Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 678 Offensive Hindered
Inside the council hall of the Starfire City Imperial Palace.

"You've all seen the detailed battle reports from the front lines. Now, tell me... how exactly did the enemy launch a surprise attack at night so silently, and how did they infiltrate our rear camp by digging ice tunnels to precisely attack our artillery positions?"

Asdaren took the document handed to him by his adjutant, bowed, stepped up the stairs, and presented it to Harvey. He whispered, "Your Majesty, based on repeated discussions and assessments by the General Staff, it is preliminarily believed that... in the past half month, they have repeatedly used combat troops to assault our positions and introduced a new type of weapon called the jet worm. This is probably to probe the location of our artillery positions."

Pierce also stood up, his face grim as he blamed himself, saying, "The teacher is right. We should have realized this problem earlier... The Lizardmen have fought us quite a few times and have long witnessed the power of the Northern Army's artillery. As long as we deploy enough soldiers as decoys and targets, we can quickly determine the approximate location of the artillery positions after repeating the process many times."

Having identified the coordinates of the weapons that posed the greatest threat to them, they naturally chose to excavate ice tunnels to serve as cover. Under the guise of a slow advance, they weakened the vigilance of the frontline troops. Then, taking advantage of the limited visibility and reduced range of movement of the reconnaissance airships at night, they launched a surprise attack from underground... And midnight was precisely when the defenses of the entire frontline camp were at their most relaxed.

After all, for a long time before, the frequent offensive and defensive tug-of-war between the two sides only occurred during the day, and most of the commanding officers and soldiers subconsciously believed that the enemy would not launch an attack at night.

Harvey nodded, acknowledging the explanation and judgment, and slowly said, "While the General Staff and the frontline command bear undeniable responsibility for what happened, I do not intend to hold specific individuals accountable... You only need to remember this lesson and understand that these alien races are not as unintelligent and manic as the orcs and demons, but rather formidable adversaries who are on par with us humans in terms of wisdom and strategy."

He paused, pointed to the closed battle report manual with his finger, and raised his voice to emphasize: "In other words, as the war continues, they will eventually evolve more threatening weapons and more advanced combat units... Their intelligence is not only reflected in imitating our digging trenches. If we don't pay full attention and focus on dealing with them, they will still catch us off guard the next time they launch an operation."

While the massive casualties among soldiers are heartbreaking, what is more important is that they have shattered the army's previously high confidence in the face of a powerful enemy. The myth of the Northern Army's invincibility must not be shattered so quickly.

The emperor's words were a wake-up call, leaving the high-ranking officers present speechless... As the army's supreme commander, Pierce naturally felt the pressure the most and immediately knelt on one knee and bowed his head in response: "Your Majesty's decree will be kept in mind!"

Harvey waved his hand, softening his tone to signal him to stand up. "Alright, let's talk about the tactical adjustments you've discussed, and how to implement the plan to advance towards the second floating island?"

Asdaren coughed lightly and said seriously, "Your Majesty, based on the traces of the Demon Lizardmen's activities discovered at the No. 17 Sea Surge, we believe that there is a high probability that the enemy's new No. 4 Floating Island is hidden there... Therefore, the General Staff believes that now is not a good time to launch a formal counterattack."

"Oh? What other conditions are needed? According to the original battle plan, shouldn't we have launched a counterattack a week ago?"

Pierce nodded. "Yes, but now the enemy has two floating island fortresses, one in the open and one in the dark. It is very likely that they are using the second floating island as bait, waiting for our army to advance and then exposing the gaps in their rear defenses before launching a targeted surprise attack on the Ice Sea Base's main camp."

Looking at the map, the positions of Floating Island No. 2 and Floating Island No. 4, which have not yet fully emerged, do indeed form a pincer movement, sandwiching the Ice Sea Base in the middle. A hasty attack could easily lead to an awkward situation where one side cannot defend the other. Harvey nodded and pondered for a moment, then frowned slightly in dissatisfaction, saying, "The Northern Army has experience in fighting on two fronts before. Now I need you to come up with a practical solution to this dilemma... instead of simply halting the entire plan."

“We need to expand our intelligence detection range and develop more efficient reconnaissance methods…” Asdaren shrugged, his attitude frank. “Of course, we also need to increase logistical supplies and medical assistance, Your Majesty… We need healers and more artillery!”

The entire wartime intelligence network at the front line currently relies almost entirely on airships controlled by aerial mages. These airships take off from the snow mountain base 24 hours a day, pass through the ice sea base, and finally circle around Big Bear Lake before returning. The spellcasters need to conduct magical reconnaissance of the designated area while controlling the airships. Once they discover traces of enemy activity in the area, they need to immediately report back to the front-line command via the alchemy communicator.

Even the fast-flying reconnaissance airships could only barely keep up with the Winged Ones. Once they ventured too deep into enemy-controlled territory and were entangled by the swarming Lizardmen, it was often difficult for them to escape. During this period, there were quite a few aerial combat mage squads that were discovered by the densely patrolling Winged Ones around the second floating island due to their overly aggressive actions. If they hadn't been accompanied by high-level mages, they would have almost suffered a tragic accident of being attacked and crashing.

This was only the first layer of the entire intelligence network. After the Lizardmen dug ice tunnels to infiltrate and attack, Harvey quickly discussed with the frontline commander-in-chief, Vaughn, a new reconnaissance and early warning plan. This plan involved deploying all the nearly 10,000 miniature alchemical beasts he had brought to the icy sea beneath the ice, using the natural ice fissures to keep a constant watch on the traces of enemies from underground.

Aside from these two reconnaissance methods with extraordinary elements, the entire Northern Army could only rely on setting up high towers and outposts on the front lines, sending out sentries to visually assess the enemy situation using binoculars... Sending out reconnaissance troops was basically unrealistic, and even if they traveled at high speeds in alchemical vehicles and magic vehicles, the soldiers on the ground could never match the winged beings who could fly at high speeds.

Once encountered on the vast, boundless ice field, the reconnaissance team would have almost no chance of survival, let alone successfully transmitting the message back.

"So the problem still stems from... the lack of absolute control over the air!"

Thinking of this, Harvey's expression became somewhat complicated, and he couldn't help but sigh.

Only by truly and absolutely controlling the air can one obtain the fastest intelligence feedback and completely seize the initiative in the war.

In these difficult times, he couldn't help but reminisce about what he had seen and heard in his previous life.

If only we could use the world's outdated manufacturing processes, combined with advanced magical technology... to successfully create a fighter jet.

(End of this chapter)