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In a gloomy corner of Nord Kyoto, the monsoon that blows through the southern region in July is a sign of the arrival of the heavy rainy season, and there are already small raindrops, lapping on the bluestone slab at the top of the corner, which is a small two-story building, and the raindrops splash on the windowsill in all directions, like clusters of white splashes,

This seemingly ordinary courtyard is actually heavily guarded, with ten heavily armored axemen standing at the gate, and two patrols composed of 30 soldiers, patrolling back and forth almost 24 hours a day.

Walking into the gate of the small courtyard, two teams of Nord heavy armor soldiers with long-handled axes stood at the door of the second floor, the black and hideous metal heavy armor on their bodies looked incompatible with the verdant flowers and plants around them, making people feel a suffocating Xiao Killing.

In the white drizzle, a carriage with the sign of the Nord Ministry of Military Affairs stopped in front of the small compound, its wheels creaking in a small puddle on the side of the road

"Please show your identification!" A stern-looking Nord officer walked over from the shed next to the gate, and his face couldn't help but be stunned when he saw the middle-aged man getting out of the carriage

"Lord Harley!"

The Nord officer saluted respectfully, and the middle-aged man who came down from above was the person in charge of this prison, the Marquis of Harley, the head of the Supervision Department of the Ministry of Military Affairs, and behind this Marquis Harley, there was also a man wearing a golden and gorgeous costume,

This is a young man with a somewhat pale face, who seems to rarely shine in the sun, and his bloodshot eyes are impatiently swept over the small courtyard overgrown with weeds but heavily guarded, and his delicate eyebrows frowned slightly.

"Lord Harley, can we go in?" the young man asked impatiently, his chin pale with pale blue veins lifted slightly, and there was a disdain for people in his bones.

Harley next to him looked respectful, and hurriedly waved to the officer in front of him and shouted, "Let them open the door, this is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" The officer was startled, and quickly turned around to let people push the door open, the young man glanced at the muddy path behind the gate with displeasure, Harley opened the door behind him very timely, and under the gaze of the soldiers, the carriage continued to move forward and slowly drove into the mysterious courtyard in front of him,

The cold autumn rain was full of chills, looking at the carriage that disappeared around the corner not far away, the great officer subconsciously shuddered, this His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is too delicate, right?

Few people know that this seemingly inconspicuous courtyard is actually a secret cell of the Nord royal family, and the guards don't want to cause trouble for themselves, and no one knows if these low-level prisoners will suddenly become their own immediate bosses, and they are all people who can't be messed with anyway

But if you want to get out, it's not so simple, you have to have three things, a consent letter issued by the Ministry of War, a consent letter issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and finally an edict signed by His Majesty the King himself,

The door slowly opened with a creak

The rain came in,

At the end of the gloomy corridor was a heavy iron gate, where five strong men with the marks of a veteran warrior were standing and chatting, and when they saw the Marquis of Harley walking in, they quickly stood up straight

The officer led by the "Lord" hurriedly stood up and saluted, "Open the door!" Harley waved his hand, and the soldiers hurriedly opened the heavy iron door behind them, revealing a dark tunnel that exuded the smell of mildew,

"That's where Salton lives, and where people live?"

The young crown prince of Nord, who followed Harley, craned his neck to look at the dark tunnels that seemed to be able to devour souls, his eyes bulging with horror,...,

"Your Highness, this is no way to do it, after all, this is also a prison!" Harley explained as he took a torch from the officer next to him with an embarrassed face, and explained as he walked. Your Highness can rest assured, this is different from the notorious prison outside, full of dead and prisoners, the prisoners held here still have a certain status and dignity, and can enjoy good food, as long as they don't leave here, even if the guards at the gate find a woman, there is no problem, after all, the people who can be imprisoned here are people who are highly valued by His Majesty, and we don't want to cause trouble!

Therefore, the people who have been imprisoned here in the past generations are the most valued ministers, some will be locked up for a year or a few years, and some will be locked in on the same day, and they will be released on the same day, but some have been locked up for a lifetime, and they have not been released in the end, no one can guess the monarch's heart, and now there is only one person imprisoned here, the former deputy minister of military affairs, the former governor of the Suruo region, Sallton

Looking at the steps in front of him that stretched like a netherworld to the ground, although it seemed very difficult, but thinking of this mission, the young crown prince could only dare to follow Harley down,

There was the echo of footsteps on the cold steps, the walls were wet, it should have been the rain seeping down from above, the entire underground prison was filled with a chilling air, and at the end of the tunnel, a whole row of empty iron railings appeared in front of the crown prince's eyes,

The ground was cold and damp, covered with a leather carpet that had not been replaced for an unknown number of years, the black and faint color was like countless ants crawling on it, the iron fence was full of red rust spots, and large dried blood stains could be seen between the brick corners of the ground, I don't know who it was and what age it was left behind. ^//^

Thinking of the palace maids' terrible legends about this black hell, the crown prince couldn't help but feel a chill all over his body, and a terrifying cold wind suddenly struck, like a terrified cry resounding through the cell, as if the ghost inside was still lingering

"Who? who's there?" Salton's hoarse voice came from the line at the end of the corridor, and in the penultimate cell at the end of the corridor, the crown prince finally saw Salton, who had been held for a month

"Lord Harley, His Royal Highness Prince Agrolida, why are you two here?" Salton, who was looking up at the rain in his cell, looked surprised when he saw two unfamiliar guests appearing in front of the cell door,

The former Nord minister's expression looked pretty good on the whole, and he was obviously not mistreated mentally or physically, except for some swelling of his body, he really didn't see any major problems, but behind the leg cuffs were two large iron balls of dozens of pounds, and the extended iron chains, one end was embedded in the wall rock, and there was a length of iron chain that was only enough to move within the confines of the cell, which looked a little wolf

"Lord Salton, pay attention to your title, His Highness Agrolita is now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" Harley stepped forward and loudly corrected Salton's mistitle,

Toldon's face was stunned for a moment, and then he hesitated and said intermittently: "His Royal Highness Agrolida has become His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?

"Alright, Lord Harley, you go down first!" Agrolida waved his hand at Harley with a servant look on his face, "Your Majesty has a few words for me, and I need to ask Lord Soldton personally."

Seeing that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not accept his affection, the prison guard Harley pursed the corners of his mouth slightly, he saluted Yagrolida before leaving extremely unwillingly, closing the main gate of the prison from the outside, but still leaning against the iron door with his ears close to him, hoping to hear a trace of possible sounds, but unfortunately he was disappointed and could not hear anything, as if the two of them fell into complete silence

"Congratulations, Your Highness the Crown Prince, you have finally got your wish!" Salton stared at the only light-revealing stone window above his head, his gray eyes full of complicated expressions...

"It's also your honor that your student has the potential to become King of the Nords," Agrorida replied respectfully. bear

, there is not a trace of fluctuation on the face

"You do make me proud!" Salton's eyes fixed on Agrolida, and after a long while, he said slowly with a deep expression, "As your teacher, I have to be proud of a student like you, but your methods are too disgraceful!"

You know very well that I cannot be a traitor to Nord, but under your insistence of investigation, Your Majesty has deprived me of the position of Governor of Suro on the charge of fornicating with the Falcon Dynasty, and has declared the Suro region a direct crown and all the wealth of the region belongs to the royal family."

"This is my father's decision, I just said a fact, you were indeed in Aire at the time, didn't you?" Yaglolida said with a cold face, "The content of the investigation is also very clear, the person who will meet you is not a businessman, but our worst enemy, the Vecchia Falcon! I don't know if it is treason, but you do have a big suspicion!"

"Nonsense!" Salton stared at him with an annoyed face, and said loudly, "Actually, you and I both know very well that depriving me of my position and taking back Su Ruo is entirely because of His Majesty, and he desperately needs Su Ruo's wealth to restore his national strength.

And the person who proposed this is you, I think that His Majesty's appointment of you as the crown prince should be the greatest recognition of your keen thinking, you do have the Su zhì that a monarch should have!

Salton said with a sad face, "After all, the Suruo region has been annexed for too short a time, and the Suruo people are a very xenophobic race, if you follow my strategy, you can make Suruo a part of Nord completely within ten years! But now, you are too anxious!"

"If you want to win, you must sacrifice!" I still remember that this was the first sentence that the teacher taught us on the first day of class at the academy!" Agrolida interrupted Thalton's words with a resolute face, and the original weak aura was now showing a bit of steel,

He snapped, "Teacher, have you ever thought about it?" The Falcon Dynasty is pressing aggressively on the northern border, the army on the front line is in urgent need of military salaries, food, weapons, the Kujits are finished, the Dongting people are finished, the Ruierdian people are finished, the next one is us, we don't have that much time, we must do everything possible to restore our strength in the shortest possible time, otherwise, in less than five years, our Nord will no longer exist!

"As for the rebellion, the teacher can rest assured"

Luo Lida's cold face slowed slightly, and he said in a condensed voice

"My father has already dispatched 40,000 troops to Suruo

If there is any turmoil or unfavorable situation for the kingdom, the army will immediately carry out the order and forcibly suppress anyone who dares to resist!

In front of the sharp battle axe, I think those Suruo people will know what to choose!"

"Killing the Surue is no good for us!" Instead of losing an important source of wealth," Salton said angrily, looking at the crown prince of Nord, in a somewhat pleading tone, "can't we do it in a gentler way?

"Gentleness, not our Nord style!"

Yaglolita replied categorically, "Don't forget, it's the tomahawk and blood that make the entire Nord nation stand tall in the south of the continent, and without sacrifice, there will be no victory.

"You!" Soldton's eyes were bulging, he had nothing to say in front of Yaglolida, he could only sigh, his face was full of ashes, he didn't know how to question the other party, this is the current situation of the Nord, with the kingdoms being destroyed by the Falcon Dynasty in the north, the Nord kingdom that suffered the defeat in the south is now like a hungry press,...,

The crazy idea of gathering all the wealth that can be squeezed out of his own hands and turning it into military power to fight against the Falcon Dynasty in the north has now become the dominant idea in the Nord military circles.

The Nord generals were eager to turn all the young Nords into combat-ready soldiers, and it is said that a levy bill had just been passed at the Imperial Council to increase the war tax by two percent on all shops in the territory of Gaud

The two looked at each other for a moment, and then Aglorida said, "Okay, this is just a question between a student and a teacher, now it's time to get to the point! Father has a few questions for you."

"Anyway, you really impress me!" Salton's energetic face seemed to have aged a lot, and he simply sat cross-legged on the somewhat damp floor of the cell.

"Have you committed treason?" asked Agrorida formulaically

"No," Salton replied without thinking

"Is it your idea to take the initiative to redeem the 40,000 traitorous soldiers who are full of hatred for His Majesty the King?"

"They are not treasonous, they are outcast warriors!" Speaking of this, Thorton's expression was a little excited,

Yagrorida seemed to be prepared, he took out a secret report from his bosom, threw it in front of Sulton, and said, "You should take a look at this first, and then insist on your claim."

"What is this?" Salton hurriedly picked up the secret letter on the ground, recognizing that it was top-secret information sent by the Ministry of Intelligence from other countries

Agrolida said in a slow voice, "As far as we know, these 40,000 captive soldiers are full of resentment towards the royal family and His Majesty the King, and 5,000 of them have even joined the Falcon Dynasty's army, do you still think that they are still loyal Nord warriors?

"This ......" Toldton was already grim-faced, and his hand holding the secret report trembled slightly,

"One last question!" Yaglolida's voice was a little cold, and said, "We have received a report from the border of the northern front, in the area of Anruod, the center of defense, there have been signs of a large-scale gathering of the Falcon army recently, according to conservative estimates, the number of the Falcon army has exceeded 60,000, including the Western Army, the Varisian Army, the Central Army, and we have also found the royal banner of the Vekia Falcon in their main camp, we want to know how likely it is that the Falcon Dynasty Army will attack Anrod head-on!"

"The Falcon army is attacking Anrod head-on?" Salton gasped when he heard it, shook his head and said, "How is it possible, this is absolutely impossible, unless the Vechia Falcon has become arrogant to the point of ignorance,

The Anruod area has always been the center of defense of our army, and the garrison has never been less than 40,000 people, and eight defensive lines have been built in the past 40 years, not to mention 60,000 people, even if it is 100,000 people, it is absolutely impossible to capture Anruod head-on!"

"But that's what the intelligence says!" Yagrorida said with a helpless look, "Because of the transfer of 40,000 men to Suruo, our troops on the northern border have been reduced from the original 120,000 to 80,000.

In other words, if the defense factor is excluded, the opponent's strength is not inferior to ours, not to mention that the Falcon army has always been known for its elite attack, and I heard that this time it is also a powerful tactic to be adopted.

Prepare to use hundreds of Thor to forcibly blow up Anrod's defensive line! Then launch a full-scale attack with infantry clusters, so that our army cannot concentrate its forces at one point

As soon as a gap is opened, the entire line of defense is torn open!"

"An all-out assault is a very dangerous way, and if the attack is unfavorable, you will fall into a situation of low morale of the whole army!" Salton touched his chin and said with some hesitation

"But Vicchia Falcon has always been different from ordinary people, to say that others don't dare, it's really hard to say to him,

Paired with Thor

The fierceness and Falcon Infantry Continent's famous strong offensive ability, it is not impossible to say that An Ruode who tore through the eight lines of defense, but its losses are by no means small,

Our army can completely consume its sharp energy first, and then launch a counteroffensive!"

"The teacher's opinion and the opinion of the Ministry of War almost coincide," Agrolida nodded, and said, "But I don't know why, the student still feels a little worried, the Falcon army has always been cunning, and suddenly put on such a large formation at one end of my northern border, while Fort Tichberg at the other end is calm, doesn't the teacher think it's too strange?"

"Are you saying that the Falcon army is putting on an illusion in the Anrod area, when in fact the real target is Fort Tichberg?" Salton frowned slightly, this possibility is not impossible, the tactics of using a surprise attack to break the breakthrough in the battle, and then draw the opponent in one fell swoop, is really in line with the usual style of the Vecchia Falcons

"Please let the teacher personally sit in Tichberg Fort! so that the students can go to Anrod to preside over the war with peace of mind," Agrolida bowed respectfully and saluted,

"Alright!" Salton stood up, after all, Yaglolida was now the crown prince, and no matter what grievances the two had, they were in the same position in the face of national interests