That's not how you use a witch!

Chapter 30 Preparations and Deployment

"She was a witch who could command the dead to fight. Unless we burned those rebels to ashes, they would keep rising. I was careless and didn't dodge, and I was ambushed by her minions."

Scarlett said in a self-deprecating tone.

Ronan frowned: According to Scarlett's description, the Witch's Eye's actions were always cautious and secretive. It was clearly not a coincidence that they could run into the rebels while taking a back road.

According to her, the rebels seemed to be searching for something on a carpet before they ran into them.

"Bart, what do you think?"

"Me?"

After clarifying the relationship between the strange witch and the lord, and processing this huge amount of information, Bart pondered, "Regardless of whether this encounter was caused by an internal traitor, it shows that the rebels' control over the North is very firm. Even remote mountainous areas like Falling Star Forest cannot escape their surveillance. Of course, this also reflects that the rebels do not yet intend to launch a large-scale invasion of the West. We can extend our window of opportunity for preparation a little longer."

Scarlett retorted, "There couldn't be a traitor! All the sisters of the Witch's Eye are bound by a bond of life and death, and the specifics of this operation are known only to the three of us and the leader. I swear on my life, the other sisters know nothing about our alliance!"

Bart insisted, "Your sisters may be trustworthy, but who can guarantee that everyone connected to them is trustworthy? Besides, given the rebels' control over the North, they don't need to know about our alliance to ambush you; knowing your general direction of movement is enough."

Meidel nodded silently, indicating that both of them made sense.

"It cannot be ruled out that some witches' magical abilities are related to prediction or surveillance."

She added.

Ronan agreed with Bart's assessment, but disagreed with his optimistic assessment of the situation.

For the West, the current inactivity of the rebels may not be good news, but rather the calm before the storm.

According to the original speculation, their tactic was to drive the defeated troops from the north to disrupt the west, and then quickly disrupt them to complete the harvest of the west at the lowest cost. However, the fact that the rebels are not moving now is likely because their command realized at the first moment that the plan of driving one enemy into another had failed, which is why they are not in a hurry to advance westward.

This precisely demonstrates that the rebels have informants in the western border, and even if these informants are not within Thornlands, it is still a very dangerous signal.

The next time they come, it will likely not be a probe, but a well-prepared and fierce attack!

Fortunately, both witches were unharmed, though their arrival would be slightly delayed. Scarlett returned first to reassure Ronan.

"It's good that you're alright. Thank you for your hard work. Focus on recovering first!"

Ronan nodded—actually, it was better to come later, since the Duke of the West's banquet was tomorrow. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about public opinion being stirred up by the witch's visit.

After treating Scarlett's injuries with Maddale, Ronan immediately summoned the management of various sectors of Thorn Territory and made arrangements based on the latest intelligence.

First, the literacy campaign was launched: Ronan announced Grant and Howard's teaching plan and decided to implement it tonight.

Thanks to the incentive effect of the work-point system, the school was successfully completed last night, a week ahead of schedule. In this critical period where time is of the essence, this is undoubtedly of great significance.

Compared to modern schools, the school in Thornridge was incredibly rudimentary. Essentially, it was just a large building with some desks, chairs, and benches that provided shelter from the wind and rain. But something was better than nothing, and the significance of going from zero to one was paramount.

Ronan isn't planning on having any opening ceremony; the teachers will just start classes tonight!

The evening school was scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., which was the free time for most residents. Classes were free, and each student received a free bowl of egg drop soup after class. In addition, they received one work point for every seven days of classes.

The school is open during the day to women and children who do not participate in labor, teaching the same curriculum and providing lunch. In Ronan's view, these seemingly marginalized people are key to the long-term development of the Thorn Territory.

Correspondingly, teachers should also arrange their teaching according to the time slots they are responsible for, so as not to conflict with their other work.

Besides Grant and Hodway, Ronan's teaching staff mainly came from the defeated soldiers he had taken over: in addition to more than a thousand able-bodied men, there were also some who were military clerks, former lords' secretaries, and manor accountants and tax collectors.

They were all specially selected during Ronan's initial registration process; there were a total of twenty or thirty people.

Although their literary skills cannot compare to those of the knights who have been raised in aristocracy, they deal with registration and calculation almost all day long, making them highly qualified in their field. Moreover, they do not have the subconscious arrogance of some knights, making them a more suitable candidate.

On the other hand, Ronan also wanted to use these knights for a more urgent purpose—namely, preparing for war.

Based on the principle of anticipating the enemy's moves, Thorn Territory's current military reserves are severely insufficient. Ronan can subdue the fleeing troops with bluff, but he doesn't believe the rebels are so easily intimidated.

Based on the intelligence provided by Howard, Grant, and others, the core strength of the rebels is around 12,000 men, most of whom are elite border troops, and they have no fewer than 5 elite witch warriors under their command.

If the enemy is underestimated, the rebels may send a maximum of four thousand cavalry to launch a surprise attack—any more than that would make the bloated force difficult to manage and reduce the effectiveness of the surprise attack.

After discussion, Ronan and the knights unanimously agreed that 1000 well-equipped militiamen were a suitable estimate to withstand the impact by using the natural defenses of the Fulong Valley. This would consist of the original 200 veterans plus 800 new recruits specially conscripted from the labor camps.

Of course, this is just an equivalent calculation—the rebels won't be foolish enough to be ambushed, and Ronan won't naively wait for them to come to them; various contingencies will be inevitable.

Ronan was confident in this regard, because Scarlett's ability to transform into a bird was essentially like giving him a cheat code. According to Scarlett's description, the rebels were unaware of his alliance with the Witch's Eye, nor did they know that the three witches would appear on the battlefield—a huge information advantage.

Therefore, the main issues are manpower and training:

Thanks to the efficiency of the Thorn Territory, the special recruitment was completed this morning, and all 800 new recruits have begun formal training.

They were all strong and healthy young adults, most of whom were selected because of their positive performance during the labor reform process, while a few were selected exceptionally because of their rich combat experience.

The militia's ample nutrition and equipment would bring about a transformative change in them, but due to a relative lack of training, their combat skills would inevitably lag behind those of the existing veterans. Therefore, Ronan decided to reorganize the 200 veterans, with an average of one veteran as a squad leader for every four new recruits, forming groups of five.

They train and eat in groups during peacetime, and are also mobilized in groups during wartime. This is beneficial for eliminating barriers in daily management and for maintaining discipline and formation during wartime.

Those knights from respectable families who passed the vetting process were appointed as higher-ranking battalion commanders, reporting directly to Ronan. Depending on their abilities, each battalion commander commanded 10-20 groups.

Starting today, the entire militia will conduct drills for various combat scenarios with a focus on defending against rebels, so that this system can operate efficiently in actual combat.

Of course, Ronan's purpose in holding the meeting was not simply to inform and make arrangements.

As he expected, not everyone was without objections to these arrangements…

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