Although the marshals agreed that they should continue to retreat, the two emperors had different ideas, and they looked at each other with hesitant expressions on their faces. As the kings of a country, they have to consider not only the battle of life and death on the battlefield, but also the invisible sword and sword shadow in the rear.

Unlike the absolutist monarchs of the East, who wielded absolute power to kill, the Holy Roman and Eastern Roman monarchs, despite their names as emperors, had relatively limited powers. They are not so much the masters of the country and its people as the most powerful of the nobles.

Originally, Frederick and Justinian relied on their respective prestige, strength, and ancient oaths to suppress the unruly princes of the country. However, for this war for Balkan hegemony, they have invested countless resources, money, energy, time, and elite troops trained hard for many years, all of which have been filled into this bottomless pit. At this time, there was turmoil in both countries, and problems such as empty treasury, material shortages, and inflation were piling up, but they did not erupt for the time being.

But if they were to lose the war completely, and even the land they had previously occupied would have to be spit out, it would be a devastating blow to the prestige of the two men. In addition, their direct troops suffered heavy losses in the war, and when they returned home, they had no advantage over the private soldiers of the princes. With all the prestige and strength lost, it is obviously naïve and ridiculous to want to maintain the current status with just a paper oath.

Therefore, it was not a good idea for Frederick and Justinian to continue the retreat at this stage. Even if they want to retreat, they can only be the Praetorian Guards directly under the royal family who will withdraw first, and the rest of the troops must stay here to resist the pursuit of the enemy army for at least half a month. Even if the whole army is wiped out, it will not hesitate. Only in this way can we achieve the goal of weakening the aristocracy and preserving the royal family to the greatest extent! Of course, this is not easy to say. As a result, both emperors were silent and did not react to Wallenstein's words.

And yet at this very moment. Albrecht, the head of the Teutonic Knights, who had been silent, suddenly sneered and said, "After His Excellency Wallenstein withdraws his troops and returns home, I am afraid that the title will be promoted from the Grand Duke to another level." ”

The duke has always been the supreme title of a country, and then he is the king, and Albrecht implies that Wallenstein intends to rebel and stand on his own. When Marshal Shinra heard this, he was immediately furious and scolded sharply: "Nonsense! I heard that your Teutonic Knights colluded with the Protestant heretic Luther, and you yourself are ready to convert to proselytism! I think you are the one with different aspirations!"

"You're squirting blood!!"

Albrecht also blushed, in fact, what Wallenstein said was true, although the Teutonic Knights had always believed in the Bright Heavens Church in history. However, due to the implementation of religious reforms in the surrounding countries in recent years and the conversion to Protestantism, the number of Protestants in the jurisdiction of the Knights gradually accounted for the majority, and even the head of the regiment himself had already wavered, but he was afraid of the interference of the emperor and the pope, so he did not act rashly. At this time, it was exposed by Wallenstein, and the knights couldn't help but be annoyed and angry, and ridiculed each other: "Now the whole army is up and down, and only knows that there is a marshal. I don't know if there is an emperor, I'm afraid that some people are scheming!"

"Don't fight!" Seeing the tension between the two sides, Frederick hurriedly persuaded: "Now that our army is at stake, everyone must be united. You are my right and right men, and I believe in the absolute loyalty of His Excellency the Regiment Commander and His Excellency the Marshal, and from today onwards, no one can question them. Otherwise, it would be the greatest disrespect to myself!!"

Since His Majesty the Emperor said so, Wallenstein and Albrech had no choice but to sit down. However, at the moment when they bowed their heads. A faint glimmer of cold light flashed in Frederick's eyes.

As the emperor, there are a large number of spies in the HRE territory who are directly responsible for him. Albrech's every move, Frederick could not have been unaware. Previously, because the Teutonic Knights still had something to use, the emperor did not take action against them, but now the war situation is doomed, and after Frederick returns to the country and stabilizes the situation, he will immediately let these secretly troublesome guys die without a place to be buried! As for Wallenstein, he can't continue to lead the army, and send him back to his fiefdom.

Thinking of this, Frederick pondered for a moment and was about to give the order, when an Eastern Roman guard suddenly broke in and said to Justinian: "Your Majesty, after those Slavic bear rebels fled into our country, they burned and looted all the way, and now they are approaching Byzantine City!

"What?!" Justinian was shocked and angry, and for a moment did not know what to do.

It is said that the Slavic bear clan was indeed lured by them from the Ice and Snow Continent to join the war, at the beginning these barbarians did show good combat effectiveness, but the barbarians are barbarians after all, and after a long time, their undisciplined, difficult command and other shortcomings will be highlighted. In desperation, Justinian could only arrange for them to be stationed in the rear as a reserve, but in the Battle of Larissa, these bears with no sense of honor actually rebelled, and then lost a trace, either fleeing or being completely annihilated.

Due to the tension of the war, Justinian did not have the energy to track down the whereabouts of the Slavic bear clan, and he did not expect that they would actually cross the border of Eastern Rome and return to the Ice and Snow Continent! You must know that in order to capture the Hot Springs, Eastern Rome has repeatedly transferred troops from the country, and the troops inside and outside the Byzantine city of the new capital are very empty, if they are really burned by these barbarians, it will really be over!

Justinian's face turned pale with anxiety, and he couldn't help but look at his henchmen, Belisarius, and the chief magician, Narciss. The two of them glanced at each other, Belisarius hurriedly glanced at the emperor, and then said with a smile: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, the Byzantine city is well defended and well-guarded, and these barbarians who don't know how to build siege engines are defeated, how can they threaten the safety of the capital?"

(To be continued......)