Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 869: Chapter 467: The Jade Federation’s Trump Card (2)

In its place came a kind of crimson that made one’s heart tremble.

That red wasn’t a single point of Burst, but spread like a plague.

Beginning from the southeastern seas, it started to engulf the Holy Eastern Empire’s plate.

Then, at a speed visible to the naked eye, it stained every southeastern trade node, mining marker, and sea lane coordinate red.

The conference room doors slid open at once.

The Federation’s Chief Intelligence Executive all but fell inside.

He had lost one shoe, his hair was a mess, the uniform that was always impeccable now drenched through with sweat; he stood at the door, took two gasping breaths:

“Directors, the East… has collapsed… Louis Calvin has completed total occupation of the Holy Eastern Empire and the Golden Feather Flower Church Country!”

Dead silence; the air felt as if it had been sucked out.

Lady Isabella shot to her feet, both hands pressing down hard on the table: “How can it be this fast…”

Her voice had lost its usual composure: “It’s only been a few months since he went south… We had originally estimated his war with the Eastern Empire would drag on at least two to three years, but now…”

Her gaze swept over that region already completely dyed red, her throat tight: “He not only won, he took that sacred island as well.”

Vulcan Director of the armaments and metallurgy Guild suddenly leaned forward, the mechanical prosthetic eye set in his socket zooming in and out wildly:

“Impossible, I know the Church Authority Country’s fleet all too well; that’s a defensive system even the Federation Navy steers clear of, and the bastions on that island…”

He raised his head, the prosthetic eye flickering with a dangerous red light.

“You’re saying he flattened the entire island in three days? Even if we concentrated all our Magic Burst cannons to bombard it, we’d need a year!”

He suddenly realized a fact: the Federation’s vaunted city defenses might, in the other side’s eyes, be nothing but fragile glass.

Gorgon Director of the Blackridge Guild suddenly stopped chewing, looked down at the meat on his plate, his face turning green.

The next second, he bent over sharply and vomited all the expensive food he had just eaten onto the carpet.

“And he annexed the Eastern Empire…” His voice carried a fear he could no longer hide. “There are tens of millions of people there—how did he digest it? Once he finishes digesting, his next move will definitely be to push west.”

The calmest one in the room was instead Clement, Speaker of the Bihui Guild; he closed his eyes, rapidly reconstructing the map of the East in his mind.

The formerly shattered, chaotic countries that capital could pry apart had vanished, replaced by one whole expanse of glaring scarlet.

“Everyone.” He finally spoke, his tone enough to chill the bone. “We made a fatal mistake. We always thought he was a presence that could be valued and priced.

“But now… once he finishes digesting the East, his next target will inevitably be us.”

At the center of the mechanical sand table, the red arrow representing Kaelin was completely covered by a deeper shade of shadow.

That shadow rose from the eastern seas like a gaping maw, devouring everything on the map.

Lady Isabella collapsed back into her chair, her voice trembling: “Then what do we do? Give him money? Make him honorary Speaker?”

Vulcan Director slammed a fist hard on the table: “Can’t you see it yet? He wants it all!”

Speaker Clement raised his head, his alchemy prosthetic eye lighting up in the gloom, emitting a cold gleam.

“Since we cannot trade with him, then we can only destroy him.” He paused for a moment. “Have our God awaken at once.

No matter whether Kaelin’s twenty legions are enough to feed it or not, we first raise this defensive line.”

This was their final trump card, and their only choice.

……

The Imperial Army’s offensive, as it neared the Jade Federation’s core region, for the first time showed obvious drag and sluggishness.

On the main avenue, the Federation seemed to have changed its tactics overnight.

Every heavy gun that could still operate was piled along that single line of passage, tier upon tier, like a high wall cast from steel and flame.

The gun muzzles roared day and night, fields of fire overlapping; any probing advance was immediately answered with mass casualties.

This wasn’t defense. This was a slaughterhouse forcing people to chew through it head-on.

At the military council, the map was spread open and folded again and again, yet the mood grew heavier each time.

Duke Remont spoke first, his tone cautious, even somewhat weary, as if genuinely concerned for the Imperial Army’s safety.

“Your Highness, the frontal defenses are too dense,” he said. “Our supply line is already stretched to the limit. If we continue to attack, we’ll only be wasting our elite troops.

It would be better… to pull back for now, reorganize the army, and wait for reinforcements and the next batch of supplies to arrive before making plans.”

The moment he finished, Kaelin’s face darkened.

Retreat? The word itself was like denying all the victories he had won over the past few months.

“Pull back?” Kaelin repeated coldly, his gaze sharp as a blade. “Louis is devouring the Empire in the south. If I retreat a single step now, I’ll be handing myself to him personally!”

He slammed his palm on the table. “We must attack.”

The conference room fell into silence.

Just as the argument was stuck in deadlock, a Knight outside delivered an unexpected result: a captured high-ranking Federation deserter.

The man was covered in dust, his spirit hollowed out, as if he had been completely wrung dry. Among his belongings, they found a roll of yellowed old drawings.

It was the “Federation Mining Area Abandoned Tunnel Map.”

The moment the map was spread out, Kaelin’s eyes lit up.

It showed a route marked “Old Crystal Vein Tunnel,” excavated a century ago and long since abandoned due to complex terrain, lingering toxic gas, and an exhausted lode.

The map showed it bypassed the frontal fortress clusters, like a needle hidden underground, pointing straight at Crystal Rock City’s underbelly.

“No garrison?” Kaelin immediately gave the order. “Send Royal Scouts to confirm at once.”

The Scouts’ report came back very quickly: “Your Highness, it’s accurate.

The tunnel is rugged, but indeed passable. There are no troops stationed along the way, most alarm mechanisms have failed, only a few rusty warning signs remain.”

Everything was going smoothly to the point of absurdity.

Remont stood by the map, brows knit tight, continuing to play the role of the cautious old vassal.

“Your Highness, this route is too dangerous,” he said. “Once we’re discovered, the narrow terrain leaves no room to deploy. If our line of retreat is cut, it will mean total annihilation.”

But Kaelin showed a look of firm conviction. “It is precisely because it’s dangerous that the enemy won’t think I’d take it.”

He looked at Remont, his tone edged with undisguised sharpness. “Duke, you’re old. This is blitzkrieg, not your kind of slow, dragging Nobility war.”

The final deployment was quickly decided.

Kaelin would personally lead ten thousand of the finest Knights, break through via the tunnel, and launch a surprise strike on Crystal Rock City.

Remont would take the main forces and logistics units, continuing a grandiose feint on the front to draw all of the Federation’s attention.

The moment the orders were issued, Remont lowered his eyelids, but inside he felt nothing but ice.

In the dead of night, the ten thousand iron cavalry set out; they moved like a silent black current, slipping into that deep, dark tunnel.

On both sides rose steep black rock walls, and the air was thick with a pungent stench.

The march went unnaturally smoothly—no patrolling Magical Beasts, no cave-ins, no traps. The smoothness was unsettling, yet it only made Kaelin all the more convinced this was fortune’s gift.

When, on the far horizon, the glimmer of Crystal Rock City finally floated up in the night, he even allowed himself a smile.

In the darkest hour before dawn, the vanguard burst out of the narrow tunnel.

The view opened up before their eyes.

It was a vast basin plain, low-lying, like a natural bowl.

Crystal Rock City stood on the rim of the basin, its lights still burning, looking utterly unguarded.

Almost at the same moment, from the direction of the frontal battlefield in the distance, came the thunder of artillery.

Remont had begun his feint.

Kaelin felt hot blood surge through him.

“Do you see it?” He drew his Longsword, pointing at the city ahead. “That is our reward.”

“Charge! Crush them! Let the Federation’s gold pave the road for the Empire’s revival!”

The horns sounded.

Ten thousand Knights, burning with longing for victory, poured down from the heights.

Like a runaway black mudslide, without a second thought, they surged into that platter of a battlefield that had long since been set for them.