The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

At the Pétain Line, a young knight was leading veterans and his own troops on a patrol around the perimeter.

"Sir, footprints!"

A soldier pointed frantically to the footprints at the outpost not far away.

The knight, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, pointed his musket in the direction the soldier was pointing.

The group slowly approached and discovered that the footprints on the snow were indeed footprints, and they were clearly not made by their own soldiers. The uniform footprints were an effect that could only be achieved by the traitors' military boots.

The footprints were heading towards the fortress complex of the Pétain Line.

The knight instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

"It feels just like my neighbor's house has been broken into."

How did you know that a thief had broken into the neighbor's house?

"I advise you not to ask."

Because the rebels' leader and his wife were assassinated by Governor Doug, the rebels declared war on Governor Doug.

No one thought anything was wrong, after all, Governor Doug had always been like this. Although he tried his best to clear his name of killing his father and then attempting to kill his nephew, Doug had already established his persona of liking to kill his own family through his actions.

When the gray-collar workers announced that Doug was the mastermind behind the assassination and declared war, Doug's side, from noble allies to soldiers and civilians, all believed that Doug was indeed behind it. Doug had previously wanted to kill his two nephews, so assassinating his niece and nephew-in-law was perfectly normal.

Even though Doug kept vehemently arguing, "I didn't, I didn't," everyone just thought that the governor was trying to clear himself of suspicion after assassinating his niece.

The knight thought so too, so he could fully understand the other side's reasons for declaring war.

But what happened to the declaration of war? Why did they only fire a few shots on the first day and then go silent?

The primary purpose of the Pétain Line design was to completely lock up the western part of the North under the Colossus Mountains, physically separating the western part of the North.

Therefore, the Pétain Line's defensive capabilities can be said to have reached the pinnacle of that era, but it also sacrificed some offensive capabilities.

Regarding the offensive capabilities of the Bédan defense, the Cavaliers can only say that they have some ability, like the neighbor's husband – they certainly do, but the Cavaliers themselves have never witnessed it.

So after the rebels made a tentative bombardment on the first day, they suddenly fell silent and switched to small groups of troops conducting reconnaissance and harassment of the Pétain Line at night.

The soldiers in the fortress were driven to the brink of nervous breakdown.

Everyone hoped that those rebels would act like men and attack directly, since the defensive line was designed with the intention of the enemy breaking through.

But after the shelling, the enemy probably realized the hardness of this tortoise shell. As long as those inside the Pétain line didn't come out, the rebels didn't attack. They would just leave some footprints or something else every day to prove they had been there.

The person in charge of the Pétain Line actually discovered from the very beginning that the Gray Collars had bypassed the line and walked out through the Colossus Mountains.

We did indeed send troops to stop the other side, at which time the other side hadn't even set up their artillery yet.

However, the two sides' field combat capabilities were vastly different. The rebels appeared to be wearing cloth armor, but in reality, their enchantments were thicker than plate armor.

Moreover, it wasn't until the battle that Doug's army discovered that the rebels weren't using muskets at all, but rather ray guns that could fire magic and muskets that could be fired in rapid succession by holding down the button.

The weapons of the two sides were not even from the same era. Doug's army only had muskets for officers and some soldiers, while the enemy had equipped all of them with ray guns and repeating muskets. The firepower of a few hundred men was enough to completely suppress the defenders coming from the Pétain Line.

The Doug Army discovered that one of the enemy's units had weak firepower, and judging from the flag, it seemed to be an accompanying medic. So they had the professionals and shield bearers hold up their shields and launch an attack from this relatively weak point.

Then Doug's army saw the terrifying nuns wearing masks.

These nuns would use chainsaw swords to suppress the shield bearers in front, and then insert a special musket, I think it was called a shotgun, through the sawed-out slit.

At close range, no matter how thick the armor, it cannot withstand a single shot.

This immediately instilled a psychological trauma in the defenders of Pétain's defensive line.

Is this a military medic? Or is this a war-mongering unit?

In short, after the first day, Pétain's defenses had already lost the courage to go out and fight.

The defensive line is dotted with hills, and the number of soldiers means the power of speech; no one wants to give up their voice to die.

Actually, if it were just strange footprints and a few things left every day, it wouldn't have been enough to cause the defenders of the Pétain Line to lose their morale. The real culprit was some leaflets left behind by the enemy's night raiding force.

The leaflet said that Black Iron City, which was responsible for supplying the Pétain Line, had fallen, and advised the Pétain Line to give up resistance. It said that the Northerners don't fight each other, and as long as they surrender, they can still be good brothers and play football together.

At first, there weren't many of these leaflets. The knights and veterans would go out every day to find these leaflets and then burn them.

However, when the day came to receive the supplies, the supplies for Black Iron City were indeed not delivered.

Then the rumors got out of control, spreading wider and wider, becoming more and more outrageous, with some even claiming that Governor Doug had surrendered and that the Pétain Line was the last remaining force.

However, the Pétain Line stretches across the entire western part of the North and cannot be completely blocked; the entire line can still receive information from the outside.

The good news is that the enemy hasn't even launched an attack yet, and hasn't even made contact with Doug's main force. This war has only just begun.

The bad news is that Black Iron City is indeed gone. The enemy has not only occupied Black Iron City, but is also attacking other towns that could provide support to the Pétain Line. The rebels are practically ignoring the Pétain Line and are preparing to expand their control outwards.

Pétain's defenses failed to protect anything.

Once rumors start, they can't be stopped, especially when they're actually true.

But something even more terrifying happened.

"Sir, what is that over there?"

The soldier beside the knight pointed to a box left in a corner. After taking precautions, the knight and the veteran opened the box and found food, some supplies, and a note inside. The note said that these were supplies left for the mole inside the Pétain Line.

Even a fool knows this couldn't possibly be left for an inside agent. Who would leave a note with supplies for an inside agent?

The knights and veterans laughed loudly at the rebellion's foolishness.

Who would fall for such an obvious counter-espionage plot? Not even the lowest-ranking soldiers, right?

But when the knight returned home that night, he opened the door to find the veteran eating the pancakes that the traitor had left for the mole.

It feels like a knight pushing open the door and seeing another man in an old lady's house.

Yes, everyone knows this is a counter-espionage plot, but what if? What if the enemy is on the fifth floor? What if they think you're using a counter-espionage plot and are openly sending supplies to their inside agent?

Upon seeing the knight, the veteran immediately explained, "Why not take it? They're sending supplies over; why wouldn't we eat it?"

What if what the veteran said was also a script that the other side taught to their inside agent?

A chain of suspicion has begun.

Supplies supposedly intended for inside agents began to appear in the corners of the defensive line. Although the quantity was not large, the locations were just right for the patrolling soldiers to spot.

The shadowy figures that appear and disappear at night, the strange footprints that appear during the day, the teammates who start to act strangely, the ever-growing chain of suspicion, and the gradually cut-off supply lines.

"Ignore any figures that appear at night; they are not friendly forces."

"Do not use any unidentified supplies that suddenly appear."

"If you see any unidentified leaflets or supplies, please hand them over to your superior as soon as possible."

"Ignore any strange footprints you see in the snow."

"If your teammates suddenly start acting strangely, like going out at night, please report to your superior immediately."

"Don't believe the rumors. We haven't failed yet. Please maintain a positive and optimistic attitude."

The entire Pétain defense line seemed to be trapped in a bizarre tale of rules.