Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 553 Strategic Shift
"What did His Majesty and the military say?" Duff hurried into the tent and grabbed Wayne, who was discussing with his staff, and demanded, "Are we really going to abandon this outpost we've worked so hard to establish and retreat south?"

Wayne nodded with some difficulty and sighed, "Yes, Floating Island No. 1 has released a large number of Lizardmen soldiers, who are rapidly occupying the entire Great Rift Valley and are currently exploring the surrounding area... If we don't evacuate now, the outpost camp will be completely exposed."

They were still conservative about the deployment of troops on Floating Island No. 1. It was not until the addition of the airship troops that the expeditionary force intuitively realized that the interior of this mobile living fortress was actually fully loaded with nearly 30,000 combat units.

Thirty thousand Demon Lizardmen, if converted proportionally... among them there are at least hundreds of Red Lizardmen who have the ability to control red light currents. The expeditionary force, lacking ammunition supplies and firepower reinforcements, is no match for them at all.

Fortunately, their current main attack direction is southeast of Isengard, towards Bellec, the northern border city closest to the Godspine Mountains. The expeditionary force's next turn direction is the Emerald Oasis in the northwest. They will arrive there and work with the followers of the Stoneheart Hermitage to protect the "rootless people" living in the oasis area and migrate south, finally crossing the border of Daeus and entering the territory of Saint Varen.

Dave rested his hands on the table and said indignantly, "Those cowards in the military must have influenced your majesty's judgment. We could have reorganized our offensive and tried to deliver another devastating blow to Floating Island Number One!"

The long-distance teleportation array has been built, and the airships and high-explosive bombs have also been successfully delivered... Why not take this opportunity to send reinforcements, directly deploy the heavy ground firepower they rely on most, and have a large-scale ground battle with these alien insects in an open and dignified manner.

"Because Your Majesty doesn't want to play the tactic of exchanging pieces with the Demon Lizardmen!" The Eye of Illusion lifted the tent curtain and walked in with a smile. "A war of attrition is not the best option for us. The lives of our soldiers are far more valuable than the combat units spawned in bulk by the Demon Lizardmen. Until we are sure of victory... it is best to hold our troops in place and accumulate more manpower."

The people of the border tribes who are about to be exposed to the enemy's butcher knife are the living force they need.

"So we're just going to run away in disgrace?" Dave's eyes widened, still feeling unable to swallow this humiliation.

The Eye of Illusion curled his lips and corrected, "What do you mean by escape? Didn't His Majesty say it? This is called a strategic transfer!"

"Then... what about Bellec? It's the largest city on Isengard's northern border. Even without counting the scattered people living in the surrounding pastures, there are probably over ten thousand people. The demon lizardmen will not treat prisoners well."

The Eye of Illusion sighed, shrugged, and said helplessly, "Your Majesty has twice sent letters to Regent Andrew, who holds real power in Iron Hill City, warning him of the invasion of the Demon Lizardmen in the north, but has received no reply..."

The last time, he even bypassed the royal family of Isengard and, with the help of Earl Feigen's noble relatives, directly contacted Duke Bellec and persuaded him to find a way to organize the people in the city to evacuate to the south... but was scoffed at by the other party and regarded it as nonsense.

"They are all a bunch of short-sighted and greedy fools!" Wayne cursed with disdain, but he also knew that this was all His Majesty could do... He couldn't really ignore the cooperation agreement of the southern countries and directly declare an all-out war on Isengard, blatantly interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, right?
Well, while sending an expeditionary force to breach the border, surprise attack Highland City, and then "borrow a passage" all the way to the Great Rift of the Divine Spine Mountains was essentially the same as declaring war, it was still under the guise of accepting refugees, which sounded good to the authorities of other neighboring countries... That newly crowned Emperor Saint Valen? He had so much grain piled up in his warehouses that it was moldering, so he just loved taking in refugees from famine and war.

Facing a powerful enemy, Harvey did not want any accidental "sparks" that were difficult to resolve to arise between the southern countries, rather than Isengard, which was in the midst of civil strife, so that they would be thrown into chaos before the Lizardmen arrived at the city.

This was the second withdrawal order Harvey had issued to the expeditionary force. Even if Wayne and others were unwilling, they had to obey the order and send the entire army to the Emerald Oasis.

…“Chiu-ga!”

An eagle, which had just set its sights on its prey, completed a perfect hunting maneuver by accelerating to dive from a height of hundreds of meters and raising its sharp claws to capture a goat. However, at the moment when it was about to grab the goat and fly away, a bullet shot from nowhere accurately pierced its neck, and the eagle suffered a tragic end with its head and body separated.

The Eye of Illusion put away the magic gun in his hand, blew a breath at the muzzle of the gun which was still smoking slightly as if to show off, and then he was choked by the smoke from the violent burning dragon flame powder and started coughing repeatedly.

"Ahem! Hahem... How's it? This is a magical weapon personally developed by His Majesty the Emperor. Even if it's used to arm a squad of a hundred men, it's more than enough to protect your entire tribe's herds and livestock... Besides, once you officially move into Saint Valen, the lands His Majesty has allocated to you will be free of frequent attacks from ferocious beasts."

A group of yellow-faced men covered in rough animal skins were stunned. They had never seen such a magical means of attack... The tribe's shamans would also hold prayer ceremonies when wild animals were active after winter, praying to the gods of the earth and mountains to protect their people and drive away the wolves. However, the effectiveness had to be judged based on the sacrifices offered in each ceremony. Most of the time, the gods would not respond.

However, this group of strange soldiers, who were introduced by the followers of the Stoneheart Priory, wiped out the mountain wolf pack that had been lingering near the oasis for several years. In less than half a day, they returned to the tribal base with a mountain of wolf heads.

And the mounts under their crotches that make terrible roaring sounds are not only made of steel...but their speed is comparable to the swiftest four-eared leopard in the desert, and they are obviously not living creatures!
Long before the large group of these weirdos arrived, Priest Hughes of the Stoneheart Priory had already visited in advance and persuaded the leaders of several nearby small tribes, encouraging them to lead their entire tribes to migrate south, completely escape the gradually drying up Emerald Oasis, and avoid the foreign enemies who were about to invade.

"Elder Hughes is an old friend of ours. The Oasis Tribe has always placed their unconditional trust in him. Highland City is hundreds of miles away from the northern desert. He's willing to go to great lengths to come and warn us. We certainly won't let him down."

Zhuo Ao, the tribe leader, stroked the string of sharp wolf fangs hanging on his chest and pondered for a long time before speaking slowly.

"But... if we were to ask our entire tribe to migrate south, evacuate Isengard, and go to a more distant foreign land, I'm afraid the vast majority of them would be unwilling... Rootless people are used to freedom and cannot serve as docile lambs in the Emperor's fold."

Old Hughes was stunned for a moment, then said awkwardly, "Chief Zhuo Ao... didn't you promise me that you would agree to unite with the oasis tribes and migrate out of the Emerald Oasis? Why..."

Why did he suddenly change his mind when the real owner came to pick someone up?

A tall, muscular young man stood beside Zhuo Ao, interrupting Old Hughes with a stern look. "We believe the intelligence Elder Hughes has provided. The elderly, the weak, the women, and the children of the tribe will evacuate south with the herds, temporarily seeking refuge in the mountainous areas of the southern border where other rootless peoples live. But the men will not retreat... We will remain in the oasis and fight these rumored powerful and terrifying alien enemies to the end. Once we have completely driven them out of the northern desert, we will return home and continue our lives."

He paused, glared at Wayne and the others, and said sarcastically, "Moving the whole clan to Saint Valen? Granting us fertile land for no reason? Humph... We will not be content to be despicable slaves under the crotch of the southern nobles, believing that milk and honey will flow from the sky out of thin air!"

The feudal lords of Isengard were not above deceiving and cheating... or simply resorting to violence, capturing large numbers of "rootless people" as slaves, to be resold or enslaved at will.

(End of this chapter)