Under the blue sky, patches of farms are scattered across the land, dotted with commoners, planting the next crop of wheat.

Occasionally, they would also talk about the big war that was taking place in the western border, except for the military families who were worried about the safety of their husbands and sons, other civilians were not having a good time, there was no way, once the war started, it would mean an increase in taxes.

"It's getting more and more unbearable these days, when is it the first time?"

"I heard that the West Frontier not only has a bumper harvest this year, but also has three years of tax exemption, but unfortunately, if there is no war, they can definitely live for a few years. ”

"What a fart, the three dukes and the king attacked at the same time, the native duke is dead, and the lords will have to bear these military expenses. ”

"Then you guessed wrong, in order to let those civilians give up resistance and easily take the western border, I heard that the duke gave an order to cut taxes for three years. ”

The peasants were talking, and when someone said this, it immediately caused dissatisfaction.

"Why do you want us to pay for the military?"

"What's the use of you calling here, what's the grievance, go and talk to the tax collector?"

"It's better to let that native duke not be able to beat him, I heard that he is from a civilian background, he must know our suffering. ”

"Shut up, you want to kill us, if the sheriff hears this, we'll all be hanged. ”

The peasants dispersed quickly, and there were some things that they could never say, but after a few steps, they all stopped, for the earth trembled slightly.

"What's going on?"

The peasants subconsciously looked up at the end of the avenue, where smoke and dust were billowing out, and after a while, the sound of hooves turned from small to loud, like thunder.

"These cavalrymen are going the other way, aren't they?"

None of the most powerful bandits in the North have this kind of galloping momentum. So the peasants were not worried, but wondered why they did not go to the west, but ran in the direction of the royal capital.

Soon, a group of horsemen with no tail in sight broke into view, and the doubts on the peasants' faces turned to shock, and then to fear. Because it was a group of cavalrymen who were completely unrecognizable.

"Run!"

The organic peasant turned around and ran, but his legs were paralyzed and trembling in fright, and he couldn't exert his strength at all.

This cavalry regiment was too imposing, and the vanguard cavalry who opened the way wore black cloaks embroidered with spider silk lords hanging upside down spider patterns, they wore scimitars at their waists, longbows on their backs, and black cheetah mounts under their crotches. It's simply elite and unbeatable.

Later came the barbarians on war horses, who wore only a pair of leather trousers and carried a tomahawk on their backs, and a maverick outfit that even peasants could recognize their identities.

After that, the Devilman Corps was a little chaotic, and the team was not neat, but the mounts under the crotch looked weird. All of them are strong and full of bandits. It's also full of deterrence.

Of course, the most frightening thing is the dwarven heavy cavalry at the end of the line, running at high speed, like a steel chariot, unstoppable.

"Look!"

Someone heard the buzzing sound and subconsciously looked up. I saw a huge floating battleship flying through the sky, and the beautiful and wild lines were very visually stunning.

"This is the Legion of the West?"

"Probably not, didn't you see the natives of the hills? Besides, that Downton had only been a duke for a few days, and could afford to buy a floating warship?

"But there are savages!"

The peasants looked at the departing cavalry regiment with uneasy expressions.

"I'm going to report to the mayor!"

The organic farmer is ready to report the news. He might have gotten a bounty of a few silver coins, but as soon as he had run a few dozen paces, a long arrow came at him and pierced his neck.

Only then did the peasants discover that a group of rangers riding black panthers had appeared nearby at an unknown time.

"Those who dare to informe in the north will be killed, and those who denounce us will be rewarded with a thousand gold!"

The Ranger Captain took off his cloak, which immediately shocked the peasants.

"Dark Ranger?"

"Drow?"

This time the peasants not only trembled, but directly turned pale in fright and sat down on the ground.

Even three-year-old children know that the dark elves living in the underground world are an evil race with extremely fanatical beliefs, hating a surface creature and liking to use their souls to sacrifice the Rose Spider, and they have not forgotten that the Dark Ranger is the best ranger in the world, and they are proficient in riding and archery, and they can easily hunt any opponent in the field.

"Once the master has laid down the northern border, he will be exempt from tax for three years. ”

"In seven days, the war will be decided, and you can tell as much as you like then!"

After the captain of the rangers finished speaking, he continued to run on the panther, and the task of these squads was to use the killing to deter the peasants who wanted to tell the enemy after the army had crossed.

"What should I do?"

Looking at the drow elves who had departed, the peasants watched.

"Let's just not see it!"

"Yes, wait seven days and see the results, I don't want to be killed by the dark elves. ”

"If it could really be tax-free, it wouldn't be bad!"

The peasants don't care about who is in power, they only care about their own lives and wallets, seven days is not long, they can wait, and besides, the dark elves are born assassins and killers, and if they are targeted, they will definitely die.

No one dared to underestimate the bounty of a thousand gold, and even if Downton was defeated, it would be effortless to clean up a peasant.

Everyone looked at the unlucky corpses that were shot and became more honest.

Aboard the Ancient Spear, Downton sat on the bridge, staring at the hanging map of the North in thought.

As a third-rate country, Frankfurt has a small land area, from Aoki Town to the main city of Busk in the north, it is only a seven-day journey by carriage, if the cavalry runs at full speed, it can be arrived in more than two days, of course, in order to ensure combat effectiveness, it can be put into battle immediately after arrival, how does it take three days.

"Don't worry, the Dark Ranger is the best Ranger on the continent, and the famous Wolf Wolf Cavalry is a little inferior to them, and with them covering the battlefield, none of the scouts in the north can escape. ”

Xia Luo put the black tea in front of Downton and comforted him softly.

"I'm not worried about that, even if the Duke of the North now gets the news. Recall the generals who went out on the expedition, and we can also grab the time difference of at least three days, which is enough to conquer the main city. ”

As early as after deciding on the plan of running a long distance and directly capturing the main city of the north, Downton immediately sent out every batch of drow rangers who rushed to the Dragonfire Array.

These squads of rangers would spread out along the route of the army's attack, hunting down scouts. Remove a sentry card and try to obscure battlefield information.

"That's good!"

Looking at the calm Downton, Xia Luo smiled, and the confident boy was back.

"Master, I always feel that there is something wrong with this plan!"

Jackson muttered quietly, for fear of causing Downton's displeasure.

"Say!"

Downton didn't look at the ghoul.

"We have been operating the western frontier for a year and promulgated various preferential policies, but in the face of war, your entire territory mobilization order has not even called up one percent of the soldiers. And so on, we don't have any foundation in the north, even if we fight down, we will still fall to the same point as the west, and we won't get anything, I think, this is purely a wedding dress for other dukes!"

Jackson racked his brains to think, and after having Drow. Its scout missions were also snatched away, plus the worst strength. If you don't work hard, I'm afraid you'll have to live by patting on the back.

"Celest, you know what?"

Downton asks the Banshee of Death.

Serex shook her head, although she was a princess with an elite education, she really knew too little about politics and military affairs.

"I'm not asking for land and personal population. I want to make chaos in the north and smoke everywhere, so that I can have a chance to live. ”

Downton took the Golden Crown Tree Pen and listed his strengths on paper.

"The nations of the Western Continent, whether they are kings or nobles. It's all hereditary, so killing only one duke can't cause chaos, and it must be cut off along with his heirs, so that those collateral heirs have a chance to jump out and compete for the dukeship. ”

"So what?"

With Jackson's barren brain, I really can't figure it out.

"Unlike the big nobles, these side branches with the right to inherit may be down-and-out nobles or small nobles, but without exception, they will not have too much territory, so the north is big enough for them, so the first thing they need to do is to win over as many real power supporters as possible to grab the north border. ”

Among the nobles, in order to ensure the stable inheritance of the direct heirs, the superiors suppressed those side lines very ruthlessly, revealing a strong smell of blood.

"So we can get some respite from the West?"

Celence's eyes lit up.

"Yes, as long as the three realms are not monolithic, the advantage of troops will be eliminated, and we can break through each of them when the time comes. ”

After Jackson finished speaking, he suddenly shook his head again, "No, we don't have a source of soldiers to replenish, and the soldiers will fight less and less!"

"Wrong, in the early stage, we can rely on the natives of the hills, and in the middle stage, if the situation is clear, the troops of the three realms should also be withdrawn, and we can return to the western realm, after all, the nobles here have been killed by me, and the control force is weakened, I can spend a lot of money to recruit soldiers, of course, even if I don't withdraw, I have the confidence to annihilate them." ”

After all, Downton will eventually return to the West, because it is here that he has accumulated a little prestige.

"You can also hire mercenary groups, those war mad dogs like to make war fortune the most. Xia Luo added, "And when Downton has a certain amount of power, there will also be big nobles who will come to the door and support him as a puppet, and then share the benefits of Frankfurt." ”

The Nine Empires don't care about the rotten meat of Frankfurt, but the small countries around them do, even if they don't send troops, they will choose spokesmen and secretly give material and diplomatic support.

"Wait, in the end, it must be a melee between the big and small lords, and the whole of Frankfurt is completely in the flames of war, even if we win in the end, what we get is a mess, and we don't have more than ten years of recuperation, I'm afraid we won't be able to slow down." ”

Jackson wasn't stupid enough to get home.

"Not bad!"

Downton sighed deeply.

"As long as you can be the final winner, what do you care so much for?"

The cheap god thinks this plan is good, although it is quite difficult to implement.

"Yes, you didn't put the Westside first and decided to stick to it, but jumped out of this circle. Macro judgment, this analytical power is very commendable. ”

Homer gave a rare compliment.

"Do you think I don't want to keep it?

Downton smiled bitterly, to be honest, he wanted to save the West from the flames of war, and let the people suffer a little less sin and loss, and he would do whatever it took to do so. But the ineffective mobilization order directly shattered the last bit of sympathy he had.

"Didn't the dukes promise that Qiu would not commit any crimes, maybe in the end, they won't fight too badly!"

After Jackson finished speaking, he found that Downton and Xia Luo's disdainful eyes were lost.

"Idiot, bandits are like combs, soldiers are like grates, the soldiers of the Western Realm are so rotten that they wear the title of moths in the Western Realm, do you think the soldiers of the other three realms are not rotten? There will definitely be many civilians who are unlucky. ”

Homer snorted coldly.

"They deserve it, who let them not support their master!" Jackson gloated. I wish those civilians were unlucky, and then showed a relieved expression, "The three dukes must have swept the snow in front of their doors, and they wish that others would be destroyed, so this plan is feasible." ”

Whether it works or not, this is Downton's last path.

At noon on the 19th, Downton's army arrived in the main city of Buske, the main city in the north, half a day earlier than expected. As the vanguard cavalry swept past the towns on the outskirts of the city, thick smoke rose!

for by the main city. The townsfolk were loyal, and fearful of being slaughtered, so they lit the beacon as quickly as they could.

Downton had no interest in dealing with these miscellaneous fish, and he ordered the cavalry regiment to advance at full speed, and to charge into Busque before the guards could react.

A magnificent ducal residence. The bearded Duke of Busk hadn't slept for two days, and he was snarling at the intelligence officer with a pair of dark circles under his eyes.

"Where the hell has that native duke gone? It's been four days, and you people don't have any news of him, do you want me to hang you all?"

The Duke was furious. That Downton may be afraid of the retaliation of our army, so he fled first, although there is no news of him, but the troops of Commander Mingwei have already crossed Aoki Town and are heading to the west to conquer the city for you, I believe that after a while, your territory will increase by one-third!"

Fearing punishment, the intelligence officer hastened to report a piece of good news.

"Let Mingwei speed up and occupy more land for me before those two bastard dukes in the south and east. ”

Busque sat back in his chair, pointed to his shoulder, and motioned for the maid to come over and massage.

Although angry, in fact, Busque is not worried about Downton's army, although it is a bit embarrassing to say, but he is killing Blackbeard and crushing his own army of tens of thousands, he is no longer the biggest threat enemy, he must have turned his troops and gone to clean up the other dukes.

Before the intelligence officer could say anything, he saw the captain of the guard slam open the door with a panicked 'bang' on his face.

"Do you want to die?"

Busque was startled and grabbed the coffee cup on the table and smashed it at him.

"Duke, something is wrong, the beacon fire is lit, and there are enemy troops coming!" the captain of the guard quickly knelt down and said loudly, "It is presumed that it is the army of the Western Frontier led by Downton!"

"What? Is that guy crazy? Do you want to trouble me?" Buske's face contorted, in this situation, no one wanted to fight Downton first, "Where is his army?"

"Under the city!"

The chief of the guard said stiffly.

"Which city?"

Busque was quite calm, because he didn't believe it when he was killed, and Downton had already stormed the main city of Busque.

"Busque City!"

After the chief of the guard finished speaking, Busque jumped up with such force that he even knocked over the chair behind him, he didn't care about it at all, and grabbed the chief of the guard in a few steps, grabbed him by the placket of his clothes, and lifted him up.

"What do you say? Downton's army is out there?"

"Yes, the army is already in the city!"

The captain of the guard did not dare to look directly into the duke's angry eyes.

"What are you kidding? Did he fly over? Why didn't he have any news at all, and besides, wasn't Rosicky's army fighting the king's army on the Eastern Front? If it was a surprise attack on Busk, why didn't he bring it all? Yes, it must have been a feint, it was a misplaced beacon!"

Duke Busque thought in pieces, and looked at the chief of the guard, hoping that he would tell him that everything he said was false.

"Downton really came, bringing more than 10,000 troops, there is no news, it is because he has dark ranger cavalry, and he has killed all our scouts!"

The chief of the guard reported head-on.

Burst!

Busque was so angry that he spit out a mouthful of blood, and the two maids turned pale with fright, and hurriedly came over to help, but they were pulled away by his two slaps.

"The enemy is all in the city, what are you still doing here, close the city gates, and call me troops to defend the city!" Busque roared.

"Don't worry, the duke has fallen the city gate, and all the corps are rushing to the city wall, ready to fight!"

Hearing these words, Busque was finally a little relieved, after all, this was the main city that his family had run for hundreds of years, and there was still an elite corps that was good.

This heavily armed Busque Corps will never attack, and their mission is to garrison the main city, protect the Duke, and suppress the unsubservient hearts of a bad guy!

"Send a signal, let Mingwei come back!"

The duke commanded as he walked out.

"But he is seizing territory, and if he evacuates, it will be cheaper for other ......"

Before the intelligence officer could finish speaking, he was slapped in the mouth by Duke Busk, and several teeth were lost.

"Fool, what's the use of grabbing more land if I die?"

Giving up the territory at your fingertips makes Busque's heart twist, but there is no way, life is the most important thing.

"Let's go, go out and meet that native duke, let me see if he has a hole in his head, and he actually rushed thousands of miles to attack my main city!"

Busque had a few brushes, and after the initial panic, he calmed down and began to respond with composure.

The whole main city was in chaos, and everywhere there were citizens hurrying home, and the cries, shouts, and curses rang out.

These citizens had never experienced war, and yesterday they were talking and laughing in the tavern about whether they could get some land and make their lives a little richer, but today they began to wonder if they would be killed, whether their money would be robbed, and their wives and daughters would be reduced to slavery......!