'Whoever comes here, please salute. ’

Here is buried my friend Gaius Marius, a benevolent elder and an incomparably powerful emperor. ’

'Being strong is an attitude, not having power. To be strong is to always do what is useful to people, not to pursue the thrill of conquest. Strength is the spirit of self-confidence and the heart of happiness and security, rather than eternal dissatisfaction. ”

—Leon Griffin, Kingdom of New Pender.

——

"This is the inscription on the tombstone of His Majesty Leon for His Majesty Marius. I think I can now understand why they became friends. ”

Alina stood in front of the tomb of Emperor Marius, looked at the inscription that had just been carved by the craftsmen, and turned her head to look at Justus: "Father, I plan to marry Leon." ”

Justes looked at the inscription and was silent, and after a long time, he asked softly, "Why?" Your Majesty, is it for the words of the Child of Prophecy? ”

He called his daughter His Majesty.

This means that he is speaking to Emperor Bacchus as a member of his staff.

"It's not just for that...... Also for the future of Bacchus. With the death of His Majesty Marius, the enemies of Barkley and the continent of Amara will make moves, and the Descha will be ready to launch a counterattack, Bacchus will face more dangers than ever. ”

Alina, as the ruler of Bacchus, also said to the chief political officer, Justus: "His Majesty Marius asked me to submit to the kingdom of Neupander on his deathbed, also because we are about to face countless foreign enemies, and we must rely on the power of the kingdom of Neopande. But I want to keep the name of the Empire, so I can't let Bacchus be a vassal......"

"Actually, Bacchus has never been an empire, and there is nothing wrong with taking this opportunity to change to a republic...... Moreover, a momentary bow of the head does not lose anything. ”

Justus doesn't care much about whether Bacchus will still be called an 'empire' in the future, although the name Bacchus Empire has existed for a thousand years, and the head of state has always been called 'emperor', but in fact, since the second Bacchus empire, this country with an elected head of state has not been an empire, but a republic.

Of course, at that time it was a typical aristocratic republic, and everything was decided by the Senate, and it had nothing to do with the commoners.

And now, after the reforms of Emperor Marius, citizens have the right to vote for tribunes, and former slaves have nominally obtained citizenship;

The Tribune is able to run for parliament and elect members of the Senate;

The members of the Senate can nominate the head of state, and the councillors will elect the emperor from among the candidates.

In other words, Alina was actually the first emperor to be elected after three tiers of elections, and the first head of state under a true republican system.

But in reality, the election was completely authoritarian, as only one candidate was put forward.

In the last moments of his life, Emperor Marius actually used a dictatorial way to ensure a smooth transition of power.

"No, an empire still has to be an empire...... At least until I leave office, it must be called the Empire. ”

Alina shook her head and said, "Leon will understand me, and only he will understand...... So I had to marry him, not only to preserve the integrity and independence of the empire to the greatest extent, but also to suppress the country with the new pande, and to ensure that I pushed for reform as a dictator. ”

"So...... It's up to you. ”

Justes nodded: "Actually, I know, you have always felt that dictatorship is better......"

"No, it's not, father. I just wanted to make a constitution – a constitution that treated all citizens equally, whether nobles or commoners, or the emperor himself. ”

Alina smiled self-deprecatingly, "But to do that, I have to be a dictator first." ”

"You're braver than me, kid. But you should know about Leon's decree...... This requires the consent of the two queens. ”

Justes nodded slightly, he understood his daughter's thoughts now.

Alina wanted to finish what Emperor Marius had left unfinished.

"They've agreed."

Alina smiled and said, "I already received a reply from Amy yesterday, and I am going to meet her in Lion City. ”

Amy did write a letter to Alina.

But to be precise, the letter was actually addressed to Wendy.

However, Wendy and Alina are currently living together, and this is indeed Amy's response to Alina, so Amy was sent to Dilingang as soon as possible.

The content of the letter is—

Dear Wendy,

I received your letter.

But please don't blame Leon and Alina.

Since the decree allowed him to marry three wives, his subordinates would force him to reproduce more, even if he didn't mess with the flowers himself......

Without Alina, there will be others, this is inevitable.

If the third one is Alina, maybe we can all accept it.

But if it were someone else, I wouldn't be able to accept it...... I think you should be the same.

However, for the sake of our friendship and peace among the three nations, we should not only help each other, but also restrain each other.

So, we'd better meet, I'll be waiting for you in the Lion City.

Don't let Leon know.

…………

Wendy and Alina went to the Lion City to deal with foreign affairs, and Leon really didn't know.

Because Leon set off for Long River City after receiving the news from Risa Dilan, Wendy asked him to go first, because the wounded soldiers who stayed in Dilingang needed to be taken care of, and there were many Noldor soldiers among the wounded soldiers, and Wendy was certainly the most suitable person to stay and lead the team.

Li Ang's injuries did not heal, and he did not walk fast until October 2, when he arrived in Long River City.

The time of Risadiran was September 16, and according to the time, the Gatu had been in the eastern part of the kingdom for at least half a month.

Strangely, after Leon arrived in Changhe City, he received a report that no village or town had been sacked by the Gatu for half a month.

Coming to report the situation was Ors of the Knights of the Owl Order, who was now a baron.

The Knights of the Owl, who had been staying in Trubrun, had indeed seen a large number of Cato people entering from the east half a month ago, that is, from the Noldor Forest.

However, the Gatu did not attack anyone after entering the country, and probably deliberately bypassed the White Hart Fort and the Mai Xiang Ling, until the night of September 15, when the Gatu passed near Trubrun at night, and were discovered by the owls.

The Knights of the Owl immediately reported the warning to each place, and then followed the large army of the Cato people.

But the Gatu were good at riding and shooting, and there were many horses, and the scouts were very far away, and the Owl Knights were too few to follow all the time.

On the 17th of September, after passing through a foggy no-man's land, it rained heavily, and the Owl Knights were lost.

At that time, the location was to the west of Serenmis, under the mountain of the goddess - and the Gatu did not attack Selenmis, who had little defense.

After this, they completely lost all traces of the Catu.

Godric was not careless, he asked Ralph to summon the Rangers with a horn to defend the Shield Fortress, asked Antunga to help Charles defend the village of Fletcher, and sent three hundred newly trained Red Arrow longbowmen to replenish the battle, and sent Forsert to send someone to block the junction and drawbridge north of the village of Kwyn.

At the same time, Risardiran also sent a large number of Noldor troops to search the forest, and arranged Noldor warriors to garrison the White Hart Fort and the Forest Market.

Godric and Risardiran were going to close the door and beat the dogs, and several of them were blocked, and the Gatu people should not be able to escape.

However, until now, there has been no news of the attack anywhere.

In other words, the Cato did not raid anywhere during this half month, nor did they return to the steppe, probably all the time moving westward.

But this kind of marching discipline is not at all like the style of the Cato - they march long distances, but they do not commit any offense against the places they pass, and even the unsuspecting Serenmis does not attack......

Even the regular army of an ordinary country will more or less forcibly levy a little military rations when passing through the villages and towns of the enemy country.

In other words, the Gatu people had already arrived near the Goddess Mountain half a month ago, but they had never attacked anyone...... What is the size of the Gato army you see? ”

Leon asked Orth, who felt a little incredulous.

"At that time, we saw at least 4,000 horses or more, and the number of people was unknown, and it was difficult for us to keep up with them."

Orth said firmly.

At this moment, Li Ang felt even more incredible.

Half a month, more than 4,000 horses......

A large number of horses were in the inland areas, neither plundering nor attacking cities, how did the Gatu people supply horses for more than half a month?

It is true that people can't eat much, and saving some food may be enough for twenty pounds of food, which can be carried with them.

But horses can't, a horse has to consume at least a dozen pounds of forage a day.

Unlike the grasslands, the inland areas have limited grassland to feed the horses, and it is impossible to supply 4,000 horses in the wild, except for the large fields near the villages and towns.

You can't carry a few hundred pounds of forage with you, can you?

Normally, the Gatu would sack villages along their long journeys, both for looting and feeding their horses.

Because Gatuma is easy to feed, not picky eaters, does not need to be fed concentrate, does not have diarrhea when eating grass, and most importantly, they can eat the crops in the field directly - whether they are ripe or not, and they can also eat with water, not as delicate as mainland horses.

Wheat straw was commonly used as horse feed, and the usual method used by the Cato raiders after leaving the steppe was to raise horses from wheat fields or wheat stacks near villages and towns, and to feed people with the stolen grain.

However, wheat fields are only found in the vicinity of villages and towns, and the Gatu have never attacked them, and they have avoided the search of the Owl Knights, which means that they should not have stopped in any villages and towns......

Could it be that they can still conjure up hay out of thin air?!

Leon said he didn't understand, this was not the Cato he remembered.

But at present, Godric and Risardillan have no problems with the arrangement, and it is also a good idea to close the door and fight the dog, and Leon does not need to adjust his strategy.

The question now is, where are the Cato people who have invaded the heart of the kingdom?

Godric was also a little anxious—he never imagined that he would one day expect to receive news that a place was being attacked by the Catu......

But there was no news from the Cato who had entered the hinterland, but there was new news from the north.

It was Raphael who sent the message back.

"Your Majesty, we have found a large army of the Gatu...... They're on the wilderness between Lake Lion and Fletcher! ”

Raphael described to Leon what he saw: "I took the Horn Rangers to spy in the steppes, and found a large number of wheel marks going west, so we followed...... I saw with my own eyes the countless car tents, as if they were migrating on a large scale. ”

"They're on the move? On the move again? They migrated last time...... I've killed thousands at Fort Talon. Last time, it was Juda's clan ......"

Li Ang became more and more incomprehensible: "Who is it this time?" Do you know which tribe those Cato belonged to? ”

"I'm not sure, I didn't dare come near - there were too many of them."

Raphael shook his head: "However, I think it should be Zakar's man." ”

"Zakar had defeated Juda a few years earlier, forcing Juda's clan to move to the Lion Lake area...... And now his own clan is migrating to Lion Lake City? What's going on......"

Li Ang frowned: "Have you sent a warning message to Lion Lake City?" ”

"Of course, Ms. An Dongjia went to Lion Lake City, I came to Changhe City, and I went separately, and Lion Lake City should have gotten the news earlier."

Raphael nodded.

Leon felt that the situation was a bit tricky now.

There was a Cato army in the hinterland of the kingdom, and four thousand horses usually meant two thousand Catu, and these two thousand could not be left alone, but they could not be found.

And between Lion Lake City and Fletcher, a large number of Cato people have moved to that wasteland, which can't be ignored, but the question is how to transfer troops? Where are the soldiers?

There may be seven or eight hundred garrisons on the other side of Lion Lake City, and these people must hold the city; The men of Fort Shield and Fletcher could not be moved casually, otherwise it would be difficult to guarantee that the Cato would not turn around and attack.

The city had two thousand troops, half of which were Godric's troops and half were Freikorn men, but they were not suitable for pulling out and taking the initiative to attack.

When Risadiran returned, he left the Freikorn in the city of River, which currently numbered only about a thousand men, and several hundred were recuperating from their wounds in the port of Terrin.

It was hard to take hoplites against the Gatu, and Leon didn't want to ask for trouble.

Most of Godric's troops were newly recruited, and there was no problem in defending the city.

Besides, there can be no accident in Changhe City, and it is estimated that the group of Gatu people hiding in the hinterland are waiting for Leon to send out the garrison.

And Risadillan's side wants to ensure the defense of Noldor Forest and White Hart Castle, and it is estimated that only a few hundred Noldor rangers can be drawn out.

Leofric of Karen Deer Fort still had more than a thousand men at his disposal, and there were more cavalry, but a little farther away.

Dalion and the Griffin Knights can also be transferred, but they are still in Fort Sava at the moment, which is further away......

Moreover, even if they were all transferred, they would all add up to more than 2,000 people...... Is it enough?

It is estimated that it is not enough, this time there is no Lion Knights and the Raven army to use, and it is unlikely that they will want to replicate the last time Eagle Claw Castle fought against Gatu.

When the power grows, the battle becomes more difficult to fight, because everywhere is their own territory, and they have to defend everywhere.

After sending men to give orders for the transfer of troops, Leon began to consider whether there was a way to talk to the Cato......

If you can't fight, then it's better not to fight...... The Gatu barbarians, who would make a suicidal charge without saying a word, Leon really didn't want to waste the lives of his soldiers on them.

Moreover, there are many ways to deal with the enemy, and fighting a war is the least cost-effective way to deal with the Catons. Unless it's for some other reason, there's really no need to be tough.

So, Raphael was given an important task, and Leon asked him to be his envoy, in the name of the new King Pande, to try to communicate with the Cato people in the wasteland - no way, although Raphael was very eloquent, only he could speak Cato.

(End of chapter)