In a camp located in the center of the camp where the expeditionary army was stationed, Xiao Yue spread out the paper in her hand.
Before he had time to look, Floya walked in from outside the tent.
"The encirclement of the Crusade Army has been completed. Soon they will call you over for a meeting." Froya rested on the table, "Remember to pretend you didn't know in advance."
Xiaoyue's eyes did not leave her hands, and she said: "I told you, this is unnecessary. Even if you don't supervise, they will send you any progress."
As Lecco's confidant, Xiaoyue already has a certain prestige in the military. She is also the person Liliana trusts the most. If it weren't for her lack of ambition, her voice would even be comparable to that of the two imperial ministers.
Therefore, naturally no general would defy Xiaoyue, the "supervisor". Not only would she be invited to attend meetings of all sizes, but any progress made during the crusade would be reported to her. Moreover, Xiaoyue often appeared as Lecco's spokesperson in the past. With her reputation for intelligence, the generals would listen to her advice to a certain extent.
Although he is not the actual leader of the crusade, at least as a "supervisor", Xiaoyue has sufficient power.
"I have to find something to do for myself. Otherwise, if everyone is so busy and I am alone, wouldn't it make me look useless?" Froya spread her hands, "I can't really just stay here to protect you. Come on, you are someone I don’t even have the confidence to win with even one hand."
"Can't you bring me tea and water?" Xiaoyue's lips curled up slightly.
Before setting off, Liliana considered that Froya's external identity must not be Xiaoyue's protector, otherwise it would not only embarrass the generals of the crusade, but also cause a lot of inconvenience to Froya's actions.
So nominally Floya is Shinozuki's maid, responsible for taking care of her daily life.
Xiaoyue was originally the head maid of the palace. As a military governor, it was not surprising to bring a servant with her. This status could be said to be a perfect cover.
But the feelings of the parties concerned are another matter.
"How can we spend so much time serving tea and water? You can't drink so much water~" Froya's voice suddenly became frighteningly boring, "And I went secretly to confirm the expeditionary army's operations, wasn't it for your benefit? Supervise and share the worries!”
"Isn't coordinating intelligence enough to exhaust your energy?" Xiaoyue said with a cold face and changed the subject, "It seems you are not attentive enough."
Floya pretended to be aggrieved and said: "How could it be? That's because the 'migratory birds' worked too hard and summarized the border information before we arrived. I really didn't have to worry too much."
"Migratory Birds" is the internal name for members of Night Crow who have hidden their identities. They are mainly peripheral members who do not know the inside story.
Their distribution range has always been a mystery. They seem to be nowhere and yet they seem to be everywhere. Even within Night Crow, no one can fully grasp the location of all "migratory birds". Even the core members can only know the contact information of "migratory birds" in a certain area.
This is a rule set by Lecco from the beginning, and it is also a disguised protection for "migratory birds".
The crusade army was able to push the rebels entrenched in the village into the mountains and forests without losing a single person, relying on the intelligence they provided.
What Floya did before was to compile and analyze the intelligence provided by the "migratory birds", and then feed back part of the conclusions to the "migratory birds" disguised as border residents, and then let them provide it to the crusade.
——Although ordinary residents will actively provide information, due to the various influences of different people's knowledge, cognition and eloquence, they will not be able to accurately filter through such layers of mistakes.
As for the key points that are unknown to normal residents, Xiaoyue will announce them at the combat meeting through "analysis and derivation".
The excellent performance of the Crusade Army is the result of the joint efforts of many parties.
Floya's overly performed grievance did not make Xiaoyue think of comfort at all, but in order to make her restrain herself, Xiaoyue still said:
"Is the encirclement completely formed?"
When it came to business, Froya was really serious. She said, "Well, the neighboring country agreed without putting too many conditions."
Facing the rebels who fled into the mountains and forests, encircling them instead of attacking them was the follow-up combat method decided by the generals of the crusade army after discussion.
The great victory in the previous stage has completely brought out the empire's momentum, and there is no need to rush forward for the sake of quick victory. The generals of the expeditionary army all understood that the smaller the subsequent losses, the better the explanation of their final victory.
The reason why the siege-but-not-attack approach was arrived at after discussion was because the rebels' behavior of escaping into the mountains was a bit stupid. Winter has just passed, and the supplies on the mountain are not abundant. As long as the road down the mountain is blocked, the rebels will sooner or later run out of ammunition and food.
The empire's borders here are not separated from neighboring countries by large-scale wilderness or natural barriers, just by climbing a few mountains. The countries that were originally located here were often harassed by each other because they were too close.
Fleeing into neighboring countries is the best option for the rebels. They should not understand this if they can do a series of bad things.
The generals of the expeditionary army were worried about fraud, so they discussed the method of fighting.
After deciding on the operational strategy of "encirclement without attacking", the crusade army sent people to negotiate with neighboring countries in order to make the encirclement watertight and completely cut off the possibility of the rebels' escape.
From what Floya said, this trip went very smoothly.
"Of course."
Xiaoyue was not surprised.
The rebels were already confused with the neighboring forces. Maybe they fled into the mountains and forests to take advantage of the terrain and the supplies from the neighboring forces to use their same tactics to force the expeditionary army back.
However, now that the empire has made it clear that it wants to clear out the rebels, the senior officials of neighboring countries must express their attitude towards this, whether it is from the bottom of their hearts or not, otherwise it will be confirmed that they are having an affair with the rebels.
No country in the empire dares to touch the porcelain rashly.
Floya slumped her shoulders and said, "So, the next step is just a matter of time. Sooner or later we will win, and there will be nothing to worry about without you and me."
Encirclement also requires energy and patience, but these are mainly done by the soldiers and generals of the crusade, and have little to do with the two women.
According to common sense, they just have to sit back and wait for victory to come.
"...Not necessarily."
Xiaoyue's gaze still did not deflect, but her eyes became slightly surprised.
Froya noticed the paper in Xiaoyue's hand from the beginning. After Xiaoyue said this, she immediately realized what was written on the paper.
"Information from the Imperial Capital?" Froya quickly walked around behind Xiaoyue.
Xiaoyue deflected the paper so that she could see the entire content.
Floya scanned it briefly, and the difference in words and sentences made her instantly understand that the sender was not a companion, but the wording on the paper was not unfamiliar to her.
"Is it from the king!?"
Xiaoyue was noncommittal, handed the paper to Floya, and said, "Our next task is to investigate the real jailer."
Floya looked at the text carefully and said, "The location... is quite far from here."
The border village where the jailer was located was somewhere else, in another country. The difference is that there is a large desert as an interval.
With the help of local characteristics and the internal guarantee of the empire, the life of the residents there is pretty good.
Froya became excited. The information on the paper meant that she had something to do and finally no longer had to sit around here!
However, before she could speak, Xiaoyue said: "You can pick a 'migratory bird' who is similar in stature to me and has excellent qualifications nearby."
Floya heard the implication and was surprised again: "You want to go in person?"
Realizing that she was going to be robbed of her job, she quickly advised: "No, you let me play... No, I'm going to investigate! Look at me doing nothing day by day, so idle. You will be clean after I leave. Are you okay, onee-sama~"
Floya was like a coquettish little girl, relying on Xiaoyue to beg in every possible way.
Xiaoyue looked at her condescendingly and expressionlessly, with an imperceptible joy in her eyes:
"Be obedient and go find someone."
