The outcome of the Battle of the Narrow Sea caused an uproar throughout the Yaki court.

This battle, which was thought to be won, will end up where it is now, which is beyond everyone's expectations. Those who had previously chanted that it would be as easy to bring together the forces of the two countries to exterminate a small group of pirates as it was to dig for something, but Tulayan and Andrasius, who were skeptical of the report, remained relatively calm. Of course, the two of them opposed this operation because they had their own agendas, and Tulayan wanted to increase trade with the Franks to alleviate economic problems, rather than using the Cretan archers that he had borrowed from the Franks for such trivial things as crusading against pirates; Andrasius, on the other hand, was opposed to all of Kadir's recent measures of governance because he was deliberately weakening his own power because of Viscount Libera and General Vultures.

Although the two men had different starting points, their reaction to the incident was surprisingly unanimous, and they both went to Khadir III to denounce Viscount Libera, who advocated the expedition.

Kadir was very unhappy to receive the two ministers, because the person who decided to send troops was actually Kadir himself, and Libera, although he was in favor of opening the eastern trade route, was not the mastermind of the plan. Of course, Kadir would be unhappy about the actions of these two ministers with ulterior motives to take the opportunity to attack their political opponents, but he could not tell them that it was actually his own determination, and for now he could only endure his dissatisfaction and listen to the two ministers state their many dissatisfaction with the naval battle.

"Your Majesty, with all due respect, it is not the right time to provoke pirates, and although their attacks have all but cut off our trade routes to the East, we have now signed an alliance and a trade pact with Frank. That's enough to keep us in the current state of the economy, if we spread out our forces to fight the pirates at this point. It will inevitably affect our battle against the thief army, and Wechen believes that the main enemy we should face at the moment is the thief army. Viscount Libera's plan really can't be called wise. Tulayan's emotions were raging, because being able to blame Libera for the defeat gave him a long-lost sense of pleasure.

Andra on the side said: "Lord Tulayan's statement is very reasonable, Weichen thinks that it is not easy to sign a peace treaty with Arubania this time, and it really shouldn't ask them to help send troops." The fact that the Arubanian fleet ignored the mutually agreed plan to join forces with our army to attack the pirates, and instead attacked the pirate strongholds in an attempt to obtain gold and silver treasures, and then reaped the benefits when both our troops and the pirates were defeated, which gave the pirates a chance to turn the tide of the war. Although the results are regrettable. However, the Arubanian fleet was responsible for this defeat, and the current defeat has undoubtedly made the already delicate relationship between the two countries even more confusing, and it may be even more difficult for the two countries to cooperate in the future. It is clear that we have waged an unsuitable war at an unsuitable time, and Viscount Libera is clearly to blame for this defeat. ”

"I already understand the meaning of the two of you, but it was extremely fortuitous that things would turn out to be this result, and the strength we had prepared should have been very sufficient, but the cunning and luck of the pirates seemed to be a little beyond imagination, and it seemed unfair to blame Viscount Libera for such an unexpected failure." Kadir replied lazily.

Tulayan still did not give up: "But we paid a heavy price for this, and we also included two kilograms of Ritter archers. These mercenaries are very valuable combat power, and it is a pity to spend them in such a small place. ”

Before the words fell, Andrasius added: "Your Majesty, at the moment, Lord Libera is confronting the enemy army on the border, but he has not taken action for a long time. In the past few years, our army has been defeated one after another, and the hearts of the army and the people have begun to waver. Even if it's just a small victory to reinvigorate the spirit, you can hold your ground. ”

Kadir cursed in his heart. Because Andrasius's words were actually his original intention in launching a crusade against pirates, and he was originally counting on this winning war to bring good results. But I didn't expect to end up like this, and now Andrasius is using this reason to force himself to start a war again. Truth be told, with insufficient supplies on the front line with the thieves, poorly trained soldiers, and the lack of superiority in the equipment and numbers of troops, Kadir was not optimistic enough to think that victory would be easy in such a situation. However, he had to admit that Andrasius's statement was to the point, and the successive defeats had increased the burden on the people of Yaqui, and they were increasingly dissatisfied with his rule. After he regained power and suppressed the forces of Usubu and Andrasius, the war against the thieves did not improve, and the two factions that had been suppressed took the opportunity to start encouraging more people to secretly oppose him. With the dark tide raging in Yaqui's court, and his cronies Libera and Vultures on the front line defending against the thieves, the slander of the two of them is starting to get worse, and the situation will be even more difficult if it doesn't take a victory to stop the crowd.

Kadir hesitated before he spoke: "Lord Andrasius's words are true, but at the moment we are not fully prepared at the front, and I am afraid that victory will not be so smooth. ”

"Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that this victory does not need to be too big, this is just a means to boost morale and people's hearts, so we may be able to play some small tricks." Tulayan Road.

"Small means?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, Wechen would like to remind you that Durban is now an undefended city." Tulayan explained.

Kadir's eyes widened and he said, "Are you crazy?" Durbans is not occupied by bandits, it is only autonomous. ”

Tulayan shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive your vassals, Durbans is the city of Yaki, in the last war they refused to rise up against the invasion of the thieves, but accepted the small favor of the thieves, and then declared autonomy out of your rule. Although it has not been captured by the thieves, it has escaped from Yaki's rule. As your subjects betray the king, this is the greatest sin, and if it is not crusaded, there will be others who will follow suit. So we can raid Durbans and put it back under Yaqui's control, which will boost morale and get it easy, which is the best option at the moment. ”

"But Durbans is difficult to defend, and even if we recapture Durbans, how can we guarantee that we can hold on once the thieves attack?" Kadir raised the biggest problem with this plan.

"Your Majesty, please remind you that Frank's second batch of reinforcements is already on the way, and this time they will provide us with three kilograms of litter archers and five thousand hoplites, and using them to defend Durbans will undoubtedly greatly strengthen the strength of our army." Tulayan said confidently.

Kadir fell silent. He was well aware of the strong defensive capabilities of the Frank hoplites, but he was not optimistic about the possibility of holding Durbans. It's just that the current situation makes him very passive, and if there is no better solution, then he may have to make this decision.

I hope Libera will understand the widow's plight, Kadir thought silently. (To be continued.) )