“...... Is that guy already in the Imperial Capital?"

The elven little prince, who smiled indifferently, asked in a very relaxed tone, and held a cup of Sakran dry red in his hand: "You saw it with your own eyes?"

"Not really, but ......"

The elven warrior who gave the order lowered his head and said cautiously: "But just as the battle flag of the golden lion on a black background was raised at the gate of the imperial capital, the cheers of 'Welcome to the Black Duke' sounded in the city, and the subordinates guessed ......"

"Guess?"

The elven prince's sudden interruption made the elven warrior tremble.

"You know... I've always disliked 'guessing', 'speculating', 'estimating'...... Ambiguous words, do you know how much damage it can bring if wrong information is reported?"

"Don't dare!"

The elven warrior immediately leaned down and slammed his head on the ground with a "bang!" sound: "If His Highness does not give up, his subordinates are willing to go to the imperial capital again to explore ......"

"Forget it... Huh... The next is not an example. ”

"Yes!"

Looking at the elven warrior who fled in a hurry, Rodria Azores shrugged in boredom.

"It depends on the situation, our old friend His Excellency Loren Turin has really arrived in the imperial capital, and I am afraid that he has also begun to control the city's defenses, hiss......" The elven prince suddenly gasped:

"If you think about it like this, it will be very difficult to do, the last time the easy-to-attack and hard-to-defend Ebolden made him drag on for a month, this time it was replaced by an impregnable wall and an imperial capital with sufficient supplies - although the time spent playing with him is always very happy, but I don't want to be 'happy' for so long!"

While muttering and complaining, the elf prince picked up his wine glass and poured it without a sip.

“...... I'm sorry. ”

Anson Zade, who had a gloomy expression, lowered his head and gritted his teeth: "It's all my fault, if it's not ......"

"If it weren't for the stupidity of you to fall into that guy's trap, if it wasn't for the stupidity of you to want to defeat that guy on your own in the first place, if it wasn't for the fact that you thought you were twice, if if you were ......"

The elven prince looked at him and grimaced: "Where are there so many ifs, with this self-pity kung fu, please give me more snacks on the more important matter of how to defeat Loren Turin!"

Anson Zade, who gritted his teeth, had no room for refutation at all.

"Your Highness Rodria, or... Shall we withdraw our troops for the time being?"

The elven boy who couldn't hold back his emotions spoke: "Even if we get reinforcements if we continue to fight like this, the situation is still very unfavorable for us - there are still Imperial troops on the Ebolden defense line, and the battle between the north and west has not yet been fruitful, His Majesty the Eagle King ......"

"The Eagle King is dead. The elven prince said suddenly.

Anson Zade looked stunned: "Your Highness?!...... you"

"Just guessing. Rodria shook his head: "But apart from this answer, I can't think of a second possibility at all... That Loren Turin was able to leave the Broken Mountain Fortress intact and appear outside the Imperial Capital. ”

"Whatever the outcome, my father... His plan must have failed, otherwise there would not have been any news in the north until now. ”

"Reinforcements, luck... It's all unreliable. The elven prince stood up and patted Anson Zadeh on the shoulder:

"Defeat the Empire and drag the Azorean elves back from the brink of survival... It's just us!"

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

“...... Defeat the Azorean elves and drag the Empress of Ten Thousand Cities back from the brink of life and death... It's just us!"

Loren Turin, dressed in a golden lion on a black background and holding the scepter of the Imperial Parliament in his hand, made an impassioned speech in the main hall of the Heavenly Dome Palace.

The ministers of the Imperial Cabinet standing beside him were either grim-faced or silent, and the noble councillors in the hall were even more trembling and treading on thin ice, or they were pale or gritted their teeth as they watched the Duke of Byrne, who had come from the south, standing on the steps below the throne.

Having never qualified to step on this ladder, they bowed their heads slightly, thinking that they had concealed their expressions and reactions well, but in fact from Loren's point of view, they could see it all at once.

When Eckhart II met with him, it was probably the same?

Loren suddenly realized.

"Of course, I know very well that you will not easily trust me, a duke from the south, but there is one thing I must tell you......" Loren whispered, his voice thickened and powerful under the blessing of the dome of the basilica:

"Don't count on reinforcements from His Highness Brandon de Salion, we must use our own strength to defeat the Azorean elves outside the city!"

In the dead hall, the Imperial Justice, who had always been silent, snorted coldly.

"You may think I'm being alarmist, but yes, I can tell you that the armies of the Empire are approaching one after another—Poy, East Sackland, Ellemont, Arles...... His Royal Highness Brandon and the armies of the principalities are converging on the imperial capital, and the total proportion is no less than 200,000... But!"

The black-haired wizard changed his words: "With such a large army, if we can know about their existence, the enemy can also know about their existence, and if they do... What do you think they're going to do?"

"I can tell you another very unfortunate news, on my way to the imperial capital, the southern part of East Sacland has been occupied by the Azorean elves, the planned march route of the army has been blocked, and the Azorean elves' battle flag has been erected on the top of the towers of the Crucible;"

"On the Ebolden Line, the Minister of War, Lord Severin de Salion, is still struggling to hold on, but he is about to face another elven army that has arrived at Ebolden, with a total strength of no less than 100,000;"

"On the Western Front, Duke Lothair Leven Fried is holding on to the deep forest fort, and with heavy casualties, he may retreat to the front line of Eagle Hunt Fort at any time - you may not have any idea, but if Lothair's army retreats to Eagle Hunt Castle, then the entire Lothair has opened its door, and the enemy can launch a general attack on the imperial capital from the west at any time. ”

"Lothair to the west, the Ebolden Line to the north, the south of the city that is now being surrounded, and the forgetown east of the river that has been occupied, plus the Azorean elven army outside the city now......"

As he spoke, Loren couldn't help but laugh—the laughter sounded very mocking to the ears of the noble councillors and the imperial cabinet.

"Ladies and gentlemen... Haven't you noticed that we are surrounded on all sides by the enemy?"

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

"Loren Turin's plan... It's probably outside the imperial capital, surrounded by us on all sides, right?"

Looking at the map in his hand, the elf prince touched his chin and pondered.

"Surrounded on all sides?!"

A look of disbelief flashed across Anson Zade's face, and then he said, "You're saying that the purpose of his raid on the lockdown zone is not just ......"

"It's not just about lifting the siege of the imperial capital and establishing prestige... That guy isn't that boring, or the kind of coward-like guy who wouldn't do such a big deal for such a simple purpose. ”

Lodria stretched, his expression mixed with impatience.

Coward... This is probably the "image" of the black-haired wizard in the eyes of the elven prince.

This guy is the kind of guy who obviously holds a lot of powerful hole cards, but never lets go until he has to, and pretends to be always desperate, but in fact he is ready for what to do in case of a situation... Caution to the point of outrageousness.

Such a guy won't do anything with a hot brain.

Destroy the blockade... If it looks like it is actually very bad for him on the surface, although he won, it also allows the Azorean elves to regroup their scattered forces and have the conditions to immediately launch an attack on the imperial capital.

And even if the occupied areas are recaptured, the army surrounded in the imperial capital will not be able to regain rule over these places; That's it.

“...... Therefore, his real purpose should be to clear the way for the imminent arrival of the imperial army and fight a real war of annihilation outside the imperial capital. ”

"I don't know where he got so much faith. Rodria Azore pouted and couldn't help but sigh: "If he succeeds, or if he takes 10,000 steps back and says that he will force us back on the battlefield, he will have to retreat to Ebolden ......"

"Then this war is about the life and death of the elves of the Azores......" The elf boy's expression was extremely grim, and cold sweat soaked his sideburns:

"It's going to be over, isn't it?!"

"Pretty much. ”

The elven prince shrugged his shoulders with a nonchalant expression.

That's right, you don't have to care about anything when you get to that point, and even if you can divide the ancient wood forest with Ebolden, the empire will definitely not let go of the Azorean elves.

When the time comes, the war will last for fifty, a hundred, two hundred years... The Azorean elves, who are at an absolute disadvantage in population, territory and resources, are only a matter of time before they are destroyed.

What is the point of such a hopeless future, even if it can be won?

"Loren Turin, he's the kind of guy who won't strike without absolute confidence or the last resort - since he's outside the Imperial Capital, it means that the Empire's army has begun to assemble for a real decisive battle with us. ”

"100,000, 200,000, 300,000... God knows how many troops they can muster, but no matter how many, we can't resist them now. ”

"We must gain the least advantage before going to war - even if we really can't conquer the entire empire, we must at least conquer the territory of two or three principalities and stand firm against them. The elven prince said in a deep voice.

In his mind, a basic strategic approach had been basically formed.

The defeat of the Eagle King marked the bankruptcy of the Azorean elves' goal of destroying the entire empire with a single war, but they still had a considerable advantage in strength and situation.

Since the complete destruction and peace talks have completely failed, then the only choice is to choose secession, connect the lands that have been controlled and will be controlled, and establish a new Azorean elven kingdom.

At that time, the De Salion family, which has lost the imperial capital and most of the royal family, will lose its natural right to rule the empire, and the remaining territory of the empire will be divided into several alliances of major principalities, while the elves can rely on strong military forces to maintain unity and form an absolute advantage over the human kingdom.

As for when it will be possible to destroy all the human kingdoms and realize the revival of the Azorean elves... That goal is too far away, and it is not on my mind for the time being.

"Lothair, West Sacland, Ebolden... These three principalities are the territories we want to take, and in order to achieve our goal, we must immediately launch an attack on the imperial capital!"

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

"We have to... Attack the Azorean elves before they decide to attack the imperial capital!"

The black-haired wizard is categorical:

"Victory in a war depends on the initiative, on who is more prepared, who has more detailed information, and who can have more sufficient combat power in a more limited environment. ”

"If you want to defend the imperial capital, then you must defend the entire city wall, spread more than half of the forces evenly on all the city walls, and be able to assemble and effectively annihilate the enemy's forces at most only half;"

"Half of the troops cannot form an absolute advantage enough to annihilate the Azorean elves, and even in terms of the combat strength of both sides, the inferior side is likely to be us!"

"So if we don't want to wait for reinforcements from the Azorean elves to destroy the Ebolden line, we don't want to wait until the Crucible is scorched, we don't want to wait until Lothair is torn to shreds... I don't want to wait for the Azorean elf army to come to the city and encircle the imperial capital on all sides, and I am smashed open by 100,200,300,000 elven warriors wielding long knives and attack the Heavenly Dome Palace......"

"We... You can't just sit still, but take the initiative to fight!" the black-haired wizard stepped forward, his sharp gaze sweeping across the hall:

"Because of this, for the continuation of the Empire, for the continuation of the Empress of Ten Thousand Cities, and for all of you here to continue to enjoy every safe and carefree afternoon, I ask you, order you to ......"

"The imperial capital is fully prepared for war, gather all the troops, and meet the enemy outside the city!"

"As for the time to fight... It's set for three days later. The elven prince said categorically.

"Three days?!"

"We can't give Loren Turin time to reorganize his forces and resources... The more time he has left, the better prepared he becomes, and maybe it will be our advantage if he is another guy, but that coward who is overly cautious ......"

Rodria shook his head: "In short, the faster you prepare, the better it will be for us - it can't be too late, and it may be too late." ”

"I suspect that guy may have similar intentions, if they can drive us out of West Saclands before the great armies converge, the Imperial army will be able to separate us from the armies to the west and break them one by one. ”

"So we only have three days, three days at most, to launch a general assault before the Azorean elves take the city again, or try to regain control of West Sacland. The black-haired wizard said in a deep voice:

"Three days later, our victory or defeat... will decide the fate of the Empire!"