Irena had intended to stay behind and hold on to Byan City, but before she could express her wishes, Sir Gowen's words made her change her mind.

The old knight's exact words were: You should stay by your lord's side at this time, the war on the Syren Plain is more important than the defense of Byan City, it is the key point of the whole battle, if you can defeat the orcs there, the siege of Byan City will be solved, if it fails, then we can only leave our fate to the goddess!

The last words of the old knight made Rena change his mind, he was right, Gray really has no one available around now, Sir Lois was accidentally assassinated, Sir Wright knows nothing about military affairs, most of the other knights are newly canonized in recent years, and the only one who can be relied on is Baron Tachia, who was born only in the traditional nobility.

Along with Rainer was Baron Duroux, and the only reason for him to stay in this defensive battle was the ridiculous sense of honor, and as a more pragmatic nobleman, he knew how to choose.

Moreover, he must also be responsible for the safety of the Aegisa Domain, but when Viscount Booker left, he called him the safety of the territory, he could not let his lord down, he had to think further.

Or maybe think a little more pessimistic!

If the decisive battle on the Syren Plains fails, with the current state of defense in the Covinde region, within three days, the orc army will be able to sweep through everything, and then the entire southern territory will be exposed to the orc's peak!

Baron Duroux didn't even dare to imagine that terrible situation.

In fact, the baron hoped that Gray could retreat to the Black Mountain Pass and put enough pressure on the orcs on the front, so that those hateful orcs would not dare to divide their forces too much.

Then he sent a few more reliable nobles or knights to guard the Herion Territory, the coast around Seka City, and the Seku Territory, so as to stop the progress of the orcs.

Then, slowly accumulating strength, he believed that in just three months, with the foundation of the southern realm, he could build a force strong enough to defeat the orc expeditionary force.

However, these must be based on the premise that the Orc Expeditionary Force has no follow-up reinforcements!

Moreover, for the orcs, having a three-month buffer period is also quite advantageous, they can establish their supply lines safely, so, after three months, with the help of the goblins, they can even rely on the Bien Territory and the Corwin Territory to fight a war of attrition with Gray, and three months is enough time for the goblin fleet to make a few rounds of routes between the southern border and the orc tribes, God knows if they will send more orcs.

At that time, it will be extremely difficult to drive the orcs out of the south, and there will be no chance.

Therefore, the orcs cannot be allowed to gain a foothold in the south, this is the consensus of everyone.

-----

Gray received the report from Byan City two days later, just before dark on May 12.

A day earlier, Gray had received a summons from Archduke De Rooney, who had authorized him to recruit soldiers throughout the South, and had ordered the Prime Minister of the Court, Baron Kerry, to cooperate with him in the initial procurement of weapons and equipment.

But at the same time that Gray obtained these rights, Grand Duke De Rooney had a new order for him, and he asked Gray to do everything in his power to slow down the attack of the orc expeditionary force, and if possible, it was best to find an opportunity to destroy the orc expeditionary force.

Arriving with the Archduke's summons was also a handwritten letter from Gray's father-in-law, the Earl of Lockton, whose words were more straightforward, he directly told Gray that the orc expeditionary force in the south must be solved as soon as possible, and it was impossible to drag the main force back to help, because the entire main force was already stuck in the quagmire of the battlefield in Crane City and could not get out.

Although the two letters are expressed in different ways, the specific content is roughly the same.

Now, the main force in the hands of Grand Duke De Looney can no longer be counted on, and moreover, Grand Duke De Looney even hinted at Gray, hoping that he can deal with the orc expeditionary force as soon as possible, and then form a sizable force to support them!

This is not at all the same as saying yes at the beginning!

When Gray first received their message, he even wanted to go to the north and question the two of them face to face - what can I do to destroy these orcs?

What's the use of having conscription rights for the entire southern border? There is no extra weapon to equip them.

Viscount Keith was next to Gray at the time, and he had no chance to participate in the expeditionary force of the Grand Duke De Rooney, although he had the title of viscount, he had long since been reduced to a vassal of Gray and the Earl of Lockton.

His current status is not even as good as that of Viscount Uriah, who was defeated by Gray.

At that time, Caseh suggested that Gray could order the nobles of the various regions to donate some of their property in the name of the military coordinator, so that they could form a force as quickly as possible, although it was not known how effective it was, but there was finally a force that could fight.

Gray immediately refused, "Do you want all the nobles of the South to curse me in a dark corner?"

"It's a thousand times better than having your head strung on a spear by an orc as an ornament!" Keith immediately sneered coldly.

Grelen snorted and ignored the madman.

When the bad news came again, Gray immediately gathered all his family knights, as well as the mad viscount, Keith Donner, and his men.

When the people arrived, Gray glanced at Viscount Keith and said, "I'll tell you the bad news, according to the news from the city of Byan, there are about three legions of orc troops coming from the Sushui River in their brand new warships towards our Covind!"

When everyone heard this, there was a burst of discussion, and the discussion was like a woman's mouth before going to bed at night!

Viscount Case did not join in the futile discussion, and after a few seconds of silence, he asked loudly, "Is the news accurate? And now that they have arrived there?"

His voice reached Gray's ears through the boisterous discussion.

Gray couldn't stand the sound of "buzz!buzz!" in his ears, and he slammed his saber against the rotten wooden baseplate, making a "thump!" thump.

The knights were attracted by the sound, and when they saw Gray's ugly face, they all subconsciously closed their mouths.

Seeing the silence of these knights, Gray felt a pang of annoyance in his heart, the death of Sir Lois and Sir Rand one after another, and the absence of Reiner and Sir Wright, so that no one could speak for him at such a critical moment.

As for the two opinions made by Sir Gowen, he did not want to choose either.

It is true that this can be a battle, but Gray is not confident, he has to think not about the victory or defeat of this battle, but about the safety of the entire southern territory! As for retreating to the Black Mountain Pass? If he does not receive a letter from Archduke De Rooney and the Earl of Lockton, he can consider it.

He glanced around the crowd, his eyes fell on Viscount Case, and he said: "The information is very accurate, there is no doubt about this, according to the normal itinerary, they are still a day's journey away from Garmic Falls, so there is not much time left for us!"