Chapter I

The news of Fei Li's division of troops to the south was like an earthquake that instantly swept through the entire Solan Empire. From the dignitaries to the common people, there was just an uproar.

For this country, which has long been in shambles, this is the most unacceptable news after the fall of Pruxing Province. People couldn't understand how the Longmen defense line, which had just been rebuilt with two border army corps and a large amount of supplies, could be broken by the enemy so lightly.

However, reality is reality.

When the nobles received confirmation from the political cabinet, when a large number of border soldiers retreating from Longmen appeared in Atlantan, the first important town in the west under the Longji Plateau, and when the southwestern noble territories were attacked by the Red Flame Knights who went south, everyone knew that this was not an April Fool's joke.

The Duke of Benson, a famous general, announced his return with a stronger posture and a more aggressive offensive after being forced to suspend the Longmen offensive a month earlier.

This time, the famous Philip general, who has more hole cards in his hand, is not even bothered to entangle with the Saint Solan army. In just one week after the resumption of the war, he achieved absolute superiority on the frontal battlefield, and at the same time, with a simple and precise detour, the Longmen defense line was useless!

In this way, he dealt a heavy and fatal blow to Saint Solan, so that all the Soran people who wanted to stop his progress understood that the tinkered defense line was more like a joke in front of a famous general who was proficient in the art of war and a battle-hardened cavalry!

Now, this middle-aged man with curly brown hair, thin and elegant, stood on the Longji Plateau that he had conquered, looking down on the Solan Plain, which had lost its natural protection. If an indifferent hunter, staring at the soft belly of a beautiful elk exposed in front of his eyes.

Every St. Solan. They all shuddered under this knife-like gaze.

After getting the news. Edward immediately convened an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures. For several days on end, the palace was lit up day and night. And as the commander in chief of the border army. The veteran general Safin rushed to Atlanta as soon as possible and personally commanded the deployment of defense.

Under the command of Safin, the retreating 2nd and 11th corps. Gather and assemble in Atlanta City, and put on the appearance of holding the city.

The high city of Shenchi, the first important town in the west of Solan, coupled with the famous general Safin, and the army of nearby noble lords who were constantly gathering towards Atlantan, finally made the Feilie army, which had been biting the troops behind the two major legions, have no chance to take advantage of it, and slowly retreat under the strong walls of Atlanta.

However, after occupying the Longji Plateau, the condescending Firetes had firmly grasped the initiative in the war. It's like a wolf jumping on the railing of a sheepfold. At any time, he can rush into Solan's hinterland and kill. And Atlanta only held the gateway to the Imperial Capital Plains, and did not help the south.

The focus of the battle. It was concentrated in the southwestern aristocratic coalition and the southern province of Lulian.

Safin's previous assertion that the Filie Army would choose to go south after breaking through the Dragon Gate has been confirmed by the Red Flame Knights, who are marching forward. And Benson made no secret of his intentions. After taking the Dragon Gate, he stationed only one legion not far from Atlanta to keep the oppression. The rest of the main forces all began to move to the southwest. A large number of vanguards. It has appeared in towns that were captured by the Red Flame Knights.

At this point, the Philip Longmen Front moved south to join up with the Lulian Front. The situation that swept the southern part of Solan was a foregone conclusion.

In the face of this sudden change, the Southwest Noble Alliance was like being knocked head-on. It wasn't until he lost nearly ten large and small territories on the periphery that he finally abandoned the illusion of the Feilie army going north and recognized the cruel reality.

Seeing that the Red Flame Knights were menacing, the aristocratic coalition army, under the command of Marquis Ashley, adopted a coping strategy of actively shrinking the defense line and clearing the wilderness. On the one hand, they used cavalry to contain the Red Flame Knights and slow down the opponent's attack, and on the other hand, they collected the refugees and routs on the front line, and took the initiative to abandon several towns with low walls. Finally stopped the Red Flame Knights in the town of Lanshui, fifteen kilometers away from Akshare.

In the process, the two sides fought dozens of battles. The alliance of Solan nobles can be regarded as having seen the terrifying combat effectiveness of a Golden Order of Knights.

They were barely evenly matched in the resistance battle relying on the city wall, and in the field battle, they did not win a single victory. Whether it was a large-scale battle with more than three hundred men or an encounter between cavalry squads, they were no match for the Red Flame Knights at all.

Even when the most elite knights under their command are dispatched and have a numerical advantage, the ratio of casualties between the noble coalition and the Red Flame Knights is often as high as four to one, five to one. Even in several squad-sized battles, their own side was completely wiped out, and the opponent suffered no casualties.

This was enough to make the aristocratic coalition army, who had been full of ambition before the war, understand that it was not the bandits and horse thieves in the territory in front of them, let alone the farmers who put down their hoes and picked up their spears. It is the most elite knight order of the Philip Empire, and it is the war machine built by Peter I with all the strength of the whole country.

They have a heart as hard as a devil, and they all have a wealth of combat experience like old lions. On the battlefield, they are natural soul reapers, and there are countless souls under the sword. Especially the five hundred Red Flame Knights, they were even more terrifying. When they charge in droves, any attempt to stop them will prove to be a fatal mistake!

If, at the beginning, the Marquis of Ashley and the lords were still full of ambition to meet the enemy on a frontal battlefield, and even once wanted to eat this lone knight order with their superiority in strength, then after a few encounters, they have wisely dismissed this idea.

Now, the two sides are facing each other around the town of Lanshui. The Southwest Coalition Army completely shrank south of Lanshui Town, relying on the fortified city to hold on. The Red Flame Knights also ended their frantic offensive and stationed three kilometers away from Lanshui Town. From a group of bloodthirsty attackers, to a group of idle wanderers.

But even if they don't do anything, they feel like a pack of wolves watching their prey indifferently.

The smoke of gunpowder in the southwest has a profound impact on the entire Saint-Solan Empire. In particular, Lulian, who was at the center of the attack, was in turmoil.

For the rest of the Empire's nobility, the situation in the southwest was dire, but the Iron Hoof of the Ferrets was still far from their territory. But for the lords and populace of Loulian. This is a threat at hand. It's like facing a tiger with a wrinkled nose and baring its fangs, and you can even smell the stench in its mouth.

The battle between the Grand Duke of Adolf and the Firet army in the south was originally in a stalemate that was not too fierce. Maybe it's because of the loss in Medin City a month ago. Or perhaps because the newly appointed commander of the Southern Army of Feilie learned his lesson and chose a more cautious response strategy. The fighting has been tepid.

However, when Duke Benson broke through the Dragon Gate, the offensive of the Southern Army of Philip became fierce. In just a few days, the Firek had already divided into three routes and advanced twenty kilometers north. On the front line, sixty kilometers south of the city of Medin, infantry and cavalry teams of both sides, large and small, fought for every inch of land. Towns, estates, castles with a radius of hundreds of square kilometers. The forest is a battlefield for both sides.

The fierce fighting left villages in ruins. It's a vast expanse of barren land. More and more refugees are uprooted from their homes and corpses are everywhere.

Everywhere in the war zone, you can see soldiers who are muddy and tired. The knights have long since lost their usual tidiness. They wore chain mail that they wouldn't take off even when they slept, and they were in groups. When you meet an enemy, you draw your sword and face each other.

The air is forever filled with the smoke of burning villages and forests, the smell of sweat in the continuous tents and the smell of blood on the battlefield. The sound of the herald's horses' hooves and roars echoed over each of the troops. As soon as this voice is heard, the soldiers must take up arms and rush to the battlefield.

As the Ferret offensive intensified, so did the pressure on Archduke Adolf. However, thanks to the assistance of the Momiji Knights, plus reinforcements from the Twelfth Legion and some of the lords of northern Lulian, at least the strength was able to maintain parity with the Firet army, which needed to rely on the port landing.

But the threat behind him has brought a very bad impact on Lulian's battle situation.

From the moment he knew that the Longmen Theater had been broken through by Benson, every soldier's face and eyes were filled with worry. People often sit around the fire in the middle of the night, whispering news from the north. Every time I saw the commander come back from a war briefing, I would gather around and ask what was going on.

The soldiers were not afraid to engage the enemy in front of them, they were afraid that they did not know when the knife behind them would stab them. This invisible threat, like a huge dark cloud, hangs over the heads of the Lulian army. Let the morale of the army grow low in anxiety.

Under these circumstances, the Fifth Army finally pulled out its camp and marched towards Akshay County in the southwest.

To be honest, Bano and the entire legion did not want to wade into this muddy water while the Philae army was overwhelmed, but the situation was no choice for them.

The last time the Fifth Army almost led Adolf to the city of Medin, it was already regarded as the least popular person in Lulian. Even the dismissal of the former Legion Commander did not dispel the hatred of Lord Lulian and the populace of this rotten frontier army.

After Bano took office, in order to solve the conflict between the Fifth Army and Lulian, the command issued an order to transfer the Fifth Army to the southwest region to cooperate with the Marquis of Ashley for defense.

This order was not decided by Edward and Safin, and it was also the shadow of Donald behind it. It can be said that this is a mutual decision of both parties, and the interests, struggles and compromises involved in it are by no means as simple as an order seems on the surface.

For the noble lords, the army was the foundation of power, wealth, and a qiē. The reason why Donald was able to call the wind and rain for thirty years in Saint-Solan relied on the support of the nobles and the force in their hands. In particular, several border legions and knights such as Tomahawks are the core of the core.

Despite facing a common enemy, Phila, it was not reassuring for Donald to put the Fifth Legion in Edward's hands. This is also the reason why the Fifth Legion, since entering Lulian, has not been able to fight the war, but has sold Adolf in the city of Medin.

And this time it's different. Adolf was loyal to the royal family, but the Marquis of Ashley was a Donald man. For the Donalds, the situation in the southwest of the empire was not only about their own interests, but also about the trust of the aristocracy in Donald's military leadership since the beginning of the war.

In the province of Pru and in the early days of Longmen, Donald had already lost a point, and the Fifth Legion had lost another point for what they had done in the city of Medding. If the southwest can't hold it, then. Even the nobility that leaned towards him again. They will re-choose their leaders out of their own interests.

After all, in the turbulent seas of war, no one wants to give their lives to an imbecile captain and a broken ship that is always leaking.

Barnes & Noble is a smart guy. He knew exactly what Donald needed to do for himself.

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"General. A knight rode up the hill and reported, "The Order has been ordered to set out for camp. At present, the former army has passed the town of Dead Water. ”

Barno, who was on his horse, nodded, waved the knight away, and looked down the mountain.

The continuous barracks have turned into a mess of open space at this moment. Scattered here and there were stone stoves, garbage discarded by the soldiers, and traces of tents pressed out of the grass.

Hordes of soldiers, under the command of officers, joined the brigade that was winding its way to the north. The herald held the letter flag and galloped along the procession. Truckloads full of grain and grass supplies. Dragged by a squirting horse, he walked slowly. Every turn of the wooden wheel makes a creaking and screeching sound. Pressed deep rut marks on the dirt floor.

Over here. It is already more than a hundred kilometers away from the city of Muni, the northern plain of Lulian. There is no shade from the trees, and the blazing sun is almost above people's heads. Even the wind was hot, and everyone was sweating profusely.

Bano flicked his whip lightly, unconsciously tapping his boots, his eyes gloomy. Beside him, Snerry and a group of officers waited silently like stone sculptures.

"Snari. Barnes & Noble shouted.

Snerry hurried forward and said respectfully, "My lord." ”

"No news yet?" Barnes & Noble turned his head, his gaze a little cold.

Snerry swallowed, shook his head, and said, "No." My lord. Our people are still investigating. Judging from the current situation, it should not be the Ministry of Supervision and the Momiji Knights. ”

"Oh, who could it be?" asked Barnes & Noble.

"Your Excellency, you know, there has been a lot of people in the city of Muni lately, refugees from the South, mercenaries, and a lot of freelancers," Snerry said cautiously, "maybe ......."

"Maybe something," Barnes & Noble's voice was still as cold as ice, but his tone unconsciously raised a few degrees, "Eighteen people, including two Knights of Glory, are gone." I don't even know whether I'm alive or dead, is this still what those mercenary refugees can do?"

Snerry lowered his head, not daring to answer.

They hadn't been back since the squad of eighteen knights left the barracks a few days ago on a mission to kill Roy.

A full eighteen, including two Knights of Glory and four Knights of Justice. Such a team, placed in any place, is enough to make people fearful. Not to mention killing a small knight cadet, it is not difficult to attack a lord's castle.

However, these knights disappeared in the middle of a mission that was completely impossible to miss. Not only them, but also a team of dark mercenaries sent by Moon at the same time were nowhere to be seen, and even the Assessor, who rarely acted in person, failed to return. It was as if everyone had vanished into thin air.

Since getting the news, everyone has been confused.

They knew that the knights were already unlucky, but no one believed that this was what the little hillbilly could do. Even if he had a Great Knight of Light by his side, it would be impossible for him to wipe out an elite squad without missing anyone.

It can only be an organization, a force, or even an army that can achieve this kind of thing. And that's what shocked everyone.

The Frontier Army Corps is the war machine of the Empire. Here, from top to bottom, everyone's existence is in the service of war. Over the past hundred years, the Empire has invested endless resources in the border army to create these twelve behemoths that have collected the most professional killers of the Empire.

Compared with the border army, any noble lord or civil mercenary group, knight order and other forces are just a group of amateur rabble. Most lords have no more than twenty or thirty knights under their command. In terms of combat effectiveness, it is not even as good as a squad of knights of the border army.

But now, someone can annihilate an elite squad of the border army so easily. Moreover, this force is hidden by his side, and he doesn't know how long he has been staring at him. That alone is enough to send shivers down.

At the beginning, it was natural for everyone to focus on Archduke Adolf, the Ministry of Supervision, and the Knights of the Red Leaves. However, as the investigation progresses. All indications point to it. This matter has nothing to do with them. It was another unfamiliar force that struck.

This judgment made Barnes & Noble even more angry.

He couldn't believe it. In Lulian, there are still people who dare to provoke the Fifth Legion.

Under his orders, the Fifth Legion had almost turned the city of Muni upside down.

But. Now the city of Muni has become a large refugee camp with a mixture of dragons and snakes. Refugees from the west, south and even northwest almost overwhelmed the city. The streets and alleys are full of people with strange faces. Trying to find a group of deliberately hidden strangers here is simply looking for a needle in a haystack.

However, Snerry, who is in charge of the investigation, has not been without results. Not long ago, he heard that recently. Several bandits and horse thieves near Mooney City were attacked by unknown knights and were destroyed one after another. Not only were people slaughtered. The cottage was even looted.

The news. It was first spread from the underground black market in Muni City. It is said that the eyeliner of a bandit group hangs a caravan. Get ready to do a ticket. When I went to the bandits' den to report and ask for instructions, I unexpectedly found that the entire bandit group was served by someone.

The garrison hidden in the mountains and forests was full of corpses, and more than a hundred people had been around Muni City for many years, and even the Muni City Guards had been killed by people with bandits who had no choice. The blood and corpses all over the ground attracted many vultures, crows and wild beasts, and the scene was extremely bloody.

If it weren't for this eyeliner, I'm afraid that in a few days, no one would know about it.

And with the news of this, within two days, people found three other bandit groups that were also exterminated. There was also no living mouth, and it was also looted. Even the messy horseshoe prints on the ground bear a resemblance to the wounds on the deceased's body. Apparently the same people did it.

This matter has not yet spread, but it has caused a small sensation.

These bandits have been causing trouble in the local area for many years. All of them are in a blood debt. Although Archduke Adolf has repeatedly cleaned up, they have been in business for decades, and their roots are deep, and they have already extended their tentacles into every corner of Lulian. Whether it is a trifecta or a noble knight, there are people of their own.

On the streets, perhaps a pickpocket, a liar, perhaps a patrolling soldier, perhaps a dignified lady and a courteous gentleman, could be one of theirs. In the underground world, the sale of stolen goods has formed a chain, and in every link, there are beneficiaries who do not want to see them exterminated.

Under such circumstances, the difficulty of clearing can be imagined. Even when the blows are at their highest, they tend to disappear for a while and then reappear.

And no one expected that this time, these bandit groups would be silently eliminated.

The underworld of Muni City is in chaos right now. People who have something to do with the bandit group turn pale when they talk about this mysterious team. I don't know when, I also became the target of the other party's attack. And the aristocrats also regarded this news as the freshest topic at the party.

Snarry heard the news from a nobleman he knew. Now, not many people know about this group. However, I heard that these people did not stop, and two more bandit groups were eliminated by them one after another. If this continues, it won't be long before the whole city of Muni will be a sensation.

Snarry immediately connected these people to the disappearance of the knights of the Fifth Legion. Intuition sues him that it is likely to be the same group. Moreover, they must have some kind of connection with Roy.

Now, he has sent someone to target Roy to death, and at the same time use a qiē method to investigate the people around Roy. Not only was he looking for these people, but even the Mooney City Guard was looking for them. After all, no matter what they did, no one would be able to sit still if such a force was beside them and didn't know it.

However, until now, Snerry has not heard the slightest from the other party. These guys are as mysterious as the smell of dirt coming from the mountain wind at this moment, you can smell it, but you can't catch it.

Naturally, Snerry will not sue Sù Bano for these setbacks. Therefore, in the face of Barnes & Noble's anger, he did not dare to make any justification other than silence.

"When will all the baggage troops leave Muni City?" asked Barnes and Noble in the silence.

"You can stay for a week at most. Snerry replied.

"In other words, we have a week at most," Bano said coldly, "The team that can make us an elite knight team unable to escape is definitely a team composed of high-ranking knights, such a person, as long as he is in Muni City, it is impossible to be unknown." Sooner or later, the horse's feet will be revealed. ”

As he spoke, he turned his head and said word by word: "Whoever they are, find them out for me!"

"Yes!" Snerry replied with a bow.

At this moment, suddenly, several fast horses rushed from a distance. The knights, dressed in the uniforms of the Fifth Legion, were covered in blood and wolves.

When Barnes and Snerry saw the knights, their faces changed dramatically.

Although they were still far away, they had already recognized it. Because these knights are none other than the guards they sent to escort the legion's private property to the imperial capital.

Originally, at this time, they should have been on the official road to the imperial capital eighty kilometers away with six carriages full of goods and a knight wearing a space ring...... I'm stupid, I can only say, thank you. Thank you for the reward from the Pig League, and thank you all for your birthday wishes......