Volume 2: Empire Chapter 146 Intelligence
Qingkong's words made Princess Dai'er's heart feel as sweet as if she had drunk honey, and then she ran away with a smile.
Qingkong continued to draw the blueprints, sorting out the gains from the "Titan Project" in recent days.
It's time to get ready to leave.
Agatha sent an urgent message through the Secret Service intelligence station this morning. Through the decryption of a special key, it was found that the eldest prince Fania has been very restless recently.
The attack on the Tedega Hill on the southern front was suddenly halted. General Joshua ordered the entire army to retreat and switch to defense, and even took the initiative to abandon several important fortresses, allowing the barbarian army to reoccupy them.
The Snow City Battle was in full swing in the North, and the Empire was also actively retreating. It seemed that they were going to abandon Snow City and let the defenders inside face the offensive of the Art County Alliance alone.
In the imperial capital, Fania frequently summoned important officials of the empire, repeatedly emphasizing that he was the eldest prince and the legitimate first-in-line heir to the throne of the empire.
The number of exercises of the 4th Division of the Imperial City Garrison Corps has increased.
Fania's visits to Augustine the Great became more frequent. He visited the emperor three times a day, morning, noon and evening, and at other times he visited the emperor at random.
Emperor Augustine has not shown up, Queen Christina is trapped in the Snow City, and Fania is getting bolder and bolder. There is no place in the palace that he dares not go, except the emperor's bedroom which is closely guarded by the Knights of Milscom.
It can be seen that the eldest prince Fania no longer has much patience. He is now stepping up his probing of Emperor Augustine to see if he can force him to show up so as to find out his physical condition.
If Augustine the Great still does not show up, Fania's actions are to accumulate the chances of success for the final palace coup.
According to common sense, Fania should have shown up long ago if he had sensed the danger. But there was no movement in the emperor's bedroom. Only Knight Milscombe silently guarded the door, preventing anyone from entering.
What on earth was Augustine doing?
Luke was puzzled.
He instigated Fania to launch a palace coup in order to test Augustine's bottom line, but he did not expect that the old emperor could remain calm.
Was it because something was keeping him from paying attention? Or was he not afraid of Fania's trouble?
Can’t tell…
But what is certain is that Fania's gambler mentality will never stop at the last moment. He is putting all his gambling money on the gambling table little by little, waiting for the last hand.
If he wins, he will be the new emperor of the empire.
Lose... He didn't think he would lose.
The time when Fania took action should be when major changes occurred in Snow City.
If the Art County Alliance did not capture the Snow City and chose to retreat , the Art County Alliance's army would not be able to launch another large-scale offensive at the end of the winter. The situation in the North was stable, and Queen Christina, who was on the front line to defend the isolated city, would reach her peak reputation.
When the queen returns to the imperial capital from the north , she is no longer the same queen, so Fania must take action before the queen returns to the imperial capital.
If the Art County Alliance captured Snow City, Fania would have no choice but to seize the throne so as to quickly integrate the power of the empire to resist the southward advance of the Art County Alliance.
Perhaps Fania has already reached some private agreement with the Duke of Celtic...
Agatha's message to Luke revealed her anxiety. If Fania really launched a palace coup, the Secret Service would not be able to stop him. As for the Royal Knights and the Palace Guards... facing Fania who declared himself to be the successor to the Golden Shield Divine Emperor, most of them would probably choose to wait and see.
After all, no one knows what happened to Emperor Augustine.
"Please come back as soon as you finish your work... The Empire needs you!"
Time is short and the task is heavy.
Luke felt that since he was in Winter City, he might be able to do something for Agatha while doing his own thing.
For example, provide some off-field help to Snow City.
As long as Queen Christina is alive, Fania's palace coup will definitely encounter resistance from the Royal Knights and the palace guards, and the current Northern Legion will not all listen to Fania.
"Mr. Luke, what are you thinking about?" Helkkin, who came to the lab to make up for his lessons after get off work in the evening, reminded Luke, who was a little distracted. He brought a paper he wrote and was waiting for Luke to review it.
Luke came back to his senses and said to Helkkin, “Most of your paper is a collection of abstracts from other papers, and you can hardly tell that there is anything of your own.
I think a purely academic paper is not suitable for you... Perhaps you can find a suitable topic from your work life."
"My work life?" Helkkin asked in confusion, "I don't know what the relationship is between intelligence and steam. Can you give me some hints?"
Luke said, "Yes... Take the current war with the Golden Shield Empire as an example. This is the coldest period of winter, and it is also the most intense time of the war. Our army surrounded the Queen of the Golden Shield Empire in the Snow City, and hundreds of thousands of troops from both sides fought fiercely around the city.
The heating of so many troops in such cold weather was a very good subject for steam engineers."
Helkkin nodded thoughtfully. "The County Alliance's army was able to maintain its combat effectiveness in the harsh winter because it used the city's heating system to provide centralized heating for the troops in combat."
Luke nodded. "Yes, the Steam Engineers Association has designed a winter combat heating system for the military that is easy to build. It uses pipes to send heat energy to garrisons in different locations. This ensures that hundreds of thousands of our soldiers have a warm environment to restore their physical strength and morale when they rest.
This topic is very timely and is not available to other people preparing for the steam engineer exam. If you can take out this paper when taking the steam engineer qualification exam, as long as the quality is good, you will definitely pass it. "
As the chief of the Ice Cave, Helkkin knew that the army of the County Alliance had specially built a large-scale heating system for the army in order to attack the Snow City. In order to protect this heating system, the Ice Cave also sent a number of agents to carry out anti-infiltration operations against the Imperial Secret Intelligence Bureau.
I am absolutely the only one who has written a paper on this topic.
Moreover, by the time he took the steam engineer qualification examination, the Battle of Snow City had long ended and the heating system had been dismantled, so there was no problem of leakage.
Just out of professional instinct, Helkkin couldn't help but doubt Luke's purpose in proposing this topic. But soon Helkkin couldn't help but laugh at himself: Mr. Luke donated the magic model of the water molecule dual-phase steam engine to the County Federation, which is a cutting-edge technology that can bring about subversive changes in national strength.
This paper was written by me and supervised by Mr. Luke. Only the two of us knew about it before I took the steam engineer qualification exam...it would never be leaked.
If the secret is leaked... my contribution will only be greater!
Helkkin immediately shook off the random thoughts in his mind.
It’s not a loss anyway!
"I will follow your advice, Mr. Luke, and write my thesis on the combat heating system of Snow City. Sir, you have been studying the underground steam pipe system of Winter City, so you will surely be able to provide guidance for my thesis."
Luke didn't care about his identity being exposed in a month, so he said casually: "If you let me see it, I'll see it."
"Thank you for your advice. I will go back and prepare my paper now."
"Go ahead. There's no homework today. I'm too busy here."
Hulking left happily, and Luke handed over the laboratory work to other engineers, then returned to his office to write a reply to Agatha.
“I believe you know from the newspapers and intelligence stations in Dongdu that I now have a unique position in the Yat County Alliance. I will do something for the empire on the premise that it does not affect me.
The underground resistance in Dongdu is a dagger stabbing into the back of Art County Union. I will let the resistance army be active frequently during this period to slow down the production progress of Art County Union's materials.
In addition, I am trying to get the heating system deployed by the Art County Allied Forces around Snow City. When you receive this letter, immediately mobilize elite spies to stand by, and when my information is delivered, quickly destroy the front-line heating system of the Art County Allied Forces.
Without heating to keep warm, the soldiers of the Art County League would have no way to fight in the extremely cold weather.
Another thing about the eldest prince... After the siege of Snow City is lifted, you should immediately go to Raging Tide City and don't care what he does.
Your safety is the most important thing!
I will be back in a month, whatever happens, just wait until I get back."
After the reply is written, the content is encrypted using an alchemical key, and any misinterpretation will cause the letter to self-destruct.
The letter was sent through the Secret Service's intelligence station in Dongdu and it took five days to reach Agatha.
In the Rose Manor of Saint Lun City in the Golden Shield Empire, Agatha read Luke's reply over and over again.
These days, she didn't sleep well for a single day, fearing that the eldest prince Fania would suddenly lead troops to attack the palace, and she would have no one to rely on in the imperial capital. This was a crisis she had never encountered before, and if she took a wrong step, her body and head would be separated. Fania dared to kill even Dai'er, and she would not let go of herself who controlled the Secret Affairs Bureau.
I wish the meteorite was in the imperial capital right now... or even in the Nutao City.
But he was in the far north, and became a talented steam engineer sought after by all parties.
When Agatha learned the news, she was not sure whether the engineer named Luke was a meteorite. It was only after repeated confirmation through different channels that she was sure that Luke was a meteorite.
At one point, Agatha even felt that Meteorite would never come back, and it seemed that Art County United was more suitable for him.
Until now, I received his reply letter, which clearly stated, "I will be back within a month. No matter what happens, just wait until I get back."
He will come back, and everything will be fine.
Agatha put down the burden in her heart, no longer hesitated about the crisis, and regained her former composure and confidence.
The personal attendant noticed Agatha's change and asked, "Did Governor Meteorite bring good news?"
"Yes, Governor Meteorite has sent me good news. You personally selected a team of elite spies to go to Snow City to carry out the mission. When Governor Meteorite delivers the next piece of intelligence, have them set off immediately.
Also, send someone to sneak into Snow City and tell the Queen to hold on for a while. Governor Meteor and I are trying to find a way to provide her with a strong foreign aid. When this foreign aid arrives, she can organize a counterattack... If all goes well, she can win the biggest victory since the invasion of Art County United. "
The female official was very curious about such a powerful foreign aid. After all, the Empire could not send a large number of reinforcements to the North during the entire winter. However, her professional ethics made her hold back from asking: "Yes, Your Highness, I will arrange it now."
The message was sent from the Rose Manor in the imperial capital to the northern border of the empire. An imperial spy crossed the snowy ice field, passed through the cracks in the encirclement of the Art County Alliance, and finally climbed over the wall of the Snow City.
At this time, Queen Christina was standing on the city wall of Snow City. She was wearing a fur coat, her face full of fatigue and confusion about the future.
Outside the city was an endless snowfield, with ruins of destroyed war fortresses everywhere. Days of heavy snow had covered the battlefield, and a tattered flag was stuck on a pile of snow below, swaying in the cold wind.
Further away, the armies of the Art County Alliance gathered around steaming war fortresses, and a new round of attack was about to begin.
Looking back at Snow City.
Three days ago, there was no trace of the imperial army on the glacier south of the city. The Art County Alliance sealed all the gaps and surrounded the Snow City completely again.
Queen Christina could sense that this time the imperial army had voluntarily withdrawn from the battle and Snow City had been abandoned by them.
Why?
What was the reason that made them abandon such an important strategic node and abandon the queen of the empire!
Queen Christina found that she was still too naive. She thought that after reading a few biographies of emperors, she could take advantage of the current situation and establish her prestige in the empire by relying on the Northern War.
In the end, I underestimated the cruelty of politics and was too idealistic.
Now there is no need to worry about whether there will be reinforcements. At least before the end of winter, there will be no more imperial soldiers coming from the glacier south of the city.
We can only fight this war on our own...
But even if I manage to survive the winter, what will greet me?
A noose, perhaps.
Queen Christina let out a long breath, but she had to appear confident and not let the soldiers know... they were abandoned.
At this time, a messenger ran up to the top of the city wall, panting: "Your Highness, an agent from the Imperial Secret Service has broken through the siege and entered the city. He brought you a letter from Her Highness the Princess."
The Secret Service has sent someone!
There are still people who haven’t abandoned me!
Queen Christina tried her best to control her excitement, took a deep breath and asked steadily: "Where is the person?"
"On the way!"
After a while, four soldiers came running up carrying a stretcher. On the stretcher lay a man covered in ice blood . A wizard kept casting healing magic for him.
The spy was relieved to see that the queen was safe and sound. He opened his cotton coat and took out a letter from the inner pocket: "Your Highness, this is the eldest princess..."
Before the spy could finish speaking, Queen Christina had already taken the letter.
First confirm the anti-counterfeit alchemical beeswax, then use the Queen's exclusive seal to open the seal, which contains a message with confusing text.
Queen Christina recited the magic key, and the words on the letter reassembled into a message.
After reading it, although she was full of doubts, Queen Christina still said loudly to all the generals: "The eldest princess Agatha and the governor of Nutao City, Yunxing, have organized a reinforcement force to come. We are ready to launch a counterattack."
All the generals were shocked.
It's freezing and snowy here, it's good to have reinforcements coming into the city to replenish troops and supplies. Counterattack... What a joke!
