Chapter 904, Good Times, Coming Force!
Imperial Calendar 2514, August.
In the next few months, whether it is the Knight King Ryan of Brittania, the Emperor Karl Franz, the Grand Duke of Nord (self-appointed king) Theodoric Geisel, or Keith Love's Ice Queen Katarin, they are all afraid of the large-scale assembly of the barbarians and the strange silence. The human kingdom in the north of the old world has continuously sent scouts and spies to Norsca to obtain information and confirm whether the barbarians are real. The plan is to go south on a large scale.
As for Estalia and Tyrell, they still have an attitude of nothing to do with themselves.
At the beginning, everyone was very nervous and very alert. Group after group of troops were dispatched to the front line to prepare for the possible large-scale invasion of the barbarians. Several meetings were held to discuss how to respond, and even sent messengers to each other to prepare for coordinated operations.
However, in the end, the news that came out surprised everyone.
Fight! Really fight!
But it wasn't the northern barbarians going south, but the Norscan pirate fleet and the Dark Elf's Black Ark fleet were fighting in the sea of chaos. Hundreds of Norscan dragon ships and the Dark Elf's entire Black Ark fleet had a terrible naval battle. It's a close call.
Afterwards, Valkyrie, the wife of the blood god, personally led a chaotic army of more than 35,000 people, and began a war against the dark elves of Naggaros. The kingdom of dark elves was caught off guard, and the northern defense line carefully built by the dark elves was broken through. After looting several dark elf fortresses, it approached Hal-Ganxi, the capital of Kane's bride Hollyben, Karond and the peak of resentment. The barbarians even established a Chaos Fortress named Frozen City on the Dark Elf's Witherwood Forest Kingdom to show off their achievements.
Malekith was forced to withdraw his fleet and main force preparing to attack Ulthuan's barren islands. The Witch King ordered his subordinate Marus-Black Blade to lead the Dark Elf army to fight Valkyrie's Chaos army. The Dark Elves and the Chaos tribe His blood warmed the ice fields of Naggaroth.
The battle situation at the beginning was favorable to Valkyrie, because the Blood God's Wife has never lacked heavy armored Khorne berserkers to follow, but the dark elves are a race with abundant martial arts, especially the 95,000 dark elves stationed along the northern route The defenders were also elite and tried-and-tested fighters of Druzzi. Gradually, the dark elves stabilized the situation and contained the Chaos offensive.
At this time, almost all the human kingdoms have received information that the Norsca barbarians responded to the call of the barbarians of the chaotic wasteland and prepared to gather all their forces to fight the dark elves.
That's right! So this is ah!
The barbarians have no intention of fighting us,
Instead, he intends to fight to the death with the dark elves!
That's all right, I can finally rest assured.
Humans in the entire old world breathed a sigh of relief almost at the same time, and the electors of the empire shouted luck, and were even overjoyed.
Alright, the barbarians fight the dark elves, and the bastards fight the bastards!
The imperial electors, who were already worried, even held a banquet to celebrate.
The imperial capital Brunswick, the Imperial Palace, and the Imperial Parliament.
Every year, the Emperor's Reik Guard will be inspected in the capital, so that all citizens can witness the strength of the Emperor's personal guard. This is usually carried out by Marshal Rick. And the chances of the armor being in good condition, which means a lot to new knights who perform a vigil and take an oath to join the order after the last inspection, are a matter of training and testing that can be traced back to the Reiksguard. Less formal and strict traditions of the times.
Since modern times (after Emperor Leopold), the first parade of a newly promoted knight has become a symbol of his final acceptance into the order, for noble families interested in gaining more influence at the imperial court. Said, this is the perfect opportunity for them to attend the ceremony and bathe in honor.
Emperor Karl Franz inspected the loyal Rick guards during the day. The emperor's face was a little stiff due to smiling for too long. He even doubted whether he could make other expressions besides smiling.
But the emperor was doomed to be tired. He had just inspected Rick's guards during the day, and he immediately held a cabinet meeting at night.
Several core courtiers of the emperor sat together. Emperor Karl looked around and said with some regret: "Gert didn't come?"
"Our chief wizard and great alchemist brought a message saying that he can't escape from one of the most important gunpowder improvement experiments, but he gave a suggestion, that is, as far as the current situation is concerned, it is not recommended to relax our vigilance." Earl Walfin, the chief spy of the empire, said cautiously: "But the information I got here is that the barbarians are indeed fighting with the dark elves on the remote and cold continent of Naggaros, and the Norsca barbarians are indeed planning to provide support with all their strength."
"So your suggestion is to let your guard down? Valfin, you idiot, do you know that the barbarians, such despicable, untrustworthy and shameless things, have already dedicated everything to the God of Darkness? How do we know that the other party will Won't you suddenly turn around and attack the empire?" Marshal Rick Curt Helberg still maintained his anger and vigilance, and he shouted dissatisfiedly: "We must not take it lightly, you think we should relax our vigilance and disband Our army, you are wrong, Valfen, you are wrong!"
"But we can't go on like this!" The Spymaster also fired back: "That's what the intelligence says, yes, maybe we should really be vigilant, but it's already August, Helberg, look at your mustache, It's already August!"
"August?" Helberg was stunned for a moment, Marshal Rick didn't understand why the other party said this suddenly.
"The autumn harvest is almost here, my Marshal." Mrs. Hawkswall, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, looked at Helberg with displeasure, as if she were looking at a lunatic and an idiot: "The autumn harvest is coming in September, and the army is full of complaints. , you have to know that the food we use for military expenses... and the basis of taxation is agriculture, if we continue to station heavy troops on the border, we don't have to wait for the barbarians to come, and our own treasury can raise rats!"
"But..." Marshal Rick blushed, and wanted to fight again.
At this moment, the emperor spoke, and Karl Franz said with some frustration on his face: "If the electors themselves start to relax their vigilance, then what is the use of us insisting here? The army cannot be stationed for a long time. Outside, the Rick leader has already had a lot of opinions on this."
Helberg had to admit that the emperor was right. There were not many professional soldiers in Reikland's army who were completely off-duty. Most of them were semi-professional soldiers, that is, they usually worked in agriculture and spent two or three days a week training. Salaried soldiers, this kind of soldiers cannot leave the territory for a long time to fight, especially when the autumn harvest is approaching, and there is no fighting on the front line, the soldiers are very dissatisfied with this inexplicable recruitment.
Isn't it all right?
What the barbarians have to deal with is the dark elves, so what does it matter to our empire?
To make matters worse, the emperor had already hurt the interests of the middle class yeoman farmers and citizens by doing so.
Mrs. Squire, a famous female artist and writer in the empire, who has written many books, said in public: "The test of a country's civilization has never been based on how tall your palace is or how fast your carriage is. It depends on how powerful your weapons are and how mighty your army is, not how advanced your technology is, how brilliant your art is, not to mention how luxurious your meetings are, how gorgeous your fireworks are, or even how many businessmen you have boldly go out to buy the whole world. Test you There is only one thing: your attitude towards vulnerable people."
Later, this Mrs. Squire began to give speeches and rhythms at noble salons and banquets in the capital, making the emperor sick. However, many dignitaries in the emperor's court especially liked her theory and kept protecting her.
On the contrary, the emperor really had no choice. After all, these words sound reasonable, and he is still speaking for the citizens and the poor. It is natural political correctness. This rhythm is very successful. Everyone feels that the emperor is making a fuss and expanding his power. Harm the interests of the Ricks.
Moreover, there is a song "We hope the old emperor Luitpold returns" in the streets of Brunswick.
We want old Kaiser Luitpold back
We want old Kaiser Luitpold back
the one with the beard, the beard
the one with the beard, the beard
Our parents talk all day about the good old days
Long ago, in a time of peace
But it was really good, it was a good day
…………
The meaning of this song is nothing more than that the new emperor Kahuang is not good enough. There are too many wars and conquests, and the taxes are heavy. People prefer the old emperor Luitpold, but Karl Franz knows deeply, His father, Luitpold, was nothing more than a set of national policies of maintaining stability by being a hands-off emperor, governing by doing nothing, compromising with nobles and electors, and avoiding war as much as possible. He cleaned up the mess, and now his people blame him for doing too much?
At the same time, a new theory appeared in the imperial court, and it spread extremely fast.
That is the "Brittania Threat Theory". Many scholars and bureaucrats believe that if the northern barbarians want to fight the dark elves, the empire can at least enjoy a few more years of good life. Compared with the enemies in the north, the recent The Kingdom of Knights, which has risen rapidly and won another victory in the Great Expedition of Obien, will become the real enemy of the empire, and must be guarded against and sanctioned, even by force.
There is a market for this kind of talk, and it is spreading wildly around Braunschweig.
"Can't we keep a small number of elite legions?" Marshal Helberg was still insisting: "Your Majesty, Gelt also said that we can't let our guard down."
"Enough, Helberg, where does the money come from?" Mrs. Hawkswall said frustratedly and angrily, "You can have a good time, but who will pay for it? Did you know that His Majesty has started to use his own money?" private treasury?"
Helberg suddenly understood something. Marshal Rick turned his eyes around the entire private cabinet of the emperor, and he sighed: "I understand, all of you want to be able to remove the defense, right?"
No one spoke, and after a few minutes of silence, Baron Amadeus Mencken, the Imperial Privy Envoy and Chief Foreign Minister, finally spoke: "Curt, there is an argument that people think that if we don't withdraw In the army in the north, the Norscans will not go to a decisive battle with the dark elves with confidence, and some Norscan chiefs even directly asked some Nord lords and Marienburg merchants for 'protection fees'... Some people have given Now, do you understand what I mean?"
"Stupid!" Helberg shook his head in disappointment, and Marshal Rick stopped talking.
Emperor Karl Franz realized it too.
After decades of court career, the emperor deeply understood that Helberg was a soldier, while others were bureaucrats.
For bureaucrats, maintaining stability, tact, peace, and stability are their natural pursuits and political correctness. In this regard, they are also right. The empire is indeed financially strapped now, and the war loan owed to the Supreme King has not yet been repaid!
"Let's withdraw the troops. Now, the autumn harvest is the top priority!" The emperor finally made a decision.
"yes!"
At the same time, Ryan was also having a meeting in the Britannia court, and the King of Knights summoned the dukes to discuss the barbarian's movements.
If anyone had seen this, they might have been very surprised to find that the subjects of their meetings and the course of their discussions were almost exactly the same in both the Imperial and the Britannian courts.
That's right! So this is ah!
The barbarians didn't plan to fight us, but planned to fight the dark elves to the death!
That's all right, I can finally rest assured.
marvelous! The barbarians fight the dark elves, and the bastards fight the bastards!
The dukes of the Knight Kingdom all smiled and applauded.
In Musilon's newly built, somewhat crude palace, Aurora, as the leader of the intelligence department, reported the situation to everyone.
Yes, it is not the prophet of the lake god, nor the people sent by Lawn, but Aurora, a mature, beautiful and charming sanctuary witch, is reporting all the recent events in the conference hall of the new palace. Based on the intelligence summary, according to the scouts and spies and the analysis of multiple sources of intelligence, it seems that the barbarians are indeed planning to fight the dark elves. Dozens of intelligences have been verified and correct. From this point alone, Aurora has done a good job .
Aurora only feels that she has face, and can enjoy the status of independent reporting as a witch at the core power and decision-making level of the human country. The sanctuary witch only feels that she is a little bit high. The status and treatment that I didn't dare to think of at the time.
Of course, it would be even better if all this didn't come from Ryan, Aurora thought with a little displeasure.
"It seems that the barbarians will not call." The dukes expressed their opinions one after another, and Francois smiled and said to Ryan: "Everything shows that the target of the barbarians is the dark elves, and our vigilance was in vain. .”
"It looks like this at the moment, but we can't take it lightly." Ryan signaled Aurora to sit down and sit behind him, sitting on the left side of Beria who had just returned from Marienburg: "It should be You still have to be prepared.”
But Aurora moved her long legs, brought a burst of lavender fragrance, and sat directly on the seat of the absent palace steward Katzenberg. Both Morgiana and Suria glanced at her. Ryan didn't object and didn't say anything.
"But the autumn harvest is coming soon, Your Majesty." Lawn reminded in a low voice: "We must ensure the autumn harvest. Agriculture is the foundation of a country. The army can't always be concentrated on the northern coast. Military salaries and rations will become a serious burden, soldiers. Being on the front line all the time is not a long-term solution."
"Hmm..." Ryan had to admit that what Lawn said was right, but the King of Knights still felt that something was wrong.
"Can't we keep a small number of elite legions?" At this time, Duke Bohemond proposed a compromise plan: "Chaos is really untrustworthy!"
"So, where does the military expenditure come from?" Duke Adehad asked.
"Military expenses come from the treasury, and a principality sends 700 people, completely full-time knights, knight servants and professional troops, and the military pay and rations are paid by the treasury." Ryan said decisively: "Those who have nothing to do under your command, fight and disturb all day long The ranger knights of law and order and the elite infantry regiment formed by the return of Bafeng Mountain will be sent to the north along the route! Even if the barbarians don’t come, they have the right to come out to train and travel! Tell them that the king is in charge of food, and three meals a day are no problem , and also pay the army!"
"Hahahahaha!" There was a burst of laughter in the conference hall. Ryan's prestige was so high that no one dared to object, and he also clearly stated that the maintenance fee would be paid by the treasury, so the dukes would not object, completely The professional army and the allocation of 700 people will not affect the vital autumn harvest, so everyone agrees, and even the Duke asked if he could send more.
In this way, the meeting ended here, and a professional army of more than 8,000 people was quickly formed. Ryan handed over the command to the Marquis of Loire under his command, the Holy Grail of Turas-de-Changel , and seconded from Bastogne, another Holy Grail, the Earl of Galament, Karard, appointed Karard as the coach, and Turas as the lieutenant.
After arranging everything, Ryan announced the end of the meeting, and he himself will return to Jean City.
The humans of the old world finally breathed a sigh of relief, and this year seems to be going to be a good year.
Good times, coming force!
High-speed text hand typing Warhammer God's Throne Chapter List