"It's probably the last snow before spring. Ray stood on the castle tower, a little excited. The palm-sized snowflakes swirled and smashed to the ground like darts used by the natives, and the flakes and snow collided with each other, making a loud 'poof' sound. Even the roar of the soldiers of a nearby team who was training was drowned out by this 'poof' sound, and when it reached Ray's ears, it was already a little faint.

It took half a month to stabilize the defensive line, and the armies of several countries that originally served as the second and third reserves were all transferred to the front line. In other words, the current 'Iron Fort' defense line is equivalent to an iron sheet, and if the criminals can break through him, then it will be impossible to organize any reserve forces to delay the enemy's advance, intercept and kill the enemy's troops, and reorganize the defense line. This is a very fatal weakness on the battlefield, but now there is no way but to have a headache and a foot pain.

After all, if the defense line that stretches for hundreds of miles is not drawn up, as long as the criminals are not stupid, they can see the obvious omission of the defensive line, and in order to at least scare the criminals before the beginning of spring, they are forced to take such emergency measures.

With a low sigh, Thunder muttered in a low voice, "Damn, if only this snow could be ten times bigger, it would be fine if it could fall for another three months." At that time, at least I can train the recruits who come in to be decent, and I won't be beaten down by the sinners at a charge... Spring, spring... It's not going to be a good spring. "Everyone knows that the sinners are just waiting for the right spring to fight. They wouldn't be stupid enough to ask a warrior to charge through a few feet of snow, which is a sure thing.

Li's voice sounded from Ray's side: "Ray, what's wrong, are you scared?" Dressed in a strong suit, his brows slightly furrowed because of the burden on his body made Lei feel distressed. The seriously injured Hart easily woke up from his coma, and after learning about the current situation of the defensive line, he simply handed over the power of the entire Van Empire army to Ray, and let Li be responsible for controlling the entire Knights of Glory. This is also Hart's last resort. There are many high-ranking knights with high status than Li, but the main duty of the high-ranking knights is only to fight, and they have not received professional military training, so they have great prestige among the young people of the Knights of Glory, and at the same time, Li, who has the highest tactical literacy in the academy of 'God City', has become the most ideal commander.

Only Ray knew how difficult it was for Li to bear such a burden to Li, who was desperately causing trouble a month ago. But the pride inherited from the 'Lion Knight' Rhine and Leigh's own self-esteem will never allow her to take a step back, so Lily is now the commander of the Knights of Glory, and the life and death of more than 200,000 Knights of Glory are on her shoulders.

Lei let out a long breath, shook his head slowly, and said, "Afraid? I don't know what fear is." I didn't know fear when I hunted wild beasts in the mountains, I didn't know fear when I watched my brothers fall one by one on the steppes of the Xili Province, when I was surrounded by a hundredfold enemy in the Turk Gorge, I only knew how to fight to the death, and when I first faced the sinners in the 'Divine City', I only had curiosity and the ambition to become a nobleman. What is fear? That has nothing to do with me. ”

"But I'm really scared. I am afraid of the warriors under my command, I am afraid of their old mothers, and I will never see their living faces again. I am afraid that the whole continent will fall into the hands of the guilty people from now on. Although I don't know who will be better for the common people than the sinners and the nobles of the countries on the continent now. But I prefer to believe that the nobles, who are also born as human beings on the mainland, will not treat our people as human beings, as sinners do. They have become a pure other race, and they are no longer the same human beings as us. ”

"At the same time, I'm even more scared, I'm scared... What scared me was, I was afraid that I would not be able to fulfill Lord Rhine's deathbed instructions, and I was afraid that I would have to watch you be killed, as if I were on the safe walls of Turk Canyon and watched my first commander, Vey, be beheaded by a sword from Bobcut. That feeling of powerlessness is what scares me the most. Yet, I also know ... ”

Li nodded heavily, looked at Ray seriously and said, "I also know that no matter what, we are warriors. If we don't have so much responsibility on us, if we are just ordinary people, then we can flee to, to the ends of the world. But you, Ray, now have the lives of millions of warriors in you, and I, the daughter of the Rhine, have the hopes of more than 200,000 uncles and hundreds of thousands of brothers, and we cannot escape such responsibility... Ray, I appreciate the care you've taken of me lately, but, before the battle to the death comes, hopefully, I hope you'll put all your energy into the fight and stop thinking about me. ”

"I'm not the delicate little girl you think, maybe that's what I used to give the impression of, but I can now be responsible for saying that I will no longer be a burden to others. Especially, Ray, I don't want to be a burden to you ... Let's keep fighting, if God is still merciful, they will not let us fail. And I also hope to see you go on according to your personal wishes. ”

"Sometimes, I really wonder why you, a person who has no ambitions, just to own a territory, have a few servants to farm for him, and no longer need to go to the fields to pull out the weeds himself, have persisted in fighting until now. Your most primitive wish is to become a basic little nobleman, but now, you have achieved your wish, and you are still fighting, why?"

Ray tried to speak, but Lee interrupted with a wave of his hand. She laughed, "We're all very stubborn people. I can understand that you are for the honor of the so-called empire, for the dignity of the so-called royal family, but what you really are for is the group of people you regard as brothers. I can understand all this, because when I took command of the Knights of Glory, I understood that the reason why I had to fight was for the sake of those who I had grown up with. We all have our own reasons why we can't give up, so, Ray ... Fight well and live well. ”

Ray froze for a moment, and he seemed to understand what Lee meant in her words. Li said in a deep voice, "Admittedly, you are the only man who can make my heart move. None of my companions were able to overcome me, so they were never the object of my consideration. Only, only you, Ray ... However, we all have things that we can't give up. ”

Two warm lips kissed Ray's lips gently. Thunder's mind exploded with a 'boom', and his whole body almost softened on the city wall. Venus was shining in front of him, and his heart was trembling quickly and slowly, as if he was about to jump out of his stomach. Those snowflakes in the sky, in the eyes of Lei, simply turned into transparent golden petals, the heavens and the earth were filled with soft music, and the world became like a heavenly holy realm.

Fortunately, those two lips quickly left Lei's mouth, otherwise, Lei's would definitely become the most ugly general in the history of the Van Empire: "Because of a woman's kiss, he fainted on the spot on the front line." "It is estimated that if such a record spreads, the group of old people in the imperial capital military department will be angry on the spot for life.

Li laughed softly: "Ray, take care, I'm going to check the preparations for the Glory Knights, the war horse hasn't been dispatched for a winter, and it needs to be well adjusted... Well, I don't need your care anymore. Thank you for all this you have done for me because of my father's oath, and especially thank you for the slap that completely woke me up from the dream of a young lady. The imprint of my father's life is on you, and his armor, after being processed by the mages of Sok, will be worn on my body ... If we are all alive after the war, I hope you will remember that in the 'City of God', in the far northwest of the Empire, there is me, a friend of yours, who is looking forward to your care. ”

The afterimage flickered, and countless snowflakes were smashed into pieces by the rapidly flying figure, turning into white ice crystals flying all over the sky and falling down. Lei looked at Li's distant figure as if he was blank in his heart, sighed in his mouth, and slowly leaned towards the city wall behind him.

Wearing a thick deerskin coat, Lomat walked out of a nearby fort with his head shaken, and muttered, "Big brother, poor thing, such a good girl, actually said those headless and brainless words to you." She really doesn't like you, but she really kisses you... Hehe, I guess it's still the first kiss of a little girl, right? Tell me, do you have any feelings?"

Ray rolled his eyelids, made a not-so-elegant gesture to Lomat, and muttered, "Enough, I've had enough trouble lately, don't make any more trouble for me." What is the situation in the army now? Jerry said that you went to the front line early in the morning to inspect the front line, what is the situation now? Is the morale of the soldiers good? Is there enough food and grass?" Ray stomped his legs and cursed in a low voice, "Damn God, it's so fucking cold, why don't you get any colder?" so that we can all go to the room and have a stove and no longer need to come out on patrol. ”

Lomat gently wiped the snow from the battlements of the city wall in front of him, shook his head and sighed, "The situation ahead is not bad. I didn't dare to let the soldiers of several other countries defend it, and now stationed at the front of the line were the 100,000 heavy infantry of our Dragon Legion and the 70,000 heavy cavalry of the Silver Wolf Legion. As if he was in a hurry to take revenge, Pobkaat threw all the money he had on hand now and put it on the right flank of our defense. ”

Ray nodded slowly: "Well, the impact of the Bicester Iron Knights, if you only look at the power of the collision, is even more terrifying than the Glory Knights, they should be able to easily disrupt the enemy's attack formation, enough for those sinners to eat." However, you have to remind Bobcart that he must time his attack well, and don't attack indiscriminately, it will kill a lot of people in vain. ”

Loma nodded: "Yes, I have already reminded him, and now that Ingle has been sent there by me, I demand that no matter what, I must see Ingle's signal before Bobcart can lead people out of the conflict." Beamon brought 50,000 heavy infantry as a reserve force for the first line of defense, ready to use it against the dwarves among the criminals, and Rokat brought 30,000 flying phoenix horsemen, and I found that if they used the 'Demon Breaking Arrow', they would pose a great threat to the elves, which was the main force of our front line. ”

Without waiting for Ray to speak, Lomat's fingers gestured on the battlements of the wall: "Also, I ask them that if the pressure of the enemy is too great, after they have killed the enemy a little, they can abandon the first line of defense, and instead of being broken by the enemy, we should gather all our forces and fight them under the 'Iron Fort'." At the same time, behind the first line of defense, a magic trap with a thickness of three miles has been arranged, and as long as the magic crystal inside is not moved, the power of the trap can be exerted. We did the test... Eh, a magic trap with half of its power reduced can seriously injure a high-level beast soul warrior, and that's basically it. ”

Ray laughed: "I see, do you want Ingle and them to make a fugitive appearance? ”

Lomart shook his head and said, "It won't be in vain, big brother." The sinners will not devote all their forces to attack us at one time, if I am not mistaken, they will first send some small troops to attack us, even if it is 10,000 or 20,000 people at a time as a test, my arrangement will definitely make them have no return, and reduce their combat effectiveness as much as I can. Bobkat's 150,000 iron horsemen were used to storm their tentative detachment, and if there was to be a head-on battle, the Bicester iron cavalry would not be enough to slash and kill the criminals. ”

Lei nodded slowly, thinking for a while, he suddenly laughed: "Lomat, it's good to have you, you make me much easier." Hmm, what's the material situation?"

Lomat's face sank suddenly, and he whispered, "The supplies are in good condition, and the supplies we have accumulated can be enough for our entire army for a month, but now they are enough for us to use for two months." Especially consumables like arrows, I'm just worried right now that we don't have enough archers to shoot those arrows. Big brother, more than a million people, more than a million elites... Directly complain to Your Majesty and the Imperial Military Department about Oliver's military intelligence report, I have ordered the mages of the 'Divine City' to send back to the Imperial Capital with a special magic array. ”

Lei was silent for a while, and after a long time, he sighed, flicked a snowflake falling in front of him with one finger, and said gloomily: "Then, it depends on what the reaction of the imperial capital is." Hopefully, they will make a wise decision and won't do anything as ridiculous as sending Oliver to be a military officer. ”

Lomat said a little excitedly: "But, big brother, it's not just Oliver's reason, but also Prince Andre. If it weren't for the fact that he was fighting for a position of power for his staff, how could it be Oliver's turn to be this damn military officer? Even if Oliver came to be the military affairs officer, he wouldn't be able to pick him up, and it wouldn't be his fucking Oliver's turn to hold a transfer order written by His Majesty himself, right? After all, I really don't deserve it for Lord Gaddafi, just because of that transfer order. ”

Leng Sen's voice flashed: "Lomat, shut up, what else are you going to say? Shut up... The affairs of the royal family are not something we can talk about. What Prince Andre has done is naturally his consideration, aren't you afraid of causing trouble to Ray and yourself? Will His Majesty Shagru listen to his uncle or will he listen to us? Don't be stupid... Especially the matter of the transfer order, don't mention it again. I can tell you that always putting the fault of a king on the lips will end up being completely deprived of the honor and wealth of the 'Marquis of Copper' like your ancestor. ”

Cold sweat flowed down Lomat's forehead at once, he looked at the figure approaching in the wind and snow, and whispered, "Yes, Jerry, I'm so forgetful, those things shouldn't be what we discussed... However, what do you think will be the emperor's reaction after this incident comes out?"

Jerry walked to Ray's side, looked at the vast land outside the 'Iron Castle', and whispered: "The reaction of the imperial capital? The best result is that His Majesty has alienated Prince Andrew, and, and held Oliver accountable, giving an explanation to our front-line soldiers, and at the same time giving an explanation to the bigwigs in the military department. However, what I am afraid of is that things may not turn out the way we think, after all, in history, there have been many inexplicable things that have happened in various countries, and the cause and effect ... You Lomat wouldn't have thought about it, would you?"

Lomat sneered: "Of course, I thought about it. The worst possible outcome is that we are falsely accused and then Gaddafi becomes a hero and we ... ”

Thunder knocked down a wall battlement with a fist, and a group of patrolmen who were walking under the city wall were startled, and when they hurriedly looked up, they found that it was Lei who was furious on the city wall, and immediately continued to patrol lightly one by one, not daring to say anything more. Those soldiers were still secretly grateful: "Fortunately, General Lei is not very angry today, but he broke a wall battlement, so the repair work will be much smaller, if it is a fist to destroy a section of the city wall, such a cold weather, those brothers of the engineering battalion will suffer." ”

Lei said a little angrily: "You two, the more you talk, the more unkind it becomes, is it true that the upper echelons of the empire are so black and white? We are soldiers, don't guess what decisions those bigwigs will make, we just need to ensure that we fight well and kill the enemy." ”

Jerry and Lomat glanced at each other and nodded helplessly.

The sound of horses' hooves thundered. More than a dozen horsemen galloped towards the city gate from the southeast, and one of the knights at the front held a gold medal and shouted wildly: "I am the envoy of His Majesty Shagru, and I am here to announce the decree by the emperor, so why don't you open the city gate for me quickly." Hurry, hurry, hurry... ”

'Plop', the two fast horses behind him screamed and fell to the ground, looking at the wisps of white smoke on the horse's body and the bloody foam flowing out of the mouth, and then looking at the two knights on the ground also struggling to get up, it can be imagined that they rushed all the way from the Vantian Imperial Capital, and they didn't have time to rest too much to rush to the 'Iron Fortress' defense line.

Thunder flew out like an angry thunderbolt, and he roared loudly, "Open the city gates, hurry." With a big hand, he had already grasped the opportunity to control the lifting of the city gate, and with a force, he slowly raised the city gate of thousands of catties. The sound of the 'Galala' chain rubbing the turntable was loud, and the guards at the nearby city gate were stunned, can this still be considered a person?

The knight at the front flew off his horse, knelt on the ground and gasped softly, then he raised his godless eyes and said weakly, "You, are you General Lei?"

Lei grabbed him with one hand and shouted in a deep voice: "I am Lei, what is Your Majesty's will?"

The knight breathed a long sigh of relief and whispered, "By Your Majesty's order, General Lei is crowned Duke of 'Glory' and Duke 'Loyalty' of the Empire, and he will lead any two provinces in the east of the Empire. Because he did not know that General Lei liked the territory of the two provinces, His Majesty asked General Lei to designate his own fiefdoms. At the same time, General Jerry was crowned Duke of the Empire as the Duke of Jieyong, leading the northwest provinces of the Empire, and General Jerry was also asked to designate his own fief. He crowned General Lomart as the Marquis of the Imperial 'Wise', and the father of General Lomart was the Duke of 'Copper Mountain'... Ray and Jerry, two generals and below, were all promoted to the next level. ”

Ray and Jerry glanced at each other, they didn't care too much about Shagru's sealing, anyway, that's just the thing, anyway, they don't know if they can go back alive on the battlefield, even if they are crowned princes now, it is meaningless. Lomat, on the other hand, was so excited that he almost trembled. Ray is the first person in the history of the empire to hold two honorary dukedoms at the same time, and the first duke to receive two territories at the same time. And what about Lomat himself? He has become a marquis himself? His father has finally become a duke, and his father's dream has come true.

However, the messenger's next sentence almost made Jerry soft on the spot: "Imperial military discipline, there are rewards and punishments." General Lei fought bravely on the front line and made countless meritorious contributions, and his earnings were sealed and included in the Imperial Noble Senate from now on. The reward given by General Jerry was only granted after General Jerry returned to the imperial capital to explain the truth about the defeat of the four major legions of Jaguar, Tyrannical Lion, Praetorian Guard, and Guard. ”

Ray, Jerry, and Lomat were all stunned, what was going on? So, didn't the responsibility for the fiasco of the four major legions be vaguely placed on Jerry's head?

Ray roared, "Fuck you, who taught you this? Do you believe it or not, I'm going to tear you apart right now?"

The messenger trembled, screamed and groaned: "General Lei, this is an order issued by His Majesty himself, and the written order is in my arms, I will never dare to forge the holy decree." Also, including General Gaddafi's disposal decision, it will have to wait for General Jerry to return to the imperial capital before it can be decided. ”

Jerry shook his head with a bleak face, his worst worries seemed to have been resolved, and he smiled softly and bitterly: "Enough, I'll go to the imperial capital... Ray, I'm sorry, but now it's all up to you to carry this burden. ”

The wind whistled and swept through, and Lei only felt a chill on his body, and the chill came straight from the bottom of his heart.