novelAbuy #765 - Very numb
#765 - Very numb
"Where's my Griffin Cannon? Was it washed away by the flood?!"
"What about Melia? Her whereabouts are unknown?! Still unknown even now?"
"What's the flood situation? You don't know, you're telling me you don't know?! Go check immediately."
Bernardo simply squinted and endured Horn's spittle-flecked face, not daring to move.
Madeleine, however, wore a stern expression: "Your Excellency, after the flood broke out, the Shattered Stone Plain front lines were in chaos. It's normal for news to be delayed. We've been trying our best to investigate and will have news soon."
Horn paced back and forth behind the table several times before managing a forced smile, patting Bernardo's shoulder: "Sorry, I lost my composure. You're doing a good job."
"No, it's our work that's inadequate," Bernardo quickly added.
Horn didn't say much, just shook his head: "Cardinal Monks and Chief Imperial Monks, everyone without urgent matters, come over."
While waiting, sitting on the cushioned chair in the Stag Room, he looked at the Blood-Veiled Clouds hanging on the wall, the worry on his face hard to conceal.
He had imagined Melia winning big, winning small, or winning with heavy losses, but he never expected her to be utterly defeated.
A full twenty thousand people, with at least ten thousand new troops among them, and they were utterly defeated just like that.
After all, Horn also hadn't expected the Shattered Stone Plain people to dare to breach the dam.
The Innocent Dam was the economic lifeline of Thousand River Valley, and even more so the lifeline of the Shattered Stone Plain.
Breaching the dam would cause the flood to also wash away their territories and manors.
According to previous investigations, not all lords were so absolutely opposed to Melia.
In other words, some lords were actually hedging their bets.
Unlike Horn's Great Inquisition Holy War, which often stripped titles and fiefs, Melia was declaring war.
For those lords, losing meant the superior lord and a few of his close confidants were replaced. What did that have to do with them?
They only wanted to be vassals, who the lord was didn't matter.
If Duke Wyvern's Nest insisted on breaching the dam, then vassals would rebel immediately.
What exactly happened here?
Regardless of the Shattered Stone Plain, Upper Reaver County and North Mound County were currently in a complete mess, with rumors flying.
Some said Melia was dead, some said the Holy Father sent a great flood to destroy the world.
There were even rumors that Horn was a church spy who killed Melia.
The reason given was that Horn took advantage of Melia's absence to steal North Mound County, causing the Duchess's Dao heart to shatter.
In any case, this wave had completely disrupted Horn's war preparations.
Thinking about the possibility of fighting the Leians while also fighting the flood in the future, Horn felt a headache coming on.
"Carrie, ah Carrie, you lost at the worst possible time," Horn slammed his fist on the table, causing the teacup on the table to bounce into the air.
According to his vision, after four years of preparation, this was how things should be in 1449.
In terms of the military, Horn would hold three battle legions plus one cavalry legion, totaling over 18,000 combat troops, all in the Galar phalanx formation.
Melia would hold five battle legions plus two cavalry legions, totaling over 30,000 combat troops, using the Galar square formation.
With nearly 50,000 troops, they could roughly contend with the Leian invasion force and the 屮-shaped army.
In terms of the economy, establish a unified Holy Alliance grain market and simple industrial market, reduce transaction costs, and carry out specialized division of labor.
In addition, through price signals and Horn's strong intervention, resource allocation efficiency could be greatly improved.
At the same time, there should be at least 100,000 gold pounds in reserves to cope with the flow of war.
In terms of politics, establish a centralized and deeply rooted government system, build an efficient tax and human resources system.
In this way, Horn could ensure that every one of his instructions during the war could be truly implemented, rather than being met with perfunctory compliance.
But now, this defeat would at least lose more than 10,000 troops, draining the people's confidence in war bonds.
Politically, it would further cause an imbalance of power between the Holy Alliance faction and the Kush faction, falling into a situation where the Kush faction was leaderless.
Fortunately, it wasn't without a chance to recover. They still had at least six to nine months.
Horn lifted his head from the cold water, and the Privy Monk next to him immediately handed him a towel.
Drying his face, he pushed open the door, walked through the corridor, and the meeting room was on the side of the Stag Room.
"Currently, there are three crises. The first is the Duchess's army's crushing defeat, the second is the recurrence of the flood, and the third is to restore the credit of the bonds to avoid large-scale bankruptcies…"
Catching a glimpse of Horn's arrival, Madeleine immediately yielded the main seat, and the meeting room was filled with "devout" voices.
The newest and fastest novel will be published first on 69shu.com!
"Continue," Horn said, casually dragging a chair over.
Madeleine didn't decline. After four years of learning and working, he had long since transformed from that clumsy baker into a Cardinal who didn't show his emotions.
Although baking bread was still a great love of his life, the Truth Tribunal was his true vocation.
"Currently, there is still no news of the Duchess. We should send people to search for and meet her…"
"Don't block the news of the defeat, but report it directly, otherwise the rumors will become more and more outrageous…"
"We must choose a flood diversion area. Poison Witch Swamp is a good choice, open the sluice gate and release some of the water…"
"As for the bond issue…" Madeleine looked at Sisi, "I really have no clue. Sisi, are our reserves still enough?"
"It's expected to be enough to deal with the Leian invasion, but adding flood control is probably not enough," Sisi then looked at Bernardo, "Do you think the Leians will take the opportunity to do anything?"
Bernardo shook his head: "A large-scale invasion is impossible, but small-scale harassment is definitely inevitable."
"Then the trade routes…"
"The South Nauan River trade route and the Ibe River trade route have no problems. The Lower Nauan River will probably be tightly blocked again," Horn interjected.
The Lower Nauan River leads to the Leian Kingdom, eventually flowing into the sea from Windmill Land.
Originally, the border nobles had relaxed the restrictions, allowing small-scale commercial trade to take place.
Now that Melia had been utterly defeated, there was no way King Genegis wouldn't do anything.
"We must stabilize the situation before the beginning of spring next year. The Leians are expected to come as early as June next year, which is ten months from now."
"Your Excellency, there's actually another piece of news I haven't told you," Bernardo scratched his head, "We just received news that Genegis officially broke through Duke Niederbach's last fortress two weeks ago. The Duke's wife, daughters, and son were all captured, and he himself fled. I'm afraid we don't have ten months…"
Bernardo's new information caused the entire conference room to fall silent for a moment.
Then, the monks and cardinals, big and small, began to whisper to each other.
Horn wasn't particularly shocked, or rather, he was already numb from the shock: "How long do we have left, roughly?"
"We estimate that they will first let the soldiers go home for the winter. As soon as the New Year's Festival is over, they will gather, and the war will begin no later than February next year."
Which meant that Horn and his people had only half a year left.
Only half a year.
"There's going to be a war…"
Someone suddenly said this, so abruptly in the originally relatively quiet conference room.