Chapter 439: Surrender

Even if he promised Count Churchwick that he would carefully consider the demands for peace and truce put forward by Archduke Handla and others, from the bottom of his heart, His Royal Highness was not willing to cease the war. www.biquge.info It's not a big deal if you misunderstand, the key is that the current battlefield situation is extremely favorable to you. Everyone knows that the four Grand Dukes in the central part of the country are on the verge of defeat, and the situation is precarious, and if they work harder, the second line of defense of the Duchy of Handla will be crushed with one blow, and then it will only be a beating of the water dogs.

It's just that the most hateful thing is Lorlist's attitude, he doesn't approve of continuing the offensive at all, thinking that the overall situation has been decided, and there is no need to chase and fight, sacrificing the lives of the soldiers in vain. Anyway, the four Grand Dukes in the middle of the country have already admitted defeat, and the demands they made are almost no different from surrender, so why do you have to kill them all? Not to mention that now they have also given you a step down, this war is just a misunderstanding, whether they are rebellious or not everyone knows in their hearts......

Lorist means that the second highness will accept it when he sees it, don't be unforgiving, it was originally your fault, the four grand dukes in the middle of the country have always been friendly to the kingdom in the era of the first king, and they are also famous noble families in the pre-imperial era, and they have made great contributions to the empire. Why are you rebellious? So wipe your ass clean before blaming others......

His Royal Highness was so angry by Lorlist's strange words that he couldn't do anything with Lorlist, whether it was personal force or family strength, he didn't have a problem. In terms of heart, the Norton family made a great contribution to the expedition to the four central principalities, whether it was attacking the Duchy of Sabaji or flooding the trench defensive positions of the Duchy of Volundo, it was Lorist who played a decisive role.

Moreover, when the Grand Duke of Falkel was frantically burning down the towns and food and grass materials, and artificially creating a wave of refugees, it was Lorist who solved the plight of His Royal Highness, although he also made a lot of small actions, but he made the greatest contribution to the great cause of unifying the empire. Especially at the end of last year, the capture of the Weironi Pass formed such a favorable war situation for His Royal Highness, forcing the four Grand Dukes in the central part to send envoys to sue for peace.

Compared with the outstanding performance of the Norton family's armed forces, the family armed legions led by other nobles are all here to fight soy sauce. And the White Lion Legion, which was personally commanded by His Second Highness, was more like a coolie, with nearly half of the damage and few results. And the reserve legion of the Fisabrun family accompanied the White Lion Legion as cannon fodder, and specially gave away heads. Anyway, the dead were all barbarian cavalry, and Grand Duke Fisabrun was not distressed, and the more injuries he suffered, the more he showed his loyalty to His Second Highness.

The greatest sorrow of the Second Highness is here, the greater Lorlist's exploits, the more the Norton family forces will not obey the call. The four alliances of the Northland are in unison, but the Norton family is the leader. The armed legions of the families of the Duke of Naken Max, the Count of Philim and the Count of Shaheen did not obey the command of His Royal Highness.

No matter how much His Royal Highness tried to win over the division, he was indifferent, just like the Count of Shaheen, the Second Highness asked him to be responsible for cleaning up the territorial nobles who swept the Duchy of Volendo, which was a fat difference, and the gratitude shown by Count Shaheen made His Royal Highness think that he was loyal and could be of great use, and perhaps he could also use his greed for money to pull him out of the four alliances of the Northlands. But he didn't expect that as soon as Count Shaheen returned to the front line, he would stand on Lorist's side again, which made His Second Highness feel very aggrieved, and his efforts on Count Shaheen were all in vain.

Nominally, the strength of the coalition army of the Kingdom of Antinac is as high as more than 300,000, but His Royal Highness is very sober, and what he can command is the White Lion Legion and the reserve legion of the Fisabrun family. The White Lion Legion suffered nearly half of the casualties in the fierce battle along the way, and the rest were more than 30,000 people. Although the reserve legion is composed of barbarian cavalry, it has suffered nearly 10,000 casualties and is also full of complaints and a little restless, no one is a fool, in contrast, they are more willing to obey Lorist's orders, not only have fewer casualties but also make extra money, rather than just let them die like the Second Highness.

As for the Third Frontier Ranger Regiment, it was the heart and soul of the Grand Duke of Fisabrun, and His Royal Highness knew that he could not defeat this legion, and at the same time he also hoped that this legion could go back to Lorist in its entirety. Sometimes, when His Royal Highness calmed down, he asked himself, if it wasn't for Lorlist's help, it would be difficult for this expedition to the Central Four Duchies to be so smooth and suffer so few casualties. If His Royal Highness were to command the whole process, then he would definitely take a hard-nosed approach to attack all the way, and maybe he hadn't destroyed one or two principalities so far.

This is not that His Royal Highness thinks that the army is slightly inferior to Lorlist, but from the king's position to consider the overall situation. From his point of view, the ideal war process for attacking the four central principalities is that the family armed forces of the four alliances in the north and the legions of the four principalities in the north fight to the death and lose both, and finally he comes out to be the yellow bird, which not only destroys the four principalities in the middle, but also can make the strength of the four alliances in the north suffer a heavy blow and eliminate the trouble in his heart, which is the best ending.

At the same time, for the sake of the heart of Ann, the Grand Duke of Fisabrun, who followed him for the first time, His Royal Highness had to place Lorist on the front line and wander around right under his nose. And then he made a great achievement. Looking at the casualty ratio, the two heavy armored corps of the Kenmas family in the four alliances of the Northland are considered to have suffered the heaviest losses, with more than 1,300 dead and wounded. The second was Count Shaheen, who cleaned up and swept the noble territory, and his family suffered seven or eight hundred casualties.

Next was Count Philim's Pegasus Legion, which also suffered five or six hundred casualties because of its mission of battlefield cover and scout reconnaissance. And the least damaged is the Flying Tiger Legion, which has suffered more than 400 casualties so far. This casualty was very slight for the four alliances in the Northland, and compared with the nearly half of the damage caused by the 56,000-strong White Lion Legion, it was more like a slap in the face of the Second Highness, so that there have been rumors in the army that the reputation of the Second Highness's military master is actually not worthy of the name.

The Second Highness was very helpless, he had no choice but to take Lorlist, and the Duke of Kenmax also supported Lorlist's proposition and was unwilling to continue the attack, and even the Archduke of Fisabrun privately told the Second Highness that he should be a man and leave a line, so why do he have to kill the four Grand Dukes in the middle? Besides, they have already surrendered.

The Second Highness has words of suffering, and the plans in his heart cannot be put on the surface. It was not that he was unwilling to let go of the four grand dukes in the central region, but that he took a fancy to the territory of the eleven provinces of the four central principalities. Although the territory of the Kingdom of Antinac is large, except for a few provinces around the imperial capital, the rest are not under the control of the Second Highness. You must know that the imperial capital is all over these provinces, and the people he tossed have long been exhausted, and the local area has been almost looted by him since he wanted to unify the empire and recruited 300,000 troops, so when he returned to the imperial capital and ascended the throne again, he had to take those kingdom nobles, even if he was notorious, he had to do so, because he had to get property, grain, grass and armaments in order to raise troops and prepare for war.

His Royal Highness's wishful thinking is that after the destruction of the four central principalities, then eleven provinces will return to their direct jurisdiction, and take advantage of the original good economic environment and human resources of the eleven provinces of the four central principalities, as long as they survive for another three or four years, it will not be difficult for them to gather an army of five or six hundred thousand, and then the troops will be on the border of the commercial alliance. So even if the Business Alliance already has a Zhenguo Sword Saint and has become the largest country in the Gelinthia Continent, it still has to consider whether it is cost-effective to form a kingdom as an enemy who is fighting to the death.

His Royal Highness believes that the group of merchants will understand very rationally that their requirements are not high, as long as the business alliance returns the occupied imperial provinces to themselves, they can get peace, and at that time, he who became the emperor of the Zhongxing Empire will also mercifully grant those merchants the convenience and privilege of reopening trade routes in the empire......

This is the reason why His Royal Highness considered it for several days and still refused to agree to Earl Churchwick coming to sue for peace. He was unwilling to allow the four Grand Dukes of the Central Region to reoccupy their traditional family domains, which were basically the most well-developed of the eleven provinces in the Central Region, without which the grand blueprint in the heart of His Royal Highness would be shattered, and the implementation of the great cause of reviving and unifying the empire would be far away.

However, the non-cooperation of the four alliances of the Northlands led by Lorist and the constant persuasion of the Grand Duke of Fisabrun finally made the Second Highness make a decision, summoned Earl Churchwick, and asked him to bring his own reply to the four central archdukes: the condition is very simple, he can spare the four central archdukes, but the family territories of the four archdukes need to be moved to the provinces around the imperial capital.

In addition, the offerings of the four Grand Dukes were to be doubled, and the Grand Duke of Handla, the Grand Duke of Forendo, and the Grand Duke of Sabaji were each required to pay a tribute of 1.5 million gold merits. Archduke Farkel, on the other hand, was to hand over three million goldfords to punish him for burning down the capital and town. Finally, the four Grand Dukes must reorganize their men and horses, allowing them to take a legion of 45,000 men to the family's new territory, and the rest of the men and horses must be handed over to the Second Highness.

As for those territorial nobles who follow the four central Grand Dukes as enemies of the Second Highness, the Second Highness will redefine their titles and territories according to their family's previous contributions to the empire, and transfer and reduce their titles, and no longer become vassal lords of the four Grand Dukes.

To be honest, the reply given by His Royal Highness was very harsh and unexpected to everyone. Churchwick wanted to protest, but His Royal Highness avoided it. Let the guards around you say that this is the final decision and will never be changed. Earl Churchwick could only leave the barracks with hatred and return to deliver the letter.

Duke Kenmeth and the others were puzzled, and privately asked His Royal Highness Lorist II why he would put forward such harsh conditions, wasn't this a clear attempt to force the four Grand Dukes in the middle of the country to their deaths? Could it be that if the war continued, it would be more beneficial for His Royal Highness the Second Highness?

Lorist sneered, clicked on the map on the table, and sneered: "Our Majesty is interested in the territory of the eleven provinces of the Four Central Duchyes, very simply, for him, although Kingford is important, it is not as good as the manpower and resources of these eleven provinces. It was a dream for him to unify the empire just by relying on the imperial capital to travel around several provinces, and with the territory of these eleven provinces, he had the confidence to fight with the business alliance. ”

Everyone was stunned. Lorist warned everyone to strengthen their vigilance, the four grand dukes in the middle of the country are very likely to fight to the death after receiving the reply of the second highness, if this is the case, one is that no one knows when the war will last, and there is even a great possibility that some more extreme measures such as assassination or something, I hope everyone can protect themselves. However, Lorist prefers that the four Grand Dukes in the middle of the country will accept the conditions offered by His Royal Highness......

"What do you say, how can they agree to such harsh conditions?" said Count Shaheen, who could not have done such a good thing: "If it were me, I would rather die than agree to such a condition." ”

Lorist smiled and shook his head: "You don't understand, it's about the continuation of the family's inheritance, and it can't be loved or hated by the personal likes of the four grand dukes. They had to think carefully. Although His Royal Highness's conditions are a little harsh, they are not unacceptable. Although the money is valuable, can it be compared to the inheritance of the family? What's more, His Royal Highness only asked them to move the seal, not reduce the seal, and they are still the title of duke.

Even if the new territory is a little barren, as long as the family continues, the territory will always develop slowly. The most important point is that the Second Highness did not deprive them of their military power, they could each take a legion to the family's new territory, plus the families of these 45,000 family armed legions, they would soon be able to control the entire new territory. With clan arms and territories, they don't have to worry about the future. ”

......

On July 6, 1783, more than a month and nearly 50 days after the return of Earl Churchwick, the coalition forces of the Kingdom of Andinac were still stationed in front of the second line of defense of the Duchy of Handla to confront the enemy. His Royal Highness was still angry with Lorlist, because Lorist insisted on not attacking. And it is impossible for His Second Highness to command the White Lion Legion under his command and the reserve army of the Fisabrun family to send him to death, Grand Duke Fisabrun ran around at both ends, and after saying all the good things, he finally calmed down the Second Highness and agreed to confront each other for a while.

On this night, the second line of defense of the Duchy of Handla suddenly burst into flames. His Royal Highness, Lorist and the others were alarmed, and they all went to check, and found that it was the camp of the Green Forest Mountain Legion and the Blood Spear Legion under the command of Grand Duke Falkel that had been attacked. This situation is a bit strange, and even the Second Highness is wondering if this will be a trap to lure him into attacking.

At this moment, several scouts of the Pegasus Legion brought back the bloodied Earl of Churchwick. He reported to His Highness that the Grand Duke of Handla, the Archduke of Forundo, and the Grand Duke of Sabaji had agreed to His Highness's conditions and were willing to submit to the Second Highness. But the Grand Duke of Falkel clamored to resist to the end, and swore not to surrender. It took a long time to convince him, but he said that he didn't have that much money to do.

While the Grand Duke of Handla and others were discussing whether to send an envoy to the Second Highness to ask for a reduction of some of the contributions, the Grand Duke of Fakr brazenly ordered his two legions to loot the towns and villages of the Duchy of Handla, burning, killing and looting. Grand Duke Handra sent someone to stop Grand Duke Faker but said, "Anyway, you have to surrender, and this territory will soon be no longer your family territory, so let's just take advantage of the time to rob and kill all of them and burn them all, and leave a blank space for that second highness."

The Grand Duke Handra was so angry that he vomited blood, and led his troops to fight a big battle with the Grand Duke of Farkel, and finally suppressed the two legions of the Grand Duke of Fakr back to the defensive position, and persuaded the Grand Duke of Forendo and the Grand Duke Sabaji to prepare to besiege the Grand Duke of Fakr and the two legions under him to surrender to His Royal Highness. I didn't expect that there were no troops sent here, and the Grand Duke of Farkel over there was already preparing to break through overnight.

Fortunately, the garrison of the Duchy of Handla under the mountain had already taken precautions and did not let the Grand Duke of Farkel break the siege. But the current situation was stirred up by them, where the Grand Duke of Forrendo led a legion directly into the camp garrisoned by the Principality of Fakel, and the mountains were fighting everywhere. The Earl of Churchwick managed to extricate himself from the chaos of the war, and rushed to ask for help......

When His Royal Highness heard this, he urgently ordered the Grand Duke of Fisabrun and Lorlist, Count Philim, and Count Shaheen to lead their family's cavalry to reinforcements, and not to escape the culprit of Grand Duke Fakel. Lorist was very pleased with His Royal Highness this time, and was immediately ordered to rush over with the Flying Tiger Legion.

The addition of cavalry became a talisman for the two legions of the Principality of Fakel, which died and surrendered like a devastating death. However, it is possible that these two legions have done too much evil in the Duchy of Handla, and the soldiers of the two legions of the Duchy of Fakel who surrendered were massacred by the garrison of the Duchy of Handla, who hated them. When Lorist found out, it was too late to stop it, most of the nearly 30,000 captives were slaughtered, and less than 10,000 Farkel soldiers survived......

The clash between the Grand Duke Handra and the Grand Duke of Fakr marked the end of the war between His Royal Highness and the Central Four Duchyes. The Grand Duke of Handra and the Grand Duke of Volendo, and the Grand Duke of Sabaji submitted to His Royal Highness, but the Grand Duke of Falkel rushed out of the garrison of the Duchy of Handra with nearly 100 horsemen early, and transferred to the province of Majik to join the Commercial Alliance, and became an exiled Grand Duke in the name of refuge.

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