Hearing this, Henry sighed as well. Several decades had passed since the Empire's last Pioneering War, and the population had finally recovered from its losses. He wondered how many people would die this time.
He had heard that more than six hundred thousand serfs had died in the last Pioneering War. Thousands of farmsteads had been wiped out entirely, while no one knew exactly how many soldiers the royal Imperial Legion and Noble Private Armies had lost.
The Empire's current advantages were its abundance of cannon fodder, superior forging techniques, and higher crop yields.
Henry felt that the King had launched the Grand Inquisitor because the losses this time had been somewhat severe, and he needed to recover.
"By the way, Henry, your letter said your castle wasn't in very good shape? What happened?"
Henry described the castle's shortcomings one by one. Fas smiled. "That's nothing. In a little over four months, with more than two thousand craftsmen and laborers, you built a stone framework. That's already quite impressive. If you took your time, eight months might have produced something better."
Henry raised his brows and asked Fas, "Are you planning to make me live in a wooden house through the winter?"
Fas considered it carefully, then smiled. "Forget I said anything."
Henry was unlike them. Even if their fiefs were destroyed, they still had their old structures in place and could rebuild quickly as long as they threw money at the problem.
Henry's fief had originally been nothing more than a small village, and it had been leveled by Half-Orc raids.
"Bain will probably be bored this time. No one will be competing with him to see who can eat faster."
"That's probably for the best. Bain had no resistance to food. He'd been hungry for more than a decade since childhood, and whenever he saw delicious food, he forgot all the etiquette he had learned."
"Hahaha, but he really is a qualified attendant. It's not like he's a Knight."
The two chatted as they wandered aimlessly through the garrison camp.
"By the way, do you remember Knight Rhine?"
"I vaguely remember him. I think we first met at Earl John's Earl's Mansion, when all our fiefs had been raided by Half-Orcs."
Fas took a deep breath and said, "That's right. He died. Not only him—Baron Hene Laru died too, in the Tuo Ye Campaign."
They expressed their sorrow. After all, people they had spoken with before had vanished in the blink of an eye.
Henry tilted his head toward the nobles' camp. "The nobles are pretty subdued this time."
Whether it was because of the snow or some other reason, Henry felt that the atmosphere this time was somewhat oppressive.
Fas nodded. After two months, this grand gathering involved even more nobles, yet much of that arrogant confidence in certain victory had faded.
"The royal arsenal in Makebu has had terrifying production efficiency lately."
"It forged more than ten thousand weapons and over a thousand sets of Legion Infantry armor in a single month."
"Chaikan's arsenal apparently produced two hundred thousand arrows? That would be enough to cover the consumption of two campaigns. The technology of those overseas kingdoms is terrifying. How strong do you think they are?"
As they talked, the conversation drifted to military equipment, and before they knew it, they were discussing the various technologies controlled by the royal family.
Henry subconsciously pursed his lips, then hurriedly wiped them dry with his hand. In weather like this, he could not let them freeze and crack.
"Overseas technology really is impressive. They build all sorts of structures at a frightening pace, and who knows how they came up with all those strange construction machines. How powerful must they be? They actually dared to sell us High-Yield Crops like potatoes and Pearl Rice."
"It's the small workshop weaponsmiths who suffer. Who could have believed that one day, weapons and armor on our grasslands would become cheaper than warhorses?"
Henry nodded in agreement. It truly was a strange tale.
Woo... Woo...
As the two chatted, waves of horn blasts sounded from the walls. They exchanged a glance and immediately hurried over.
This was the signal for an emergency meeting. It would only sound when especially important military intelligence arrived.
The enormous Noble Private Army camp buzzed with activity as nobles wrapped themselves in fur coats or cloaks and gathered at the Gatehouse.
Several armored lancers came to guide them, leading the large number of nobles into the city for the meeting.
Several hundred nobles entered the council chamber of Autongard City Hall. The room was packed with chairs, nearly bursting at the seams, and the many officers waiting inside could only stand.
Henry and Fas were among the first to enter the council chamber and sat directly at the front. Don't ask why. They were Stars of the Zhi Luo Campaign, so naturally they sat in front.
"Legion Commanders, Henry Burley offers you his sincere greetings."
The two generals seated on the dais were the Legion Commanders of the Eighth Army and Ninth Army, who had been sent as reinforcements.
The Eighth Army's Legion Commander was Sothland Campbell, an Honorary Count who had risen from the ranks of commoner officers.
The Ninth Army's Legion Commander was Milen Wilson, also an Honorary Count and likewise a commoner officer.
These two men were featured in the textbooks at the Royal Knight Academy. They had once slaughtered the tall, fierce Two-Headed Ogres across the Northern Snowfield, driving them back step by step. These two were truly heavyweight figures.
Sothland broke into a hearty grin, speaking with a strong Baddan Mountain Area accent. "I know you. You are very brave. Knight, your arrival honors me."
"The honor is mine, Count Suosilan. I learned of both your deeds at the academy, and I deeply admire your meritorious service."
Milen said nothing, merely nodding to Henry. Henry did not mind. Milen had strained his voice by over-commanding during a war, so he spoke as little as possible.
Even when the King summoned him, he would provide him with a drink to soothe his throat.
Sothland rose to his feet and waited until everyone was seated before speaking. "A letter has arrived from Tiar. Countess Latifa has not found any trace of the Centaurs who attacked the Third Army."
"However, Marquis Alberti of the Eleventh Legion sent a carrier pigeon message saying that large numbers of Half-Orcs are gathering and intend to encircle the Seventh and Eleventh Legions."
"They need us to reach the Tian Yin Plains quickly and fight the Half-Orcs to the death there!"
Those few sentences contained an enormous amount of information.
An elite force of several thousand Centaur Heavy Armor Infantry had vanished without a trace. The Seventh and Eleventh Legions, which had taken part in two campaigns, now faced the predicament of being surrounded. That meant the supply lines of both legions had certainly been cut off.
Sothland raised an arm and said angrily, "The Seventh Legion has only six thousand soldiers left, while the Eleventh Legion has seven thousand three hundred. Though they still have twenty thousand serfs and eight thousand Auxiliary Soldiers, that is not enough to fight a breakout battle!"
"We must! Leave immediately! At once! If we lose another two full legions, our days will become very difficult."
The nobles nodded one after another. Death was not frightening, nor was a large number of deaths. What was frightening was losing entire formations.
The deaths of large numbers of veteran soldiers would greatly slow the training of future New Armies.
"As long as we arrive quickly, this will change from a war where they are surrounded into one where we surround the enemy!"
"Nobles, for the Empire, for the King, for our fiefs and the heads of Half-Orcs, to war!"
"To war!"
Before you continue