Since the end of the Months of the Demons, only two rains had fallen in the Western Region, the rest of the time was sunny, as if to compensate for the share owed by the entire winter. The office had also swept away the previous musty smell, the air became fresh and natural, and opening the window, you could occasionally smell a touch of light fragrance from the garden.
By now, the land route between the town and Longsong Stronghold had basically been restored to its original appearance, and Roland had become particularly concerned about the movements of the stronghold.
According to the situation of the previous year, after the land transportation was restored, merchants would soon go to Border Town to sell daily goods, but now he had not seen a merchant from Longsong Stronghold. Lightning had to conduct two reconnaissance missions every day to ensure that the town was well prepared before the enemy arrived.
In the past week, the First Army had entered the comprehensive exercise stage, including two parts: defense line against the enemy and field pursuit. The former mainly relied on Lightning to report the distance of the enemy in the air, and the artillery and musketeers fired according to instructions - this part was relatively easy, whether the instructions or the corresponding actions were clear and understandable. For example, solid shot bombardment when entering 100 meters and 500 meters, canister shot bombardment after approaching 300 meters, musket shooting after entering 50 meters, and so on. As long as they saw the flag raised by Lightning, the group leaders would inform the members of which method to use to attack.
The key lies in the field pursuit stage. According to Roland's plan, after the opponent was defeated, the retreat back to the stronghold would take the same three days as when they came. Even if they abandoned the militia and mercenaries and returned alone, it would not take less than two days, so the opponent must camp in the wild. This gave the First Army a chance to pursue. With Lightning maintaining full monitoring, the First Army followed on foot in a safe area that was not discovered by scouts, and artillery and ammunition were transported by the town's horns. When the opponent established a camp for the night, the troops completed the encirclement, and then launched an attack in the morning to annihilate the opponent.
The plan did not seem complicated, but without radio communication, it was almost impossible to divide the troops into two groups and then launch a joint attack. Roland could only invest witches in this link to make up for the lack of communication. He had no idea what the final effect would be.
Another point was that the gunpowder reserves were running low, so the comprehensive exercise stage did not carry out live ammunition shooting. The main training was the cooperation between the musketeers and artillery teams, and the cooperation between the First Army and the witches. He had sent people to the farther Dragonfall Ridge and Clearwater City, hoping to find more sources of saltpeter there. If the gunpowder could not be replenished in time, the muskets in the hands of the First Army would probably only be used as spears after two battles.
Roland wrote some new procurement plans on paper, including saltpeter, grain, seeds and other materials, intending to let Barov send another apprentice to the royal capital of Graycastle to try his luck. The goods there were very abundant, especially saltpeter - as summer approached, the saltpeter factories in the royal capital must have been working at full capacity. As a city with a large number of nobles and wealthy merchants, once the weather became hot, the consumption of saltpeter would be astonishing. He hoped to find a stable supplier to provide Border Town with a continuous supply of gunpowder raw materials.
Before this, he had sent two guards to implement the "Gathering Witches" and "Finding Fruits" plans. The former generally disguised themselves as travelers or merchants, spreading rumors of Border Town's acceptance of witches in the streets, alleys, taverns and black markets. Of course, the recipient was not the Fourth Prince Roland, but the Mutual Aid Society, which had finally found the Holy Mountain and hoped the witches would settle there. The latter went directly to Clearwater Port to purchase strange crop seeds from across the Fjords. Of course, if there were any rare crops in the cities they passed through, they would also bring back their seeds.
After writing the purchase order and handing it to Scroll, he asked her to go to the City Hall and transfer it to Barov. After Scroll responded and left, Roland stretched his waist, wanting to drink some water, but found that the cup was empty.
He was about to get up to get the kettle when Nightingale had already brought the kettle to his desk. Not only that, but she also smiled and filled the cup, and then took the kettle back.
Roland slowly took a sip, and was puzzled. Recently, Nightingale's attitude was really a bit strange. She always had a smile on her face, and took the initiative to help pour tea and water. Was she trying to ask for a raise? In the past, she would just sit on the sofa chair and gnaw on a basin of dried fish for an afternoon.
Although Roland had asked the reason, the other party smiled and did not answer, so he simply let it go.
Could it be that Gwent can really make people full of pleasure? In the future, I will also make poker and mahjong, and open an entertainment city, which is simply waiting to collect money... Stop, Roland shook his head and put the distractions behind him. Now is not the time to indulge in pleasure, he must consider what will happen after taking the stronghold.
Relocate the office center to Longsong Stronghold? Roland had considered this for a long time. Moving the capital to a more prosperous place seemed tempting, but it was not a good choice in practice. The stronghold was different from Border Town. It had been built for more than a hundred years, and the forces were deeply entrenched, and there were many nobles. The territory was managed according to the feudal system, and even the lord of the stronghold could hardly interfere in other territories. If you want to completely transform it into your own territory, it is almost impossible to achieve without launching a revolution. Not to mention that in such a mixed place, your own safety factor cannot be guaranteed. He didn't want to be taken away by an arrow from a radical nobleman while walking on the street.
Border Town is different. He had complete control over the territory. The surrounding land was vast, and there was no urgent need to expand the territory. Most of the people were composed of miners and hunters, and their composition was simple. After successfully resisting the Months of the Demons, his prestige here had also risen. More importantly, after the ideological propaganda of the First Army, which was entirely composed of the people, most of the residents accepted the existence of witches. Compared with the people of Longsong Stronghold or other urban areas who were deeply influenced by the church, the town was easy to develop into a place where witches could live in peace. Therefore, Roland still decided to use the town as his core area.
As for the stronghold, others could be supported to manage it on his behalf, as long as it could continuously provide him with labor and taxes. What he needed most now was people and money.
Roland's initial idea was to use the money of Longsong Stronghold to hire the people of Longsong Stronghold to add bricks and tiles to Border Town. These gold royals looted from the defeated nobles would be returned to the people, and then concentrated in the stronghold through taxes. The stronghold would hand them over to him, and then he would spend them. In addition, some preferential policies could be used to retain some people with special skills for a long time.
However, these were still just a general framework. For example, who to support as agent, and the specific tax policies, would have to be considered after the battle.
At this moment, a yellow figure flew in from the window, and then steadily stopped in front of the prince's desk - it was Lightning.
"Thank you for your hard work, have a drink of water," Roland picked up the cup and handed it to her. She took it but didn't bother to drink it, and shouted loudly, "Your Highness, they are here!"