Exploring Technology in a Wizard World-Chapter 1422 - 1420: The Troop Deployment Issue
"You’ve been by my side all along, so you must have experienced the most chaotic period over a year ago." Soron said to Yule, "At that time, the city of Shaya had dozens of small factions acting independently, and the current Lord was just one of them.
These groups attacked each other, constantly issuing contradictory orders, nearly causing the Alliance to cease its operations. They also frequently meddled with the military, sometimes leading to comical situations. For instance, in the morning one group would order the military to attack another group, and before the military could respond, in the afternoon another group would order the military to attack the first group. Then a third and fourth group would join in, and even if the military resisted, the chaos was unstoppable.
Now that the new Lord is in power, the remaining forces of the small factions have been cleared out one by one, seemingly improving the situation. But the issue is, our new Lord doesn’t seem to be a monarch completely considering the Alliance’s interests; many actions of his, viewed from a long-term perspective, are harmful to the Alliance."
With a sigh, Soron spoke seriously, "Take this deployment to Shalin for example; it’s clearly unwise. For three years, Shaya has been in constant chaos, while Shalin has developed at a terrifying pace, especially Atlantis City, which is now on par with any major city on this continent. Sending troops to such a city, regardless of whether we can successfully enter, the impact is far more complex than we can imagine.
Additionally, I’m not sure where Shalin found a group of naturally gifted warriors—the Spark People—but just their displayed bravery alone is enough to make us wary. Theoretically, only tens of thousands of well-trained Spark People could drastically change the distribution of military forces along this border. Shalin publicly claims to have less than ten thousand Spark People absorbed into their army, but no one can be sure of the actual situation. If the number of Spark People in Shalin’s army is several times what they’ve announced, sending troops to Shalin might ignite a dangerous explosive barrel that could shatter us."
Of course, these are minor issues; the most concerning thing is Shalin’s Lord—Richard. Three years ago, during our battle with the Truth Society, you were there firsthand; we only managed to avoid defeat and turn the tables thanks to him. Even at that time, his power was already astonishing—unmatched within our army, perhaps only the combined efforts of many Alliance powerhouses would have a slight chance.
About a year after the end of the national war, conflicts arose between him and neighboring Lords, meeting near Shalin’s border, where I witnessed him use magic to assert dominance, and at that time, his strength had grown further. Now, two years past that point, it’s truly difficult to determine how formidable he has become. If we send troops to Shalin and provoke him, who knows what the outcome would be. If things go poorly, triggering a chain reaction, Shaya might devolve into chaos once again after just stabilizing."
Considering all this, I’ve been hesitating these past few days, wondering if giving complete command of the army over to the new Lord now is a good choice? Or perhaps... we should wait, observe some more, at least delay things a bit, and not rush into opposing Shalin."
"But General, we can’t just keep delaying, can we?" Yule looked at Soron, speaking.
"Of course I know." Soron sighed, "If it’s just Shaya’s endless orders, it’s no problem; even if there were a hundred and twenty, I could ignore them. But what I’m really worried about is Shaya losing patience, and..."
At this point, Soron paused, seeing his subordinate approaching from outside the door.
"Come in." Soron gestured. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
"Yes." The subordinate entered, reporting quickly, "General, just now, someone claiming to be an envoy entered Reef Rock Castle, stating they have a directive from Lord Shaya and wish to see you directly."
"Ah, it seems the most worrisome situation... has already occurred." Soron said to Yule upon hearing this.
Yule: "..."
...
An hour later.
Commander Mansion, Command Room.
A man in his thirties walked in, wearing a luxurious blue robe, with neatly trimmed mustache that looked almost painted on.
The man entered the Command Room and showed no arrogance upon seeing Soron. He moved his mustache slightly, bowed deeply, and greeted, "General Soron Bonaparte, finally meeting you; I’ve heard of you for a long time and greatly admire your intelligence and loyalty to the Alliance. Oh, let me introduce myself, I am Ax Shazuo, coming from the east, bearing the Lord’s direct orders."
"Mr. Shazuo, hello." Soron spoke, "I wonder what direct orders the Lord has you bring."
"Actually... it’s nothing too serious." Shazuo chuckled, "Here’s the thing, the Lord has sent over ten directives concerning Shalin to Reef Rock Castle in the last three days; I’m sure the General has received these orders. However, the Lord has not yet seen any action from the General, nor has he seen anyone dispatched to Shalin, which has made him a bit puzzled. So I’m specifically here to check if there’s some kind of issue?"
"Is there a problem, General?" Shazuo asked Soron at last, "Are you not ready, or is there some other reason?"
"It’s a lack of troops." Soron glanced at Shazuo and explained, "I do want to follow the orders, but unfortunately, I currently have no soldiers to send."
"Lack of troops, no soldiers to send?" Shazuo’s eyes flashed upon hearing this, and he smiled, "The General is truly joking; there are hundreds of thousands of troops under your command at this border, and within a ten-mile radius of Reef Rock Castle alone, there are tens of thousands of soldiers, how could there be a lack of troops?"
"A lack of troops isn’t just about sheer numbers, but whether they can meet the needs. There’s indeed hundreds of thousands of troops at this border, but most are stationed at strategic locations and can’t be mobilized. Another portion is used to guard against the Sika Kingdom—you know well, despite losing the national war three years ago and negotiating peace with us, many in the Sika Kingdom still seek revenge, so we must be vigilant.
These two matters occupy ninety percent of our troops, and the remaining ten percent are needed for public order, defense, redeployment, training, reorganization, and a range of other tasks... The term ’lack of troops’ doesn’t even fully capture our current situation; ’extreme shortage of troops’ is more fitting. Under these circumstances, it’s truly impossible to dispatch an additional contingent to Shalin in a short time."
"Not even one soldier can be mobilized?" Shazuo frowned, confirming.
"Truly, not a single soldier can be mobilized." Soron answered earnestly.
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