Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 394 Gathering before the war
The strict curfew in Jinhui City could not stop the magic network communications between the two places. Harvey's secret police quickly completed the verification and analysis of the intelligence almost as soon as they received the message.

Before dark, the sorted and collected intelligence documents were delivered to Harvey's desk.

According to the working rules of the Frontier Territory Security Bureau, top secret and urgent intelligence will be marked in red on the documents, and there will be personnel squatting in front of the magic brain 24 hours a day to receive it and submit it directly to their immediate superior, Asdalen, and then quickly notify the lord.

Intelligence documents marked in blue are generally encrypted, important, and non-urgent. They are often sorted and analyzed by intelligence personnel to determine their authenticity and content, and then sent to Harvey's study office together with work reports from other departments.

The information sent back from Jinhui City was clearly stamped with a blue seal on the file bag.

"Duke Ralph actually ran away!"

The sniper and high-level magician he sent out didn't even hurt him, but they managed to scare a Duke of Liguo out of his wits.

Harvey immediately called Pierce, Reiner and Asdalen, and pushed the information in front of them with a helpless smile.

"Tsk...you're such a coward!"

"He didn't even care about his own fiefdom, and even abandoned some of his family members as a cover to confuse the assassin. He didn't think that his attackers were still hiding in Fengyuan City for so long, did he?"

"I originally planned to attack Fengyuan City after the spring." Harvey felt that his plan was disrupted. Winter was about to end, and the Pioneer Territory was embarking on a series of important development plans. The development of the eastern basin required his personal attention, and the construction of trains and railways also needed to be closely monitored.

He originally thought that after this incident, Duke Ralph would stop and hide in his own lair for a while, and he would come to deal with him after he was done with his work. However, he did not expect that the other party would run away on his own initiative. He really did not expect this.

After reading the intelligence, Pierce said with ecstasy, "Sir, this way we don't have to wait until spring. We can take advantage of the Duke's escape with his elite personal guards. Fengyuan City must be undermanned right now. How about..."

"Simply seeking refuge in Jinhui City out of fear of death...I'm afraid that's not Duke Ralph's sole motive," Asdalen pondered for a moment before analyzing. "I suspect he'll also exaggerate the threat we pose to the principality's rear and try to persuade the Grand Duke and the Church to turn their full attention against us."

This speculation has actually been confirmed long ago. Whether it was the intelligence about the conflict between the Church and the Federation that Harvey learned from the spellcaster forum, or the large amount of trivial information collected by the secret police from the front lines of the conflict, they all clearly mentioned that the coalition forces of Saint Valen and the Church used a large number of alchemical weapons and divine equipment when fighting the Federation on the border of Daes.

The Alchemy Exploration Society, which has always stood on the side of the Federation, naturally could not sell the weapons it made to the church. Therefore, these divine tools that must be controlled by the church priests and the Inquisition Army must come from the Holy City of Goris.

This also shows that the church has been secretly accumulating strength and planning for a long time in order to restart the war of faith with the spellcasters.

"The news of the former Earl Fagan's defeat and death at your hands has long since spread throughout the duchy," said Asdalen with a disdainful chuckle. "Duke Ralph probably believes that the weapons we possess... are equally powerful as those in the hands of the Church. By summoning reinforcements from the Church, revenge for the assassination will be a piece of cake."

"It's probably for this purpose..." Harvey clapped his hands and instructed his three direct subordinates, "In that case, we should not delay any further and send troops to Fengyuan City immediately!"

"Sir, please give the order directly!" Pierce had been waiting for Harvey to speak, and immediately stood up and saluted.

"The three battalions of the Northern Army, totaling 1,500 men, will immediately enter combat readiness!" Harvey said solemnly. "Complete the main force assembly tonight and depart tomorrow morning..." He paused, then added, "You can first borrow five armored transport vessels from Sancha Town, along with ten magic-powered cannons... I'll discuss the specific logistical arrangements with Reiner later."

Each ironclad ship is equipped with two front and rear naval guns, plus ten magic-powered cannons. As long as there is sufficient supply of ammunition, the Northern Army can even bombard all the way from the Fengyuan City Pier to the doorstep of Duke Ralph's house.

"Understood! I'll go down and arrange it right away!" Pierce gave a standard chest-beating military salute, then left happily.

Now the territory army under Harvey has a total of 5,000 people. In addition to the more than 1,000 new recruits recruited for the military expansion this year, there are three battalions of internal defense forces with 1,500 people, and five battalions of external combat forces with 2,500 people.

The army's standard weapon specifications are "one long and one short" - a type 2 magic rapid-fire rifle and a magic revolver. The old models of weapons have been eliminated, and the ammunition reserves are also very sufficient. Shooting training has never stopped at the recruit training range every day.

The new type of automatic magic gun, the magic machine gun that has just been installed... coupled with the magic cannon with an extremely long shooting range, the firepower output of a battalion of 500 people alone is terrifying. It is no problem for them to fight against thousands of fearless evil orcs in the trenches of the outpost fortress.

Moreover, thanks to the popularization of literacy education in the army, the cultural level of most soldiers is far beyond that of ordinary people of this era. In addition, under the deliberate instructions of Harvey and Asdalen, the military has continuously developed a group of young officer reserves from the territory's public colleges. The "General Staff" composed of some middle and upper-level officers in the Northern Army has taken shape, and the efficiency of executing combat orders has been greatly improved.

As long as the combat order is issued by Harvey, the military will immediately assign someone to start intensively preparing for logistical support, allocating food, weapons, ammunition and other related matters based on the combat plan and the number of combatants.

For a foreign war like today's, with three battalions and 1,500 men, the logistics would be taken care of in about one night - compared to the noble lords who had to go to war in the spring and recruit knights, mercenaries, and raise weapons and food before winter, this could be called a groundbreaking high-speed war engine.

……

"Your Lordship!" The Eye of Illusion rushed into Harvey's living room with its neck stiffened almost at the time when Harvey was about to fall asleep.

"Why aren't Astrologer and I allowed to participate in this operation?" Eye of Illusion said a little excitedly, "We only went to Fengyuan City for the assassination attempt that threatened the Duke last time..."

"And... think about the noble spellcasters under Duke Ralph. They're also high-level mages who pose a significant threat to ordinary soldiers! If we hadn't intervened to contain them, the soldiers would have suffered unnecessary casualties."

Harvey rolled his eyes, having already prepared a rhetoric to silence the other party. "Duke Ralph has fled to the capital of Jinhui City, taking with him all his powerful and trusted followers, including the two high-ranking officials you mentioned!"

The Eye of Illusion immediately became dejected, muttering, "I'm a battle mage... I can't go out and fight. Staying in the territory is really... Those crazy experimenters at the Academy don't like me at all."

Seeing him pretending to be pitiful, Harvey couldn't help but complain in his heart, wondering how the astrologer could get along well with others and even join a magic experiment group.

"Don't be so discouraged. This is also what your teacher, Mr. Duncan, requested..." Harvey stood up and pushed open the window. "He's already proposed to me that he take you, the astrologer, and some spellcasters from the Academy of Sciences to explore the unknown lands further north to try to understand the details of the powerful enemy from the [Core of the Continent]."

After all, their real powerful enemy in the future... comes from the distant and unknown north.

(End of this chapter)