Chapter 1: The Crusade (I)
Outside the window, there is snow flying, sprinkled one after another. The cold wind blew through the window with a whistling sound. In January 785, the Far East was hit by heavy snowfall, a cold snap that fell suddenly, rivers froze, and hills froze. Wet firewood crackled in the fireplace, emitting a melancholy green smoke with the scent of the forest.
Two young men were sitting at the large table by the fireplace playing chess, both of them staring at the chessboard so engrossed in their attention that they didn't even touch the flask on the edge of the table.
The handsome young man with clear eyebrows pushed the chess pieces forward and said very calmly: "Sterling, you lost this game." ”
His opponent stared at the board, his brow furrowed, and it was clear that he was in a tricky situation. After a long time, he raised his head and was about to speak, when there was a sound of footsteps outside the house, the door was pushed open, and Roger was wrapped in a thick leather jacket, and rushed into the house with a cold wind and snow, and he couldn't stop shouting: "Lord Xiuchuan, it's cold! It's cold! This dog weather, the snow is almost up to the knees!"
Patting the snow on his body and suddenly seeing the people in the house, Roger was stunned and shouted in surprise: "Lord Sterling, why did you come to us?"
Sterling raised his head and easily disrupted all the pieces on the chessboard: "Someone is coming, but he won't play." He smiled and said, "Why, Your Excellency Roger in Red doesn't welcome me over?
Roger smiled heavily: "My lord, what did you say! You are our honored guest, please can't even come! I just wonder, how did you come here with such a big snow?"
"I've been here for two days, and the snow hasn't closed yet. How? I was hit by an armored beast while I was in Bataan, and I was healed?"
"My wound has healed, my lord, I am as strong as a cow now!" Roger slapped his chest vigorously, making a pounding sound, and his face was full of pride.
"Roger, you're as stupid as a cow!" Zi Chuanxiu said coldly, he shouted: "Sterling, don't play tricks, you lost this game!"
"It's not over yet, I think this game is a draw, and everyone is not hurt. Sterling said casually.
He said to Roger affectionately: "Why, Roger, you seem to be doing well lately! I see that the Far Eastern Army has recently become arrogant, and your new military coat is quite beautiful." ”
"Sterling, don't divert the topic! Okay, a game of chess bets 100,000 silver coins for military expenses!"
"Isn't it still the end of the meal - Roger, did you bring anything good to eat? I'm a little hungry. ”
"Bastard, you guy, you've just eaten! Owe me 100,000! 100,000 silver coins!"
Sterling didn't seem to hear Zi Chuanxiu's words: "Roger, have you recovered from all your injuries? Do you want to go back to the mainland and find a good doctor to take a look? You generals who can fight well are the precious wealth of the country, and the family cares about you very much." I heard that you were injured, and His Royal Highness Ning specially asked me to bring you some supplements, which are in my luggage, and I will bring them to you later. ”
Roger's eyes were red with emotion: "Thank you so much, Your Royal Highness Ning is so busy with you, and you still have time to care about us fighting men, I am grateful......"
"Roger, shut up!Sterling, you owe me 100,000 silver coins!100,000 silver coins!" Shikawa Xiu put his hands into horns and leaned into Sterling's ear and shouted.
The latter could no longer pretend to be deaf, and he glanced at Zichuan Xiu with disdain: "As for it, Commander Xiuchuan, no matter how you say that you are also a member of the family's town, can you show some grace?
"That's good, pay back the money!" Zi Chuan spread his hands and spread out a piece of paper in front of Sterling: "Hurry up, sign this military expense application form!"
Sterling glanced at the number on his table and shivered. He got up and lazy: "It's not too early, we have to go back to sleep! When it's cold, people are easy to get sleepy." Alas, people are getting old, and the jīng god really can't do it anymore!"
Zi Chuanxiu was furious: "I don't believe in evil! I can't cure you in my land, and I don't have to be the commander of the Far East! Sterling, sue you, if you don't sign this today, you don't want to get out of this door!"
"I'm the head of the military affairs department of the Zichuan family!Lord Xiuchuan, what's the matter, do you dare to commit a crime?"
"Roger, shut the door and let the wolf go!--where is the wolf?Nonsense, aren't you a wolf?Take out your energy to stare at a beautiful woman, go up and bite him!"
When Shirakawa entered the house, she saw several men twisted into a ball in the room, and her eyes widened in surprise: "Lord Sterling, Lord Xiuchuan, and Roger, what are you guys doing?"
Several men hurriedly parted, smiling dryly.
Zi Chuanxiu coughed dryly: "Bai Chuan, you know, it's very cold outside, in order to save firewood, everyone is doing wrestling to increase the heat!"
I was too familiar with this man, and I knew that this guy was lying by looking at his purring eyes, and Bai Chuan didn't bother to expose him, she opened the text in her hand, and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Far East Intelligence Bureau has a situation report." ”
The Far East Military Intelligence Bureau is an intelligence organization established by Shikawa Shu when he returned to the Far East for the second time to serve as the commander, mainly targeting the military movements of the Demon Kingdom. Because there are also half-orc inhabitants living in the territory of the demons, the Far Eastern Military Intelligence Agency obtains military information from them in various ways. The first director of the MIA was the orc general Bran. Zi Chuanxiu considered that his status as a half-orc could facilitate communication with the half-orc residents of the demon clan - everyone agreed that this was one of the few failures in the use of people by the King of Light - the half-orc warriors were indeed brave in the charge, but if they were to engage in intelligence work that required patience and meticulousness, they would treat the intelligence officers as death squads. Bran had been in office for a few months, and there was very little valuable information. Later, Ming Yu was also the head of the Intelligence Bureau, but Ming Yu was too busy with the Third Army and logistics affairs alone, and he did not have the strength to take care of the Intelligence Bureau's side. Finally, after the Battle of Bataan, when Shirokawa returned to the Far East, he officially appointed Shirakawa as the third director of the Far Eastern Military Intelligence Agency. Now, the new director will report to the Far Eastern Commander-in-Chief!
"Is there any new news? What are the actions of the demons who retreated to the country?"
"Yes! According to the confirmation of the intelligence bureau, the Senea tribe has elected a new generation of Demon God Emperor. ”
"Who is it?"
"Princess Cardin, she will be the nineteenth Demon God Emperor and the first female emperor in the history of the Demon Clan. ”
Shikawa Xiu and Sterling glanced at each other, and there was not much surprise in their eyes. So much has happened in the past month, and they've gotten used to receiving anything that seems ridiculous.
After the death of the Demon God Emperor in the Battle of Bataan, the Senea military group faced a double catastrophe. The two princes who are eligible to inherit the throne, Caton and Karan, fight for the throne, and Katon kills Kalan, but is then plotted to death by the Mongolian patriarch who is watching behind.
Within a month, the Senea lost the emperor, the prince, the excellent generals and almost all the armies, the powerful human army approached outside, and the ambitious princes inside challenged, everyone thought that the demise of the Senea was a foregone conclusion, and this once brave and warlike race was about to become a historical term. Even the strong Yun Qianxue couldn't withstand the huge blows that came one after another, and he was so desperate that he wanted to commit suicide.
It was at this time that Princess Cardin, an important figure in the history of the Senean people, appeared. A hundred years later, people in later generations are still praising the courage and perseverance of this weak woman in times of crisis, and as a result, she rose from an inconspicuous vase-like princess to one of the most legendary women of the Golden Age, such as Liufeng Shuang and Zi Chuanning.
After saving her husband from the brink of collapse, Cardin, who had never been involved in the military, resolutely took on the burden. On the outskirts of Talen, braving countless flying arrows, a slender woman appeared on the battlefield of the warring Yulin Army and the Seventeenth Army with the imperial flag with difficulty, and a delicate royal woman risked her life to stop the fight of tens of thousands of soldiers, and both sides of the war were all in respect of the courage of this royal woman. A captain of 100 later said: "At that moment, we saw two flags appear on the battlefield at the same time, one is the Lion Emperor Banner, and the other is the angel-like girl, His Royal Highness Cardin, worthy of being the bloodline descendant of His Majesty Carter!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, our army has been defeated, and there is no point in fighting for hatred! Please think about your relatives in your hometown, and try to bring as many children from Senea home as possible! If one more soldier lives, we will have more hope for Senea!"
At the negotiation meeting she chaired, Carter impressed the representatives of both sides with his sincerity. Under her inspiration, the 17th Army and the Yulin Army shook hands and made peace, and the two armies reunited. The combined army needs a commander in command of the whole situation, and this position needs to be filled by a person with high prestige, otherwise the whole army cannot be united. At this time, the remnants of Senea found that no one was more suitable for this position than Cardin, the sole heir of the previous majesty. The great Carter had just passed away, and his legacy was still there, and the Seneans still had a lot of affection for Cardin, who had the blood of the Emperor in his veins. Although she is a woman and does not have much military experience, everyone doesn't care, her husband Jun Yun Qianxue has always been recognized as a first-class general in the kingdom, and with his assistance, she can make up for Cardin's shortcomings in military experience.
Under her command, the Senea army worked together to repel the Monean army that took advantage of the fire to loot - the main reason was that the old Jiān cunning Monea Khan was unwilling to fight with the Seneya army that had restored the unified system, and he preferred to use the sword of humans to destroy the Senea - and then, Cardin and Yun Qianxue commanded the Senean army to embark on the retreat home.
This is a bloody and cruel retreat path, the royal Senea, this powerful name has left a deep impression on the world, if they are not completely eradicated, whether it is the human beings who have been invaded by them, or the demon tribes who have been ruled and betrayed by them, no one will have a good night's sleep. Even Yun Qianxue couldn't tell how many soldiers and horses were chasing them: the Southeast Army, the Dìdū Army, the Far East Army, the Northwest Army, the Liufeng Army, the local human guerrillas, the Mongol army, the Yakun army, the Goang army, and even the garrisons of the Sixteenth Army, which had previously submitted to the Senea rule, showed their fangs to their masters, and Dìdū issued an announcement that as long as the soldiers of the Sixteenth Army could hold the heads of the Senean soldiers, the family could forgive his crimes!
The Senean army trudged hard, fighting, fighting, blocking, and breaking out of the encirclement, paying the price for a hundred years of arrogance and brutality on the icy road. Along the way, countless partings of life and death are happening. At the moment of crisis, the Senea warriors showed awe-inspiring nobility, no need to order, no need to urge, they voluntarily signed up to serve as the broken death squad, using their flesh and blood to stop the pursuit of human cavalry. The wounded soldier, in order not to drag down the advance of the brigade, cut his own throat on a stretcher. The officer who voluntarily broke off solemnly said goodbye to Cardin: "Weichen has gone back to see His Majesty first, Your Royal Highness Princess, is there anything you want me to convey to Your Majesty?"
Every time he saw those young and resolute faces, Cardin couldn't help but burst into tears, and he fell on that road, it was the last man in the kingdom!
When the Senea retreated and arrived at the fortress of Valun, only 60,000 of the 120,000 soldiers and horses at the time of departure remained. Yun Qianxue, who had hoped to get supplies and reinforcements in the Valen Fortress, was hit hard again. After learning of the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Bataan, the death of the Demon God Emperor, and the death of the two princes in cannibalism, the Senea garrison guarding Valen collapsed. They burned the fortress and fled back to the country with the loot they had plundered. As a result, all that was left in front of the Senea legion was a wall full of broken walls. In the ruined city of Valen, Yun Qianxue could not find even a grain of rice.
On one side of the fortress are the orcs of the Far East, and on the other side of the fortress is the Zichuan family, and there are enemies on both sides. If the exit is blocked by the orcs in the Far East, the remnants of the demon army are trapped in the fortress and there is only one way to die. In that famous strategic place on the continent, Yun Qianxue didn't dare to stay even for a day, and ran away with his soldiers and horses that night.
Coming out of Valen and entering the borders of the Far East, the attacks continued along the way. The orc army led by General Bran was elusive and repeatedly attacked the retreating demon troops. In order to hurry up, Cardin ordered to throw away all the loot he had plundered from the interior and travel lightly.
The Demon Army occupied almost half of the continent in its heyday, and they looted it really hard, although they lost a lot of wolves when they retreated, but they still left a lot of priceless treasures. Naturally, this abandoned spoils of war fell into the hands of the orc army.
General Bran cleverly grasped the demon's hint: it was Senea money left for escape. Although he hated the demons to the core, he also knew that Zichuan Xiu had not yet rushed back with the main force of the Far East, and it was an impossible task to intercept all the defeated demons with his own strength. Half pushed, half down, he also accepted this bribe from the demon clan. So there was a strange scene on the Far Eastern Highway, the two armies were following, the demon army kept throwing things, and the Far Eastern army followed behind and kept picking.
If sometimes the Far Eastern Army finds that the things they have picked up are not very valuable, in fact, they have wronged Cardin and Yun Qianxue and his wife, and they have left behind peerless paintings, gold and silver, and precious treasures, but the local buns in the Far East have no vision, and their only criterion for measuring treasures is how heavy they are? Is it sturdy? Is it easy to pick up?--General Bran will be furious: "They dare to fool us with these frivolous things! Catch up and teach them a lesson!" So seeing the Far Eastern Army approaching, the Demon Army had to throw out more treasures, and the situation was very similar to the pedestrians in the wilderness dropping the strips of meat on their backs to appease the approaching wolves -- Cardin was so depressed that he vomited blood: "The barbarians in the Far East are too much!
After walking thousands of kilometers like this, when she returned to the territory of the demons, the demon army that invaded the west was already empty, and in the last part of the road, Princess Cardin was forced to abandon even her jewelry to feed the evil wolves chasing behind - she had to do this, because later, it was not only Bran who chased the Senean army, but also the demon armies of the non-Senean tribe such as Mon Khan, Gota Khan, and Yagomi. She was not afraid of Bran, but as soon as Bran turned his face and made a move, the soldiers and horses behind would immediately take advantage of the chaos to rush over and encircle and annihilate the Senea tribe. The only reason why peace is maintained now is because no one wants to be the first fool. In this case, it is crucial to appease Bran, the representative of Shikawa Xiu in the Far East, who represents Shikawa Xiu, which means that he represents the attitude of the human side. If he wasn't the first to make a move, none of those demon chiefs would dare to be the first to come forward.
In that period, General Bran was really having an extraordinary life. Not only did Cardin want to empty his dowry jewelry box and bribe him, but even the demon soldiers and horses who returned to China in the next few ways also obediently paid him considerable tolls one by one. This is also a miracle in the history of warfare, the half-orc army of less than 30,000 people ruthlessly plundered more than 300,000 demon jīng soldiers, robbing them to tears - in the face of the half-orc swords and guns, the arrogant soldiers of the past obediently emptied their pockets, and even had to search their bodies to pass the level.
The chiefs had no idea of resisting. Humanity has never been so frightening. The victorious army of the Battle of Bataan, 600,000 human troops gathered, this army may enter the Far East at any time and launch a thunderous blow of revenge against the demon kingdom. It is not clear to anyone which direction the situation in the kingdom will develop next. But in any case, Zichuan Xiu is the plenipotentiary representative of the Zichuan family in the Far East, and he must be a very vocal figure in the future human revenge war against the Demon Kingdom. At that time, to determine who was the war criminal who started the war, and who was the first target of the human army and the orc army, it would depend on the words of Lord Shikawa Shu.
If he is in a good mood, he will say a sentence and a half: "In fact, the Yakun clan is also forced to fight, and they are also forced to fight by the Demon God Emperor." In essence, Yagomi was also a good peace-loving man, and he was not the same thing as the Senean group. "That's good, Duke Agomi, who is essentially a good man and has drawn a line with the Senea tribe, can now sleep with his pillow high, and he can watch with a smile on his face as his neighbors are slaughtered by the human army--judging by the demon army's entry into the human world, it is normal for the human army to return a tooth for a tooth - but the Yakun can be unharmed. If luck is good, with the support of mankind and the support of the Far East, the future crown of the kingdom is not an unattainable goal.
In this case, even the Senea clan has paid the money, is there any fool who is so ignorant that he dares to resist the confidant and favorite general of Lord Zichuan Shu, the famous Far Eastern general, the great orc commander, and the famous General Bran? Of course, the demon chiefs who are bent on getting along with Zichuan Shu will not be so stupid.
How much wealth General Bran scavenged from this group of defeated soldiers in that month or so is a secret that no one will ever know. However, later generations can infer from some clues: when Zi Chuanxiu returned to the Far East, he couldn't stop smiling for a whole week; soon, the Far East quickly changed new military uniforms for its more than 300,000 armed forces, and paid long-overdue military salaries and allowances......