…………

"I'm lucky, but I suffered my wife and children." Art said guiltily.

As Angus chats with Art along the way, he casually mentions a letter from Lottie that he has recently sent to the Legion.

For what Lottie has done in the valley, Art is happy and a little guilty. Since marrying Lottie, he has often been out fighting, and his son George Jr. has probably spent only a month with him since he was born, always gathering less and leaving more......

Just as the two were gossiping, the soldier in charge of the sentry came to report quickly.

"My lord, we found a suspicious person half a day ahead."

"There were two guys on horseback who seemed to be monitoring the movement of the army. When we sent men to catch up, they turned their horses and ran away, and our horses could not catch up with them. ”

"Your Excellency, it must be a sentry sent by Thorne's army." Angus said.

"That's right, the Wells Legion is about to reach the Thorne border, and our goal is so big, I'm afraid we were already targeted by them when we first entered the city of Kodor."

"So what do we do now?"

"Sergeant Major, tell Bob to report to the new king, and the Wells Legion will be on the border of the province of Thorne in one day, and ask him when the southern army will launch a general attack. In addition, the order was passed down, and the whole army was on increased alert, and the patrol and outposts were doubled, ready to resist the sneak attack of Thorne's army at any time. Also, send a task force to infiltrate the province of Thorne at once to provide the army with the defense of the Thorne's army. ”

"Also......" Art whispered close to Angus's ear.

"My lord, I'll do it right away."

…………

At the court of Besançon, Flender, dressed in battle armor, was listening to his officers report on the battle at the front in the official room.

"Lord Marquis, we took Mandeburgh yesterday night. Since then, the last county town outside the city of Thorne has fallen into our hands. The outpost had reported to the enemy last night that the Western army had all returned to the city of Thorne, with only a small number of light cavalry patrolling the perimeter. ”

"Good!" Flender said, patting his hand on the table.

After more than a year of campaigning, he finally pushed the battle line to the edge of Thorne step by step.

Recall that the situation was extremely unfavorable to the Liberation Army, and the Bernard in the west held the powerful Western Army under the command of the prince Robert, and held the strongest land in the east, and the Liberation Army was in a dilemma.

Fortunately, with the help of the Welsh legion, they not only repelled the Schwabians, but also raised food and grass for the Restoration Army, alleviating the predicament of the Besançon court, thereby stabilizing the position.

However, when the Restoration Army occupied Besançon all the way, the Duchy of Burgundy, which had promised to support the Restoration Army, suddenly broke its trust and fell to the side of the Thorne court, and Flender at that time fell into the dilemma of lack of money, food and foreign aid.

After that, Flender made a truce to rearm the war.

On the one hand, he sent Galvin to lobby Provence, hoping to gain the support of the Provençal court. After Galvin's many travels, the Provençal court promised to send 500 cavalry to support Flanders' campaign on the Western Front, and declared its support for the side of the court of Besançon. The support of the Provençal court was not only due to Galvin's dealings with Provençal bureaucrats and merchants over the years. Another more important reason is that many court nobles and influential merchants in Provence have close ties with the European trading houses in Arte.

On the other hand, he sent people to the Kingdom of France to seek the support of the Holy See in Paris, and borrowed five million fennigh of war money as a guarantee of the country's taxes. With the support of the Holy See in Paris, the Kingdom of France, behind the Holy See, also declared its support for Flanders and set up troops on the borders of the Duchy in order to put pressure on the Duchy and force them not to act rashly.

In addition, Flender also appointed Yat as the commander of the Frontier Garrison Corps of the Territory of the Empire, and secretly went on a campaign against the province of Kodor. After defeating the province of Kodor, he went all the way north, and together with the recovery army on the eastern front, he flanked the Thorne court, wiped out the living force of the western army in one fell swoop, ended the battle of the successors, and unified the kingdom.

Now that the situation is becoming clearer, Flender's ambitions are one step closer.

While Flender was still in his own thoughts, the herald hurried to tell him.

"Report to the Marquis, a secret message from the flying pigeons of the Southern Legion of Kodor (Wells Legion, Southern Garrison Legion, Midsummer Garrison Legion) that Lord Yat has taken the city of Kodor and is currently only a day's way from the border of Thorn Province, in which he asks you when to attack."

"Good! Good! Fabulous! Tell the Army of the South that in three days, the attack will be launched at dawn. At that time, the Liberation Army will also launch a fierce attack from the east of Thorne City, and this time it must take Thorne City in one fell swoop! Flender was emotional, this day had been waiting for a long time.

"In addition, I will order the army to quickly rest and make siege equipment, and then I will conquer Thorne City in one fell swoop."

"Yes!"

…………

To the south of Besançon, on the corner of the east street from the former Count of Bernard's Palace, there is a lively hotel called the "Moulin Rouge", where you can eat and drink, and also rest and stay overnight.

The girls in the "mill" are not only beautiful, but also very good at soothing the tired body and mind of men.

The owner of the inn is a "fat man" who used to run a small hotel on the side of the church square in the west of the city, and his real name is Emory.

Not long after the Liberation Army attacked Besançon, this guy also ran back. Through wine and money, he befriended the officers of the Liberation Army and found a "backer" for his small hotel.

As the front gradually advanced westward, the law and order environment in the city gradually stabilized, and the residents who had fled Besançon due to the war returned one after another, adding to the city's popularity.

As business got better and better, and seeing that the small hotel could no longer meet the daily hospitality, Emory planned to find a bigger and more luxurious place to reopen a hotel. After much inquiry, Emory found a house near the former Count of Bernard's Palace. Not only is the location excellent, but the house is also very luxurious, with the front door and backyard of the three-storey mansion connecting different neighborhoods.

The owner of the mansion had already fled Besançon because of the war, and entrusted a pawn shop to help find a buyer. Since the war was not over yet, and Emory had a good relationship with some officers of the Liberation Army, the pawn shop sold the mansion that was originally worth 50,000 pfennies to Amori for 20,000 pfennigs, of course, this huge amount of money did not have to be paid by Emory himself.

After the renovation and expansion of the mansion, in less than two months, a large hotel called the "Moulin Rouge" was opened. On the opening day, many officers from the Liberation Army came to cheer. Emory entertained these "friends" with good wine and meat, and arranged for his girls to accompany them after the meal.

Less than half a month after opening, the Moulin Rouge has become the largest hotel in Besançon, and the daily business is extremely hot, often requiring advance reservations. Seeing this scene, Emory's heart smiled. Not only does he have a steady stream of coins rolling into his pocket every day, but the main thing is that he can complete his "own job" more conveniently in the future.

In the innermost room on the left side of the staircase on the second floor of the hotel, several guys who looked like caravan guards who had just left the north from Provence had been living in this hotel for almost half a month.

"Sir, we've figured it out, the intelligence dealer did send someone to investigate the connection between the court guard who was disposed of and Lord Flender, and they already know that the guy who had an affair with the Marquise came from the Earl of Longxia."

"Are you sure?"

"Can't be wrong, the guy told us when he got drunk. His upline is to work for the new Prime Minister of the Court, Earl Balwin......"

"Shh~"

The fellow, who was called the chief, walked over to the wall next door to the other room and listened to the movement next door, which had been specially selected to be soundproofed.

"You must remember that this matter must be kept secret and must not be passed on. Immediately fly the pigeon and pass the book and inform the adults. ”

"Yes."

A few days earlier, Galvin had been commissioned by the new court to lobby in Provence, where he was hunted down by assassins sent by Bernard. Galvin, dressed as a leper, rushed to Tignez to meet Arte.

Afterwards, Art sent Dawson, the deputy leader of the task force, along with six other team members, to escort Galvin south. Later, he followed Galvin all the way north to Besançon, and did not leave until Galvin was safely delivered to the Treasurer's Office. Soon after leaving, several people came all the way to this hotel opened by "their own people" to stay.

The "nominal" owner of the hotel is the redbeard who is entertaining guests downstairs, but the actual owner behind it is Yat.

A few months earlier, when Flender had just taken over the Besançon court, Arter, after receiving the court's honor, asked Ron to instruct Emory to find a suitable place in the city to open a hotel and brothel called the "Moulin Rouge" to serve as Art's intelligence hub in the Northlands. At the same time, Ron and Task Force Leader Stanley and Emory were ordered to take charge of the operation of the entire Northland intelligence network. At this time, Ron and Stanley followed Art's side, and the responsibility naturally fell to Emory.

Half a month ago, Emory learned from a Liberation Army officer who was drinking in the hotel that someone was asking about a dead palace internal security officer, who was the same one that Flender had sent to the court of Besançon. As soon as Emery, who was already familiar with intelligence gathering, heard that Flender must be involved, he seized this line and sent someone to investigate secretly. The target was finally locked on the two guys from the task force who were reporting to Dawson.

At this time, the men of the task force escorted Galvin to Besançon. Emory left the matter in the hands of the task force's dirty guys.

According to Art's previous plan, the main targets of the Moulin Rouge were rival forces, the new court magnates, and the city of Dijon, where the duchy was located. At this point, the second object has already moved.

Balwin never expected that while staring at Flender, his every move had already been clearly known by the henchmen he had previously supported.

The battle for the successor is not over yet, and the undercurrent has begun to surge. From the moment Balwin began to suspect Flender, he was already destined for another uproar behind this war. And who will ultimately benefit from this dark fight, it is impossible to make a clear judgment at this time. But one thing is for sure, whoever takes the initiative in this storm will gain more weight in the following storms.