CHAPTER 547: CHAPTER 482: KINGDOM CONQUEST

The night was deep, with most of the Royal Capital already peacefully sinking into the darkness.

Although lamps weren’t considered a luxury, for most citizens of the Royal Capital, if not for working under the lights, burning oil and lighting lamps pointlessly was undeniably quite a disgraceful waste.

Only the wealthy living in the Upper City, on places like Redwood Avenue and Louther Arcade, would light their lamps all night long for some brightness, regardless of the cost.

And among the few "light zones" in the Royal Capital, the place with the most lamps was naturally the palace, at the heart of the Royal Capital.

However, after the palace quietly changed masters, most of those perpetually lit lamps were ordered to be turned off by the new master, with only one window still illuminated in the sleeping quarters at the rear of the palace.

Phew... Finally, almost done with the busy work.

After handling the desk work, the princess, known as the first night owl of the Royal Capital, stretched lazily like a cat, working out her sore muscles. Yet she didn’t turn off the lights to sleep as usual, but instead took out a crumpled notebook from the shelf behind her, and quietly began to flip through it at the desk.

The writing in the notebook looked a bit crooked, but rather than saying the handwriting was ugly, it was more like it was drawn with feet sliding on the ice, with even straight lines written somewhat unstably. Thus, the chubby round fonts were filled with the unique innocence and charm of children.

However, though the handwriting seemed innocent, the contents of the notebook were far from naive, instead holding a rather sharp sense.

"The first step of the plan is to overthrow the royal family and completely unify the Kingdom!"

Looking at the royal family emblem marked with a red cross on William’s old notebook, Princess Veronica couldn’t help but slightly curl her lips.

Unlike the scribbles beside it, the royal family emblem, labeled "Target" on the notebook, was drawn rather meticulously, one could tell it was traced over the pattern by placing the homework paper on top and drawing precisely along the exposed lines.

Below the crossed-out royal family emblem was a brief map of the Kingdom’s surrounding geography, similarly traced over a map.

"Then at all costs, make allies with the nobles here, find a way to secure this place!"

On the brief map, the location likely representing the Ruhr District of the Kingdom of Heisen was heavily circled, with a black doodle next to it, unclear what it was.

Hmm... blind guess, it might be a coal block.

Recalling the intelligence on the Ruhr District, the princess pulled a discarded document from the desk, flipping over to write ’Ruhr District - Coal’ on the back.

Remembering the Ruhr District is the largest coal-producing area in Heisen Kingdom, this is likely a mineral marker, but the word "coal" seems to be taught in third-grade public school. The child probably didn’t know how to write this word, so drew a black coal block as a representation.

"After securing the ’black, burning warmly, slightly hard to bite thing,’ choose the coldest winter and completely sever the paths northward from the Kingdom of Heisen and Ryan County!"

On the traced brief map, six of the seven main roads leading north were crossed out, only the road in Ryan County remained intact, and beside this remaining main road, two crossed...

Handled toothpicks? Long daggers? Or two long swords? It should represent conflict, right?

Instinctively drawing a question mark on the discarded document paper, the princess painstakingly tried to decipher the skewed annotations in the notebook.

"The Northern Kingdom is very cold in winter, needs to burn things to keep warm, ports by the sea make ice cream for several months, so if the roads are severed, they can only burn the stored things."

Make ice cream for several months... probably means freezing for months, seems like he hasn’t learned the spelling for this term.

Translating William’s homework, copying it onto the back of the discarded document, the princess referred to her understanding of the Kingdom of Ashito, adding a few potentially effective solutions targeting the Northern Kingdom, then stared at the old homework, lost in thought.

What this child wrote, though seemingly filled with child’s play, had an amazingly broad perspective.

As the Ice Plains Nation located at the world’s farthest north, the Northern Kingdom Ashito almost every few years would venture south, harassing its neighboring countries, but never daring to touch the Black Forest Duchy, solely because the Black Forest Duchy held their lifeline.

And for herself and the Kingdom, rather than spending tremendous effort constructing defensive works, stationing troops along the border for years, passively awaiting the Kingdom of Ashito’s invasion, it would be better to reverse the strategy, seize the initiative, and force the Kingdom of Ashito to move southward early, by choosing an advantageous time.

Although war is the worst option, merely resisting war blindly will inevitably lead to greater tragedies.

Rather than continuing to heavily invest in the military, letting defense works and military expenses cripple the Kingdom’s finances, it would be more feasible to initiate a timely battle, allowing the Northern Kingdom to understand that its somewhat weak neighbor also has the capability to perish together.

Lifting the pen to list the military comparison between the two countries on the back of the discarded document paper, Princess Veronica’s face revealed a resolute expression.

A fight is feasible!

Even though the military strength between the two countries still holds a significant gap, unlike the previous defensive battles, with the advantage of controlling the initiative, this is almost an open ambush, with little possibility of losing, and the intensity of the war is easy to control.

With the main routes severed in advance, only two to three corps are needed to block the Kingdom of Ashito’s southward path, in addition to the opponent’s hasty deployment and logistical challenges in winter.

Then, without even requiring a major battle, just a month of standoff and a few small-scale confrontations will be enough to make the Kingdom of Ashito retreat, opting for negotiations actively.

At that time, one’s side can promise to resume coal transportation but demand the Kingdom of Ashito to return the pass seized six years ago, and once that pass is exchanged back, only one-sixth or even fewer permanent troops will be enough to completely block these bandits’ southward path!

Once the border pressure is lifted, large scale disbandment of those inherently weak old troops can occur, prioritizing the financial budget over education and public spending, then training a large batch of individuals with some education within eight to fifteen years.

Once this generation grows up and becomes the seeds to spark more individuals, one will have the capability to wield power decisively, thoroughly removing the Kingdom’s rotten layers, rejuvenating this already ancient nation!