Section 144 Resolution

"Nope. Byron said coldly. "Send a herald and let him return to Fornoros. Other than that, the matter is not allowed to spread among the military. ”

Although it was only an insignificant battle, the loss of the first battle may be a blow to morale.

As Byron had decided before, the camping time of the army on this day was brought forward to allow the soldiers more time to rest and prepare for the big war ahead.

When it was completely dark, in the central tent of the camp, Byron convened his own military council.

As a wealthy lord, Byron's tent was large and ornate enough to accommodate himself and dozens of his men for a meeting without being crowded. In addition, you can set up a huge table and spread a map in the middle of the table.

"This is where the little girl is now. "An officer in charge of intelligence and reconnaissance is explaining the situation at hand. "According to the latest information, after crushing our small garrison, she does not seem to have any intention of making further moves, but has set up a line in place. ”

The little queen's reasons for doing so can be seen on the map. Anyone with even the slightest knowledge of military affairs knows that a large army needs a wide battlefield to be unfolded. If the terrain is narrow, a large army will not only not be an advantage, but will appear clumsy and unresponsive due to difficult scheduling. That's exactly the place the little queen occupies. This is the end of the mountain road, and the terrain is not narrow, if not narrow, but at least not open, and cannot accommodate the 70,000 or 80,000 troops on both sides to fight. Although Byron had three times the number of troops, he could only use refueling tactics under the constraints of this terrain. This kind of tactic has always been taboo by soldiers.

"Battlefield...... It's not good. Someone sighed. If she were to fight on this predetermined battlefield, the little queen would be able to make the most of her troops, and Byron's army would have no numerical advantage. In addition, Byron's army was united by the private armies of various lords, including himself, and was certainly not as cooperative as the Guards in terms of overall organization.

Of course, there is the last point, that is, by the time Byron arrives on the battlefield, the little queen has three days, enough for her to build the corresponding battlefield fortifications. This will undoubtedly greatly offset Byron's numerical advantage.

"Did the little queen come up with this? or did you have some advice?"

"I guess it's that Ashrufat. I heard that he was a mercenary captain and has some military experience......"

"It's just a district captain, let alone a commander, I'm afraid I've never even seen so many troops!"

"Well, I think so, let alone commanding a large army, if you don't have the assistance of other generals, you can't even march ......"

People exchanged heads and talked a lot. Only Byron looked at the map without saying a word.

"Lord Byron!" suddenly someone said, "don't you think this situation is very similar to a very famous battle?"

Before Byron could reply, the remark caused a commotion in the crowd. Someone suddenly shouted.

"Yes, just like the Battle of the Spargg Hills!"

The Battle of the Sparg Hills was one of the crowning achievements of the military art of Garunas, the sage of the wilderness. King Macrémiz and Garunas led 17,000 soldiers to defeat the invading army of Tiberius of 50,000.

The key to this battle was that Garunas chose a narrow battlefield that was not conducive to the deployment of the large army, and arranged defensive fortifications in advance. Because of their underestimation of the enemy and greed for merit, the Tiberius launched a fierce attack relying on superior forces, regardless of various unfavorable conditions. The end result was the inability to break through the Garunas defense from the front. Then, taking advantage of the enemy's long-term inability to attack and the emptiness of the rear, King Makremiz launched a surprise attack on the enemy's large camp, and finally broke the morale of the Tiberius with suspicious soldiers, and won a brilliant victory, defeating Tiberius's army, which was three times his own strength.

The situation is similar now. The little queen has chosen a battlefield that is not conducive to the deployment of the large army, and has been given time to build battlefield fortifications. And coincidentally, Byron's troops are exactly three times her strength.

I don't know if it's intentional or unintentional, but the current situation does make people feel uneasy.

"Imitate...... The wisdom of the ancients?" Byron laughed suddenly. "Guys," his confident voice caught everyone's attention. "Although Garunas relied on this battle to defeat Tiberius's army, we are not stupid Tiberius. ”

"The key to the defeat of the enemy by Garunas is that the Tiberians attacked because of their arrogance and arrogance! If the Tiberians had not attacked at that time, Garunas would not have taken the initiative to attack and defeat the enemy. ”

Byron's words were not particularly insightful. It should be said that anyone who has read history books knows this. But to be honest, after such a simple thing is said by him with such an infectious tone and such a confident look, people can't help but feel a sense of excitement.

"Let's not forget, what was our original tactic?" Byron said. They had planned to meet the little queen on the plains. But even in that case, with three times as many troops and two castles to rely on, Byron still chose to stalemate. You could call him timid, you could call him conservative, but anyone can admit that this is a completely risk-free way to win – at least on the surface.

Of course, although the initial idea is to focus on defensive confrontation, if the conditions are right, Byron will not mind temporarily changing the battle plan and taking the initiative to attack and destroy the enemy. But that's not going to be discussed for now.

"As long as we don't take the initiative to attack. Byron said. "There is no way to talk about all the plans of the enemy. ”

This was easily accepted by his subordinates. In fact, as Byron had originally thought, his situation was that as long as he didn't lose, he won, and the little queen's situation was that as long as he didn't win, he lost. It's clear who has the advantage of maintaining a standoff.

"That little girl took the initiative to attack with only a third of our troops, just because she couldn't delay any longer. Byron smiled confidently and explained to his subordinates. "Her finances are going to collapse completely. Truth be told, it's remarkable that she's been able to delay for so long. But...... After all, in this world, strength is everything. ”

The meeting was successfully concluded. After his men had dispersed and rested, Byron went alone to the open space outside his tent. The bright moon in the sky is like a jade plate, which makes people feel like they can reach out and pick it up.

That little girl of the Makremiz family is really hard to deal with...... However, I believe that this time, it was the last blow she had struck in the cauldron, he thought. Things in the world are really easier said than done, and he has been planning and preparing for so long...... Still not perfect.

According to the original plan, he should have obtained the allegiance of the Guards, and then put the queen under house arrest and held it in his hands. The queen is fine, but the Guards ...... That's the strongest army in Gruni's country. And that Ashrufat. Although he was despised in the past, it turned out that the man was really ...... It's a great talent. If you can get him to be loyal to you, it will be much easier to deal with the situation in the future. Anyway, although he is sure of defeating the little girl, this is not so much his success, but his first step towards success.

But for this aspect, in fact, he has not given up. That Ashrufat must have known the situation of the little girl, as long as he showed his kindness and gave him a chance to do it anyway, things might not be without a turnaround. As the saying goes, a good bird rests on a tree, and no one is nostalgic for a ship destined to sink – unless he really has nowhere else to go.

While Byron contemplated his future actions against the moon, in the distant city of Falcon, Prime Minister Ellenn was furious.

"Those filthy merchants have come to me!" he growled. As mentioned earlier, the prime minister, although his loyalty to the royal family is irreproachable, is a conservative man. It's hard to say whether he's loyal because he's conservative or he's conservative because he's loyal. "And tell me that it is natural to repay debts! Those disgusting rats! Those disgusting money junkies who fall in the eyes of money all day long! They even threatened me to impose a commercial blockade on Eagle Falcon City!"

Shirley listened calmly to the Prime Minister's venting and did not make any effort to interject.

"I want to know what the situation is going on in the treasury. He yelled. "Can't you even pay that little money? Why am I, the Prime Minister of Gruny, being threatened by those guys!"

"Your Excellency," Shirley replied. "You want to know the way...... Their demands are not reasonable. My predecessor, the Count of Ashrufat, had refused their request. ”

"I know what I know, that's why they came to me! and threatened me!" exclaimed Ellen. Although he is quite old, he is still quite powerful when he really starts a fire like this. "Tell me, how is the state of the treasury?"

Now Shirley has determined that the real purpose of the Prime Minister Ellenn is probably to find out how much money is in the treasury. This is not to blame him, when the little queen was here, this thing that should not have been a secret was forced to become a secret. Now that the little queen is gone, he, the prime minister, doesn't even know about the country's revenue and expenditure. No wonder he would find an excuse to come to the door to figure it out.

"However, the queen has told ......"

"I'm the Prime Minister now!" said Irynne loudly, "The Queen is not in the royal city, and I have the right to act as her agent in all her affairs." Tell me, can we pay this bill completely! By the time it comes time for next year's taxes, I won't be able to spare those greedy rats!"

"Okay. Shirley gave up at the last moment. "Prime Minister, there are currently 13 million gold in the treasury to be able to pay this debt...... But I strongly recommend that you ...... I'm afraid we're all pure expenses this year, and we don't have any income to speak of, so even if we think we'll see each other just in case......"

The Minister of Commerce on the side of "Thirteen Million ......" repeated the figure once. This number made him shudder. He looked to the side, where stood his colleague, the Minister of Ceremonies, Minde, whose face had also changed dramatically.

According to the rules, the prime minister is the head of the ministers, and Min De is directly subordinate to the prime minister's deputy. The two of them came with the Prime Minister.

Truth be told, both were scared. This is simply a myth. How could there be so much money in the treasury? Where did it come from? Everyone in Falcon City knew about Byron's corruption and perversion of the law, because the little queen had already made it public when she announced Byron's guilt and declared him a traitor. Byron also emptied the treasury when he left.

To tell the truth, in this palace established by the little queen, in the hearts of every official, the problem of debt has always been a big stone pressing on their hearts. Everyone has a psychological pressure of "I don't know how long I can last". So hearing this number at this time, both of them felt a sense of absurdity listening to fairy tales.

"The debt was paid off immediately. Ellynn replied. He was the only exception, because he hadn't been in Eagle Falcon City for a long time, and he had been in a state of taking over the job and being familiar with the position, and he was so busy that he didn't have time to carefully understand all kinds of rumors and trivia. There is no time to dig deep into the meaning behind the secrets of finance. "Tomorrow!" he said, turning to face the Secretary of Commerce. "Write it down for me, and after you pay off your debts, those guys won't have any tax relief privileges! next year's business tax ...... I'm going to make them regret what they said to me today!"

"Miss Shirley," Minde finally felt he should reconfirm. Because it's incredible. Before that, he thought that the best result would be that there were hundreds of thousands of gold orioles in the treasury. "What did you just say...... Is it true?"

"What's true?" Shirley replied. "That's all there is left in the treasury. As you know, we now spend more than we earn every month. On top of that, there's a whole bunch of other debts to pay. ”

"For what...... And so much money?" Minde asked in a dreamy tone.

"We'll talk about it later. Allyn was a little strange, but she didn't want to ask on the spot. "Miss Shirley, I'll get those silverfish here tomorrow. I hope tomorrow is the last time I'll see them!"

"Your Excellency...... Once again, I suggest to you...... Hey, okay, listen to it. Shirley replied.

Shortly after they left Shirley's office, the three of them immediately began to discuss the issue.

"Haven't you heard, Prime Minister...... Rumors about the royal family's financial constraints?"

"What...... So it was...... "The prime minister finally figured out the reason for the two men's gaffes." "Those are just rumors, not to be believed. ”

"However, both His Majesty and Count Ashruphat had tried their best to conceal this matter before...... But that's why people think so......"

"You mean, although we are in a good financial situation, Ashrufat, as Minister of Finance, is trying his best to hide our financial situation?

"Maybe there's a reason behind it......"

"Well, I think so. Ellen thought things in the other direction. "Things that could have been made public, at least not strictly confidential, have been treated as secrets...... There must be a ghost behind this! Ashrufat...... This man is favored by the Queen, but wants to be a Chancellor of the Exchequer......"