Since the Earl of Mercia hastily left London, the king has ordered a full mobilization of the southern militia, which many people feel is unnecessary, although the Earl of Moca is disgraced this time, it is impossible to have the courage to rebel, not to mention that the Earl's sons are in the king's court - Edwin is a member of the royal guard, and the "bastard" Berenga is with the fleet of Count Rodrigo.

But preparations for war continued, and the king even summoned the royal engineers who were building a castle in Rochester to the White Tower in London to discuss how to build a giant stone throwing machine that had never been seen before.

Such a senseless expenditure was beyond the patience of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who personally came to the Tower of London and was bent on advising the king, who was still planning war.

The Archbishop of Canterbury saw in the tower a number of college pupils, who had gathered in the courtyard to nervously build a small wooden model of a catapult with a base already erected and a long arm being assembled.

As soon as he saw the king, Bishop Leofrick asked in a loud voice: "Does Your Majesty want to start a civil war?" ”

Edgar looked up from a large pile of drawings drawn on parchment scrolls, and stared at the old man in front of him with some inexplicability: "What are you talking about?" Where is the civil war? ”

The bishop had just spotted Edwin beside the king, and he was surprised that Moka's son was still serving the king at this time, and if the king was going to conquer Mercia, then how could this young man be here?

"There will be no war this time, we have gathered the militia only to frighten Trahn of Boas, this Welshman has been pretentious in his alpine kingdom for too long, and the Earl of Mercia believes that a royal army of tens of thousands will sober him up." At this time, Edgar finally figured out what the other party was talking about, and told him all about his plan.

"Well, Robert Mallett ......"

"The Earl of Mercia has agreed to our disposal, Robert will not be imprisoned in London, he will only come before us to be punished, and then he will be handed over to the Earl to be imprisoned in Chester."

The bishop suddenly realized that such a disposition would not anger the Earl of Mercia, and also gave Trahne an explanation, and the victim of the whole thing was probably only the poor Welsh girl, but the English would not care, and Trahhorn could only choose to settle down.

"But, Your Majesty, since there is no need to go to war, is this time the move a little bigger?"

"Recruiting the militia at any time, conducting joint drills, and occasionally tempting with disturbances, allows us to observe the temperament of the army." Edgar replied, "We don't want the counties of Sain to be unaccustomed to warfare and armament, for this is not something that can be done by a few decrees, but only by giving them the opportunity to be inspected before the king can we ensure that the kingdom's army is well-armed and well-trained at all times." ”

Cyrus knew this well in ancient times, and the equipment requirements imposed by many monarchs in the Middle Ages by decree were often a reluctant act - not to mention the light cavalry equipment that later militias had to possess according to their decrees, but the number of knights in many old fiefdoms would shrink considerably. Generally speaking, only those in the newly conquered lands were able to provide full knightly service, and the old ones often struggled to maintain the required military service and equipment after a generation or two.

This kind of proofreading was very popular in Edgar's previous life, and Edgar still remembers reading in the newspaper about the "Imperial Durbar" in Delhi - to celebrate Queen Victoria's coronation as the Indian crown, soldiers from all over the empire wore gorgeous uniforms, precious decorations and weapons proudly stood under the big tent, the Gurkha princes rode camels, followed by elephants with bright red armor and tusks inlaid with candlesticks, and the silk screen and silver mirror armor showed the majesty of the empire to the whole world.

The gathering of tens of thousands of troops was also a show of strength, Trahne had seen the king of England's armored warriors, this time Edgar would remind him of the shock of the time, the stage had been set, the king's lineup for the north, perhaps only King Etherstein came out of Brunanburg - it was the final battle between the West Saxons and the Vikings, the Scots and the Britons, and England was born in that battle.

However, neither King Edgar nor the Archbishop of Canterbury expected that the situation in the West was taking an unknowable direction, and at the summer solstice, the kingdom of mountains and lakes suddenly became fully armed.

Trahearn's widow was a little pale, and she was surrounded by Owen, the son of Lou Verin, and the Ucevers of the South, and the young bride was widowed in the blink of an eye, but she did not seem particularly sad.

"Revenge!" One of Ucchefvilles suddenly let out a beastly roar.

They had Trahearn's body in front of them, and half a month ago, Owen suddenly rushed to Maslafah Castle alone, reported Robert Mallett's whereabouts to Trahearn, and declared that the Normans were fleeing to Chester, Trahearn had just received a letter from the King of England at that time, so he decided to personally arrest this Norman criminal, and he took a few attendants around him to follow Owen north, who expected that three days ago, Owen brought Trahearn's body back to Maslafah, and declared to the lords gathered in the court, Himself and King Trakhon were ambushed by the Mercians at the Cold Creek Pass near Fort Dinas Bran.

Trahon had already made some preparations for rebellion, the defenses of Fort Maslafah had been reinforced, and the necessary supplies for the siege had been stockpiled long ago. But the King of Wales was not stupid, he knew what he would face if he raised his army, and with a bottomless abyss ahead, he had to tremble and plan everything he could, while keeping peace with the English as much as possible.

But Trahhorn was dead, and his lords had little foresight, for Boas had been one of the most barren of the Welsh kingdoms, and the mountains and lakes were rich in hard rocks rather than impermanent storms, and the local Urchevers were no match for the Normans or Saxons in terms of cunning, but they possessed the most valuable stubborn qualities of the mountain people.

"This is our last fortress, and the castles in the north and south have long since decayed, their walls corroded by moisture, strong winds, and salty air." Owen's words made everyone's hearts sink, and just as someone wanted to teach this young man a lesson, he changed his voice, "But why should we fight the enemy behind the wall? You know, we have the strongest fortress in the world - let our mountains be the graveyard of our enemies, where their horses and spears are useless. Our armies can walk through waterfalls and valleys, and emerge before them from darkness beyond the imagination of our enemies, and we Britons are the Spricans among the mounds, mounds, and tombs, the spirits of the Saxons' nightmares. ”

This was a well-reasoned statement, and finally moved the Uchervilles, who agreed to leave only enough garrisons in Maslafah, that all border forts would be emptied, and that the attack would be launched from the western hills, rather than from the plains near Shropshire.