It was hot for a few days in early autumn, and then cooled down with a few cold rains.
While people in the north have put on thick clothes, the trees in the south have begun to turn yellow and their leaves are falling. In previous years, this was the most quiet and beautiful time of the year. But now, the south is a busy and chaotic scene.
After the Lulian Demon Invasion incident was successfully resolved, people's attention focused on the war in the north and the process of the demons moving south.
At this time, news came one after another that the Pompeii Empire suffered a series of disastrous defeats and that the demon soldiers were extremely powerful.
Public opinion was suddenly in an uproar.
People were worried. Some people accused the Pompeii Empire of diverting disaster to the east. Some people speculated that there must be some secret hidden behind the sudden power of the demons. And more people looked at the arrows of the demons spreading rapidly on the war map.
Counting the time to reach your home.
The royal families of Fei Lie Empire and Solan Empire both held emergency meetings. The major families and major principalities also accelerated the pace of recruiting troops and assembling armed forces. At the same time, the messengers of the three empires shuttled back and forth at the fastest speed to exchange
information, and negotiate a date for a joint meeting.
People suddenly discovered that the time left for mankind is running out.
As the only country among the three empires that has not yet entered into battle with the demons, the Solan Empire is currently in the best situation, but it cannot afford to waste any time. Almost as soon as the news was received, the Fire Phoenix Legion was ordered to go north.
, make preliminary preparations for the gathering of coalition forces.
Under the command of Sophia, groups of scouts were sprinkled out like beans. They would go deep into the Pompeii Empire to obtain first-hand information about the demons. At the same time, the major provinces, major families, and the imperial border troops and
The Royal Knights also set off one after another to concentrate on the northern border.
After a disgraced entry ceremony into the city, the noble armies from all over the country gathered in Lulian were the first to set off. Almost overnight, all the camp tents outside the city had been dismantled. Those majestic knights
He left silently, as if he had never been here before.
However, just because people are gone does not mean that people's discussions have ended. Even under the shadow of the demon clan, this is still the hottest topic in the streets. Whether it is a gathering of nobles or a low-rise and shabby tavern, there will always be discussions.
Some people were frothing at the mouth talking about the scene that day.
A look of gloating and ridicule.
Fortunately, the embarrassment of the foreign nobles did not last long, and everyone's attention was attracted by the knight training that started one after another.
Knight training is nothing new. Even the country bumpkins in small places have seen their lord's private soldier training. Not to mention the Munich residents who watch the Munich Guard knights flying back and forth all day long. But this time
The difference is that those concentrated in the military camp now are the most elite and outstanding mercenaries in the south.
Not only are they extraordinary in strength, but they also have extremely rich combat experience. All of them are veterans who have been through mountains of swords, seas of fire, and rolling around in front of the gates of hell. Compared with them, the students from the three major training camps who originally joined the military camp for training,
It's almost like a kid in kindergarten.
Therefore, many people gathered outside the South Gate Military Camp every day.
On the one hand, everyone is curious, on the other hand, they are skeptical.
Everyone knows that mercenaries are free and unruly men, and they are all used to being idle. They sleep until noon, drink until they are drunk, and fights and gambling are commonplace. Who dares to say something next to them?
As soon as his eyes widened, his big fist flew towards his face.
In previous years of war, low-level mercenaries would join the rabble army in order to get ahead. However, these high-level mercenaries have a higher status than most of the knights and officers in the army. Even if they want to join the war, they are often not allowed to join the army.
The commander had a headache and didn't know how to arrange it.
This time with so many high-level mercenaries gathered together, can they honestly obey orders, abide by discipline, and truly become soldiers who obey orders and prohibitions?
That's when the sun comes out from the west.
However, whether you are curious or suspicious, in fact, from the day after the entrance ceremony, the gate of the military camp at the south gate of Munich has been closed. No one can find out.
All everyone can do is wait. No one knows what kind of army will come out of the military camp when the training is over.
###
"How about it?"
When Fano walked into Adolf's study, Adolf, who was sitting in front of a desk piled with letters and documents, put down his official duties and raised his head and asked.
Fano's face looked a little melancholy. He shook his head and said, "The situation is not very good."
"Oh?" Adolf inserted the quill in his hand into the ink bottle, stood up and walked around the desk, "What's going on? Logically speaking, the attitude of these people should not be a problem."
"Attitude is indeed not the problem," Fano said with a wry smile: "The problem is their habits."
It has been two weeks since the military training began.
Because the recruits this time were all mercenaries, Lulian also paid special attention to training. Not only was Fano personally in charge, but he also recruited many generals from the Bavarian Knights, the Munich City Guard, and some lords with outstanding abilities in this regard.
, including Eugene, Iverson and others.
These people are all well-known anchors of the Lulian military and enjoy a very high reputation among the soldiers. Letting them train themselves is completely overqualified.
However, even such a luxurious team of instructors seems to be ineffective now.
As people have guessed, it is not an easy task to turn a group of free, unruly and unruly mercenaries into soldiers who obey orders, prohibitions and disciplines. But people outside are just talking and speculating, but as the training officer, he directly
Faced with these mercenaries, Fano was simply tortured.
In terms of attitude, there is nothing wrong with these mercenaries. Not to mention the mercenaries who joined the Knights of the Southern Cross, even the ordinary low-level mercenaries who joined the Lullian Army have completely put away their previous unruliness.
The reason is that the situation is forced on the one hand, and on the other hand, the demons are moving south, and everyone is facing a life-and-death situation, which gives everyone a sense of mission.
No one wants to hold back at this time. In that case, even in front of the brothers in the former mercenary group, they will not be able to hold their heads high. No matter their personality or temper, they have all been put away.
Especially the mercenaries of the Knights of the Southern Cross cherish the opportunity.
You must know that many members were able to join because Roy repeatedly relaxed the number limit. Not to mention the magic costume that day, just the salary conditions and the group around him gathered the best among the southern mercenaries, and they had experienced the Abyss together.
Fighting brothers is enough to make everyone grit their teeth and persevere.
However, it is not a problem whether it is hard or tiring. The problem is that the living and fighting habits of these mercenaries cannot be changed overnight.
Soldiers fight in groups, and the requirement for individuals is to completely obey the whole. Most of the time, whether it is attacking or retreating, whether it is a large group or a small battle formation, they are like parts on a machine, and can only follow the most stringent and most stringent instructions.
Acting with rigid settings does not allow you to make any decisions on your own.
But mercenary is a profession that requires judgment, experience, and flexibility.
Mercenaries perform different tasks and use different methods. They pay special attention to flexibility in battle, otherwise they would not survive today. Moreover, most mercenaries fight in small teams and are completely unsuited to group operations. Nothing else.
Said that just one queue gave Fano a headache.
It is easy to form a neat queue, but it is too difficult for the mercenaries to keep the queue neatly on the battlefield, advance and retreat in the same manner under any circumstances, and strictly follow tactics.
After listening to Fano's report, Adolf was also frowning for a moment.
When he took the initiative to take over the training of the Knights of the Southern Cross, firstly he wanted to help Roy, because compared to Roy, Lulian had more manpower resources in this area. Secondly, Lulian also recruited a lot of people.
.You have to train anyway, so adding another Southern Cross mercenary group is a convenient task.
Unexpectedly, after more than ten days, the training is still at the same level.
Adolf's old face turned a little red.
In terms of military affairs, he is indeed not very good. The only one in the entire Lulian family who can do anything good is Sophia. If Sophia was here, he could still leave this problem to his daughter. But now Sophia is no longer there, not even Fano.
He was even more at a loss as to how to do it.
"By the way, where are the dwarves and elves?" Adolf asked.
"It's even harder..." Fano felt that his mouth was bitter, "The dwarves have a bad temper, just like a bison. When they lined up, they were fine, and everyone lined up carefully. But once the order was given to move forward, they started to howl.
I yelled and rushed forward, let alone the queue, I couldn't even pull him back."
Adolf sat down on the sofa and covered his face.
Fano continued: "Ask them why they can't keep the queue and walk slowly. What do you think they said?"
Adolf glared at Fano angrily: "I still guess?!"
Fano was a little embarrassed and said quickly: "They said that their legs are short, and their thighs and calves together are not half as long as ours, so they always like to run. If we want to walk slowly, they can't walk even ten meters away."
Go two meters out. Besides, if you don't rush faster during a fight, why bother? If you leave late, others will kill you."
"That makes sense." Adolf covered his face again, groaned, and asked, "What about the elf?"
"The problem with the elves is not this," Fano said. "Their problem is that they simply disdain our human tactics."
"Okay." Adolf lost his temper.
"Your Highness, what should we do next? It's easy for us to disperse the people as much as possible and divide them into various battalions. Slowly they are integrated. But the Knights of the Southern Cross... oh, this boy Roy,
I don’t know where he went. Seeing that the demons are coming, will he really lead such a team to the north in the future?" Fano asked.
Adolf rubbed his eyebrows and said, "Let's think of another way..."
Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden rush of footsteps. Looking up, he saw old Kahn walking into the study with a strange look on his face and reported: "Your Highness, we have a visitor."
"Oh?" Adolf asked, "Who?"
Old Kahn said incredulously: "It's Grand Duke Renault of the Tomahawk Knights, and he's here in person."
"Where is he?" Adolf stood up suddenly and asked.
"South Gate Camp," Kahn said.
"The main camp?" Adolf, who had been preparing to let people change clothes to meet the guests, was suddenly stunned. He did not expect that Renault came to Lulian to ask for a meeting with him, but did not come to the mansion. Instead, he went to the military camp.
"Yes, Your Highness," Kahn said, "He said he wanted to see the mercenaries of Southern Cross."
Upon hearing this, Adolf's expression changed.
"Walk!"
There was a lively scene in the military camp.
Although today's Munich barracks has been three times larger than before the invasion of Frederick's empire. Recently, craftsmen have been working overtime to build barracks and level the playground. Many barracks have not even been painted.
However, when the lords from various places in Lulian came to the city of Munich with the troops gathering northward, and when thousands of mercenaries joined the army, the military camp still seemed overcrowded.
As soon as I walked into the camp, I could hear roars, footsteps and commands all around. There were dozens of playgrounds, large and small, and every one of them was overcrowded.
The soldiers were conducting various drills under the command of the officers. Some were practicing battle formations, and some were practicing assassination. The archers nailed bundles of arrows into the center of the target, and the knights galloped on their horses.
Running, one after another, he stabbed the lance in his hand at the rotating training device while sprinting.
In the central playground, there are even heavily armored warriors holding huge shields practicing hacking and killing.
Wearing hundreds of kilograms of heavy armor, every step they took made the earth shake. And every strike of the tomahawk in their hands was accompanied by the sound of wind and thunder.
Such a sight is enough to make any Lurian's blood boil.
However, when a carriage without any markings or escort drove past the camp road, Iverson, who was swaying in the carriage, noticed that the old man with silver hair and a square face was sitting opposite him.
, not even interested in taking a second look outside.
Even when he was passing by the training ground of his Munich City Guard Knights, his eyes were indifferent.
In this regard, Iverson could only smile bitterly to himself.
If it were anyone else, Iverson would naturally not be convinced. But the man sitting in the car was Duke Renault, the leader of the Tomahawk Knights, who had been famous for decades and commanded one of the five major knights in the empire.
After hundreds of battles, he became famous, and he personally led a tiger and wolf army that was victorious in every battle.
Not to mention anything else, just talking about this demonic invasion, Iverson saw with his own eyes the power of the Tomahawk Knights.
Even under the arbitrary orders of the commanding general, the charge launched by the Tomahawk Knights, including the last-minute turnaround, demonstrated their extremely high level of training and execution. Thousands of knights ordered and banned as if they were one person. Such an army,
On the battlefield, he is the most fearful to his opponents.
And this was despite the fact that Archduke Renault had not personally led the army for many years.
It is said that the founder of the Tomahawk Knights seems to have been a little tired in recent years. The knights have been led by a few sons, while he himself grows flowers and grass in the imperial capital, living a leisurely life like an ordinary old man. Except occasionally
Apart from seeing him at royal or military meetings, it was difficult to see him out of the house.
Such days have lasted for seven or eight years. There are rumors in private that he and Donald had a falling out, so Donald deprived him of his authority and put him under house arrest.
This rumor seems to be popular, but Renault neither admits nor denies it.
He kept completely silent and hid his figure in the old castle in the green shade of Rose Mountain in the southeast of the imperial capital, surrounded by the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers, away from the disputes.
But what Iverson didn't expect was that this legendary figure came to Lulian secretly.
And it’s at such an exciting time.
Seeing that the imperial coalition is about to gather north, Watts and Old Barno have just died here, Lulian, who is loyal to the royal family, has already been a thorn in Donald's side. And at this time, Renault arrives, what does Iverson want to do?
I have never heard of any relationship between him and the Grand Duke.
"This is the training camp of the Knights of the Southern Cross?" In the southeast corner of the military camp, the carriage drove into a temporarily fenced camp, far away from the bustling playground, and stopped. Renault hid his face in the curtains.
Later, watching the knight training in the playground, he frowned and asked.
"Yes, Master Renault." Iverson nodded.
Since the Knights of the Southern Cross entered the camp, this place has become the center of the entire military camp. Almost every day, soldiers from all battalions come here to watch the fun. In the end, Fano had to order a ban on such behavior and in
A high fence was erected around the camp.
At this moment, queue training is taking place on the playground.
The training includes horse control, formation, formation changes, formation changes while marching, low-speed march, medium-speed formation expansion, etc. As for the formation coordination in high-speed charging and strangulation, it is still a matter of course.
But even so, the mercenaries were in a mess. Either the steps were wrong, or the formation was messed up. The formation changes and the mid-speed formation expansion were even more of a mess. Past combat experience and instincts made these mercenaries always subconsciously
make the wrong reaction. Even if they have tried hard to overcome it, the effect is still very bad.
Iverson noticed that after another timeout due to a mistake on the training ground, Leno had a meaningful smile on his lips.
"I heard that you have been training for two weeks?" Renault turned around and asked.
Even though the light in the carriage was a little dim, Iverson's face was still obviously red. However, at this time, he could only nod his head and said: "Yes, sir."
"That Mr. Leo, you are really relieved..." Renault said meaningfully.
Iverson was simply ashamed.
Fortunately, Renault did not intend to kill them all. Instead, he half-closed his eyes to rest and asked, "By the way, when will His Highness the Grand Duke come?"
"It should be soon." Iverson just raised the curtains and looked outside when he heard the sound of horse hooves.
Immediately, a carriage with the Fire Bee emblem on it, escorted by Kahn and Fano, sped over and stopped next to the carriage.
Iverson opened the door and got out of the carriage as if he were receiving an amnesty. Before he could say anything, Adolf had already sullenly got into the carriage and hurriedly got into the carriage. There was a bang and the door was closed.
Iverson, Kahn, and Fano looked at each other and couldn't help but shrink their necks.
"Reno," Adolf said as soon as he got on the carriage, he sat down in front of Duke Reno and asked directly with a wary look on his face: "What are you doing here?"
"Lulien?" Renault asked.
"I mean here," Adolf pointed to the playground outside the car window, "the camp of the Knights of the Southern Cross."
"Oh," Renault said calmly, "I came here for them."
"For them?" Adolf looked like it was true and sneered, "What do you want to do? Do you still want to take advantage of them?"
"No?" Renault asked calmly.
"Of course," Adolf said coldly, "However, if your intelligence system is not paralyzed, I think you should first find out how many people have the same intention as you. Then have a good chat with them and see
How they left in disgrace. That might be of some help to you."
As he said that, Adolf pointed at the Southern Cross Knights training on the playground and said sarcastically: "Otherwise, you think you can pull these people away with the reputation of the Tomahawk Knights?"
The sound in the carriage made Fano and three other confidants who were guarding the side hold their breath.
In so many years, this is the first time they have seen Adolf and Renault confront each other face to face. Both are important ministers of the empire, and their positions in the imperial political system are very important. However, one is loyal to the royal family, while the other follows Donald
, the camps are naturally opposed.
Therefore, for many years, Adolf and Renault never interacted with each other. Even at the royal meeting in the imperial capital, they never passed by each other.
Unexpectedly, Renault now took the initiative to come to Lulian, and when he met Adolf, he was at odds with each other.
In the carriage, Renault looked at Adolf, who had a mocking look on his face, but his face was still calm, his slender eyes were slightly drooped, and the corners of his mouth were half-smiling.
"I didn't say I wanted to snatch these people from their lords," he rubbed his nose, "I just need to snatch them from you."
"Steal it from me?" Adolf was stunned.
But soon, he came back to his senses, and his old face felt feverish for a moment. The three Fano people outside the carriage all looked aside in embarrassment.
"Why, our training doesn't catch your eye," Adolf said through gritted teeth, "But that's because they are willing to leave it to me. If you don't have that kind of friendship, you go and try."
"That's because he is too young and has never seen a real knight." Renault glanced at Adolf, "If you don't believe it, call him over and I'll talk to him."
"Just call..." Adolf said mid-sentence, his eyes suddenly narrowed. Why do you have time to come here? Is this your real purpose? "
"Yes, and no." Renault shook his head.
He was silent for a while, until the air pressure in the carriage became a little depressing, and then he said: "I came here for two purposes. First, I need to deal with Stevenson's matter personally..."
Adolf narrowed his eyes slightly. He was not surprised at all.
After the Battle of the Abyss, the matter of Stevenson colluding with Watts and Old Barno to order the withdrawal of troops at the critical moment has continued to ferment. Not to mention how the people of the empire were in an uproar and angry, let's just say that the southern nobles heard about their
When my territory and home almost turned into hell, I gritted my teeth with hatred.
The call for severe punishment of Stevenson has become a powerful torrent. Many angry southern noble lords rushed directly to the imperial capital and put pressure on Donald through various channels. It is said that Donald was already very anxious about this. As a battle axe,
Renault, the leader of the Knights, is naturally under pressure.
Of course, Adolf knew very well that the royal family might have contributed to this, especially the Supervision Department in the hands of Mo Ya, who simply fanned the flames in order to prevent chaos in the world.
But no matter what, everyone, whether Donald or Renault, must give an explanation for this matter.
Renault continued: "Second, I hope to take this opportunity to meet you... You should know all the news about the Northern Demon Clan, right?"
Hearing Renault mention this, Adolf's expression became solemn, nodded and said: "Of course."
Renault said: "Then what do you think the empire's current situation is, what are its chances of winning?"
"According to the size of the demon clan that went south before, it was 70%. Now..." Adolf pondered for a moment and said: "It is estimated that at most 50% is left."
"You are really optimistic," Renault shook his head and raised a finger. "My judgment is... 10%."
Outside the carriage, everyone's eyelids couldn't help but twitch.
In fact, they all know that Lulian is far away in the south of the mainland. Although there are various news channels, the distance gap still makes this war seem a bit far away.
The further north you go, the thicker the atmosphere of war becomes, and the more things you can see and feel.
These things are the basis for a person to make judgments.
Renault, on the other hand, is not only well-informed in the imperial capital, but he is also an experienced military commander with outstanding strategies. He is also ranked among the top generals in the empire.
The judgments he made, whether they turned out to be right or wrong, should not be taken lightly.
"One percent..." Adolf's face looked a little ugly: "You still won't lose."
"How powerful are the demons? Three hundred years ago, we were sitting on the entire God-given continent, and we were at the peak of both economy and military. But what happened in the end? After a hundred years of fighting, we became weaker and weaker, and finally ended in a disastrous defeat in the final battle.
, retreated here."
Renault said, frowning: "Now, I don't know whether the demons have become stronger or weaker, but I know that we are far weaker than in the final battle. This battle is to fight to the death.
born!"
Everyone nodded silently.
In silence, Renault looked at Adolf and said: "This is the purpose of my coming here. In a word, we must concentrate our strength and cooperate with all those who may cooperate."
"You mean..." Adolf was a little surprised: "We cooperate?"...