Chapter 561 - 533: The Army at the Gates
Chapter 561: Chapter 533: The Army at the Gates
The shock of the steam train lasted for a long time. The nobles who had originally planned to leave after congratulating Ronin on Roland’s birth abruptly changed their plans.
Although they didn’t understand the train, they knew of its immense potential. Given this, who wouldn’t want to have such a "Divine Artifact" in their own territory?
So, for the next several days, the nobles were all consulting with Swamp Castle for relevant information, seeing if they could also build a train and lay down some railway lines in their own territories.
Chahar still presided over these business meetings, but Ronin was also present.
Something like a railway network needed to be led from the top down and required unified planning.
But the nobles here were equivalent to small, independent nations. If a line passed through one noble’s territory and that noble, for some crazy reason, decided to cut the rails one day, the impact would be enormous.
Before he had unified these lands, Ronin naturally had to negotiate good terms and establish mutual responsibilities. If anyone intentionally sabotaged the railway, they would have to bear the consequences.
Of course, Ronin wasn’t doing all of this for free.
Although the steam train was in his hands and the other nobles didn’t need to worry about that aspect, when it came to the railway lines within their territories, they would have to foot the bill themselves.
The costs for labor, materials like steel and railway ties, plus the fees for the Wubei Territory’s professional technical team, would add up to well over one hundred thousand Gold Coins.
On top of that, once the railway was operational, they would also need to pay transport fees to the Wubei Territory, and so on.
Thus, as soon as money became an issue, ninety percent of the nobles began to back out.
Ronin had known this would happen, so he hadn’t expected all the nobles to be capable of joining such a massive project as the railway construction.
He focused his attention primarily on the nobles whose territories contained mines or had a great need for transportation.
After several days of talks, aside from Lurans who offered his full support, the other nobles all cautiously said they would go back to consider it seriously and give a reply as soon as possible.
Ronin could understand. After all, it was a major project.
However, he also realized that to lay railway tracks everywhere, it needed to be led from the top down.
Once a higher authority decided a railway would pass through a certain noble’s territory, it should pass through. The local noble should not have the right to refuse.
Fortunately, there was no rush. The priority was to first build the railway line from the Wubei Territory directly to Wushan Castle, along with the branch lines along the way.
The other nobles could take their time to consider it.
After the lively celebration, Swamp Castle returned to its usual tranquility.
Besides taking care of Roland every day, Ronin began to tinker with concrete. The high-quality clay from West Wind Hill and the limestone from Giant Stone City were perfect to use together, and this new building material could be used in the construction of Wubei City and Wubei Castle.
In addition to these matters, Ronin would also receive letters from other members of the War Council. For example, when Proud Sun Knights appeared among the enemies faced by Valgis and Ibn, Ronin would show up to handle the trouble for them.
As for the main and eastern fronts, although Proud Sun Knights also appeared, Ridder and Macken were enough to handle them.
After this period of attrition, the losses in Ronin’s army were relatively small, but the losses for Valgis and Ibn were quite significant.
Although they were ultimately victorious and were constantly occupying territory that originally belonged to the Ferrensburg Duchy and the Blackthorn Duchy, they were not expanding as quickly as Ronin and Lurans.
And over the next two years of war, Ronin easily discovered that although the Tricia Kingdom was still resisting in segments, the number of powerful experts appearing on the battlefield was dwindling.
These experts referred to Eighth-level and Ninth Level Transcendents.
Often, after a battle, the strongest combatant on the enemy side was merely a Golden Knight.
Although there were quite a few Golden Knights, they couldn’t make much of a splash.
It seemed that ever since Serdil’s death, the enemy’s ability to mass-produce powerful experts had plummeted, making it impossible for them to keep up with the rate of attrition across the four battlefronts.
High above Bacchus City, Ronin and Ridder stood in the air, watching the fierce clash unfolding below.
"The power that Flame Seal Knight is unleashing should be close to the Meteor Level."
Ridder pointed to a battle group below and to the right, explaining, "However, we only need one Golden Knight and two Silvers using the Flame Battle Array to take him down!"
Ronin looked over. The three of them coordinated seamlessly, and their movements seemed to resonate with each other.
A special Cultivation Secret Scripture, supplemented by external aids and a series of training sessions, had given them a sense of synchronization.
Surrounded by the three, the enemy Flame Seal Knight was already a spent force.
"That Golden Knight seems to be Joffrey, right?" Ronin asked.
Ridder laughed. "Yes, my lord. Two years of war have allowed Joffrey’s power to advance by leaps and bounds. He’s now at the late stage of the Golden Level. Next to him is Babulin. Although he only recently became a Silver, he has the potential to serve as a Garrison Officer or a Sheriff."
Both Joffrey and Babulin came from the Wilderness Tribe. To have achieved what they have today could be considered a legendary tale in itself.
In fact, thanks to Ronin funneling resources like Enhancement Potions to his veteran subordinates, many of them had grown considerably in the past two years.
For instance, Rogner, Damon, Tom, and others. The strongest among them was Karda, who was now a Meteor Knight.
As the two spoke, the battle below came to an end.
With this, the three large cities, five medium-sized cities, and over a dozen small towns south of Mist City and before Giant Dragon City all fell into Ronin’s hands.
"South of Bacchus City is Giant Dragon Avenue. At the end of this road, which is over sixty *li* long, lies the Royal Capital of the Tricia Kingdom, Giant Dragon City."
From his position high in the sky, Ronin gazed south and could vaguely make out the silhouette of Giant Dragon City.
In truth, the intensity of the war over the last six months had not been high, mainly because the enemy’s army had completely lost its morale.
If not for Tyrone using a combination of monetary incentives and threats against their families’ lives, these soldiers would have thrown down their weapons and given up the fight long ago.
Even in Bacchus City, which served as a bridgehead for Giant Dragon City, the enemy’s defensive forces were far weaker than they had been during the battle for Mist City.
"My lord, when are we preparing to attack Giant Dragon City?" Ridder asked, a hint of anticipation in his voice.
Ronin mused for a moment.
His Mage Level progress had now reached (57,327/60,000). He only needed four more months to surpass the Legendary realm and become a Sage.
’I’ve already waited two years. There’s no need to rush now.’
"Before the spring planting next year."
Ronin said, "The war in the Villa Duchy should also be over by September or October. We can combine our forces then."
Villa Castle had been captured by Lurans and Macken a year ago. In the time since, they had been continuing their eastward push, attacking other cities.
Besides Macken, Karda’s fleet had already bypassed the Villa Duchy and landed on the southern shores of the Tricia Kingdom. They had now captured two small cities, an impressive feat.
Ridder nodded. "You remain as prudent as ever regarding Giant Dragon City."
Ronin couldn’t help but smile.
Harmon’s intelligence network now blanketed Giant Dragon City. Ronin could accurately grasp everything that happened, even inside the Royal Palace.
For the past two years, he had been waiting for an opportunity for Flame Wings to leave the Royal Palace so that he and Ridder could launch a decapitation strike.
Unfortunately, whether out of cowardice or prudence, the target had not taken a single step out of the Royal Palace in two years, sticking firmly behind their Array.
Harmon didn’t know much about Flame Wings, so to avoid any unexpected incidents, Ronin had abandoned any aggressive strategies.
For now, this pace of conquering one city and then governing it was working out quite well.
Moreover, as the war dragged on, the reputation of Ronin’s formidable and valiant commanders spread far and wide. His own prestige was established and soared, reaching its zenith.
Although the War Council still existed, both Valgis and Ibn had already completely handed over their decision-making authority.
The operations of the Oduin Kingdom had, imperceptibly, come to depend entirely on Ronin’s will.