Chapter 154: Defection

New information is constantly coming to Eagle Castle.

Now, every resident of Eagle City is discussing this matter. An unbelievable, yet unmistakable piece of news. Her Majesty encountered Byron's main force on the edge of Byron's territory, and then launched a surprise attack at dawn, breaking Byron's army of 60,000 in one fell swoop.

This victory turned the whole situation completely around in one fell swoop.

Betrayers are always more likely to be betrayed, and this ancestor has been validated. During the time when the little queen cleaned up the battlefield and buried the bodies of the dead, Byron's vassals quickly made their choice. With the exception of a handful of people who were closest to Byron and had no second choice, the others hurried to the queen's camp and immediately made their position clear to her. Almost everyone tried their best to express their loyalty to the queen and their hatred of Byron, and some even cried and hugged the queen's boots and kissed them.

However, whether they meant it or were just performing, at least they achieved their purpose. Because the little queen accepted their surrender. She also publicly declared that everyone except Byron and his friends would be forgiven if they repented and swore allegiance to her again. Of course, according to the little queen, that is not real "forgiveness", but the permission to "wear guilt and make meritorious deeds". But that's not too much of a problem.

The only ones who were not forgiven were the more than eighty great nobles. It is an unforgivable sin for these people to ally themselves with Byron and raise their swords against the power of the Queen.

So by the time the little queen came to the city of Fornoros, she had far more than the original 20,000 soldiers. The city of Fornoros is a large city, and it has been the nest of the Byron family for many years. Originally, 20,000 soldiers could not even surround the city, but now they were surrounded by the king's army.

This victory was not only a favorable situation in the war, but also a further consolidation of Eagle Falcon City itself. Now, Prime Minister Ellenn has effortlessly sent people to take over some of the transportation arteries and fortifications that were previously out of his control—and the situation now does not allow them to continue to sit on the sidelines.

In addition to these, there are lobbyists who come out of nowhere. In fact, it seems that overnight, countless guests appeared in Eagle Falcon City who tried to visit the ministers.

It must be said that the ministers selected by the little queen before were actually not welcomed. Because in the Seven Kingdoms, if anyone is appointed by the king as a minister, it is simply like good luck descends from the sky. Not to mention relatives and friends, even people who can't beat the eight poles in the deep mountains and old forests will come to congratulate them.

After becoming a minister, even his seven aunts and eight aunts will be approached by those who are trying to become inflammatory. Especially those merchants. Because at all times, it is an important task for the Chamber of Commerce to establish good relations with the senior bureaucrats of the state.

But when the little queen established the court, these new ministers did not have this kind of courtly treatment, and they were all deserted. Almost no one among the merchants was optimistic about this small court. Door-to-door visits, but not congratulations, but debt collection. As we all know, Prime Minister Ellenn was once made by businessmen who demanded repayment of debts, and he was very embarrassed.

Of course, in the end, the debt was repaid. The matter should have ended there, but after this trouble, an old man as conservative and aristocratic as Elenn decided that it was a great shame for him.

Having been insulted by Yan Zhan, the old prime minister dealt with the problem with the stubborn thinking characteristic of an old man: he strictly restrained his subordinates, forbade all officials to accept merchants' banquets, let alone gifts, and severely punished them if they were found. This is especially true of several chambers of commerce involved in this "debt collection" incident. It must be said that Prime Minister Ellenn is still very prestigious and has the means, so these ubiquitous lobbyists actually find themselves with no time to drill for a while.

The only thing that slightly weakened the Queen's joy at victory was news from the north. As mentioned earlier, since Byron launched the rebellion, General Rafa's side has almost been cut off. It has now been figured out that this is because the barbarians have launched multiple invasions, which have held back all of Rafah's energy. Rumors spread that Rafa himself had been cursed by the cultists, or had been injured in an assassination attempt, and was no longer able to take advantage of it, so he had to block the news so that no one could take advantage of it.

There are many things that can be deduced from this news. Then again, since the last barbarian invasion was defeated, the northern border has maintained a kind of calm. Even the common people can deduce a few things from the various rumors: the White Castle fell into the hands of the barbarians and became their base. But it was precisely because of the struggle for this base that there were many fierce civil wars within the barbarians. These civil wars effectively drained the barbarians' strength, preventing them from launching a real attack.

No matter how much the Gruni cheered at the fratricidal slaughter of their enemies, it looked like the effect was coming to an end. The barbarians may have a new leader, the Chaos Lord, as the barbarians call them. According to the plan of General Bayer, who arranged this situation back then, sooner or later a Chaos Lord would defeat the competitor and become the master of the White Keep. But at this time, the barbarians had been greatly damaged by the civil war, and their troops and materials had been greatly depleted. If a counterattack could be launched at this time, the barbarian problem could be solved once and for all in a way that would have done more with less - at least twenty years of peace for the North.

It's just a pity that the plan didn't change quickly. Now the barbarians' civil war is probably over, and Gruny's civil war has just begun.

Although the queen won a battle, it was still a long time before the real victory came. The reason for this is because the world knows that the city of Fornoros was originally a very fortified city. During Byron's time as regent, he launched several large-scale constructions aimed at strengthening the defenses of Fornoros. Of course, after his failed coup d'état and his escape back to the city of Fornoros, he once again carried out a major repair and reorganization of the city.

The current city of Fornoros is not an exaggeration to describe it as "impregnable".

Ashrufat stood in the camp, looking at the fortified city ahead. By human standards, the city is truly well-defended. The various fortifications on the city walls are simply perfect. Even the city defense artillery has a complete defense.

According to the information, Byron still has 10,000 regular troops in the city, and can mobilize no less than 20,000 militias at any time. According to the formula in the war book, it was estimated that it would take 150,000 soldiers, the corresponding siege equipment, and two months to storm such a city. Even then, there are 30,000 to 50,000 casualties.

Therefore, Ashrufat also admitted that he had no capital to attack at all. So what he did here was to set up a camp and prepare for a proper siege.

"Ashrufat!" the little girl suddenly came out from behind, "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing," Ashrufat smiled and looked into the distance. "I'm imagining Byron's face right now. To be honest, if it were possible, I would really like to see his expression right now. ”

As he looked at the fortifications and guards on the walls, he imagined Byron's face in his mind. In his previous days as the Queen's personal bodyguard, he had seen Byron many times in meetings, ceremonies, ceremonies, and the like. But Byron had never looked at Ashrufat squarely—and if he did, his gaze would have only swept over Ashrufat. At that time, Byron was the regent, and Ashrufat was a little bodyguard for the queen. Byron was a hereditary duke, and Aerufat was still trying to become a knight. In fact, aside from the entanglement between Ashruphat and Shirley, Byron had no reason to spend too much time paying attention to him.

He ...... Do you want to kill him?" asked the little girl in a low voice. Speaking of which, Byron is also a person who is quite close to the little girl, and she felt a burst of amazement for no reason when she thought that Byron would die. "There are still many innocent people......"

"War is a terrible thing...... "Ashruphat turned his head and looked at the little girl's slightly depressed face. "Remember that sentence in mind. War does not begin because of the good intentions of mankind, and even if it were, it would have resolutely and ruthlessly exterminated all those who remained good in its development. The war was caused by Byron, who was provoked by him, his comrades, his people. Now they have to pay for their choices. This is a matter of course, and the loser must be judged by the victor. If we fail, then we will not end up any differently. ”

He looked up again at the other side of the wall. I don't know if Byron is patrolling the city at this time, he didn't just think. While he was thinking this, a strong wind mixed with wind and sand blew, blowing a white eagle flag on the side. The white eagle on the banner seemed to break through the shackles of the banner and grab its prey with its claws.

"By the way, I heard that Lord Skadra is back?" Ashrufat asked casually.

......

"Bastard, bastard!" Byron jumped from his seat. Although he is not young, at this moment, he is as excited as a child who has just been robbed of his toy.

"He actually ...... Actually...... How dare you speak to me like that!" Byron waved his fists and walked up and down his hall, letting out a barrage of curses.

He was so angry for a reason, the largest and most important vassal in his realm, Locks sent him a letter. In the most arrogant and rude tone, the letter accused Byron of violating the way of kings and courtiers, and of his ambition to get involved in royal power, which was really self-defeating. The letter also explicitly advised Byron to commit suicide immediately to apologize, lest the war poison the people, otherwise the queen's wrath would surely break Byron's bones.

Byron remembers very well that after he returned from Eagle Falcon, Locks was one of the first people to come and congratulate him. In addition, he also loyally provided Byron with a batch of good-breed war horses, not only that, but not long ago he even secretly sent people to persuade Byron to take the initiative to become king, in order to "improve the morale of the soldiers". Byron also regretted that he did not have a daughter, so that he could not use a perfect marriage contract to envelop this capable and loyal subordinate.

Although the city was besieged, Byron still counted on his vassals to contain the queen's forces on the periphery. But unexpectedly, the current "reliable" Locks has been on the side of the queen. He obviously did a lot of work for the queen and provided a lot of help, so not only did he not receive punishment, but became a member of the queen's command.

Byron walked around the hall, and his subordinates bowed their heads and did not dare to say anything, and no one dared to bear Byron's wrath at this moment.

Fortunately, although Byron was impulsive, he was also prone to calm down quickly. By the time he returned to his seat, he had calmed down, except that his face was still pale.

This is the first card of the dominoes. No, it's even worse. Byron couldn't figure out how many of his other men had changed sides, maybe they had all bowed to the little girl, but no one wrote a letter to Byron like Locks.

But in any case, Locks' defection means that the little girl can carry out a long siege without any worries. Although the city of Fornoros is abundant, it will run out of goods one day.