Chapter 373: War breaks out again
White Deer Fort must be defended, but the news coming back over the past two days has not been very good.
Most of the Noldor's troops were not near the White Hart Keep. Islandil went to the southern area of the Almera Keep, where it was said that a forest fire had broken out - this was obviously done intentionally by the Bacchus in order to divert the main force of the Noldor.
And Aldarian went to the grassland to find trouble with the Jatu people - ever since he was defeated by the Jatu people last time, as long as the Jatu people made any move, Aldarian would definitely go and kill them.
As for the other Elf King Kellervon Ir... that artist was a pacifist and never fought a war, so Leon and Wendy never counted on him.
There is no big problem in Changhe Town. Lord Godric, Fotherg, Eric... they are all in Changhe Town.
Amy took Jocelyn and Bao Daisi to recruit new soldiers, and they should be returning to Changhe Town soon.
Leon didn't think that Kailos with his two thousand cavalry could do anything to Changhe Town, but the Shadow Legion was definitely capable of forcing the construction of Changhe City to be temporarily suspended and preventing Changhe Town from sending reinforcements to Bailu Fort.
In other words, Bailu Fort will not receive any support in the short term.
There were a total of 500 combatants left in White Hart Castle. This was because Leon and Wendy brought back the Noldor Guards. Otherwise, White Hart Castle would be quite empty.
Of course, five hundred Noldor elves are a very powerful force and can face ten times as many enemies in a battle to defend the city.
However, the problem now is not whether or not White Hart Fort can be defended...
"Leon, they are forcing you to become an enemy of the empire... No matter who wins or loses this battle, the Bacchus Empire will always be your enemy. There is no room for easing the tension... That's why they are forcing my father to lead the army."
Alina kept frowning.
That's true.
Li Ang would never allow anyone to occupy Bailu Fort. He would definitely defend it resolutely. There was no way out in this battle.
If the Bacchus Empire suffers too much damage in White Deer Castle, then the good relationship between Leon and Bacchus will be completely ruined, and the Bacchus Empire and Leon will both lose their last ally.
With enemies everywhere and suffering heavy losses, the Bacchus Empire can only rely on the Shadow Legion again when it faces a critical moment. Marius's reforms can no longer be carried out, and the only thing left is to develop armaments and try to conquer the continent by force - this is exactly what the conservatives want.
If White Hart Castle is captured, the effect will be the same - the Noldor elves will fight back with all their might, Leon must also regain his base, and the Bacchus Empire will ultimately have no choice but to make the same choice.
At the same time, the conservatives somehow kidnapped Justus, the leader of the reformists, and sent troops in Justus' name. The main force was the Second Empire Legion under Justus's command. If the Bacchus Empire was defeated, it would be Justus's responsibility, and had nothing to do with the Shadow Legion...
Since they could make Marius' illness worse, they could also deceive the majority of Bacchus who were unaware of the situation...
If the Bacchus Empire was defeated, they would be able to make Justus lose his status, and there was even a high possibility that Justus would be killed on the battlefield.
And if the Bacchus Empire won and really captured White Hart Keep, they would probably kill Justus on the battlefield and then put the blame on Leon and the Noldor elves.
Emperor Marius is seriously ill, Justus is "defeated in battle", and the two bigwigs who initiated the reform have both met with trouble. The reform will inevitably lead to the demise of the people and the collapse of the government, and the Shadow Legion will once again become the "pillar of the country"...
In other words, no matter what the outcome is, no matter who wins or loses the battle, the conservatives will get the results they want.
War is never a goal, but a political necessity...
In political struggles, sometimes all it takes is one big battle, no matter what the outcome, no matter how many soldiers will die meaninglessly on the battlefield, it doesn’t matter…
This is the worst battle that Li Ang is most reluctant to face.
In this kind of rotten battle, no matter whether you win or lose, you will suffer huge losses.
This is also the situation that Alina least wants to see.
Whatever the outcome of the war, her father, Justus, will most likely die…
The biggest difficulty in this battle was the safety of Justus - Marius had been in poor health in the past two years, and Justus was basically equivalent to a prime minister, and had a very high reputation in Bacchus.
If he died in White Deer Castle, the people of the Bacchus Empire might spontaneously organize an army to continuously attack Leon. At that time, the war would turn into revenge and would continue until death.
"Emperor Marius is still too soft-hearted... He should have framed those old-fashioned bastards and killed them directly..."
Li Ang said this through gritted teeth.
"I think so too...but Your Majesty Marius...ah..."
Alina whispered, "Actually, I've been wondering which is better, dictatorship or the Senate system..."
"There is no such thing as the best system. The essence of ruling is that a small number of people use various means, including force, to make the majority of people obey. As for whether that small number of people is called 'parliamentarians', 'noble lords', or 'elected representatives', it's all the same. As long as it allows the people to live and work in peace and contentment, any system is a good system..."
Li Ang answered casually.
Alina was stunned for a while, then nodded heavily: "Leon, you will definitely become the emperor who rules the continent... You are indeed the son of prophecy. Even if you are the enemy of the entire continent, I will support you."
"I'm not too worried about how many enemies we have. There are no eternal enemies in this world... But the problem now is that this game concerns your father's life. Regardless of the outcome..."
Li Ang looked at Alina and found that Alina was looking at him very seriously, and her eyes were very similar to Amy's.
"My father will definitely not die before the battle is over, or before the outcome of the battle of White Hart Castle is clear... So, don't let this battle go too fast..."
Alina bit her lip, her eyes showing a hint of cruelty: "Leon, if Ramon's Scorpio Assassin is not here, can White Hart Castle be defended with only the Noldor elves led by Wendy? Can it be held for half a month?"
"Half a month should be no problem. You know the fighting power of the Noldor elves..."
Li Ang nodded, then realized something: "Alina, do you want me to lead the Scorpio Assassin directly into Bacchus?"
"Yes... but it's not you, it's me. I don't know what methods those bastards used to coerce my father, but those shameless nobles also have wives, children, and families... Scorpio assassins may not be able to play a big role on the battlefield, but if they appear behind the enemy's lines and let the assassin's flying knives appear in the homes of those bastards..."
Alina gritted her teeth as she spoke of her plan: "I will lead the Scorpio Assassins out of the forest. It will only take half a month for me to find the families of those bastards. They can coerce my father, so of course I can coerce them... But this method is dishonorable, you can't go in person."
"Risa Dillan! Work!"
Li Ang nodded and turned around to summon his experienced killers.
Then, he looked at Alina and shook his head seriously: "Reputation can't be used to make a living. If I'm not here, Ramon won't listen to anyone. Besides, being an assassin... this kind of exciting job, of course I have to try it!"
…
That night.
In the forest on the side of Changhe Town, a group of masked men in black were watching the camp of the Bacchus army under the city.
"The ladders are ready. It looks like they will launch an attack tomorrow morning..."
Wendy had no intention of leaving Leon's side. She also wore black clothes. She had handed over the defense of White Hart Castle to Wendatil.
"I hope Wendatil can control her temper, minimize the number of casualties, and try to slow down the battle..."
In fact, Leon was a little worried that Wendatiel would perform some heroic deeds like charging into the battle alone.
"Don't worry, Teacher Wendatil promised me that she won't act impulsively... She knows that this battle can neither be won nor lost before we return."
Wendy was very confident in Wendatil's character.
In fact, this request is much more troublesome than killing the enemy quickly. Wendatil is only so reasonable to Wendy.
"Alina, among those leading generals out there, which ones are you more familiar with?"
Li Ang began to study the target.
"Rimusk, Lord of Walven, Gaulus, Lord of Amela..."
Aline quickly introduced the situation. She knew that Leon wanted to understand the character of the enemy generals: "Rimusk is greedy and lustful. His Majesty Marius has punished him. Gauls is a gambler, but he has not done many bad things. There is another one... General Titus. He often robs villages, sometimes even the villages under his own jurisdiction."
"Is Titus here too? I don't see his flag..."
Leon glanced at the camp a few times and indeed did not see Titus's flag.
"He is now a member of the Phoenix Knights and has changed to the Phoenix Flag... But the Phoenix Knights did not come with him..."
Alina pointed to a phoenix flag under the city.
"Titus is actually mixed up with the old guard of the Shadow Legion... Then let's take him down first. We'll go to Imer first."
Li Ang nodded and turned into the forest.
…
Eagle Claw Castle.
Here, Bourdain is equipping her new troops.
Since Bo Daisy had saved Leon, Amy was very grateful to her, so she personally used her own face to help Bo Daisy recruit a lot of new soldiers.
Bao Daisi also formed a force of 500 people in the shortest time.
The composition of this unit is almost half male and half female - Bodaisi did not follow the practice of Vikavia to form a pure female army, but treated men and women equally like the Vanskerry pirates.
Of course, these new recruits from Sarleon were not very skilled and seriously undertrained, and were definitely not as good as the Vanskerry pirates who had experienced fighting and killing since childhood.
So Bao Daisi has been training for the past few months.
Of course, the main thing was that she also took on the task assigned to her by Li Ang - being a bandit.
Anyone who leaves Li Ang's territory without flying Li Ang's flag will inevitably encounter bandits the moment they cross the border...
If it is business travelers entering the country, then Li Ang's territory will become extremely safe, ensuring that not a single bandit can be seen.
Of course, as long as you stay within the border, nothing will happen and taxes will be much lower than elsewhere.
This is what Li Ang instructed. Before the construction of "Changhe City" is completed, this policy will be implemented in Li Ang's territory.
And Bao Daisi's way of training soldiers is to fight against bandits while playing the role of a bandit herself...
After all, the real bandits have to be killed.
However, the income from suppressing bandits does not need to be handed over, which is considered to be acting in the name of justice, and all the gains belong to oneself; only the income from playing the role of a bandit needs to be handed over 75%...
This method of training troops is very effective. Not only does it allow the troops to gain practical combat experience, it also cultivates a number of high-level scouts.
If the scouts are not good enough, it is easy for fish to slip through the net. It would be a pity to miss such a legal business with simple operation and low cost...
But on this day, Bao Daisi ran into trouble while she was training her troops - that is, while she was doing a small business.
Just on the coast north of Eagle Claw Castle, after Bodais had robbed a group of guys who were trying to load a large amount of dinars onto a ship and leave the country, her scouts reported back that a large fleet was discovered on the sea, and they were probably all warships.
Based on the size of the fleet, this probably means a force of around 4,000 men.
The Lion Lake Inland Sea was formed by the backflow of seawater into the continent of Pendor. Although the inland sea is very large, there are only two countries' territories around it - Stern Crow and Fierce Lion.
This is the natural boundary between the Sarleon and the Stern Raven.
This means that any warship that can come from the Lion Lake Inner Sea must be a ship from the Cold Crow Realm.
Moreover, with a scale of about 4,000 people, this should be the entire fleet of the Kingdom of Ravens...
This is an all-out cross-sea attack!
But usually, this kind of cross-sea attack is usually aimed at Cliff Rock Bay - Cliff Rock Bay is a peninsula protruding into the inner sea of Lion Lake, closer to the Cold Crow Realm and more suitable for landing.
Besides, after the three prophets left, Cliff Bay should be relatively empty now.
But the fleet of the Crow Kingdom headed towards the Beibu Gulf, and did not go directly to Lion Lake City, but docked to the north of Eagle Claw Castle.
Bodaisy is from Firvia, an island country. Bodaisy is very familiar with naval battles and fleet landing battles.
Precisely because of the familiarity, she was confused - if the destination of the Stern Crow Fleet was Lion Lake City, but here was still more than a hundred miles away from Lion Lake City, there was no need to land so far in advance, right?
Shihu City has a military seaport, and warships can directly attack Shihu City. As long as they break through the water camp, they can land directly at the military port.
Moreover, Fothert was in Changhe Town at this time, not in Shihu City. Shihu City would definitely not be able to stop an army of 4,000 people.
Could it be that the Ravenstern are coming for Eagle Claw Hold?
But why?
Lion Lake City is obviously much more valuable than Eagle Claw Castle!
What is there to remember about Eagle Claw Fort... Could it be to wash away the shame of being persuaded to leave by Li Ang last time in Eagle Claw Fort?
You shouldn't be so cautious...
Bao Daisy didn't understand.
But she must resist the enemy, both out of her oath of allegiance and out of her desire to restore her country.
In fact, Bao Daisi didn't know that there were enemies in Qiaoyan Bay.
Many Fierdsvain people appeared in Cliff Bay.
Moreover, Mizmarsh Castle had already been occupied by the Firdsvain people at this time.
After the three prophets left, many nobles in Cliff Bay united and sent the nominal lord Brunus to the Mist City - not to enjoy a good life, but to be a prisoner.
Then, they gave Cliff Bay to King Vidis...
In fact, this could be considered a "feat of justice", because the people of Cliff Rock Bay can finally get rid of the fear of being turned into fallen beings...
But what would the Fierdsvain do to them?
Will it be better than before?
