After the meeting, Friedes left the fortress with the Reverend of Kent, and there were many complicated affairs waiting for him to return to deal with in the Sassan Empire.

The Duke of Barcelius led Victor on a tour of Duncan's Fortress, giving him a detailed introduction to the fortifications, operating mechanisms and construction history of the fortress, and chatting about some anecdotes about the sword saint Draven.

In fact, Victor is not a direct descendant of the Sword Saint Draven, his bloodline goes back to the era of Draven, and the ancestor is the distant cousin of the Sword Saint, the kind separated by 4 generations. There are currently only three descendants of Draven's bloodline, the Testiel Paladin's family, the Duke of Barcelius, and the Duchess of Orokxia, and the offspring of Juggernaut and the other four Golden Knights have been merged into these three bloodlines.

In fact, Victor's family lineage is closer to that of Countess Andrea Wimbleton, the Tempest Knight, or at least they are both Wimbledon. However, there is nothing wrong with Victor and Usein having a common ancestry, and the two sides have a good conversation, and Victor finds an opportunity to inquire about the mystery of the disappearance of the Sword Saint Ravin.

Usein claims with great certainty that the murder of her husband Ravin by Empress Barcelius on her deathbed is a shameless rumor. A year after Empress Verrotica's fall, Ravin left a letter and traveled alone to the Endless Forest to find his elven kindred.

The original copy of this epistle is still preserved in the treasury of the Barcelius family, and the Testil family has its original rubbing. Usein stated that if Victor visited the Duchy of Barcelius, he and the Guardian Oroxia would work together to retrieve the Swordmaster's handwritten farewell letter and let him read it.

Duke Baselius's statement is basically consistent with Victor's inference. His own psychic bloodline secret method had entered the soul realm, and it was almost certain that the knight's bloodline was inherited from the soul, or rather, from the creator's original will, the elemental sea. Of course, all life in the real world evolved from the Elemental Sea, including the elves. It can be seen that the elven royal family will not marry the ancient knights for no reason, in addition to the factors of politics and love, most of them want to use the affinity between the high-level knights and the origin of the world to give birth to the sun elves.

The life level of the Sun Elf is extremely high, comparable to that of the Divine Knight, and it is also a high-level life close to the origin of the world. The difference is that the Divine Knight and the Golden Knight feel the summons of the Elemental Sea, while the Sun Elves are summoned by the pan-consciousness gods of the Elven race. The Sword Saint Drave was completely transformed into the form of a sun elf, and the will hidden deep in his soul's blood prompted him to seek out his elven kindred. The god knight Verotica suppressed this will. When the Empress of Iron Mountain fell, Draven resolutely stepped into the Everfree Forest. His desire to pursue the elves is like a fish migrating, which has nothing to do with acquired education, and is purely the instinct of life.

As for Dravin's end, Victor doesn't know, and he is glad that he chose a free-willed path.

At noon, and it was unknown which hidden corner of the fortress Roland and Oroxia had come out of, Usein met with the guardian of the family, and his attitude towards Victor became more affectionate, and he took the initiative to say:

"Cousin Victor, do you know that more than half of the freedmen in the eastern and central parts of the Sassan Empire have taken refuge in the western territories. The Church's rough estimate is 5 million refugees, and with the addition of the freedmen population in the West, the total number of displaced people in the Western Territories exceeds 8 million. Despite the Church's best efforts, the Western Lordship system was overwhelmed. The willingness of the Kingdom of Gombis to help some refugees move south to avoid danger has really helped us a lot. ”

Usein's face was ruddy, the amber halo in his eyes had faded, and there was no trace of indifference, and the temperament and expression of the whole person became more vivid, close to the state of a senior knight.

Is this a potion of blue taro? No wonder the ancient alchemists listed blue taro as a super class of precious materials...... Victor secretly sighed at the miraculous effect of the blue taro, and said indifferently: "The territory of the Kingdom of Gombis is not as large as that of the western part of Sassan, and the number of refugees we can accept is limited, but the displaced people have a refuge channel, which helps to stabilize people's hearts. ”

"That's right. Usein nodded and smiled, "The freedmen are crowded in the west, panicking, for fear that the eastern defense line will be lost, and they will become rations for orcs and monsters. Rumors of the refugee camp were rife, and every day people fled to Copper Halberd City in an attempt to take refuge in the southern country through the trade routes of the Wharton Prairie. The western lords tried their best to recruit tenants from the refugee camps in the hope of appeasing them, but unfortunately, the number of displaced people was so large that they were rumored to be sent to the front line to fight the orcs as tenants, so only a small number of people were willing to accept the resettlement. Bloody clashes between refugees continued, and local lords even sent people to suppress riots in the camps. The mercenary corps of the Centaur Hills stepped forward to open up the Ghost Forest Pioneer Point to connect the refugees in the western part of the empire, which could reassure people's hearts and reduce the pressure on the lord. ”

He changed his words and said, "However, although I am the lord of the western part of the empire, there are also the vassals of the four marquis lords and the vassal lords of the vassal lords. I don't have the authority to give direct orders to vassals, let alone to move displaced people who don't belong to us...... Instead, I ordered my butler, in conjunction with my cousin's mercenary army and the priest stationed there, to select migrants from several large refugee camps in the Duke's lord's city, and let the other lords in the west move the refugees to my lord's city. ”

The escape route will certainly not be as simple as a road, but also include organizational systems, logistical supplies, security and resettlement measures. But these things don't need to be personally asked by the two highnesses, just leave them to the people below.

Symptoms of the Golden Knight drinking the potion of blue taro: excited, happy, talkative, energetic, and mentally as if he had returned to the past.

Silently noting down the effects of the potion of blue taro, Victor spoke: "The matter of organizing the southward migration of refugees is handled by my wife, the Marquis Sophia Wimbledon. ”

Usein was stunned, realized that he was a little out of shape, and laughed, "Okay, then we'll settle it." ”

What have we decided?

Victor wanted to roll his eyes.

In the evening, Usein and Orokshia left Duncan Fortress with the Gripen Knights and headed for Fort Marfa to the north. At this point, the core fortress of the central theater of the Eastern Defense Line officially changed hands.

Victor stood on the highest watchtower of Duncan's Fortress and watched the two Highnesses of the Barcelius family disappear into the horizon before turning his head to see the fortress in its entirety.

Duncan Fort was built 600 years ago and took 22 years to complete (34 Earth years), and over the centuries, the people of Sassania have repaired it, and the solid limestone walls have withstood the test of war and time, and the majestic fortress still stands on the ground and on the banks of the river. It is still playing a mainstay role.

The limestone fortress is 65 meters high, the walls are 38 meters high, the 26-foot-wide top of the wall allows two carriages to run side by side, and there is an auxiliary fort at each end of the wall, with 44 trebuchets and 114 slide-rail ballistas. Outside the wall is a 30-meter-wide moat, and a drawbridge is required from the castle tower in the middle of the river to allow outsiders to enter the city gate.

With an area of 15.6 square kilometers and an aqueduct and an artificial lake, wheat fields, vegetable fields, medicine fields, as well as granaries, mills and animal stables, this complete agricultural production facility can supply the daily needs of 5,000 people. However, the largest complex of buildings in the fort is the material warehouse and cargo yard, which together are 6 square kilometers in size, covering almost half of the land of Duncan Fort.

In addition to farmland and storage, the fortress contained hundreds of blacksmiths, leather workshops and apothecaries, as well as three churches, numerous barracks, and even a number of shops, taverns and inns.

Fort Duncan was home to 12,000 defenders, 8,000 motorized cavalry, and 3,000 craftsmen, all of whom lived in it. During the war, the defenders, women, children, and families were all evacuated, and the fortress could accommodate 60,000 infantry and 40,000 cavalry at a time, and the freight yard had enough supplies for 100,000 troops to hold out for 14 months.

In peacetime it is a town, and in wartime it is a fort. With all the agricultural production system, artisanal armament system, magic medical system, defensive and offensive systems, Victor doesn't believe anyone can break through Duncan's Fortress. Even a legendary powerhouse like him could easily climb over the city walls without a problem and slaughter the garrison soldiers on a large scale. But manpower is poor, his energy and physical strength are always consumed in high-intensity battles, once he falls into the jungle of knives and guns, flying locusts and arrows, he is afraid that he will die on the spot, and it is difficult to get out. The iron gates of Fort Duncan are connected to two giant winches, which require 90 strong soldiers to turn at the same time before the gates can be opened. If the soldiers defending the city remove the iron lock of the gate in advance, it is useless to turn the winch, and the golden powerhouse can't lift the iron gate with his bare hands, right?

The floodgates could not be opened, and the transcendents risked their fall, and the raid on the fortress became pointless.

Fort Duncan is impregnable and impregnable, making it the safest refuge in the Eastern Frontier.

If you look at it from above, you will find that there is a garrison castle on each side of the perimeter of Duncan's fort, 60 kilometers from the fort, soldiers can march in 5 hours on foot, cavalry only needs 2 hours, if it is a rapid march without taking into account the combat fitness, the support time can be cut in half.

Between the garrison and the fortress were twelve sentry camps, which were walled with limestone and contained three tall arrow towers. They act as horns for each other, acting as nodes for vigilance and heralds. In addition to the garrison castle, there are large barracks that can accommodate 1,500 cavalry and 1,000 infantry, and there are castles and sentry posts outside the barracks, so that the layers extend outward.

Different types of fortifications, material storage, sentry roads, garrison infantry and motorized cavalry constitute a tight defense system, Duncan Fort is the heart and brain of the entire defense system, every contraction, the army and materials are like blood to the various defense nodes, each expansion, soldiers and materials are concentrated towards the fortress. When a defensive node on either side is attacked, she mobilizes idle mobile cavalry and supplies to transfuse blood to that side.

This is a living line of defense, and her life is connected to the Sassan Empire and the human realm.

The strange size of the centaurs determines that they do not have the ability to attack cities, not to mention Duncan Fortress, even if it is a standard castle and a giant fortress, they can't break it. In fact, almost all orcs were unable to breach the defenses built by the human kingdom, and for thousands of years, only the Goblin King and the ogre Vulcan destroyed human castles.

The garrison soldiers of the eastern defense line were stationed in the city, and when the enemy was strong, they hid in the fortifications and defended it, and when the enemy was small, they went out to fight. They are relatively safe and do not suffer major casualties. Friedes offered to arm 30,000 Barcelius militia and 10,000 infantry, but Usein not only agreed, but also offered to increase the number of militia to 40,000 and the infantry to 20,000.

By doing so, the Patriarch was using the armaments supported by the kingdoms to help the Barcelius family expand the size of their army.

Since the garrison soldiers had limited combat risks, why did Friedes choose to arm the soldiers of the Barcelius family instead of arming the militias of the eastern or central lords of the empire?

Duncan's Fortress and the Eastern Frontier Defense Line reflect the Glorious Knights' political layout for the entire human realm.

Testil and Friedus organized hundreds of thousands of outcast tenants to open up the northern wilderness bordering the eastern part of the empire, and there were no major mistakes in their decision-making, but no one expected that the Sidon centaurs, who had been fighting each other, would suddenly unite and attack the eastern frontier of the Sassan Empire.

In any case, it is a fact that hundreds of thousands of Sassan tenants have suffered heavy casualties, and Testil cannot escape the blame. According to the canon, someone must be responsible for the death of the believer, and the position of the First Paladin family of Testiel is already shaky. It doesn't matter if Testil falls from the throne, I'm afraid that the Knights of Radiance will also lose the power to dominate the church. However, this orc war is not over, what if Tystiel leads the human army to completely annihilate the orc invaders?

The Radiant Knights are gaining momentum, and those tenants who die will be listed as mercenary warriors who have died heroically fighting the orcs. As long as the human kingdom takes the territory of the Sidon Centaurs and recovers more than 3 million square kilometers of their homeland, no one will hold Tstir accountable for his dereliction of duty, and no one will care about the true identity of the victims.

Therefore, Friedes's intention to light the red smoke beacon fire is two layers, the unknown king of the orcs is a factor on the one hand, on the other hand, the army of the human kingdom is gathered, 280,000 cavalry and 150,000 infantry in the Eastern Frontier Theater, and there are also cavalry of Seuss, Borui and Neville in the Boulder Fortress Theater, a total of 220,000 people. Such a huge human army is not going to the northern wilderness to see the show, whether there is an orc king or not, the war mobilization of the human kingdom is aimed at completely destroying the orc invaders, and easily recapture the territory of the former homeland, the Iron Mountain Empire.

In fact, Testier, Friedus, and Frederick took advantage of this crisis to unite all the forces of the human kingdom to help the Sassan Empire open up the northern wilderness, including the two families of Barcelius and Rex.

Needless to say, King Rex of Naville, the Sassang Empire and the Knights of Radiance took the Sidon Khanate, and the new territory was connected to the megalithic fortress, so the Neville people naturally wanted to enclose a large area of red land. The relationship between Barcelius and Frederick is quite delicate, starting from the political ecology of the Sassan Empire.

The secular lords of the paladins represented by the Frederick family guarded the eastern border of the Sassan Empire, exercised the obligation of the royal family to protect their subjects, and had the power and title of the royal family. However, Frederick's silver blood was not enough to sustain the knightly class of an empire. The Barcelius family occupy the rear hinterland of the western part of the empire, but they have a golden bloodline, and they attract the Sarsan lords to secretly submit to the descendants of the Queen of Iron Mountain and the Sword Saint Dravien.

Frederick united with the Knights of Radiance to defend the land against the enemy and held the righteous name of the royal family, while Baselius spread his bloodline to maintain the knightly aristocracy of the Sassan Empire. The relationship between the two sides is complex, ostensibly antagonistic to each other, but in reality it is symbiotic.

The Sarsan royal family is one and the same as the Knights of Radiance, and their relationship with Barcelius is the epitome of the secular lords and the paladin family. The High Lords, including Victor, need the power of the Radiant Knights to fight against the orc forces, but are afraid of their interference in the internal and foreign affairs of the secular kingdom. Barcelius cooperated with the Knights of Radiance militarily and politically at length. The Iron Mountain royal family held back the Knights of Radiance, and all the kingdoms breathed a sigh of relief and gave political solidarity. The White Tower camp was born from this, and the two major clerical factions of Tamor and Clement also relied on the support of the secular lords to gain a firm foothold in the Holy See.

Who can't ignore it, in the past few hundred years, the knight class of the Iron Mountain Empire has relied on the Sasang Empire and has recovered its vitality. The contradictions between the two royal families did not move to the outside, but erupted inside. Usein Barcelius was so modest and low-key that his vassals did not agree. Besides, if he is really low-key, why would he challenge Sylvia when he knows that she is a god knight?

The war became an opportunity for the two royal families to resolve their conflicts, and Usein's modest and low-key style provided a step for the two sides to shake hands and make peace. Friedes reciprocated by arming the Barcelius army with the aid of the kingdoms and the Church, and it was a clear political signal that half of the 3 million square kilometers of the Sidon Centaur belonged to you, Barcelius, and we would work together to implement the strategy of expanding northward.

The rise of Barcelius is unstoppable, and the revival of the Iron Mountain Empire is just around the corner, and the political landscape of the human kingdom is rewritten.

In view of this, the Knights of Radiance and the Cardinal Council of the Holy See do not want to see the Iron Mountain Empire communicate with the Kingdom of Cambis in the south.

It was a foregone conclusion that the power of the church would tilt towards the northward expansion strategy, and they and the lord of the northern extension actually benefited from the power of the lord of the southern extension to open up the situation, and Victor felt as uncomfortable as eating a fly. You must know that for this war, the weapons and armor that the people and horses have managed to save are less than one-third.

However, standing in the position of the Kingdom of Gambis, he had to go all out. The coalition won a great victory, and the capture of the territory of the Sidon centaurs was equivalent to the victory of the tenant system. If the human coalition retreats to the eastern defense, it will be a defeat for the tenant system.

The reason is very simple, how can the lords of Beituo build such a vast new territory if they divide up 3 million square kilometers of red land and do not implement the tenant system?

The eastern defense line is impregnable, and the army of the beastmaster will hit his head and bleed when he rushes over. The Sasangian Empire will not fall, but the victims of the Eastern Frontier will be brought back to the table.

The size of the Kingdom of Gombis was too small, less than one-third of the Sassan Empire, there was no tenant system, and the so-called ideal of crossing the river to the south and establishing a great southern empire was just a dream.

Victor held his hand on the sun-scorched limestone wall, thinking to himself about the changes that the new political landscape would bring to the human kingdom. At this time, under the fortress, the figure of Roland came into his eyes, the eldest princess was wearing a women's armor of the same color as Oroxia, judging from the details of the armor, it was the one on Oroxia's body.

Orokxia is about the same size as Roland, but only Roland can do it if she can rip someone else's Mithril armor off someone else's body and wear it on her own body in a grand way.

Not to mention, Roland is dressed in gorgeous armor and is heroic, like a Valkyrie. Siegfried walked with her like a sidekick. Although the eldest son of the emperor of the Sasang Empire had changed out of his ceremonial armor and put on a knight's uniform......

Well, it's still like Roland's henchman.

Just as the upper echelons of the Church feared the secular influence of the alliance between the Iron Mountain Empire and the Kingdom of Cambys, the Gambis and the Iron Mountain royal family could not tolerate the manipulation of secular politics by the Radiant Knights.

The Six Paladins had murdered the Emperor of the Rand, and as clergy, they secretly had a poor organization with the wizards of the Eastern Alliance, and they lit red flames without identifying the Orc King, using the knights and vassals of the kingdoms to fight the Orcs in the northern wilderness for them.

No matter how many valid reasons the Knights of Radiance may have, their unscrupulous and rule-playing style is remarkable. Such an opponent will make everyone feel a headache and fear.

The North and South must join forces to suppress the aggressive arrogance of the Radiant Knights. It's a pity that Cambis is not yet a great southern empire, and now is not the time for a showdown.

Friedes wanted to create a contradiction and divide the two major political blocs of the White Tower camp. Barcelius had to keep up with the strategy of the Sassan Empire's northward expansion, and Gambis had to curl up so as not to become a target for the Church. However, neither Usein nor Orokshia could resist the temptation of the blue taro potion.

There are hundreds of different levels of flavor, and these flavors merge with each other to evolve countless new flavors. Victor took a sip and was uncomfortable for 17 days, and if he was not careful, the strange taste came out cold. He believes that the effect of the blue potato potion is taste, but in fact, it directly acts on the human mind, and has a strong attraction to the Golden Knight, allowing them to re-experience the laws of taste in the real world, awakening and strengthening the human part of the soul.

Sylvia and Sophia regularly take blue potions, and they are able to live to their limit, and they can unlock more power. This means that the Blue Potato Elixir can help Orokshia and Usein storm the Legendary Realm without having to worry about their souls being assimilated by the Elemental Sea.

The promotion of either Orokthea and Usen to the rank of Legendary Knight would greatly increase the political influence of the Barcelius family, thereby hastening the fragmentation of the Sassanian Empire. The Northern Empire became the Sassan Empire led by Frederick and the Iron Mountain Empire with Barcelius as the royal family, and involved the energy of the Knights of Radiance. After that, Barcelius will definitely infiltrate the nobility of the Sassonian Empire and compete with the Radiant Knights for control of the Sassang, and the Sassan Empire will be reduced to a wrestling ground and buffer zone between the two sides.

The paladin family and the Iron Mountain royal family are intrigued, and Gombis can raise his head and eat melons and bury his head in development.

The Mithril armor had a special meaning for the High Knights, and Roland traded the blue potato potion for Orokxia's armor. The eldest son of Emperor Sasang foolishly followed behind her and praised how suitable this suit of armor was for Roland.

The blue potion is a secret belonging to the Golden Knight, and the legendary priest and the eldest son of the Sasan Emperor could never have imagined that the two eldest princesses had just met and made a secret pact under their eyes and noses, and the armor of Oroxia was a witness to the pact.

The footsteps of the two people reached Victor's ears, and the alchemy militia of the pro-guard team came over with a sturdy man dressed as a mercenary, and said in a low voice: "My lord, according to your orders, I will bring the mercury man to meet you." ”

The sturdy man stepped forward and said respectfully, "Good day, my lord." Hunter, the Spirit Monkey Militia, responds to the call of the adults. ”

Victor turned around and asked with a smile, "Hunter, we haven't seen each other in 7 years...... Where is the head of the Mercury Empire in Sassan, and how many men have been developed?"

Hunter is 10 years old and is a member of the third group of Spirit Monkey militia made by Victor. He followed the old spy Barol to create Mercury, which was later assigned by Barol to his adopted daughter Mia to protect her in developing the Mercury Order in the Sassan Empire.

The old agent's adopted children all returned to Randall's Collar to undergo body remodeling and practice the secret method of the soul and bloodline, and Mia was among them. Her work in the Sassan Empire was temporarily handed over to the Randall's little agents, and of course, the children were now adults and could be on their own.

Since the development of mercury, the scale has expanded more than 100 times, penetrating the bottom of the kingdoms, with a complex personnel structure and strong mobility. Victor saw a report from Mercury a year ago that they controlled 29 gangs with 17 small mercenary groups. As for the current situation of the mercury organization of the Sassangian Empire, Victor is not clear. However, Mercury's strongest force is the alchemy militia he created, and the alchemy humans act as the backbone of Mercury's force, so Mercury doesn't want to break away from Victor's control.

The Sassan royal family issued a war order, and all the civilians of Duncan's fortress were evacuated, while the large and small free folk mercenary groups and rangers flocked to the fortress of the eastern defenses. The priest of Duncan's Fortress posted quests to mercenaries and rangers in the tavern, and Victor sent the Monkey militia to the tavern for a spin, and sure enough, they found the alchemical human Hunter.

"My lord, the Mercury Leader has gone to Dewwater Town in the western part of the Empire...... How many people does Mercury have in the Sassan Empire so far? I don't know. Hunter shook his head and took the initiative to ask, "Do you want me to contact the leader and ask him to come and see you?"

Victor shook his head and said, "No need to contact him, I'm leaving Duncan Fort soon...... You go to him and deliver my orders, and all the agents of Mercury move to towns and cities in the western part of the empire, blend into the local refugee camps, and keep an eye out for anomalies. ”

Hunter thought for a moment and asked, "My lord, what do you mean by the anomaly?"

Before leaving, Patriarch Friedes said that Cambis was going to send people to the territory of Barcelius to move the population. After listening to this, Usein actually used his fighting spirit to control his emotional ups and downs.

He overreacted.

There is a strange phenomenon in this war, the input and the benefit are not proportional. Whoever produces more mobile cavalry will suffer more casualties, but may not be able to obtain commensurate benefits. The kingdom of Duoduo sent 45,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry, and even used the strength to feed. If the Sassan Empire succeeds in occupying the lands of the Sidon Khanate, the Duoduo may be able to take control of the Wharton Prairie;

The cavalry of the eastern lord of Sasang is the largest, with a total of 120,000, but no one knows how many cavalry will die on the battlefield, and these cavalry are all the family funds that the eastern lord has worked hard to save. Barcelius and his four marquis had less than 20,000 cavalry, all of which were gone, and they would not break their bones. But they get a big piece of the pie.

Barcelius got the greatest benefit, and Gombis sent out cavalry and supplies, asking the Sassan Empire for hundreds of thousands of young and strong homeless people and some food, as for him to change color?

The population of the Sassanian Empire is close to 13 million, and Usse is probably not reluctant to give up hundreds of thousands of displaced people due to mood swings. Rather, it was because Victor's men were going to enter western Sassonia to organize the migration of displaced people.

If he wasn't acting for the patriarch, then he must have a ghost in his heart!

What exactly Barcelius was doing, Victor couldn't guess, he believed it had something to do with the homeless.

Since the issue of the displaced people is involved, Victor must send mercury to investigate.

"Anomaly...... If I know what an anomaly means, what am I going to do with mercury?"

He said with a faint expression: "Bring this sentence of mine to the leader of the mercury as it is." ”