Yes, Madam Prime Minister

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What followed was a major international event.

Villa officially declared war on Weyland, using the Netherlands as a transit point, and dispatched hundreds of warships and tens of thousands of soldiers, including thousands of mage musketeers and nearly a hundred orthodox mages, to invade the island nation of Weyland. Their slogan was to take Weyland in one fell swoop, expel the heretical king of Weyland who had rebelled against the Father, and restore order.

Willand, on the other hand, gathered his own legitimate pirates and prepared for battle.

War is coming.

Chapter 413 The war begins, everyone's completely bewildered, let's give them a surprise.

As for the outcome of Villa's war against Weyland, as I said before, it all depends on the will of God.

Without a doubt, Villa's overall strength is superior, whether in terms of the combat power and quantity of its warships, the quality and number of its troops, or even the number of mages.

Regardless, Wieland is playing at home and will adopt a defensive posture.

However, in Ronan's view, although the outcome is hard to predict, Villa will ultimately be the loser.

Even if we win the naval battle, destroy those stinking pirate ships, and advance on Weyland's homeland, it would only mean successfully driving out the enemy king and signing some agreements on maritime trade.

For a pirate nation like Weyland, signing an agreement would be pointless.

Simply put, even if Villa wins this battle, he won't make any money. If His Holiness the Pope generously contributes, he might break even.

The only way to make money is to continue fighting after winning a naval battle, invading the enemy's homeland, and forcing them to cede territory and pay reparations.

However, fighting on enemy territory is far too risky, especially since Villa would be in for a severe beating if he were to actually land.

The other countries in the Western Continent would not agree to this.

Given the current tense situation between Protestant and Catholic forces, a "thirty-three-year war" is likely to break out. If such a thing were to happen, the entire Western Continent would be thrown into chaos.

Currently, Villa is still gathering in the Netherlands, and the battle with Weyland has not yet truly begun.

Two weeks later.

As planned, the army of the Kingdom of Phos suddenly advanced to the northern border, near the junction of the Kingdom of Phos, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Empire of Will.

Three more days passed.

"Lord Rhine, what's going on!"

The Foreign Minister rushed to the palace and, in front of Ambrina who was having breakfast, loudly questioned Ronan.

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Philippe certainly had the audacity to be so rude. After all, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was different from other departments; it was staffed entirely by nobles, and Philippe himself was also named Freigo, a count.

There was no way around it; in most countries of the Western Continent during this era, officials and nobles were indistinguishable. As a commoner, you were like mud under someone's boot in their eyes. It was embarrassing to even talk to you, let alone do diplomatic work.

At this moment, Philip was furious. There was no meeting today, and he was still sleeping early in the morning when suddenly someone knocked on the door, startling him. They said that the diplomat from Villa had arrived and was in the living room, demanding an explanation.

Only after asking did they learn that the kingdom's army had arrived at the gates of the Netherlands.

Damn it, the Netherlands is now a springboard for Villa. The Kingdom's army has actually marched to their border. The Villans are furious, but the Dutch are even more furious.

After all, the Netherlands in this world is very large. It is a combination of the Netherlands and Belgium in Ronan's original timeline, and it has its own king. It is not a vassal state of any country, so it still dares to show its teeth.

Although he still groveled before Bilia and was willing to be used as a stepping stone, that was because Bilia was far away. He was not so polite to the neighboring Kingdom of Fas.

Ronan calmly spread jam on a slice of bread and handed it to Ambrina, saying, "Minister, please don't get agitated. This is self-defense. We are simply afraid that Villa might suddenly turn its guns on us and march south into our territory, so we had no choice but to send troops there to be on guard."

"Do you think I'm a fool?"

Foreign Minister Philippe countered with a question.

“How could you be a fool? You’re just a little irrational and impolite,” Ronan said.

Old man, didn't you see that he, the vice-king, was having breakfast with the real king afterwards? Why are you shouting so loudly?

Philip gritted his teeth. "What's going on with the military?"

Ronan forked a small piece of fried sausage with his fork. "If you insist on asking, I can only say it's a military secret. If you really want to know, then I have no comment."

“You wait here, I’m going to find Legris.”

Philip said a few words and left.

Legris refers to Alexander Legris, who is the Prime Minister.

“Go ahead,” Ronan said.

After Foreign Minister Philip left, Ambrina finally laughed. Although they shared the same surname, this minister was one of those who had a problem with her. He was always pretentious and would criticize her lifestyle, saying that she didn't have the demeanor of a king.

Ambrina was naturally happy to see Philip suffer a setback.

Philip not only failed with Ronan, but also with the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister's reply was also that it was a military secret and he could not comment. He only told him to emphasize to Villa again that the Kingdom would absolutely keep its promise and would never interfere with Villa's military operations.

Philip had no choice but to bite the bullet and try to reason with people.

Two days later, the kingdom's army marched eastward and suddenly invaded the Rhine region of the Will Empire.

At the same time, the Kingdom declared war on the Empire of Will, citing the need to reclaim lost territory based on the Marquis of Rhine's claim to the southwestern part of the Rhine region.

The title of Marquis of the Rhine was originally held concurrently by the kings of the Kingdom of Fas, although the emperor of the empire did not acknowledge this.

But in any case, the previous king gave the title of Marquis of the Rhine to Ronan, and now Ronan is the Marquis of the Rhine, and Her Majesty the Queen wants to reclaim the territory for her husband.

The news stunned the officials in the central government.

The Belia diplomats who were staying at the palace were also shocked.

However, Villa was powerless to do anything, as they were now at war with Weyland and had no say in the matter of the suddenly rogue Kingdom of Fas.

As for the Netherlands, they can only watch helplessly.

However, both Villa and the Netherlands quickly calmed down, not believing that the Kingdom of Iphas's military strength was sufficient to defeat the combined forces of the Rhineland princes.

The Will Empire, which was suddenly hit by a special attack, is in a very delicate state at this moment.

The princes of Upper Rhine and Lower Rhine have already realized what's happening and are preparing to give those damned French women a good beating.

After all, the Kingdom of Fas only sent a total of 8,000 troops, of which only 2,000 were mages and musketeers.

More importantly, not many orthodox magicians were deployed.

Although those scoundrels like the upright mage are rich and powerful, they don't put in any real effort even when they join the battle.

However, their tactical significance was still very great. Their flexibility and mobility made them better at breaking through long spear and musket formations than artillery.

Aside from being expensive and having to retreat in case of danger, it has no other problems.

The lords of the Rhine region felt that although they couldn't muster enough men on short notice and their firepower was somewhat insufficient, with the addition of twenty or thirty high-ranking mages,

What's that saying again? The advantage is in my hands.

Meanwhile, the emperor had just received the news, but he couldn't concern himself with it. He was busy suppressing heretics, namely the Protestant rebels, and dealing with the pressure exerted by the Suleiman Empire in the peninsula region.

What he's thinking about now is how to get the Pope to generously donate a sum of money.

As for those old bastards in the Rhine region, they shouldn't lose, so we don't need to worry about them.

"I estimate that the entire Western Continent thinks we can't win with only this many people."

"Give them a surprise in three days."

Ronan said to Ambrina.

Ronan believed that the newly formed Black Dragon Cavalry would use their magic revolvers to teach those low-level mages what it meant to say, "My lord, times have changed."

Chapter 414 Dragon Riders, Kill Mages, Pay Off Loans!

William Walter Aquitaine, 27 years old. His surname is quite prestigious, and it sounds like it has some connection with the former Duchy of Aquitaine. Five hundred years ago, he might have been a member of the royal family. Three hundred years ago, he would have been a duke. Even a hundred years ago, he would have been an earl.

However, William himself is not even a baron now. He is just the second son of a baron, with no right of inheritance. He became a lieutenant two years ago and has only just paid off the money he borrowed from his father.

Of course, as a junior mage and a high-achieving military academy student, he was doing quite well at the age of twenty-seven.

The Black Dragon Cavalry captain has a hundred men under his command, but because his men are all mages and musketeers, he has a high rank; he is a captain.

The Black Dragon Cavalry are dragoons, which are musketeers on horseback. They are called that because their horses are black and called Black Dragon Horses.

This horse is quite peculiar, with entirely black fur and possessing both endurance and explosive power. It is said to be a new breed of horse bred by the Haidi people.

As a man with a high level of education, William found this quite strange. The Haidi people were originally fishermen, but in recent years they have been cultivating some high-yield wheat and bean varieties, and it seems they are quite good at farming, but this is still quite different from raising horses.

But it's said that these fishermen are also skilled at dealing with monsters, and William couldn't help but suspect that this horse was also a kind of monster.

"Captain, what are they thinking? They won't let us go out to conduct reconnaissance, and yet they're advancing at such a leisurely pace, even though it's supposed to be a surprise attack. Are they planning to engage in a head-on battle?"

A squad leader muttered something to William.

With such horses and equipped with magic-powered repeating revolvers, why not engage in small-scale flanking maneuvers and instead stick with the main force? What was their thinking?

William pulled out his magic revolver and asked, "How many rounds can this gun fire?"

"Two wheels," the squad leader replied.

A novice mage has very little magic power. Two rounds, twelve shots, will deplete most of their magic power. It's not impossible to fire a few more shots, but if their magic power drops further, it will affect their physical condition, mobility, and reaction speed.

It's important to understand that the reason why musketeers composed of novice mages are so strong is not only because their physical strength and speed surpass those of ordinary people, allowing them to march long distances quickly while wearing armor, but also because their close-combat ability is also superior to that of ordinary people. They can charge into a spear formation and, with a single strike of their two-handed sword, cleave a person in two.

Therefore, one cannot consume too much magic power, which causes a temporary decline in physical fitness.

"Is this pistol meant to shoot ordinary people?" William asked again.

"Of course not," the squad leader replied.

The Magic Revolver has similar physical destructive power to a regular firearm, or even slightly less, because while a firearm bullet might not kill a person immediately after entering the body, the subsequent infection can be extremely deadly.

The magic revolver is designed for low-level orthodox mages. Being hit by this thing will cause magic to become disordered, resulting in either being unable to cast spells or collapsing and losing combat ability.

"I understand now," the squad leader suddenly realized.

Upright mages typically follow the main force, their offensive task being to cast spells to disrupt the enemy's formation, and their defensive task being to block the enemy's mage musketeers from charging into the formation.

"Our goal is to rush in as quickly as possible when those mages launch their attack and take them out. There are five hundred-man squads equipped with magic revolvers, and their firepower is enough to cover the enemy. After we take out the attacking mages, we will coordinate a charge to eliminate the mages responsible for defense within the enemy's formation."

"The enemy's hastily assembled forces are not as strong as ours. In open battle, we are bound to win."

The squad leader said.

But the squad leader's smile didn't last long, and a worried look returned to his face. "But I'm afraid we'll have a hard time taking down their fortress."

We've entered the bastion era.

Even if they had brought many cannons, it would have been difficult to take down a bastion; it would have taken a lot of time to destroy one.

For the military, time is truly money.

"Yes, that's right."

This is also what William, as the team captain, is worried about.

What good is winning a battle in the field if you can't capture the enemy's bastion? It's impossible to force them to cede territory and pay reparations.

"I really don't know what's going on in their heads."

The squad leader started again.

While mage musketeers are powerful fighters, they have one major weakness: they are educated and like to think.

They were more disciplined than ordinary soldiers, less inclined to commit arson, murder, and looting, and more loyal to the emperor and patriotic. After all, most of them were the second sons or even adopted sons of minor military noble families, and owed "study loans."

Citizens who are burdened with "mortgage loans" or even "father's loans" are not very obedient; every few days, they think, "My superiors are giving me nonsense orders again."

"We're much more patriotic than those men."

Thoughts like, "Anyone who won't let me make a contribution to pay off the loan is a complete bastard."

William promptly interrupted his subordinate's complaints, "Alright, trust His Majesty. This battle is definitely not that simple. His Majesty must be playing a grand strategy. Even if His Majesty isn't, the King Consort certainly is."

"Oh, that makes sense."

The squad leader nodded.

To be honest, he, and many others, still harbored some resentment towards Ambrina, because although the Kingdom of Fas had abolished the inheritance law that excluded women from succession three hundred years ago, all the kings had always been men.

Moreover, although he had never met Queen Ambrina, rumors suggested she possessed the potential to be a tyrant.

But Ronan, as the king's husband, was different.

Just then, a messenger rode up on a fast horse.

"Captain William, prepare yourselves. We will be engaging the main enemy force this afternoon," the messenger said. "Your task is to await orders on the right flank."

“Understood,” William replied.

After saying this, the messenger rode away.