After the Battle of Black Dragon Town, the Shinra general Grauc gathered less than 5,000 remnants of the defeated army, and finally escaped from the pursuers temporarily after several hardships and fled to the mountains.

They were terrified like lost dogs, and all their supplies had been lost, leaving only three days' worth of dry food. Ahead, however, there are mountains, rugged roads, harsh environments, and the ubiquitous orc enemy forces to intercept them. It was easy to storm the Illyrian mountains, but it was not so easy to get out safely, and although Glauke and his troops were desperately fleeing day and night, they were always inferior in speed to the orc warriors who knew the terrain.

Over the next half month, in addition to the constant small-scale harassment, they were subjected to several large-scale volleys, each of which brought heavy casualties, and the corpses of the HRE warriors covered their retreat route. After a bitter battle, the general Grauc died of his wounds, and only a few hundred men escaped from the Illyrian mountains. All of them were wounded, and their spirits were already in a state of complete collapse after being severely beaten, and their condition was simply miserable.

Soon after, the Golden Horde army, led by Prince Attila, also left Illyria and returned to the rear of the main battlefield on the Thermopylae front.

Due to the total destruction of the Holy Roman army, none of the major generals such as Betty and Grauce, who knew of Attila's betrayal, survived, and the remaining ordinary soldiers did not know the situation, so the Holy Romans were very skeptical of the outcome of the battle, but it was not yet certain that the Golden Horde had secretly colluded with the Olympians.........

About 50 kilometers north of Hot Springs, there is a small palace in the center of the city. It was originally King Maris's castle. However, during the previous war, the city of Maris was captured, and it had long since become the rear base camp of the Holy Roman Empire's army. The city was full of barracks. Groups of soldiers kept walking around, and all kinds of supplies were piled up. For the final battle of Thermopylae, the three major powers on the Balkan continent, the Holy Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Olympia Alliance, have all done their best, and each has concentrated all the manpower and material resources accumulated over the years.

The Holy Roman Empire had already spent a staggering amount of military spending, and the treasury had long since been wiped out, and the government had raised taxes several times, causing the people to live in displeasure and resentment. But they have no other way. If they give up, they will end up with nothing to gain by holding on to the land they occupy for a long time. Therefore, no matter what, you must grit your teeth and conquer the hot spring pass. Wipe out the remnants of Olympia!

Outside, drizzling and dimly lit in the palace of Maris, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II was looking worriedly at the huge map that was a little moldy in front of him.

After staring at it for a long time, the Emperor sighed. Turning his head, he said to Marshal Wallenstein beside him: "Half a month has passed. His Excellency Betty has not been heard from at all, and it is estimated that he has unfortunately sacrificed his life for the country. ”

Wallenstein was speechless, although he and Betty were in a competitive relationship in some way, after all, the other party had died heroically, and he inevitably had a feeling of sadness that the rabbit had died.

Frederick II lowered his head, looked at his hands, and said slowly and in a deep voice: "My younger brother, Prince Eugen, has been killed in the Battle of Pella. His Excellency Albrecht, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, was also seriously wounded, and four of the Seven Electors were killed in battle. Now not long after the Battle of Hot Springs, Betty died again. The generals and important ministers around me were either killed or wounded one by one, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of casualties of ordinary soldiers...... So who will come next, you and me?"

Wallenstein had no choice but to open his mouth and persuade: "Your Majesty, please don't be discouraged, although we have suffered a lot of losses in the war, we still have the upper hand after all. Now that the territory of the Olympian League in the north has been completely occupied, not only is its emperor unconscious, but the chief and deputy regents have been killed in battle, and even the capital city of Pera has also fallen, leaving only the last stronghold of Thermopyla. As long as we grit our teeth and capture this place, we can immediately sweep through the southern part of the Balkan continent, and the Olympia Alliance will no longer exist!"

Frederick also understood this truth, the hot spring pass is the key to the whole war, further is complete victory, one step back is complete defeat, the present situation must not be retreated! But the question is, according to the current situation of the war, can he still hold out to the end?

Emperor Shinra shook his head and said: "Hundreds of thousands of troops are on an expedition, and the daily consumption is an astronomical amount, and yesterday I received a warning from the imperial ministers, and now the people in the country are not making a living, the treasury has long been left with nothing, and the treasury cannot be sold." Due to the heavy burden of military spending, most of the shops and factories could not afford the heavy taxes and closed their doors. Prices in the market are soaring, all kinds of necessities are scarce, the peasants in the countryside can barely make a living by farming their own land, the unemployed workers in the cities can only beg to survive, tens of thousands of people have starved to death on the streets, millions of people are on the verge of life and death, and even such a sensational tragedy as eating children and corpses has occurred! Now that the economy of Holy Rome is on the verge of collapse, the princes all have different ambitions, and if we cannot win in a short time, we will be doomed if we do not need the enemy to attack!"

Wallenstein frowned and thought for a while, and then said: "As long as the people can fill their stomachs, they will not riot lightly, and if there is a shortage of food in the country, I have three solutions to it." The first is to borrow grain from Western Rome, for the sake of a common enemy, it is believed that they will agree. The second is the introduction of a wartime food distribution system, which prohibits the trading and concealment of grain from now on, and can only lend it to the government at a set price to be repaid after the war; each citizen can receive daily rations from the government to maintain food and clothing; and if the rich feel that it is not enough, they can buy more grain from the government at a high price. The third is to crack down on lawless profiteers, go all out to investigate those who hide and speculate on grain, and immediately confiscate all property once discovered!"

Frederick was overjoyed after hearing this, with these three policies, it should not be difficult to stabilize the domestic situation, but this will definitely offend the interests of many people, but I am afraid that the princes will be even more dissatisfied.

At this time, the marshal said worriedly: "Actually, there is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the country, and there will not be too much chaos for a while, but I am not too worried." The biggest problem is the Golden Horde, and I suspect that they have betrayed us, and if it is true, we must do everything we can to deal with it, otherwise we will not ......be able to cope with it if they suddenly turn against us at a critical moment in the war."

(To be continued......)