The Imperial Capital's ball was over.
Many people had come to celebrate Grand Duke Olexian's birthday.
Everyone was happily celebrating the Grand Duke's birthday.
During this time, Lynn had also made many preparations, such as building railways and figuring out how many troops each noble had and where they were stationed.
While building the railways, he had also turned the Political Department's people into something like missionaries, sending them to villages to preach freedom and the emancipation of serfs.
Naturally, spreading these ideas had made the nobles resentful.
They were pushing their luck. Did they really think the nobles wouldn't dare make a move against Lynn?
But with Duke Olexian's birthday approaching, they had held back, planning to report the matter to Duke Olexian.
Odris, Grand Duke Olexian, was celebrating his fiftieth birthday. His wife stood beside him, while their two sons bowed to him with their wives.
"Father, happy birthday." Andrel Olexian bowed to Odris with his wife and offered his congratulations.
"Andrel, thank you. You've certainly grown more mature."
"Father, happy birthday. I wish you good health." Andrew Olexian also bowed to Odris with his wife and offered his congratulations.
The people around them couldn't help but exclaim, "What a warm, happy, beautiful scene."
Wonderful.
Everyone around them greeted Odris.
"Darling, just like that, you're fifty," Sophia Olexian said. "The children have all grown up, too."
"Yes, it all passed in the blink of an eye."
"Oh, Father, I also have a surprise for you," Andrel Olexian suddenly said, then looked toward the door.
The doors swung open. Andrew brought his wife over to push a baby carriage inside. "Look, Father."
"What's this?"
Odris looked at the child in the carriage, then turned to Andrel, seeming to understand.
Audrey and I spent two years on another continent. We actually had a child some time ago, but we wanted to surprise you, so we waited until now."
He was past fifty, and now he had a grandchild!
Odris laughed excitedly. "Hahahaha!"
"You rascal, you certainly know how to surprise me."
"You little brat! You had a grandchild and didn't tell us sooner!" Sophia scolded him. "Come, let me see my grandchild."
"Yes, Mother."
Andrew congratulated him, too. "Congratulations, big brother. Your nephew is so cute."
The scene was so heartwarming that the nobles didn't know what to say.
They couldn't possibly spoil Grand Duke Olexian's good mood at a time like this, could they?
"Doot-doot-doot-doot, doot! Doot-doot-doot, doot-doot-doot, doot-doot-doot-doot." Lynn sat on his horse, playing the Grenadier March as he led his three thousand troops toward Stomasi by railway, ready to continue his advance from there.
The three thousand troops included Lynn's own soldiers, a cavalry battalion made up of the knights from the Demi-human Commissioner's territory and other minor nobles, and his own cuirassiers.
"Lynn, don't you think that's a little inappropriate?" Lilim reminded him. "Once you reach your destination, how about waiting a day before attacking? The date you picked seems to be your father's birthday. You sent him a letter, and now you're attacking his vassals. It's a little..."
Lynn flicked Lilim on the forehead. "A little what?"
"Birthdays should be festive, so I'm going to set off fireworks to celebrate my old man's birthday!"
"By the way, how many reserve troops have been prepared so far?"
Lilim covered her forehead. "Several tens of thousands. We've only had to teach them how to shoot and how to march in formation, so fourteen days is enough. If all you need are Line Infantry who can hold formation, the reserves may only number three thousand right now, but there'll be ten thousand in another month."
"Good. The whole point of Line Infantry is that they're quick to recruit in large numbers. Proper training takes three months, but luckily, the Demi-humans' way of life combines labor and training. We don't need to train them much in close combat; they just need to hold formation and shoot."
"All right, I'm off to war."
"The Principality of Olexian has hundreds of thousands of troops. How are you planning to fight them, Lynn?"
"Wars are fought through a series of small battles. Even a major battle is made up of many smaller ones, isn't it?"
"All right, Lynn."
"Besides, troops from other nobles will join us."
Lynn had built roads earlier, securing his logistics. While the roads were being built, he had also won over some of the nobles and worked out who was friend and who was foe.
Then Lynn set out with his troops.
By road, Kage's territory was the closest to his own, but Baron Kage was neutral, so Lynn left him alone. His target was Baron Stomasi's territory, followed by Baron Biginji's, and then Count Drowo's lands.
According to the plan, they would reach Yizhenuo and rest for one night before launching an attack the next day.
His letter should arrive around the same time, too.
Doot-doot-doot-doot, doot! Doot-doot-doot, doot-doot-doot, doot-doot-doot-doot!
Cheerful music rang out as the infantry listened to the tune and marched toward Baron Biginji's territory.
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