Soon after Edmund arrived at the front, Simeone was authorized to send emissaries to Richard's barracks.

Upon receiving the news that the messenger had entered the camp, Richard immediately met with him.

The place where Richard received the envoys was very casual, in his own military tent.

Richard's military tent was not small, with a total of four open tents, and there were not only war rooms, conference rooms, but also reference rooms and reception rooms. Because the war room has built a complete sand table, the sand table is still a new item invented by Haaland, which is not suitable for the envoy to see, and the data room stores a large number of intelligence documents, which is not suitable for receiving outsiders.

The meeting place for the envoy was chosen in the reception room, accompanied only by a few staff officers and guards.

The envoy was in his thirties, very handsome, looked polite, and should have received a complete aristocratic education, coming from a large aristocratic family.

"Dear Duke Haaland, I have been entrusted by Captain Simeone to pay tribute to you on his behalf, and thank you for bringing back the body of Captain Caesar, although we are divided into two camps, what you have done still makes us feel respected."

Some time ago, Simone sent someone to shoot the letter to Richard's barracks, hoping that Richard would return Caesar's body and let the Younis family bury him.

In the unspoken rules of the Dawn Continent, pay attention to aristocratic demeanor, even defeated nobles should be given decency, so as to facilitate the redemption after the war.

The Eunice family is a ducal family of the United Kingdom on the East Coast, and Caesar is an important member of the Eunice family. Even if Caesar died in battle, he would be given the most basic treatment, would not insult the corpse, cut off the heads of nobles to show off his military exploits.

Generally, those who do this will basically be regarded as barbarians by the nobles of the Dawn Plane.

Although Richard was an early aristocratic and did not pay much attention to aristocratic etiquette, he was considered by the nobles to be a barbaric northerner, but after all, he was still a civilized person. After receiving Simone's letter, he sent someone to buy a coffin and return Caesar's body to the Simone barracks.

Richard also wrote a letter explaining where the war dead were buried, and explained why the bodies were buried, and that if the United Kingdom on the East Coast wished, it could send troops to dig up the bodies and bring them back to be buried in the land of their homeland.

But the commander of the United Kingdom on the east coast also knew that a stinking corpse would cause a plague and did not act rashly.

On the contrary, it was the corpses of Caesar and other high-ranking officers, which Richard kept for the sake of merit, and this time gave them all to the East Coasters.

After going back and forth, the two sides had an excuse to deal with each other, and this time the envoy came to Richard's military camp and brought a large number of condolence gifts, including a dozen pigs, dozens of sheep, and ten urns of wine, enough for the soldiers to have a full meal.

Richard was noncommittal about the envoy's compliment, he raised his hand and said, "The envoy was sent by the commander of Simone's army, could it be that he is also a member of the Younis family?" I'm from the northern frontier, and I don't like to talk in circles, what is the matter with Captain Simeone sending you? ”

"The Duke guessed right, I am indeed from the Younis family, and my name is Sutton. Since Duke Haaland asked, of course I will not hide it, Commander Simeone sent me mainly to discuss the ransom of the prisoners. ”

Hearing this, Richard suddenly smiled and said: "It's too early to talk about ransom the prisoners, the two countries are still fighting each other, and the 8,000 soldiers we captured are all veterans who have been trained for many years. If you are allowed to redeem your captives, you will soon be able to reorganize them into an elite army. Do you think I look like a fool? ”

Seeing that Richard was a little joking, Sutton's face was impassive, without the slightest expression of anger. He bowed respectfully to Richard and said, "Your Excellency the Duke is serious, in the last battle, our East Coast United Kingdom has already learned the prestige of the elite soldiers of the Northern Frontier. Even if the soldiers of the Sixth Legion were put back, they would not dare to fight against the elite under the Duke's command. ”

Hearing Sutton's flattering praise, Richard carefully weighed the pros and cons, and was not worried about letting these defeated generals of the Sixth Army go back.

Because after the battle, Richard had already issued an order to the northern Xinjiang. The 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Infantry Brigades were mobilized to the south to strengthen the military forces of Haaland and maintain the balance of forces. After all, there are more and more soldiers under Richard's command, and if the number of direct forces is too small, it may be despised and commanded.

In another twenty days, Haaland will be able to reach the battlefield with four infantry brigades.

When the four infantry brigades arrive, the strength of the Haaland army will be even higher, these four infantry brigades are all old units that have been in the army for many years, although the resources invested are not as good as the first brigade, and the combat effectiveness is far stronger than the 13th and 14th new brigades.

In addition, the alliance of the four dukes will also arrive in a dozen days, when Richard's command will command a field army of nearly 60,000 people.

The combat effectiveness of the Sixth Army of the United Kingdom on the East Coast was like that, even if it was fully restored, when reinforcements arrived, Richard was still confident that he would defeat the enemy. Moreover, even if the 8,000 captives of the Sixth Army were sent back and they were defeated and became prisoners, it would be difficult to restore morale and morale in a short period of time.

Richard groaned for a moment, and immediately put forward the conditions. "It's not impossible to release the captives, but what price are you willing to pay? I don't lack money, people, or food now, unless you are willing to provide Warcraft War Horses and Enchanted Armor, otherwise I won't let people go easily. ”

Although Richard's conditions are a bit high, in a state of war, trading Warcraft War Horses and Enchanted Armor will undoubtedly strengthen the enemy's strength, and Simone does not dare to make up his mind easily for this kind of thing.

"I have not been authorized to ask for the Duke's request, but I feel that it is okay to talk, and I will persuade Captain Simeone to agree."

Richard entertained the envoy for lunch, and sent the envoy back to Simone's barracks.

When Sutton returned to the barracks, he recounted his conversation with Richard and then gave his opinion.

"According to my observations, Duke Haaland is willing to negotiate, and his demeanor is very calm and determined, as if he is not worried about us at all."

Edmund listened to Sutton's report and showed an expression of approval.

"I just received a secret report from the intelligence officers that the Kingdom of Grant has formed a coalition of the four dukes, and the Duke of Haaland has also mobilized more than 6,000 soldiers from the northern frontier. These two forces will be reinforced to the battlefield within a month, and with nearly 30,000 new troops on board, the pressure on us will be greatly increased.

The Kingdom of Grant has transferred 30,000 men from the north, and we need to mobilize 50,000 men to hold off the enemy. Seeing that the situation is getting worse and worse, we must reach a tacit understanding with the Grant Kingdom as soon as possible, and we cannot continue to increase our troops. Expanding the scale of the war is not a good thing for both sides. ”

Seeing Edmund's opinion, Simeone hesitated for a moment and said, "We have built a large camp in the Hubble Mountains, and we are threatening the back of the Stevens at any time. Even if we don't plan to go on the offensive, Duke Haaland is not at ease with us.

If we choose to retreat, we can win the trust of the Grants, but we will give up the favorable terrain. Once the Grant Kingdom army invades, we will be in a passive ......"

Edmund interrupted Simeone's words, and the expression on his face told everyone that it was impossible for the higher authorities to accept the withdrawal of troops and give up the strategic place to others.

"The decision of the Council of Nobles is that we cannot withdraw our troops, but we must reach a tacit agreement with the Kingdom of Grant not to continue the expansion of the war. You must grasp the scale of this, and when talking about the redemption of prisoners of war, you can tell Duke Haaland this meaning. As the manager of Duke Haaland's side, as long as he does not intend to expand the war, the front can remain stable. ”

Hearing the information provided by Edmund, Simeone said with a look of embarrassment: "The Grant Kingdom has already increased its troops, and we are not sure to hold the large camp by relying on two legions. I hope that the Council will promise to continue to increase the number of troops and send us a regimental reinforcement. ”

After Edmund came to the front line, he had already learned the real information of the front line, and knew that Simeone was right, the combat effectiveness of the Northern Frontier Army of the Grant Kingdom did exceed his own, and the front line must increase troops to maintain balance.

"You can add a legion, I will explain it to the council, and transfer the nineteenth legion to the Dukedom of Hubble. But this is already the last reinforcements, and we cannot expand the war. ”

Seeing that Edmund had set the tone, Sutton asked, "Elder Edmund, Duke Harland asked to redeem the captives with Warcraft War Horse and Enchanted Armor, can we agree?" ”

"This is something that you Eunice family should be thinking about."

Shortly after the meeting, Edmund returned to Kanas Castle, the capital of the United Kingdom on the east coast.

A few days later, the patriarch of the Eunice family, Duke Bolton Eunice, arrived at the Simone camp.

Bolton is only a six-ring magician, and his professional level is not as good as Caesar and Simeone, but he is in the top of the succession, the strength of the mother and wife is not weak, and there are many supporters, so he can sit firmly in the position of patriarch and duke.

After receiving the news of Caesar's death and the annihilation of the Sixth Legion, Bolton was in a terrible mood, fell into a long period of insomnia, and could not close his eyes every day.

The Eunice family controlled only two legions, losing Caesar and the Sixth Legion, which was equivalent to losing half of their strength. The nobles of the United Kingdom on the East Coast were fiercely competitive, losing half of their strength, and the situation of the Younis family became precarious, and they could lose their dukedom at any time and be replaced by other nobles.

The officers in the Sixth Legion have a large number of Eunice family clansmen, family children, and people, and these people are the backbone of the Eunice family. As long as these grassroots officers are preserved, the army can continue to be organized and expanded.

Richard led the coalition forces to capture 8,000 officers and men of the Sixth Army Corps, of which more than 1,200 were officers, most of whom were squad leaders, about 700 senior soldier cadets, more than 500 professionals, and 14 officers above the middle rank.

What the Eunice family wants to redeem is more than 1,200 people.

As for the ordinary soldiers, despite their long training, mastery of all kinds of weapons and equipment, and their actual status equivalent to cannon fodder, the Younis family is not willing to pay resources for ransom.

Bolton is the patriarch of the Eunice family, and the ransom is up to Bolton to decide. The arrival of this man at the Simeone Barracks means that the ransom negotiation has made up his mind.

After Bolton arrived, the negotiation process proceeded rapidly, and in just five or six days the first deal was negotiated, and Richard returned fourteen mid-level professionals in exchange for sixty-seven flaming horses.

After the total annihilation of the Sixth Legion, Richard captured more than 230 flaming horses, and with these 67 flaming horses, the Second Demon Beast Cavalry Brigade had expanded to 300 horsemen.

Combined, the two cavalry brigades have been trained by Harland to train nine hundred Warcraft cavalry.

After completing the first deal, the Younis family was reluctant to continue trading Warcraft.

Due to the difficulty of training the Flame Horse, the Younis family has only trained two Warcraft cavalry brigades, about 800 Warcraft cavalry, in addition to the horse farm controlled by the family, there are also more than 300 Warcraft war horses, normally speaking, there are no more than 50 Warcraft cavalry that can be expanded every year.

Now in a war, the Sixth Legion Warcraft Cavalry Brigade was completely wiped out, and the captives were redeemed and sixty-seven Warcraft warhorses were handed over, and the strength accumulated in ten years was lost in one war.

After redeeming the most important fourteen mid- and high-ranking officers, the Younis family thought that it was a loss-making deal to redeem the low-ranking officers with Warcraft War Horses, and were only willing to exchange them for enchanted armor.

Seeing the resolute attitude of the Younis family, Richard had no choice but to exchange 500 professional officers for 500 pieces of enchanted armor, and this batch of enchanted armor Richard was ready to be equipped in the 2nd Infantry Brigade.

The remaining 700 grassroots officers can basically only serve as squad leaders, and have not yet been promoted to professionals, and the value of the ransom is naturally lower, so they can only exchange for an enchanted weapon, none of these weapons are left by Richard, and they are ready to be distributed to the noble coalition of the four provinces.

After all, Haaland led the army to eat meat, and he also had to leave a mouthful of soup for the enemy, and it was easy to be hated if he ate alone.

More than 1,200 backbones were redeemed, and the Younis family was unwilling to pay the ransom for the remaining 6,900 soldiers, all of whom were trained by Richard as slave soldiers to serve as auxiliaries for Harland's army.

After killing Caesar, Richard returned Caesar's body. But his armor, enchanted weapons, and belongings were left in the army.

Caesar's enchanted armor was badly damaged, and Richard didn't have time to repair it, so the enchanted weapon was awarded to Martin for his meritorious service. The most valuable of the belongings is a complete breathing book, which also contains a lot of Caesar's experience.

This breathing method is called the Fire Breathing Method, and the level is even more sophisticated than the Breathing Method of the Wild Lion Legion practiced by Richard, and it can be directly promoted to the second rank of the legend.

This exercise came from the first Duke of the Younis family, who was an ordinary man who was very talented in practicing the breathing method. At first, he only practiced half of the incomplete breathing method, but through his own ingenuity, he deduced a new fire breathing method, and relied on the breathing method he created to advance to the legend, and deduced it to the second level of the legend.

It's just that with the development of Duke Younis, the marriages are all high-ranking nobles, and the Younis family gradually has a knight bloodline, and the family members awaken the knight bloodline, mainly practicing the knight bloodline exercise, which is usually used to train soldiers.

Caesar is not far from the legend, and he needs to understand various legendary inheritances, so he copied a copy of this complete breathing method, and Caesar will often open this breathing method in his free time and write down his own understanding, and now Caesar is dead in battle, and everything is cheap Harland.

Through the transaction with the royal family and the Jonathan family, the Haaland family mastered the complete silver wolf and the wild lion breathing method, and William also exchanged the northern legion breathing method completely, quietly copied it and locked it in the Haaland Collar Library. Counting this fire breathing method, the Haaland family has already mastered four complete breathing methods.

From the accumulation of breathing methods, the Haaland family has caught up with the old Duke family, and the magic inheritance is more advanced than that of the Grant royal family and Grand Duke Jonathan. But in terms of the knight's bloodline exercises, there is no foundation for the time being. After all, the Haaland family, counting the William brothers, is only the second generation, and basically does not have much knightly blood, of course, they will not deliberately collect this background.

(End of chapter)