At this point, the nobles of the Great Purus Empire suddenly burst into a boiling discussion.

In such a crowd, even His Majesty the Emperor must not be unprovoked.

Count Cheya also came back to his senses, and as soon as these words came out, he still became the center of attention of the nobles in the audience.

The old nobles looked at this upstart promoted by His Majesty the Emperor with curiosity and goodwill, while the eyes of the more minor nobles were full of envy and jealousy.

If you want to be honest, Count Cheya himself already has a big family, and this time he exchanged his military merits for the territory, not so much a great gift from His Majesty the Emperor, but rather a matter of course.

Among the nobles who traveled with them, those counts whose territories were not far from here either did not make any reliable contributions on the battlefield, or their own heirs were difficult, and they were afraid that they did not have the ability to rule a duke's territory.

Not as blessed as he is. He himself had three sons, and his eldest and second sons were the owners of his two castles, each of which formed a family, and added him a great deal of grandchildren......

If there are not enough "own people" to rule a newly conquered territory like this, it will be somewhat disastrous for the family that rules the territory.

It's just that the emperor directly appointed him as the local duke on this occasion, and he was forced to tie him to the cart of the "imperial party".

If he has any political stance in the future, I am afraid that he will be more or less affected by this.

In the eyes of Ward, who followed him, this move was more like a "horse bone in the gold market".

In the past, the emperor recruited soldiers, all of whom did it himself, and the soldiers and the battlefield only thanked him for his kindness, and all of them were effective.

Now the emperor personally canonized the nobles of the northern land as the nobles of the newly conquered territory, which is somewhat co-opted and flattered.

After all, with the banner of Earl Cheya's promotion to duke, among the Northland Kingdom, those big families with a peak population have definitely not given up the opportunity to give up the fat on their lips.

And General Nong Nuo just acted like he didn't care about himself.

To tell the truth, he is extremely disgusted with political interference in the military.

The Earl, after adjusting the saddle a little, straightened up, and after a moment's thought, replied casually

"Your Majesty, since this is the first great victory of the Empire in the swamp, how about we please call it Elbe?"

Emperor Perris did have a happy smile on his face.

"Good name, Count Chea...... No, the Duke of Elbe, you are a loyal servant of the Empire. ”

At this moment, in the middle of the crippled tribe, nay, the central part of the city of Elbe, welcomed his first inhabitants.

It was a large group of Wiegand prisoners of war.

The Emperor conferred the prisoners of war on the Duke of Cheya in the city of Elbe.

"Weygans, although you are the defeated soldiers of our empire, I am willing to give you a way to live!"

"Pledge allegiance to the noble man before you, who will set you free. ”

Cheya was reluctant to put them to death.

It was not a wealthy and relatively densely populated riverside area, but a vast wilderness, and in this era of extreme labor shortage, the population of the fiefdom was the greatest wealth.

What's more, these leaders of the Weegand have become history, and a large number of soldiers have been killed in battle, and it is not difficult for the remaining old and weak women and children to assimilate......

Of course, after the prisoners were allocated, the most important thing was not to feast and drink, but to negotiate a further Northern Expedition.

With the experience of the last acting council, and the fact that he was the main contributor to this great victory, General Sword's military advice was even more authoritative with the blessing of multiple auras.

According to the plan that had been constructed in his mind a long time ago, he began his "speech" in front of a group of counts, generals, and His Majesty the Emperor.

"Your Majesty, and your Excellency. Thanks to the blessing of the gods, the victory was once again blamed on the Empire. Although the capture of Elbe is only the first step in our Northern Expedition, it is like the key to open the gate of the swamp......"

"It is still the winter season, and although the weather is cold, it is also easy to march, and in the previous wars, the Empire's armies have been invincible, but they have also suffered some losses, so we should muster as many troops as possible in order to maintain our superiority on the battlefield. ”

"Lord Ward, I don't mean to offend you, but I don't understand the strategy you just mentioned, could I excuse you for a moment to explain? ”

A duke from Abbasquia touched his reddish nose and continued to ask

"You just said that you want to delay the fighters, and you also mentioned plans to increase troops. From Abbaschia to Sea Castle we walked for a whole quarter, and from Sea Castle to Elbe, we also marched for more than a week. In this way, I am afraid that when the reinforcements arrive, I am afraid that it will not be until the spring of the following year. ”

"If you want me to say that since the Empire has won such a brilliant victory, and has taught these shameful barbarians a good lesson, it is better to leave a stronghold here, and it will not be too late for us to attack when the summer grain harvest is down next year. ”

Sword slowly chewed on the Duke's question, in fact, if it wasn't a Duke who was speaking at this time, he would have been furious.

As far as he could see, the nobles from the south nodded their heads, as if in support of what the Duke had said.

These people were once his strongest allies in the Northern Expedition, but now their interests have become conflicting.

As a general of the Empire, of course, Sword is willing to continue the Northern Expedition, because only in this way will there be more military achievements, and he can take the opportunity to support more henchmen, and before he leaves the Knights, he will plant a few nails for himself in the core of the Empire, so as to maintain the development space of his family for a long time.

But as a nobleman in the kingdom of Abbasquia, he also knew what these people really thought in their hearts.

The war had mobilized the most precious labor force on their farms, and when spring came, if the soldiers and laborers in the troops did not return to their land, the losses would be much greater than the war achievements.

Still, Sword was not prepared to leave the fate of the Legion's advance in the hands of these people.

Their plan sounds tempting and reasonable, but in reality it's all pitfalls.

Not to mention anything else, the amount of gold spent on an expedition like this is a thoroughly astronomical amount. If it weren't for the emperor's deignation to cooperate with the clergy, the empire's treasury would not have been able to pull out a single penny.

Moreover, although the current Wiegand tribes seem to be vulnerable, in fact the empire has only hit two or three tribes, and they are all still alive, if there is another "southern expedition" between them, wouldn't it make the efforts of this northern expedition useless?

"Lord Duke of Leon, don't worry about the reinforcements, I have communicated with several Dukes of the North Sea Kingdom, they have already hated the traitorous behavior of the former North Sea King Orlov, and have already sent a letter to support our cause, as far as the last reply from the messenger came, they have already met in the Sea Castle, and they have come all the way to our hind feet. ”

"What's more, I trust the warriors of our empire more, and I will definitely not be frightened by a few barbarians, increasing the number of troops is just to be able to further rule these Wiegand people, even if we don't have any reinforcements, I am sure to lead the troops to win this battle!"

"Just a few more days now, the Empire can afford it. It just so happens that we can take advantage of this time to tidy up the ruins of Elbe City a little, I don't think Duke Cheya will object to it, right?"

Oppose?

Joke, with such a group of cheap laborers working for him, Cheya can't be happy.

But the Duke of Leon was bored with himself, so he sat down again.

He was already old, and he had not made much achievements in his life, so he chose to speak on behalf of the nobles at this conference, but he did not expect that General Sword had already prepared, and he only lost face to himself.

The young nobles who originally treated him with kind eyes, I don't know when, they all seemed to sit farther away, unwilling to be with him, a "coward".

This is the role of the Sward Knight's "knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger".

Realizing that there was some "anti-country" thinking in the army, he added one or two words to the originally organized language that promoted the bravery of the imperial soldiers, and in this way he stimulated these nobles.

Of course, the side effects of this were also obvious, and Duke Leon was slightly bruised by his unkind words, and after looking around for a week, Duke Leon finally left the meeting area with a red face.

But his rebellion was only for his own dignity, and it had no effect on the established strategic plan.

On the contrary, after the meeting, General Nonnor came to Sword and said with a big grin:

"Hey, if I were that old man, I would have come to you for a duel. When the time comes, whether I win or lose, I can get my face back, but the old guy just scolded and walked away, which shows that he is really a farmer who should go to farm, not a general who leads troops on the battlefield. ”

Sword was so angry with Non Nuo's words that he wanted to laugh out loud.

"Do you think everyone is like you, and doesn't take politics seriously?

"Yes, yes...... You are the majestic commander of the three armed forces, and I am a southerner who has never seen the world, but I can't compare to the dignity you came. ”

Although the two were still arguing on the surface, the smile on their faces couldn't be hidden.

After two battles, they have already gained each other's trust.

Nong Nuo smiled, his face returned to his usual stiff face, and asked:

"What you just said, when the reinforcements from the Beihai Kingdom come, how sure are you that it will come true?"

Ward's face became serious, he glanced at his surroundings for a moment, and finally lowered his voice and spoke slowly

"If the Wiegand people were as weak as the first one we saw, then I'd be 10 percent. If it's as tough as the battle we fought in Elbe......"

"That's not a good idea. ”

"Even if it's the Southern Legion that crushes me?"

"Plus your Southern Legion? How many people have you brought here, and how many are left? Nine hundred? How many Wiegand are in front of us? To say the least, there must be a hundred thousand! Nine hundred, one hundred thousand, they are standing and letting your people kill, how long are you going to kill?"

"Then what are you going to do? Fear is left to the unknown, and when the Imperial legions fight a few more times, leave a few more alive, and our army has a few catties and taels, they will know it all. ”

"Phew! As far as the current prisoner of war policy is spread, even my army with the Wiegand people will dare to fight, and we are now simply clearing the worries of these barbarians! They can fight if they want to, and if they don't want to fight, they can live with their weapons thrown away. What about the empire? What should we do? If we lose the war now, just rely on what you and I have done in Sea Castle, and wait for the public trial after returning home! Think about it, a crime of treason, a crime of killing a king, even if we fight for the title of duke, we will have to pull off a layer of skin!"

"And what do you mean?"

"Kill them all! You can't leave them alive, you can leave them alive, they will survive, but we will be the ones who die!"

As he said this, Sward Knight's cheeks became a little distorted again, and his eyes revealed a fierce look.

He tightened his grip on the hilt of his saber and said:

"Good brother, in the past two days, the troops and His Majesty the Emperor have been handed over to you, and I will go to the swamp of the Wigand people to look for their troubles. ”

Nonno knew what Sword was referring to, as a general who really enjoyed the war, he didn't care what means were used on the battlefield, such as the members of the Order not attacking before the enemy found out about them, which seemed unnecessary to him.

But if he is really asked to spread fear by killing, this still makes him a little uncomfortable.

He hesitated for a moment, then retorted:

"But His Majesty the Emperor, and your knight brothers, can they agree?"

The Sward Knight let go of his grip on the hilt of his sword and lowered it, and slammed his hammer in front of him with some weakness.

It was as if it was back in the night, everyone was celebrating, but he was the only one who was worried and confused about the future.

"Empire, can you really win?"

"I can't win!"

A young man in a short shirt stuck the wooden sword in his hand into the ground as if he were angry, and at this moment, his forehead was already covered with sweat.

"How many years have you been practicing swords, and how long have I been practicing? How could I possibly win you?".

"Hey, if you don't try to push your limits, how can you improve?"

Another tall boy replied with a smile, unlike the boy in a short shirt, although he also held a wooden sword in his hand, his wrist was not affected by it in the slightest, and he held it on his chest with one hand as if he were lifting weights, which was quite a bit of ease.

Everyone