Lorraine sat in front of the fireplace and stretched her tired legs comfortably.
The fire in front of him was burning brightly, and the orange-red flames filled the entire furnace, making the living room very hot, creating two different worlds from the ice and snow weather howling with the cold wind outside.
Leo lay lazily on the sofa, kicked off his boots, and faced the fireplace with his smelly feet. There was a familiar smell of college boys' dormitory that Sir Luo missed very much.
But Xiaobai was lying in front of the fire, humming and chirping non-stop, not wanting to move a step.
Leo held an exquisite tea cup in both hands, blew on the hot air, and eagerly took a sip of hot tea.
As soon as the tea entered his mouth, his expression changed.
Immediately afterwards, Leo spit out the tea and complained: "What the hell is this tea? It's so bitter.
The chairman of Benda was running outside all day, and his butt was about to fall off from the cold, so they gave me this to drink.
Damn it, the quartermaster of the Northern Army seems to have received a lot of kickbacks. I need to tell my uncle later and let him investigate that bastard."
Lorraine couldn't help grinning, and she held a minute's silence in her heart for the poor quartermaster who was "lying and shot."
He turned to look at the snowflakes still flying outside the window, rubbed his stiff thighs, and couldn't help but sigh softly. As expected, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to luxury.
I am used to a comfortable life, either a war fortress or a luxurious official car.
After driving for a day in a carriage with no shock absorbers and a cold wind blowing everywhere, Lord Lorraine felt like he was about to fall apart.
He secretly murmured in his heart: If you don't come to the north, you will never understand what cold is.
Thinking of this, Lorraine suddenly burst out laughing and said, "If you were in Ruman, could you have imagined that it would be so cold here at the end of February?"
Leo thought about it seriously, then he scratched his head and said, "How is that possible? Every February, my sister starts buying spring clothes like crazy, but people who pee here freeze before they leave."
Xiaobai nodded wildly beside him.
Since coming here, Xiaobai has been careful every time he peeed. And he also prepared a small clock next to him according to Lei Erye's instructions. This way, if it freezes when peeing, he can still pee.
Just knock. It will save its little elephant from being frozen.
Lorraine sneered, and then said: "So, it is nonsense to have the headquarters formulate a combat plan and hand it over to the frontline troops for execution.
Those bureaucrats sitting in the office are scratching their heads, how can they keep up with the ever-changing weather on the front line? They don't even know how cold it is here."
Leo nodded and said, "That's the truth."
As he said that, he looked out the window and let out a breath of mist.
This is still the traditional territory of the Ruman Empire. However, it begins to freeze every October, and the snow only melts away in April.
In winter, the frozen soil is harder than rocks. But in April, the thawed road is as muddy as a tropical rainforest swamp, and the mud and water reach your knees when you step on it.
Let alone marching, walking is a problem.
Large-scale military operations can only be carried out after the road surface is dry.
No wonder the battle here has not been going smoothly.
People who sit in the office of Ruman City and make plans with their eyes closed will never understand the dilemma faced by the Northern Army. Their first enemy is the harsh weather and rugged terrain. Then there are the mysterious barbarians.
Therefore, in Lorraine's eyes, the summer offensive plan painstakingly formulated by senior military advisers was just a piece of waste paper.
Only a fool like Prime Minister Russell would take it seriously with wishful thinking.
At this time, an excited and loud voice came from the door, praising loudly: "Earl, you are absolutely right."
Lorraine and Leo colleagues poked their heads out and saw Marquis Maleton opening the door and striding in. Snowflakes and cold wind followed him and howled into the room.
The Marquis of Maleton only wore a formal military uniform. He obviously came in a hurry, but he was buttoned up meticulously.
Although the expression on his face was very exciting, he could not hide his exhaustion.
It seems that in the past few days, he has to overthrow the original battle plan and make a new one, which consumes a lot of energy of the commander of the northern front.
Lorraine then remembered that Marquis Maleton's words were basically opposing Prime Minister Russell's plan.
It can be seen from the fact that Marquis Maleton immediately re-planned after receiving the news that he was not interested in the summer battle plan devised by Russell's men. However, without a proper reason, he could only endure it for the time being, and now...
When he got the chance, he immediately overturned Russell's summer offensive plan.
Originally, as a frontline general, what I hated most was the gesticulations from the guys at the rear.
However, the Marquis of Maleton also had the capital not to abandon Russell. For dozens of generations, his family had been loyal to Emperor Rumain. He could be said to be a good man, and he was often said in the script to be a virtuous man for generations.
He is highly trusted by the emperor, but a prime minister can't do anything to him. This is one of the reasons why he was transferred to Nai'an. With this old guy in the way, the prime minister's life is extremely uncomfortable.
The Marquis of Maleton said hello to Lorraine and Leo, and then without being polite, he pulled up a chair and sat down opposite Lorraine in a dignified manner.
He stroked his well-trimmed beard, and then complained to Lord Lorraine with a sense of confidant: "That group of stupid bureaucrats at the headquarters want to direct the battle here thousands of miles away. How can there be any in the world?"
This truth?
Look at that damn battle plan they made, even the date is fixed. If fighting was so easy, why would we, the frontline generals, do anything?"
Lorraine nodded with deep sympathy. The Lord also hated the bureaucracy of various ministries in Ruman City, and echoed: "The bureaucrats in the Ministry of Military Affairs can just play cards and drink when they have nothing to do. I really don't ask them to do anything serious. But that gang
The bastard sticks his nose everywhere, it’s really annoying~!”
"Haha, that's right, that's right." Marquis Maredon clapped his thigh and laughed heartily, saying: "Last time I heard that the earl smashed the Ministry of Military Affairs, I was really happy.
Every time I go to Ruman City to do business, I am so angry that I want to beat them up, but I don’t have the courage like you, Count Lorraine."
Marquis Maleton actually wanted to say 'two hundred and five', but luckily he stopped himself quickly.
Of course, what's more important is that the Lorraine family has a good girlfriend, who is very powerful in the background, and before entering the imperial government system, she has already made great achievements and is famous far and wide.
He smashed the Ministry of Military Affairs in vain, and those who were beaten up had to hold their noses to admit it.
Otherwise, with his stubborn temper, if he wants to defect to another country, not to mention the loss to the country caused by losing this talented general, it will be difficult for the eldest princess, Catherine, to explain.
If the aunt is not doing well, then the Emperor and the Grand Duke are not doing well either. If the two of them are not doing well, then probably no one in the entire empire will be doing well.
The empire is not doing well, and everyone's hatred is being blamed on those bastards from the Ministry of Military Affairs.
When the time comes, those bastards will be in great trouble~!
Marquis Maleton changed the topic and asked: "The count called me here this time. Is there any latest news?"
Lorraine pondered for a moment and said slowly: "I received very bad news and feel the need to let you know immediately. The lich in Aldheim is turning enslaved barbarians into undead soldiers."
Marquis Maleton's expression turned serious. His expression was solemn and he said in a deep voice: "Are you sure?"
"Although I can't tell you where this news came from, I am absolutely sure." Lorraine said firmly.
Marquis Maleton unconsciously pulled his hair and said distressedly: "This is troublesome. It's no problem for my men to let them fight the barbarians. One legion can drive tens of thousands of barbarians all over the mountain, but the undead soldiers, damn it.
, what is that?”
Lorraine explained: "Skeleton soldiers or zombie soldiers controlled by dark mages, with powerful dark knights, plagues, and toxins in the middle... No one knows how many insidious methods they have."
"Damn~!" Marquis Maleton cursed fiercely and said: "My soldiers have never been trained how to fight against the undead. How many of them are there?"
Lorraine said solemnly: "It will not be less than one hundred thousand."
"One hundred thousand~!" Marquis Maleton shouted, as if his butt was burned, he jumped up from the chair, stared at Lorraine with a horrified expression, and said anxiously: "Earl, you have never
Told me there were so many of them?”
Lorraine also sighed and said: "I didn't expect that the dark mage actually turned all the barbarians in Aldheim into undead soldiers."
"You mean all of them?" Marquis Maredon said with an expression of disbelief.
"Yes, all of them." Lorraine said: "I couldn't believe it at first. But it has just been confirmed that more than 100,000 barbarians in Aldheim will all be transformed into undead soldiers by the lich."
The Marquis of Maleton was so shocked that he couldn't say a word. He just looked at Lorraine stupidly for a long time, and then suddenly fell down on the chair, grabbed the tea cup at hand and took a few sips.
Because he was too anxious, he choked. He coughed and slapped his chest hard. It took him a while to calm down, and he murmured: "How dare they do this?"
Although the Ruman Army fought the barbarians to the death, and Maleton had been fighting the barbarians in the north for ten years and had a deep hatred for them, but he never thought of massacring more than 100,000 barbarians at once.
The final solution formulated by the Ruman people was only to conquer and then force them to naturalize. They never thought of exterminating the barbarian race.
"Because they are lichs." Lorraine explained plainly: "They are living dead people, and those people think differently from us."
The Marquis of Maleton was in a trance and kept chanting "One hundred thousand, one hundred thousand" repeatedly.
Compared with the 500,000 and 100 legions of regular troops that the Ruman Empire is preparing to launch the summer offensive, the number of 100,000 is indeed small, but Marquis Maleton knows that if used properly, 100,000 troops can change the outcome of a war.
, or destroy the entire northern part of the empire.
There have been instances in human history where three thousand cavalry defeated an army of two hundred thousand.
No commander would underestimate the sudden appearance of these 100,000 troops, let alone undead soldiers.
Lorraine added: "This is just the most conservative estimate.
The undead's fighting method has always been to support war with battle. After each battle, the enemy's corpse will be turned into undead soldiers. They can expand their army like a snowball.
Currently, no barbarians can stop them in the Snowy Mountains, and they will definitely attack other tribes to obtain more corpses.
When they come out of the mountainous area, we will face not only a hundred thousand undead soldiers, but maybe twenty or three hundred thousand."
Marquis Maleton said categorically: "We cannot let them grow. We must eliminate them cleanly and completely as soon as possible when they are at their weakest."
Lorraine helplessly spread his hands and said: "How to eliminate them? My people need food and clothes, and the war horses need fodder and bean cakes. The undead soldiers don't need these things. As long as they are supported by the magic power of the necromancer, before they are chopped into pieces,
They can just keep fighting."
Marquis Maleton suddenly paused and thought to himself: Yes. How to eliminate it?
The ice and snow in the mountainous area has not melted, so the army cannot go out at all. Even if the soldiers can barely get in, their supplies cannot get in.
Only then did the Marquis of Maredon realize that although he had many soldiers and generals, hundreds of thousands of them, he did not have any military power to attack Aldheim.
The most effective way to deal with undead and dark mages is of course the clergy of the Holy See. Thinking of this, Marquis Maleton's eyes lit up, and he stared at Lorraine, saying: "You can mobilize the clergy of the Holy See.
Are they?"
Lorraine smiled modestly, waved her hands and said, "How is that possible? They are not in the same system as us."
Marquis Maleton showed a meaningful smile. He winked and said with a smile: "Don't you have a very good relationship with His Majesty the Pope?"
Lorraine quickly corrected her: "We have a pure friendship."
"I understand, I understand." Marquis Maleton nodded quickly and said: "It is a pure friendship. You can borrow some soldiers from His Majesty the Pope. I think His Majesty the Pope will not refuse."
"It's hard to say," Lorraine continued to pretend to be pure. She scratched her head and said, "But I can give it a try."
Maleton nodded with a smile, cursed in his mind, and said to himself: It seems that the rumors must be true.
Then he said: "You also have a very good relationship with Maple Leaf Danlin. Everyone has the responsibility to eliminate the undead. If you ask Master Lester, they will definitely not refuse."
"It's Master Lester, the Forbidden Magician," Lorraine corrected clearly and clearly: "You must say so when you meet, otherwise the master will be unhappy.
Maple Leaf Danlin, if you pay them more labor fees, you can get a lot of helpers."
The Marquis of Maleton said seriously: "There should be quite a few war fortresses under the name of the peacekeeping force. It is said that forty were built in the first half of last year, and it should be greater than this number now."
Lorraine nodded, thinking that he was indeed a veteran. Marquis Maleton knew the information very accurately.
Marquis Maredon said: "Gathering all these forces together and heading straight towards Aldheim should be able to destroy it."
Lorraine shook his head and said: "That's not necessarily true. There are at least six lichs and hundreds of dark mages sitting in Aldheim.
It is difficult to destroy the enemy in one go by relying solely on the projection power of the current war fortress."
Marquis Maleton said firmly: "Then do it a few more times and destroy the enemy with continuous attacks."
Lorraine still shook his head and said: "It is estimated that the casualties will be huge. At present, the war fortress is a strategic force and we cannot afford to lose it."
The Marquis of Maleton was very disapproving. He looked at Lord Lorraine in surprise, as if he found Lorraine a newbie, and said: "There is no immortal in a war."
"Yes," Lorraine said: "But at present, these powers are the key to resisting the undead high priest in the future, and we cannot afford to lose them."
Marquis Maleton shook his head with a dark face and said: "According to what you said, Sir, if we let it go, it will cause a big disaster in three months.
The entire summer offensive would be ruined."
"Actually," Lorraine pondered for a moment and said, "I don't think so. What is the purpose of the summer offensive?"
Marquis Maleton said without hesitation: "Completely destroy the barbarians."
Lorraine spread his hands and said: "The undead are not doing this kind of work."
Marquis Maleton was stunned for a moment, then suddenly looked up at Lorraine and said: "You are using a big trouble to cover up a small trouble."
"Driving the tiger to eat the wolf," Lorraine said with a leisurely smile, "I know."
Then he patiently persuaded the Marquis of Maleton, saying: "Our strength is our home field advantage, and we are surrounded by our people.
But if we attack Oldham now, it will be equivalent to losing our home field advantage, jumping into the enemy's territory, and confronting the enemy head-on on their territory.
This is using our weaknesses to attack the enemy's strengths. We have a lot of strength and can only use one of our abilities, while the enemy can use twelve percent of his strength. This is an unwise approach."
Marquis Maleton said firmly: "But if we wait two months, the enemy will be more difficult to eliminate. The opportunity is fleeting, and we must seize it."
Lorraine pressed his temples in distress. This old guy was too stubborn and said: "At present, the enemy's development has not escaped our monitoring. In the future, we can gather more powerful forces and then completely eliminate them. This will
Better than just defeating the enemy."
Marquis Maleton loudly said: "The best time to attack is when the enemy is not out of control. I stick to my opinion."
Lorraine and the Marquis of Maleton stared at each other, refusing to give in to each other.
Leo jumped up and stood between the two of them, stretched out his palm to signal the two to stop arguing, and said: "Uncle Maredon's words are very reasonable, and what the boss said is also very reasonable.
What you are fighting for is just different solutions to one thing. In that case, why not leave this matter to my uncle, the emperor, to decide."
Marquis Maleton thought about it. Only Emperor Rudrun had the final say in this matter. He stood up and said: "Your Highness is absolutely right. I will state my opinions to Your Majesty. Farewell~!"
After that, he grabbed his hat and ran out in a hurry, not staying for a moment longer.
Lorraine looked at Marquis Maleton's back and sighed, "I will tell you that this is the emperor's opinion."
Leo chuckled and said: "My uncle wants to kill people again, but he doesn't want to bear the infamy. Let's just do the dirty work. Does he still want us to fight against the scapegoat?
Hey, that will make him so comfortable."
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