Changes in Intelligence

The Expedition Team also accomplished another important task: successfully establishing a long-term base in the border region between the Snow Mountain and the grasslands.

Because the Expedition Team needed to improve and maintain the base, not all members of the team returned; only about half returned, while the rest, along with most of the supplies and equipment, remained at the Outpost Base.

The remaining half of the Expedition Team will spend the winter there, and in the spring, the territory will send a new team and personnel to replace them.

According to the construction plan, this Outpost Base will eventually be rotated every six months to support future Sulfur Mine.

In addition to the Expedition Team's successful return, the Intelligence Department also reported good news.

The Intelligence Department has taken its investigation of the Faith Order Headquarters to a new level. Although Keledu's trusted Mizhene, has been marginalized within the Faith Order, he has now become the commander of a unit within the Faith Order Headquarters due to his special status, although he is still being hampered.

When the Mizhene went to the Faith Order Headquarters, he brought a considerable number of troops with him. With these people, he was still able to maintain a certain level of power and have good control over the troops.

Thanks to the identity and status of the Mizhene, the Two Rivers Army's Intelligence Department gained a deeper understanding of the Faith Order Headquarters defense system, obtaining both maps and troop data.

After reviewing the intelligence regarding the Faith Order Headquarters, Victor issued an order: he would launch a military operation against the Faith Order Headquarters's Faith Order Headquarters next spring to seize the opportunity and take it down in one fell swoop. Before that, the Army Department and Intelligence Department needed to develop an operational plan.

However, along with this intelligence, another important piece of information came: the Faith Order Headquarters had recently changed its previous state of seclusion and had taken the initiative to establish contact with the Barbarians on the Skyline Grassland.

There must be a profound reason behind this unusual move, but neither Mizhene nor the Intelligence Department personnel infiltrated into the Faith Order Headquarters know the specifics of the matter at present.

All that is known at present is that the Faith Order sent people away from the Hot Spring Valley where the Faith Order Headquarters was located first, and when they returned, some Barbarians from the Skyline Grassland followed them back.

Another finding discovered by the Intelligence Department was that the Faith Order Leader had not appeared in public for a long time.

Based on their previous assessments, they suspected that the Faith Order Leader might have experienced a health problem, leading to a change in the power structure within the Faith Order.

However, even the marginalized Mizhene could not give a definite answer regarding this matter. According to Mizhene, the reason why the Faith Order Leader did not appear was because the Faith Order was about to hold a large-scale ceremony, and he could not move around freely during the preparation period, not because he had any health problems.

This led to disagreements within the Intelligence Department, with some believing that Mizhene's intelligence was inaccurate, while others trusted their own judgment more.

Victor also consulted Keledu, Keledu believed that the intelligence from Mizhene was reliable and suggested that the Intelligence Department gather more information from various sources for verification.

Victor then ordered the Intelligence Department to continue gathering intelligence on the Faith Order and the Skyline Grassland. He didn't want a Barbarians army to suddenly appear when he was about to take action against the Faith Order Headquarters.

After all, the Barbarians forces on the Skyline Grassland are simply too powerful. If the Golden Sunflower Family were to try to eliminate the Faith Order, considering logistical issues, they could only send a few thousand elite troops at most.

But for the Barbarians on the Skyline Grassland, a few thousand elite troops were nothing more than a drop in the ocean.

Therefore, Victor believed that accurate intelligence was essential before the operation could begin.

This request put Orlando in a difficult position. After all, with the arrival of winter, Barbarians activities on the entire grassland had basically ceased, and most Barbarian Tribes had taken refuge in places where they could avoid the wind and snow, making it less convenient to gather intelligence than before.

But since it was the Duke's request, Orlando had no choice but to comply, even if it meant putting the frontline intelligence and reconnaissance personnel through a difficult period. Orlando decided to try to secure a subsidy for these people, hoping for a good discovery.

However, after receiving the subsidy, the initiative of the front-line personnel in the Intelligence Department was fully utilized, and they quickly sent back an important piece of intelligence.

The Intelligence Department discovered that a Steppe Barbarians was actively heading towards the cold, Ice Field, and specifically towards the Faith Order Headquarters.

The situation of this grassland tribe is not good. They must have just gone through a war. There are very few able-bodied people left, and the tribe is mainly composed of the elderly, women, and children. They also have very few livestock, such as cattle and sheep, which must have been taken away by the enemy.

Perhaps in order to reach their Faith Order, they had to continue their journey north in the cold wind.

Although it hadn't snowed yet, the temperature was already close to zero. This Barbarian Tribes was in very bad shape. Due to a lack of food and warm clothing, the Barbarians and weak often collapsed and died by the roadside.

Subsequently, the Intelligence Department also gathered a lot of other intelligence, learning that this tribe was besieged while fighting with other tribes for Pastureland, resulting in the deaths of many able-bodied men.

Now that they have lost their Pastureland, they can only migrate on the grasslands. The tribal leaders are organizing a northward march, saying they have found a suitable settlement for the winter.

The intelligence obtained by the Intelligence Department came from the Barbarians who had collapsed by the roadside. Some of the Intelligence Department's personnel rescued them and learned about the situation from them.

Based on this intelligence, the Intelligence Department concluded that this Barbarian Tribes had likely been incorporated into the Faith Order Headquarters. The place they were heading towards was probably the valley where the Faith Order Headquarters located.

Since this tribe has only tens of thousands of people left, and most of them are elderly, weak, women and children with few able-bodied men, the Faith Order Headquarters can easily control a tribe of this size, and these people can replenish the scarce human resources of the Faith Order Headquarters.

This also indicates that the Faith Order must have a considerable amount of food in its hands; otherwise, it would have been impossible to accept so many Barbarians at once. This would have been of great help in developing subsequent battle plans.

This little incident made Victor more cautious about the Faith Order's operations.

After all, the fact that the Faith Order Headquarters was able to discover the severely damaged Barbarian Tribes in time means that they also have a stable source of intelligence. This source of intelligence is definitely mutual, and perhaps the location of the Faith Order Headquarters has already been taken over by some Barbarian Tribes.

The good news is that even if this tribe is accepted by the Faith Order, the Faith Order's actual war power will not increase much.

After all, including the able-bodied men and the remnants of this tribe, there were only a few thousand people at most, and without equipment and good warhorses, they could hardly be called a Barbarians army capable of fighting.

Whether these people are present or not will not have a significant impact on the attack on the Faith Order Headquarters.

Moreover, these newly joined Barbarian Tribes are unlikely to gain the trust of the Faith Order Headquarters. Even the elderly, weak, women, and children will find it difficult to quickly join production activities, so their contribution to the Faith Order will not be significant.

After reviewing this intelligence, Victor decided not to make any time adjustments.

They had chosen a very opportune time; the early spring climate on the grasslands was not warm, and it was not yet the time when the grasslands were truly thriving. At this time, it would not be easy to be discovered if they launched a military campaign on the grasslands.

After all, most Barbarian Tribes had just survived the winter and were trying to get through the harsh Spring Famine, so they didn't have the energy to do anything else.

With this matter settled, the year's important tasks were almost complete, and Victor could now spend the winter in relative leisure.