Anson Zadeh has had a tough time lately.

After receiving the information from Loren Turin, the elven prince immediately had some kind of bad premonition, so on the one hand, he continued to gather troops, and on the other hand, he stepped up preparations for the siege of the imperial capital.

Although he later learned that there was no large army near West Sacland, he must have been deceived by the Duke of Byrne, who had less than 2,000 cavalry with him—but even Loren Turin himself was a great threat of being strangled to death.

So the work of Anson Zade, the chief wizard of the Imperial Court, changed from rectifying the occupied territory to encircling and suppressing Duke Byrne.

This is not an easy job - the enemy is an all-cavalry configuration, and unless you take the initiative to attack the strongholds within the blockade line or concentrate on breaking through the occupied area, there is no way to determine their exact position, or if you catch them, you will not be able to catch up.

What's more, as the elven prince fears, even if Loren is alone, there is still a threat, with a record of killing the head of the Overlord, and a very good understanding of the tactics of the Azorean elves, it is far more difficult to defeat him than it seems.

Even in the battle of Ebolden, which had a great advantage, the elven prince with his trump card was still blocked on the coast for twenty days, and had to fight for more than ten days in the city's offensive and defensive battles, paying quite heavy casualties, and finally let the Duke of Byrne and the soldiers and civilians in the city leave safely, which can be regarded as occupying the city.

Even after a long time, the shadow left by the Battle of Ebolden on Anson Zadeh is still vivid and unforgettable......

So His Excellency the Chief Wizard of the Imperial Court decided to wait for Duke Byrne to do it first, and then think about his next step - but what he didn't expect was that that that night, the other party had already made a move.

Four strongholds were breached, six patrols were missing, a large number of Imperial men rebelled and fled from their strongholds, and an Imperial cavalry marched through the occupied territory......

A large pile of earth-shattering news fell like hail, and Anson Zade was stunned - in just one night, the blockade that seemed to be quite solid was like paper paste in front of Duke Byrne, and it was torn apart with a casual move!

Panicking, he immediately began to organize a new blockade and siege network, sending scouts to search for the exact location of Duke Byrne, and then a lot of more "terrifying" news came in.

In the morning, Loren Turin was leading his army to attack the stronghold, and at noon came the news that he was ambushing a patrol of elven warriors with a group of survivors, and in the evening the Duke of Byrne was leading his army through the blockade under the cover of cavalry, approaching the imperial capital, and at midnight he suddenly withdrew information on the banks of the Jewel River......

After confirming that the Duke could not teleport, and reprimanding the scouts, Anson Zade, who was in a state of confusion, began to mobilize troops from all over the surrounding area to focus on the locations from various intelligence points.

Anyway, even if Duke Byrne really knew how to split up, the army in his hands was still very limited, and multi-front combat meant that his originally small army was divided into a very small number of parts.

Since this is the case, then simply don't judge, press the whole line - use dozens of times his forces to form an encirclement network, and sweep all the places where he may be!

Then he found out that he seemed to have been tricked by Loren Turin again......

..................

The southern section of the valley directly under the imperial capital, an encounter has just ended.

Hundreds of survivors, armed with a small number of Azorean elven weapons (captured and scavenged) and rudimentary equipment such as machetes, pitchforks, and wooden escapes, prepared to take the trail around the mainland to the imperial capital, collided with the entourage of Anson Zade, the chief wizard of the Imperial Court.

There was no warning at all - the moment they detected the enemy, nearly a hundred elven warriors launched a frontal charge in the form of a skirmish, and in the face of the fierce elven warriors, the survivors were overwhelmed on the spot, and their luggage, weapons, armor, and banners were thrown everywhere, fleeing towards the surrounding mountains and dense forests.

But they failed.

The elven warriors, twice as large as the front, had already drawn a net around them, hunting down every survivor who dared to flee like a hunt;

With the exception of a very small number of outlaws, most of the captured survivors surrendered immediately, were surrounded by elven warriors, and executed on the spot without any reason.

Survivors, none - under the sword of the elven warriors, these people have no chance of escaping at all.

The thick smell of blood permeated the valley, seeping into the dirt and making the already difficult trail even more muddy.

The elven warriors, who had been instilled with the "righteousness of life and death", had no resistance to this kind of slaughter - and after the rebellion and riot, the last bit of "pity" was replaced by extreme disgust and contempt.

Sure enough, His Majesty the Eagle King is extremely wise, the Azorean elves and the Empire can only exist in one place, and there is no possibility of harmonious coexistence at all, and only by killing the Empire and completely razing their lands and cities can the future of the Azorean elves be exchanged......

"It's all clear. ”

Lori Zade, the chief of the Imperial Court, with her long snow-white hair scattered and her eyes covered with satin, walked to Anson Zade's side with small steps: "The Imperial people we have just defeated are the natives who were assembled by Duke Byrne five days ago - just the day when the nearby valley stronghold was breached. ”

"Oh, by the way, they call themselves the 'Black Duke's Advance Army', and they say they have a battle flag from the Duke of Byrne - this is what I just heard, I don't know if it's useful. The elf girl added babbling.

"Sister, it's been so hard for you. Anson Zade smiled wryly, with a hint of helplessness in his words.

And exhaustion.

In the past few days, he has successively exterminated the "Black Duke Glory Regiment", as well as the "Black Duke Vanguard Infantry Regiment", as well as the "Black Duke War Gang", as well as the "Black Duke Dalian Team", as well as the "Black Duke Flag Regiment", and ......

As for the titles, they are even more varied, from "Honorary Byrne Knight", to "First Squire of the Black Duke", "Honorary Banner-bearer of the Black Duke", "Grand Earl of the Byrne Knight", "Noble Member of the Imperial Council", ...... It's all made up anyway!

There was even a young man who was captured alive by him and carried a bag of gold coins on his back, and he insisted that he had seen the black duke himself with his own eyes, but he refused to say the direction of his march... Anson Zade had no choice but to kill him.

Black Duke, Black Duke... There were black dukes everywhere, and almost all the guys who were bumped into by themselves were under the banner of golden lions on a black background, and they couldn't tell which one was Duke Byrne's army before they came into contact, which made Anson feel delirious and confused.

The most troublesome thing is that he doesn't dare to let these guys go, lest more miscellaneous soldiers under the banner of "Black Duke" appear to disrupt his vision.

This headless battle lasted for three days, and in order to pursue all possible targets, Anson Zadeh's army became smaller and smaller, and the army of nearly 10,000 people had been reduced to about 1,000, chasing in one direction.

The reason is very simple: the army around Duke Byrne is dominated by knights, and it is impossible for cavalry to walk through mountain roads and forests, and can only move on roads and trails, so as long as you chase down a road, you will definitely find clues to his Duke Byrne's actions.

The idea was correct, for he had indeed found signs of a massive cavalry movement early yesterday morning, and after judging that he was on the outskirts of the blockade zone, Anson Zad immediately judged that the area was likely to be the main force of the Duke of Byrne!

So after a day of rapid marching, the panting Anson Zade finally found the abandoned camp where Loren Turin had stayed, and before he could get excited, a new piece of news suddenly came:

A large number of elite cavalry suspected of being Duke Byrne are about to break through the blockade area and head to the direction of the imperial capital, and they urgently need to send reinforcements!

And the direction of the breakthrough was behind Anson Zade, almost the distance of the elven warriors on a three-day march - if converted into cavalry, almost on the day they found their traces, Loren Turin had already thrown them off and turned around to break through in the direction of the imperial capital.

Anson Zad finally broke down.

Northeast, south, north, south, valley, plain, riverbank, dense forest, avenue trails... The Black Duke's banner is everywhere, it seems that it is all Duke Byrne, and it seems that he is not at all, and he may be outside the blockade today, or he may be besieging a stronghold, or he may be forcing a breakthrough, or stealthily breaking out......

Anyway, no matter how large the encirclement network Anson Zade organized and how many troops he mobilized to encircle and intercept him, Loren Turin seemed to have a way to find a route that he didn't know at all, and calmly slipped away in front of his eyes.

And more than once!

This way of fighting, which was completely inconsistent with the way of the samurai and the fighting style of the Imperial army, put Anson Zad in a predicament of confusion - Duke Byrne had 1,500 elite knights in his hands, and if he fought head-on, even if there were nearly 10,000 people on his side, he would not be without the strength to fight.

Theoretically, it is not impossible to force a breakthrough, and it is even very likely to succeed, but Loren Turin did not, and instead lit fires everywhere in the area controlled by the Azorean elves, leaving this impermeable siege network full of smoke.

But it is this strange way of fighting that has plunged the entire blockade into chaos, with combat power and supplies rapidly draining, and like headless flies, they don't know what they are doing and what they should do.

Anson Zade now even wished that his mission had failed, that Loren Turin had escaped the blockade and entered the Imperial Capital—that at least the goal would be clear, and that he would no longer have to think about the fatal question of "where is the Duke of Byrne?" for the past few days.

"Tired?"

The blindfolded elf girl suddenly spoke.

Anson Zade raised his head and looked at her with some blankness: "Sister, ......"

"It's nothing, it's just that for the first time in so many years, I feel a hint of burnout from Anson. Lori said as she sat down gently beside her brother: "If you have to say it, it seems that there is still some fear in it." ”

"Ahh Is it obvious enough that my sister is aware of it?" Anson smiled wryly, "I'm so sorry, I ......"

Before she finished speaking, Lori raised her right hand and pressed her brother's mouth and shook her head slightly.

"No, it's nothing to be ashamed of or... Anson, you should be afraid. The elf girl said seriously:

"Because the Imperial, who you're going to fight against, has the power to kill the Overlord head-on, and the power to hold off His Highness Rhodría at Eberden - I don't know much about the latter, but the former... I... There is no such self-confidence. ”

"So you have to be afraid, and then use all your strength after fear, and if necessary, even break the line, and use whatever you can to defeat him - otherwise we will never be able to defeat Loren Turin, and his presence will be the greatest obstacle to righteousness. ”

"Fear him, and defeat him, Anson... In the name of Zade, in the name of the wizard, in the name of... In the name of righteousness. ”

High-sounding words, from the mouth of the closest people, in a babbling and somewhat immature and lovely tone.

But Anson Zade's face was more solemn than ever.

"I see. Bowing slightly, the corners of Anson's mouth flashed with a smile: "Thank you, sister, your way of comforting is still as atmospheric as ever." ”

"That's... Is there any better?"

"Well, it's much better. ”

"In that case, where do we go next... Keep following the trail?"

"No, we're going back. Anson shook his head and said categorically:

"Because of my incompetence, Loren Turin has made the entire blockade feel like no one, but it has also revealed his purpose - what he has been doing these days is not only fighting us, but also fighting the people in the city, and the movements he makes are for the people trapped in the imperial capital. ”

"This is a battle of confidence, he wants to use the name of 'Black Duke' to boost the morale of the defenders of the imperial capital, and maybe the idea of fighting for control of the defenders, but in any case, he wants to take the opportunity to muddy the battlefield and let the rhythm and initiative fall into his hands. ”

"Then there's only one thing we have to do – let his ideas fall through. ”

The elf girl tilted her head to show that she didn't understand.

"Loren Turin's purpose is to use these riots to undermine the control of the perimeter of our imperial capital, so we simply do the opposite and abandon these areas completely. Anson Zadeh explains:

"Plunder all the supplies, burn all the strongholds, withdraw all the strongholds, take all the prisoners - in short, give him nothing but scorched earth, then retreat close to the siege camp and re-form a blockade. ”

"With such a narrowed blockade, if Loren Turin only wants to go to the imperial capital, then his purpose has been achieved - the enemy hiding in the shadows will have to fight His Highness's army in the light. ”

"But if his purpose is more than that...... Elf Boy said:

"The 20,000-strong army that is regrouped and ready for battle will be a nightmare for Loren Turin!"