Juggernaut: Rise of the Zerg

Chapter 121 Spring Flowers Blossom
The capital of the Sudman Empire——Bogus, this is a huge city unique in the history of the lizard people. Its huge area is enough to accommodate nearly one million permanent residents. It is densely populated and economically prosperous. It is the dream place of the Chinese people, and it is also the well-deserved political, economic and cultural center of the empire.

This is a majestic city that was established in the center of the continent only a hundred years ago. Its name still continues the style of all ancient cities. Bogus, in the ancient language of the lizardmen, means: scorching sun.

It means that the empire has reached the ultimate glory, and its power is as powerful as the sun!
However, the temple is already raging at this moment.

The news of Toril's rebellion has even been heard by the civilians in Bogus. This victorious general of the empire and one of the most honorable lords, the Marquis of the Empire, is already sitting on the fire at this moment.

The folks have already been extremely angry, and the temples are also raging.Toril's behavior of mobilizing the army without reason is regarded as a contempt for the imperial power, even if according to the law, it is completely reasonable and legal for him to mobilize the army in his own territory.

The reason for this is naturally due to its historical reasons.

On this continent, in the process of the lizard people from being weak to strong, they inevitably experienced various separations and reunions. In the hundreds of years before the establishment of the empire, the lizard people on the entire continent were completely It can be said that there are many princes, doing their own thing.

This gave birth to the title system that has continued to this day, and it is also the fundamental source of its existence in such a unified empire.

Until a city-state named Sudman rose from a weak state to become the only empire on the entire continent step by step, but the various title systems did not disappear because of this, but became part of it.

In the subsequent development, the concept of centralization was continuously proposed, and the monarchs of the empire have implemented this idea for generations, constantly weakening the real power of each vassal. Until now, the vast majority of nobles in the empire have long been remote. Officials, the so-called titles have gradually developed in the direction of honorary titles.

But there are always exceptions to everything. Naturally, such a large vested interest group will not be willing to withdraw from the stage of history like this.

They assembled a huge force for it, and launched a century-long struggle with the reformers above the temple, many of whom shed blood and sacrificed. In the process, they made great damage to the stability of the empire. The Deman Empire was on the verge of falling apart, and even the emperor had to go out in person to make peace for both parties.

In the end, with the efforts of all parties, the two sides reached a compromise.That is to say, in the hinterland of the empire, all territories are under the direct jurisdiction of the central center, and all enfeoffments on these lands have been changed to remote territories.

But for the border territories, especially the newly opened land, the enfeoffment system must be implemented, and it will actually be rewarded to those with outstanding military exploits according to the ancient law.

The achievement of this compromise has made a non-negligible contribution to the prosperity and strength of the empire for a long period of time since then.

The center of the empire has mastered the most fertile land, where government orders can be passed without hindrance, and the development is extremely rapid.

The old school, on the other hand, desperately pushes the chariot of the empire to explore outwards in order to gain military exploits and land, until today they have almost taken the entire continent into their pockets, and they have even begun preliminary exploration of the ocean, expecting that there will be more Fertile land.

However, although a good result was achieved, the struggle between the two parties has not completely stopped.

The reformists will not give up the border territories that have been initially developed by the lords, and the conservatives are naturally unwilling to hand over their last private land to the hands.

To this day, although the entire empire still shows a strong enterprising spirit and a thriving state, this kind of struggle has never stopped.

And Toril is undoubtedly one of the representatives of the old school.

What needs to be explained is that the so-called conservatives do not mean that they really follow the old ways and do not know how to adapt, but that they got their name because of their admiration of ancient methods.

Whether they are reformers or conservatives, their fundamental purpose is not to sink the big ship of the Saadman Empire, but to fight for their own interests.

For the empire, any party is loyal, otherwise the royal family will not allow them to exist.

This time, Toril arbitrarily mobilized the army to assemble, which caused a huge repercussions in the temple. The reformers naturally attacked in groups, while the conservatives also fought hard.

The Emperor of the Empire—San Prov, who was nearly sixty years old, naturally received the letter from Toril's confidant at this time, and had already finished reading it.

He completely trusted Toril who had followed him since he was a child.

Although, as an emperor, he should naturally be wary of everyone, even his own siblings, his own son, but only Toril, the general of the empire he trained himself from a young age, he would never doubt.

That's the trust earned by countless times of proven loyalty over decades.If the civilization of the lizard people can continue, maybe this kind of trust between their monarchs and ministers can become a good story for future generations to tell.

But trust does not mean that he agrees with the other party's approach. In his opinion, Toril, who has always been sensitive enough to war, really made a fuss this time.

It's just a piece of unproven intelligence that doesn't know whether it's true or not. It's like facing a big enemy, mobilizing the elite of the empire to go all out, and even asking himself to cooperate with him as much as possible.

In Prove's view, this is undoubtedly too sensitive and nervous.

But in the letter, Toril's tone was extremely serious, and he even made a promise to give up all honors if he made a mistake in his judgment, which made Prov hesitate.

On the one hand, regarding Toril, he is confident that he will never be wrong.All the lizardmen in this world may rebel, except Toril who has followed him since he was a child.So emotionally speaking, he is willing to cooperate with him in implementing the plan according to what was said in the letter.

But on the other hand, from a rational point of view, as the emperor of the empire, he knows how much manpower and material resources will be spent if he acts according to the plan Toril said. Career and all the honors, even the one who endorsed it will be criticized, which is an unacceptable thing for the imperial power.

As a subject, Toril can make such a request, because he has a clear conscience.But as the emperor of the empire, it was difficult for him to gamble with Toril on a possibility with the majesty of imperial power.

This has nothing to do with trust or not, but a choice caused by different positions.

However, according to the description in the letter, the famous general of the empire has already implemented almost half of his plan, and the remaining last step, which is also the most critical step, is in the hands of Prov. After decades, he was no longer as frizzy as he was back then, and he couldn't help hesitating.

If there is such a possibility, Toril is right?
Amidst the denunciations and debates against Toril by the audience, Prov was caught in a tangle.

Over the years, he hadn't felt this emotion for a long time, but at this moment, he finally hesitated.

…………

On the eastern border of the empire, as a former frontier fortress, Hurley City has resumed its role in the barbarian period. The entire city is like a waking monster, showing its ferocious fangs again.

A large number of soldiers are gathering here, and endless supplies are being transported here. Under Toril's strong pressure, the entire Marquis has become a huge war machine.

Outside the city, the abandoned defense facilities were reactivated for reinforcement.Arrow towers, pits, fortresses, boxcars, knife gates, all kinds of equipment and buildings were quickly set up outside the city, completely looking like a strategic defense.

At the same time, the civilians in the city were gradually evacuated to the rear under Toril's power.

Heli is the largest city on the eastern border of the empire, and it is also the front line of defense against barbarians.

The reason why it can play the role of defending against barbarians lies in its towering city walls, huge area, large population, and steep mountains around it.

After treating the possible Zerg as a real imaginary enemy, Toril simulated the opponent's attack mode in all aspects in his mind, and finally came to a conclusion.

If what is said on the white cloth is true, then it is absolutely impossible for the mountains that can block the barbarians to block the opponent's progress.

They can easily climb the cliffs that lizardfolk would risk their lives to climb.

The defensive role that terrain can play will become extremely limited.

How to deal with or even offset the opponent's advantage is the focus of his thinking during this time.

And putting himself in a defensive position is also a judgment based on this.

If the opponent really exists, then one's own side rushing into the jungle is undoubtedly using its own shortcomings to attack the enemy's strengths.

The only way he could think of was the idea that Sommer mentioned in the white cloth, that is, the weakness of the insect swarm to be afraid of fire.

Therefore, among the many strategic materials shipped to Hurley, kerosene accounted for almost a quarter!

If the bugs were really what the white cloth said, then the kerosene was Toril's greatest confidence in resisting their invasion.

While the Marquis of Toril was tense, in the hinterland of the empire, a huge batch of supplies began to set off towards the eastern border.

In the end, reason triumphed over emotion.As the emperor of the empire, it is impossible for Prov to accept Toril's words so easily. Perhaps 30 years ago, when he was in his prime and full of ambition, he would be so proud that he waved his hand directly.

Because even if it's just for Toril himself, these are worth it.

But now, he is nearly sixty years old, stabilizing the empire and handing it over to his successor is the most important thing he needs to do.It is a meaningless political adventure to spend a lot of resources to gamble on Toril's guess and intuition. If it fails, the credibility of the entire royal family will be gambled, and the people and courtiers will lose their awe of the imperial power.

At this time, it is impossible for him to do so.

However, he was not completely indifferent to Toril's request. Although he did not give full support, he also secretly promoted the progress of the other party's plan, but he did not personally endorse it.

This batch of materials is his most direct support for Toril. In addition, under his orders, the troops or lords in the entire eastern part of the empire are either ready or actively preparing to guard against possible rebellion by Toril.

Many people, no matter how unbelievable this matter may be, still dare not be absolutely sure, and joined in.

And this, in fact, was a compromise between Toril and the Emperor Prov.

For the stability of the empire, it is impossible for Prov to send troops to guard against the bugs in his mouth because of Toril's one-sided words, but out of absolute trust in him, he still uses this method to make the entire eastern part of the empire enter the war in disguise In preparation.

Taking a step back, if this kind of creature really exists, then at least one's own side will not be completely defenseless. If it does not exist, there will naturally be Toril and his conservative faction to bear the attack brought by the reformist faction. If you don't end in person, no one will be able to threaten the stability of the imperial power.

…………

Zero is not aware of the undercurrents in the Lizardman camp, even if he knew about it, he wouldn't care.

As time went by, Sass' ocean transformation of the hatchery was getting closer and closer to success, and most of Zero's energy was concentrated on the ocean.

Compared with entering the silent continent, the Zerg race above the ocean is currently experiencing an era of great development.

During this time, following the sea snake, several more uncommon marine predators were brought before Sass.

In the past, they might have been able to demand anything from the Zerg, but now they can't even escape.

As a result, the Zerg's maritime sphere of influence continued to expand further.

In the past, although the sea units of the Zerg could also navigate freely in the ocean, apart from the inaccessibility of the deep sea, there was no insurmountable obstacle for them in the shallow water area.

But even so, these places explored by the Zerg are not the territory of the Zerg at all, because there will always be visible or invisible enemies who can easily take their lives.

But it's different now. After the foragers appeared, enemies who were invisible and couldn't catch up before no longer had this advantage, and those who couldn't be seen would be lured out and killed one by one.

In addition to being unable to replenish their numbers on the spot in the ocean, most common marine organisms can no longer pose a threat to them.

Under the escort of the foragers, the delivery of the Zerg to the hatchery on the coast of the mainland has also become smoother. They can now reach farther places faster. If Zero now has a full view of the entire continent, he will You will see that today's Zerg camps have basically expanded from the entire east coast to the north and south ends of the mainland. Although they are all placed in inaccessible areas, on such a long coastline, the total number of all camps has already reached There are hundreds of them.

Even if Zero didn't put his main energy into this operation, he could foresee what kind of situation the Saadman Empire of the Lizardmen would face when winter passed and spring came.

Throughout the winter, the Zergs on land were basically dormant, with few large-scale activities. On the contrary, the Zerg units on the ocean were extremely active, and their forces in the shallow sea area expanded extremely rapidly. One-third of the sea area of ​​the base camp has basically been completely occupied by them.

Of course, this kind of occupation is not in the actual sense, and there are not so many Zergs at present, but they have already completed the clearing of this area, and there are very few powerful enemies entering this sea area.

Then it can be said that this sea area is already the territory of the Zerg.

And it was at this time that Sass' research on the oceanization of the hatchery was finally completed after nearly a winter.

The swarm of insects in the ocean has once again developed by leaps and bounds. It is foreseeable that if there is no accident, they will be able to expand in a large amount in the ocean in a very short period of time. Take the entire ocean into the arms of the Zerg.

Soon, the ice and snow receded day by day, the temperature gradually warmed up, and a winter jasmine bloomed quietly on the cliff.

And this also means that war is coming.

(End of this chapter)