Section 370 Trace

"But now she's a queen. Skadera said. "You treat her as a sister on the one hand, and you can't exactly treat her as a child on the other. Although this time our venture was successful, you must understand that if this thing is five years late...... No, even if it's two or three years later, I'll convince you to give up on this idea. ”

"I know. The king sighed softly. "Ten years...... Ten years ......" his voice didn't know whether it was grief or rejoicing.

He was lucky because while he was in captivity, his sister held up the kingdom. But he was not lucky, because his sister was so capable that he was now facing a battle for the throne. But in the end, he was lucky, because only ten years had passed since that incident.

The older generation of courtiers of the kingdom are still there. Everyone still remembers why they chose the little queen to ascend the throne as king, and they also remember the first king who died in battle, and remember him as the crown prince. Particularly important, they were fortunate enough to occupy a position at the mercy of the court. As long as in another two or three years, as long as the composition of the personnel changes (which is inevitable due to the aging of human beings), then things are by no means so simple.

The only regret is in the army. Of course, this is inevitable. When the first king died in battle, a large number of military generals had already died. The secret rivalry between Byron and Rafa was a little more of a game. As I knew before, all the troops that are now in control of zhì are newly promoted by the queen. However, in military affairs, achievements are better than qualifications. A general who has won consecutive battles, even if he only has very shallow qualifications, his prestige and voice are stronger than those veteran generals who do not have a good record.

"That Ashrufat...... Will I be able to command his allegiance?" he changed the subject.

"It's hard. Skadera replied very directly. "In my opinion, he is a very ego person. He has his own measure in mind for things in the world. And this standard is different from the standard of the average person in the world - of course, I don't mean a radical difference, but a deviation in some respects. Even if he could swear allegiance, I don't think he would be like the saber guard back then, and he wouldn't give it his all to serve you. ”

"That's what you said earlier, don't you 'even know what he needs'?"

That's what it means. Skadera replied.

"To be able to get him in this matter...... Do you want to be neutral?"

"That's completely impossible. You can't offer a price to buy him. Perhaps you've heard that when he was a saber guard...... The Byron guy approached him and offered a price to buy. ”

"I guess it must be low. After all, it's just a ...... The price of a close guard. ”

"That's right, but before Her Majesty sent troops to fight Byron, he offered a second price. ”

"Ah...... That price should be pretty good. ”

"Yes, in that case, as long as Byron is not an idiot, the price offered must be enough to make anyone tempted. ”

"But it's certainly not enough. Because at that time, Byron thought that he had a good chance of winning with superior forces. So the price he offered was at most just a little tempting, and it was impossible to shake people up. ”

"You're right, but theoretically, at that point, your sister would have to give him a boost. But even when the first qiē was over, when he was ordered to lead the army to meet the invading Chaos Legion, this increase had not yet been opened. He was still an earl, not even a real domain. Not to mention anything else. ”

"It's ...... Not in a hurry?"

"In the long run, perhaps. But...... It would be very unusual for this empty title to have no corresponding domain. This can only mean one thing. Ashrufat didn't care about any of that. His service...... Allow me to use that word, it's free. ”

"I see?

"Free stuff is the most expensive. Skadera said. "So I guess your sister must have made a promise to him...... Exceptional, untold promises. There must be some secret agreement. At first, I suspected it had something to do with the evil gods. But now I don't have any doubts about it at all. ”

"The Earl...... In addition to its ability to raise funds, it seems to be extremely military. The king changed the subject again.

"Victory is the best proof of military prowess. ”

"But I heard that here...... But because of his negligence, he was temporarily captured by the Chaos Legion...... If it weren't for Essien's timely arrival, then perhaps this war would have had a completely different outcome. The king said in what seemed to be his own words.

"Even so, it was a small flaw in the great victory. Skadera said. "It's a little shadow in the sun, and no one cares. The vast majority of people in this world care about the outcome, not the process. ”

......

"You know, my lord, that night was so ...... Too...... I had no choice but to hide. Because I was alone at that time. All my companions have been slaughtered, and only I ......" The soldier who spoke bowed his head very uneasily, watching his feet move to and fro on the ground.

"No, that's not your fault. Ashrufat's attitude was far more moderate than he had expected. "I know that a soldier needs to be brave, but he doesn't need to die. In that case, hiding is also allowed...... Well, actually, I'd like to hear you tell you more about what you've seen. ”

The soldier began to tell.

Eshurufat had already heard the general story of that night on the lips of others: the Chaos Legion had suddenly attacked that night. An elite small army of chaos quietly climbed the walls with some hooks. It was supposed to be an unthreatening attack, but it was succeeded by the extreme lack of garrisons in the city.

What follows is the typical scenario of siege warfare: the invaders opened the gates as quickly as they could, before the defenders could launch an organized counterattack. So the enemy troops outside the city swarmed in. The defenders hastily assembled, launched a senseless counteroffensive and suffered defeat. So the defender immediately chose to retreat to the second wall.

Originally, this drama ended here, because the Chaos Legion was also a small and broken army, so it was impossible for them to capture the second wall. Unfortunately, the queen and her entourage and bodyguards happened to spend the night in a beautiful villa in the outer city. So he was blocked out by the Chaos Legion.

And so there was an unexpected fierce battle. The Queen's team fought and left, and finally hid in the temple. Eventually, the queen escaped the city through guò. The rest is simpler. At daybreak, General Essien arrived with his army and confronted the Queen. So, the general, under the orders of the queen, immediately attacked the city of Neustria. But unfortunately, he came a little late, and only blocked a small number of the rangers who were too late to evacuate. Although he was awarded the title of "Reconquest of Neustria", he actually achieved almost no success. Because the Chaos Legion has long since taken advantage of the night to run away.

After confirming that the Chaos Legion was a remnant of less than a thousand men (and had already suffered losses in the battle with the Queen's guards, and at least two hundred corpses of Chaos warriors had been found in the ruins of the temple after the fire), Esin symbolically searched the outskirts of the city, and then immediately rushed to the front with his troops to support Ashrufat. The small remnants of Chaos have lost their whereabouts since then, and they must have taken advantage of the opportunity of the battle between the two armies to go back.

Aside from the Queen's safety, the battle was a minor battle that would not even allow historians to waste their pen and paper.

However, soldiers, especially experienced soldiers, can perceive from the decisive and swift actions of the Chaos Legion that although this Chaos Legion is a remnant army, there must be a leader who can completely control it. And the purpose of their attack on the city of Neustria was clear - and it was known after the fact - that was to seize provisions. The warehouses in the outer city are well suited to the needs of the Chaos forces.

A city like Neustria, even if it is just an outer city, is not something that an army of 1,000 men can control. The Chaos Legion didn't spend much time searching, as they weren't expecting to completely capture the city. In the darkness of the night and the scuffle, a handful of defenders who had not had time to retreat back to the second wall hid in the outer city, and - quite naturally - saw something that historians would not care about at all.

"So you see before that temple burned down...... There's a Chaos Warrior coming out?" Ashruphat asked.

"That's right, General. At that time...... As I said, there were three or five hundred Chaos warriors gathered at the entrance to the temple. They probably knew that the terrain inside was not conducive to unfolding, so they went in waves. However, none of the people who went in front of them came out until the last group entered......" The soldier tried his best to recall what he had seen.

"How many people are there in the so-called 'batch'?"

"Not necessarily, there are a dozen, there are seventy or eighty. Batch after batch of ...... The burning temple was like a monster, devouring them one by one, never to come out again. ”

"You just said that the last batch, one came out?"

"Yes, there are a lot of Chaos warriors in that batch, and there is one of them...... Whether it's armor or weapons, it's very different, and at a glance, you can tell that it's a boss, and it should be a chaos champion or something. He and a group of subordinates, about seventy or eighty people, rushed in, but he was the only one who came out in the end. Wait, General, he's not alone. He brought out another person. ”

"A wounded soldier?"

"No...... If I'm not mistaken, it's a woman...... A captive. Yes, I'm sure. At that time, the fire was very bright, so I could see it clearly. I guess it was part of the queen's entourage, as there were very few women in the city at that time. ”

"What did he do with that captive?"

He came out with her on his shoulders. The woman...... He wasn't tall, and compared to the leader, he looked like a child. ”

"And then?" Ashrufat tried to keep himself calm, but in fact his voice had grown noticeably louder.

"The Chaos Boss...... Gone with the captives. The rest of his men outside followed him away. Soon after, the temple collapsed in a fire. ”