Having made this decision, the first problem he faced was: should he go to the King's City himself?
This was the First Army of Border Town's first operation far from the Western Region. Unlike the two defensive battles, they would inevitably encounter the difficulties of unfamiliar terrain. Without a pre-arranged battlefield, it was unknown how much of their combat power they could bring into play. He couldn't feel at ease if he didn't go himself—although Roland's military level was extremely limited, his understanding of thermal weapons could be considered top-notch for this era.
However, once he left Border Town, the Western Region would become an unmanaged territory. If the news reached Longsong Stronghold, those few major families might have some wicked ideas. As long as someone revealed this news to Tiffko, both the front and rear would suffer—Tiffko might not care so much about a few witches, but if he knew he was near the King's City, it would be strange if he didn't mobilize a large army to besiege him. Taking a step back, even if he let him go, ordering other subordinates to attack the Western Region directly from the north would leave him with no way out.
In general, any fire in the backyard is much more serious than a defeat at the front.
In the end, Roland decided to stay in Border Town.
After all, the First Army's main task was to protect the witches and then guide the escaped people to board the ship in batches, rather than engaging in a direct battle with Tiffko's King's City patrol or the Church's Inquisition. As long as the rescue measures were carried out properly, and nothing unexpected happened, they probably wouldn't even fire a single shot.
Of course, he had to formulate a rescue plan that was as complete as possible.
That noon, Roland called Carter, Iron Axe, Brian, and the members of the Witch Union together.
The topography near the King's City only existed as a vague impression in the Fourth Prince's childhood memories, but it wasn't a big problem. He asked Soraya to draw a simple map on the dining table in the meeting room and began to give orders to Iron Axe and Brian.
"This central square represents the King's City, and this blue line represents the canal." Roland said as he thought, "You have two tasks: the first is to protect the witches, heal the escaped people, and bring them back to Border Town, and the second is to prevent the evil plague from continuing to spread in the King's City. First, let me reveal something to you. This epidemic is likely caused by the Church."
"Wh...what?" Brian widened his eyes in disbelief, Carter frowned, but Iron Axe's expression didn't change at all—as a member of the Mojin clan of sand people who worship the three gods of nature, he had no respect for the Church and its claimed only true god, which made Roland very pleased.
"After the Church annexed the Eternal Winter Kingdom, they launched an attack on Wolfheart. If Wolfheart falls, I think Dawn and Graycastle will be their next targets sooner or later. In fact, the Throne Contenders' Edict itself is suspicious." The prince briefly explained how the Church provided pills to Tiffko, Garcia, and himself at the same time, "Just from this, it can be seen that they are not supporting any heir, but encouraging us to kill each other. The subjects who take the pills will not become battle-hardened soldiers, but will die paralyzed after the drug is cut off. The same is true of this epidemic. As soon as the evil plague spread in the King's City, the Church claimed to have the antidote, but ironically, they have been slow to distribute it to the city residents."
"Only the light that shines into hell is the brightest," Iron Axe said.
"That's right. To play the role of a savior, you must act at the most difficult time for the people. The stronger the contrast, the deeper the impression the Church makes. As for the innocent people who die along the way, they are just sacrifices who are not devout enough," Roland stated, "Therefore, in addition to rescuing the escaped people from the Eastern Territory, we must also try to destroy the Church's conspiracy."
"What should we do?" Brian took a deep breath.
"Hide yourselves as much as possible and complete the task without being noticed." Roland pointed to a large open space south of the wharf outside the canal, "This should all be farmland, which is very suitable for lurking. You should find high points here and build reconnaissance posts overlooking the wharf. The soldiers responsible for the reception will pretend to be mercenary of a merchant, and will take the healed escaped people on board. I will contact the merchant Margie and ask her to raise as many sailboats as possible, rather than just two fleets to participate in the transportation."
Whether it's Longsong Stronghold or Graycastle King's City, the patrol strength of large cities rarely covers the surrounding areas. They can
The range of reconnaissance they can guarantee basically depends on the height of the city wall—how far they can see from the city wall is how far the alert area is. The area south of the wharf has been detached from the reconnaissance range of the opponent, and it is difficult to attract the attention of the King's City guards by setting up troops here.
"How should those patients be treated?" Iron Axe asked.
"Mainly relying on Lily's clones." Roland roughly described the little girl's special ability, "She doesn't need to walk into the escaped people's camp to heal these people. Any microorganism can become a clone—in other words, you only need to constantly collect river water and let her purify it, and then feed it to those patients to drink."
"Just... like this?" He was stunned.
"There are two points to pay attention to." The prince held out two fingers, "First, make sure that everyone who boards the ship has drunk the purified water, and second, never use boiled drinking water to make purified water—in fact, the dirtier the purified water, the better. The more microorganisms, the more clones that are transformed. You may not be able to understand, just do as I say."
"What about the patients in the King's City? Do they do the same?"
"Almost, but we can't have our people deliver the medicine, that would be too conspicuous. Let Tass take care of this part." Roland said, "As long as the money is paid, the black street rats are quite efficient."
"Your Highness, rats are not reliable. As long as it is profitable, they may stab the employer in the back at any time." Carter raised an objection.
"So the second task is to try to stop it as much as possible, rather than having to complete it." The prince stood up, "As long as the First Army notices something is wrong, they should immediately protect the witches and evacuate. It will be a victory if they can successfully bring back the escaped people. It doesn't matter how many citizens of the King's City can be saved. Moreover, thwarting the Church's plan is not simply achieved by Evolution Water. As long as the facts are not as they claim—that is, only the Holy Medicine can fight against the evil plague—their trick has already failed."
"Finally, I announce the candidates to go to the King's City this time," he said loudly, "Iron Axe!"
"Yes!"
"You will lead two hundred and forty musketeers to protect the witches, control the canal wharf, and eliminate potential threats. You must bring the witches and the people of the Eastern Territory back safely."
"Yes, Your Highness!" Iron Axe stood at attention and saluted.
"Brian!"
"Yes!" The young knight stood up straight with his head held high.
"You will lead sixty soldiers disguised as a mercenary of a merchant, responsible for delivering medicine, receiving refugees, and maintaining order when boarding the ship."
"I respectfully obey your orders, Your Highness!"
"Next are the witches. The people who will be traveling to the King's City this time are Lily, Nightingale, Echo, Lightning, and Wendy." Roland's voice slowed down, "I will explain your tasks in detail later. The important thing is to protect yourselves and return safely."
"Don't worry, Your Highness," Nightingale patted her chest, "I'm here."
Roland nodded, "Then the last point, and also the most important point—after the troops arrive in the King's City, they can only stay there for a maximum of three days. Once three days have passed, no matter what the actual situation is, they must return to Border Town." He said word by word, "If the Church plans to destroy Graycastle's ability to resist, they will definitely not only create plagues in the King's City. The Western Region is likely to be one of their targets. So you can't stay in the King's City for more than three days, understand?"
"Yes, Your Highness!" Iron Axe and Brian said in unison.
"Very good, then let's implement the plan accordingly."
"Wait... Your Highness, what about me?" Carter raised his hand.
"You will lead the remaining soldiers of the First Army to guard my Border Town." Roland patted him on the shoulder.