Zichuan Xiu was pleasantly surprised, this young half-orc general had always been a general he valued very much, and he had thought that if one suddenly died himself, the most suitable person to take his place would be this Bran general. This general is not only brave in battle, but also his appearance is beyond the scope of a military general, acting in a fair and upright manner, and he is quite a leader. Although Bran also sided with Boudin against him during the turmoil, he obviously had a hard time, and Shikawa Xiu did not have any grudges against him. When he learned the rumors of his death in battle, Zichuan Xiu was still sad for a while, thinking that the Far East had lost a rare elite.

The young half-orc general misunderstood what Shikawa Xiu meant. He burst into tears: "Your Highness, I am asking you for my sin, I am deeply guilty! To be honest, I don't have the face to come back alive to see Your Highness, but the army needs someone to preside over it, and someone needs to save the army, so I have to do my duty to have to live in secret." Now, when the transfer of command is complete, I will take responsibility. ”

When he said the last sentence, Bran's eyes showed a resolute light, making Shikawa Xiu have no doubt about his determination to apologize for his sins with death. He sighed, "Why?" and asked, "So, is the defeat at Red River Bay real?" and how great were the losses of the army?"

"It's true. It is not yet possible to count the number of soldiers lost. However, it is certain that before joining the war, our department had all the reserves of the main forces of the Second and Third Armies and all the reserves in the base camp, and the army was no less than 250,000 people. Now we have about 130,000 men left, and all our baggage and food and grass are lost. ”

The night was deep, the wind was blowing, and no one spoke. Everyone was looking at Zichuan Xiu. The King of Light stood straight, silent. People looked at him and could feel the tall figure revealing silent sadness. Most of the possessions he had worked so hard to accumulate so far were lost overnight. It's just so strange that the ignorance of the good people can often cause more damage than the bad people's malice.

"So, where is the Ling Buxu Legion, and it is said that they are besieging Iben City?"

"Back to Your Highness, they have retreated, withdrawn to the country. ”

"Retreated?" Shikawa Xiu was slightly surprised.

Bran looked apprehensive: "Fortunately, they evacuated, otherwise, our losses would have doubled." The Southwest Legion is not an ordinary demon army, compared to Emperor Lu's soldiers and horses, they have stronger combat effectiveness, and they are highly disciplined, advancing and retreating freely, and completely invulnerable. ”

"Hmm. Zi Chuanxiu nodded, and guessed the reason in his heart, it should be that the war situation within the kingdom was tense, and although the Southwest Army was victorious, it did not have time to expand the results. If Ling Buxu was allowed to chase and fight all the way, the main force of the entire Far East Coalition Army would be wiped out. Withdrawing in such a hurry, Ling Buxu must be very dissatisfied, right?

"All members of the High Command will resign with me, and they will take responsibility with me. In addition, all officers above the rank of the team who participated in the unrest that night have also been relieved of their duties, pending the appointment of new officers by Your Highness. ”

Zichuan Xiu looked at him and asked, "I heard, your uncle Busen?"

Bran lowered his head: "Yes." Thanks to the call of the great god of Audi, as a brave warrior, he has returned to the great god one step ahead of us. My uncle also said on his deathbed that the King of Light was right. Until he died, his greatest regret was that he had betrayed you. ”

The night wind swept across the plains, and the wind and grass stirred, making a low whimper. Zi Chuanxiu's heart was filled with sadness, and he said softly: "After Vera, Busen also went, and even the elders also went. The generals at the beginning of the creation of the Far Eastern Coalition are now the only ones left. ”

Hearing the true sadness in Zi Chuanxiu's words, Bran was slightly moved: "Your Highness......" He shook his head bitterly: "Your Highness, we are sorry for you." ”

Zi Chuan Xiu said melancholy: "The Far East has suffered huge losses, and we have lost very good generals: Elder, your uncle, the talents around me have withered. ”

"Who said that the talents around His Highness are withering, and there is still me?" said the head of the snake clan, Soth, interjected.

"Yes, yes, and me!" said Rudi.

Shikawa Shu ignored them and continued, "So, I can't lose you anymore-"

"This conversation seems familiar, it feels like dialogue from a third-rate romance novel," Soth said. ”

Rudy: "There's no reason for you to feel familiar, only a mysterious creature called the legendary 'reader' can feel this way." ”

Zi Chuanxiu angrily shouted to the guard captain Gu Lei: "Pull these two people to the side of the road for me to dig a pit and bury them together!"

The two "talents" suddenly turned into a wisp -- no, two wisps -- of light smoke, and ran away without a trace in an instant.

Zi Chuanxiu exhaled heavily: "Look, this kind of guy around me, can I rely on them?"

Bran was silent for a long time, and then said slowly: "Can my existence still be of any help to the great cause of His Highness?

"The person responsible for this defeat is no longer alive. Shikawa Shu said simply: "There is no need for the living to take the blame for the dead, if it is the opposite, it is feasible." ”

"Your Highness, what do you mean?"

That's what it means. We have experienced terrible setbacks, we have lost good companions, and the road ahead will be doubly hard. You, as well as those experienced officers, are the most valuable assets of our army, and I cannot afford to lose them again. I need your help, General Bran, please stay and help me. ”

The orcs were silent, hesitant to answer.

Zi Chuan Xiu looked at him and said softly, "This is also to fulfill the unfulfilled wishes of your uncle and elders." Just left, and didn't see the day when the Far East was completely recovered, the elder must be very unwilling, right? The lights of the temple need to be inherited. ”

Bran raised his head, and there were two clear spots of light on his face: "Your Highness, if you don't dislike me, the general of the defeated army, I am willing to do my best." ”

Zichuan Xiu smiled and stretched out his hand: "It's the same as usual, General Bran?"

Bran hesitated for a moment, and also stretched out his hand to shake Zichuan Xiu: "It's the same as usual, huh...... His Highness!" he couldn't finish, because Shikawa Xiu jumped off his horse briskly, easily hugged the broad shoulders of the orc, and hugged for a long time. The orcs wept silently, tears streaming down their cheeks.

In the initial turmoil, Buson and Bran were Boudin's biggest supporters, and without the support of the two of them, Elder Boudin would never have been able to gain military power on the spot. Now that Boudin and Busen are dead, Bran is the most responsible person for the living. Some people have long whispered that Bran has participated in the rebellion, is the general of the defeated army, and is the biggest person responsible for the surviving rebellion, and the King of Light will definitely not let him go, and it is the greatest tolerance to allow him to commit suicide. But what the soldiers saw in front of them was the heartfelt favor of the King of Light. Seeing that the matter was settled, the King of Light magnanimously forgave Bran for his responsibility, and the officers and soldiers who had participated in the rebellion were relieved.

General Bran took a step back and knelt down on one knee: "Long live Your Highness! Long live our Renjun! We are willing to live and die with you, and never betray us! Please forgive us for our ignorance, forgive us for our stubbornness, and I beg you not to abandon us, and not to abandon the long-suffering Far East." ”

The whole army erupted in enthusiastic cheers, and the soldiers fell to their knees in rows, and their cries were earth-shattering: "Your Highness, life and death are up to you, and you will never betray!"

Facing the direction of the whole army, Zi Chuanxiu bowed slowly and silently shed tears. After some twists and turns, he finally regained real power in the Far East, but was the price too heavy?

September 11, 782 rì, dìdū.

The open-air dance party begins at dusk, and the long white table is filled with flowers and wine, and the mountain of wine and food is delicious. The garden is covered with colorful lanterns, filling the whole yard with a hazy sense of color. On the wide lawn, the band was playing, and the melodious music was heard far out of the courtyard, so that passers-by could not help but stop and listen.

A light mist shrouded the dance floor in the courtyard, and the courtyard was brightly lit. In the light waltz, a group of richly dressed young men and women whirl quickly on the dance floor, mostly young people, dancing extremely briskly and flickering figures.

Sterling sat down at an open-air table on the edge of the dance floor. The waiter came up to bring the drink, and Sterling picked up the glass, and he could feel all kinds of malicious or hateful glances around him. Very close, two arrogant middle-aged men were talking, and their voices came intermittently: "...... I want to be promoted, I want to go crazy, and I desperately try to please the chief...... People are big celebrities, heroes!"

"Yes, hero, we will take the money to redeem the hero from the demons!"

"Shhhhhhh

Sterling's face was expressionless, and the thin porcelain coffee cup in his hand showed a slight crack. He knew that his proposal to incorporate the private armed forces of the nobles had offended many people, and those big nobles and magnates hated him to the core. He has been listening to a lot of this kind of cold talk lately. Sterling put down his glass heavily, and looked coldly over there. Suddenly, all the chatter stopped. His lightning-like gaze swept over the people who were talking one after another, and the people he saw showed terrifying expressions. He walked away a few steps, and a voice as crisp as a silver bell came from behind him: "Big Brother Sterling!"

Sterling turned around and saw Zi Chuanning at first sight. Her dress was as white as snow, her delicate and jade, and her bright face glowed with a kind of ceramic-like beauty under the hazy starlight, giving people a feeling of unreality, as if she was a fairy she had met in a dream.

Sterling handed over the gift and said with a smile, "Happy twenty-year-old, Miss Ning." ”

Zi Chuanning took the gift and said, "Thank you", but smiled mischievously: "Brother Sterling, even you are reminding me that I am twenty years old tonight, and I have become an old girl that no one wants!" she smiled like a flower.

Sterling also smiled: "Miss Ning, you really have no conscience when you say such things! Don't you see that half of the marriageable young people in Dìdū have come to the Zun Mansion, and all of them are high-spirited and talented young people. Why did they come here, Miss Ning, you should know better than me, right?"

"I know! They came on the orders of my uncle. ”

"Look, while you're talking to me, at least ten good men are staring at me, ready to tear me to shreds!"

"I didn't see it anyway!"

Zi Chuanning's eyes rolled, and he smiled slyly, and the girl's innocence and naughtiness were fully revealed, and she was gorgeous and radiant. Seeing that sweet smile, for a moment, Sterling marveled at the beauty of the future heir of the family. Zi Chuanning's temperament is changeable, she has the potential to become a peerless beauty: charming, dignified, pure, both the innocence of a young girl, and the skillfulness and inner intelligence of a mature woman, so many qualities are fused together to achieve a high degree of perfection, even Sterling's self-control and concentration can't help but tremble, he casually chanted: "Demon captives are slaves, Miss Ning, you are captivating people's hearts!"

Zi Chuanning was amused, she pretended to squint at Sterling: "Why, Lord Stirling, is your heart also captured by someone? I want to sue Sister Sù Qing!" said as she looked at Sterling exaggeratedly with her autumn-like eyes.

Sterling laughed: "God forbid, fortunately I am the one who became a relative, if I hadn't married, I'm afraid even I would ......" He suddenly remembered Cardin's jade face, his heart sank suddenly, his heart was filled with an empty tingle, and his smile became bitter. Those happy past, the sad tears of parting have long been hidden in his heart, but life often opens up a world unexpectedly in places that people have long wanted to or do not want to think, forcing him to recall those painful and happy pasts.

Seeing Sterling's stiffness, Zi Chuanning also realized something. The two of them were silent, and Sterling unconsciously straightened the belt of his dress, as if he was afraid of the fading warmth on his body. The two of them walked under the vine-covered grape trellises, and in the distance, melodious music kept coming, and the noise and noise seemed to be something from another world.

"I heard that the Ministry of Military Affairs is preparing a huge plan against the Flowing Wind Family?"

Sterling glanced at her, "Where did you hear that?"

Zi Chuanning smiled: "Don't look at me like this, your eyes are weird and scary-Uncle mentioned it to me." ”

Sterling smiled: "Sorry, I'm too allergic. The plan is still classified, and it hasn't even been communicated at the commander level, so you really scared me out when you suddenly said it. ”

"The so-called secrecy is just what you think, right? Since the report was handed in, my uncle has been sighing for several days, and now, even the servants who sweep the floor in the governor's mansion know that there is going to be a war. ”

Sterling cleared his throat and held his breath as he heard only the chirping of bugs all around. He lowered his voice and said, "Your Highness, in the depths of winter this year, the army will complete its preparations for operation, and the combat troops will secretly enter the predetermined positions at the front. At that time, as long as Liufeng Xishan was out of breath and the Liufeng family was in turmoil, we would do it immediately. ”

"How big a force?"

"The border guards, the zhōngyāng army, the black flag army, the reserve corps, and the navy army of Duolun Lake were dispatched, a total of one hundred and eight divisions, including eighteen light cavalry divisions, five heavy cavalry divisions, eighty-five infantry divisions, and the naval fleet of Duolun Lake, with a total of 920,000 marine, infantry, and cavalry, not including a large number of logistical and heavy auxiliary troops. ”

The air suddenly seemed to become thin, and the sound of Zi Chuan Ning's rapid breathing was clearly audible: the mobilization of more than a million troops was the first time in the three hundred years of the family's history that such a huge battle plan had been made. She seemed to have some difficulty breathing and said, "Congratulations, Big Brother Sterling!"

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