Free Web NovelChapter 122: What Say You?
"My Lord, are you saying you plan to face the reavers alone?"
Roland looked incredulous.
Simon nodded. "That’s right. This time, I will protect my domain myself. In these times, no one can be relied upon. I can only depend on myself."
The Goldwynd family’s schemes, Princess Lisa’s calculations, and Prince Gerad’s secret plots, each incident reminded Simon that he was surrounded by wolves. There was no one he could truly trust.
The only person he could rely on was himself.
"My Lord, this is no trivial matter. Even with the full strength of the Eldorian Empire, we have been ceding territory and paying reparations for years. How can Your Highness expect the six cities to stand against the reavers?" Roland continued to persuade.
From the moment he could remember, the name ’reavers’ had been synonymous with terror. As a child, the maids in his household would often scare him by saying. "The reavers will come and take you away." freёwebnovel.com
This showed how deeply ingrained the fear of the reavers was in the hearts of the Eldorian Empire’s people.
Roland’s reaction was within Simon’s expectations. The events of three years ago had left an indelible mark of terror on Roland. At that time, when Dunmere fell, the reaver cavalry surged into the heart of the six cities, burning, killing, and looting without restraint. On their way to Eldora, they could see corpses lying in pools of blood.
Many of the bodies were missing their heads, as the reavers used heads to tally military achievements. To boost their records, many reavers slaughtered civilians indiscriminately.
This memory was vivid in Simon’s mind, showing how deeply the incident had affected his predecessor.
It was also because of this invasion that the six cities suffered greatly, and even after three years, they had not fully recovered.
"All I need to do is defend Dunmere and prevent the reavers from setting foot in my domain."
At this stage, this was the extent of what Simon could do. Launching a counterattack into the grasslands was virtually impossible, as Brambleford’s overall strength was insufficient to support an offensive against a grassland empire whose power rivalled that of the Eldorian Empire.
After all, the population base was limited, the army was limited, food supplies were limited, and silver reserves were limited.
"But can we hold them off?" Roland grew anxious. "My Lord, as long as we preserve our strength, there will always be opportunities in the future."
"Roland!" Simon’s patience wore thin. "This is my domain. Without it, I am nothing. If I return to Eldora, forget about my father, do you think the other princes will let me live out my life in peace?"
"This..." Roland fell silent. Simon was right. Since the founding of the Eldorian Empire, each emperor had sired numerous sons, but only a handful had survived to the end.
Take Emperor Alaric’s line, for example. Of his brothers, only Prince Gerad and Prince Elliot remained alive. The other ten princes had all turned to dust.
This pattern had repeated with each generation of princes, and now it was Simon’s turn.
"This old servant understands." Roland’s expression suddenly became resolute. "Lady Isolde once instructed me to protect Your Highness at all costs. If Your Highness stays in Dunmere to resist the reavers, this old servant will stand by your side."
"Good. That’s the kind of loyalty I expect from my people." Simon said. frёewebnoѵēl.com
This wasn’t blind courage or overconfidence on his part. Over the past few months, he had come to realise one thing: he had no way out.
If he wanted to survive, he had to carefully manage his domain. And now that the reavers were eyeing his territory, he couldn’t let that happen.
The suddenness of this matter left Simon with no desire to stay in the castle. Instead, he headed to the Governor’s Office.
At that moment, Baldwin was discussing something with a young official.
Seeing Simon arrive, Baldwin said. "My Lord, weren’t you discussing medical techniques with Medical Officer Oscar? Why are you here?"
"The reavers plan to attack Dunmere this autumn and winter."
Before Simon could speak, Roland, who had followed him, blurted out.
The young official standing beside Baldwin smiled lightly and asked. "If the reavers plan to attack Dunmere, it must be a highly secretive matter. How did Your Highness come to know of it?"
Baldwin seemed to share the same thought, but then he remembered something and said to Simon. "My Lord, this is Aiden Smith, the one I mentioned to you."
Simon took a closer look at Aiden and spoke. "So, you’re Aiden? Baldwin said you are resourceful and decisive. Why don’t you tell me how we should respond?"
"To achieve victory, one must know both the enemy and oneself. First, how did Your Highness come by this information?" Aiden asked calmly, without a hint of subservience.
Exchanging a glance with Roland, Simon explained how Adelaide had come to him and revealed the Goldwynd family’s plans.
Baldwin frowned and spoke. "My Lord, the words of a courtesan may not be reliable. Isn’t Your Highness being a bit hasty?"
"It’s better to believe it and be prepared than to dismiss it and regret it later. Baldwin, have you forgotten about the reaver cavalry last year? Those riders likely didn’t end up outside Brambleford by accident. It seems they took a wrong turn while searching for someone." Simon said.
Aiden said. "In that case, we should send people disguised as merchants to the grasslands to gather intelligence and closely monitor the reavers’ movements."
"That’s the first step. But if this is confirmed, what then?" Simon asked again.
"My Lord should know better than I do. We must defend Dunmere at all costs to protect the six cities."
"What if I want to reclaim the lost northern territories?" Simon asked.
"Of course, we should also build fortresses and implement a scorched-earth policy. This is what is known as the ’advance and fortify’ strategy." Aiden replied, his expression unchanged.
Baldwin stroked his beard with satisfaction and spoke. "Aiden, please elaborate on this ’advance and fortify’ strategy."
Aiden continued. "The most critical aspect of attacking the grasslands is the supply line. However, facing the powerful reaver cavalry, the supply line is extremely vulnerable. Therefore, we should build a fortress on every day’s journey apart. This will ensure that supplies can be transported to the fortresses."
"Secondly, the grassland cavalry is not skilled in siege warfare, while defending cities is our strength. With the fortresses close together, they can quickly support each other. If the reavers bypass the front-line fortresses and attack Dunmere, we can dispatch troops from the fortresses to cut off their supply lines, ensuring an invincible position."
Simon nodded. Aiden truly had some skills. The best way to deal with nomadic tribes was the fortress advancement tactic, combined with a scorched-earth policy to deprive the reaver cavalry of supplies.
However, this strategy also required the Brambleford Army to have sufficient field combat capabilities to ensure the fortresses could advance.
"Let’s set aside the ’advance and fortify’ strategy for now. We can’t launch such an offensive yet. Let’s focus on how to defend the city." Simon said.
Aiden replied. "We need strong city walls and fire tubes."
Simon’s eyes narrowed slightly. Fire tubes, an early form of cannon, were already in use in the Eldorian Empire. However, they fired stone projectiles and had a limited range, so they were not taken seriously.
Yet Aiden proposed using fire tubes for defence, a remarkably forward-thinking idea for this era. These fire tubes were the predecessors of cannons.
With the capabilities of Simon’s steel workshop, crafting precise firearms was impossible, but crude cannons like fire tubes were within reach.
