Chapter 383: "Saving" His Majesty the Emperor
Almost at the same time, at the Leicester regiment’s base.
This was once the residence of a wealthy Ionian merchant, but has now been converted into Lester's chapter command headquarters.
Kaiyin came to the door of General Lester's office and knocked gently: "Teacher Lester, everyone is here."
"Okay." Lester responded in a low voice.
He pushed the door open and walked out slowly. A black crow stood quietly on his shoulder, looking like his pet at first glance.
But the crow's cold and arrogant red eyes inexplicably made people feel as if Lester under its feet was the pet.
Kayn looked at it thoughtfully.
As Leicester's most trusted subordinate recently, he has already found out that this crow is the messenger of Leicester's teacher, the famous imperial general Swain.
Swain and Lestat have been secretly plotting something, and whenever they need to take concrete action, Swain will contact Lestat through this crow.
"What do they want to do now?" Kayn observed Lester's expression with some uneasiness.
He didn't know what the notorious Strategist was going to do through Lester this time; and whether Swain's action would harm the cause of the Leader.
But through Lester's rare solemn expression, Kayn could vaguely sense that...something big might really be coming.
And that is exactly the case.
"Everyone, sorry to have kept you waiting." Lester walked out of the study that served as his office and came to the front hall with Kayn.
The hall was already packed with people. All the senior generals and middle and lower-level officers of the entire regiment had gathered here at Lester's arrangement.
He even invited two chapter leaders of other chapters, imperial generals of the same rank as Leicester, at once.
In other words, the people here can mobilize at least three regiments of the Empire on the Balue front, nearly 50,000 elite soldiers.
A small half of the total Noxian frontline forces were in the hands of the officers and generals present.
"Two generals." Lester first looked at the two regiment leaders of the same level as himself.
They are also students brought up by Swain, which is equivalent to Lester's "junior brothers".
"Brothers." Lester looked at his officers again, scanning their faces that were either confused, nervous, or thoughtful.
Finally, he got to the point: "You all should know about tomorrow's combat deployment, right?"
"Of course!" the officers replied with gritted teeth.
The general offensive will be launched tomorrow, involving the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of troops. Of course, the combat deployment must be notified to all grassroots units in advance.
As soon as the officers received this order, which was comparable to "F2A", they immediately fell into a state of confusion and anger.
It is understandable that players do not want to use their brains and just want to move their pieces forward for a full-scale attack.
But the problem is: they are not players, but chess pieces charging on the front line!
"That old guy Du Kecao must be crazy!" Someone couldn't help but curse out loud.
"Yes!" The officers nodded in agreement, not giving any face to Du Coquet, the commander-in-chief.
Firstly, they were originally subordinates of Lester and generals of Swain's faction, and they were not fond of Du Kekao, who came from an old noble family.
Secondly, the order for a full-scale attack issued by Du Coca-Cola really made people curse.
"Hundreds of thousands of troops, rushing into that mountain valley without a care in the world, is this a battle plan that any normal person could come up with?" The officers collectively cursed in the Zuan language:
"I think he wants us to die! Just like the Battle of Presidium, if it weren't for those bastards from the aristocracy stabbing us in the back, we wouldn't have..."
"That's right." Lester nodded at the right time.
Then, he said meaningfully: "Since everyone has seen that Du Kecao wants us to die, don't you think... we should do something?
Officers: “ …”
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere at the scene instantly became quiet.
The officers and generals who had gathered together to excitedly greet Du Coquet's family now nervously shut their mouths.
Kayn looked at Lester in disbelief.
They could all tell what Lester was thinking of doing: "Mutiny—"
"He wants to launch a mutiny tomorrow and betray us on the battlefield?!"
Kayn's heart was pounding with excitement.
Tomorrow is the day of the decisive battle between the Leader and the Imperial Invasion Army. Lester's choice to launch a mutiny at this critical moment is undoubtedly a great assist for the Leader.
He had been lurking in the Imperial Army for several months, and he never imagined that he could be of such great help to the Leader.
Kayn was so shocked that he couldn't help but wonder if Lester was also an undercover agent planted by the Leader within the Empire.
"Why, are you all scared? Or do you all think that I am a traitor to the Empire?"
Lester secretly clenched his nervous and sweaty palms and swept his calm eyes over everyone present.
Everyone present responded with evasive glances.
Mutiny is a serious matter that could cost you your life.
No matter how good the relationship between these officers and generals and Leicester was, and no matter how grateful they were for his kindness, except for a few close confidants, not many people dared to stand on his side without hesitation.
"General..." Someone bravely reminded, "Tomorrow is the critical moment of the decisive battle between the Empire and the Leader. If we rebel at this time, I'm afraid that the Empire's efforts in the past few months will be in vain!"
"By then... we will be regarded as rebels and forever nailed to the pillar of shame in history!"
These words resonated with many people present.
These officers and generals have always been the most staunch supporters of the Noxian Empire.
Although everyone was extremely dissatisfied with Commander Du Coquet's decision and the corruption of the old aristocracy, they could not make up their minds to commit treason.
"Ah, I understand you." Lester sighed: "Soldiers are all simple, they are born to be loyal to their country."
"If possible, I don't want to start a mutiny at this critical moment when the two countries are at war. But the problem is that Du Kecao and the group of old nobles behind him have clearly decided not to give us a chance to live."
"It would have been fine if you ordered the entire army to attack the mountain, but you also let us lead the way and use our lives to tread mines and test the waters for those war groups under the command of the old nobles."
"Think about it..." Lester looked at the other two chapter leaders present: "Why do we always have to carry out such suicidal missions? Is it because we are all students taught by Teacher Swain?"
"Think about it again--"
"If we really fight according to Du Kecao's plan, even if the Empire wins in the end, how many of the brothers present here can still walk out of the mountains alive?"
“……”Everyone was silent for a while.
Lester struck while the iron was hot and said, "If we follow orders to attack the mountain now, we will die. If we start an uprising, we will also die. It's the same death. So why not die to make the empire great again?"
"I hope everyone will support me, not that I want you to betray the Empire and surrender to the Leader."
"On the contrary... I hope that everyone will follow me, follow Teacher Swain, and with the heart of a beast, strike a fatal blow to the rotten heart of the nobles!"
"W-what?" The officers and generals were shocked again.
They thought Lester was trying to convince everyone to surrender to the Leader, but they didn't expect him to play such a big game.
If it is just surrendering to the enemy at the last minute, then it is more feasible. Although betrayal is shameful, it is not out of the question.
But how could they, who were now stranded at the front line and unable to protect themselves, march towards the Immortal Fortress thousands of miles away?
"Wait..." The officers suddenly noticed that Lester mentioned a person in his words: "Teacher Swain? Could this matter be planned by General Swain?"
"That's right." A familiar voice slowly sounded in everyone's ears: "The empire has become what it is now. Shouldn't the people in power in the Immortal Fortress be held responsible for this?"
The one who spoke was not Lester, but the red-eyed crow on Lester's shoulder.
“This voice…” The officers seemed to have found their backbone all of a sudden: “General Swain! It’s really General Swain!”
Although it was just a sound, Lester, who was usually so cautious that he could be described as a coward, was so bold today that he said he wanted to rebel... His unusual behavior was very telling.
No wonder Lester had the courage to do such a thing, it turns out there is another master behind him!
Everyone thinks so.
As soon as Swain's voice appeared, the originally tense atmosphere instantly calmed down.
They had followed Swain to countless victories in the past, and had experienced together the Battle of Presidium, the humiliation and despair of being backstabbed by their own forces.
Swain's majestic image in everyone's mind has never faded. They have also been waiting for the return of the king led by this strategist.
"Everyone," Swain said, "The people are suffering terribly right now, and your situation is the same. The soldiers on the Ionian front, their sisters have to sell their bodies for food. The old farmers can't even eat the rice they grow. The people have no jobs, they are starving and exhausted. The soldiers on the front fight for the country without caring about their own lives, but the rear can't even pay them pensions."
"And His Majesty Darkwill would never want us to suffer like this. It is the privileged people around him who manipulated the Emperor's mind, making him unable to see the suffering of the people and the true national conditions."
"How can we build an empire with insects like these?"
"So, soldiers..."
Swain's voice seemed to have magical power, and it set off a prairie fire without anyone noticing.
In other words, dissatisfaction and resentment had long been piled up in the hearts of the officers. This powder keg filled with too much gunpowder finally welcomed a spark that could ignite it.
"General Swain, please give your orders!" The officers straightened up and looked seriously at the red-eyed crow that represented Swain's will.
Even the two powerful leaders of the same level as Lester did not hesitate to participate in this beheading event: "Teacher Swain, please tell us what we should do next."
"What you need to do next is to do nothing." Swain ordered: "After the war begins tomorrow, stay away from the battlefield as soon as possible and prioritize preserving your own strength."
"Yes!" The officers understood.
Selling out teammates and running away, this trick is familiar to them.
This is how they were betrayed by their teammates in the Battle of Presidio.
"What if the leader doesn't know what's good for him and insists on pestering us?" Someone else asked worriedly, "General Swain, you know that once the war starts, we can't just withdraw whenever we want."
“Don’t worry.” Swain said meaningfully, “I am a good friend of Guild Leader Levi.”
"So that's it!" Everyone was relieved.
Although Swain couldn't really be a friend of the bandit leader Levi, the Leader certainly didn't want to have another enemy.
This was apparently a secret diplomatic outcome between Swain and Windleader.
"What happens after that?" the officers asked again, "What should we do after we withdraw from the battlefield?"
“Wait.” Swain said, “Waiting for a failure is also waiting for a victory.”
"The Wind Leader will help us eliminate Du Kecao's warband and the Black Rose underground forces hiding beside him."
"This war will cause great damage to the old nobles and the Black Rose faction, and will also bring an unprecedented shock to the empire that has been sinking in the quagmire of war for a long time."
"Then we can board the ship back home and head towards the Immortal Fortress!"
"Yes! General Swain!" The officers were deeply moved by the bright prospects described by Swain and responded excitedly.
But someone didn't think straight and asked at an inappropriate time: "General Swain, I heard you mention the Black Rose."
"Could it be that... the black rose really exists?"
Although this place is tens of thousands of miles away from Zaun, they cannot see the newly released movie in Zaun, nor can they play Zaun’s latest “Black Rose Expansion Card Pack”.
But this did not prevent the Noxian soldiers on the Barue front from knowing the existence of the Black Rose.
Because the Leader’s drones drop tons of brochures into their military camps every day.
Taking into account that the imperial soldiers on the front line had no conditions to watch movies or listen to the radio, Leader also launched the comic version of "Swain and the Black Rose" in Barue at the same time as launching the movie in Zaun.
So now, all the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the army knew that there was a Black Rose hidden behind Darkwill.
The soldiers believed in this street literature-style conspiracy theory.
But the officers present were all senior talents with great experience. They were not easily influenced by enemy propaganda and generally had doubts about the existence of the Black Rose.
However……
"Idiot!" When someone raised the question, the officers looked at him with a questioning look: "Don't Mr. Swain's words prove the existence of the Black Rose?"
"Like General Lester said before, soldiers are simple and born to serve their country—"
"If it weren't for the Black Rose who kidnapped His Majesty the Emperor and caused chaos and endangered the country, why would we turn our guns around and point our weapons at the Immortal Fortress?"
"This..." The officer who raised the question earlier was stunned.
He finally reacted.
“Damn it!” He immediately corrected his mistakes and cursed, “So that’s how it is… No wonder Commander Du Kecao issued such a stupid order. It turns out that he was also secretly controlled by the Black Rose conspirators!”
"General Swain is right. We can't hesitate any longer... We must rescue His Majesty the Emperor from their clutches before the Black Rose destroys this country!"
