warfare.
According to Albert's deployment, this time he will not rely solely on the city's defense, but plans to have a real collision with the empire.
His idea was very simple. He would test the Empire on the grassland to compare his own strength. If he had the upper hand, he would directly defeat the Empire on the grassland.
If they are defeated, they will need Lin Xingchen's magic army to escort them back to Maple Leaf Territory to wait for the attack. It's a good idea and it's very feasible. The tasks of the other four dukes will be a bit cumbersome. Griffin will be stationed in his Bell Province for support.
If the field battle is won, he will lead his 200,000 troops to attack the right side of the empire from the side, and the George family will be on standby for support for the same reason.
Hill and Leicester, the Duke, will lead their troops from the edge and make a detour to the rear of the empire. If successful, they can not only cut off the empire's logistics transportation, but also make a gesture of encircling the empire and thus win a chance of victory on the front.
Although Kurma's army was somewhat inferior to the Empire's this time, it was well prepared. There were a total of one million troops, including 200,000 on the two wings. The Hill and Leicester families each led 50,000 troops to attempt a surprise attack, and the 500,000 on the front were all Kurma's assets.
If they win this battle, they will gain the advantage of rising, but if they lose, they will have nothing. The gap between the empire and the kingdom is revealed. This is only possible after years of annexing the surrounding areas and gaining the strength to fight now.
The advantage of the empire is that it can withstand one or two such failures, but Kurma cannot. Once such a war fails, as long as half of the regular army is destroyed, Kurma can declare itself an independent country.
However, Kurma also has several advantages. One is that it has advantages in both support and transportation when fighting on its own. It is familiar with the terrain and can mobilize all its people at critical moments. Once the empire is dragged into a war of attrition, Lin Xingchen will be able to bring down the Sharpnero Empire.
One is that although the construction of railways has not yet completed the entire country, several major lines are about to be completed. Once these railways are connected, Kurma will be at a high point in terms of military mobilization and material transportation.
Gustav was not a fool. On the contrary, he understood the gap very well. That was why he sent troops to test Maple Leaf for the second time. When Maple Leaf blocked the attack, he knew that he had to hold down Kurma, otherwise their advantage would become a disadvantage.
It is said that everything needs to be settled by the army. The two sides started fighting again, which frightened the spectators around. The huge crowds scared everyone and they closed their doors.
The Empire has no interest in dealing with these guys for the time being. Kurma has now reached its limit of personnel, so they have no way of occupying it even if they take it down.
Bartlet led his army across the grassland. Six years had made him more calm. Gustav's trust in him had its limits. If he could not achieve some results this time, it would probably be the end of him.
The intelligence from the front was delivered to him. The Kurma army stationed twenty miles away from Maple Leaf Territory and was ready to fight a head-on battle with the empire.
He had studied siege warfare for six years, and now the opponent suddenly planned to counterattack. Although it made Bartlet feel uncomfortable, it was exactly what he wanted.
After discussing with his assistants, Massey's father, Marquis Angus Oliver, led an army of 50,000 and half a month's supplies to bypass Griffin's province of Belle.
Similarly, another general of the empire divided his troops when Bartlett just left the Teko Province. His mission was more important and the marching route was longer. According to Bartlett's plan, this army would make a big circle and go straight behind Kurma.
The generals of both sides knew that the frontal battle would be a stalemate that would be difficult to win quickly, and that the tactics on the sidelines, although with few personnel, could play a restraining role.
As long as your goal is achieved, the opponent won't have to worry about the rear. If the front is weakened, you will be strengthened.
Neither Bartley nor Albert's plans had anything to do with the original owner of the battlefield. The tribes on the grassland had been severely damaged since they were wiped out by Bartley six years ago.
The tribe that claimed to have 600,000 cavalrymen was reduced to less than 300,000 by Bartlet. Every household on the grassland hung white sails to represent the death of their loved ones. Such a price made the grassland people feel the pain truly, and when they heard that the empire was going to war again, they all ran away.
Danny led his team and directed the tribal herders to build tents. He stood on a mound of cow and sheep dung, gazing into the distance for a long time without saying a word.
"Danny, what are you thinking about?"
Danny came back to his senses after hearing the voice and smiled at the person who spoke: "Mother, you know what! Kurma and the Empire are fighting. I just received intelligence that they have officially started a war and the fight is very intense."
"Alas... Danny, don't think too much. What we should think about most now is how to develop our tribe rather than war. The eagle of the grassland has its wings broken and no longer has the ability to soar into the sky." The woman's words are always so concise.
"Mother, this war determines our future. This time is different from the previous times. If the Empire wins, we may really need to consider relying on the Empire.
But if Kurma wins this war, we will have another choice, one that will save our people from suffering so much."