Early autumn was hot for a few more days, and then cooled down with a few cold rains. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

While the people of the north have already put on thick clothes, the trees in the south have begun to turn yellow and fall into colorful leaves. In previous years, this was the most tranquil and beautiful time of the year. Today, however, the South is a hectic and chaotic scene.

After the Lulian Demon Invasion was successfully resolved, people's attention was focused on the war in the north and the process of the demons in the south.

And at this time, the Pompeii Empire suffered a crushing defeat, and the news that the demon soldiers were like a bamboo, also came one after another.

Public opinion was in an uproar.

People are worried. Some people accuse the Pompeii Empire of causing trouble, and some people speculate that the demons must have hidden some secrets behind their sudden efforts. And more people looked at the arrows of the rapidly spreading demons on the war map, calculating the time to arrive at their homeland.

Both the Philip Empire and the Solan Empire royal families held emergency meetings. The major families and principalities have also accelerated the pace of conscription and the build-up of armed forces. At the same time, the messengers of the three empires shuttled back and forth as fast as they could, exchanging information and negotiating the date of a joint meeting.

People suddenly realized that there was not much time left for mankind.

As the only country among the three empires that has not yet engaged in war with the demons, the Solan Empire is currently in the best position, but it cannot be wasted without any delay. Almost as soon as the news was obtained, the Fire Phoenix Legion had already been ordered to go north to make preliminary preparations for the assembly of the coalition forces.

Under Sophia's command, teams of scouts were sprinkled like beans. They will go deep into the territory of the Pompeii Empire and obtain first-hand information about the demons. At the same time, the major provinces, major families, as well as the imperial border army and the Royal Knights, also set off one after another to concentrate on the northern border.

After a disgraced ceremony to enter the city, the armies of the nobles gathered in Lulian were the first to move. Almost overnight, the tents outside the city had been dismantled. The majestic knights walked silently, as if they had never been there.

However, just because people are gone doesn't mean that the conversation is over. Even in the shadow of the demons, this is still the hottest topic on the streets. Whether it's an aristocratic gathering or a low, dilapidated tavern, there will always be people talking about the scene of the day.

A face of schadenfreude and ridicule.

Fortunately, the embarrassment of the foreign nobles did not last long, and everyone's attention was attracted by the knightly training that began one after another.

Knight training is nothing new. Even hillbillies in small places have seen their lord's private training. Not to mention the residents of Muni who watched the knights of the Mooney City Guard gallop back and forth all day. But the difference this time is that now concentrated in the military camp are the most elite and outstanding mercenaries in the south.

Not only are they extraordinary, but they are also extremely experienced in combat, and all of them are old birds who have gone up the sword mountain and down the sea of fire, and have rolled in front of the gates of hell. Compared with them, the cadets of the three major training camps who joined the military camp for training were like kindergarten children.

Therefore, many people gathered outside the South Gate barracks every day.

On the one hand, everyone is curious, and on the other hand, there is suspicion.

Everyone knows that mercenaries are unruly men who like to be free and unruly, and they are all used to being idle. Sleeping until noon, drinking until drunk, fighting and gambling are commonplace, who dares to say a word next to him, his eyes will be glaring, and the big fist will rush to the face.

In previous years, low-level mercenaries would join the rabble in order to get ahead. And these high-level mercenaries have more status than most knights and officers in the army, even if they want to participate in the war, they often give the commander in the army a headache and don't know how to arrange it.

This time, so many high-ranking mercenaries have all gathered together, can they honestly obey orders, abide by discipline, and truly become forbidden soldiers?

It was the sun coming out of the west.

Curiosity or skepticism. In fact, from the day after the entrance ceremony, the gate of the barracks at the south gate of Muni City was closed. No one can find out.

All you can do is wait. No one knows what kind of army will come out of the barracks when the training is over.

###

"How?"

When Fano walked into Adolf's study, Adolf, who was sitting at a desk full of letters and papers, put down his official duties and looked up and asked.

Fano's face was a little melancholy, and he shook his head and said, "It's not very good. ”

"Oh?" Adolf tucked the quill in his hand into the inkwell and stood up and walked around the desk, "What's the matter? ”

"It's true that attitude is not a problem," Fano said with a wry smile, "the problem is their habits. ”

It has been two weeks since the start of the intensive training in the army.

Because all the recruits this time were mercenaries, Lulian also paid special attention to training. Not only did Fano personally take charge, but he also transferred many generals of the Bavarian Knights, the Muni City Guard, and some lords with outstanding abilities in this area, including Eugene, Iverson and others.

These people are all well-known towns and rocks in the Lulian army, and they enjoy a high reputation among the soldiers. Letting them train themselves is completely overkill.

However, such a luxurious team of instructors seems to have no effect now.

As one has speculated, it is not easy to turn a group of unruly mercenaries into soldiers who are forbidden to follow the rules. But the people outside are just talking and speculating, and Fano, who is the chief of the training camp and directly faces these mercenaries every day, is simply tormented.

In terms of attitude, these mercenaries have no problem. Not to mention those mercenaries who joined the Southern Cross Knights, even ordinary low-level mercenaries who joined the Lulian Army, they have completely put away their previous rebelliousness.

The reason for this is that the situation is forced on the one hand, on the other hand, the demons are going south, and everyone is facing the current situation of life and death, which makes everyone have a sense of mission.

No one wants to hold back at this time, in that case, even in front of the brothers of the mercenary group in the past, they can't raise their heads. Whether it's personality or temper, it's all put away.

In particular, the mercenaries of the Southern Cross Knights cherish the opportunity.

You know, many of the members were able to join because Roy repeatedly relaxed the number limit. Not to mention the magic costume that day, just the salary conditions and the group of brothers around him who concentrated the best of the southern mercenaries and experienced the battle of the abyss together were enough to make everyone grit their teeth and persevere.

However, it is not a problem whether it is bitter or tired. The problem is that the living and fighting habits of these mercenaries cannot be changed overnight.

Military personnel fight in groups, and the requirement for the individual is complete obedience to the whole. Most of the time, whether it is attacking or retreating, whether it is a large group or a small battle formation, it is like a part of a machine, and it can only act according to the strictest and most rigid settings, and it is not allowed to make its own decisions.

But mercenary is a profession that requires judgment, experience, and flexibility.

Mercenaries perform different tasks and use different methods. In battle, it is especially important to be flexible, otherwise they would not have survived at all. Moreover, most of the mercenaries fight in small squads, and they are completely unsuitable for group combat. Not to mention anything else, just one queue is a headache for Fano.

It's easy to line up in a neat line, but it's too hard to get the mercenaries to keep the queue in line on the battlefield, to advance and retreat in any situation, and to strictly follow the tactics.

After listening to Fano's report, Adolf was also worried for a while.

At the beginning, he took the initiative to take over the training of the Knights of the Southern Cross, firstly, to help Roy, because compared to Roy, Lulian has more manpower resources in this area. Second, Lulian recruited a lot of people. Anyway, they have to be trained, and one more Southern Cross mercenary group is also handy.

Unexpectedly, after more than ten days, the training is still standing still.

Adolf's old face was a little red.

In military terms, he is really not very good. Sophia is the only one who can handle the entire Lulian family. If Sophia had been there, he would have been able to leave the problem to his daughter. But now that Sophia is no more, even Fano can't do anything, and he is even more helpless.

"By the way, what about the dwarves and elves?" asked Adolf.

"It's ......harder," Fano felt his mouth grumble, "the dwarf's temper is like that of a bison." When they lined up, they were all in good shape, and they were all neatly arranged. But as soon as the order was given to advance, he rushed forward with a roar, not to mention the queue, and he couldn't even pull it. ”

Adolf sat down on the couch and covered his face.

Fano continued, "Ask them why they can't keep the queue walking slowly, guess what they say?"

Adolf glared at Fano angrily: "I guess?!"

Fano was a little embarrassed, and hurriedly said: "They said that they have short legs, and their thighs and calves together are not as long as half of our legs, so they always like to run." If you want to walk slowly, they won't be able to walk two meters if we walk ten meters. Besides, if you don't rush quickly when you fight, what are you grinding? If you go late, everyone will be killed by others. ”

"Makes sense. Adolf covered his face again, groaned, and asked, "What about the elf?"

"The problem with the elves, not on that side," Fano said, "is their problem -- they don't care about our human tactics at all. ”

"Okay. "Adolf has lost his temper.

"Your Highness, what should we do next? We can do it well, and disperse the people as much as possible and divide them into the camps. Slowly, it will merge. Knights of the Southern Cross...... Alas, Roy, this kid, doesn't know where to go. Seeing that the demons are coming, will he really pull such a team to the north in the future?" asked Fano.

Adolf rubbed his eyebrows and said, "Let's think of another way......

Before the words fell, suddenly a rush of footsteps came, and when he looked up, he saw old Karn walking into the study with a strange face, and reported: "Your Highness, there is a visitor. ”

"Oh?" Adolf asked, "who?"

Old Karn said with some incredulity: "It's the Grand Duke of Renault of the Tomahawk Knights, he came in person." ”

"Where is he?" asked Adolf as he stood up.

"The South Gate Camp," Karn said.

"Big camp?" Adolf, who was already preparing to let people change his clothes and meet the guests, was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect that Renaud went to Lulian to ask to see him, but instead came to the mansion, he went to the barracks.

"Yes, Your Highness," Karn said, "he said he wanted to see the mercenaries of the Southern Cross. ”

Upon hearing this, Adolf's face changed.

"Let's go!"

##########

In the barracks, there was a hot scene.

Although the current Muni City Barracks has been three times larger than it was before the invasion of the Freet Empire. Recently, craftsmen have been working overtime to build barracks and level playgrounds, many of which have not even been painted.

However, when the lords of Lulian led the army to the north to the city of Muni, and when thousands of mercenaries joined the army, the barracks still seemed crowded.

When I walked into the camp, I heard the roars, footsteps, and passwords all around. There are dozens of playgrounds, large and small, each of which is overcrowded.

The soldiers were engaged in a variety of drills under the command of the officers. Some are practicing battle formations, some are practicing assassination. The archers nailed bundles of arrows into the center of the target, and the knights galloped on their horses, sprinting wave after wave of their rifles into the spinning exercisers.

In the central playground, there are even heavy armored warriors with huge shields practicing slashing.

Dressed in hundreds of kilograms of armor, they made the earth shake with every step they took forward. And every slash of the tomahawk in his hand is the sound of wind and thunder.

Such a sight is enough to make the blood of any Lulian boil.

However, when a carriage with no signs and no guards passed by the camp road, Iverson, who was staggering in the carriage, noticed that the old man with silver hair and a square face sitting opposite him was not even interested in looking outside.

Even passing by the training ground of his Knights of the Mooney City Guard, his eyes were indifferent.

Iverson could only smile bitterly at this.

If it were someone else, Iverson would naturally not be convinced. But the one sitting in the car is Duke Renault, the head of the Tomahawk Knights, who has been famous for decades and commands one of the five major knights of the empire. Not only is he famous in a hundred battles, but he also personally brought out a tiger and wolf army that has won a hundred battles.

If nothing else, just talking about this demonic invasion, Iverson has seen the power of the Tomahawk Knights with his own eyes.

Even under the chaotic orders of the commanders, the charge launched by the Tomahawk Knights, including the last-minute turnaround, showed their extremely high level of training and execution. Thousands of knights ordered the order to be forbidden, as if it were one person, and such an army was the most terrifying for opponents on the battlefield.

And this is still the case when Grand Duke Renault has not personally led the army for many years.

It is said that the founder of the Tomahawk Order seems to have been a little tired in recent years. The knights were all under the command of several sons, and he himself raised flowers and grass in the imperial capital, living a leisurely life of an ordinary old man. Except for the occasional meeting of the royal family or the military department, it is difficult to see him walking out of the house.

This has been going on for seven or eight years. So much so that there were rumors in private that he had a falling out with Donald, so he was stripped of his authority by Donald and put under house arrest.

This rumor seems to have a lot of market, but Renault neither admits nor denies it.

He remained completely silent, hiding his figure in the ancient castle in the green shade of Rose Mountain in the southeast of the imperial capital, surrounded by birds and flowers, far away from the strife.

What Iverson didn't expect was that this legendary man secretly came to Lulian.

And at such a time that makes people think about it.

Seeing that the Imperial coalition is about to assemble north, and Watts and Barnes Sr. have just died here, Lulian, who is loyal to the royal family, has already been a thorn in Donald's side. And what did Renault want to do when he arrived at this time? Iverson had never heard of him having any friendship with the Grand Duke.

"This is the training camp of the Knights of the Southern Cross?" In the southeast corner of the barracks, the carriage drove into a makeshift fenced camp, far away from the hot playground, stopped, Renault hid his face behind the curtain, watched the knight training in the playground, and frowned.

"Yes, Lord Renault. Iverson nodded.

Since the arrival of the Knights of the Southern Cross, it has become the center of the entire barracks. Almost every day, soldiers from various battalions come here to watch the excitement. Eventually, Fano had to order a ban on such behavior and erect a high fence around the camp.

At the moment, the playground is taking place in a queue training.

The training includes horse control, formation, formation change, marching formation, low-speed marching, medium-speed queue deployment, etc. As for the coordination of the battle formation in the high-speed charge and strangulation, there is still no shadow.

But even so, the mercenaries were in a mess. Either the step is wrong, or the queue is out of order. The formation change and medium-speed queue deployment are even more of a mess. Due to their previous combat experience and instincts, these mercenaries will always subconsciously make wrong reactions. Even if they are already trying to overcome it, the results are still terrible.

Iverson noticed that after another mistake on the training pitch called a stoppage, Renault's lips curled into a meaningful smile.

"I heard you've been training for two weeks?" Renault asked, turning back.

Even though the light in the carriage was a little dim, Iverson's face was visibly reddened. However, at this time, he could only nod honestly and said, "Yes, my lord." ”

"That Mr. Leo, you are really relieved......" Renault said meaningfully.

Iverson was embarrassed.

But fortunately, Renault did not mean to kill everything, but half-closed his eyes to recuperate, and asked in his mouth, "By the way, when will His Royal Highness the Grand Duke come?"

"It should be soon. As soon as Iverson lifted the curtain and looked out, he heard the sound of horses' hooves.

Immediately, the carriage with the firebee coat of arms galloped towards a halt beside the carriage, escorted by Karn and Fano.

Iverson opened the door and got out of the carriage as if he had been amnestied, and before he could say anything, Adolf had a calm face, and hurriedly got into the carriage, only to hear a thud, and the door slammed shut.

Iverson, Karn, and Fano looked at each other and couldn't help but shrink their necks.

"Renault," Adolf asked, as soon as he got into the carriage, sat down in front of Duke Renault with a look of wariness, "what are you doing here?"

"Lulian?" asked Renault.

"I mean here," Adolf pointed to the playground outside the window, "the camp of the Knights of the Southern Cross." ”

"Oh," Renault said with a calm face, "I came for them." ”

"For them?" said Adolf, sneering, "what do you want to do?

"Isn't that possible?" asked Renault indifferently.

"Of course," Adolf said coldly, "but if your intelligence system isn't down, I think you should find out how many people have the same intentions as you. Then talk to them and see how they got away in disgrace. That might help you. ”

As he spoke, Adolf pointed to the Southern Cross knights training on the playground and sneered: "Otherwise, you think that with the name of the Tomahawk Knights, you can pull these people away?"

The sound in the carriage made the three henchmen including Fano, who was guarding the side, hold their breath.

In so many years, this was the first time they had seen Adolf and Renault face to face like this. Both of them are important ministers of the empire, and their positions in the imperial political system are very important. It's just that one is loyal to the royal family, while the other follows Donald, and the camps are naturally opposed.

As a result, Adolf and Renault never interacted for many years. Even at the imperial family meeting of the imperial capital, there was no other party passing by.

Unexpectedly, now Renault took the initiative to come to Lulian, and as soon as he met Adolf, he was on the tip of the needle.

In the carriage, Renaud looked at Adolf with a mocking face, but his face was still calm and waveless, his slender eyes were slightly drooping, and the corners of his mouth seemed to be smiling.

"I didn't say I'm going to snatch these people from their lords," he rubbed his nose, "I just need to snatch them from you." ”

"Grab it from me?" Adolf was stunned.

But soon, he came back to his senses, and his old face was feverish for a while. And the three Fano outside the carriage all looked to the side with embarrassed expressions.

"Why, our training can't get into your eyes," Adolf gritted his teeth, "but that's what they're willing to give to me." If you don't have that friendship, you can try it. ”

"That's because he's too young to see a real Knights. Renault glanced at Adolf, "If you don't believe me, you call him and I'll talk to him." ”

"Just call ......," Adolf said, his eyes narrowed halfway, "I said, how did you have time to come here?" That's what you're really for, right?"

"Yes and no. Renault shook his head.

He was silent for a while, until the air pressure in the carriage became a little oppressive, and then he spoke, "I came here for two purposes. Number one, I need to take care of Stevenson myself......"

Adolf's eyes narrowed slightly. He wasn't surprised by that.

After the Battle of the Abyss, Stevenson's collusion with Watts and Barnes Sr. to order the withdrawal of troops at a critical moment has continued to ferment. Not to mention how the people of the empire were in an uproar and how angry they were, it is just that the southern nobles gritted their teeth with hatred when they heard that their territory and homeland had almost become hell.

The call for Stevenson's severe punishment has become a torrent. Many angry southern noble lords rushed directly to the imperial capital and put pressure on Donald through various channels. It is said that Donald is already anxious about this. And Renault, who is the head of the Tomahawk Knights, is naturally under pressure.

Of course, Adolf knows very well that there may also be a role in this being fueled by the royal family, especially the Ministry of Supervision in the hands of Mo Ya, who is simply fanning the flames, lest the world be chaotic.

But in any case, this matter, whether it is Donald or Renault, must give an explanation to everyone.

Renault continued: "Second, I would like to take this opportunity to meet with you...... You should know all the news of the Northern Demon Clan, right?"

Hearing Renault mention this, Adolf's expression became solemn, and he nodded, "Of course." ”

Renault said: "Then what do you think are the chances of winning with the current situation of the empire?"

"According to the scale of the demon clan that went south before, seventy percent, is it ...... now" Adolf pondered for a moment and said, "It is estimated that there will be at most fifty percent left." ”

"You're so optimistic," Renault said, shaking his head and holding up a finger, "my judgment is ...... Ishikasui. ”

Outside the carriage, everyone's eyelids couldn't help jumping.

In fact, they all know that Lulian is far away in the south of the mainland, although there are various information channels, but the gap in distance still makes this war seem a little far away.

And the further north you go, the stronger the atmosphere of war becomes, and the more you can see and feel.

These things are the basis for a person's judgment.

And Renault is not only well-informed in the imperial capital, but also an experienced and strategic commander of the army. Among the famous generals of the empire, it is also ranked in the forefront.

The judgment he made, whether it turned out to be right or wrong, should not be taken lightly.

"Yicheng ......" Adolf's face was a little ugly: "You might as well just say that we are doomed." ”

"How powerful is the demon race? Three hundred years ago, we sat on the entire God-given continent, both economically and militarily at the peak, but in the end, what happened? After a hundred years of fighting, the more we fought, the weaker we became, and finally we ended up in a crushing defeat in the last battle and retreated here. ”

Renault said, his brows furrowed: "And now, I don't know if the demons have become stronger or weaker, but I know that we are far weaker than we were in the final battle." This battle is to live to the death!"

Everyone nodded silently.

In silence, Renault looked at Adolf and said, "That's what I'm here for." In a word, we must concentrate our forces. Work with all those you can. ”

"You mean......" Adolf was a little surprised, "we cooperate?"

。

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。 (To be continued.) )