Al never drinks unless necessary, so Gray's frequent toasts at the dinner table make him a little unbearable, and he wants to just make a show, but Hanks has always been by his side, and the other party stares at him every time he raises a glass.

Al smiled bitterly, he didn't understand where he had offended the other party.

After four or five glasses of wine, Al felt his head dizzy, and in a daze, he felt like he was being held by two people, and then he couldn't remember anything at all.

I don't know how long it has been, Al feels someone calling him, but the strong drowsiness makes him not want to pay attention to the other party at all.

The more he ignored it, though, the louder the annoying voice became, which irritated him.

"Goddess above, whoever it is, shut up for me. ”

He roared, his hands on his ears.

"Your Excellency?"

This time the voice was very clear and familiar, it was Yabut's voice, Al knew very well that Yabut, if there was no important matter, the other party would not come to call him while he was sleeping, so he patiently opened his eyes.

It was a strange and familiar room, and with Yabut's familiar face, Al instantly remembered that this was his private tent in the back office.

Seeing Al open his eyes, Yabut said with a slightly anxious look on his face: "My lord, Viscount Cage's herald is outside, and he came with an order. ”

Al's head hurt to death, and he rubbed his temples vigorously with his palms.

Viscount Cage: Who is this? And why is this bed so hard?

Yabut's face was full of helplessness, and as he was about to remind his master again, Al sat up sharply as if something had pierced his back on the bed.

"What about people?"

Al asked.

"What?"

Yabut looked at his master in a daze.

Al had already gotten out of bed, and he walked quickly to a mirror the size of a palm, tending to his short beard, and said, "I ask where is the herald of Viscount Cage?"

"Right outside the door, my lord. Yabut stared at his master, "Your Excellency, he has been waiting for almost ten minutes, I think you should meet him as soon as possible, and besides, no one in the barracks will pay attention to their personal appearance, look at the knights and soldiers, they are more concerned about the weapons in their hands and the armor on their bodies, even the viscount." ”

Yabut's joking words made Al stunned, and he played with the sesame oil box in his hand and said, "Maybe, but maintaining a good appearance is the most basic etiquette for others. Al said as he tossed the box of sesame oil in his hand to Yabut, "So, you should come over and help me get this damn hair." ”

...

It was still dawn outside, and there was a faint mist, and the cold mist made Al, who was only wearing a standard leather armor, shiver, which made his already somewhat dazed head suddenly sober up a lot, and he subconsciously looked at the magic clock in his arms, a quarter past four in the morning.

The herald brought a very simple order, and his exact words were as follows - Lord Viscount has summoned you urgently, Baron El, and he is waiting for you in his private tent.

Baron Tachia must have been ordered by Gray to be led into the tent by one of his guards without any notice when El arrived.

The furnishings in Gray's tent were simple, even simpler than Al's own, but very spacious.

As soon as Al entered the tent, he found Gray sitting at a round table, and across from him was Baron Rena, also seated.

The man around Baron Rainer surprised Al, as it was his friend Eric. At this moment, Eric seemed to be reporting something.

Al's arrival attracted the attention of the three of them, and they subconsciously stopped talking, Gray's eyes lit up after discovering Al, and he even got up and walked to the door to greet him, "Baron Al, I'm sorry, I hope it didn't disturb your rest." ”

"It is my pleasure to be summoned by you, Viscount Cage. Al humbly bowed his head.

Gray smiled and led Al to the round table.

Al nodded politely to Rena, then glanced at Eric.

When El sat down, Gray teased, "Baron El must be satisfied with our dinner, I heard that you drank a lot of wine, and finally got back with two soldiers." ”

Al was stunned for a moment, then responded with a smile, "It's a very special experience, I don't have any memory of that time at all, my head hurts right now, I hope I didn't do anything rude." ”

Gray smiled and didn't speak, he picked up a steel dagger next to him and picked the wick of the candle, and when an iron smell came into Al's nose, Rena next to him said, "Don't worry, it's nothing other than vomiting a little hard." ”

"You shouldn't have any problems now, right?" Gray put down the dagger that was picking up the candle, "Well... I mean, certain adverse reactions after being drunk. ”

"Of course, I feel that I am fine, no problem, Your Excellency. Al knew why Gray was asking, so he answered quickly and crisply.

"So, let's get down to business. Gray spoke to Al, then motioned for Raina to speak.

"That's right, Baron El, well—" Rena stood up and walked over to the cowhide map hanging in a wooden frame and said, "At your suggestion, we will send five times the usual number of scouts to conduct a carpet reconnaissance of the surrounding area of nearly thirty miles, using the orc camp as a point. ”

She said as she marked the approximate range of the scout's scout.

"Everything is as you expected, the orc troops really don't have enough supplies, they are collecting and capturing in place, the Sushui River is their main food source, and there are also traces of a lot of orc activity in the northwest of the Sailon Plain, if you want specific information, you can ask Knight Eric, he is the commander of this mission. ”

Al glanced at Eric, understanding why he was here, and then turned his gaze back to Gray, "I seem to have made a specific suggestion. ”

"I've got people to arrange, and I promise that after dawn, the whole Sushui River will become a dead river. "Moreover, after dawn my cavalry brigade will indiscriminately destroy and poison everything around it that can be called food by the orcs!"

Gray's gaze was steadfast, "While this will leave this fertile land without grass for a few years, or even decades to come, it will be worth the cost if it defeats the damned orcs." ”

Al was stunned, and then his hands trembled imperceptibly, he didn't expect Gray to be so desperate, he rubbed his hands together for a long time before squeezing out a sentence: "I admire your determination, Viscount." ”

"Are you scolding me, complimenting me?" Gray stared at Al's hands.

"I have neither scolded nor complimented you, these are my heartfelt words. Al felt his hands tremble even more.

"Huh. Gray stared at Al for a few seconds, then he smiled, "I interrupted you last night, you should have something to say." ”

"Well," Al struggled to gather his thoughts, "it's a little different, how can I say it? I feel like we're in a misunderstanding. ”

"What do you mean?" said Gray, frowning.

Al thought for a few seconds, "I don't think the battle in the Syren Plains is meaningful... But if we are defeated, the southern realm and even the entire human kingdom will be in a very passive situation. ”

"Well, maybe my words are a bit contradictory..."Al tapped his head, "Let's put it this way, we can't just look at this battle as a war on the Syren Plains, this battle includes many points, such as the attack and defense of Beon City, the defense of the Highland Fortress, and even the blockade of the Seca City Navy, which are extremely important. ”

Gray's eyes flashed, he clearly thought of something.

I only heard Al continue: "There are so many battlefields, this decisive battle on the Sailon Plain can't change anything at all, I mean, even if we win, we can't control the whole battle, and the army of 40,000 orcs outside Byan City can pounce at any time." ”

"Time, we can buy enough time. Rena said.

"Of course, if we can stop the orcs from advancing here, we can buy a certain amount of time, and maybe during this time other battlefields can turn the tide of confrontation. Al looked at Rena and then at Gray, "Are you putting all your hopes on King Laubert?

"We are too limited to deal with this orc expeditionary force on our own, and all we can do is hold them back. Gray pressed his forehead with his hand, "There is no need to count on the side of Grand Duke De Rooney, they are more difficult than us, and the only one who can break this stagnant water now is King Laubert." ”

"Oh?" Al's eyes flashed.

Gray looked at Al and asked, "You seem to have other ideas?"

"I just thought of something. Al looked down and thought, "This war feels like a conspiracy..."

"Conspiracy?" Gray whispered.

Al nodded: "I have looked through all the open battlefield information in the past few days, and I have analyzed that according to the offensive of the orcs when the war just broke out, they can completely storm the city of Crane and the town of Kwen, with the comparison of the strength of the enemy and us at that time, they are fully capable of capturing these two important towns, but they did not do that." ”

Gray frowned and said: "I have thought about this problem, with the strength of the orcs at that time, even if they capture these two important towns, they will be damaged by half, and our human kingdom has a strong foundation, and within three months, we can once again form a strong army, and the lost land will soon be returned to our hands." ”

Al expertly stroked his short beard with his thumb, "So, the orcs chose to preserve their strength, but anyone with a little vision can see that such a long confrontation is obviously not good for the orcs, but the orcs still do it, are they stupid?"

"Can you guess anything?" asked Gray.

Al shook his head, "No, I can't guess. But I'm sure the decisive battle in Kwyn won't go that well, so we should figure out how to solve our own problems. ”

"What do you think?"