I Became a Witch and Started an Industrial Revolution Chapter 90

And what Tina was currently resolving—was precisely this issue.

The common people did not care about those lofty slogans like “Equality for all!” or “Fairness and justice!”

All they cared about was how much they harvested this year, whether it was enough to survive the winter, whether they had money, and whether they could afford the essential goods like salt and oil.

They cared about whether, when they or their family fell ill, they had enough money to donate to the Church to receive treatment; whether they could eat a little meat or something good once in a while to slightly improve their lives.

Solve these basic livelihood problems first, then improve agricultural productivity, and afterward educate them—so that they could begin to understand Mitia’s ideals.

Once they became wealthier, they would willingly pay taxes to Tina, offer manpower and support, allowing Tina and the insurgent army to gain the strength to secure victory.

Both sides would thus benefit and prosper together.

Crack open the skulls of the great nobles, confiscate their property, and use the resources of their grand estates as the initial capital for the government’s welfare policies.

Workers would manufacture equipment, farmers would provide manpower and food, and spontaneously formed civilian Red Guards would act as Tina’s eyes and ears. Then, through the armed workers and peasants, they would strike at another great noble—forming a positive, self-sustaining cycle.

This was precisely the reason why uprisings had erupted across the entire Kingdom of Ovinia in recent times—the civilians and the insurgents cooperated and supplied one another. If either side suffered great losses, the cycle would collapse, dragging both into endless ruin.

At the same time, Tina discovered another use for those petty nobles.

Since they had managed to rise from among the commoners, each of them possessed at least one unique skill or ability.

Thus, numerous small and simple schools were gradually built within the manor estates.

Children from peasant and worker families who possessed magical talent were selected to receive instruction, while ordinary people were taught to read and write.

The Lalor defensive line and the Royal Capital both dispatched one hundred thousand troops to return and suppress the uprisings.

The capital’s army of a hundred thousand marched straight along Niparmo toward Tina’s headquarters in Stark, while the Lalor army focused on sweeping smaller rebellions in other regions.

In response, Tina’s policy was to withdraw the defensive line, retreat into the mountains with supplies, and launch nocturnal bombing raids with Thunder Mortars, coordinated by local villagers for precise targeting.

After merging with the forces from Niparmo’s territory, the Royal Capital’s army swelled from one hundred thousand to one hundred fifty thousand troops, advancing toward Stark with an overwhelming momentum to annihilate everything in their path.

However, the moment they crossed into Stark’s territory, they were blasted head-on by Tina’s ambush forces hidden in the dense forests.

Stark’s iron production was ordinary, but the raw materials for black powder were literally everywhere—so there was no hesitation or shortage in using them.

Tina, who had rushed back from Patras in haste, commanded her troops to bomb and immediately retreat, refusing to engage the Royal Army in any positional battles.

Carrying iron canisters on their backs, they rested by day and struck by night—whenever the Royal Army made camp, Tina’s forces would fire a dozen explosive charges to “entertain” them, leaving the enemy sleepless and uneasy.

As the army advanced deeper into the territory, their extended supply lines were repeatedly ambushed by the resistance. Large quantities of grain and logistics supplies were burned.

This forced the prince who commanded the Royal Army to disperse his troops to scout the surrounding areas, hoping to put an end to the harassment of his rear lines.

But how could soldiers from the Royal Capital’s open plains possibly match Tina’s local mountain recruits, who knew the terrain like the back of their hand?

They were frequently caught in traps and ambushes, sometimes even surrounded and wiped out by attacks from three sides. The prince could not stop cursing day and night.

After several incidents in which the Royal Army succeeded in raiding villages—burning and massacring the local people—Tina, heartbroken and furious, resolved to change her tactics.

From then on, she would no longer block the enemy outside the borders but instead lure them deep inside occupied zones before striking.

This time, she carried out the experiment on this very army—almost every desolate pass became a deadly checkpoint for the Royal forces.

Within the controlled zones, because of the rural Red Guards and villagers, Tina’s forces had abundant informants and intelligence sources.

Every movement of the enemy entering the controlled area was known to Tina’s troops.

And because they could issue early warnings, villagers could evacuate into the mountain bases with their food and supplies before the enemy arrived, implementing a scorched-earth policy that left the invaders with nothing to forage.

It was as if Tina had gained a “map hack”—complete one-way transparency of information—while the Royal Army, once it stepped into the base area, was plunged into a vast ocean of the people.

Meanwhile, Mitia also began coordinating with Tina’s offensive—launching pre-war mobilization:

【Three days ago was our National Humiliation Day. The Seris Federation suffered a deliberate terrorist attack—the assailants were special units from the Goddess Church.】

Mitia’s voice echoed through loudspeakers on every street across the nation, spreading the news throughout the Federation.

【It is clear that the Goddess Church had long planned this ambush in detail. I regret to inform everyone that nearly three thousand innocent civilians and over a thousand soldiers lost their lives because of it.】

Members of the Holy Light Church wearing red-cross armbands collected the corpses of victims on the blood-stained streets—mangled remains so indistinguishable that no one could tell who was who.

Families of the victims were blocked outside the cordoned zones by guards. They screamed, wept, and tore at the guards’ uniforms, begging to enter, yet the guards silently stood their ground.

The carnage was far too horrific—this was the final shred of dignity left for the dead and their families.

Many of the citizens and nuns wearing red-cross armbands would often turn aside to retch.

When nothing was left in their stomachs, they still heaved dryly, acid and tears streaming down their faces.

If there truly existed a hell in this world, it could only be something like this.

【Blood must be repaid with blood! From this moment forth, I declare that the Seris Federation has fully entered a state of war!】

【All factories are to cancel all holidays. Each plant shall double its workforce. All strategic resources are strictly forbidden from being exported or traded. We shall mobilize the entire nation for war!】

【They wish to erase us from this world—but we shall survive! The people of Seris will achieve total victory!】

The colossal war machine of Seris roared back to life as vast numbers of active troops were redeployed to the kingdom’s border.

Mitia never expected the nations tied closely to the Church to accept such an unreasonable demand anyway—so before the envoys had even reached their destinations, the armed forces had already boarded trains to gather at the front.

The multi-line railway network, which had been under construction since before the founding of the Federation, now demonstrated its immense power.

Troops that had just recently completed equipment upgrades received another massive influx of vehicles and military supplies.

Train after train carried ammunition and fuel; factories rapidly expanded recruitment, switching to modular, assembly-line production.

Those previously manufacturing agricultural machinery were converted back into tracked chassis assembly plants—machines ran non-stop, day and night.

Each military unit reorganized, with one-third veterans and two-thirds new recruits, training anew.

The armed forces of the entire Seris Federation multiplied at a staggering speed.

And in one laboratory—the prototype of the very first piston-type aircraft engine had just been completed.