In mid-January, ambergris and the watershed are in the depths of winter. The embankment is frozen in layers, and the river is covered with floating snow, but the water is still raging, rushing towards the mouth of Jinfen Port.

The fertile land on both sides of the river is covered with a thick layer of snow, and the soil freezes, cutting off life.

A family of farmers in the suburbs gathered around the fire, snowflakes floating outside their windows. The man complained about the cold of this winter, and the hostess knitted a sweater and occasionally yelled at the children who were frolicking in the back to tell them not to make too much noise. A large dog and a fat cat lay lazily at their feet, warm and peaceful.

The floor shook suddenly, at first tiny and unnoticed, and then grew larger and larger. First the windows shook, and the snow fell from the windows, and then the ice picks on the eaves fell with a clatter.

The farmer's family all stopped what they were doing and looked at each other.

"I'll go out and have a look."

The man walked a few steps to the cupboard, opened the door, and took out the rifle inside. It is usually used to hunt wild ducks, and occasionally it is also used to prevent bandits. However, this is a satellite signal coverage area, a place of rule of law, and there is basically no danger.

"Be careful!"

The man nodded at the hostess, held the gun and pushed the door out.

"Woo......"

The north wind is howling and the snow is blowing. The sky and the earth are white, and the visibility is very low, about only a dozen meters.

The man walked seven or eight meters away in the wind and snow, and a cluster of gray shadows appeared in sight.

The orange-red spotlights shone ahead, and the roar of the engine was mixed in with the snowflakes.

A few steps closer, I saw trucks full of soldiers passing outside the farm, followed by mechs and infantry.

The man was shocked, turned around and ran back into the house, slammed the door shut, and plugged in all the pins.

"It's the army of the Northern Alliance, they're coming!"

The hostess stood up sharply, and the sweater she was knitting fell to the ground, causing the cat and dog to jump away.

"Fast into the cellar!"

The hostess hurried to the corner of the room and pulled open the planks on the floor to reveal the entrance to the cellar.

Just then, a radio rang out outside.

"When the troops pass through the farmhouse, they must not disturb the people, and those who violate the military law will be dealt with!"

"Retrial, violators will be dealt with by military law!"

The male and female protagonists glanced at each other, and both breathed a sigh of relief. As the expeditionary force advertised, soldiers were not allowed to harass or loot civilians.

On this day, Chen Xingqin led an army of 150,000 to besiege the Silver Eagle Leader.

The policy of not disturbing the people was learned by him from his ancestors, which was called "not taking a stitch from the masses."

Now that the United Kingdom is in the midst of an internal war, it is important to win popularity, and perhaps the land will change hands and these civilians will become new lords.

Of course, even if he defeated the Silverclaw Principality, Chen Xing would not be able to get too many fiefs.

According to the aristocratic laws of the United Kingdom of Ambergris, the change of territory and the change of royal family is by no means a simple matter. Only the king has the right to reclaim the fiefdoms of the great nobles, and as long as the Silverclaw royal family does not betray the kingdom, even if the civil war is fierce, the land will still be left to their descendants in the end.

The victor can only have an impact on the land's income by supporting the Silverclaw royal bloodline.

But then again, if Aliya insisted on giving him the land that Chen Xing had laid down, it would not be impossible, but only if Trilith on the other side of the river did the same, otherwise all the neutral nobles would fall to Trilith's side.

Changing the rules of the game at the bottom means shaking the foundation of the kingdom, and unless there is a preparation for a big change of nobles, it is still necessary to follow the rules.

Neither Aria nor Trilith would do such a thankless task.

Raiding the land without ownership or the corresponding subjects was commonplace during the civil war. Even though the Commission on Human Survival has repeatedly called for no harm to civilians, the military is still keen on it, because it is the fastest and easiest way to get military money.

Chen Xing was short of military spending, but there were three reasons why he did not loot civilians.

First, the ideal of a mercenary country needs to be supported by popular popularity, and no public will be willing to support a tyrant to establish a country.

The second is that some of the people in the expeditionary force cannot accept the looting of civilians, such as the fire and Leonka.

Third, the looting of civilians will affect the combat effectiveness of the troops. In the process of looting, soldiers will definitely hide some of their belongings, and when the money is enough, they will naturally go home to buy a car, buy a house, marry a wife, and live a happy life, who still has the heart to fight?

Therefore, the wisdom of the ancestors still has to be learned.

Just three days ago, Chen Xing sent someone to escort the third prince of Silver Claw, Wei Qinghai, back to the Silver Eagle Leader.

The reason is very simple, he collected a ransom of one million gold coins from Wei Haitang.

The purchasing power of one gold coin is equivalent to one thousand soft girl coins on the earth, and one million gold coins is equivalent to one billion soft girl coins.

It's still cost-effective to exchange so much money for a waste. Wei Qinghai's body is crippled and his personality is rubbish, and it is difficult to become a big tool, even if he puts it back, it will be a trouble to eat rice, and it will not pose a threat to the next siege battle.

On the other hand, Chen Xing is really short of money.

In previous battles, the expeditionary force had lost more than 80,000 men, and the minimum standard of 200 gold coins per person was as high as 16 million.

Although the military department of the Red Dragon Principality was responsible for most of the pension, it was only a figure on the paper for the time being, and it was not actually paid.

If Chen Xing successfully defeated the Silver Eagle Collar, money would naturally not be a problem, as long as the middle and upper nobles of Silver Claw were scraped with oil, all problems would be solved.

But if it can't be defeated, maybe Aria will have to think of a way.

In addition to pensions, military spending is also a part. Of the 150,000 people now, in addition to the remaining 120,000 from before, the 30,000 people who have been replenished are mainly mercenaries from all over the world and young people from the two countries of Red Dragon and Black Feather.

The reorganization of troops, the purchase of ordnance, the replenishment of supplies, all require a lot of money.

Chen Xing used to read the news, and experts and scholars always said that the war was about money, but now it seems that it is simply a wise saying.

During this time, he was like a ruffian hooligan, extorting money everywhere to collect protection money, which was able to fill the gap in funds and reorganize this 150,000-strong army.

This unit has experienced large-scale wars and matured a lot, although the number is not as large as at the beginning, but the combat effectiveness is stronger than before.

The difference between a recruit and a veteran is simply that after a brutal war. For example, although there are only more than 6,000 people left in the left army, these 6,000 people were fought in the most brutal battlefields, and a large part of them can be promoted to grassroots officers. As long as there is a sufficient supply of troops, the combat effectiveness will be restored quickly, because the combat effectiveness of the troops mainly depends on the command ability of the officers at the grassroots level.

And at the same time that Chen Xing's expeditionary force was approaching the Silver Eagle Leader, the major armies of the Red Dragon and Black Feather also began to move to restrain the troops of the three kingdoms of Chiyan, Hanling, and Black Spear.