She meant something, how Raymond wouldn't understand. At this time, Saul's last admonition sounded in his ears again: it was much easier to have an existing country than to go through the trouble of building a new one, and it was nominally more acceptable.

Could it be that Sophia really intended to...

But at such times, Raymond did not dare to promise anything. Facing Sophia's expectant gaze, he could only smile with a hard heart: "Ha Luha, let's wait until we defeat Renard." ”

The disappointment on Sophia's face flashed, she lowered her head and was silent for a moment, and when she raised it again, her expression had returned to normal: "Yes, I'm too strong, please don't care." ”

"No, I..."

Without waiting for Raymond to explain, Sophia smiled: "Like you said, no matter what, wait until you defeat Renard." ”

"Besides, I have to defend the city for the first time in my life, and it's not the time to think about it. ”

The atmosphere was awkward, and Raymond decided to change the subject, and he took the opportunity to say: "You don't have to worry about this. The defense of Orat City is strong, and it can be defended by only a few thousand people, and it is not so easy to be breached. ”

At the beginning, Duke Charles was in Aurat, and the defenders in the city were less than 2,000 people, and Raymond did not dare to attack it, because it must have suffered huge losses, which can be seen.

"Therefore, Renard will certainly not risk exposing his back to me and risk attacking the city. He will surely leave some of his men to besiege the city, and then attack the Giant's Mark with all his might, because as long as we defeat our main force, Orat City will be in the bag. ”

Finally, he said to Sophia: "So, as long as you are strong-willed, defending the city is just a danger." Otherwise, I wouldn't have reassured you to stay. ”

"Of course, I never doubted you. Sophia smiled softly.

After that, both stopped talking and just walked side by side on the garden path. Enjoy this rare quiet time.

Raymond then spent a few more days in Orat to help Sofia deal with some troubles.

By this time, the news of Sophia's decision to stay in Orat to resist the Dirk army had spread throughout the city. Both the people and the soldiers were greatly admired for her fearlessness, which greatly increased Sophia's prestige.

In order to help Sophia suppress those nobles. Raymond uses a trick he stole from Freddy. He secretly sent people everywhere to spread rumors that the nobles were cowardly and cowardly, and did not hesitate to abandon the city of Orat in order to preserve their property, and even forced Sophia to flee with them.

At this time, the entire city of Orat exploded, and in order to resist the Dirk army, Gaspard had to abandon a large area of land, which already made the residents feel angry. It's just to take care of the big picture. They can only endure in silence.

Now that those high-ranking nobles have done such a despicable act, how can the people investigate the truth and falsehood, and immediately tilt the anger in their hearts towards those unlucky people.

These days, there are only two voices in the city of Orat, one is to praise Sophia's bravery, and the other is to scold the vile and weak cowardice of those nobles.

Those nobles have bitterness and can't say it, and the conscience of heaven and earth. If they want to give up Orat, they are the most determined defenders of the city. However. They could not defend themselves, for no nobleman had so far stated that they would stay with Sophia to defend the city, and that alone was enough for them to be nailed to the pillar of shame, and no one would listen to any explanation.

Under such tremendous pressure. Within a few days, several nobles were forced to swear to Sophia that they would stay and die with the city of Orat.

However, most of the nobles maintained their true nature, and no matter how much the people spat at them, they made it their first priority to protect themselves. Resolutely evacuated to Headington.

Soon, intelligence from the front arrived.

The Dirk army, which had been massed on the border, finally made a move, and their vanguard crossed the border line and invaded Gaspard's territory.

Makudi, who remained at the border, immediately retreated according to the plan, while monitoring the movements of the other side.

At this time, it had been just two and a half months since Sophia ascended to the throne.

After that, everything began to sped up, and a large number of Orat residents evacuated the city and headed for the Mark of the Giants. At this time, Sophia's role in staying behind to defend the city began to appear, and many loyal citizens volunteered to stay and defend their queen.

In order not to provoke Renard too much, and at the same time to ensure the safety of Orath, Raymond left only 3,000 Gaspard soldiers. The soldiers, all from the city of Orat, were highly motivated by the belief in defending their homeland and the encouragement of fighting with Sofia.

Inspired by Sophia, the military and civilians made a solemn oath to live and die with the capital. Even those nobles who were forced to stay were highly motivated at this time.

After settling Orat, Raymond immediately rushed to the front. He wanted to see the Dirk army for himself.

With Barstone and the rest of his entourage, Raymond and his party headed west. After the national evacuation, the towns along the route were empty, the fields were barren, and there was no trace of human population in sight.

"See, this is the sacrifice made by the people. One of the Gaspard officers said to his soldiers: "So this war, we must win!"

The accompanying soldiers all nodded solemnly. Although he was inferior in strength, at least in terms of morale, Gaspard succeeded in arousing everyone's hatred.

A few days later, Raymond and his party joined up with Makudi's troops.

"How's the situation with the enemy?" Raymond asked directly as soon as they met.

The style of the army was different from that elsewhere, and Makudi also directly omitted the words of greetings and replied: "At present, only one forward unit of the enemy army has entered our country, and the large army remains in the territory of Dirk. ”

"Where is that troop? How many are there?" asked Raymond again.

Makudi spread out the map, pointed to an area west of Gaspard, and said: "The enemy army has about 2,000 people, searching and advancing all the way, and it was more cautious at first, but the speed has been getting faster and faster in the past few days, and it has advanced here." ”

Raymond looked at it, and the enemy's speed was indeed very fast. It's almost close to the central region of Gaspard. At this rate, it will be a few days before we reach the city of Orat.

"Did they find you?" asked Raymond.

Makudi shook his head: "No. As you commanded, we will retreat as soon as we find the enemy, and only send a small group of scouts to keep an eye on their movements from afar, so as not to give them a chance to bite. ”

"The enemy may be aware of our presence, but they certainly don't know the details of the tunnel. ”

"You're doing a great job. Raymond nodded.

In order not to waste troops. Raymond didn't intend to intercept along the way, and he couldn't stop the enemy anyway. It is better to use this thousand miles of "white land" to exhaust the enemy army, and then fight a decisive battle in the seal of the giant.

However, Renard only cautiously sent a striker, and the enemy was so careless, Raymond's mind couldn't help but come alive.

As you can imagine, the enemy army entered all the way, but all along the way were abandoned towns. There seemed to be a Gaspard army in front, but they didn't even dare to show their faces, and just kept retreating.

Anyone would think Gaspard had no way of resisting. There will not be any danger at all, so the enemy army has increased a lot of speed these days.

In that case, it's not Raymond's style to teach those arrogant guys a lesson.

So, Raymond said his thoughts, and naturally Gaspard responded vigorously. Seeing the enemy army as if they were in a no-man's land, and they could only shrink back, they had already held back their fire.

Upon hearing that Raymond was planning to ambush the Dirk army. Everyone was gearing up and eager to give it a try.

"Makudi. Where is the best place around here for an ambush?" Raymond asked.

Makudi stared at the map for a moment, then pointed to a place and said, "This is the most suitable place." ”

The place Makudi is talking about is a village in a secluded location. The village is not far from the main road, but it happens to be blocked by a hill, and if you are an outsider, you will not notice its existence even if you look carefully. Great for hidden troops.

And not far from this village is a large town along the road. Depending on the pace of the enemy's advance, that town will be camped tomorrow night.

When the time comes, it will be the best time for the night attack.

After careful comparison, Raymond clapped his hands and said, "Okay." There you are. ”

The next day, at dusk.

A troop under the banner of the Dirk Army appeared on the avenue as scheduled.

At the forefront was a cavalry of several hundred men, the knights in high spirits, and the horses rolled up high dust and swept along the main road.

It was followed by the main force of the troops. The infantry marched quickly in a line, and the soldiers were all dusty and tired, and they could see that they had traveled a long way, and that the formation was somewhat scattered. However, their morale was very high, and everyone held their heads high and their spirits were refreshed.

This is the vanguard sent by Renard, since entering the territory of Gaspard, they have not even touched a single common man, let alone resist.

At first, the commander of the unit thought it was an enemy trap, but after several days of careful searching, he did not see even a shadow of the enemy. On the contrary, according to the cavalry's report, there was indeed an unknown number of Gaspard's army in front of them, but the other side kept retreating, and had no intention of stopping to intercept it.

At this point, he was completely relieved. Obviously, despite the change of queen, the Gaspard army is still as timid as ever, afraid of Prince Renard... Oh no, it was the prestige of His Majesty Renard, and the soldiers and civilians all fled.

Although before coming, Renard had ordered the striker to stop when he marched to a certain area and wait for the main force to follow up. However, these days are too smooth, and the whole army has long been carried away, and they have not only crossed the area demarcated by Renard, but also have a great tendency to advance towards Orat City.

"Report, there's the town of Darru ahead. At this time, the cavalry who served as the outpost reported back,

"Have you found any signs of enemy troops?" the commander asked.

The cavalry shook his head: "No, as before, the town is empty and has long been abandoned. ”

Hearing this, the officers and soldiers around the commander burst into laughter, and this result had long been expected by them. These days, there are empty towns and villages along the road. And the Gaspard army, which is said to exist, can't even touch a shadow.

"It's good, rest in Darru tonight. The commander said with satisfaction: "Tomorrow we will continue to move forward." ”

"Your Excellency, we have crossed the area demarcated by His Majesty, do you stop here and wait for the army of Your Majesty?" One of the staff members cautiously advised.

The commander glared at him angrily: "All the way here, we haven't even seen a single enemy, what kind of vanguard are we? No, continue to advance, at least to the city of Orat." ”

The soldiers around him also echoed him, full of arrogance.

"That's right, I haven't even fought a battle, I'm really unwilling. ”

"It's better to even take the city of Orat. ”

"Stupid, how is this possible. Do you know how big Orat City is? ”

"The Gaspards are so cowardly, maybe they have lost the capital a long time ago, hahaha..."

......

The staff still wanted to persuade again, but the commander waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, if Your Majesty is to blame, I will carry it." ”

When the staff heard this, they had no choice but to keep their mouths shut. But he's just doing his job, and he doesn't really think there's a trap himself. Otherwise, not even the common people will be able to see a single one along the way. This shows that the Gaspards were indeed frightened, so they made the most comprehensive retreat.

Subsequently, the force entered the town of Darru. After a brief inventory of the town, they began to prepare for camping, with no cordons or fortifications. It was just a routine arrangement of a few sentinels near the town.

Anyway, not a single Gaspard could see it, and naturally there was no need for fanfare. The sentinels lamented their bad luck and bemoaned that they had been chosen for such pointless hard work.

After a while, night fell, and the town of Darru was lit with fire. Dreaming of hitting the city of Orat. Even the soldiers who directly captured the capital sat around the campfire, gulping down wine and laughing, full of smugness.

And in a village more than ten miles away from Darru, a group of people took advantage of the night to quietly enter the wilderness.

"Makudi, after we leave, you will take men to guard the side of the road, and attack as soon as the enemy escapes to this side. Outside the village, Raymond instructed Makudi.

"Lord Raymond, don't worry, I promise I won't let any of them go. Makudi said confidently.

They were not many in number, and in addition to the troops responsible for the night attack, only a part of them could be divided for the second interception. Therefore, Raymond boldly arranged for all the men to flee back to Dirk, because he expected that in the event of a surprise attack, the enemy would never dare to penetrate deep into Gaspard's territory in a panic.

After saying goodbye to Makudi, Raymond led his troops to quietly reach the town of Darru.

The troops quickly came to the outside of the town, and the light of the fire in the town could be seen in the distance, and the laughter of the Dirk army passed through the wilderness and faintly reached the ears of everyone.

The Gaspard soldiers all clenched their fists in anger, and the enemy was entrenched in their towns with impunity, which was unacceptable to every bloody man.

Raymond signaled, and soon Barst, who was in charge of spying on the enemy, found them.

"How's it going?" asked Raymond.

Baster said disdainfully: "Meow, the enemy is defenseless at all, and it didn't take any effort for me to touch it." ”

Raymond secretly said that the enemy had completely lost his vigilance, and he ordered: "Rest on the spot, and attack as soon as the enemy sleeps." ”

The troops, who received the order, immediately sat down and began to wait for the moment when the enemy was asleep.

It was a long wait, and the town was quiet until late, but it was more beneficial to Raymond and the others, and the more tired the enemy, the less able they were to resist when attacked.

Eventually, the entire town was immersed in silence, and the rest of the town was shrouded in darkness except for the faint glow of a few campfires in the town.

"Are you ready?" Raymond asked looking back when it was time.

He was answered by a sparkling set of eyes.

"Let's go!" Raymond ordered with a wave of his hand.

The long-awaited Gaspard army was like a leopard touching its prey, taking advantage of the darkness of the night to sneak silently towards the town of Darru.

Soon, the troops moved into predetermined positions and surrounded the town.

Baste flew out, like a white ghost, circling around the town. Silently killed all the sentinels.

The Gaspard army then rushed towards the town.

"Whoa, whoa..."

A Dirk soldier sat by the campfire and yawned boredly.

This is the square in the middle of the town, and the surrounding area is shrouded in a haze by a burning bonfire. The houses around the square had been occupied by troops, and the officers and soldiers who had been partying all night had fallen into a deep sleep, and snoring could be heard from the houses.

The ground of the square is strewn with food scraps. Empty bottles and all kinds of miscellaneous items, the air is filled with the smell of alcohol, witnessing the carnival and booze of 2,000 people.

The wine was found in the cellar of a village a few days ago, and the military regulations of the Dirk Kingdom were extremely strict, and it was strictly forbidden to drink alcohol during the march. But these days, they have long since forgotten these rules, and after making sure that there is no danger, the commander turns a blind eye to the soldiers' transgressions.

Tonight, in the hope of making a great achievement, this batch of wine was all taken out. Let the whole army drink to their heart's content, and almost everyone is drunk and falling asleep.

However, the soldiers who are still sitting by the fire are an exception. Because they were unlucky, they were chosen to keep vigil and are now waiting for their companions who are outside to change their shifts.

The soldiers also drank a lot, but they couldn't sleep, so they looked particularly tired. They sat around the fire, their faces tired. Yawning, how can there be Dirk's elite appearance?

"That's bad luck. Why did I get chosen? A soldier clutched his head in pain. He drank him for a long time, and at this time he had a splitting headache.

"Don't complain, it's almost time to change shifts, and I knew that I had just slept for a while. Another soldier yawned.

"No, I can't hold on anymore, I'll have to lie down for a while. The soldier holding his head lay on the ground regardless of it: "When the time comes, remember to call me." ”

However, the companion did not answer. The soldier said again, but no one heeded. He couldn't help but scold, and barely stood up: "Hey, did you hear what I said..."

However, his voice stopped abruptly as the soldier saw it in horror. His companion, who was still sitting beside him just now, was now separated and collapsed in a pool of blood.

The stimulation of the alcohol made him very sluggish, and for a moment he didn't even realize what was happening, but turned his head to look around: "What's going on?"

Then he was horrified to see that at the moment when he had just laid down, five or six of his companions sitting around the campfire had all died.

Finally realizing that something was wrong, the soldier stood up in horror. At this moment, he noticed that a white shadow flashed in front of him, and his neck seemed to be cold, and then his whole body seemed to be drained of strength, and he could no longer make any sound, so he fell to the ground.

......

Slashing the neck of one of the last enemy soldiers, Bath watched as the other man fell to the ground with a blank face, and died after a few convulsions. She flicked her scimitar away, flicking the blood off it, and signaled out of town.

Then, I saw a large group of people rushing towards the town silently.

There are many enemies and we have few, and the key to this battle is to be fast. The only trouble is that the enemy troops are all resting in the house, which is not as easy to destroy as ordinary tent camps, and can only be touched one by one.

Raymond had already asked the prisoner about the houses where the officers were resting, and with a wave of his hand, he rushed in with a group of men. Other soldiers also poured into the other houses, but because of the lack of manpower, they could not attack all the houses at once, so those who remained outside threw torches into the surrounding houses on the campfires in the square.

With a loud bang, Raymond kicked open the door and strode in.

This is a small two-story building, although it has been abandoned for a long time, it can still be seen from the furnishings left in the house that the original owner was a wealthy family.

The commander of the vanguard and some of the high-ranking officers requisitioned the house, which was inhabited by very few people for comfort, except for a few guards sleeping in the living room on the first floor, and the other officers all occupied a room and slept soundly. (To be continued......)