Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 596 Victory Day (End of this Volume)
Three days later, Spark Weekly suddenly published a supplement, which used two-thirds of the page to publish the heroic deeds of the soldiers who died in the Battle of Great Bear Lake, and used brief text to show the public the origins and life stories of these soldiers.

Their funerals were held in a low-key manner within the army, and their ashes after cremation were buried in the Heroes Cemetery outside the South Gate City as usual, for their comrades and families to pay their respects privately.

More local people who knew about their achievements spontaneously went to the Heroes Monument in front of the New Federation Building to observe a moment of silence. For a time, the entire square was crowded with people, and flowers were blooming under the towering obelisk.

Ross, who had just finished his shift at the General Staff Headquarters, bought a bouquet of white flowers from a vendor in the market area, changed into a brand new, neat military civilian uniform, and walked through the inner city slowly towards the Heroes Monument.

"Lieutenant Ross?" A familiar voice suddenly called him.

Ross subconsciously turned around and found two young officers, also holding white flowers in their hands, walking towards him side by side. They were also wearing the same staff officer uniform.

"Lieutenant Ivan? Are you also taking advantage of the day off to pay your respects to the fallen soldiers?" Although they did not work in the same staff group, Ross had heard of this unusually active academic officer and nodded in greeting.

Ivan nodded and introduced his colleagues to him. "This is Lieutenant Dickinson. He serves in the General Staff like us. I don't think you've met him before, have you?"

Ross looked him over politely, and for some reason, he felt familiar. He was about to ask when he was interrupted, "We've met before. Five years ago, at the Royal Tournament in the old capital... Jinhui City, Lord Ross challenged three noble knights from Black Mountain Port, a truly remarkable feat."

"Oh! You are... you are the chief knight Di..." Ross suddenly realized and immediately recalled the approving look given to him by the tall and straight knight in silver armor beside the throne when he received the sash and award from the former Majesty after winning the competition.

Dickinson smiled politely, waved his hand to interrupt Ross's pleasantries, and sighed, "There's no need to talk about the past. Now we are just colleagues working together."

Ivan laughed when he saw that the two were old acquaintances. "Let's go to the monument together. If we're any later, we might not be able to squeeze in."

After all, it was approaching noon, and the upcoming Victory Day celebrations would be held in Monument Square. It wouldn't be long before soldiers from the Defense Forces would rush there and gradually begin the task of clearing the area.

"I heard that a play directed by Minister of Culture Ash will be performed publicly in Monument Square tonight... After the celebration, do you two plan to stay and watch it?" Ross subconsciously took the initiative to find a topic.

Ivan raised an eyebrow and pressed, "Is it the play called 'The Hero's Path'? I remember it was based on the story of the Northern Army's expedition to Isengard. Hehe... This military operation was the subject of in-depth strategic planning by our department. We know the details by heart, and we probably understand them better than the actors."

Dickinson shrugged upon hearing this and said calmly, "Yes, the subsequent work involving the migration and accommodation of the borderland tribes will be personally handled by my team."

Although military staff officers generally do not hold high ranks, the matters they handle often involve confidentiality regulations. Unless they bring it up themselves, even colleagues from different departments will not ask in depth.

Just like Ivan and the others would not take the initiative to ask Ross about his specific work tasks at the Ice Sea Base.

Therefore, Ross wisely changed the subject and said with a smile, "I heard that those rootless people who migrated en masse to Fengyuan City are very enthusiastic about joining the army. The people at the Fengyuan City Recruiting Office must be grinning from ear to ear about this, right?"

Dickinson was silent for a moment before he answered carefully, "The enthusiasm is indeed very high, but unfortunately the literacy rate is ridiculously low. Without a long period of literacy learning, it is impossible to meet the army's recruitment standards." Ever since His Majesty the United Kingdom issued a mobilization order to fight against foreign races, the work of recruiting soldiers has been like a bottomless pit that can never be filled. From the royal capital to the many administrative cities and rural towns in the south, recruiting officers can be seen almost everywhere. These guys holding loudspeakers and posting notices everywhere even go to the fields to preach passionately. Even in small villages with a population of less than a hundred households, you can see their large banners hanging at the entrance of literacy schools.

The size of the country's army expanded rapidly to a terrifying extent, but surprisingly, it did not fall into chaos with all industries declining and people living in misery because of the emperor's "warmongering" policy. It was simply a miracle.

Every once in a while, a rumbling train would bring a group of new recruits who had just undergone military training in their hometown to the royal capital. After being carefully selected and screened by the Northern Army, the remaining ones would be sent to the Defense Army for further selection, and then take the train back to the Southern Border to be stationed in other places under the deployment of the military.

The Ministry of National Defense's military budget always seems to be fully stocked, and salaries and benefits are always paid on time to officers and soldiers, regardless of their rank... Even in the days before the harvest, when the food reserves of royal families and noble lords were generally running out, the soldiers' daily sumptuous meals and training rations from the canteen were never discounted.

Native officers like Ivan seemed to think it was natural. Only traditional knights like Dickinson and Ross, who were originally from the South and grew up in the fiefdoms of noble lords, could deeply understand... This United Kingdom, which had rapidly risen from the North in a short period of time, had a profound understanding of the depth and strength of its foundation after it completely started the operation of its huge war machine.

……

The three of them chatted as they walked, and when they arrived at the Monument Square, they were unsurprisingly blocked by a crowded crowd.

The flowers they brought as condolences could only be distributed to the children playing and wandering in the crowd.

At noon, the ringing of bells throughout the city, accompanied by the sound of twelve cannons from the distant city walls, announced the official start of the Victory Day celebrations.

His Majesty the Emperor lived up to everyone's expectations and attended the ceremony. Although he only delivered a brief speech on a temporary platform in front of the monument, the cheers of the people almost ignited the sky over the city. Flowers and ribbons were thrown like raindrops, and everyone spontaneously raised their hands and waved, offering blessings and prayers for the bright future of the United Kingdom.

The following was a moment of silence ceremony, awards and commendations to soldiers going to war, public speeches by military commanders... all the procedures went smoothly and the celebrations continued until dusk.

As night fell, the drama performance that everyone had been looking forward to finally began.

As they watched the actors on the stage performing diligently and their passionate lines echoing in the audience's ears through the alchemical loudspeakers, Ross and the other two quietly stood up and left.

"We will surely achieve ultimate victory! Completely wipe out the enemy from our homeland and liberate all the millions of people who have suffered from the oppression of the nobles and the slaughter of foreigners!"

The young staff officer couldn't help but turn around and look back at the stage, his eyes fixed on the actor's raised fist through the dense crowd.

For some reason, he didn't realize that this was just a fleeting slogan or line, but rather the near future...

Ideals and goals that they will definitely achieve.

(End of this chapter)