Chapter 581: Seizing the Opportunity
War—
Ed Liersen turned back to look at Chloe: "Lord, did you hear all that?"
Chloe didn't hide it and nodded.
"War—"
Ed Liersen picked up his wine glass again, intending to take a sip, but put it down instead. He calmly issued an instruction to Randy: "Promulgate a new regulation—from now on, no one in the military is allowed to drink alcohol."
"Yes!" Randy clicked his heels together, stood straight, and saluted the Regimental Commander, then quickly turned to relay the order.
Ed Liersen placed the wine glass back on the table, pushing it slightly farther away from himself.
He looked at Chloe, the worry and anxiety in his eyes hard to conceal: "This is the signal for the entire army to prepare for war."
"Just wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow, everything will be revealed."
War had broken out.
In the early morning of October 13, 1350, Fosac airships penetrated deep into the capital of the Kingdom of Loen, Backlund, bombing the politically most important Northern and Western Districts. This became the signal for the war's commencement.
Concurrently, the Fosac naval fleet simultaneously attacked Enmat Port and Pritz Harbor, inflicting a severe double blow to the kingdom's economy and politics.
This was not surprising, at least not to Chloe—at the Tarot Club, everyone had already discussed the true purpose of the "Twilight Hermit Order," an organization whose name could not be mentioned externally.
Hewin Rambis had been killed, and from his mouth, 'The World' Gehrman Sparrow had pried out the King's secret, learning that the coming "Tidal Wave of the Era" was a war that would sweep the globe.
Putting everything else aside, Medici was definitely happy to see this war proceed.
—
If the most prominent characteristic of this war truly was "sweeping the globe," then the Lan Bridge clearly needed to make some preparations.
After three days of investigation in the Lan Bridge, gathering sufficient information and receiving enough promises from Chloe, Deacon Ikanser Bernard of the "Machinery Hivemind" hurriedly boarded the warship returning to the North Continent upon hearing the news of the war.
The "Regulation" Assault Regiment had just achieved a comfortable life and were finally able to relax, only to receive the order for full war readiness, causing morale to plummet.
Addressing this situation, and after Chloe's "persuasion," or rather, "Instigation," Regimental Commander Ed Liersen submitted a detailed report to the East Balam Command of the Loen Army, clarifying the strategic position of the Lan Bridge and its abundant, high-quality, easily integrated manpower.
The report also righteously stated the attitude of the "Regulation" Assault Regiment, including a request "for the sake of strategic deployment," which was approved.
The East Balam Commander now made it clear that the "Regulation" Assault Regiment of the Army's Third Expeditionary Brigade would not participate in front-line combat. Until further notice, their focus would be on:
Strengthening the execution of deployment tasks in the Lan Bridge, and adding a crucial responsibility—conducting systematic military training for the Lan Bridge Defense Force to help them quickly integrate into the Loen military system.
He could not let his troops return to the battlefield—Ed Liersen knew the importance of morale to a unit. The currently low morale of the "Regulation" Assault Regiment would inevitably lead to defeat against a Fosac army of similar standard.
Only after a period of training life, almost in the second line, and seeing comrades gain merits in the war between great powers, could the enthusiasm of the officers and soldiers perhaps be gradually rekindled.
Before that, they could treat it as a small vacation during the war.
Special treatment for special times. With the all-out war against Fosac currently underway, Chloe's small maneuvers in the Lan Bridge became irrelevant.
And they became blatant.
The 'Rotten Sailboat' delivered another batch of advanced weapons and equipment. Chloe explained to Ed Liersen that the connections she had built up during a year of adventuring allowed her to have advanced overseas armories supporting her, capable of providing continuous aid.
Since half of the weaponry was shared with the "Regulation" Assault Regiment, significantly boosting their combat effectiveness—consider it a bribe to Ed Liersen—no one raised any sharp objections about the Intis characters printed on the weapon crates.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the reforms in the New Lan Bridge began in full swing.
The governmental structure was the first to undergo change.
Under the demonstration and assistance of Wayne Bates and a group of Knowledge Church experts, the New Lan Bridge used "Social Rosellism" and the relevant parts of the "Civil Code" promulgated by Rosell as guidance, referenced historical materials from Rosell's time as "Consul," and combined this with the unified civil service examination system recently implemented by Loen, forming a sufficiently scientific and feasible methodology.
In the original "baojia system," the block leader and squad leader were stripped of their tax-farming and governing rights, and three levels of government agencies were established at the municipal, district, and bao levels in the Lan Bridge, while simultaneously abolishing the power of the "Taxation Company."
However, the part of the baojia system concerning household registration was retained—this was relevant to subsequent urban reconstruction.
In the first week after the comprehensive war began, """Godfather"" Thierry Foucault summoned Chloe's messenger, "Laporte Red," and sent her a preliminary draft of the New Lan Bridge's urban construction plan—drafted by Archbishop Horamick Haydn of the Steam Church."
Looking at the three Steam Cathedrals in the new design plan, Chloe realized it conveyed a signal—the God of Steam and Machinery had officially joined in supporting the New Lan Bridge.
The aid promised by "Queen Mystic" Bernadette had also arrived. She transferred a total of 1.2 million ferkin into the Intis account, and Chloe directly operated this funding as the initial capital for the "Caesar Weapon Company" to build an armory in the New Lan Bridge—and incidentally, it also brought five hybrid Steam and sail battleships, which would officially be commissioned into the New Lan Bridge a month later.
Nominally, they were cargo ships used for transporting supplies, but the Emperor Party and the Caesar Arms Group had their own methods—arms manufacturing was their specialty, and by acquiring shipyards, the gap between armed cargo ships and battleships was further narrowed, even eliminated.
Chloe knew that nothing the "Twilight Hermit Order" wanted to push forward was impossible, and she knew that the tense relationship between Intis and Loen meant they would eventually be drawn into the World War.
However, currently, only Loen and Fosac had formally declared war, which meant there was still room for maneuver between Loen and Intis during this period.
Using the opportunity of the three ironclad cruisers and their original crew joining the Loen Raging Sea Fleet, Chloe proved the Lan Bridge's value and "loyalty" to Loen. This not only gained tacit approval for the continuous shipment of Intis military supplies but also made Loen, overall, more oblivious to Chloe's separatist actions in the New Lan Bridge.
On the other side, Ed Liersen finally realized something was wrong during a routine inspection.
He discovered that after the basic military skills training concluded, the instructors sent by the "Regulation" Knight Regiment did not seem to be teaching the Lan Bridge Defense Force according to the Loen style of combat during tactical training.
The "Lan Bridge Defense Force" was using the Royal Army's hand to train a system independent of Loen.
Stopped
Chapter 582 Amidst the Smoke of War
Chapter 582 In the Smoke of War
Oswald Medici approached Chloe with a serious expression: "My Lord, Ed Liersen, the Commander, has withdrawn his troops. He strongly protests our training content and is unwilling to let his men undergo 'non-Loen-style' training for us."
"Because of our previous reliance on the 'Discipline' Assault Regiment, it might take us three days to readjust and arrange things before we can continue with the current progress, but the efficiency will certainly be much lower than before."
"Is that his only statement?" Chloe confirmed with Oswald.
"Yes, Ed Liersen will not send his troops to help us again until we agree to follow Loen's training methods."
"Then our current combat strength—"
Oswald straightened his back: "Don't worry about that. The light weapon level of the Lan Bridge Defense Force has already met the standards, and their individual firepower is stronger than Loen's. Although the combat strength of the artillery and cavalry units is still insufficient, fortunately, the efficiency of the command system and the level of commanders are much higher than Loen's. They can easily leverage the advantages of high mobility and individual firepower, which is enough to contend with the surrounding Loen army."
"However, the situation at sea is rather pessimistic. Until Alger Wilson and his Blue Avenger officially provide support, we are temporarily unable to contend with Loen's fleet."
Chloe nodded slowly: "New Lan Bridge is at a critical stage of development. Every second must be seized, and everyone should strive. Loen doesn't want to fall out with us, and we don't want to fall out with Loen either."
"Alright, let's leave this matter as it is for now. We'll do our own training so that our soldiers don't have any ideological halo about Loen's army. Remember to ask the Knowledge Church to assign some people as army chaplains to strengthen our educational efforts."
Oswald reminded: "After the Knowledge Church's cathedral was built, it has already undertaken the training of commanding officers and technical positions."
"Classes don't have to be in classrooms; they can also be on the training ground. I'll also speak to Archbishop Wayne about this myself."
Chloe paused for two seconds, then added: "Next week, New Lan Bridge's first bullet factory will go into production. The week after that, Kaiser Arms Group's weapon production line will be completed."
"Yesterday, Kaiser Weapons acquired a railway company, and soon there will be railway connections between the Lan Bridge and the surrounding mines."
"The people from the Steam Church have also selected a site and are preparing to implement their 'industrial cluster' concept."
"And all of this will primarily serve the construction of the military—you know what that means."
"I think that Ed Liersen is indeed a qualified—no, I should say an excellent soldier. Talk to him more, and especially talk to his subordinates more."
Chloe gave Oswald a meaningful look: "Look at our vibrant city; everyone will fall in love with her."
Backlund, St. George's District, St. Hilarion Cathedral.
"Feneport has declared war on Lumburg."
Thierry Foucault gently tapped the table with his fingers, thoughtfully facing the esteemed elder, Archbishop Holamik Hayden of the Steam Church: "Perhaps, just as Fosac and Loen wish to continue the grievances of the two-thousand-year war, Feneport also wants to restore its territory to what it was before the 'War of the Oathbreakers'."
"The whole world is stirring," Archbishop Holamik's voice was calm, "Contradictions have completely expanded."
Thierry narrowed his eyes slightly and continued, following the Archbishop's words: "Only Intis remains in superficial peace."
Archbishop Holamik remained unmoved: "Perhaps."
He paused, and finally sighed: "But Intis's interest in peace will not be too strong."
Thierry nodded: "Intis has reasons to go to war with Feneport, Loen, Fosac, and Lumburg. I think it's time to consider the most extreme possibility—for the Steam Church."
"Thierry, are you warning us?"
Archbishop Holamik's face was grim.
"In a sense, yes." Thierry nodded solemnly, "Archbishop, you are a member of the Council Before God and can determine the future direction of the Church. I can only offer this suggestion."
"Then what do you mean?"
Thierry did not answer directly but raised his head, his gaze passing over the windowsill, towards the northwest.
St. George's District is relatively to the east in Backlund. Although it was bombed by Fosac's airships, the shadow of war still hung over it. Pedestrians on the street were sparse and hurried.
"Loen has entered a state of war, and the East Borough has been taken over by the military," Thierry stated the established fact. "My Beyonder team no longer needs to perform stability maintenance tasks in the East Borough for the orphanage on Market Street—tomorrow, I will take my team and board a ship bound for the Southern Continent."
He once again gave Archbishop Holamik a meaningful look and said: "I hope there will be a day when we can work together again—whether to preserve or to expand, it is time for the Church to make a choice."
Raging Sea, a barren, uninhabited island.
Klein placed a thick stack of historical documents aside, carefully selecting the parts whose authenticity could not be confirmed. Then, he set up a small pot in front of him and successively took out various potion ingredients.
After doing all this, he took a deep breath, concentrated, and meditated to restore himself to his optimal state.
Then, Klein had his puppet put the potion ingredients one by one into the small pot.
The Sequence 3 potion, even just the auxiliary materials, immediately gave off a faint mist, enveloping the vessel. As the ingredients were added one after another, the dense mist collapsed to its limit, appearing substantial yet still having an illusory quality.
At this point, Klein used the pendulum in his hand, suspending it above this illusory substance in the small pot, and silently recited the divination phrase in his mind.
It's very dangerous, but acceptable.
Having obtained this result, Klein did not hesitate and immediately ingested the potion.
A gray mist emanated from Klein's body, dissolving his figure, as if he had merged into ancient history itself.
In mid-air, above the gray fog, the ancient and majestic palace suddenly began to tremble slightly.
After a long while, the gray mist finally re-coalesced into Klein's figure.
He had already advanced to Sequence 3, "Scholar of Yore."
Snap!
A paper figurine was ignited, and its illusory wings burned. Klein, the puppet, and the small pot used to concoct the potion simultaneously vanished from the rocky island in the middle of the Mist Sea, as if nothing had ever happened there.
After Klein cautiously teleported around, interfering with divinations and eliminating clues, he finally breathed a sigh of relief:
He hadn't expected the advancement to trigger changes in Sefirah Castle, creating an unmaskable anomaly—fortunately, he was cautious enough and not careless. If he had advanced in Backlund or the surrounding area, suddenly, his spiritual intuition stirred, and he subconsciously looked up beside him.
A figure in a complex long dress, carrying four golden-haired, red-eyed heads, appeared out of thin air. One of the heads opened its mouth, letting a letter drift down.
Klein let the letter float into his hand and subconsciously asked, "Whose letter is this?"
Just as Klein thought she would say a certain nickname as usual, "Ancient Bane" Reinette Tinekerr only closed her mouth a few times. After a long pause, she finally squeezed out two words: "Ad—" "—am—" "—"
Klein's action of opening the letter froze in place.
Stopped