It is no wonder that in this world, the king is the supreme existence that transcends all classes, and it is also the soul of a country. When Sofia made it clear that she was in Orat City, the temptation was so great that no one present could ignore it.

"Your Majesty, give the order, march at full speed at once tomorrow, and rush to Orat as fast as possible. A general pleaded with Renard.

The others also said: "That's right, before the enemy reacts, you must not let Sophia go." ”

However, in the face of the excited and expectant eyes of his subordinates, Renard only yawned lazily: "No, the soldiers are tired." The order goes down, and there is no need to speed up, and from now on continue to advance at an ordinary marching speed. ”

"What?" I didn't expect Renard to give such an order, and everyone was anxious: "Your Majesty, isn't this a delay." ”

"What if Sophia runs away?"

"Ran away?" Renard raised his eyebrows: "If we run, won't we just be able to occupy Orat City bloodlessly, what's wrong." ”

"But letting Sophia go is the biggest loss. Everyone was a little puzzled by how His Majesty, who had always been extremely shrewd, suddenly became confused.

"Don't worry. Renard smiled leisurely: "Sophia can't run." Instead, she's waiting for us to go. ”

Seeing that Renard was so calm, the excited crowd gradually calmed down.

One of the generals said tentatively, "You mean that this is a ploy of the enemy?"

The other nodded, "Well, it's possible." If we hold the lure and attack the city with all our might, the enemy army of the Giant's Mark suddenly kills from behind, and it is indeed possible to defeat us. ”

"Hey, how many soldiers did the enemy have left in the city?" one asked the intelligence officer.

"3000 people. The intelligence officer replied honestly.

This figure once again made the generals excited. They thought that the enemy had left a heavy army in the city, but Sophia was so bold that she defended the city with only 3,000 men. Their hearts, which had been calm, were ready to stir again.

"Your Majesty, this is a great opportunity anyway!" one of the generals suggested again.

"Siege the city, as long as you can capture Sophia. We've won this battle. ”

However, Renard rejected everyone again: "No, since Raymond is in the Giant's Seal, then let's go to the Giant's Seal." ”

"What about Orat City?" someone asked.

Renard glanced at him: "Since there are only 3000 enemies, then send 5000... No, send 10,000 men to besiege the city, and the others to the Giant's Seal. ”

Seeing that Renard insisted on this, the others did not dare to say any more. But they are still strange that Renard seems to care nothing about Sophia, but leaves a full three times as many troops to besiege Orath. It's hard to figure out.

As if seeing everyone's doubts, Renard explained in a rare way: "Orat has a long history, do you know how strong its city defense is? Although there are only 3,000 people to defend it, if you want to attack it, you have to pay at least several times the price, especially Sophia is in the city, it is strange that the enemy does not resist desperately." ”

"Raymond's army is in the Mark of the Giants, so I won't do such a stupid thing. Anyway, as long as they crush their coalition forces. Orat and Sophia are naturally in my pocket. ”

Only then did everyone understand Reynard's thoughts, but some people were still puzzled: "Since the enemy is only 3,000 people." Why did you leave so many people to besiege the city?"

"I said it, because the people in the city are Sophia!" Reynard suddenly gritted his teeth and said: "Raymond's trick is really ruthless, I wouldn't take it seriously if I changed anyone, but it was Sophia." She really impressed me this time..."

"The role of the king may be ineffective or infinite. Even if it's only 3,000 people. If the other side makes any unexpected move, we are in danger behind our backs, so I must leave enough troops to deal with any unforeseen circumstances. ”

The number of people selected by Raymond is really very delicate. Too much, it will make Renard feel threatened. He can only storm Orat, and if there are too few, he may not be able to hold the city. Only these 3,000 happen to be everywhere, so Renard can only obediently leave as many people as possible to besiege the city.

At the end, Renard said categorically: "In short, there is no room for loss in this war, and I will not leave any flaws to the enemy!"

Even Renard, who had always been arrogant, began to be cautious, which shows the importance he attaches to this war. It seems that he is determined to kill Raymond.

"Alright, let's all go down. Renard waved his hand: "Tomorrow to Orat." ”

"Yes!" everyone respectfully agreed in unison.

"Okay, I'm leaving, you have to be careful. ”

Under the gates of Aurat, Raymond said to Sophia.

"Rest assured, I will not allow any enemy to set foot in the city until Renard is defeated. Sophia said firmly.

After Raymond annihilated Dirk's forward troops, he immediately led his troops back to Orat without stopping. After helping Sophia prepare for defense and evacuate most of the people in the city, it was finally time to leave.

The scouts in front kept sending back information, and Renard did not become cautious because the striker was annihilated, but ordered his troops to march directly towards Orat City, which was now only two days away.

"Well, we'll see you when we win. Raymond said to Sophia with a smile.

Sophia also smiled back: "See you again in victory." ”

"Let's go!"

No longer staying, Raymond shouted loudly and led his troops out of the city.

Behind them, there was a sudden earth-shattering shout, a heartfelt proclamation from the soldiers and civilians who had been left behind to defend the city.

"For Gaspard!"

"For Your Majesty!"

"Victory, victory, victory!"

......

Then, with a bang, the heavy gates of Orat closed, completely isolating the city from the outside world.

The next time it was reopened, it would either meet Raymond's victorious army, or it would be broken by the Dirk army...

Two days later. Dirk's army arrived outside the city as scheduled.

Looking at the towering walls of Orat up close, everyone felt a great sense of oppression. Now the generals understood why Renard was reluctant to take the city by force.

Even if there are really only 3,000 defenders in the city, it will definitely pay a huge price if you want to capture it, not to mention that Queen Sophia herself stays behind, and the will to fight of the Gaspard army must be extremely high, and it will not fight to the bottom of the line. They will never surrender.

So far, no one has mentioned the siege of Sophia alive.

"Okay, according to the original plan, leave 10,000 people to besiege the city, and the others follow me to the Giant's Seal. As if seeing the helplessness of his subordinates, Renard ordered.

The general in charge of the siege immediately ordered his subordinates to start digging trenches, building fortifications, and preparing for a long-term siege.

Raymond was about to leave with the rest of his army. Suddenly, he glanced back at Orat City and said to himself, "Well, it seems that I should say hello to Sophia..."

In the surprised gaze of his subordinates, Renard directly turned his horse's head and galloped towards Orat City.

Unexpectedly, he suddenly made such a move, and the generals were startled, and hurriedly chased after them with the guards, while the rest gathered their troops. so as not to cause confusion.

A short time later, Renard came to the city of Orat. Behind them were a group of panting subordinates: "Your Majesty, what are you doing, it's too dangerous." ”

Ignoring their ramblings, Renard threw his head up and shouted at the city, "Hey, anyone?"

This voice frightened everyone behind them to the point that their faces turned white, and the guards hurriedly raised their shields to surround Renard.

Renard shouted a few more times. A few soldiers finally came out of the walls. They looked at the crowd below in disbelief, full of vigilance.

"I am Reynard, King of Dirk. Renard said without hesitation: "Go and tell Sophia, and say that I want to see her." ”

As soon as they heard that the madman shouting below turned out to be Renard, the soldiers all changed color. At the same time, a large number of people appeared on the city walls. Scrambled to look at Renard.

The subordinates were nervous to death, but Renard accepted the gaze of the soldiers on the wall with impunity. After a while, a man said in a deep voice, "Reynard, what do you want to do?"

It was Makudi who spoke, one of the best generals in Gaspard's army, and was therefore left behind by Raymond to assist Sofia in defending the city.

When the Dirk army arrived, the people of Orat made up their minds not to do anything superfluous unless the enemy attacked the city. That's why Renard shouted for so long to lure Marcudi out.

"Ha, I know you. Seeing that there were several people, Renard smiled and said, "You go and tell Sophia, just say that I have something to say to her." ”

"Your Majesty is not here. Makudi snorted, and at the same time silently estimated Renard's distance to see if he could sneak up with a bow and arrow.

"Come on. Renard scoffed: "Since Sophia dares to stay, she will definitely not hide in the palace at this time." ”

"Your Majesty will not see you. Makudi still shook his head. Renard was scheming, and God knew what tricks he was playing, and Makudi decided that he would never let him see Sophia.

Holding his hands behind his back and making a few gestures, Makudi was about to order the archers hiding behind the stacks to attack Reynard, when suddenly a voice came from behind: "Is it really Reynard?"

"Your Majesty!?" Makudi was taken aback and hurriedly turned back: "That guy must have a conspiracy, you must not be fooled." ”

The person who came was none other than Sophia. Reynard was right, Dirk's army arrived outside the city, and Sophia stayed behind the wall with the soldiers in the city to prevent the enemy from moving, and she heard everything she had just said.

"Now that Renard himself is in the city, wouldn't it be too timid for me to hide. Sophia said as she walked up the wall and looked out.

Seeing her striking red hair, Renard smiled, "Sophia, I'm so glad that we finally meet again." ”

"I don't think so at all. Sophia said lightly: "If you have anything to say, just say it quickly." ”

Renard shrugged: "It's a pity, I thought this meeting would be more friendly." But it doesn't matter, we will have time in the future. ”

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to Sophia: "Sophia, I've already thought about it, when I return to Orat again, I'll marry you." For it is only when Gaspard and Dirk merge together that the kingdom of St. Bremen will be restored to its former glory. ”

The Kingdom of St. Bremen was a vast empire that once almost unified the continent of Veronica, and then split to form Veronica's current pattern. The kingdom of Gaspard is centrally located and is its most orthodox successor.

Renard has always had the greatest dream of rebuilding the kingdom of St. Bremen.

"Bold fanatic, how dare you say such a thing!" Hearing his insult to His Majesty, Marcudi and the others were all filled with righteous indignation, and as soon as they slapped the archers, they immediately appeared and prepared to shoot at Renard.

Sophia stopped everyone with a wave of her hand. She said coldly to Renard: "That's impossible, I'll be here to watch you flee back to Dirk in embarrassment after being defeated by Raymond." ”

"Haha

Then, he stared at Sophia and said, "Then let's wait and see." ”

"See you again, my Queen. ”

After uttering such wild words, Renard turned his horse's head and swaggered away.

"Your Majesty, that madman has insulted you so much. Why are you not allowing me to attack him?" asked Sophia in confusion as Reynard left.

Sophia sighed slightly: "I can't wait for him to die too." But if you do hurt him, the Dirk army will be desperate to attack the city, and I must be responsible for the people and soldiers who voluntarily follow me and leave behind. ”

As she spoke, she looked at the dark Dirk Army camp in the distance, and said confidently: "Don't worry, Raymond will definitely defeat him." ”

Hearing this, the Gaspard soldiers on the side. There was a look of determination in his eyes.

Leaving 10,000 men to besiege the city of Orat, Renard led his army towards the Seal of the Giant.

A few days later. The Dirk army finally reached its destination.

"It's finally here. ”

On the wall of the Giant's Mark Fortress, Raymond and the others watched each other's military flags appear in the field of vision, and they all let out a long breath.

According to intelligence, Renard dispatched a total of 60,000 troops this time, all of whom were the elite of Dirk's army. In addition to the 10,000 men left under the city of Orat, there are still 50,000 who have arrived at the Mark of the Giant.

This is also after the attrition of the civil war. Under the condition of ensuring the strength of national defense, the Dirk Kingdom can currently get all the field troops at its disposal. As long as Renard is defeated here, the opponent will lose his offensive ability for a long time, and he can only protect himself.

And on the side of the coalition forces. Raymond also mobilized all possible forces for the battle, including the former Beddington Restoration Army, the forces of the former Ferredon League, and the Gaspard Army who surrendered.

In this way, the number of people on the coalition side has also reached more than 30,000, and with the geographical advantage of the Giant's Seal, the gap between the two sides does not seem to be too big.

However, among these 30,000 people, only the 20,000 people who really have combat effectiveness are the "Restoration Army" composed of the Headington Army and the Royal Praetorian Guard. And then there are thousands of steppe cavalry.

The troops of the Felayden League were one level lower in combat effectiveness in comparison, and as for the Gaspard army, which regained allegiance to Sophia after the restoration of the country, although there were quite a few of them, their combat effectiveness was really not very good. Raymond only selected some to join the defense, and the rest were all reared to help protect the refugees and maintain order.

So in this battle, in fact, more than 20,000 coalition troops against 50,000 Dirk elites, as for the remaining 10,000 people, it is okay to help, once the war is unfavorable, it is really difficult to count on them.

Therefore, the situation of the coalition forces is still grim.

On Raymond's side, everyone knew this, and everyone watched with grim faces as the enemy's army gradually approached the walls of the fortress.

The 20 cannons, which had been pinned on high hopes, had all been installed in place and neatly arranged on the city walls. Although it can only be fired fixedly, the dwarven craftsman has designed a rotating device for the base of these cannons, so that the cannons can swing from side to side at about 60°, increasing the range of shelling, which is also the limit of what can be done at present.

For the sake of secrecy, these cannons are all covered with a layer of cloth, and from a distance they look like tents set up on the city wall, which looks very strange.

Of the people present, only Raymond was confident in these cannons. Bryce and the others put more of their experience on the enemy troops outside, and didn't care much about the cannon next to them.

At this time, with a long trumpet, the Dirk army stopped a kilometer away from the pass and began to build a barracks.

When Raymond and his party were observing the Dirk army, Renard and the others on the opposite side. Also watching them.

"I've always heard that the Giant's Seal Pass on the Gaspard border is in danger, and today I see that it is true. A general looked at the narrow and dangerous terrain of the pass with emotion.

"The enemy also built a fortress to block it, which made it even more difficult to attack. ”

Another said disdainfully: "What a fortress is, it's just a relatively high wall, and we don't know how many stronger fortresses we have captured." ”

Others echoed in agreement.

It's not that they're arrogant, in fact. Although Raymond began to build the fortress a few years ago, relying on Beddington's mobilization force, he has not been able to invest too much manpower and material resources, and almost relies on goblin labor to build it.

Naturally, a fortress is not so easy to repair, so at present they have only built the outer wall blocking the pass, and built some auxiliary fortresses in the dangerous places on the mountains on both sides, which are still far from the real fortress.

The only fortunate thing was that the fortress, which was originally used to defend against Gaspard's rebels, did not have time to function. In the end, they were used to defend against the Dirk army.

While the generals pointed at the pass, Renard's gaze fell on the cloth-wrapped cannon on the city wall.

"Is that the enemy's secret weapon?" asked Renard looking back.

The intelligence officer beside him hurriedly said, "Yes, these were suddenly transported from Headington a few months ago, and it is said that Raymond values them very much. Our spies say that rumors have been circulating on the enemy side that Raymond has secretly created some mysterious weapons. ”

"It's really mysterious. The others also came over and said, "It's still so tightly wrapped." ”

"What does that thing look like, and how powerful is it?" asked Renard again.

The intelligence officer said, "It is said that it is some thick and heavy iron cylinders. As for the power, it seems that even the enemy himself does not know what to do. ”

"Hehe, it seems that Raymond is really precious to those things. Renard chuckled.

Others listened. There were also voices of ridicule.

"What do they want to do with it, do they want to play it as a musical instrument? ”

"Raymond must be insane. will engage in this kind of trick. ”

"It seems that we have won, because even the enemy himself has no confidence. ”

......

Everyone present is a battle-hardened general, and I don't know how many storms and waves they have seen. For them, Raymond might have made them nervous if he had hidden a mysterious force, but the enemy had pinned their hopes of victory on those strange things. But in exchange for their ridicule.

To them in such an important battle, this is a sign that Raymond has exhausted his skills.

"However, Your Majesty, since the enemy is so confident, we should still be on guard. "Ridicule is ridicule, but they still haven't forgotten their duty.

Renard nodded, "Maybe some kind of magic device or something." I've had Haromon bring a group of magicians with me. If Raymond really plans to play magic with me, I'll disappoint him. ”

No matter how genius Renard was, his insight could never transcend the limitations of the times. He couldn't have imagined that Raymond was preparing an epoch-making new weapon, the cannon, but only some kind of magic device.

And magic? In such a battlefield of nearly 100,000 people, the pitiful magic power of the magician could not have made any difference.

However, Renard was still prepared, because he would not give Raymond any chance.

The Dirk army had just arrived, so naturally they would not attack immediately, and they had been working hard to build a camp throughout the day.

At night, the enemy camp on the opposite side of the pass was already lit up, as dense as the stars, and the tents were like the vast sea, giving people a great sense of oppression.

On the wall of the pass, Raymond and the others looked at the enemy camp and knew that although they passed safely today, when the sun rises tomorrow, it will be a fateful battle.

"Lord Raymond, while the enemy has just arrived and the soldiers are tired, shall we take advantage of the night to make a surprise attack?" suggested Hermy.

Bryce immediately objected: "Renard will never be unwary of this hand, I don't think there is a chance of success. ”

Raymond also said: "Bryce is right, the night attack will not be effective against Renard, it will only cost us troops." ”

"Boss, I heard that you are very powerful and can fight very far, so why don't you bombard their camp at night. At this moment, Harlot slapped the cannon beside him.

Others agreed, believing that this was a good opportunity for the enemy to dismount. To this day they still have no confidence in the artillery, believing that it can only be used for this kind of thing.

Of course, Raymond will not agree, it is certainly cool to be caught off guard by Raynald, but it will also expose the secrets of the cannons in advance, and Raymond wants to use them in more critical places.

"Alright, don't say any more. Raymond stopped everyone: "Go back and rest, and get ready for tomorrow's battle." ”

Everyone left the city walls, and before Raymond left, he glanced back at the black-pressed enemy camp again.

Tomorrow, everything will be decided...

Suddenly, Raymond felt his heart pound uncontrollably a few times, and he couldn't help but secretly clench his fists. (To be continued......)

PS: Thirty-four volumes are over, and the next volume will be the final volume, and the final battle between Raymond and Renard will also be decided.