Road to the Crown

30th October 1574

"Who is retreating, where they are retreating, what the hell do you mean?"

Just a single look at how agitated the messenger was I could tell that something insanely big happened. But no matter how exciting the news was, it would be just quicker and easier if instead of announcing the big news and passing away right away, the man would just tell what actually happened!

"Sir, the Muscovites… Without any sign of it before, they all started to retreat back to their positions on the border!"

Only now did the man managed to crucify me right into my chair. The shock of the news was so great, it felt as if my hands and legs were nailed down to the wooden structure of my seat, making me unable to move even an inch.

"They… they did what?"

I couldn't stop myself from asking this question, as dumb as it was. I just couldn't believe that something as great as this would happen! Was it the effect of my talk with the unofficial envoy? Was it a strategical manoeuvre aimed at creating some tactical advantages? Or maybe was it something caused by the internal problems cutting short the supplies necessary to lead any form of war?

Even without the ability to answer those questions, I could tell that the thing I lacked the most, was now offered to me in plenty. The time.

All the way to this point, the only enemy that could seriously challenge anything that I was creating, was the time. Given the rate of development in my lands, whenever I got my hands on another resource, opportunity or invention, the process of enriching and growing my powerbase only continued to accelerate!

And now, right after I defeated the local threat to my power, the main enemy that was so huge that no matter the quality of the stuff that I could currently throw at him, it would simply overwhelm it with sheer numbers… An enemy like that was retreating?

Even in the worst-case scenario where it would be nothing more but a strategical move and attempt to regroup their forces, even if the entire war was aimed at nothing but burning the borderlands to prevent any attempts at quick contest… There was no way that the situation from yesterday could be restored at any time shorter than at least a month!

This month alone was all I really wanted from the lady fortune so that I could fully commit my energy and focus into developing my newly conquered lands!

"Go and call the senior officers. Put everyone at attention, and send the message to the cities and villages that we are going balls deep into this!"

Finally defeating the shock that overwhelmed me, I sprang up from the chair, instantly jumping towards the messenger, catching his arms and firing the series of orders and places that he had to go to. 

"Sir, what should I do first?"

Given how important the news that he brough were, the messenger was most likely as excited as I was, if not even more. For me, peace or even a short period of the armistice was a god-sent gift that would allow me to push all my advantages. But for the man in front of me, those two possible things meant that he wouldn't have to return to the front lines, where a bullet could end his life at any given time!

"Obviously, call the senior officers. Then, make sure to spread the tasks I gave you to more people so that the messages will be sent as quickly as possible. Right now, we can't waste even a single moment!"

At this point, I could rejoice at two things. One of them, the fact that the looming threat of the Muscovite's invasion was currently postponed, and the other one, something insanely small yet extremely personal for me, the reality fo just pushing the papers around was about to end!

Given the new rate at which the changes would be happening to all of my lands all at once, I wouldn't have the time to fine-tune the details as I did for the past few days. Rather than that, I would have to go from one place to another to make sure that the basics were covered, only to move elsewhere to deal with the problems that would arise there!

Right now, I was the only one who could picture how the modern conglomerate and metropolis should look like. Those images that I had of the future, made planning for the development incredibly easy.

For starters, there was no point in making a single, congested place where everyone would live and prosper. The way in which New Tarnow was set up made it nearly impossible for it to grow anymore, as it was slowly starting to reach the limit of how much of the raw resources it could produce. 

That's why I decided to go with the English route here. Instead of creating trams or long-distance trains, I could mix them together, creating a modern network of connections between all of the settled pieces of land that belonged to me or my allies, allowing for convenient logistic of both the materials and humans between any given points joined with said network!

As I continued to write down the details of what I wanted to create in this god-sent time, my room continued to fill with the officers that were brought here without paying any mind to interrupting their normal duties.

"Everyone, listen."

Once the doors of my room in the office were finally closed, and the shuts on the windows blocked anyone outside from hearing what I was about to say, I finally took the stance on the current events.

"Right now, we are entering the most frantic, desperate and tense moment in our lives."

Starting off with a big gun to make sure everyone was paying their entire attention to me, I smiled and pointed out in the general direction where the Muscovy would lie.

"As of today, we entered a period of an armistice with Muscovy, allowing us to stop worrying about the war and focus our manpower and materials on developing our new lands. If you thought that going to war was a tough nut to swallow, then you better be ready for what's about to hit us all!"