The Empire's Elok Assault and Defense, which had involved four legions and cost countless sums of money, was fought for nearly a month under the command of Sindar Danediv, the new ruler of the Empire and the first order of succession to the Emperor's throne, and finally ended in a dramatic retreat.

In the aftermath of the war, Prince Sinda's prestige among the nobility, especially among the upper echelons of the Empire, plummeted, and some nobles even publicly condemned him for his crimes and demanded that he relinquish his status as the Emperor's first-order heir. But Prince Sinda made the right decision a few months ago... His marriage to Penny made him rock solid.

Eventually, Prince Sinda, with the help of his father-in-law, Duke Nick, sent a proclamation to various parts of the Sukh Plain: At the beginning of the new year, the empire will deploy 100,000 troops, and Prince Sinda Danediv will completely annihilate the remnants of the rebel First Army in the northern territory of Fort Eluk, and force the Second Army of the rebels to retreat into Fort Eluk.

...

Although Prince Sinda chose to retreat fifty miles, the campaign in the Fort Iruk area did not end there.

The Empire has ushered in a real showdown with the elves!

The War Secretary, Marquis Barry Victor, resigned due to the defeat at Fort Iruk, the Marquis Neptor Quint, who was in charge of military affairs in Kwyn, succeeded to the post of Minister of War on the recommendation of Prime Minister Duke Nick, and Barry Wicktor was demoted to the post of Military Coordinator of Kwyn and Prime Minister Kwyn Foreign Military Affairs.

After the Marquis Nepdo took office, he did not rush to expand the armament war, nor did he pay attention to the elves' covenants, he first reorganized the original sixth, eighth, ninth, and provisional fifteenth legions, and disbanded the staff group formed by the young men around Prince Sinda, and formed a separate combat headquarters.

The commander of the Imperial Ninth Legion, Kim Valer, was removed from the Ninth Legion and reappointed as Chief of Staff of the Operational Command, in a sense his status was promoted, but his actual rights were greatly reduced;

In addition, the Marquis of Nepdo transferred the main forces of the elite infantry of the Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, and Provisional Fifteenth Army Corps to the Right Infantry Corps, with Viscount Bryze as the chief of staff of the legion, and Countess Caren-Sibo, the third deputy officer of the military department, as the commander of the Right Infantry Corps;

In addition, the rest of the four legions were reorganized into a mixed corps on the left, and Viscount Stuven was reappointed as the chief of staff of the legion, and surprisingly, the former commander of the Third Legion, Viscount Bivis, who had been defeated in Haditi not long ago, was recommended by the Marquis of Nepdo, and was transferred to the commander of the legion after the amnesty document signed by the Prime Minister Duke Nick himself.

Viscount Blaze, the former commander of the Eighth Army, was transferred from the front and appointed as the fourth deputy officer of the military headquarters.

As the supreme commander of the attack and defense of Fort Eluk, Prince Sinda originally wanted to stay on the front line, but the Marquis Neptor was unwilling, and the other nobles of the empire were also opposed, and finally returned to the Lion Castle under the persuasion of Duke Nick and quietly waited for the coronation ceremony two months later.

...

On 25 January, after five days of repairs at Fort Eluk, an army of 50,000 from ten elven outposts launched a surprise attack on the three lines of defense that the Empire had placed in the hilly terrain southeast of Tyre.

On 26 January, the battle was in full swing when the Paladins suddenly broke out from the left side of the Empire's defenses, and three hours later, the elven army retreated and retreated directly to Fort Eluk.

When Bishop Geoffrid, the commander of the Paladin's Legion, saw that the elves had retreated to the castle, he immediately asked the Marquis of Neptor to help him attack Fort Aluk, hoping to drive the elves out of the empire in a single battle. However, the Marquis of Nepdo did not accede to this request, and even within two days, Bishop Geoffred did not even find the Marquis of Nepdo.

It wasn't until the end of the month that the Marquis of Neptor made an appearance, and after an hour of conversation with Bishop Geoffed, Bishop Geoffred was persuaded by the Marquis of Neptor to agree to Marquis Nepdo's suggestion not to attack Fort Elok for the time being.

Soon, the war-torn Ellan Continent ushered in the second month of the new year.

The war on the mainland is still in full swing...

The Grand Duke of Lotfield under the leadership of Cullen continues to fight the dwarven hoplites, and the Grand Chief of Shikan in the north is reorganizing his army after the war with the Overseers of Festo, and at the same time reclaiming the land of the Klan Territory to raise food and grass for the next greater war of unification.

On the Hoko Islands, the Kingdom of Misha and Nix City have finally been on track after nearly two months of running-in, and the werewolves have been partying for a month, during which time they have not even had the elves urging them to send troops to Fort Eluk.

...

On February 5,

The Imperial Prime Minister, Duke Nick, came to the Prime Minister's Office early, as usual.

Outside his office, there were two people waiting for a long time, one was Viscount Temple-Bob, dressed in gray cotton and wearing a thick fluffy hat, with the most humble smile on his face, and the other was the Imperial Chancellor, Count Stu-Gara, who was chatting with Viscount Templeto with a flowery smile on his face.

When Duke Nick approached him, Viscount Dempto immediately ended his chat with Count Stu, and walked up to Count Stu in small steps, quickly took off the hat on his head, and bowed humbly: "Duke Nick, long time no see." ”

Duke Nick also had a warm smile on his face, and said in a relaxed tone: "It's been almost a year, the last time we met at my mansion, you were carrying a whole box of gold with you. ”

"But you kicked me out of the mansion. "Viscount Dempto spread his hands.

"You shouldn't be carrying a box of gold. Duke Nick opened the door to his office and led the two of them in.

Viscount Dempto explained: "I just want to make a deal with Crewe. ”

"I can only be the prime minister of the empire in the imperial capital, and if you want to do business with the Reagan family, you should find Omar in Crewe City... Oh, and now all you need to look for is Pedi. The sadness in the eyes of the Imperial Prime Minister vanished.

Viscount Dempto nodded earnestly, "Now I know. ”

While the three of them were talking, they sat on the guest sofa near the window in this office, and the staff of the office skillfully brought three cups of tea.

"Tell me about you, we've been pretty busy lately. Duke Nick picked up his teacup and sniffed it, but didn't drink it, "So, we must waste time that we don't have to waste." ”

Viscount Dempto straightened up, "The Chamber of Commerce Alliance wants to be treated fairly. ”

"Isn't the Empire fair enough to the Chamber of Commerce Alliance?" Duke Nick laughed, "Nearly eighty percent of the Central Empire's markets, from the westernmost villages and towns of the Suker Plains to the north, east, and the warring Fort Erruk, are controlled by you. ”

"That was before, Duke, and now..."

"Okay, let's talk about the past. Duke Nick interrupted Viscount Temple, "Do you know how many cases of merchants being robbed on the official roads of the Empire in the past? some even happened outside the Imperial Capital, according to the reports received by the Security Department and the City Defense Battalion, almost the entire Empire was under the control of the robbers. ”

Duke Nick's words became colder and colder the more he spoke, "Viscount Dempto, tell me, what kind of robber can have such ability?" said here, the Imperial Prime Minister looked puzzled as if he suddenly remembered something, "The caravan of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance has never had such a problem. ”

Viscount Dempto was a little surprised by the topic that Duke Nick had raised, and Earl Stu frowned.

"Our caravans have special escorts. Viscount Dempto hurriedly explained.

Duke Nick didn't seem to hear Viscount Dempto's explanation, and he changed his words again and said, "Do you know what the Empire needs most right now?"

"In the town of Kwyn, the empire needs to support nearly eighty thousand troops. Count Stu took over the words: "There are four legions in the area of Fort Elook that need to be supplied by the Empire, the construction of the defense line of the Grand Canyon of Ronais now costs thousands of gold coins per day, and Fort Norma needs the support of the Imperial Cabinet for nearly 100,000 gold coins per month against the coalition of rebels and elves led by Felder. ”

"We need money, Viscount. Duke Nick shrugged, "If the Chamber of Commerce Alliance can help the Cabinet through this, I will consider any of your needs." ”

"We..."

"Also, the private army of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance must be disbanded!" Duke Nick changed his words and interrupted Viscount Temple's words: "There should not be an army in the empire that is not subject to the control of the empire, I will give you three days, and after three days you will come back to talk to me about the so-called fairness." ”