CHAPTER 553: CHAPTER 531: PRIVY COUNCIL ADVISOR

In the council hall of Uffizi Palace in Rapids City.

The murky winter afternoon sunlight shone on the ebony table. In this spacious council hall, five to six dozen key figures of Rapids City were seated.

Among them were various Legion Commanders, City Councilors, Guild leaders, and main City Hall members.

They sat around an oval table or behind rectangular long tables on either side, forming groups, pretending not to notice the Secret Monks moving in and out.

Apart from serving tea and water, these Secret Monks were posting charts and maps on a large wooden board.

Of course, the maps were accurate, but the positions of various legions and fortresses on them were intentionally blurred.

However, to the observing Seching, those dense symbols were still overwhelmingly confusing.

Is it just a war? Why make it so complicated?

The nobles of North County often had to war with Lor Norn from the other side of the Kala Mountain Range, meeting briefly among key nobles before the battle.

Then they would draw simple maps on the ground and each place a dagger, marking their battlezones, and fight until done.

In fact, all current wars within the Empire follow this model, holding a military council before combat, completing task distribution, and then each doing their separate part, responsible for organizing troops and gathering provisions.

The likes of decrees for collective grain allocations and synchronized troop movements are considered tactical advancements.

It’s Seching’s first time seeing such meticulous planning as done by the Salvation Army.

Mitney saw Seching’s confusion and handed him a cup of hot black tea: "The Salvation Army takes pride in being the El Third Empire, reviving many of El’s traditions and systems, such as this military advisory mechanism.

This function, during the El Empire, belonged to the temporary military council of the Senate, but His Eminence established it permanently, forming this detailed style of operations."

Although there is currently no clear division, the Secretariat is also divided into Civil Secretariat and Staff Secretariat.

The main role of the Staff Secret Monks is to assist Horn in formulating battle plans and march routes.

At present, the Staff Secret Monks are few in number, all promoted from Legion Secretaries and Military Chaplains.

As the Rapids City and Salvation Army senior members arrived, a dedicated protocol officer began to loudly maintain order until everyone quieted down.

Horn didn’t say much nonsense, after briefly describing the situation, assigned the reporting task to Petier, Bernardo, and a few other Staff Secret Monks.

According to the simplified staff system introduced by Horn, the formation of battle plans is divided into five phases: enemy and ally intelligence gathering, campaign objective setting, tactical execution planning, contingency plans, and order issuance coordination.

This pre-battle meeting is to report the results of the first two phases.

"Currently, the total enemy force numbers around 5000 to 9000, with main troops gathered near Shelley City, besieging it, and light cavalry raiding all around, having already captured three fortresses surrounding Shelley City.

Given the current situation, Shelley City will fall by mid-January, some light cavalry has already reached outside the Shelley City basin.

And our objectives, ranked by importance, are to secure the South Nao’an River defense line, advance into the basin area, and restore governance over Kasha County."

Confronting numerous senior members and Legion Commanders, Bernardo calmly and eloquently dissected the current situation.

He even felt a sense of elation, so comfortable without disruptive Knights, no scheming servants, no obstinate or unreasonable nobles.

The majority of his opinions and analyses were solidly transformed into operational intentions, clearly written on paper and communicated to officers willing to obey orders.

"This campaign is divided into three stages. The first stage’s goal is to stabilize the South Nao’an River defense line, the second is to advance the front to the Blago Basin, and the third is to reclaim the Blago Monastery."

After analysis by several Staff Secret Monks and Horn himself, it’s clear that rescuing the Blago Monastery is out of time.

Rather than attempting reinforcement, it is better to first secure the South Nao’an River defense line, ensuring the enemy finds it difficult to assault the core home territory before progressively advancing west.

"Next, the specific operational plan will be explained by Petier."

After Bernardo bowed and stepped down from the podium, Horn called Petier up.

Unlike Bernardo who likes to analyze situations and propose campaign directions, Petier excels at breaking down vast campaigns into individual tasks.

"Currently, we have over 200 kilometers of defense line along the South Nao’an River, yet only 7 legions totaling 3950 soldiers, with 600 combat cavalry and 800 rangers.

The enemy forces are approximately double ours, with such a long defense line and their cavalry comprising the main fighting strength while ours is infantry.

So the enemy can conduct multiple surprise break-ins, severing our supply lines, pure defense is futile.

Instead, we must seize the initiative to attack while they haven’t fully invaded the South Nao’an River Basin.

Step one, we burn most of the crossings on the South Nao’an River, leaving only the most crucial, build temporary bastions, and have rangers patrol along the river constantly.

Step two, leverage the enemy’s supply difficulty weakness to keep them constantly engaged.

Utilize our high mobility and rapid supply advantage to harass and eliminate small groups, forcing the enemy to split forces, then concentrate to eliminate one part.

Repeat this until the enemy’s forces are reduced to a certain level, allowing us to target Shelley City for a counterattack.

The specific operational direction, gentlemen, can be seen on the operational map behind me..."

This operational map is essentially hand-drawn by Petier. Since he came from a merchant family, he grew up transporting goods with his elders.

To dodge customs and reduce transportation losses, Petier developed a good habit of map drawing, and the more precise, the better.

This skill was originally just a supplementary one, perhaps even a hobby, but it has proven incredibly useful here.

"I have a question." Rudilo, Legion Commander of the Third Black Hat Legion, raised his hand.

"Please go ahead."

Rudilo coughed, stood up: "The Church army of Lakunio is mainly cavalry, while we are infantry, how can we outrun them?"

"Very simple, firstly we have the South Nao’an River, able to quickly transfer troops by boat, secondly, we have home-field advantage to pre-build supply points along the marching route."

Picking up a small wooden pointer, Petier indicated a road on the wooden map behind him.

"For example, this route from here to here, normally requires five to seven days of marching, but if supply points are built at these two locations, it can be reached within four days.

Our brave infantry march at a remarkable pace, almost without lagging or desertions, maintaining a normal marching speed of about 20 kilometers daily.

With the new standardized military attire and footwear, as long as food supplies along the way are assured, the Imperial Guard, during forced marches, can advance up to 30-35 kilometers daily.

The enemy’s cavalry finds it hard to abandon their baggage, resulting in slightly slower marching speeds. Tactically, cavalry is faster, but strategically, we are definitively quicker.

Not just infantry, even our cavalry is swifter than theirs.

I’ve calculated; if we can build the temporary fortresses and supply points on the map in time, our intelligence transmission speed will be about a day faster than theirs."

As Petier explained the operation plan, Horn showed no concern about the plan being leaked.

The detailed operational specifics are all in the mind; they see a static map, whereas Horn and Petier see a dynamic one.

Even knowing the general plan, the Church army’s shortcomings and weaknesses can’t be changed, nor can the terrain or system.

Based on these facts that cannot be altered in the short term, unless the Holy Father pulls a fast one, victory requires no outstanding performance from any Legion.

Nonetheless, this staff system is being practiced for the first time, so Horn closely observed the Legion Commanders and Rapids City’s City Councilors, most of whom seemed dismissive or doubtful.

Before achieving concrete results, Horn himself would need to enforce the orders.

"I invited you all here, do you understand my meaning?" After Petier stepped down, Horn took the podium, scanning the room.

"We will fight the battles, but the work of building fortifications, transporting soldiers, building supply points is yours."

The merchants and shipmasters started murmuring noisily among themselves, knowing this was a massive project.

Although Saint’s Grandson doesn’t exploit without compensation, this kind of task could lead to bankruptcy, or losing one’s life, which isn’t worth it.

In contrast, Rapids City’s Stonemason Guild was eager to ask about the detailed plans, compared to Joan of Arc Castle’s counterparts, they had a tougher life.

"Gentlemen, this isn’t my war, it’s a war for all of us."

After Horn’s words resonated clearly, the murmurings finally subsided, he cleared his throat: "I’ve said all there is to say. Are there any objections now?"

The leaders of Rapids City exchanged looks, but ultimately no one raised a hand.

Horn clapped his hands in satisfaction: "Then let’s proceed as planned."