Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1001: Chapter 1000: Stalemated War

Rosetta stood up from behind his desk and walked over to the map nearby, his gaze slowly sweeping over the series of annotations in the border areas, while Matilda’s voice came from behind him: ”In the past week, the Cecil Clan has increased troops at the Winterwolf Fort Defense Line four times. Their control zone extends from the stronghold all the way to Shadow Marsh. Recently, they took control of the mechanical bridge in the Shadow Marsh area, allowing the armored train to enter the war zone. That war machine now sits like a fortress on the line from Shadow Marsh to Winterwolf Fort, putting great pressure on our border offensive...”

”It seems they’ve made up their mind to pin themselves down at Winterwolf Fort... it’s a strategic pivot,” Rosetta nodded, ”so we can’t rule out the possibility of them suddenly attacking Aldernon.”

”It indeed looks that way...” Matilda responded, ”We’ve now cut off the railway line from Shadow Marsh to our country, established a new line using Bitter Winter Castle as a pivot, and troops summoned from the homeland are gathering there continuously. The initial push of Cecil Clan’s steel war chariots and mobile infantry caused significant casualties for us, but after Count Palin Winterhold withdrew from the Winterwolf Defense Line to the rear, he guided frontline troops to formulate many effective tactics. Now, our Transcendent troops can effectively counter those machines... But we still have no solution for those two moving fortresses of the Cecil Clan.”

”Count Palin Winterhold...” Rosetta murmured, ”After Winterwolf Fort fell, he faced much criticism from home... now those questioning voices have finally quieted down.”

”In the battle of Winterwolf Fort, two main commanders surrendered; one withdrew to the rear in advance, and this issue caused a long-standing blow to the pride and confidence of the upper society upon transmission back home. Speaking of the severely wounded surrender of Andresha notwithstanding, Count Palin Winterhold is said to have withdrawn unharmed... based on this, many aristocrats think he is even more disgraceful than Andresha.”

”Ironically, only those who never set foot on the battlefield and know nothing about the military are laughing, while the real generals know it was precisely those two commanders, so questioned, who gave us the opportunity to catch our breath and adjust,” Rosetta’s tone was slightly cold, but he didn’t dwell on this topic for long and quickly shook his head. ”Apparently, that thing called ’armored train’, the war machine, is more troublesome than we initially investigated.”

”Indeed an advancement in technology—the information we previously discovered is clearly outdated. The initial armored trains were semi-finished products, and now the Cecil Clan has perfected its weapon and power systems,” Matilda said seriously, ”That thing boasts firepower on par with strategic Mage Corps and fortress-like defenses, able to race freely along the tracks while the whole railway is protected by a powerful shield and numerous military stations, sentinel towers, with small trains patrolling back and forth on the protected railway. According to Count Winterhold’s description, it’s a ’dynamic and offensive-defensive’ system with no military type of ours capable of dealing with it...

”The Cecil Clan has evidently put much effort into designing this system. The original purpose of its birth wasn’t to deal with those weak small nations, but to cope with colossal entities like Typhon...”

Listening to his daughter’s narrative, Rosetta fell into a brief contemplation, then after a long time, he quietly sighed and said thoughtfully, ”Mobile fortress, capable of offense and defense and habitation, equivalent to a continuously advancing supply line; if a few railroads are laid extending to the wasteland, and Forward Bases continue to be established under armored train cover, human civilization might even counterattack the Gondor wasteland...”

Matilda was evidently surprised by her father’s insight but quickly realized the significance behind this thinking, her face showing an astonished expression: ”Father... what do you mean?”

”Gawain Cecil, his foresight indeed sees further than ours,” Rosetta said, but soon shook his head, ”However, it’s not the time to discuss this now. The key is those trains... they have strong firepower and long range, which means they can cover the Engineers Corps to lay railway tracks while fighting forward. Even if we blow up the mechanical bridge and railway hub, as long as the Cecil Clan is willing to spend the cost, they can continue advancing unyieldingly, so we must find a way to deal with that thing.”

”...Count Winterhold proposed a plan, but this plan once again faced our shortcoming,” Matilda said, ”He thinks that in confronting such a land fortress, using ground forces will inevitably lead to huge casualties, and the only effective means is an airstrike—armored trains’ main cannons can only attack ground targets, although they have small anti-air weapons, this firepower is far weaker than for ground attacks. As long as we don’t face the deadly main cannon, we have the chance to destroy them from the air.”

”Air...” Rosetta’s eyes narrowed, but his expression didn’t relax at all.

”Air superiority is not on our side,” Matilda said heavily, ”Although we own the largest Air Mage Corps and gryphon Troops on this continent, the Cecil Clan drove their war machines to the skies; faced with machines, gryphons and Mages seem too fragile and slow—and most importantly, Mages having flying ability and experienced Gryphon Knights are clearly more precious than those machines, we can’t afford the depletion.”

Rosetta contemplated, then slowly said: ”...Can those Flying Machines be copied or researched for flaws?”

”We shot down a few, and the remnants have been sent to several research facilities under the Royal Mage Association and Constructers’ Guild, but it’s probably difficult to replicate them in a short period. Experts in the magic symbol field reported finding another brand-new magic symbol system on those machines, completely different from the symbols currently used by elves and humans, but somewhat like legendary dragon language... These magic symbols interact with the special alloy comprising the Flying Machines to produce power. We cannot piece together a complete magic circle; we don’t understand how the material serving as the base for the magic symbols is produced, making it impossible to imitate the aircraft under these circumstances...even if luck is on our side, we don’t have enough time.

”Indeed... We are catching up from scratch in an unfamiliar field, not having this time,” Rosetta said solemnly, ”Short-term we still need to find ways from our strengths... do those Flying Machines have weaknesses?”

Matilda immediately nodded: ”Yes, and the weakness is unexpectedly simple yet very tricky—probably to reduce weight and enhance flexibility, those Flying Machines don’t have the strong armor and high-power energy shields like steel war chariots. Moreover, their anti-gravity structure lacks protection, making their anti-interference ability weak; ordinary arcane traps can temporarily disable its power, theoretically, if we release a small-scale arcane impact on their power structure nearby, it should make that thing fall, or at least temporarily lose control and combat effectiveness, but...”

”But it requires our Mages to be able to approach those things alive,” Rosetta said expressionlessly, ”That thing flies faster and more agilely than Mages and gryphons and has stronger attacking capabilities, making inherent weaknesses irrelevant as no opponent can approach it at all, not even catching up.”

Matilda was speechless, while Rosetta, after a brief silence, returned to the map. Seemingly forgetting the topic just discussed, he refocused his attention on those lines and arrows representing military movement. After more than a minute of contemplation, he suddenly broke the silence: ”The next batch of troops will depart to the front line in several days... Earl Clement Darte will lead the reorganized Fourth Corps and the last ’Church Volunteer Corps’ to Bitter Winter Castle.”

”Clement?” Matilda paused but quickly reacted, her complexion becoming somewhat complicated, ”He is probably the last conservative aristocratic stubborn stone... To disrupt your new policy, he has tirelessly campaigned among aristocrats and Mages repeatedly, but precisely due to his influence, even Hadrian struggles against him...”

”Palin will have a solution,” Rosetta said flatly, ”At worst, the Cecil Clan also has a solution.”

”...I am rather worried that Earl Darte would straightforwardly surrender in the first battle—he probably hates you more than he hates the Cecil Clan. A person like this sent to the frontline will only further weaken our strength.”

”He won’t. He indeed hates me more than he hates the Cecil Clan, but he loves Typhon more than he loves himself... I’ve dealt with him too many times,” Emperor Rosetta slowly turned around, looking at the misty Aldernon outside the floor-to-ceiling window, ”He knows my intention, but he will still go to the front line, and then die heroically there with hatred... If it weren’t for this war, he wouldn’t have done such a thing under any circumstances, but now Typhon is in trouble.”

Matilda was silent for a moment, then hesitated for a few seconds before saying: ”Besides, regarding that ’Church Volunteer Corps’...”

”The priests of the War God want this war, and I will give them this war. They are a bunch of fanatics who are about to lose their judgment ability, but at least they can be of use for the last time,” Rosetta said with his back to Matilda, so she couldn’t see his expression at all, ”They gladly accepted the order, let’s say... it is the last piece of the puzzle that the church can provide for us.”

Matilda was pondering, instinctively sensing something incongruous in her father’s arrangement this time, but before she could speak up to ask anything, a sudden knock on the door came from behind.

Rosetta turned around to look at the door: ”Come in.”

The next second, the door of the study was opened, and Diana, dressed in a black maid’s dress, her black hair draped over her shoulders, appeared there. The maidservant supervisor first nodded slightly to Matilda at the side, then bowed to her master.

Rosetta looked at the lady who had served the Augustus Clan for hundreds of years: ”What happened?”

”The Cecil technicians stranded at the Aldernon Railway Company still refuse to continue providing services, and the consular officials have also rejected your proposal,” Diana said expressionlessly, ”Moreover, similar situations are occurring at railway hubs across the country.”

Rosetta pondered for a moment, and Matilda instinctively watched her father.

Stranded Cecil people in Typhon... she had been paying attention to this matter for some time. The war came too suddenly, and neither the responding side nor the ”declarer” was prepared. When the border conflict escalated into a hot war within forty-eight hours and cross-border traffic suddenly broke down, many foreigners inevitably faced the awkward situation of being stranded. Cecil technicians, investors, and state representatives were stranded in Typhon, and Typhon’s envoys, students, and merchants on the other side were, of course, stranded in Cecil.

The new ”international order” of the past two years brought such unforeseen and unaddressed troublesome situations. Previously, even when two countries that interacted suddenly went to war, there wouldn’t be such complicated situations of personnel stranding, because at that time there was no cross-border trade and technological exchange, nor were there state-level study and inspection activities.

Matilda knew many people were active about this matter. Some were actively organizing the evacuation and withdrawal of those stranded. Some were attempting to establish ”war-time transit windows” through various channels. Aldernon and Cecil Castle maintained a fragile, difficult, and cautious communication under such circumstances just to deal with such troublesome matters.

Meanwhile, Cecil technicians stranded in Aldernon refused to accept orders from the Augustus Clan and refused to continue providing technical services to Typhon. This had already attracted a lot of attention. Frankly speaking... Matilda even admired those bold Cecil people a little.

Most of them are neither Knights nor Mages. By traditional standards, they are just civilians, with no obligation to adhere to any Knight’s code or aristocratic principles, yet what they did was no less significant than the Knights on the battlefield.

The study maintained a slightly oppressive silence, but eventually, Rosetta broke the silence: ”Did anyone have a conflict with them?”

”No,” Lady Diana shook her head, ”By your order, we have maintained the utmost restraint — the food and water supplies to the embassy and the residential areas of the technicians also remain normal, although we have now prohibited personnel from those areas from entering or exiting.”

After a few more seconds of silence, Rosetta finally sighed and slowly said: ”Tell that ambassador that he can leave Aldernon soon, and we will send him out of the country at the end of the Dark Mountain Range.”

Diana glanced at him: ”Is it for exchanging with our own ambassador?”

Rosetta slowly nodded: ”This matter has already been arranged — just convey it directly.”

”Then what about those technicians?”

”...If they refuse to serve, let them refuse. Tell them their safety and well-being in Aldernon will still be guaranteed,” Rosetta said, ”Treat them well, and add more security personnel to the corresponding districts to prevent incidents from extreme citizens or unclear-headed aristocrats. Also, continue to reach out to them whenever possible — privately. Not everyone is a paragon of virtue and iron-willed warrior. When deals are made under the table, there will always be someone willing to side with us.”

”Yes, Your Majesty.”

(Wishing Operations Officer Xin Xin Qian Qian a happy birthday!)