Chapter 872 [0869] The Dilemma of the Iron Thorn Kingdom

In the sudden glimpse of the dream, Lissandra came up with the idea of ​​recruiting troops from the Ironthorn Kingdom to give Ashe and Demacia a little surprise.

With this idea in mind, Lissandra cautiously jumped into the dream world, wanting to learn more about the situation in the Iron Thorn Kingdom in more detail - and after some searching, she had some subtleties about her original plan. of hesitation.

The Iron Thorn Kingdom... can they really be recruited as reinforcements?

The main reason for this idea is that the situation in the Ironthorn Kingdom is now extremely bad. Even if Lissandra can encourage the raiders of the East Freljord to rush south for reinforcements, they may not be able to resist Nok. The front line of the Sassanids.

The main reason for all this is that the local "royal family" is not qualified.

……………………

It all started when Noxus was disintegrated.

After the disastrous defeat of Tobitsia and the direct flight of a large number of nobles based on the Black Rose, there was an astonishing power vacuum in the center of power in Noxus, and a large number of positions that looked like they were fat at first glance were vacated.

These positions used to belong to some old nobles and were the product of Swain's compromise with them. At that time, in order to unite the domestic forces as much as possible, Swain and the Black Rose reached a partial reconciliation and stopped disposing of the old nobles. , and designated some simple, profitable, and irrelevant positions as bargaining chips for the old nobles.

When Tobitsia was defeated and Black Rose ran away, most of the old nobles in these positions ran away with Black Rose, and the few remaining ones were also liquidated. Suddenly, a large number of vacancies appeared. For these vacancies, , many people are ready to make a move.

If Swain was still here, he would have used his flexible skills to take out these positions and even the manors and territories of the old nobles, and use them as bait to lure other local forces to use them for Noxus, but it is a pity. , as his successor, although Darius has the same excellent military command level, he is unable to handle so many chores politically.

Therefore, after the defeat, Noxus gathered up the defeated troops and reorganized them, while at the same time directly and drastically abolished these originally redundant positions, and returned the noble estates to the Immortal Fortress.

This behavior naturally aroused dissatisfaction among local powerful people in Noxus.

You must know that Noxus is a conquering empire. It focuses on cultural tolerance and does not care about origin. Its own cultural identity is not strong. The tendency of separation in conquered areas has always existed.

The reason why all regions obey the orders of the imperial center is partly because they are unable to resist the army, and partly because successive commanders are generally better able to weigh the pros and cons of each region - any commander who cannot handle the situation will be embarrassed. to step down, and then a stronger one comes to power.

Therefore, the areas conquered by Noxus were tied to this rumbling chariot and flew forward as the chariot.

When the chariot is moving forward unstoppably, although it is a bit uncomfortable to be tied up, everyone is still willing to do it because they are also profitable.

However, as the progress of the chariot was hindered and even threatened to overturn, this method of war bundling became a bit difficult to use.

At this time, Darius still maintains a tough attitude, and places far away from the Immortal Fortress will naturally have their own little thoughts.

The car is about to overturn, why don't you get out of the car quickly?

As a result, the Noxus Empire collapsed in various places, and organizations and countries including the Black Forest Federation, the Iron Thorn Kingdom, the Second Silver Republic, the Kingdom of Lockrond, and the Watch League were established one after another. The orders of the Bird Immortal Fortress, but each do their own thing and exist in the form of kingdoms and principalities.

This event occurred in the fourteenth year of the new Fosse Byron calendar.

Among them, the Iron Thorn Kingdom and the Black Forest Federation were the first to stand out.

The Ironthorn Kingdom is located in the Ironthorn Mountains, with Diver Fort as its core. It was once the core territory of the Noxian Northern Army, supplying more than 80% of Noxus's black iron, and it is also the core area of ​​the entire northern defense.

When the Ironthorn Kingdom was established, Mr. Varrokan, the former governor of Fort Diver, once again picked up the long-lost crown and restored the "glory of the ancestors."

The reason why it is said to be the glory of the ancestors is mainly because the birth of the Iron Thorn Kingdom was even earlier than the Noxus Empire. However, more than 200 years ago, the Noxians who were invaded by false pretense came here to "assist On the pretext of "defending the Freljord barbarian attack", they took advantage of the situation and annexed it.

Since then, a large number of permanent fortifications have been built by Noxus in the area around Dredge Fort as a first-line defense against marauders.

In addition, the black iron ore in the Iron Thorn Mountains has also become an indispensable military supply for Noxus. A large number of people from Fort Diver work in the dark and deep mines all year round. It also works non-stop all year round, providing key armor and weapons for Noxus, the rumbling tank.

For Mr. Varrokan, restoring the country seems to be a very simple matter - the Battle of Tobitsia mobilized most of the empire's elites, and the miners and blacksmiths who worked all year round at Fort Diver also had a huge impact on the Noxians. The behavior of "just getting goods without giving money" is quite dissatisfying.

The result of hard work is that he can only fill his stomach with black bread, and he may not be full. In this case, all it takes is a little incitement, and the entire Diver Fort is on Varrokan's side.

So, the autonomous regions of the Delverhold and the Black Forest fired the first shot in the division of the Noxian Empire. They suddenly attacked the local garrison, won the victory after a brutal siege, took over all the fortresses and defense facilities, and then loudly celebrated the great victory of the remaining Ironthorn Kingdom.

If the story ended here, it would look really good.

But the people of the Ironthorn Kingdom could never have imagined that the independence of the kingdom was the beginning of a nightmare.

With the independence of the Ironthorn Kingdom, the first problem arose - no one bought the kingdom's black iron ore.

In the past, black iron ore was the official military supply of Noxus. Noxus would take all the black iron ore mined by the Delverhold, but now with the independence of the Ironthorn Kingdom, the locals were embarrassed to find that no one wanted their ore.

The sluggish sales of black iron ore directly affected the economy of the newly established Ironthorn Kingdom. In order to solve the outlet of black iron ore, Valrokan even tried to carry out "his own northern trade".

They heard some "experience" of Demacia's northern trade from somewhere, and applied it to the Kingdom of Ironthorn.

Demacia's northern trade is with the Freljordians and Ionians.

Then we can do it too!

The Freljordians are to the north, and Ionia is across the sea to the east. As long as the trade route is opened, the black iron that could only be exchanged for black bread from Noxus in the past will be exchanged for gold from trade!

With this beautiful idea, Valrokan started the reform of northern trade in the year of independence.

However, the Freljordians to the north of the Kingdom of Ironthorn are not the Avarosa tribe, but a group of raiders - engaging in northern trade? Who can rob and trade with you?

Fortunately, the fortifications left by the Noxians were still strong. Under the threat of the raiders, the Ironthorn Kingdom did not suffer much loss. After several fruitless attacks on the Delverhold, the raiders simply turned their troops around and started an internal conflict. In this situation, they finally tried to take out some things they thought were unimportant and wanted to exchange some black iron weapons and equipment with the Delverhold.

Valrokan, who felt that there was a chance for trade in the North, offered a very favorable price and waited happily for the tribes to fight each other and then have to increase purchases from him.

However, the development of things deviated from his expectations from the beginning.

Due to the abnormal concentration of Anivia's breath and elements in the Freljord, the lifespan of black iron, which is strong and reliable elsewhere, has been sharply reduced in the Freljord. Although it is still better than ordinary steel and can last for a year or two, it still seriously affects sales.

The raiders, who were not fond of trading, soon gave up these troublesome black irons, and the process of trade in the North was interrupted.

The cessation of trade in the North was not a desperate situation. For the Ironthorn Kingdom, they still had the possibility of trade with Ionia. The envoys of Valrokan also arrived in Ionia at this time and hoped to conduct trade.

In order to get closer, the envoys of the Ironthorn Kingdom tried to package themselves as a "righting the wrongs". In their view, Noxus invaded Ionia, so the two sides were hostile, and the Ironthorn Kingdom was independent from Noxus, which proved that we could become each other's allies.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend!

Since they are friends, there is no problem in conducting some mutually beneficial trade with each other!

However, they did not realize that this way of thinking would not work in Ionia. When they arrived in Ionia, Irelia had already stepped down and the conservatives took power.

Although these guys will clap their hands and watch the Noxian Empire die, they will not further intervene in the dispute or even actively participate in the process of dismembering the Noxian Empire. For them, any radical actions may be to assist radical civilian organizations such as the Shadow Stream and the Navoli Brotherhood.

So, at this time, the main trend in Ionia is "peace, not war".

Even further "love, not confrontation".

In this case, the envoys of the Iron Thorn Kingdom lobbied in many ways, but most areas of Ionia did not want to increase armaments and recapture Weili.

In desperation, the envoy tried to contact the Shadow Stream to see if this organization could buy some black iron.

The Shadow Stream is still actively preparing for war, and is even ready for civil war, but for them, black iron... is meaningless.

As we all know, the main members of the Shadow Stream are a group of assassins and a group of shadow casters.

The Navoli Brotherhood is a military organization mainly composed of militia and scattered soldiers.

Neither the Shadow nor the Navoli Brotherhood had the idea or need to form heavy infantry, and black iron was not convenient for casting light weapons. In Noxus, it was generally used to forge heavy armor or heavy weapons...

So, although the Shadow and the Navoli Brotherhood had a good attitude and were willing to cooperate with the Ironthorn Kingdom, it was a pity that the two sides had no areas or room for cooperation at all.

Moreover, Valrokan had never been able to open up the sea transportation link from the Delverhold to Ionia - under the premise that Bilgewater completely monopolized Ionia's sea transportation trade, even if they wanted to trade, they could only rent Bilgewater's ships.

Sarah would not give the Ironthorn Kingdom a discount!

In the end, the envoy returned to the Delverhold sadly, announcing the failure of Ionia's trade.

The failure of the northern trade and the failure of the Ionian trade brought the economy of the Delverburg to the brink of collapse. With the arrival of autumn that year, their food supply even had problems - although they could import food from the Black Forest Federation, Tukugur, where the Black Forest Federation is located, is not a grain-producing area, and food must be imported from the Principality of Valoran!

The imported food, which was not cheap in the first place, was already unaffordable when it arrived at the Delverburg after several changes of hands.

It happened that at this time, black iron ore and black iron products fell into a sluggish state, and the income of miners and blacksmiths also dropped sharply.

Under the influence of the two phases, the residents of the Ironthorn Kingdom, who could at least fill their stomachs with black bread, found in despair that after the kingdom became independent, they could not eat enough.

Of course, if things stopped there, they could completely blame the Noxus Empire. After all, it was Noxus that eliminated the Ironthorn Kingdom's ability to take care of its own food and completely transformed it into a giant fortress, a large mine, and a forge that never shut down.

If they could persist in independent struggle and endure hunger, the Iron Thorn Kingdom might not be unable to develop agriculture.

However, the common people of the Iron Thorn Kingdom could endure it, but Valrokan could not.

Now that they have become kings and restored their former glory, why don't they show off?

In this economic downturn, Valrokan and many members of the Valrokan family have unanimously improved their living conditions, and even mobilized the common people in winter to build a "palace that meets their status" for themselves, which should be "comparable to the Immortal Fortress".

This series of operations directly brought the reputation of the Valrokan family to the bottom, triggering endless anger among the common people of the Iron Thorn Kingdom - in the hungry and cold winter, they felt shamefully deceived.

Although the Noxians were urging the miners and blacksmiths to work, at least they could eat all the black bread they wanted, and the whole family was not in danger of freezing and starving.

But now that the Ironthorn Kingdom has become independent, we are starving, and only the Valrokan family has started to show off...

The dissatisfaction of the people is visible to the naked eye, but the Valrokan family in the Delverhold has the only regular army in the area, so they are not panicking - in their opinion, even if those mud legs are unhappy, they can't do anything.

However, at this time, the Black Forest Federation in Tukgur next door was persuaded to surrender by the Noxians, and changed the Noxian flag again, and turned back into a Noxian autonomous region...

The brothers who supported each other surrendered, and the only food import channel for the Ironthorn Kingdom was gone. This time Valrokan finally panicked.

In desperation, he even began to pray to the Frost Witch of Freljord - he knew very well that the hungry Delverhold people could not do anything to him, but if there was no food, Delverhold would really become a powder keg.

And it was under this situation that Lissandra connected to Valrokan's dream.

After learning about the situation in the Delverhold through dreams, Lissandra soon had a clear understanding of the Ironthorn Kingdom.

There is no hope, destroy it, quickly.

Originally, I thought of contacting the Ironthorn Kingdom, but now it seems that this kingdom that is doomed to die might as well be used as a bargaining chip to trade with the Noxians...

Although Demacia and Noxus have restored peace, if there is a chance, Noxus should not mind giving Demacia a little surprise, right?

With this in mind, a complete plan began to take shape in Lissandra's mind.

Ah, it's the last day of November, do you still have monthly tickets?