Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 658 Codename "Frozen"

The next morning, as Harvey stepped into the conference hall, Reiner, who had been waiting there, led a group of officials to stand up and bow in unison.

After gesturing for them to sit down, Harvey took his seat on the throne and asked directly, "Where is the Ministry of Defense's action plan? Bring it here..."

Pierce immediately stood up, picked up the thick stack of documents Asdaren handed him, walked to the throne on the steps, and placed it neatly on the table.

Harvey raised his hand and opened the document marked with the words "Top Secret" in large letters. While quickly reading it, he addressed the officials sitting upright below without looking up: "The troop assembly and supply allocation at the Ice Sea front are about to be completed. The phased counter-offensive against the floating island of the Demon Lizardmen's main fortress... is about to begin!"

The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. All the kingdom's high officials held their breath, listening intently as Harvey began this long meeting.

"As for why I am so determined to fight these alien enemies in the desolate ice sea nearly a thousand miles away from the kingdom... I believe most of you here will no longer find it hard to understand."

"You only need to remember that keeping the enemy outside our borders, keeping them thousands of miles away, will be the strategy this newly formed kingdom will always adhere to. Unless absolutely necessary and in dire circumstances, we must never allow even the slightest bit of war to spread to our homeland," Harvey said resolutely. "To achieve this goal, it is not enough to rely solely on the army traveling thousands of miles abroad to fight. Once war breaks out, I require every department and institution in the kingdom, from top to bottom, every official and staff member who receives a salary from the state, to be on high alert, to always pay close attention to the situation and circumstances of the war, and to cooperate unconditionally and closely to jointly overcome all difficulties and obstacles!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the officials below responded in unison.

"Also... for this year's year-end assessment, I will add a separate evaluation for this counter-offensive campaign." Harvey closed the document, winked at the officials whose expressions suddenly froze, and chuckled, "So, you all must perform well, and don't let me think that some of you are just mediocre people who only shout slogans and profess loyalty."

……

After saying that, Harvey turned to Pierce and Asdaren, "The next meeting topic is up to you. Explain in detail the strategic guidelines and specific implementation of this counter-offensive."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Asdaren and Pierce stood up together, walked to the map of the icy sea region that had been prepared beforehand, and each picked up a long baton.

This regional map, which is large enough to fit four conference tables, is actually only one-third of the large-scale map of the North and South territories produced by the surveying department. Centered on the Ice Sea Base, it covers almost half of the surveyable area within a thousand miles. Compared to the more detailed map of the South Territory and the wasteland map centered on the capital Starfire City with no additional towns or settlements besides the East Expansion Base, it appears particularly simple and primitive.

It's not that the surveying department was careless or perfunctory; rather, apart from a limited number of ten or so swells that erupt year-round, there are simply not many objects worth mapping and surveying in the vast ice sea. After flying an airship across the ice field for a whole day, apart from measuring distances, it's difficult to even see a single raised ice mound.

This was something Harvey had deliberately instructed the cartography department to do. Any official who saw this map, along with another map of the wasteland marked with the location of the capital, would truly realize how small the southern border, currently inhabited by humans, was—a veritable "corner of the continent," far removed from the origins of their people. Protected by the Divine Ridge Mountains, which stretch for tens of thousands of miles like an insurmountable chasm separating north and south, the humans who migrated and thrived there were indeed like frogs in a well. Therefore, Harvey hoped that his officials would not repeat the mistakes of traditional aristocratic politicians, but instead broaden their horizons and perspectives. This would greatly slow down the corruption and decadence of this newly wealthy and powerful class of the kingdom.

Pierce spoke first, before Asdaren, emphasizing the location of the Ice Sea base with his baton: "The first thing we must understand is that the upcoming counter-offensive is completely different from the battles we have experienced before. It is not a quick and decisive raid or blitzkrieg... but a long campaign that could last a year or even longer."

The Ice Sea Base is isolated in the far north ice plains, more than 900 miles from the capital. The two closest strategic support points to it are the Great Bear Lake Base, which is also located deep in the wilderness, and the Snow Mountain Base, which is located at the junction of the Earth and the Sea.

As Pierce moved his baton, everyone could clearly see that the three bases on the map seemed to coincidentally form a near-perfect triangular structure, with the Ice Sea Base at the forefront of the battle line being the protruding apex.

The vast icy sea offered no strategic locations for ambush or surprise attack. Beneath the thick ice lay a bottomless abyss, impossible to probe clearly. Even with a large number of submarines, they could not possibly ascertain how many floating islands and enemy reinforcements were hidden within.

In this passive situation, the kingdom's army and the demon lizardmen were like chess pieces placed on a flat chessboard, with almost no other options but to confront them head-on with real swords and spears.

Given their current mobile advantages on both land and air, Harvey is quite confident of winning this battle, provided that the safety of both the overt and covert supply lines can be guaranteed.

From the very beginning, in the action plan he and the General Staff formulated, they abandoned the delusion that they could achieve a surprise victory with a single battle. Instead, they focused on maintaining a realistic mindset and utilizing the kingdom's growing military manufacturing industry, as well as the continuous supply of war resources and firepower, to deploy superior forces on local battlefields and engage in a head-on confrontation with the Lizardmen.

"Considering that the enemy's main war fortress currently exposed is only the second floating island, it is only natural that we will choose to attack it first."

"If we fail to capture it after a long siege, and other floating islands take this opportunity to emerge, won't the Ice Sea Base be besieged?" As the Kingdom's chief administrator, Reiner took the lead in raising the question that everyone had in mind.

Asdaren took over the question and calmly replied, "That's why we leave some of our forces at the Big Bear Lake and Snow Mountain bases. These three bases are all within 300 miles of each other, and two airship squadrons of 500 each are enough to provide effective support to the Ice Sea front at the first opportunity."

Moreover, the magic-powered heavy artillery and anti-aircraft beams at the Ice Sea Base are not just for show. In emergencies, there is also a long-range teleportation array that can transport troops in a short time. The nearly 1,000 special forces bloodline warriors and an equal number of battle mages are not to be underestimated.

Attacking the second floating island was indeed a move to "stir up trouble," but it was not something forced upon them... rather, it was a way to "lure the snake out of its hole."

(End of this chapter)