With the entry of the United Kingdom on the East Coast, King Roger already had the idea of ending the war in his heart, and strategically speaking, the Kingdom of Grant should not be stuck in an environment of fighting on three sides.

However, in the system of the Grant Kingdom, the king could not decide on such a major event as war and peace, and if he wanted to stop the war, he had to communicate with the nobles who supported the war. Only when the great nobles reached a unanimous opinion, and the majority of the nobles agreed in the council, could a peace pact be truly signed and the war ended.

After changing his mind, King Roger kept sending envoys and writing letters in his own handwriting to listen to the opinions of the great nobles.

Once again, Maurice, the younger brother of the Marquis of Allen, acted as an envoy and arrived at the Richard barracks with a letter from King Roger.

Listening to Envoy Allen's explanation of the king's opinion, Richard thought for a moment and said: "The envoy is clear, the reason why our Harland family participated in the war is actually mainly to capture serfs and develop the barren territory in northern Xinjiang. Only in war is it suitable for mass arrests. The Haaland family is based in the north, and it is not our decision to expand to the south, and we don't care how much territory we can expand.

On the armistice, the interests of the Haaland family coincided with those of the king. In the vote of the Council of Nobles, we will exert our influence to support King Roger's decision. ”

Receiving an affirmative answer from Richard's side, Envoy Allen was very pleased.

Envoy Allen has dealt with the Haaland family many times, and has a deep friendship with William. It's just that with the development of time, the status of the two sides has been very different. At first, the Haaland family was only a viscount family, and the envoy Maurice Allen was born in the marquis family, and he had more authority in the royal court of Grant, and his actual status was a few points higher than Richard's.

Now Richard has been promoted to hereditary duke, and according to the system of the Grant Kingdom, the hereditary duke is already considered the master of the country.

If the Kingdom of Grant is compared to a company, Richard has been promoted to the board of directors, far more important than the envoy Morris Allen. So when talking between the two sides, Morris had to be careful.

After receiving Richard's support, Envoy Allen happily left the barracks and continued south to communicate with Duke Guise and Duke Duran.

The two dukes of Guise and Duran were originally the great nobles of the Delong Kingdom, but because of the tragic internal contradictions, they joined the Grant Kingdom with their territories. These two dukes not only have historical grievances with the Delong Kingdom, but also have deep entanglements of interests, and it is difficult to agree to peace unless the royal family is willing to make large concessions in the territory.

Duke Duran and Duke Lorain have been in-laws for generations, forming a political alliance, and Duke Guise is very influential among the southern nobility, and the two sides are combined enough to get the votes of three dukedoms. Moreover, in the war, the Count of Silvermoon Island lost his territory, and the Count of Marcel suffered heavy losses, and without adequate compensation, they were absolutely unwilling to make peace.

Together, the two parties already held nearly a third of the votes in the Council of Nobles. If these nobles were vehemently opposed, it would not be easy for King Roger to ask for a truce.

King Roger is a man who can afford to let go, since he has decided to stop the war, he is willing to compromise on the territory, even if he cedes half of the occupied area and most of the expanded territory to the two dukedoms of Guise and Duran, the Kingdom of Roger is also willing to exchange for peace.

Alan Morist communicated with Duran and Guise several times, and gradually reached a consensus after three concessions and compromises in the Roger Kingdom.

The Council of Nobles of the Kingdom of Grant decided to send an envoy to Ellen to negotiate with the Kingdom of Delon.

By the time Envoy Allen arrived at the Castle of Saint-Sis, the capital of the Delong Kingdom, it was already late May.

Castle of St. Seis, the residence of the royal family of Deckert.

Henry, the king of the kingdom of Delong, was one hundred and nine years old, and he was a dying old man. This king was a mediocre king from his youth, even though he was a ninth-order epic knight with a very strong personal combat power.

But since he took over the kingdom, he was first invaded by the Kingdom of Lane and lost 160,000 square kilometers of land, and then attacked by the Kingdom of Grant, and suffered heavy losses again. In order to preserve the country, the Delong Kingdom also transferred 80,000 square kilometers of land to the United Kingdom on the east coast, and in just a few decades, the Delong Kingdom lost one-fifth of its territory. If we continue to develop like this, we may wipe out the country and the species.

Although King Henry is old, there is still no shortage of young and beautiful women around him. Even when discussing with the palace officials, more than a dozen beauties followed the Henry Kingdom, and the military affairs were left to these court beauties to observe. These court ladies were scantily dressed, their smooth limbs were exposed to the air, and their waists were wearing silk skirts with high slits at their waists, and their faces were very ruddy, having just experienced a fierce exercise.

Although King Henry is a ninth-order knight, his lifespan is far longer than that of ordinary people, after all, he is more than a hundred years old, and he has just come to a fierce one-on-eight exercise, and he is also a little out of breath and languishing at this time. He beckoned, embraced a young beauty into his arms, and said to the courtiers beside him, "The Grant Kingdom has sent an envoy to sign a contract with us to restore peace, what is your opinion?" ”

"After the United Kingdom of the East Coast entered the war, the situation was already very different, and the Kingdom of Grant was in the dilemma of fighting on three fronts. According to the battle report sent by the United Kingdom on the east coast, the fleet of the Earl of Silvermoon has been completely destroyed, and Silvermoon Island has been lost. The county of Marcel suffered heavy losses, losing half of its territory.

Our ally, the United Kingdom of the East Coast, has captured a half-county in the Kingdom of Grant in just one and a half months of entering the war. In addition, they sent reinforcements to the Duchy of Hubble, and the situation gradually turned in our favor.

Peace will be restored unless the Kingdom of Grant fully withdraws its troops, relinquishes the occupied lands, and compensates us for our losses. "It was the Minister of War Pierce who spoke. As a military minister, he is naturally hawkish, and his attitude is naturally very tough.

Hearing Pierce's words, Interior Secretary Peron immediately retorted: "I think there should be negotiations with the Kingdom of Grant. Although the kingdom of Grant has invaded us savagely, it is a man-eating tiger, and the United Kingdom of the East Coast is also a greedy wolf. And we gradually became fat goats, and our territory was divided among the wild beasts in the vicinity.

The Kingdom of Grant has encroached on more than 100,000 square kilometers of our territory, and the United Kingdom on the East Coast has also encroached on 80,000 square kilometers of our land without using any blades. In this respect, the United Kingdom of the East Coast is not our ally, but also our enemy.

Since the Kingdom of Grant is willing to negotiate peace, we are on the weaker side, and we should talk to the Kingdom of Grant, try to recover a part of the territory through negotiations, and end the war as soon as possible. Then select brave and warlike nobles in the country, integrate resources to train new troops, find ways to govern the country, and restore the ancestral tradition of attaching importance to military affairs, so as to gain a firm foothold in the nearby barbaric countries and resist the invasion of neighboring countries. ”

Peron's words, though not very nice, were rare in the court of Decket.

Because King Henry liked to be touted, the court of Decket was full of lies and big talk, and the court ministers fooled the old king Henry every day to maintain false prosperity.

Peron, the nephew of King Henry, was an important member of the royal family of Deckett, and his status was unique among the court ministers, so he could speak a few truthful words. But his truth did not please King Henry. It's just that Peron's elder brother Anton is a legendary knight, and he is the foundation of the Deckett family's foothold in the Delong Kingdom, so his position is as stable as Mount Tai, even if King Henry doesn't like him, Peron's opinion is still very strong in the court meeting.

Peron's words dealt a serious blow to the vanity of the old king and upset King Henry. It's just that although this king is a dumb king, he is good at engaging in political struggles, and he changed his words and said: "Since Peron is willing to solve the problem through negotiations, this negotiation will be entrusted to you." I have only one request, the army of the Grant Kingdom must withdraw from the territory of the Duke of Isaac, and I cannot let the land of the Duke of Isaac be incomplete and disappoint the beauty of the lord of the Isaac family. ”

After the outbreak of the war, the army of the Kingdom of Grant captured the Duke of Isaac, and the ducal family suffered heavy losses, with two legions wiped out and many key family members killed.

In order to keep the family's position, Duke Isaac sent the most beautiful woman of the family to the royal court of Decot, and made the seventeen-year-old Duchess Lady the court lady of King Henry.

Normally, the marriage between the duke's family and the royal family is basically equal, and it is impossible to let the duke's concubine be the court lady of the kingdom, let alone let the teenage duchess enter the court of the hundred-year-old king.

Duke Isaac's operation basically stomped on the ground the honor and face of the nobles, and he had become a laughing stock for the nobles of nearby countries.

However, this operation worked very well in the kingdom of Delong, and King Henry was obviously severely affected by the pillow wind. The conditions set for Peron were almost impossible to achieve.

The Duke of Isaac is located in the northernmost part of the Kingdom of Delon, and if you give up the Duke of Isaac, you will have to give up several provinces in the occupied area, and only half of the Duke of Hubble will be left in the occupied area of the Kingdom of Grant.

The kingdom of Grant mobilized its troops, won several battles, and captured more than 100,000 square kilometers of land. Even if the Roger Kingdom is willing to negotiate peace, if the royal family does not expand any territory, it is impossible for the internal duke and earl families to agree.

The conditions set by the Roger Kingdom for Allen were only to give up three and a half provinces controlled by the Decter royal family, and take the complete Duke of Isaac and most of the Duke of Hubble. About 70,000 square kilometers of land will be abandoned, and 80,000 square kilometers of territory will be expanded. The concession on this condition is not insignificant, and there is a high determination for peace talks.

Knowing that according to the king's request, this negotiation was a pit, and Peron was still trying his best to organize negotiations for the future of the Delong Kingdom.

Unfortunately, after the negotiations began, the differences between the two sides were too great, and because King Henry was determined not to budge, it was almost impossible to reach a peace treaty, and it suddenly fell into a stalemate.

While the two sides were negotiating, the war was still going on.

In order to create a favorable environment for peace negotiations, Richard's plan to annihilate the Sixth Army of the United Kingdom on the east coast was not approved by Steven.

Although Steven did not agree to fight a war of annihilation some time ago, Richard also made adjustments to the combat deployment. He personally led the elite troops of Haaland's territory to cut off the retreat of the Sixth Army of the United Kingdom on the east coast, and gathered a large army to surround this enemy force.

Since the reconnaissance battle was unfavorable, the Sixth Army of the United Kingdom on the East Coast sent several letters of assistance to the rear.

The encirclement of a main army is a very important thing in the United Kingdom on the East Coast, the whole country is only twenty-three standing legions, and the Sixth Army is still the elite army of the United Kingdom on the East Coast.

Although there was a tacit understanding with the Kingdom of Grant, in order to rescue this elite army, the United Kingdom of the East Coast still mobilized two legions of reinforcements.

After the order was issued, the 7th and 13th legions of the United Kingdom on the east coast advanced in two directions towards the Duchy of Hubble. The two legions were accompanied by a regiment of more than sixty mages.

On 23 May, the Lion Cavalry led by Haaland detected for the first time the enemy's intelligence and found that the enemy had begun to increase its troops.

Night fell, and Richard's military tent was brightly lit.

The aristocratic officers of the four northern provinces were silent, listening to the loud arguments of Haaland's leading officers.

"The superiors did not make a final decision, for the sake of the overall situation of the peace talks, forbade us to annihilate the Sixth Legion, and now the enemy has come to reinforce troops, and there are also high magicians in the vanguard who have shot down our magic hot air balloons. The situation has changed, and I think that we should withdraw the siege immediately, withdraw our troops quickly, and leave the decision to my superiors. If we want to fight, we will mobilize reinforcements, and if we want to talk, we will ask the higher authorities to make a decision. ”

"Uncle Soros, what is your opinion?"

"We are a guest army, and since the higher authorities have asked for peace talks, and we have not received the order for the next step, I think that withdrawing troops is the best option. Even if the enemy successfully breaks the siege and cuts off Steven's retreat, we will still be able to open the passage when reinforcements arrive. It's just that the next one who needs to be tested is Steven. ”

Listening to the discussion of the officers, Richard knew in his heart that the junior officers had very opinions about Commander-in-Chief Steven, and this time the situation had changed, and Steven's judgment was not up to standard, and asking for the withdrawal of troops was actually to General Steven's army.

If Richard chooses to withdraw his troops, it will effectively mean that the United Kingdom on the East Coast has cut off Steven's retreat and put this army in danger. The loss of two legions by the Royal Praetorian Guard will greatly affect the prestige of the Grant family.

Richard knew in his heart that the war was a continuation of politics, and Steven's order was actually a political matter, and he did not agree to the four-province coalition army to fight a war of annihilation in order to gain the initiative in political negotiations.

As the deputy commander of the intervention army, he himself has a large part of the autonomy, and at such a critical time, he should take responsibility even more. After all, the Duke of Haaland relies on the Grant Kingdom in many ways, and it and the Roger Kingdom are actually both prosperous and loss-making. At this time, to see Steven's jokes, weaken the power of the royal family, and the cheap can only be the enemy.

(End of chapter)