Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 653 The Stagnant Situation

While the abolition of currency and the issuance of new currency were in full swing throughout the kingdom, Harvey set aside his attention to these matters and turned his focus back to the lurking alien enemies in the north.

The reports sent back from the Ice Sea front had accumulated to a considerable number during this period, and I managed to review and approve them all at once during a meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of National Defense.

Since the successful destruction of the Lizardmen's third floating island in the Battle of Great Bear Lake, and the blocking of their underground passages while besieging Gareth, the enemy has hardly made any major moves in the more than one month of late spring and early summer. The second floating island, which is suspected to be the main battle fortress, has been unable to effectively expand its invading tentacles to the surrounding area due to the strict defense of the Ice Sea Base.

Using alternating cover from ground outposts and air forces, dozens of mobile combat teams composed of ordinary soldiers and bloodline warriors nimbly maneuvered across the vast, boundless icy sea, decisively intercepting and annihilating the enemies that occasionally surged out from Floating Island No. 2.

If the situation continues to develop in this way, Harvey and the General Staff believe that at most it will be delayed until the end of summer. After the strategic materials are fully allocated and the troops are assembled on the Ice Sea front, a phased counter-offensive against the No. 2 floating island can be launched.

Despite the counter-offensive plan progressing so smoothly, Xavi remained vigilant.

As a powerful alien race that once defeated humans in the origin land [the center of the continent], they were not truly deterred from showing their faces... Even with powerful magical weapons, Harvey did not believe that humans had an overwhelming advantage over the Lizardmen thanks to the natural strategic depth of the Northern Wasteland.

Intelligence gathered from numerous reconnaissance airships indicates that these skinned monsters have simply shifted their focus and are now engaged in fierce combat with hundreds or even thousands of orc tribes entrenched in the wasteland.

Inside the Ministry of Defense conference room, Pierce was giving a methodical report to Harvey, pointing to the image of the magic stone projected onto the white wall.

"The Demon Lizardmen have opened a second front between the Ice Sea Base and Great Bear Lake, crossing the wasteland to reach the Divine Ridge Mountain of Heavenly Punishment. Unfortunately... there are a large number of Evil Beastmen tribes on this front, roughly estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands."

The blurry image revealed by the image stone shows that tens of thousands of evil beastmen are engaged in a fierce battle deep in the wasteland called Leru Grand Canyon against a force of several thousand demon lizardmen accompanied by winged beings.

On the vast canyon grassland, the fearless orcs, like giant, murky yellow waves crashing against the rocks, launched wave after wave of attacks on the lizardmen positioned on the high ground, but their opponents stood firm like solid obsidian.

The throngs of people on the battlefield, visible from the air through the magic stone, were so densely packed that even the high-ranking defense officials present felt their scalps tingle.

The conch beast, as large as a two-story building, led the way, advancing slowly without any hindrance. The orcs rushed towards it one after another, only to be trampled into a bloody pulp... The crude weapons forged by these primitive tribes could not even break through the outer armor of the behemoth when they were slashed at. Even the tough hides of ordinary demon lizardmen warriors would have difficulty penetrating its defenses.

A large number of winged beings hovered in the air, taking advantage of the cover provided by the conch beasts, and launched a reckless attack on the evil orcs. The densely packed black crystal spikes and the occasional bursts of red lightning almost always reaped the lives of a large number of enemies.

Throughout the entire battle, there were no offensive or defensive roles, nor were there any fortified walls or strong defenses for tactical support; it was a purely primitive and bloody battle. Despite the sheer number of orcs, these primitive individuals were almost powerless against the stronger and more powerful demon lizardmen. Only a few priests hidden within the ranks were able to control the stitched-together corpse puppets to offer some resistance.

"No wonder they haven't made any big moves on the Ice Sea front; it turns out they've turned their attention to the indigenous people of these wastelands."

Harvey nodded, pondered for a moment, and guessed, "It seems that the Lizardman force that infiltrated into the Holy City of Goris was probably isolated and without any follow-up support. Now that the underground passage is completely blocked, they probably won't send any more troops there in vain."

“The orcs are far more numerous than the gray rabbits, the most prolific breeders on the wasteland. If these alien races intend to wipe them out first before turning their attention to us… it will probably take a long time.” Pierce assessed the situation, a clear look of delight on his face.

Without a doubt, both the orcs and the lizardmen are enemies of humanity. Allowing them to engage in a fierce battle is ideal for the Southern Humans at present, and it also allows the kingdom ample time to prepare for its counterattack.

However, the defense executives present were well aware that these native inhabitants of the wasteland could not last long at all, and were even less useful than the demons north of the western border who had been "loving and killing" humans for nearly a hundred years.

……

Of course, the orcs who dwell in the vast wilderness have always been bullies who prey on the weak and fear the strong. They would never stay put and be beaten for nothing. In the past, whether they were swept away by the demons or raided the south and were countered by humans, they always had the simple idea of ​​running away if they couldn't win. They would migrate and scatter in all directions whenever possible, and there was always a chance to find a place to settle down and reproduce again.

This also means that the Lizardmen could turn their attention back at any time, clear away the obstacles in their path, and reignite this war of annihilation.

Harvey had already anticipated this... Although the current war situation is favorable to the human race, the kingdom still needs to remain vigilant and continue its war preparations during this brief respite.

According to Harvey's plan, given the kingdom's current abundance of money and supplies, the Ministry of Defense should immediately launch a new round of military expansion, and the scope of conscription needs to be expanded again... no longer limited to the major cities and capitals throughout the kingdom, but also extending to towns and villages with similarly large populations.

The State Council, which just completed the national population census, estimates that if propaganda is carried out properly, areas outside of cities could provide at least more than three full regiments of troops, totaling nearly six thousand men.

According to the General Staff's plan, if the grassroots municipal departments under the capital city, down to the county, town and village levels, can operate smoothly, and the local government officials trained by themselves can fully take on the local management work, and gather a large number of agricultural laborers who have overflowed due to mechanized planting, the number of conscripts could even double.

As a result, the number of professional soldiers in Saint Valentine and the Northern United Kingdom will approach 30,000... This will be an unprecedentedly large military force in the entire Southern human kingdoms, enough to easily crush all neighboring countries, and even the most powerful country in the past, Orland, will find it difficult to compete with it.

(End of this chapter)