Compared with the encounter in the imperial capital of Golovin, the reception received by Loren and his entourage on the journey from the imperial capital to Ebolden can be called "courtesy".

As long as he saw the fluttering golden lion on a black background and the banner of the Iron Crown (given to him by Conod) held up by the three-headed dragon, almost all towns, manors, fortresses, and even legion supply depots along the way would "enthusiastically" open the warehouse, provide the most sufficient supplies as quickly as possible, and agree to weapons, food, and even drinks;

They even offered to provide pack horses and caravans to transport the increasingly swollen logistics force, so much so that this group of less than 2,000 men was followed by a logistics force of nearly 3,000 men, and even the Byrne army, which was known for its abundance of supplies, had never enjoyed such an abundance of logistics—it was almost like traveling.

Even as the ranks continued to expand and supplies became more and more abundant, merchants in the surrounding towns took the opportunity to keep up with the ranks and use their bits and pieces to do business with the knights, or exchange more and better drinks for the knights' supplies.

Knowing that they were about to fight a vicious battle, the knights no longer cared about the money in their hands, and some bought wine and meat to drink bitterly at night when they camped, while others spent a lot of money to write letters and send home small souvenirs they had bought in the imperial capital and West Sacland.

In this regard, Eckert, the Earl of Fury Castle, chose to acquiesce, and Loren did not have any intention of hindering him. Even the Demon Hunters of the Firmament Wings joined in.

The Byrnes have a tradition of feasting before duels and heading to battle, and this is their last chance to celebrate.

And for such a generous giving, all the "warm and kind" local lords put forward the same conditions in unison.

Stay one night and get out of here!

Loren and his party, who understood this, did not have any idea of staying, and the most important thing at the moment was to arrive at Ebolden as soon as possible and organize the local army and the citizens of the city to prepare for the battle.

As they were about to leave the border of West Sacland, an Imperial legionnaire, numbering nearly a thousand men, joined Loren's ranks, claiming to have been ordered by Connad I himself to "escort" the Duke of Byrne to Ebolden, and to fight alongside the Duke on behalf of the Emperor himself.

Well, it's basically to tell Loren directly, I'm sent by Conod to spy on you, and by the way, brush up on the existence of His Majesty the Emperor at Ebolden, lest the inhabitants there think that they have been abandoned by the Emperor.

Although he was basically really abandoned, even Loren, who was the most confident in this tactic, did not feel that he could really hold Eberden without losing it, at most it was only a matter of time.

But Loren laughed anyway.

The other party is the army sent by Conod, so it must be the elite of the Broken Mountain Fortress, these legionnaires can be said to be experts in defending cities in the empire, and they are the best marine legions.

It's not appropriate to say that, but if you step on the ground and form a phalanx to fight against you, or form a small phalanx on the city wall to fight the enemy... Perhaps a legion of 100 can play a better role than the same number of Byrne knights.

Despite claiming to be an "escort", the legionnaires kept their distance from the Byrne Knights' ranks, following them not far behind, even when camping, and never approaching the Byrne Knights' tents.

With the Wings of the Firmament, Lusen walked at the front of the line, guarding the queue as a sentinel and scout, while constantly inquiring about the current movements of Ebolden;

Earl Eckert and Loren, who lead the Knights of Byrne, escort and protect the baggage team while discussing how Ebolden should be deployed.

The experienced Eckert was very much in favor of Loren's plan, which he believed could not and should not be fully defended in the first place, a free city like Eberden, which was weakly defended and had a particularly large urban area.

The ideal tactic should be to cooperate with Ebden's extensive above-ground and underground transportation network, supported by several sturdy buildings in the city, to put the enemy into the city to fight street battles, and to divide and annihilate the narrow streets and buildings, so as to delay the fall of the city as much as possible.

Even if the enemy had a million troops, the number of troops that could be deployed to the siege was extremely limited, and once dispersed throughout the city, no amount of troops could control all the buildings and streets.

Loren had always relied heavily on the advice of the experienced Earl of Eckert, and he was right that if he was to hold Eberden, he should indeed abandon the large but weak outer walls and move on to a more fortified stronghold in the city.

But the problem is that not this time.

Because the reason for holding Eboden was not because the city was important – of course, she did – but because it was to keep the Azorean elves' army on the Empire's coastline as long as possible and to ensure that their fleets could not dock.

To achieve this goal, the two walls of the seafront had to be garrisoned by troops, and they could not be abandoned even if they knew that they would suffer heavy casualties.

The only thing to be thankful for is that this time the troops are very abundant, in addition to the 2,000 knights and 1,000 legionnaires who accompanied them, there are nearly 20,000 mercenary regiments in the city of Ebolden.

Although Ebolden's mercenaries have always been known for "asking for money more than death" and "killing their employers in the face of a breakdown", this time it was their own city that they had to hold onto, and in order to keep Ebolden from falling, it was impossible for the free nobles in the city not to be generous, so there was no need to worry about their morale.

But as the group approached Ebolden, looking at the empty trade routes and the bird-scented paths in front of them, a not-so-good premonition gradually spread in Loren's heart.

It's so quiet.

It shouldn't be so quiet.

The Quad Avenue between West Sacland and Ebolden was arguably the busiest trade route in the northern part of the Empire, second only to the Jewel River route.

Moreover, compared with the Gem River route, which specialized in transporting tribute and supplying the upper class in the imperial capital with luxury goods and all kinds of bulk goods, the Sifang Avenue connecting the two places was the only way for ordinary merchants and hawkers, carrying bags and carrying goods, carrying goods on their backs, carrying billowing smoke and dust to the countryside of East Sackland, Lothair, and Ebolden... Countless.

Even those who have seen the magnificence of Golovin, the prosperity of the Red Blood Fortress, and the tent sea of the Thousand Hordes ...... Loren still remembers Ebolden's prosperity vividly.

But now, there are few pedestrians, and the flat and wide square avenue is deserted like a country road in some middle of nowhere.

It shouldn't be... Although Conod had already given the order for all-out war, this was only a week ago, and the dukes and messengers of the empire should have only just arrived to mobilize the troops in the territory and impose martial law on the towns and roads in the principality.

How could it be that when the news came out here, the trade route was empty?

Just as Loren was still confused, the cavalry team in front suddenly slowed down, and the entire team stopped.

Lusen, riding a pony, ran back from the front of the line with a complicated expression.

"What's wrong?" the dark-haired wizard asked, raising an eyebrow, a little uneasy.

"There's a team up ahead, coming this way from the direction of Ebolden. The gray-eyed boy paused, and described with an indescribable expression:

"There are so many people that the roads are blocked. ”

The black-haired wizard and the Earl of Fort Fury looked at each other.

"How many?" asked the Count of Eckert, a crucial question, "who are they?"

"Commoners, nobles, merchants... It's all people who are running for their lives, or going to their relatives, as if the whole of Ebolden knows that war is about to start here!"

Lu Sien shook his head, his expression a little ugly: "As for how many... Please see for yourself. ”

Following the direction pointed by the gray-eyed boy, the two people... Even Isaac behind him looked up desperately and looked at the horizon in the distance.

Then they were all stunned.

Person.

Crowd... And it's a crowd that can't see the edges.

All kinds of people pushing carts, driving horse-drawn carts or ox carts, riding caravans or traveling four-wheeled vehicles, walking people... But when they came together, all that was left was the smoke and dust rolling up in the sky and countless towering black spots, which flowed like a black tide!

It is like a pile of sand, ants going forward one after another, chaotic, unorganized, shoulder to shoulder, desperately overtaking the people in front, or closely following the team and not daring to disperse, rolling towards the black background gold lion flag.

"Can anyone tell me if it's Ebolden or ... Boi's Great Green Sea?" Isaac couldn't help but speak, "This posture, this battle... I don't know which nomadic tribe is migrating!"

Count Eckert's face was suddenly startled, and he looked at the black-haired wizard sharply:

"Duke, do you mean ......?"

"No, it shouldn't be. Loren shook his head and dismissed the Count of Fury's speculation: "If Ebolden has indeed fallen, there are definitely more refugees on the run. ”

And after the refugees, I'm afraid there should still be a defeated army, as well as pursuers sent by the Azorean elves to hunt down the refugees... In short, it is impossible for so many people to pass by on the Sifang Avenue with such a swagger.

More importantly, he didn't believe that Ebolden, with the presence of the Wizard Tower and the garrison of nearly 20,000 professional mercenary regiments, would fall so quickly.

"Master Corona has returned to Ebolden first, these are probably the nobles and commoners who have just heard of the coming of war and want to flee. ”

Looking at the team in the distance, Loren sighed and waved his hand at the knights behind him: "Let go of the road and let them go, and also inform the legion commander sent by the emperor not to stop these fleeing people." ”

Lusan gladly accepted the order and turned to leave.

"The Duke... The mass evacuation of commoners and nobles from the city would severely weaken the city's defenses. Count Eckert couldn't help but remind, "I know you may have some good intentions, but the manpower and wealth needed to defend this city are not a small ......"

"But they're already running away, and even if we close the road now, how many people are willing to go back?" Loren shook his head: "I'm afraid that before Ebolden, we have to fight this 'rebel army' first." ”

Count Eckert paused.

“...... On the other hand, it would be good to evacuate civilians before the war – so that we could abandon some unsafe civilian areas and concentrate more troops on key strongholds and defensive lines. Not knowing whether it was to convince himself or to convince Loren, Eckert said in a deep voice:

"At the same time, the evacuation of a large number of refugees can also reduce the consumption rate of various supplies in the city, so that we can hold out longer, and the reinforcements that do not need to think about logistics can also come to support us faster... It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone. ”

The black-haired wizard didn't say anything more, just smiled in agreement.

A quarter of an hour later, the ordered Byrne knights dispersed to both ends of the road, giving way to the middle of the quadrangle for the refugees to pass, and the legionnaires in the back row did not seem to object, and even took the initiative to maintain order, using a shield wall to divert the crowd and keep the road open.

The refugees, who wept with joy, hurried to the road, passing through the passage left by the army as fast as possible, forming a messy but orderly line, not daring to slack off.

Looking at the surging crowd in front of him, the crowd of pedestrians, the black-haired wizard sighed with some emotion.

Just as the crowd was about to give the order to move the team on, a somewhat unfamiliar figure suddenly burst into his sight.

Before he could glance at it, the Witchers of the Wings of the Sky on either side stepped forward and knocked the guy down in place.

"It hurts, it hurts... Hey, hey, wait a minute! I'm not a bad person, I know... I know your Lord Duke!"

"Duke Loren, Duke of Turin, do you remember me, I'm Locke, the owner of the old lame tavern!"

Well?

The black-haired wizard watched curiously as he struggled to get up on the ground, and vaguely remembered that there seemed to be such a guy.

Locke, the owner of the "Old Cripple Tavern", is a well-known bard and a night watchman's intelligence peddler, who has no less than double digits in love debts, plus a cuckold nobleman who wants him to die without a place to bury, and he is only able to escape by changing his appearance with Peter Fasa's alchemical potion.

In addition, he was also an outline of the Ebolden Night's Watch, controlled several inconsequential intelligence networks, and had close personal contacts with the Ebolden mercenaries, so he was once sheltered by the Bellini family, who controlled the Ebolden trade and mercenary business.

When the Night's Watch at Ebolden fell, Loren and Edward had been hiding from the limelight in the tavern for a while.

However, as soon as this "old acquaintance" came up, he told Loren a "big" news.

"What do you say, Ebolden has fallen?!"

"No, it's not falling, it's civil strife!" the panting tavern owner waved his hand repeatedly, interrupting the gray-eyed boy with a surprised face, and then looked at Loren eagerly:

"The three mercenary groups responsible for the defense of the city of Eberden have rebelled en masse because they are owed commissions, and they have also occupied the city defenses and fortresses, forcing the Free Council to make up the promised commissions. ”

"Lord Duke, if you don't hurry up and solve this matter, then Ebolden will not be destroyed by foreign enemies, but will die in civil strife!" (https:)

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