Chapter 269: Swain's "Anti-Janna" Strategy
The nobles of Demacia are not fools. They can certainly understand who the Leader's theory is aimed at.
Ideologically, the two sides are definitely not on the same page. It is only because of the huge strategic pressure brought by its arch-enemy, the Noxian Empire, that Demacia has to temporarily seek cooperation with the Leader.
Therefore, Lady Ogersa understood her mission: she had to seek the help of the Leader in geostrategic matters, and also be careful to guard against the Leader's ideological infiltration into the Kingdom of Demacia.
"Sona, Lux, after you get off the boat, stay with everyone. Don't walk around casually, don't take other people's things, and don't listen to strangers who promote ideas and theories to you. Do you understand?" Ogata warned the two girls as if they were facing a great enemy.
“Eh?” Lux pouted a little disappointedly: “But I promised Sona that after arriving in Zaun, I would go with her to ask Miss Seraphine for an autograph.”
"Laxana!" Ogatha glared at her daughter angrily: "You are not here to travel!"
Only after Lux reluctantly lowered her head did she soften her tone, "Anyway, don't act on your own. As for the meeting with the singer, I will naturally arrange it for you through official channels."
"Hmm..." Lux groaned unhappily.
"Ah..." Sona nodded carefully as well.
Ogasha scolded the two little girls and finally acted like a diplomatic ambassador, leading the delegation to the shore and onto the dock.
The reception staff from the Leader were already waiting at the dock.
Headed by the current permanent director of the Leaders Association, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Miss Mel Midalda.
Just like before, she had her hair tied up in a bun decorated with gorgeous gold ornaments, and wore a slim dress embroidered with gold in the style of both Noxus and Piltover. She always maintained a dignified and graceful demeanor, looking like an aristocratic lady.
Ogasha could tell that the man had an extraordinary background, and she knew that this kind of temperament could never be cultivated in a small family.
The image of such a lady is very different from the Leaders Association she imagined, which is composed entirely of Zaun peasants .
"Mrs. Ogsa, welcome." Mel took the initiative to introduce himself: "I am a permanent member of the Wind Leader Association, Mel, Mel Midalda."
"Midarda...permanent director?" Ogatha and the Demacians behind her changed their expressions slightly.
The distance between Demacia and the Twin Cities is too far, and Demacia has never had any interest in the Twin Cities which are located in the core sphere of influence of Noxus.
It was not until more than two months ago when Janna descended to earth and shocked Runeterra that Demacia reacted belatedly and began to pay attention to Zaun, thousands of miles away.
Therefore, Demacia's understanding of the Wind Leader is actually very limited.
Their intelligence was gathered hastily through hearsay from private smugglers, who passed it on through layers of hands and added fuel to the fire.
The quality of the intelligence is not much higher than that of the old lady’s intelligence station at the entrance of the village.
There will be no mistakes in major matters, but the details are not so rich.
So Ogatha knew that the Leader was connected to the kingdom through the smuggling trade relationship of the Midalda family, and she also vaguely heard rumors that the Leader had in-depth cooperation with some great nobles of Noxus.
But she really didn't expect that among the core leadership of the Leaders Association, there were great nobles from Noxus!
"Are you from the Midalda family?" Madam Ogsa asked with concern, "Who is the clan leader Jagu Midalda to you?"
"That's my grandfather." Meier smiled and replied, "The current leader of the Midalda regiment is my biological mother."
Ogasha: "..."
Wow, this is the legitimate daughter of the Midalda family!
Could it be that the Leader has been sidelined by the Noxian nobles? Or is this simply a branch opened by the Noxian nobles?
No, that's not possible.
Ogasha quickly dismissed this ridiculous idea.
Because she had read the book "A Brief Account of Janna's Thought" she knew very well that unless the nobles of Noxus were crazy, they would definitely oppose this dangerous theory more than Demacia.
The Leaders are a sect founded by the True God and the Chosen Ones themselves, and it is almost impossible for them to be controlled by external forces.
So there is only one possibility:
"You betrayed Noxus?" Ogatha asked anxiously. The Demacians around him stared at Mel in confusion.
"I did not betray Noxus." Miss Mel replied calmly: "I chose to save Noxus and the millions of mortals in Noxus."
Ogasha: "..."
Isn't this more terrible than betraying the empire?
Ogasha was shocked, and when she saw Mel's pious expression and clear eyes, she was even more silent.
The legitimate daughter of a Noxian noble and a princess of a warlord, could actually betray her origin for a booklet?
"This..." Ogasha calmly blocked Miss Lux behind her more tightly, as if she was afraid that her daughter, who was not well-versed in the world, would be infected by Mel.
Mel had no intention of doing any ideological propaganda to them, just as if the previous batch of pamphlets was not distributed by her.
She simply followed the usual procedure for receiving foreign guests, inviting Ogatha and others to board the ceremonial convoy prepared by the Leader, which took them out of the airport and to Zaun.
Ogatha was riding in the same car with Mel as an ambassador.
She also kept the two little girls, Lux and Sona, by her side out of concern.
Soon, the convoy drove out of the airport center and into the urban blocks of Piltover, attracting the attention of many passers-by.
Mrs. Ogersa couldn't help but frown: "Miss Meier, are we too ostentatious?"
This time her visit was secret.
What is a secret visit?
According to Ogatha's understanding, they should have teleported directly to Zaun secretly, avoiding the eyes of Noxians throughout the process, and quietly contacted the Leader.
But what she didn't expect was that the Hextech flying gate was not connected to Zaun, but to Piltover Airport.
As soon as they landed, they arrived in Piltover, the new colony of Noxus!
Look at the Noxian flags hanging all over the streets and the Noxian soldiers patrolling the streets in full armor... She may be the first member of the Crownguard family in history who dares to go deep into Noxian territory without any troops.
In addition, Ogatha had heard before she came that the new governor of Piltover would be the famous wise general Swain. Although this strategist commander had his reputation ruined and his arm broken due to a tragic defeat, his mind would never be damaged.
Is it true that nothing will go wrong when their secret mission parades around so high-profile?
"Don't worry." Meier smiled slightly, "If you look carefully, you will see that Piltover is not dangerous to us at all."
"Oh?" Ogasha looked out the window thoughtfully.
Gradually, she discovered many things wrong with the scenery outside the window.
For example, in the imperial colony of Piltover, not only are there red and black flags of Noxus hanging on the roads, but there are also many blue bird emblems of the leaders.
Although the Pioneer and Noxus had gone to war more than two months ago, the Pioneer's shops, restaurants, and various specialty stores are still open in Piltover intact.
It’s not just a store…
Ogasha even saw a leader setting up an unobstructed platform on the side of the road and openly holding a Janna ideology propaganda meeting for Mrs. Piltover.
Not only did the Noxian patrol soldiers passing by turn a blind eye to this, but... among the crowd listening to the lecture, there were many Noxian soldiers in red and black uniforms.
"Are they collectively committing treason?!" Mrs. Ogersa broke out in a cold sweat and unconsciously began to worry about the loyalty of her old enemy's soldiers.
Because this strange scene frightened her. She didn't want the same thing to happen to Demacia in the future.
"Piltover has become like this, even the soldiers are openly learning your theories, and the generals of Noxus don't do anything about it?" Ogata finally couldn't help asking.
"Haha." Mel still responded with a smile.
She said: "Thoughts cannot be imprisoned, so what's the point of controlling them?"
It’s actually quite useful.
Camille's original combination of white terror + brainwashing with public opinion + bribery with excess profits and benefits had achieved good results in Piltover.
If the goddess Janna had not crushed her conspiracy with a hurricane in time, the reputation of the Wind Leader would have been ruined by the enemy's propaganda machine, at least in Piltover.
But... now the offense and defense have changed, the situation has changed drastically, Camille is long dead, and Piltover has long lost the power to resist the Leader.
The former Governor Amystan was only interested in making money and running away, and did not care about the Leader's infiltration of Piltover or even the ideological infiltration of the grassroots soldiers of Noxus.
As for the new Governor Swain...
"I think General Swain's response to our Wind Leader propaganda efforts will be more difficult for us to deal with."
Miss Mel felt amused in her heart, but on the surface she looked solemn as she lamented in front of Ogasha how cunning and powerful this "enemy" was.
"Oh?" Mrs. Ogersa was indeed interested.
She really wanted to know how the wise general Swain dealt with the leader's mental infiltration.
"Inaction, yet action," Mel explained.
The so-called inaction lies in that Swain simply ignores the grassroots soldiers who participate in the Leader's Propaganda Meeting, and leaves it to them to understand the ideological theories of Goddess Janna.
"Isn't this just doing nothing?" Ogsa was stunned.
"Because General Swain believes that there are too many soldiers at the grassroots level, and they come from ordinary and difficult backgrounds, so they are naturally close to Janna's theory, so it is absolutely impossible to manage them all."
"So he simply gave up on disciplining the soldiers and focused on educating the officers. After all, the core strength of the imperial army has always been the extraordinary officers, not the mortal soldiers who are like cannon fodder."
"As long as the absolute loyalty of the officer team can be guaranteed, it doesn't matter even if the lower-level soldiers are infiltrated."
"This..." Ogasha felt something was wrong, but she also felt it made sense.
"Then how does Swain restrain those officers and ensure that their thoughts are not infiltrated?" Ogatha asked again.
"It's simple. Use thoughts to defeat thoughts." Meier said, "General Swain does not prohibit officers from understanding Janna's thoughts. On the contrary—"
"He gave every officer of his regiment a copy of 'A Brief Account of Janna's Thought'."
"They are also required to read carefully word by word and to discuss the flaws and defects in these theories, so as to form theoretical opposition and make people resist the ideological propaganda of the leaders from the bottom of their hearts."
Ogasha: "..."
Why does it feel even more wrong? Wouldn't this really make the officers take the fake play seriously and read the book as a real leader?
No, probably not.
After all, this was the decision made by Swain, the Imperial God of War.
Most people can only see the first layer, but Swain can always see higher layers. That's why he is a wise general and a strategist leader.
It is normal that others cannot understand. There must be a reason why they do this.
"Hmm..." Ogatha didn't completely believe Mel 's one-sided words. She thought: "I can send someone to investigate it later. If Swain is really using this method to deal with the Wind Leader..."
"Then we might as well learn from it."
