In the state office of the Duchy of Châtead Eliburg, lords from all over the world and high-ranking generals of the army gathered.

The Battle of Fort Ventsun, the erroneous war is over, and the Grand Duke of Trofil needs to convene a general meeting of the nobles of the realm to decide the path of the duchy next.

The state council did not go well at first, and the nobles were not in the habit of sitting down and meeting quietly, and the conflicts and hatreds that had accumulated between them over the past few hundred years led to a series of pointless quarrels and conflicts.

Strangely enough, Trofell did not stop the argument between the nobles, he did not even say a word, he just sat quietly in the office chair that belonged to him, and read the urgent mail sent from all over the place.

The first day of the meeting was spent in endless arguments,

The next day it continued

It was not until the afternoon of 25 July that Sir Naclay Pouck, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Principality, returned to the castle and spoke alone with Trofil until the evening.

July 26, morning.

The nobles arrived early at the State Office of Château d'Eli, but Trofil preserved them.

Today, the representatives of the nobility everywhere did not continue to quarrel, they gathered in small circles and whispered about their own secrets.

At half past seven, the Archduke of Trofil, who was concentrating on his work, put down the papers in his hand at the reminder of the Secretary-General, Sir Ernest, raised his head and began to examine the people in the office.

However, because of the previous few days, most people didn't notice that their Grand Duke was already planning to officially start reminiscing. Trofil's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he leaned back against the office chair, while his knuckles gently anxiously drew the attention of the nobles.

The sound of the "tuk tuk" successfully attracted enough people from all ethnic groups to quickly end the conversation in their respective circles.

"Sir Naclay-Oak, tell me first about the intelligence of the Defence Service. Trofeld's voice was very low, which made the nobles who were far away sound very difficult, so when he spoke, the nobles behind began to subconsciously move forward.

"Yes, Your Highness. Sir Nacle-Oak straightened his back and nodded to the many nobles around him, "Two months ago, our spies in the Clans sent word that Shikan-Silveraxe was leading his main force back to the Western Continent in an attempt to gain control of the Western Continent. ”

Sir Naclay Pouk is not only the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Principality, but also the head of the National Security and Defence Department, and he kept reading the documents written in cipher in his hand as he spoke, "After a month's investigation, the Defense Department has confirmed through various verifications including the Koran Territory, the Sea-going Caravan of Balantown, and the goblins, and this information is absolutely reliable!"

"It seems that the rumors are not wrong, you plan to start a war against the Klan Territory?" Count Corich-Dana, the Grand Lord of the Zecora Fort region, looked at the Grand Duke of Trofil and frowned and said, "The Duchy has just gone through the war, and I don't think it's the best choice to challenge the orcs now... We need at least two years to renovate. ”

"I agree. Viscount Pelux-Cather, Supreme Lord of the Vintesenburg region, immediately responded, "Because of the mistaken war that has taken place between us in the last two years, and the whole part of the Duchy has been exhausted... Most of our people are even worried about tomorrow's food, and it would be unwise to go to war at such a time. He and Coritsch-Dana looked at Trofeld after looking at each other, "Or rather, we don't have the ability to wage foreign wars right now." ”

"It's an opportunity, and it's not always available. "The Orcs are not as terrible as you think, for the past two years they have fought a difficult battle with the Zora family in the Klan Territory, followed by months of internal unrest, then dwarves ravaging their lair, and now an even more difficult internal war. His gaze swept over the other two High Lords, respectively, "Perhaps, the current orcs are worse than us. ”

"Yes, maybe it's an opportunity, but war is no joke. Viscount Pelux-Cather was apparently unconvinced, and he shrugged his shoulders and said disapprovingly: "First of all, we have to raise funds to wage war, I don't know what your situation is, but Ventsonburg is now struggling to feed even ordinary citizens... And, with autumn just around the corner, I don't want to gamble on the fate of Ventsenburg for the next ten or even decades because of an unknown war. ”

Although the Karen Territory has a rich history and culture, it has not developed well in the increasingly prosperous trading economy of the past hundred years due to its isolation from the Lordan and Esbo Mountains.

The influence on the Cullen Collar on the mainland is very ordinary: it has a long history, the heavy armor equipment is very good, and the green fruit wine tastes good.

Although Karen's cooperation with the dwarves has made them have the highest level of equipment production in the entire continent, the premise is that the dwarves have an unlimited supply of raw ore.

The Karen Territory has no mineral resources such as iron ore and tin ore, and most of their equipment is made by dwarves, or purchased from the port of Balan Town. But whether it's relying on the dwarves or buying from Balan, the cost of waste is simply frightening.

Therefore, unless necessary, the rest of the continent, including the orcs, will not buy the expensive weapons and equipment of the Karen Collar.

"It is precisely because of the current difficulties that we should seize this opportunity all the more. Viscount Palek-Anto's voice unconsciously widened, "Gaining control of the land of the Crane Territory is equivalent to opening up the passage to the outside of the Cullen Territory, and only in this way can the Principality be developed to the maximum." He said and looked at Count Corridge-Dana, "You're right, the Duchy needs time to recuperate now, two years, what will happen in two years, can you predict it?"

He pointed to the huge map on the left wall of the state office, "Two years ago, who of you would have thought that the empire would be wiped off this map, two years ago the orcs were weak representatives in your eyes that they could be ravaged at will, but now? you are afraid of the great military power of the orcs, so... If we don't seize the opportunity in front of us to rise quickly, we may be the ones who will be wiped off the map two years from now!"

The more Viscount Palek-Anto spoke, the more agitated he became, and the last sentence was utterly roared.

And his eloquent words immediately infected the vast majority of nobles, making them unconsciously bow their heads in thought, even the Counts of Corich Dyner and Viscount Perux Cather.

"Pop" Archduke Trofell clapped his hands lightly, waking everyone up from his contemplation, he did not make any comments on the opinions of the three high lords, but turned to look at the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sir Naclay Oak, "You continue your report, Sir. ”

Naclay Pouk nodded and continued to be interrupted, "We have determined that after the main force of Shikan-Silveraxe left the Klan Territory, we have conducted indiscriminate reconnaissance of all the orc garrison camps in the Klan Territory for the past month. He quickly flipped through the documents in his hand, "Yesterday, the staff of the Defense Department came to the conclusion after three days of summarizing the news that the current orc garrison in Klan Ling will definitely not exceed two flag regiments, and all of them are C-level troops that are not even numbered. ”

"That means there's only 30,000 troops in the entire Crane Territory?"

"So what are you waiting for, we should seize this opportunity. ”

"It only takes half a month for the Orc army in Anku Fortress to reinforce all parts of the Klan Territory, and a blind attack will only bring us disaster. ”

"The army of the Anku Fortress is busy with their internal war, and there is no surplus source of power, the Klan Territory. ”

The aristocrats and generals expressed their opinions.

Earl Corridge-Dyna listened to everyone's words and took two steps forward to his desk, staring at Trofil: "We have an agreement with the orcs, do you know what it means to tear up the agreement?" he said in a warning tone: "According to intelligence, the war of unification of the orcs will end in half a year at most, do you think about how we will face the wrath of the orcs in half a year?"

"It's a big deal to have an all-out war!" Trofil and Coric looked at each other and said indifferently: "The orcs are no longer the orcs of two years ago, and even if they end the civil war, they will not be able to start a war against us in the first place... Conversely, it is most dangerous to let the orcs stay in the Klan Territory. ”

"Not bad. The Minister of Finance, Baron Barnett Banlow, stepped forward and pulled out a few scribbled papers on yellow paper from a stack of papers in his hand and placed them on his desk, "The spirit and creativity of the orcs are much stronger than we imagined, and in the past two years, the materials created by the orc immigrants in the Crane Territory are enough for the army of hundreds of thousands of Shikan-Silver Axes for three years. ”

"Of course, this is due to the fact that the cost of orc warriors is very low, but this statistic is quite terrifying. Barnett-Banloff's words made the nobles' discussion gradually quieter, "If we allow the orcs to develop in the Klan territory for another two years, at that time, the orc tribes that have completed the unification war will become a disaster for the entire Elan continent, and besides, I don't think it is possible for us to avoid this disaster... Don't forget, Karen Territory was originally the land of orc ancestors!"

"It's not that I don't fight this war, it's that I can't fight it. Viscount Pelux-Cather frowned and said, "Fort Ventson needs to defend against the dwarves, and it can't use the extra strength to fight this war..."He looked at Trofil, "Although the orcs only have 30,000 unnumbered C-level troops in the Crane Territory, the orcs are almost all soldiers, and the moment our army steps into the Crane Territory, their immigrants in the Crane Territory can become a huge army in the blink of an eye!"

"The dwarven wars in the Western Continent speak for themselves... At the beginning, the dwarves originally planned to use two legions to sweep the territory of the Ice Maple Clan without an army garrison, but the fact is that in the end they had to add three more legions!" "Viscount Perusco-Cather's face was solemn, "In other words, the five heavy legions of the dwarves plus the other troops of about 110,000 troops, it took almost two years to completely capture the Ice Maple Clan from a group of old and weak women and children, and finally had to shrink their forces to build a defensive line to prevent the Orcs from counterattacking after the end of the unified war!"

"And we want to go to war against an orc force of nearly 30,000 regular troops, as well as a large number of orc laborers based on them. Pelux-Kaiser shook his head and counted: "I think it was a very unwise decision. ”

"It's not just us, Duke Andy Barrett, the barbarians, and the Count of Pelus (canonized by the Empire) have all promised to send troops. Sir Naclay-Puk hurriedly added, "Moreover, the Elven Alliance, which has just gained the control of the Suk Plain, is also eager to regain control of the Tephilo Grassland!"

"The convergence of all forces will form a huge encirclement. For the first time, Sir Ifri Fitzgero, the Marshal of the Duchy, expressed his opinion, "With the current Orc garrison under the Crane Command, there is no way to fight on multiple fronts..."He looked at Pelux-Cather, who wanted to continue talking, and said: "The reason why it is difficult for dwarves to advance on the Western Continent is because they are not familiar with the local terrain, and they don't know how to divide troops, and the old-fashioned dwarves always hope to be able to defeat the main force of the orcs with a huge army, but they don't know that the concentration of orcs is the most terrible. ”

"And our war against the Klan Territory this time will mobilize all the surrounding forces to encircle and suppress the forces of the orcs in the Klan Territory. Ivry Fitzgero repeated: "The Orcs of the Klan Territory are not capable of fighting on multiple fronts at all. ”

Pelux Kaiser fell into thought after hearing these words, and Colic Dana frowned and tried to find a reason to object, but he thought about it but did not think of a strong objection. At this time, Trofil said: "The Elven Alliance not only promised to send troops this time, they promised to borrow 500,000 yuan from us without interest. ”

"Elven Golden Dragon Coins?"

"Krona!"

"The elves want us to help them defend against the orcs. Viscount Palek-Anto looked helpless.

"But we don't have a choice, do we?" Trofil shrugged and looked at Pelux Cather, "The military expenses for this war are organized by the Château de Eli. When everyone was surprised, he continued: "Don't worry, I won't deprive you of your power, you just need to obey the unified deployment of the High Command, and I won't care about anything else." ”

Pelux-Kaiser thought for a moment and said, "I need time to think about it. ”

"Give you two days. ”

"Good..."

Trofil smiled and looked at Coric Dana.

"Tuk Tuk"

Just as Coric-Dyner was about to reply, there was a sudden knock on the huge door of the state office. Trofil looked at the door with some surprise, and instructed the nobleman who was close to the door, "Open the door." ”

Entering the room was a young man, Baron Garricklin, the eldest son of Trofil, who ignored everyone's gaze and walked straight to his father Trofil and whispered, "I just got the news that the orcs are evacuating the Crane Territory..."