He was sent to Bleyotte by Majid III to help the Bleyotteans build a sturdy defensive line in the mountainous border region to defend against a possible attack from the Aueran overseas region.
His father was a royal noble of the Shiksan royal family. In terms of blood relations, he was indirectly related to the royal family.
The so-called royal nobles were nobles who served the royal family. They didn't have a fief and only held certain positions in the palace for a salary. They were the most trusted pawns of the royal family.
His father hoped that his son would grow up to become an outstanding prospecting expert. That way, he might be able to find a valuable mineral resource for the family and provide them with an endless source of wealth. That way, he would be able to get the family a hereditary fief.
So, when he came of age, he sent him to the royal mining engineering academy to study prospecting and mining.
What disappointed Baron Tompster's father was that his son was obsessed with architectural design and lost interest in his major during his studies in the college.
Three years later, when he graduated from the academy, he was already a rather famous architect. His knowledge in prospecting and mining could only be said to be average or barely passable.
What made Baron Tompster famous was a set of simple defense blueprints that he had designed for a mining base belonging to a classmate. A noble's gold mining base also bought the blueprints and built according to the blueprints.
Four months later, the mining base was attacked by bandits. The 17 miners hid in the warehouse of the base and repelled the attack of nearly a hundred bandits. They held their ground for half a month and only paid the price of one death and four injuries before reinforcements arrived.
That incident shook the entire kingdom and Tompster's plans for the defensive encampment also caught the attention of many.
Many mining owners suddenly realized that if they built a mining base according to the defense camp blueprint, the security would be improved several times.
If they were attacked by bandits, they wouldn't be able to take down the various fortifications without powerful cannons.
Hence, the defensive camp blueprint designed by Baron Tompster became the standard equipment in every mining base.
However, Baron Tumpster was a little angry because the Bleyot laborers who came to build the defense line were a little lazy.
Baron Tompster wanted to test the effect of his newly designed anti-artillery trenches, so he was very strict with the Bleyot laborers who worked on the construction.
However, the labourers didn't take a renowned Shiksan defence expert seriously at all. All they did was dig a trench and call it a day.
Even though Baron Tumpster tried his best to convince the laborers to follow his new drawings to reduce the casualties of the defenders after the war broke out, Baron Tumpster still tried his best to convince them.
However, even the Bleyot official who was in charge of these laborers did not care. He told Baron Tompster that a trench was enough. The brave Bleyot soldiers would not hide in the trench like cowards. They would rather fight the enemy hand-to-hand than hide in a thick bunker and shoot through a small opening. That was not the behavior of warriors.
Baron Tompster was annoyed, but he could not persuade the stubborn Bleyots.
He actually wanted to cover the trench with a thick layer of rock to prevent the enemy's explosive shells from harming the soldiers in the trench.
However, the Bleyots were unwilling to do so. They believed that a trench without a roof over their heads would be more convenient for them to charge and counterattack. Moreover, the air in the trench would be turbid and suffocating. At the same time, it would be very stifling …
Exasperated, Baron Tompster decided to complain to the Chief Inspector of Works of the Bleyot Kingdom, but he was stopped by his companion.
His companion was Captain Rishis, who had come to the frontline in Breyotte with him. Baron Tompster noticed that Captain Rishis was covered in mud. Even his face was covered in mud, but he looked excited.
Out of curiosity, Baron Tompster asked him what he had been up to. How did he end up in such a sorry state?
Risis said excitedly that he had gone to scout the border of Mambamark. He hid in a muddy puddle and stayed there for more than two hours, avoiding the Aueran patrols on the other side of the border. Finally, he found that the enemy camp at the border was empty. The only enemy troops there were the allied nobles and not Thundercrash.
He found that most of the camp was empty tents. There were no signs of anyone living there.
It was obvious that the enemy wouldn't attack Bleyot at all. It was just a diversion tactic.
The reason Thundercrash attacked Mambamark was probably to divert the Shiksan forces stationed along the coast to Bleyotte to lessen the pressure on them when they tried to land on land.
In fact, it would be much easier to attack a port than to open up the road between Bleyot and Shiks.
Baron Tompster was a little disappointed. If the results of Captain Rishis's reconnaissance were true, then no matter how he designed and built the defensive line, it would be useless.
Perhaps the Bleyots had found out the same thing as Risis and had slacked off recently. They weren't willing to put in the effort to build the defensive line anymore.
That was why they kept it a secret from them. It was easy to understand why they wanted to use the opportunity to get a large amount of free military aid from Shiks.
It was easy to understand why the ministry of the army paid close attention to the region. When they learned that Thundercrash had swept through Mambamark and joined forces with the allied nobles to wipe out the Nasri and Canas rebels, the royal court was on high alert. After all, they were still at war with Aueras. It wouldn't be surprising if they were attacked by Thundercrash at any time.
This was also the reason why Majid III generously provided military assistance after receiving a letter from Bleyot Kingdom's King Avitelli I.
Shiks had always been wary of the vassal kingdoms' unwillingness to submit, especially Bleyotte, which was the strongest of them all.
Not to mention, Shiks had never truly conquered the country. It had taken decades of military might to subdue the unruly little brother and make it obedient.
But compared to the Thundercrash Corps of the autonomous region, the Bleyot Kingdom wasn't as much of a threat.
Since Avitelli I had volunteered to defend against the invasion, Shiks naturally had to support and encourage him.
Majid III was actually more than happy to see both Bleyot and the region suffer heavy losses. That way, the two biggest problems for Shiks would be solved.
The high-ranking officers of the army weren't useless either. The second great eastern war had given them a good understanding of Thundercrash's combat power.
They believed that a folk of Thundercrash would be enough to defeat a standing corps in a field battle.
It would be best for Shiks to sign a peace treaty with Aueras to end the war.
Only then would they be able to concentrate their manpower and resources to develop the latest weapons and equipment so that they could take revenge on Aueras and the region in the future.
Unfortunately, that wise suggestion was rejected by the stubborn Majid III. He believed that Shiks and Aueras were separated by land and that they could only send one or two corps at a time by sea.
If the region dared to send Thundercrash ashore, he would gather all the military power in the kingdom to fight the enemies to the end.
Majid III didn't believe that the eight standing corps of the kingdom wouldn't be able to defeat Thundercrash and Monolith. They could easily overwhelm the two corps with numbers alone.
If the enemy dared to land, even if the eight standing corps of Shiks weren't enough to overwhelm the two corps, they could still recruit new soldiers to form ten or twenty reserve corps.
The high-ranking officers of the Shiksan navy were helpless as well. They could only blame their bad luck for running into such a king.
But since the king was so insistent, they couldn't go against Majid III's wishes. They had no choice but to fill in the gaps and start building defensive facilities at the five ports along the coast in an attempt to create an impregnable fortress against the sea.
When they heard that Thundercrash had swept through Mambach, the army of Shiks immediately had the high-ranking officers conduct a simulation to see if it was a sign that the region was about to launch a full-scale attack on Shiks or if Thundercrash was sent to wipe them out because the Freemasons had gone too far.
King Avitelli I's letter of request for help was the first time the Shiksan ministry of the army was in a state of discord.
Quite a number of high-ranking Shiksan officers believed that the region would attack Bleyotte first. They would only attack Shiks after occupying the neighboring country.
The evidence they had was that Thundercrash was a light-cavalry corps that excelled in mobility and ambushes. They could only bring out their full potential on land.
If they were to use sea transport, the region wouldn't be able to transport their warhorses along with their soldiers. They would only be able to transport a small number of warhorses at the same time.
That meant Thundercrash would be giving up on their forte to fight on the frontlines, which was the most unwise choice.
In addition, after the Thundercrash Corps swept through the Mambamark Kingdom, they set up a stronghold on the border with the Bleyot Kingdom that was large enough to hold four or five corps.
Link this to the intelligence he'd received from the spies hidden in the northern bay. Two or three legions had been transported by the Autonomous Region's ocean-going transport fleet under the escort of the ironclad fleet. This already indicated that their next target was the Bleyot Kingdom.
However, the high-ranking Shiksan officers who insisted that the region would launch a surprise attack from the sea and send their corps to a port city before launching the attack scoffed at the idea of attacking Shiks by land.
They believed that the land-based faction had neglected the most important point. The border between Bleyotte and Mambach was mountainous. Light cavalry wouldn't be of much use there.
As for the main road between the mountains, it would be easily blocked and destroyed. Coupled with the defensive positions at the top of the mountains, Thundercrash would have to dismount and attack the mountains one by one before they could repair the main road.
The Bleyotteans, on the other hand, were good at fighting in the mountains and wouldn't let the enemy pass through their territory easily.
They would attack Shiks.
If Thundercrash wanted to protect their supply lines, they had to first occupy Bleyotte and eliminate the threat of the Bleyotteans in the mountains.
Compared to fighting the Bleyotteans in the mountains, it would be much more convenient to take a port city along the coast. At the very least, they wouldn't have to make another enemy.
That was why the high-ranking Shiksan officers believed that the camp at the border of Bleyotte was likely a ploy by the enemy to mislead them.
Their goal was to cause Shiks to split their forces or cause internal chaos.
To the high-ranking officers of the army, the most painful thing was that the initiative in the war wasn't in their hands, but in the hands of the enemy.
Thundercrash had only occupied Mambach and set up a camp at the Bleyottean border, but that was already enough to cause chaos between Shiks and Bleyotte.
Bleyotte had already entered a state of war to prevent any sudden attacks from the enemy.
Shiks, on the other hand, was on high alert. Their troops were on high alert and the officers racked their brains to think of a way and place for the enemy to attack.
Majid III had wanted to recruit new soldiers to form a few reserve corps, but fortunately, the ministers of the royal court were still clear-headed enough to stop him from doing so.
It was simple. If Thundercrash didn't intend to attack, what was the point of Shiks recruiting new soldiers to form a few reserve corps? It would only be a waste of resources.
To put it bluntly, Shiks was like a rat stuck in a bellows with nowhere to go.
Without Seaking's fleet, they wouldn't be able to send their troops out. The sea routes would be sealed unless Shiks could build an armoured fleet that could rival the region's.
They were surrounded by vassal states and wouldn't be able to fight them even if they wanted to.
That was, unless Bleyotte agreed to let Shiks pass through to attack Mambach's Thundercrash.
However, Majid III didn't have the guts to do so, and his generals didn't approve of it either. In a situation where there was a difference in weapons and equipment, taking the initiative to attack the enemy wasn't called bravery. It was called suicide, and it was just giving the enemy more merits.
That was when the ministry of the army finally received a report from Captain Rishis at the frontlines in Bleyotte. It wasn't the result of a single person's investigation, but the joint report of more than ten Shiksan officers sent to Bleyotte.
Under Rishis's lead, the Shiksan officers repeatedly scouted the enemy camps set up at the border and captured a few lone enemy soldiers. From their confessions, they learned that Thundercrash had long since returned to Northbay.
The encampment at the border was indeed empty. Its purpose was to deter the Bleyot Kingdom from sending troops to interfere with the fact that the Mambamark Kingdom was occupied by the allied nobles …
It was a false alarm and the maritime faction won a complete victory.
Out of humiliation, the land faction suggested that the royal army should attack the Aueran nobles in Menbach through Bleyot and then attack the Nasrian region after winning, helping the exiled Nasrian court to restore their kingdom.
However, this suggestion was quickly vetoed by Mackid III. Just as the people from the Land Faction had said, the Thundercrash Legion was a light cavalry legion. Who knew if their return to the North Bay was true or false? The spies there had not sent any definite information.
If it was a trap to lure the snake out of its hole, the Shiksan army that took the initiative to attack might fall into the enemy's trap and be wiped out.
It was better to stay put than to take action. The officers and construction experts sent to Bleyotte could finally return.
When he thought about the large amounts of supplies and ammunition he sent to Bleyotte, Majid III felt his heart ache.
He still cared about his reputation and didn't ask for the supplies back, but that didn't stop him from using Bleyotte as cannon fodder.
So, Majid III wrote to Avitelli I to request Bleyotte to send reinforcements to defend the Shiksan coast against the enemy. To Majid III's satisfaction, Avitelli I readily agreed to his request and promised to send at least two corps to assist in the battle.
On the 23rd of the 7th month, the Shiksan agents hiding in Northbay reported that the autonomous region had gathered more than 300 sailing ships, close to a hundred sailing warships and a fleet of 28 ironclads in Northbay.
The banners of Thundercrash, the newly formed Stormwind, Monolith and a reserve corps appeared in the main camp in Northbay. The total force was estimated to be more than four hundred thousand men.
Due to the tight security of the camp, the spies weren't able to get close enough to see what was going on.
On the other hand, he would always run into a few drunken low-ranking military officers in the taverns of Canpaster. From the gossip they leaked, he could tell that the region had decided to land on Shiks. However, he couldn't find out which port city they were heading for.
On the 11th of the 8th month, the region's armoured fleet appeared in Shiksan waters. They sank all Shiksan fishing boats and seized merchant and cargo ships. They shelled Minsk and Chenbak Islands for three days before leaving.
On the 23rd of the 8th month, the region's armoured fleet appeared in Shiksan waters again. This time, they sent their marines and occupied Minsk and Chenbak Islands.