As soon as the order for war was given, Neverwinter was up and running efficiently. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Sacks of wheat scavenged from the Falling Dragon Ridge quickly filled the vacant granaries, some of which would be shelled and ground into dry food and distributed to the soldiers who participated in the battle.

In addition to this, there are firearms and ammunition - the recruits recruited during the Evil Moon have also completed their basic training, and those who perform well will be integrated into the official ranks of the First Army, receiving new weapons and uniforms. The common ones will be temporarily used as reserves, assigned to the cities occupied by Roland, in place of the veterans who are stationed.

As a result, Neverwinter's available forces quickly expanded to 5,000 men, theoretically about the same number as the Church's Inquisitors, but due to the limitations of its transportation capacity, the farther away it was from the West, the fewer people could be put into battle.

Considering that the task of the tooth extraction operation was not very intensive, Roland finally set the number of troops to be 1,500 men, with Iron Axe as the command. Moreover, in this operation, the staff was moved into the system of the First Army, and the main members were composed of nobles, knights and ordinary people in the Changge District, such as Sir Silt at dawn and morninglight, and Traff, the chief of the guard of the Honeysuckle family, who either experienced the baptism of artillery fire or served in the Second Army.

Although none of these people came from a professional background, Roland still let them move with the army in the spirit of forming and learning at the same time, and a few more people to give advice. It's just that they don't have the actual command power, and whether or not to adopt the deductions and plans they make has to be decided by the iron axe.

In addition, the Church Purity may be encountered during the tooth extraction operation, so the "Magic Eye" Sylvie and the "Prison Cage" Iffie will also be on the team, the former can detect the magic and warn the enemy of their direction, and the latter can capture the Pure if allowed. In addition, Sylvie would also carry the Listening Sigil so that he could get in touch with Neverwinter at any time, and as a result, an army with modern military structure, firepower, and communication capabilities slowly took shape.

The operation was mainly aimed at the three closest towns to the western border, Chishui City, Silverlight City and Desperate Fortress, and it took about four days from preparation to departure, and Roland spent the rest of his time constantly discussing various details of the battle with the Church with the army command staff and the general staff, except for selecting reliable personal guards to go to the Old Holy City.

For example, it is difficult to decide where to attack.

On this issue, everyone has their own opinions, and it is difficult for anyone to convince the other.

Brian, the commander of the Musket Battalion, was a staunch westerners, and for good reason, "If the battle is fought in the west, the First Army will be able to fully exploit its firepower." With a large number of paddle steamers as logistical support, ammunition and personnel can be replenished in a day, and no matter how long we fight, we are sure of victory. At the same time, this distance is extremely disadvantageous for the church, as long as they do not break through the defense line within a month, they are estimated to not even be able to eat. ”

Edith, on the other hand, is an advocate of the foreign militant faction, "Can't eat? Do you know how many churchgoers there are in Grey Castle? Even if the church is burned down, as long as the Pope gives the order, these people will bring all kinds of food to the door." And mid-July is the season when the wheat is ripe, and the Inquisitors only need to occupy one or two cities to get a constant supply of energy. Isn't this the most terrifying, doesn't the church have a madness pill that can turn ordinary people into monsters? what if the war situation is unfavorable and they force the people of Greykeep to take this pill to consume the strength of the First Army?"

"You don't know anything about gunpowder weapons," Vanna also sided with Brian, "and it's hard work to deliver artillery and ammunition. They are not like swords, they can always be used when they are worn, and the supplies consumed after a battle will require several ships to replenish them, what if you take the initiative to meet the enemy before they enter the Grey Keep, as you said, and run out of ammunition?"

"I don't really know what you mean by gunpowder weapons, and I don't know exactly how you fight, but the most important thing in any war is the purpose -- if you don't achieve the intended goal, even if you win, you lose. "Your Majesty needs every citizen of the Grey Keep, and you allow the Church to enter the kingdom and wantonly consume the population?"

"If you can't win, there's no point. ”

"Solving seemingly unsolvable problems is what we should be doing. ”

The only people on the scene could make a decision, Roland and the Iron Axe, but as long as the prince was present, the Iron Axe would never say a word - whatever orders he gave him, the Sandman would do it unconditionally. And these two views do have their own advantages and disadvantages, and it is difficult for Roland to make a decision for a while.

The most effective way to combat gunpowder weapons is to establish a cross-fire network and wait for the enemy to crash into it, and the western frontier is undoubtedly the best place to set up and fortify in advance. But if the Church really drove the people of the Greykeep as the vanguard of the army, then his losses would be great—even if the bullets could easily defeat the fanatic, the lost population would not be able to be regained in a short time.

It was not until the eve of the imminent sortie of the army that Sir Silt's proposal broke the deadlock.

"Why don't we concentrate our troops and supplies in the border cities in advance?" he said, touching his chin, "so that the transportation distance can be greatly reduced." ”

Brian shook his head without thinking, "Unless we know in advance where the church is attacking from." ”

"Sir Sir, there are not enough rivers in the north, and if we concentrate our troops in the wrong place, we may not be able to keep up with the enemy's march. Carter added, "The border between Greyfort and Dawn is so long, we can't care about every passage. ”

"We really don't know where the enemy will attack from, but we can persuade the enemy to attack from a certain point. ”

These words made everyone stunned, and after a while, Brian frowned and said, "I'm afraid this kind of thing can only be done by the Pope." ”

Edith looked thoughtful.

"Actually, I was inspired by Miss Edith - if we can tell the time of the Church invasion by the transport of food, they should also be able to perceive the imminence of war from the changes in the surrounding cities. ”

"Coldwind Ridge!" Edith said suddenly.

"Exactly," Sir smiled, "if we hoard a lot of supplies at Coldwind Ridge and station the First Army in Glove Town, which is the closest to it, wouldn't we have a good chance of helping the other side direct the route of attack?"

"Why?" asked Brian, puzzled.

"Because Coldwind Ridge is so close to the Holy City," Edith explained, "instead of waiting for the Church to attack, it is better to take the initiative to attack and force them to shrink their forces here." ”

"I see," Roland quickly figured out the problem, the town of Glen was the only town connected to the central water network, and despite the long distance, the paddle steamer fleet could still deliver a large amount of supplies to the town in the next month or two, and then it could be shortened to three days by land transportation, not to mention completely sufficient, at least barely enough to sustain the needs of large-scale operations...... Of course, it would be better to lay a defensive line directly below Coldwind Ridge and wait for the enemy to storm the positions of pillboxes, barbed wire, and trenches.

"What if they insist on not going down this path?" asked Vanna.

"Then the holy city of Hermes is going to be razed to the ground," Roland replied.