After what felt like an eternity of silence, the man to finally break the dead-lock within the war council room was none other than the master strategist Alaric.
After thinking about the predicament that the Empire was facing long and hard, he came up with a conservative plan that allowed the Empire to better understand the strengths of their new and improved enemy before making any big moves.
"I propose that we start preparing for a long and arduous war.
That we start storing food and grains en-masse and prepare a few evacuation and emergency strategies in-case we need to temporarily cede land to the demons.
Of-course our first priority is to never let the demons into our lands, however, if they have indeed grown more intelligent, then holding them off at the far-off border villages will indeed be difficult.
We need to strategically decide which strongholds are the most important for us to hold no-matter what and start reinforcing those areas immediately.
Before we gain clarity on the strength of the enemy and find a method to beat them back effectively, we need to first focus on reducing our down-side and secure the core of our Empire from being infiltrated by demons" Alaric said, as he very rationally proposed a plan that would help bolster the human backlines in times of war.
"I second this idea…. The border villages have all been erected with the idea that they can be abandoned in times of war and turned into military encampments.
As long as it's not a major town, I don't see a point in trying to defend it with all our might, so I agree with securing the more critical parts of our Empire first, so that the down-side of the demon invasion can be minimized" said commander Thalion as he seemed to give the strategy proposed by Alaric his tactical approval.
"Is there anyone in this room who has a better idea than us having to cede land to the demons?" Julien said, sounding slightly disappointed, as he did not like the idea of even giving up a single square inch of Empire land to the demons if it could be prevented.
However, as the entire war council agreed with Alaric's proposal, Julien let out a deep sigh and gave his tactical nod to this proposal.
"Start building lots of grain storages and secretly start purchasing grain in-bulk.
Notify the Vice-commanders to bolster our borders and to start digging up advantageous positions there in-order to hold off future demon attacks.
Next, start migrating the citizens from the borders to more in-let regions and notify the local barons to provide them with proper food and shelter.
Ramp up the production of iron-ore and start buying up weapons and armors from the local markets using Royal Treasury money.
Stop the subsidy schemes…. Start saving money and prepare to raise the taxes.
Let's hope that the situation never gets as worse as we expect it to get, however, let's prepare to the best of our abilities if it does indeed get there" Julien said, as once he understood the advise of his war council, he immediately realized the austerity measures that he needed to take, to keep the economy stable while also preparing it for the future disruptions that were going to take place.
Although Julien wasn't a war-tactician or a warrior, he was an excellent career politician who understood perfectly how an Empire should be run.
In less than a minute, he devised a new set of austerity measures to safeguard the Empire in times of crisis, leaving everyone in the room in complete awe of his ability.
"Thalion…. Increase recruitment quotas in the army Empire-Wide, we need to recruit more soldiers into the army if we hope to fight the demons.
Nysa, start monitoring the internal political situation within the Elf and Beastmen Kingdoms…. Let's ensure that they do not try and take advantage of this moment of the Empire's weakness to try and rebel against us.
Alaric, start recognising potential strongholds where the demons can be restricted and start bolstering those regions immediately.
Send imperial troops, send siege weapons, send money, grain…. Anything that they need to hold the demons off in that region, but make-sure that our strongholds are impregnable.
Zephyr, suspend all on-going experiments within the mage association and recall all of your master mages to the capital.
In-case we need you, the mages will be asked to assist the army in holding off the demons.
Cedric, you will be responsible for setting up the hidden grain centers and the purchase of the war materials through the Virex Corps such that the commoners do not panic in the short-term.
I will not make an official announcement of war until the demons manage to take a few villages off our hands, however, let's hope that it never comes to that–" Julien said, as he distributed the short term roles that all the war-council members had to focus on.
"We will not let you down, My Lord" Cedric said, being the first one to respond, as following his response everyone repeated the same sentence as well.
"Good job finding about this Nysa…. Your information network is working well…. And I pardon you for going over my head for calling this meeting too.
However, I expect that this does not become the norm" Julien said, concluding the meeting as he stood up from his seat, prompting everyone else to stand up as well.
"Thankyou for your praise and your mercy, My Lord…. I will indeed be more cautious in the future" Nysa said, accepting her mistake, as Julien simply nodded to her before leaving the room.
Once Julien left, everyone else began leaving one after another too, leaving only young Nathan behind in the war-room as he kept glancing longingly towards his father's chair.
'When will I become this cool and competent?' Nathan wondered, as he could not wait for the time when he would one day be called Emperor.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the Power Stones target! Good Job Everyone!
Thank you so much for your consistent support! ///