Wolfheart, Deepwater Bay.
News of the successful counter-ambush quickly reached Iron Axe's ears.
He immediately dispatched a messenger to send his praise and encouragement in letter form to the Fishball Squad, and ordered them to temporarily return to a safe zone to await the arrival of replacement troops.
Although this squad had defeated a coalition of old nobles, their composure in the face of adversity and their fighting spirit of overcoming the odds were excellent examples for propaganda. Continuing to meet and greet the refugees, letting them spread the word of their deeds, was obviously more meaningful for the war situation, especially at a time when the First Army was comprehensively retreating.
Not long ago, he had received two pieces of unfavorable news. One was a report from soldiers lurking in the Red Mist area that nobles had taken over the work of blocking refugees from the devils.
According to the report, these knights from several families in Eternal Winter were intercepting refugee groups everywhere. As members of the same species, their coercion and inducement were undoubtedly more efficient than those of the alien race. And the First Army would risk a great deal by going deep into the Red Mist area, and could only meet and greet from the periphery most of the time, which led to varying degrees of decline in the flow of people at various evacuation points.
Second, the devils, with their hands freed, once again intensified their attacks on the First Army. This news came in the form of a complete battle report: first, outposts observed a large number of terror beasts flying out of the Red Mist area in the southeast direction and heading towards Grand Duke Island, and then the island's garrison prepared for defense and cut off sea transport.
But unexpectedly, this group of terror beasts suddenly disappeared in the airspace between the two observation posts, and reappeared above a evacuation squad. The latter also happened to have received intelligence that the terror beasts were heading east, and were working overtime to evacuate personnel, resulting in them being exposed to the devils' eyes without any cover.
Although the squad made the greatest resistance, it was completely scattered. A complete statistical report has not yet been obtained, but according to the support team, nearly two thousand migrants died in the attack, and the army's losses were at least a hundred people.
Such serious losses forced Iron Axe to make a decision to comprehensively shrink the line of defense.
The two pieces of unfavorable news were a chain reaction. The General Staff Department had considered the defection of the nobles, but did not expect them to defect so quickly. The Eternal Winter families had been fighting for nearly two years without electing a new king, but now they were "unified" under the will of the devils, which was ironic.
Now the situation is very clear: the great migration phase is gradually coming to an end, and the First Army needs to accumulate strength to defend the final boundary area covered by the Red Mist.
Currently, about five thousand soldiers have been transported to Cage Mountain and Deepwater Bay, less than one-sixth of the total strength, and the strength that the devils can mobilize is temporarily unknown. Before the enemy's situation is scouted out, he cannot easily lose troops again.
Iron Axe's biggest concern is that the devils, with the First Army's transport capacity limited and insufficient troops, will gather a large army to attack those nodes that have not yet completed their defenses, then the army will be caught in a dilemma of being unable to defend or rescue.
After all, operating in Wolfheart no longer has convenient "mobile fortresses" like armored trains to rely on.
"Lord," at this time, an adjutant walked into the mansion's room, "General Staff Minister Edith. Kant's ship has just arrived at the port."
"Oh?" Iron Axe's eyebrows perked up. He was just thinking about someone to share his worries with, and that person had come himself. "It's a good coincidence that I have nothing to do. I might as well go to the port to meet her."
...
At the dock, Iron Axe saw the Northern Pearl surrounded by members of the General Staff Department. Everyone's faces showed a look of liberation, seemingly completely forgetting the terrible experiences when they were tormented by her.
Having been a minister for only about a year, she had already gained the respect and recognition of the members.
Thinking of those nobles in Eternal Winter and Wolfheart, and then looking at this former Duke's daughter, Iron Axe couldn't help but sigh secretly that the gap between nobles was indeed as wide as the sky.
"Commander-in-Chief," Edith also saw Iron Axe. She saluted with her hand on her chest, "Long time no see. I hope my subordinates haven't caused you any trouble."
"In their respective jobs, they have fulfilled their responsibilities." Iron Axe also returned a military salute. The two were basically equal in status, and there was no barrier to their conversation. Or rather, besides His Majesty and Lady Silvermoon, she was also the only person he was willing to chat with a few more words.
"In other words, they didn't give you any surprises?" Edith shrugged and turned to look at a group of members, "It seems that everyone's recent performance is not very qualified."
Iron Axe couldn't help but raise the corner of his mouth. This Northern Pearl xiaojie's mouth was still so unforgiving, "If we can win the war smoothly, it's not a bad thing."
The other party also did not delve into it further, but changed the subject, "By the way, I brought with me this time the new weapons that His Majesty has developed based on front-line intelligence. Are you interested in taking a look?"
Iron Axe's eyes immediately lit up, "Of course, please lead the way."
The group came to a heavily guarded loading and unloading area. It had been isolated by the garrison. Huge wooden boxes were being hoisted down from the ship one by one and neatly placed in a corner of the stacking yard.
Many of the boxes had been opened, revealing the weapons wrapped in oil paper inside.
His attention quickly fell on a small artillery piece.
"Good eye," Edith smiled, "This 75mm gun is the most expensive firearm in this batch of goods. His Majesty hopes to use it to fill the firepower gap between mortars and fortress guns. It doesn't require witches to transport it. Assembled into a four-wheeled state, it only needs a horse or two people to pull it around, and the shells can also be carried by people."
"This reminds me of the original muzzle-loading field artillery," Iron Axe nodded. He immediately understood the use of this light weapon—compared to the shorter-range anti-devil grenades and mortars, the new artillery was obviously more suitable for dealing with the thick-skinned spider devils. Even if there was no time to establish an artillery position, the front-line soldiers would not be helpless against the spider devils.
"As for the new buqiang placed over there, it is a semi-automatic weapon." Edith introduced as she walked, "The effect was quite good during testing. The combined fire of two or three guns can achieve the same effect as a heavy jiqiang. The person who came up with this idea in the first place must be very familiar to you. He is Vanna, the battalion commander of the artillery battalion. Although the official product has been improved by His Majesty, it is still named Vanna buqiang."
"But this is only a temporary substitute. I heard that the real automatic weapon is currently in the trial production stage, and it should be transported here as soon as the finished product comes out."
"The ones on the far side are the new anti-devil grenades. Its caliber has been increased a lot compared to before. It should be that the Department of Chemical Industry has improved the propellant..."
The visitors gradually dispersed, and when they walked to the edge of the stacking yard, only the two of them were left.
"What's wrong, is the war not going well?" Edith asked suddenly.
Iron Axe was stunned. He then realized that it was no coincidence that the other party had brought him here alone.
"You could tell?"
"If not, you wouldn't have come to the dock to meet me as soon as I arrived."
"I can't hide it from you after all." Iron Axe exhaled and told her about the recent unfavorable news and his worries. "Before the transport channel is opened, we need several months to gather all the troops and dànyào here, but the devils may launch an attack from somewhere at any time. Even if Sylvie xiaojie, Lightning, and Maisie all come, they can't monitor such a wide front. With a big battle imminent, I know so little about the enemy's situation. This is not a good sign."
"I see." Edith pondered for a moment. "I can't do anything about the transport channel... but in terms of intelligence, it may not be that difficult to solve."
"You have an idea?"
"Sort of. You only consider using the First Army to solve the problem, that's why you find it so difficult." The Northern Pearl said slowly, "The devils' driving the nobles to work for them seems to be a win-win situation, but it also creates opportunities for us. As long as the devils don't empty every city, we can install a large number of eyes in the enemy's belly!"
Iron Axe seemed to realize something, "These eyes are not soldiers of the First Army..."
"Of course not. Soldiers are not suitable for doing this kind of thing. Ordinary civilians or rats are a better choice—preferably they are locals, so that they are natural enough. And there are many ways to turn these people into our eyes," Edith smiled,
smiled, "By the way, didn't you receive a black piece of paper before? Try contacting them."