When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

Chapter 1358: Chapter 1276: No Solution

In the end, the meeting concluded without reaching any results other than placing the blame on the leaders of the two Vampire Army regiments that were completely annihilated.

After it ended, Lakunio returned to his room, poured two glasses of wine, and then heard a knock at the door.

When he opened the door, it was indeed General Shanluoan.

Lakunio directly handed him one of the glasses, and the two sat down skillfully under the moonlight.

"Is it possible for our Royal Court to replicate a staff system like that of the Holy Alliance?" Lakunio asked directly, without any delay.

Although Lakunio appeared to be a senior figure in the Royal Court, his actual status wasn’t high, and he didn’t know much about it.

Shanluoan, one of the rare scholarly ogres, understood the Royal Court well: "It’s difficult, it would take at least twenty to thirty years."

Shanluoan made this judgment not because he was a pessimist.

But because the situation was indeed like that.

The Holy Alliance established a mature education system, almost starting from 1449, spending a vast amount of manpower, materials, and finances over more than a decade to complete it.

Currently, there are literacy teachers going to villages in various Hundred Households Districts, dedicated public primary schools in towns, and legion-affiliated primary schools in military areas.

At the city level, almost every capital city and secondary city has a public high school subsidized by the state.

After graduating from high school, students are selected through examinations and allocated to preparatory colleges, military academies, or artisan schools for further studies.

Coupled with a very high literacy rate and educational attainment, the Holy Alliance has a large pool of military staff talents and literate professionals in various fields.

Moreover, these talents are outstanding individuals selected from various classes.

Horn himself comes from humble beginnings, and Jia Li is the standout among nobles.

Hilov has no concept of competition; excellence is her routine.

The education system built by these three is competitive by nature.

In the Holy Alliance, exams start from elementary to middle school, not to mention high school exams and university entrance exams.

As for the Royal Court, vampires of noble blood fare better, while most low-level clanless vampires are illiterate.

In terms of literacy, the Empire and the Royal Court are indeed like older and younger siblings.

Even due to the backward paper-making industry, the Royal Court’s literacy rate is slightly inferior to that of the Empire.

This is why vampires frequently attack the Empire, and even Serafe attacks Golden Horn Bay.

Because they need to seize artisans and technology from the Empire, which the Royal Court cannot produce or reproduce.

The greatest change Serafe brought to the Royal Court was breaking the policy shackles of blood magic, developing and digging into many blood magic technologies.

"Where is the difficulty?" Lakunio asked somewhat puzzled, "Doesn’t the Royal Court have this manpower, material, and financial resources?"

In terms of hardware, the Royal Court has it.

Even though they can’t immediately implement it across the entire Royal Court territory, it can still be rolled out in a core area as large as the Thousand River Valley.

But the problem lies in the fact that the Royal Court’s software can’t keep up; just the question of where to establish these schools is enough to cause an uproar among the clans.

Not to mention the fairness of the examination system, which cannot be resolved with manpower, resources, or financial means.

Moreover, each major clan would certainly demand additional points based on clan rankings, and some would even demand exam entry qualifications.

In the end, the same group of people rises, good and bad, almost indistinguishable from before.

"Moreover, the Holy Alliance’s military system is adapted to this system," Shanluoan clicked his tongue, "By Lilith, the Holy Alliance is like a machine, with each cog and part fitting tightly together."

To implement this system, military reform is definitely needed.

The Holy Alliance has undergone several rounds of military reform, evolving from the early Salvation Army form to the more advanced current organization.

But can the Royal Court complete such a top-down military reform? The answer is probably no.

The Royal Court’s army is divided into clan armies and the Central Army system.

Although nominally all Central Army, looking at the military funding source, it’s clear who’s the stepchild.

"You can mention it to His Majesty Serafe, saying it’s my strong recommendation, at most taking three to five years, implementing it only within the Royal Palace Guards. Otherwise, today’s battle will keep repeating," Lakunio still advised with a frown.

Shanluoan didn’t speak, only taking a big sip of grape wine before lowering his voice: "Convincing His Majesty Serafe, that’s the biggest challenge..."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing." Knowing he misspoke, Shanluoan shook his head and quickly changed the subject, "I’ll tell His Majesty, but don’t get your hopes too high."

"I understand." Lakunio’s expression turned serious.

After discussing this topic, Shanluoan didn’t forget the main purpose of this visit: "After all, with the battle ending like this, do you have any thoughts?"

"No thoughts." Lakunio tried to force a smile but couldn’t, "Given the current troop strength and military power of the Roaring Corridor, the battlefield direction towards Shattered Stone Plain is already a dead end."

"Is it that severe?"

"No choice." Lakunio sat quietly by the stone-arched window, sipping his wine, "You know the Holy Alliance’s most proficient Rampart advancement tactics."

Rampart advancement tactics, the only tactic the Holy Alliance has used since the Joan of Arc Castle era.

Its application in the Roaring Corridor is actually André’s adaptation to its challenging terrain.

As they say, to become wealthy, build roads first, and actually, even to fight wars, you need to build roads first.

Norn’s roads aren’t nonexistent; they’re just in poor condition.

So whether it’s the Royal Court or the Holy Alliance, the first thing they do after occupying Norn’s land is to build roads.

When it comes to road building, the Holy Alliance is not troubled.

The Holy Alliance has nearly twenty years of infrastructure experience on the Eastern Continent, with many veteran engineers and construction workers with a decade of experience.

Moreover, many of the Holy Alliance’s construction companies have military backgrounds, filled with retired veterans.

These construction companies pay veterans higher wages and almost don’t earn any profits.

Yet, they are still retained because these veterans, as construction workers, can wield both pickaxes and swords.

As the Holy Alliance army advances in the Roaring Corridor, it’s almost always accompanied by the construction of roads and ramparts.

So can the Royal Court, like the Holy Alliance, use similar means?

The reason is simple: they can’t breach the ramparts built by the Holy Alliance, and they can’t build such ramparts themselves.

Rampart advancement tactics depend on the Holy Alliance’s robust mortar production capacity and mature construction technology.

The resources consumed in taking a simple rampart, calculated by Lakunio, far exceed those needed to build one.

The most outrageous part is even if they take over a rampart, the Holy Alliance still has a bunch of officers skilled in sieges.

Don’t ask why they are adept at sieges; the Saint Danji Military Academy’s artillery section has specialized siege and fortification exams.

Often, sophomore students attack while junior students defend.

Fail both exams, you’d be left back a year; fail one and you’d become an engineer; pass both and you’d become an artilleryman.

So, any artilleryman from the Holy Alliance is highly skilled at sieges and can even breach a stronghold defended by juniors as a sophomore.

Thus, after the Royal Court takes a rampart, their only option is to dismantle it.

"So is the Roaring Corridor basically a dead end?"

"At least south of Fat Cow Castle, it’s a dead end unless more troops are sent."

"Do we need more troops?"

"Best not to." Lakunio quickly advised, "Do not compromise the overall strategy for the gain or loss of one corner."

"I understand. So what’s next?" Shanluoan asked tentatively.

Lakunio actually knew what Shanluoan was asking, and he also knew there was only one path left.

"Thorn Garden, losing in the north and compensating in the south; it can only be Thorn Garden."

Thorn Garden, the promised land given by His Majesty Serafe to the Northern Army; if they can’t chew through the iron bone of Shattered Stone Plain, can they not handle the fat meat of Thorn Garden?

After wrapping up some minor tasks, it was nearly dawn, and Lakunio was already deeply drowsy.

Seeing him in such a state, Shanluoan stood up to bid farewell, despite having said similar words countless times, he couldn’t resist counseling again.

"Have you really not considered drinking that glass of blood wine? If you had a healthier body and a clearer mind, perhaps we could win this time?"

Lakunio didn’t speak and just lowered his head, sipping his wine slowly.

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