Chapter 396 History is a Little Girl
"Your Majesties, I have something to say... "
When Leon and Emperor Marius were about to raise their glasses to discuss the withdrawal of troops, Arina suddenly spoke up: "Your Majesty Leon, you cannot withdraw the troops."
They both turned to look at Alina, their expressions somewhat surprised.
"Alina, what are you talking about? You don't consider yourself a Bacchus anymore..."
Agasson looked surprised.
Li Ang thought about it and suddenly laughed: "Indeed, I can't retreat..."
Emperor Marius seemed to realize something. He waved his hand gently and said, "Everyone else, go outside... Keep an eye on the military tent and don't let anyone get close."
He drove out all the guards in the tent.
Only Emperor Marius, Leon, Arina, Agathon and Lisadiran were left in the military tent.
"Luciana, do you have any good plans?"
After confirming that there was no one else in the military tent, Emperor Marius asked this question.
"I do have a plan..."
Alina began to explain: "Your Majesty Leon cannot retreat, because it is unreasonable - we have just won a great victory, and it is a good time to pursue the victory. Retreat now? All the lords of the entire New Pende Kingdom will not be happy. Last night they were still enthusiastically discussing how to attack the City of Knowledge..."
"Moreover, if we withdraw our troops when we shouldn't, and cease fire when we shouldn't, this will alert the real enemy, who will make judgments and prepare in advance... We shouldn't let the real enemy see our intentions."
"So, the New Pende Kingdom and the Bacchus Empire must remain enemies, and the war between the two countries must continue. It would even be best if the war becomes more intense... Only in this way will the real enemies emerge."
"Since the Snake Cult deliberately instigated Kairos and his son to set fire to the Noldor Forest and triggered a full-scale war between the two countries, and at the same time they were stirring up trouble in Port Dilin, their intentions are obvious - they want to take advantage of the war between the two countries to find the Gate of the Abyss in Lake Eraklai and try to remove the seal of Kavala, and they want to jump out and take advantage after the war between the two countries has consumed each other's resources and manpower."
"Then, if nothing unexpected happens, the Snake Cult must have already begun to march towards the Noldor Forest. His Majesty Marius said before that the enemies in Imperial Port have already sent troops north. I guess they are planning to go to Lake Eracle."
"Being able to judge the enemy's movements will make it easier to destroy them..."
"Therefore, His Majesty Leon should continue to lead his troops to 'pursue victory and attack all the way into the heart of the empire', while His Majesty Marius will 'retreat all the way'...all the way to the south of the empire."
"Of course, I am not good at the specific tactical implementation of how the two majesties secretly deploy their troops..."
"Anyway, we have to make this war more and more serious - at least it looks like it's getting more and more serious. We have to make the Snake Cult think that the war between the two countries will continue... until all the enemies jump out, including the enemies hidden inside the empire... Let the enemies appear in the open, and then the two countries will work together to destroy them in one fell swoop!"
Alina finished her plan, then looked at the two kings holding cups, waiting for the two big guys to make a decision.
"Take advantage of their own tactic..."
Emperor Marius put down his wine glass and nodded in approval, "Good plan... This is indeed how it should be done."
"Then let's synchronize our strategies..."
Li Ang also put down his wine glass, and used his finger to draw a map on the table. "That is to say, Your Majesty Marius, you will pretend to retreat hundreds of miles, but actually go south to organize the army and transfer most of the troops to Diling Port... and I will 'pursue the victory' and continue to 'attack' into Bacchus... But in fact, I will transfer the troops to Walwyn and Fort Amela respectively, intercept those enemies who try to go to Lake Erakle, and continue to march south to encircle the enemies in Diling Port. In the end, we can completely eliminate all enemies north of Diling Port, roughly the location of Buyulin Village."
"Okay, let's do it."
Marius nodded: "I will drive all the enemies out of Dilingang, drive them north, and ensure that they cannot leave by sea. The responsibility of intercepting and completely destroying them will be handed over to you. The food stored in Boshi City will be used as your military rations - that is, you have to 'pursue the victory all the way to Boshi City'..."
Li Ang also nodded to show that he understood, and the old man and the young man held hands together.
The two hostile countries, which had just fought each other to the death, finalized this cooperation plan in a manner that seemed rather hasty.
"But... how should we tell the soldiers about our meeting this time, or the results of our peace talks? We must not tell anyone about this plan. If nothing unexpected happens, there may be spies of the Snake Cult among our soldiers..."
Leon stood up and asked Emperor Marius hesitantly.
"Let's say I wanted to seek peace after my defeat, but the talks broke down - you just won a great victory, why would you want to negotiate peace with me? Your best option is to press on with your victory..."
Marius said these somewhat humiliating words very calmly.
"This... Your Majesty, you can't say that, right?"
Agathon looked at Emperor Marius with some hesitation: "Your Majesty, I understand this plan, and it must not be revealed to any soldier. But... if you are defeated and ask for peace, and your request for peace fails and you 'retreat hundreds of miles', and your Majesty Leon 'attacks the city of Boshi and steals the stored food'... then it will be difficult for us to explain to the military and civilians at home! The morale of the army will be very low, and people will think that you have been completely defeated..."
"Defeated? I was defeated anyway, why is it so hard to admit it? This time I was defeated and asked for peace, and in the end I used the food stored in Boshi City in exchange for the withdrawal of the New Pendor Kingdom... This is the fact. If we had continued to fight, the result would have been the same - the only difference is that both sides would have lost many more people, and then the Snake Cult would have taken advantage of the situation and invaded."
Emperor Marius glanced at Agathon and sighed: "Agathon, what are you worried about?"
"Your Majesty, your health... and this plan will cause a huge stain on your reputation..."
Agathon was obviously very troubled by this result.
This would indeed have an impact on Marius' reputation, or at least affect people's perception of his military capabilities - outsiders would not know about this cooperation plan, and it would be impossible to tell others about this plan.
People only know that 'Emperor Marius personally led the army with a larger number of troops, but he continued to lose soldiers and generals, and retreated step by step under Leon's attack, retreating hundreds of miles all the way, and was unable to organize any decent resistance'...
"I'm almost dead, what reputation do I care about? I only care about whether I can preserve the vitality of the empire, I only care about whether I can get rid of the Snake Cult... Agathon, only the emperor who can make the people live and work in peace has honor. I'm just a tinker. I only hope that I can mend this pot once more before I die - this is my fate."
Emperor Marius handed the helmet in his arms to Alina behind him, propped himself up and began to drive people away: "Okay, let's do it, I plan to be a dictator this time... Agathon, send Leon back, Luciana and I have something to say."
Marius is Alina's adoptive father. Nowadays, a adoptive father is equivalent to a biological father. When the father and daughter are talking, outsiders are certainly not allowed to interfere.
Li Ang, Agasson and others all left the military tent.
On the way to send Li Ang back, Agasson was always worried and his face was full of anxiety.
"Your Majesty Leon..."
After sending Leon to the outside of the Bacchus army camp, Agathon stopped and asked Leon a strange question: "If...if His Majesty Marius passed away...how would you deal with the Bacchus Empire?"
After all, Agathon was a general who had followed Emperor Marius for twenty years. He understood Emperor Marius, and he also knew that Emperor Marius wanted to use his life in exchange for all Bacchus people's resolute resistance to Snake Worship.
It was not just the life and reputation of Emperor Marius that he had been worried about.
He was also worried about what would happen to the Bacchus Empire after Emperor Marius died...
He believed that Marius and Leon could definitely join forces to destroy the Snake Cult, but what would happen after they dealt with the Snake Cult?
After that, who else in the Bacchus Empire can face an opponent like Li Ang?
Li Ang was silent for a while, then asked Agathon: "Without His Majesty Marius's empire, is it still the empire in your mind?"
"……I have no idea……"
Agathon thought for a long time and finally shook his head.
"Agathon, an empire where people can live and work in peace and contentment is what His Majesty Marius wants. If you cannot do this after His Majesty Marius passes away, then I will help His Majesty Marius achieve this wish."
Li Ang patted Agasson on the shoulder: "This is my answer."
Agathon stood there speechlessly, looking up at the sky.
The drizzle from the sky wet his eyes.
…
On August 8, 358 Pendor, the Battle of Seren broke out.
His Majesty Marius Gaius, Emperor of the Bacchus Empire, challenged His Majesty Leon Griffin, King of the New Pend Kingdom, to a decisive battle in the ancient manner of a gentleman's duel.
On August 9 of the following year, King Leon of the New Pendor Kingdom personally led the cavalry to charge into the Bacchus army. The morale of the New Pendor Kingdom was greatly boosted, and it defeated the Bacchus Empire with inferior forces.
On the 10th, after being defeated in the war, His Majesty Marius, Emperor of the Bacchus Empire, asked for peace with the New Pendor Kingdom.
His Majesty King Leon of the New Pende Kingdom attended the peace talks as a courtesy, expressed condolences to the seriously ill Emperor Marius, but rejected the proposal for peace.
It is said that Emperor Marius tried to exchange a large amount of food for Emperor Leon's withdrawal, but Emperor Leon said, "I can get the food myself," and then got up and left.
But what was special about this peace talk was that the two kings negotiated in the military camp of Emperor Marius - who was seriously ill and had difficulty moving.
His Majesty Leon of the New Pendor Kingdom brought only a few followers and went deep into the enemy camp to meet with the emperor of the enemy country. He was extremely courageous and a brave man.
And Emperor Marius did not detain and murder His Majesty Leon despite the unfavorable situation after the defeat, which shows his outstanding credibility and is a model of a gentleman.
Both emperors were admirable heroes of the time. The Battle of Seren and the unsuccessful peace talks between the two emperors were true examples of nobility and will be remembered by all countries.
——This is the topic currently circulating in taverns and among nobles in the continent of Pendor.
If nothing unexpected happens, historians from various countries will also record this event according to this version.
History is a little girl who can be dressed up by anyone, and this is especially true when it comes to the history of two emperors.
According to historical records, Ulrich "died alone in the face of a powerful enemy and died bravely" - this is also what is engraved on his tombstone.
Historical records would probably also record that after Leon won a great victory in the Battle of Seren, he led his army southward, defeating all opponents along the way and attacking the cultural center of the Bacchus Empire, the City of Knowledge, with a crushing force.
Historical records also record that Governor Justus, who had just been released by Leon, was unable to stop Leon from taking away the food stored in the city of Boshi. It was only because of the existence of the Knights of Glory that Leon did not capture the city of Boshi. However, Emperor Marius was unable to organize an effective counterattack and could only continue to retreat southward. The entire eastern part of Bacchus was exposed to the iron hoof of the new Pende Kingdom.
As for the fact that Lord Rimusk of Walvenburg betrayed his country and defected to New Pendor, Lord Gaulus of Almeraburg was defeated and killed, and the castle was occupied by the Noldor elves, these are all very normal and trivial matters, not worth mentioning...
…
Ten days later.
August 20, 358 Pendor.
Li Ang has already arrived at Fort Ameera with his troops.
Arina was no longer with Leon at this time - she stayed with Emperor Marius.
This was inevitable, she wanted to spend the last moments with her adoptive father.
The force that Leon brought to Almera Castle numbered about two thousand men, including the new Pendor Second Legion composed of the Silver Hand and the Free Legion and his Noldor Guard.
The rest of the troops were all sent to various places.
The reason why the Silver Hand was classified as the Second Legion was because the First Legion of the New Pendor was actually the original non-commissioned officer corps and the escorts in the Changhe Express - this was the earliest team, and Li Ang's legion number was just based on the time when the corps was established...
The First Legion's establishment has also expanded to two thousand people, mainly due to the continuous growth of Changhe Express's manpower.
No other troops have such numbers because they are not directly under Li Ang.
The Horn Summoning Rangers have returned to Changhe City, and Ralph has been appointed by Leon as the military officer of Changhe City again, responsible for the defense of the eastern region.
Earl Leofric became Lord of Carrondeur Castle, and his troops remained in Carrondeur Castle as a garrison.
Fothert returned to Lion Lake City with the heavy cavalry. His mission was to guard against the north and keep a close eye on the outcome of the fight for the throne between the siblings in Stern Crow Realm.
Rimousk, Lord of Walvenburg, was transferred to Imayr and granted the title of baron, under the control of Leofric. A surrendered general would definitely be transferred, and Rimousk knew this. But Leon was kind. Imayr was very close to Walven, and Imayr was a big town, so Rimousk did not suffer any loss at all.
As for Walwyn Castle, Leon made Islandir the lord, that is, he made Walwyn part of the Duchy of the Noldor.
Islandir was not Leon's direct subordinate - he was loyal to Wendy. Although Leon was the object of Wendy's loyalty, it was not in line with the procedures for him to directly appoint Islandir without Wendy.
However, no one expressed any opinion about this, and everyone tacitly agreed that Wendy's was Li Ang's...
Also assigned to the Principality of the Noldor was the castle of Amera, which was granted to Risadilan.
Of course, Lisadilan himself will not be stationed in Amela Castle permanently, and his position is still Leon's captain of the guard.
At present, the Principality of Noldor already has four outer castles - White Hart Castle, Shieldwind Fortress, Walven Castle, and Almera Castle. These castles are outside the Noldor Forest and surround the border of the Principality of Noldor.
"Your Majesty, Her Majesty Wendy has sent a message that she has led Aldarian's and Vendatil's troops through the entire forest for an inspection and will reach Castle Amela tomorrow. So far, they have not found any trace of the enemy in the forest."
Lisa Dilan was reporting military intelligence to Leon.
"That is to say, the enemy should not have been able to enter the Noldor Forest. It is probably because the road to Fiddner is not easy to travel..."
Li Ang nodded: "Send a message to Islandir to gather at Pavlon and prepare to go south to fight."
In this battle, Leon planned to use the Noldor elves as the main force - because the enemy was the Snake Cult.
On the one hand, there would certainly be no Snake Cult spies among the Noldor elves.
On the other hand, Alina sent a message from Dilingang three days ago that there seemed to be some "devoured" among the enemies, who were probably full of poison, and the losses to the conventional troops would be great.
