"Do you want us to support the Theoguna Empire instead?" Guillermo, the white-haired general of the Kingdom of Salins, heard Chief Commander Fidel's proposal, then shook his head and stood up, leaving the conference hall first.

The rest of the council were skeptical, then sighed. Because everyone knows that if the southern part of the West Oguna Empire is really taken by the East Oguna Empire, then it will be basically difficult to recapture these coastal cities with the large number of Sloman's navy. And the only pass in the south has also been taken away, and the regular army of the East Oguna Empire will surely advance on the great plains of the western part of the empire, when the newly hatched western power of the empire will be questioned by the swingers and turn against them.

This kind of thing can already be seen in the foreseeable future, and Marquis Baldwin, the lord of the southern city of Golden Hoof, is the best of these wavering factions. Before Xiumo and Golia rebelled, Baldwin had long been rumored to want to support the army and stand on his own, but until now the Western Empire has been established in the West, and Baldwin still maintains diplomatic relations with both sides at the same time, but because of the location of Golden Hoof City, he is in public to express his support for the side of the Western Goguna Empire.

"The Chief Regiment wants us to support the Theoguna Empire, and they really can't handle their own domestic affairs?" The Pope didn't quite understand these intertwined grand strategic situations, and even the one who made the suggestion, Field, only had a gut feeling that he couldn't continue to spend in this place.

"Report to the Pope, if the southern cities of the Theoguna Empire are captured," the southern cities that Rashad was referring to included of course other port cities, Windmill City as the first and most important harbor city has been taken, and the other harbor cities near the west will also be taken under the combined attack of Sloman's navy and the army coming from the east," Then the regent Xiumo may not be able to provide food and reinforcements to support us, which means that we do not have enough food to supply the current besieging troops, as well as the general of the Kingdom of Salins who has just gotten up and left. ”

This was clear enough that the Pope understood everything at once. Recall that the fact that so many troops had been sent to the Transoxians in consideration of the probability of an alliance was a conquest that mobilized the entire Papal State, so the food problem had to be solved as a priority. Now that the food problem is likely to arise again, if the besieging soldiers standing outside the ice and snow are still hungry, I am afraid that the consequences will be unimaginable.

"Then we have only one option, to withdraw our troops back to the Holy Light?" Archbishop Arthur Auerbach asked Rashad that he now owned more than half of the territory of the Riverlands, and he did not want to return empty-handed.

"Not exactly," replied Rashad humbly, "one of the reasons for the defeat of the East Oguna Empire was the disunity within them, and many nobles and lords were swingers, but now that Grand Duke Popo is on the side of Glencor, they are definitely capable of counterattacking to the west." ”

"There are others besides Duke Popo. Captain Kiro said.

Rashad nodded, "That's right, although the easternmost Duke of Petwich in the easternmost part of the continent is old, he has a large number of soldiers and weapons, if that duke is also on the side of Glyncor."

The reason why Fed proposed to withdraw troops was also in mind the problem of unity within the East Oguna Empire. You must know that the original Oguna Empire was a "giant ship", but the crew on the ship liked to hold their own part of the hull, so there was no way to sail in one direction. This situation has a lot to do with the Imperial Emperor Electrochromum IV, who lives deep in the palace of Grinko, and this emperor is rumored to be suffering from an incurable disease, and the power has fallen into the hands of other people such as the prime minister, so the great nobles in various places have begun to support themselves and watch the fire from the other side.

But things suddenly took a turn for the worse, and everything turned against the Papal States - the empire of Theoguna was counterattacked, the rivercastle was supported, and the weather was getting colder

"Captain Feder is right, let's leave immediately, and retreat before Petwich's soldiers arrive here to support the Riverland Castle!" The leader of a mercenary group immediately became a loyal supporter of Fidel, although there were spies hiding in the cities east of the Riverland, but no one could say when more imperial reinforcements would appear from the east, after all, the Lord Martin had come up with a declaration of war, announcing that the two countries had officially become belligerents.

Everyone else was sad and had no better offer. They had been triumphant in the morning, and some of them had begun to prepare for the land allotted to the River, but now they were all awakened by Fidel's words. Continuing to advance eastward will inevitably be trapped in the weather, food and grass, and even Viscount Hollis behind him, standing here and besieging the city, and just sitting and waiting for death, there is no better choice than the strategy of retreating immediately and reducing losses.

"In this way, it is estimated that it is impossible for these three small cities to be defended, and if you want to retreat, you have to retreat to the buffer zone," the deputy head of the Church Knights, Rassad, finally said the most suitable choice, "If it is possible, we will first agree to Viscount Hollis's proposal, and then sign a temporary peace agreement, as for whether to rush to the aid of the Theoguna Empire, it is better to return to the Holy Light City to negotiate." ”

The Pope had little insight into military strategy, but when he saw General Guillermo leave the scene in a rage, he knew that there was nothing left for everyone in the room.

However, Archbishop Arthur Auerbach still couldn't accept the defeat, not only could he not take the castle between the rivers, but now after the church alliance lost more than 10,000 people, he retreated to the city of holy light in a disgraced manner, and even these three small cities had to be returned to Hollis, which was really infuriating and hateful! At the beginning, he was invited here by the chief knight Kiro in order to happily accept the surrender of Viscount Hollis, but he didn't expect it now

Fidel, who returned to his residence, mentioned to the captains about the preparations for the withdrawal.

"Withdraw, there's nothing to protect if you stay here anyway," Marcus had already returned from the City of Light, and before he returned, he told Nangus to let the former warden come to the City of Light to find them, "The weapon of 'Thundering' is enough to keep us all out." ”

"Yes, there is really no way to take this rivercastle, if it is really as you said from Senior Fed, it is the best policy to retreat now," Avi has the golden shield hanging from his waist, he has already begun to try to use enchanted weapons, and under Patrick's guidance, Avi's personal fighting skills have improved again, "Just Hughes is equivalent to sending him to death in vain"

Patrick comforted, "You still have a chance to avenge him, didn't I tell you privately? Patrick spent the next few days caring about the shrill chirp of the Battle of the River, a game-changing force. He thought about it and finally determined that it might be a legendary life weapon or an extremely powerful enchanted weapon, but there was no way to confirm it.

Avi nodded, he was now worried about his mother Jonny and Miranda's family in Golden Hoof City. Hearing the news brought back by Feide's predecessors, I am afraid that the war between the two empires will soon spread to his hometown of Golden Hoof, and I really hope that Miranda will now follow Uncle Charlik to other countries to travel and trade, and his mother can leave the land of strife for a while.

Fidel saw that everyone had their own thoughts, and he just lightly asked his men to pack their bags, and the decision on other matters was still in the hands of Rashad and the archbishop.

Later in the evening, the Papal envoys sent to Riverland Castle had returned, and it was reported that Viscount Hollis was on good terms with the commander-in-chief of the reinforcements of the East Oguna Empire, and they did not intend to make any concessions - the Church Union had to retreat to the City of Light, lift the siege, and return the three cities to the people of the Riverland before Hollis considered to sign a peace agreement. The Papal State envoy also sent a message of greetings to his nephew on behalf of Hollis, who said that if his nephew, Lord Martin, were to be executed, he would certainly report Martin's deeds to the capital, Greenko, and posthumously confer a knighthood after his burial.

Faced with such an impeccable attitude, the Pope and the Archbishop were helpless, and issued a decision to pack their bags to the Kingdom infantry led by Guillermo and the soldiers of the Church Union, respectively. The white-haired general Guillermo had already returned to his barracks, refusing to meet anyone on the grounds that he was ill.

And in such a gloomy atmosphere, the deputy head of the regiment, Rashad, found Fide in the middle of the night.

"Is the Chief Commander here? I have important matters to discuss with him. When Ayana opened the door, she saw Rashad in white armor, who was heroic and dazzling even in the dark.

"You wait. Ayana woke up Fed, who had just fallen asleep, and Fed's sleep was not good all this time, so Ayana just gently patted Fett's forehead and didn't yell.

Sitting in the living room, Rashad said directly to Fidel: "I have decided to launch a surprise attack before withdrawing the army the day after tomorrow." The map of the secret passage in his hand already illustrated his thoughts.

"Who to send?"

"Selena has agreed to my request to be the captain of this mission. ”

"So why did you find me?"

"I'm wondering if you have a more suitable candidate to propose to me, or a suitable person to be Selena's deputy. ”