The Witcher World: The Path to Domination Begins in Velen

Chapter 98 Preparatory Plans Before the Operation

Roche leaned back in his chair, paused for a moment, and then spoke. "So, what kind of help are you talking about?"

What does this have to do with Dijkstra? I admit your strength has indeed exceeded my expectations, but isn't it enough to defeat Nilfgaard?

"No need to defeat it," Ron said, tracing the Pontal River basin across the map.

"As long as the current situation is maintained, Nilfgaard will collapse without a fight. Their heavy supply lines and the opinions of the domestic opposition are about to be overwhelmed. They are now only being held up by Emhyr's personal prestige."

This won't take too long. Of course, Nilfgaard won't be willing to withdraw just like that, so there are still many tough battles to fight before then. But as long as the defense line at the Pontal River doesn't collapse, they won't have a chance.

"That brings us back to the earlier question," Roche pressed, "With Radovide dead, Redania is bound to descend into chaos. What will happen to the Pontal River defenses?"

Ron tilted his head at Dikoscher. "Then it depends on our former Redanian intelligence chief and regent, Mr. Dikoscher. Our cooperation is simple: get rid of Radovide and put him in power."

Given Dixter's past court connections and prestige, seizing control of the narrative shouldn't be difficult. The real challenge lies with the army. Will Radovid's death leave them without command, making them vulnerable to Nilfgaard's attack? Therefore, my army will assist in defending the Pontal Line during this chaotic period, stationed at Novigrad and Cowburg, to help Dixter quickly gain control of the situation in Redania.

Dikoscher continued, "At that time, the armies of Redania and Ron will face the Nilfgaardian counterattack together, but I am not sure how fast the Nilfgaardian counterattack will be. If I have not completed the consolidation of power before the enemy attacks, I will have to rely on Ron's army to hold off the Nilfgaardian attack. Redania is a major agricultural country, and I can mobilize enough food supplies to support us... Your Excellency Ron Arenicos."

"Grand Duke?!" Roche nearly jumped up. "Where? Redania? Unless all the nobles have collectively gone mad, how could they possibly agree to this?"

“That’s impossible,” Dikoscher said with a smile. “But what if I could persuade Princess Ada to appoint the Grand Duke of Temuria as the heir to the title of Grand Duke of Temuria?”

After all, it's just a title; you can gain the help of a powerful army without paying anything in return. No fool would object.

Ron nodded. "Don't forget, there's also control of Cowburg. My investiture signifies that Temeria has become a vassal state of Redania in name only. That should be enough to convince the opposition. Anyway, as long as someone can hold off Nilfgaard, those nobles won't care about such things."

Ron paused for a moment before slowly continuing, "And I, too, need a safe rear territory so that the army can rest and replenish. Velen will become a battlefield, and my people cannot stay on the front lines; otherwise, they will only become targets of Nilfgaard's attacks. Anyway, it's already a wasteland; if it's destroyed, I can simply rebuild it. There's an old saying in my homeland: 'If you save your people but lose your land, you can save both; if you save your land but lose your people, you can lose both.' This means that if you fight to the death to protect your territory, you will lose both your people and your territory in the end. If you save your people first and temporarily give up your territory, you can take both back in the future."

Dixter stared at Ron for a long while, a deep light flashing in his eyes. "I'm starting to get curious, Ron. Anyone who can say something like that is definitely not an ordinary person."

"Far more than that." A subtle, enigmatic smile appeared on Ron's lips. "That person is far greater than all the people you can think of combined, but I doubt I could explain it to you."

Ron put his hand down from the table. "Let's continue with our schemes. Tell me about Radovid's situation."

"Of course, of course, but before that..." Dixter turned to Roche. "Roche, you already know our plan, now tell me your thoughts."

Ron stood up and held out his hand to Roche, the light dancing on his palm.

"Roche, if Temuria is destined to pay the price of becoming a vassal state in order to restore its kingdom, then why not choose us?"

"You've allied yourself with Nilfgaard, who have invaded, burned, killed, and looted the north. Can you really swallow this insult? Why don't you come with me and let Nilfgaard taste the bitterness of pain and death?"

Roche looked at the hand reaching out to him, his gaze shifting between Ron, Dixter, and Geralt. He took a deep breath and suddenly reached out to grasp Ron's hand.

"If this is a gamble, then the scales have already begun to tip. Although our stakes aren't as heavy as Nilfgaard's, I'm willing to take the gamble!!"

Ron chuckled and patted Geralt on the shoulder. Geralt let out a long sigh, walked to the long table, sat down, picked up his glass, and took a big gulp. "I was almost falling asleep listening to this, but anyway, you guys aren't going to fight, right?"

"This topic is indeed a bit complicated for Geralt," Ron chuckled.

"Now let's talk about something simpler: how to take down Radovide, or more precisely, when to take him down."

Geralt nearly choked on his drink. "How come you can take down a king as easily as killing a water ghost?"

"Geralt, if it were just you, Roche, and Dixter here today, it would be really difficult." Ron tapped Novigrad's location on the map.

"With just guerrillas and gangs, even with a top-notch witcher like you, it would be almost impossible to break through the Redanian army's heavy defenses and kill Radovid. But that's a different matter from the resources I can utilize."

"But even so, it must be difficult, right?" Dikoscher frowned.

"That brat is very concerned about his safety. He almost always lives on the warship near the military camp, surrounded by heavy witch hunters and soldiers. If anything goes wrong, the soldiers will ring the alarm, and the city guards of Novigrad will immediately gather. Unless... you mobilize enough manpower to launch a strong attack on Novigrad."

“No, we don’t need that much,” Ron said, his gaze sweeping over the three of them. “Dikoscher, don’t forget, what is Radovide’s purpose in staying in Novigrad? What does he value most?”

Geralt hesitated before speaking, "Um... Philippa Ehrhardt?"

“That’s not valuing, Geralt,” Dixter shook his head. “That’s hatred. Besides, she’s long gone. Where are we supposed to find her?”

"Of course not Philippa," Ron said, tapping his finger heavily on the Temple Island region on the map.

"It is the treasury of the Temple of Eternal Fire. He used the Eternal Fire and witch hunters to wipe out the sorcerer groups in the city and confiscated the property of sorcerers and wealthy merchants to maintain the huge war expenses."

Roche's eyes suddenly lit up. "So, our plan is to send men to attack Temple Island and draw the attention of all the city guards there."

Radovid certainly wouldn't allow his military budget to run into trouble, and he'll definitely order his troops to reinforce Temple Island. Should we take this opportunity to directly attack his warship palace?

Ron nodded. "That's roughly the plan. We can also keep an eye on Philippa's whereabouts as a backup plan. Of course, the most important thing is..."

Ron turned to Dixter, "Dixter, you need to contact those you've severed ties with as soon as possible and win over the opposition who are dissatisfied with Radovide. This is the foundation that will allow you to quickly take control of Redania once the plan succeeds. I don't want to kill Radovide and then watch Nilfgaard invade Novigrad. If that happens, I'm afraid I'll have to go talk to Emhyr about surrendering."

Dixter tapped his finger on the table. "I will do it as soon as possible, but it will take some time. Before that, Ron, you need to speed up the expansion of the army to deal with any unforeseen circumstances after the plan. It's not enough now, far from enough."

The room was quiet for a moment. Roche picked up his wine glass, tilted his head back and drank it down, then slammed the glass down on the table.