The map of the region was incredibly detailed, including most of the mountains, and it had even been upgraded from the crude sketches that they usually used to a proper topographical map, obtained from the Grand Dutchies aircraft that they had confiscated at the airbase.
"There are three codes for monsters, two for enemy troops, and one for friendlies. Pink are humans from this continent, black are United World Army units, blue are Rank One monsters, while orange markers are rank two and three. Red has been reassigned to Rank Four monster attacks, but thankfully there haven't been many of them so far."
That meant that the green tokens were friendly villages, and the green pins were the locations of friendly troops.
On the wall next to the map was a flight schedule for the relief flights that kept everyone supplied with ammunition, and a drawer full of papers that were most likely the supply requests for each location.
It was all very well organized, and it didn't look like they were missing anything, but the lack of pins in the mountains, where most of the beasts would be hiding during the summer, was disturbing.
They didn't have the manpower to scout the rugged terrain, much less find the hiding spots of all the ice element beasts that were waiting for the weather to change.
"So, it seems that almost all the Rank Four attacks have been coming out of the mountain regions, where we failed to find the Cursed Talismans for the longest. That makes a lot of sense, both in the aggression and the strength. The increased number of patrols looks good, but we could use some further out along the border if we have the people to do it. Even a regular flight to scout for monster movements would be a good start.
It was mentioned to me earlier that we needed more planes for the freight that was going to the human nations, so I will head up to the airstrip soon to see what I can do for them. Is there anything else that I should be aware of before I go running off again?" He asked.
"Yes, the situation among the nations of the north is a bit complicated. More than they would like to make it seem. A lot of their people initially fell in line with the United World Army, and were willing to be under that authority before it began to collapse and crumble.
That means that there are still quite a few invading troops in the region. We are technically in a cease fire with them, by common understanding and not an official document, since they can't get anything done without the Saints. But until they have fully recognized the authority of their new overseers, or they retreat to their home nations, there is still a chance that our supply runs will be attacked or intercepted." Mio explained.
"Are the Generals or more powerful Witches of the army claiming any of the territory on this continent?" Wolfe asked.
"Yes and no. We have reports from every nation now, thanks to Fae Communication magic, and there are plenty of army units claiming small chunks of territory, but none that have gone as far as to claim a whole nation.
Their Generals all retreated after the Saints went missing. According to official communications, they were attending a council meeting, but none of them are known to have returned to the units.
There are only seventy-three of them left now, after the battles with us and the Grand Dutchies, by the way. If they weren't so stuck in their ways and waiting for the Saints to make a ruling on the new policies, they would be able to keep things running, but their system is a mess." Mio explained.
"Well, that's a 'them' problem for now. We will take care of the wastes and get them all united into one proper nation, and then we can start worrying about everyone else. Is there anywhere that needs a particular intervention, or would it be best to just stock up stronger ammunition for the patrols and villagers?
Now that I've broken through, it shouldn't be a problem for me to make them in massive quantities, and to upgrade what we have in storage. That's a neat trick that I learned from the Demon Royals when they inserted their own magic to improve the defensive magic that I was casting for them."
"Better ammunition should bring down the requirements to just rifles, but I think the groups will still carry at least one heavy machine gun with them, just in case of a larger attack by one of the military groups, or a herd of monsters.
You can never tell when a herd species will have come across a missed amulet, and even if they only broke through to Rank Two, a hundred rampaging monsters is bad news. If they're rank three, then the heavy weapons will save lives." Mio suggested.
The rifles were automatic as well, but with a limited magazine and lower power enchantments.
The real issue wasn't so much that the rifles couldn't do the job, as they were perfectly suited for 90 percent of the work. It was that they lacked the punch for the last ten percent of targets.
If that was the case, then the logical answer would be to start with the heavy weapons and then upgrade the spells on the rifles in the armoury so that they could fire single rounds with much more powerful enchantments when needed, but not be overkill that would destroy the bodies of weaker species that were normally used for food.
The monsters were both the greatest nuisance and the most important natural resource in the frozen wastes right now. Everyone had rifles, so they could all hunt for food, but the numbers had yet to be controlled to a reasonable level.
Nobody actually wanted all the monsters gone, just the powerful and extremely aggressive ones. Once those were settled, they would be happy to manage the weaker species with hunting and herding in order to keep the food supply stable. Some of the braver groups might even try to farm them.
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