In the afternoon, the town of Vichy.

In a villa surrounded by tea plantations at the foot of Rocky Mountain, the former Imperial Marshal Lewis sits on a wicker chair in the courtyard drinking tea.

It's winter season, and the afternoon sun in the south is still very warm.

After three months of recuperation, his physical condition has improved significantly, and his daily life is no longer major except for the fact that he still needs to walk with the help of a wooden cane.

This country house, which was given to him by Sean, is worth a lot of money.

The scenery here is beautiful and the winters are warm, which is very conducive to his recuperation, and the locals respect him.

This made Lewis very fond of it, especially after Sean was very considerate in bringing his family over.

Considering that his family lives in the Holy City and is under the close watchful eye of the Tulip Party, it will not be easy to get them out intact.

Sean never gave him the details, but Lewis knew it would come at a cost.

Since Lewis was sent here, many exiles have visited the villa.

Among them were the royal family, nobles, financiers, and wealthy merchants, and these people were in Poitu to keep warm, and they were not small. However, the Genoese were eyed by the wealth in their pockets and did not share their ideas, and some even thought that these wealthy outsiders were eroding their interests.

At first the marshal was patient with these exiles, but later he was also annoyed, because every time they came, the marshal lost a fortune to support the restoration of the country, and now no one paid him an annuity, and the family members could not bring out much property.

To this day, he still does not dare to forget the emperor's gifts and cultivation, and he does not want to save the emperor for a day, but he knows that his physical condition is no longer suitable for showing his head, and he can at most be under the care of the servants, walking into the town with a wooden cane, and he is already out of breath.

The royalists were just trying to borrow his name, and Lewis didn't mind, just as he generously donated money, which was the greatest contribution he could make so far.

It's just that these people disappointed Lewis a little, and these people were more enthusiastic about throwing balls and socializing than Fuguo, and talked and pointed out at the balls.

Today, the most famous royalist Joseph Frank came to visit Lewis, but Lewis could not be absent. This Frank is probably the only royalist who is doing real things.

Lewis was in fact also somewhat dissatisfied with Frank, who was undoubtedly derelict in his duties as the head of the Empire's intelligence and secret forces.

Lewis even heard that some royalists were quite skeptical of Frank's inaction in launching a rebellion.

Whenever he saw Frank humbly appear before him, Lewis couldn't help but think of His Majesty the Emperor, who was secretly imprisoned by the Tulip Party.

"Marshal, your complexion is much better than the last time we met. This is a blessing for the Empire. Frank Road.

"Actually, it's still the same, and probably the rest of my life will be the same. Lewis said, a little sad.

It was the twilight of a marshal, and the former exploits and glory disappeared with the fall of the emperor.

He knew that Frank was planning to form a restoration army, and that he had already raised a huge sum of money, and that most of the tens of thousands of people who had fled from the north were wealthy people, and each of them gave a symbolic 12,000, which was an astronomical amount.

However, very few of the Frankish men knew about military affairs, and those who had served in the army had only gilded their resumes in the army, and they generously paid for the restoration of the country, and although there were many loyalists, many of them simply wanted to seek a position in the royalists.

On more than one occasion, Frank expressed his desire for Lewis to recover as soon as possible in order to command the future Restoration Army. If Lewis is in good health, he is certainly the best choice for commander-in-chief of the Restoration Army.

But Frank was going to be disappointed, not because Lewis was unwilling, but because his physical condition did not allow it, and he had to rest for a while to walk for a while. Poitou's most brilliant physician said that it was a gift from God that Lewis was able to restore himself to the way he is now.

Listening to the marshal's depressed words, Frank was also a little gloomy.

Although learning that the crown prince had managed to break through the Assyrian blockade and gain a foothold in Irulsund gave him hope, the situation was still not optimistic.

If he gathers the royalists to open up a battlefield in the south, it will be a great help to the crown prince, whom he has always supported.

But he was also keenly aware of a change in the attitude of the Genoese, and became more and more wary of their group, even crediting the tragedy of Poitou's naval shelling on the Royalists, who, as the newspapers controlled by the Tulip Party in the Holy City put it, were attacked by the Royalists. Qianqian

"Marshal, I have come this time to resign. Frank took a sip of tea.

Lewis was taken aback: "Are you going to go to His Highness Jean?"

"No, I'm going to St. Noowe. That's probably where I play to my strengths. "Although the Genoese stand on the opposite side of the Holy City, they are not of the same mind as us, and I cannot use them here." ”

Sitting in the courtyard, Frank looked at the white buildings of the rose garden not far away:

"You may also sense that the Genoese and the southerners as a whole do not want to be in the league with the rebels, but they do not want to see the authority of the Emperor again, and even that they are in their bones in favor of some of the ideas of the Tulip Party. Without their consent, I can't recruit more than a company of soldiers here. ”

"So you want to go north of the Ott Mountains to form an army?" Lewis asked.

"Yes, I have many friends in Saint-Nouvé, who have written to welcome me there, and the local nobility, still loyal to the Empire, have formed a sizable army, the commander of which Admiral Blair Christian and Lieutenant General Jeff Gregory. "They all openly declared their allegiance to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. ”

Lewis nodded, and he ordered the servant to find a pen and paper, and asked the servant to write down a list of names in an oral manner, and then handed it to Frank:

"These St. Nouvians were my men, and although some of them are disabled or not young, they have all experienced real wars and can help you build and train your army. In addition, when Sean was in charge of the Western Front, he dismissed a lot of officers, who should be scattered in the northern provinces, and they are at least much better than the bombastic people around you. ”

Frank accepted the list and laughed miserably: "Thank you, Your Excellency. ”

Lewis sighed: "I hope this can help you, there are not many loyal people like you anymore." But ......"

"Marshal, do you have anything to say?" asked Frank as Lewis stopped talking.

"Have you ever been to the Rose Garden?" asked Lewis, referring to Sean.

"Of course I do. Frank laughed, "Sean was very warm to me, he entertained me with the best food and wine. ”

"That's all?"

"That's all!" Frank's face was a little unsightly.

This is probably one of the important reasons why he came up with the idea of going north to St. Nouvé to seek another development.

Obviously, the count, who had great influence in Genoa, would only be on the side of the Genoese. Out of sensitivity to the conspiracy, Frank even feels that Sean has a shadow behind the recent changes in public opinion and public sentiment.

As everyone knows, isn't the concept of the so-called Southern Alliance first proposed by Adrian Major, Sean's aide? This shows some of Sean's political tendencies hiding behind the scenes.

Compared to these royalists, Southerners, including Sean, did not share a grudge against the Holy City.

Less than half an hour after Frank left Marshal Lewis's villa, Sean received information on the details of the meeting.

"It seems that this friend of mine is leaving, and it is a wise move. Sean said to Major with a smile.

"That's what we're trying to achieve. Major responded, pausing, "But our situation isn't too shaky. The Bilisians still refused to withdraw from the Snowy Mountains Province, and the two generals, Grant and Dalhou, could only maintain the balance of power, while the three divisions of the Nationalist Army were held back by the Forces nouvelles and could not move. This is a logistical test for us, as we are no longer able to transport supplies by sea and inland waterways. ”

"What if we withdraw Grant and Dalhou's forces, as well as the Nationalists?" asked Sean.

Major exclaimed: "This is absolutely impossible, and the victory in hand cannot be given up because of Poitou's small wounds." Moreover, morally speaking, your previous counterattack against the Bilisian invasion has put you on the moral high ground, and if you give up, let the Bilisians make a comeback will damage your reputation. We could have negotiated secretly with the Bilisians, who were too exhausted to launch another decent attack. ”

"It makes me feel like I'm riding a tiger. Sean nodded, "Grant and Dalhaw's troops are too far away from us, and for every 1 gold louis of supplies we transport, we will spend at least 2 gold louis, and the Genoese will probably find it difficult to endure this for too long." ”

"Yes, with all due respect, compared to me, the pattern of southerners is still smaller, they only care about the people and things around them, and forget about long-term interests. "Genoa have too many advantages in this great upheaval, but their ambition or ambition is really insufficient, and if it weren't for the shelling of Poitou, they would have been indifferent to what is happening in the Holy City." Previously, they allowed you to lead your army north and provide war resources to support it, which is a miracle. ”

"Adrian, I completely agree with your judgment, but how to change the preconceived notions of the Genoese?" Major's analysis made Sean empathize, but without the support of the Genoese, Sean could not let go.

"I have a plan...... "Major lowered his voice, his face a little unnatural, "it requires your consent, it's not even ...... reputation"