Chapter 482 Kingdom Strategy
Chapter 482 Kingdom Strategy
It was late at night, and most of the capital had already sunk peacefully into darkness.
Although lamps were not a luxury item, for most citizens of the royal capital, burning oil to light lamps was undoubtedly a shameful waste unless they were working under the lamps.
Only the wealthy people living in the upper city and places like Redwood Avenue and Lowther Arcade would keep the lights on all night for a little light, regardless of the cost.
Among the several "lighting areas" in the royal capital, the place with the largest number of lights is naturally the royal palace which is the core of the royal capital.
However, after the palace quietly changed its owner, most of the lights that were always on in the past were ordered to be turned off by the new owner. In the bedroom in the back half of the palace, only one window was still lit.
Phew... I'm finally done with my work.
After finishing the work on her desk, the princess, who was the capital's number one night owl, stretched like a cat to loosen up her sore muscles and bones, but she did not turn off the lights and go to sleep as usual. Instead, she took out a crumpled notebook from the shelf behind her and began to flip through it quietly at the table.
The handwriting on the notebook looks a little crooked, but rather than saying that the handwriting is ugly, it is more like it was drawn by the feet while slipping on the ice. Even the straight lines are not written steadily, resulting in the fat and round-shaped fonts, which are full of the innocence that belongs only to children.
However, although the font looks somewhat innocent, the content on the notebook is far from innocent and instead has a rather sharp meaning.
"The first step of the plan is to overthrow the royal family and completely unify the kingdom!"
Looking at the royal emblem with a red cross on William's old homework book, Princess Veronica couldn't help but curl up the corners of her mouth.
Unlike the dog-crawling handwriting next to it, the royal emblem marked "target" on the exercise book is drawn in a very realistic way. It can be seen at first glance that the exercise paper was covered over the pattern, and the pattern that came through the paper was traced stroke by stroke.
Below the crossed-out royal emblem is a simple map of the general geographical conditions around the kingdom, also drawn on the map.
"Then, at all costs, make friends with the nobles here and find a way to take this place!"
On the rough map, the location of the Ruhr area of the Kingdom of Hesse was heavily circled with a pen, and a small black pattern was drawn next to it, and it was unclear what it was.
Hmm...my blind guess is it's a lump of coal.
After recalling the information about the Ruhr area, the princess took out a discarded document from the table, turned it over and wrote the words "Ruhr Area - Coal" on the back.
I remember that the Ruhr area was the largest coal-producing area in the Kingdom of Hesse. This should be a mineral symbol, but the word "coal" seemed to be taught only in the third grade of public school. The child probably couldn't write this word yet, so he drew a black lump of coal to represent it.
"After we get the 'black, warm after burning, and slightly tooth-gritting thing', pick a winter with the coldest weather and dig up all the roads leading north from the Kingdom of Hessen and Lane County!"
On this rough map, six of the seven main roads leading north were crossed out, with only the one in Lane County remaining intact. Next to this remaining main road, there were two crossed toothpicks with handles? Long daggers? Or two long swords? It should represent a battle, right?
After subconsciously drawing a question mark on the scrap paper, Wang tried hard to decipher the crooked markings on the exercise book.
"The winter in the Northern Kingdom is very cold, and they need to burn things to keep warm. The ports near the sea will also make ice cream for several months, so as long as the roads are dug up, they can only burn the things they stored before."
Making ice cream for several months... probably means freezing it for several months. It seems that he has never learned how to spell this word.
After translating William's homework and copying it on the back of the waste document, the princess referred to her understanding of the Kingdom of Aixito and added a few methods that might be effective against the Northern Kingdom. Then she stared at the old homework and began to lose herself in thought.
Although what this child wrote seemed childish and frivolous, the ideas behind it were surprisingly broad.
As the northernmost ice country in the world, the Northern Kingdom of Aixito would go south almost every few years to harass its neighbors, but it dared not touch the Duchy of Hesse because the Duchy of Hesse was holding their lifeline.
As for himself and the kingdom, instead of spending a lot of time and effort building fortifications, deploying troops on the border all year round, and passively waiting for the invasion of the Kingdom of Aixito, it would be better to take the initiative, choose a time that is favorable to himself, and force the Kingdom of Aixito to move south ahead of time.
Although war is the worst option, if we simply resist war, it will inevitably lead to greater tragedy.
Rather than continuing to invest heavily in the military and letting fortifications and military spending drag down the kingdom's finances, it would be better to take the initiative to start a war at the right time to let the Northern Kingdom understand that its somewhat weak neighbor is also capable of fighting to the death with it.
After picking up a pen and writing down the military strength comparison between the two countries on the back of a piece of waste paper, a look of determination emerged on Princess Veronica's face.
Can hit!
Even though there is still a big gap in military strength between the two countries, it is different from the defensive wars in the past. The side that has the initiative in the war is fighting an open ambush war with almost no possibility of losing, and the intensity of the war is also easy to control.
If the main roads were cut off in advance, only two or three legions would be needed to block the southward route of the Kingdom of Aixito, coupled with the enemy's hasty deployment and the difficulties in logistics supply in winter.
There would not even be a need for a major war. Just a month or so of confrontation and a few small-scale clashes under control would be enough to make the Kingdom of Aixito give up and choose to negotiate.
At that time, we can promise to open up coal transportation, but require the Kingdom of Aixito to return the pass that it had seized six years ago. Once the pass is exchanged back, only one-sixth or even less of the original permanent troops will be needed, which will be enough to completely block the way for these bandits to move south!
By then, when the pressure on border defense is gone, we can lay off a large number of old troops that have little combat effectiveness, prioritize the fiscal budget on education and public spending, and then use eight to fifteen years to quickly train a large number of educated people.
When this generation grows up and becomes the seed that ignites the fire, leading more people, I will have the ability to wield the knife and completely cut out the rotten flesh of the kingdom, making this already aging country rejuvenated again!
(End of this chapter)