In the territory of the Riga Empire, ten miles before the Huaishui Pass, a group of nine people slowly walked up a hillside and looked at it from a distance.

Some of these nine people were wearing armor, some were wearing French robes, and some looked like ordinary people at all.

They were dressed in dust, and the expressions on their faces were quite tired. There are still traces of battle on the bodies of several tall war professionals. There still seemed to be a faint smell of blood in the surrounding air.

Led by an old man in his fifties and a rather dignified appearance, he looked ahead and said slowly: "Over there, it's Huaishui Guan, right?" ”

"Yes, sir."

The old man's tone was flat, and he couldn't see his joy or anger: "In other words, have we finally arrived at the Glorious Empire?" ”

"Yes, sir." The man bowed and replied, "Now the Glorious Empire is engaged in a great war with the Riga Empire in front of the Huaishui Pass, and the guard of the pass is the Grand Duke Mattesias of the province of Edinburgh. Shall we get in touch with him first? ”

"No need, let's go around it, we'll go straight to their king. We've been delayed for too long along the way, and there's no need to waste time here. ”

The old man's tone was still flat, but those who knew him well could hear the suppressed anger in his words.

"Hmph, five months, five whole months! At the speed of the nine of us, five months was enough time to walk back and forth between the east and west ends of the continent. The flies of the Riga Empire are waiting for me, and when I have completed the task given to us by the Lord, I will slowly settle the account with you. ”

The other eight stood silently behind him.

In the dreary and windless air, the old man's voice wafted.

"Let's go!"

A group of nine people, leaving behind the flat and wide avenue, turned to the dense jungle.

They planned to bypass the Huaishui Pass diagonally and enter the glorious empire from the steep mountains.

For high-level professionals like them, whether the roads are clear, whether the terrain is rough, etc., cannot be a reason to stop them from moving forward.

At most, that is, a little effort.

A moment later, on the hillside where the nine people had stayed and looked into the distance, two other groups of people appeared.

From their figures, their clothing, and the weapons they held, it was clear that one team was full of fighters and the other was full of magicians.

The two stood side by side at the forefront, looking in the direction of the previous nine people from a distance.

Of course, there is no human figure at all now.

"You're just watching, aren't you going to do anything to stop them?" The leader of the fighters turned his head to the mage beside him and asked.

The magician shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands: "How to stop it?" ”

The fighter raised his eyebrows: "What did you do before, can't you continue to do it now?" ”

The mage shook his head: "It was in the territory of the Riga Empire before, and the Holy Empire was fighting with them. As long as I casually report to the high-level officials of the Riga Empire, saying that they are spies, naturally someone will bring a large team of soldiers and horses to hunt them down and encircle them. But now that it is almost to the glorious empire, where Dino, one of the six famous generals, is leading troops to attack Huaishui Pass, where is there any heart to care about this little 'spy' of less than ten people. ”

He also turned his head and looked at the fighter beside him: "Being able to hold them back for so long has exceeded my expectations, it's very good." Come down again, unless we tear our faces and shoot directly at them. Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't be able to do anything. ”

The fighter seemed startled and waved his hand repeatedly.

"That's not going to work! I'm not afraid of them, and I've never liked them. But if you attack directly, it will be tantamount to declaring war on the Holy See of Light. I can't afford to be a responsibility. ”

He glanced at the magician and added:

"We can't afford it."

"So, that's all there is to it." The magician spread his hands again.

The fighter suddenly remembered something, and asked curiously: "Speaking of which, what are these guys from the Bright Sect who did not hesitate to risk traversing the entire Riga Empire and running thousands of miles to the remote and glorious empire?" Our boss only told me to come and help you, as if he didn't know what was going on. ”

The magician's eyes twinkled, and his gaze flickered.

"How do I know this? Like you, I just do what I am told. By the way, although we can't take action directly, it is impossible for the army of the Glorious Empire to round up the people of the Holy See of Light. But it's still okay to follow them and secretly cause sabotage and trouble. ”

The magician suddenly patted his head, looked abrupt, and changed the subject without a trace.

"Okay, then let's go, don't lose it!"

The fighter didn't notice anything unusual, his eyes lit up with excitement. Without waiting for his partner to answer, he took the lead and chased forward quickly.

The fighters behind him also moved in unison, following closely behind.

The magician looked at their backs, a smile of inexplicability on his face. Then he raised his hand and beckoned back, and said in a deep voice:

"Let's go too!"

……

The warm breeze of early summer blows through, driving the two huge flags of the glorious empire and the province of Aberdeen to dance and hunt.

Centered on two flags, countless tents stretched out in all directions. No matter which direction you look at, you can't see the end.

Further out, there are rows of barricades, barricades, and tall sentry posts built at intervals.

A large number of soldiers in groups of three or ten, patrolling the entire camp, vigilantly checking for any possible anomalies.

Behind the rocks, in the grass, on the big trees, and in the corners where the line of sight is out of reach, there are also many secret sentinels. If there are spies sent by the enemy, they plan to find out the details of the Aberdeen camp. I'm afraid that before they can see the outermost fence, they will be extinguished by these hidden killing machines.

The layout and arrangement of the entire camp can be described as well-organized and orderly. It can be seen that the commander of the army has a solid foundation and rich experience.

General John, who was sitting firmly in the tent of the Chinese army, was full of anxiety and deep fear at the moment.

After a brief encounter with the rebel leaders at both ends of the Yokohara Grand Canyon, General John was forced to lead the army back. Halfway through, he summoned several core figures at the top of the army to discuss the next marching strategy.

Of course, the people on the princess's side were not included this time.

At the meeting, it was proposed not to be led by the nose by the enemy and completely fall into the rhythm of the other side. It is better to continue to follow the previous idea and go directly to the rebels' lair to force the enemy to come to the rescue.

General John looked at the man deeply and remained silent.

The others, who had wanted to express their opinions, immediately quieted down.

Isn't that what the princess had originally proposed? General John made a series of arrangements at that time in order to "reasonably" veto this plan, which of the generals of the Aberdeen family did not understand clearly.

Now that the rebels have just made a move, they will immediately change their course and change back to the original plan, doesn't General John admit that he made a mistake in his decision? Where is the majesty of the commander of the army? What is the face of the Aberdeen family?

But from another point of view, if the army still returns to Aberdeen after being diverted, as Frankie said, you can take whichever road you want, it is also a very shameful thing.

As with the last military meeting, this is another dilemma.

This short, small-scale high-level core meeting came to an end in a hurry.

Subsequently, the army moved again, diverted its course to the east, and then turned north, and continued to support Aberdeen.

"The stone beams of the Yokohara Rift Valley have been destroyed, and the most suitable and fastest road has been cut off, and of course this road will not work. We need to go back to the crisis facing Aberdeen, and it is only natural that we should find another way. ”

"The so-called famous Riga general is playing tricks on a simple thing as if it were mysterious, so as to show that he is like a god. General Ben will not fall for his radical tactics, nor will he change his long-planned march plan for fear of being laughed at and losing face. ”

"The six famous generals of Riga who are shit, ahh It's just a clown who can play tricks, and if you have any ability, if you use it, General Ben will follow. What about you? Aberdeen's mighty warriors, are you afraid of Taranto's soft-stabbed goggles who only stab in the back? ”

"Tell me, will you?!"

The answer to the commander of the army was a roar like the waves:

"No!"

General John was pleased with the soldiers' performance, and was quite complacent with his carefully prepared speech.

Although he didn't show it on his face, the general himself knew in his heart that he was indeed a little frightened at that time. is like a small rich man in the countryside, no matter how much he usually shows off his wealth, in the face of the big nobles and big conglomerates from the imperial capital, he will inevitably have uneasiness in his heart, and no matter how much he denies it, he can't erase a trace of self-confidence.

On the way back, when his mood slowly calmed down and he thought about the scene at that time, General John suddenly found that he was frightened by the other party's name.

To put it bluntly, that's actually what it is.

Dispelling the haze in my heart, the next thing to solve is the morale of the army that has fallen to the bottom.

The importance of military morale is a part that no qualified general will ignore. Through the speeches and a series of cheering arrangements, the spirit of the soldiers was significantly improved.

Of course, this is not enough.

At that time, I was not able to give a strong counterattack in a face-to-face confrontation with the enemy, which was my biggest mistake. After coming back, no matter how confident I was in my private words, it was difficult to get rid of the frustration in the hearts of the soldiers.

But it doesn't matter, as long as you win one or two battles, everything will be smoothed out. Morale and confidence are like tired birds that go out in the morning to forage for food, and they will eventually return.

Didn't Frankie say they were waiting for us in front, then here we were.

With Taranto's weak military force, General John did not believe that they could hold back his well-trained army.

Ideas are beautiful, but many times, the gap between ideals and reality can be so big that people are hopeless.

Aside from the previous eight-game winning streak, this was the first head-to-head confrontation between the Aberdeen Expeditionary Force and the Taranto rebels. And the location is precisely the first level that Frankie mentions.

General John was well aware of the significance of this battle, and threw his most elite troops into battle.

It's a pity that the result was not what he wanted.