Realm of Power

Akazel, a small town in the Principality of Putau, is a city close to the sea. It has always been famous for its picturesque scenery. As the cold freezing rain howled and beat on the ground, it picked up the broken garbage on the ground and gathered it into thin trickles. The stream flows rapidly along the gutters on both sides of the street. The temperature in Akazel has truly entered the freezing winter. White ice floes have formed on the sea. All ships are forced to dock in the port. The population of the small town is 30,000. Among the ten people in the Principality of Putau Among the seven cities, they can only be regarded as third-tier cities.

Although it is far away from the center of the principality, news from the inland still spreads rapidly here. In Guangping, the center of the city, more than a dozen Putao citizens gathered together. Their expressions were very strange. She looked very happy, and timid whispers sounded from time to time inside.

"Have you heard? His Excellency the Duke has returned to Lisbon!"

"That's nonsense. It's just a rumor. Lisbon is already in ruins. Where would a ghost go back?"

"True color, even if it is hell, the Duke will fight for this! These are the Duke's original words. Don't forget, just because of this, Gang Feiren once wanted to assassinate him!" A Putao civilian said with an excited expression , eyes firm and unusually firm

"Crazy! It's really crazy. You are so stupid that you believe those unreliable rumors! What if the Duke really returns to Lisbonto? Defeat the Confederates? It's impossible to even dream about it!" A citizen said next to him While watching, he shook his head and said, "If I were the Duke, I would be an inhumane puppet. I would have food and drink, how great it would be!"

"Shameless! It's because of people like you that our principality is controlled by Gangfei people!" This citizen's words aroused the disgust of everyone nearby.

"You support the Duke, but what can the Duke give you?" the citizen said shamelessly. "It has been six years. That time Gang Fei bullied us. You have seen the Duke appear before. Don't be stupid. Putao wants to defeat us." Even if it takes a hundred years, it will be useless, because it is invincible. If you need people and soldiers, all you need is to stretch out a small hand. Even if they can be crushed to pieces, what can we do? Resist? If we continue to fight, it will only lead to cruel revenge from the gangsters. In the end, we will be the ones who suffer. It is better to become gangsters sooner. Forget it, non-humans! Although we are not pure-bred Gangfei people, at least we are second-class civilians from Gangfei, much better than those in remote areas! "

"You coward, despicable traitor!"

The Putao citizen just now turned blue in anger, and spat on the ground with contempt.

"Did I say something wrong? It's you who should reflect on it!" The scolded citizen held his head high and looked unconcerned.

"This bastard once helped a gangster lead the way, beat him up!" Someone shouted from inside. Other people immediately gathered around

"Help! Killer!" A shrill scream rang out, and before his fist fell, this Puntau man looked as if he had just experienced a severe torture.

His shout soon attracted a group of Congolese soldiers patrolling nearby. These Congolese soldiers were fully armed. Wearing armor and holding a cold spear in his hand, his murderous aura made the whispering Puntau man stop.

"What are you doing? Don't you know that gatherings of more than ten people are prohibited these days?"

The Gangfei officer leading the team glanced around with cold eyes. Finally, it fell on the citizen who was glaring at him, his tone full of murderous intent, because the recent situation was tense. Public security teams in various places have received orders to strictly prohibit gatherings of people in Puntau, and those who exceed ten people will be arrested.

"This is our Puntao land. What right do you Gangfei people have to rule like this!" This Pudao citizen raised his head without fear and looked at the surrounding Gangfei people like a fighter.

"Power? My big fist means power!" Officer Gang Fei's face was cold and he waved his hand behind him. A dozen soldiers with weapons rushed up from behind fiercely. "Come on, this common pariah said to the empire." Dissatisfied. Take it away immediately!”

"No, what do you want to do? You don't have such power, you...ah!..." The citizen struggled in panic. Gang Fei people are famous for their cruelty. The people recently arrested in the name of gathering have already Three batches of executions were executed, but no one came out alive.

"My lord, he was just drunk and talking nonsense!" some Puntau people nearby pleaded.

"Yes, we are just joking!" The Puntau man who was beaten also began to plead for mercy, but the Gangfei officer was unmoved. Instead, he waved his hand and said sternly, "All untouchables who oppose the empire should die." Those who speak for these untouchables should also die! "

"You barbarians! One day, you will get out of the land of Puntao." The citizens screamed and covered their bleeding heads with their hands. They squatted on the ground. In the bloody and tragic scene, nearby citizens one by one In silence, everyone was frightened. Everyone heard a frightening scream, and a Gangfei soldier who was rounding up severely hit the citizen in the face with the handle of his spear.

"This is what happens when you oppose the Empire!"

The leading officer had a ferocious look on his face, and without any mercy, he kept directing the soldiers to raise the handles of their spears and hit the citizens at their feet who were screaming in pain, until the citizens' shouts became weaker and weaker. Tao adopted a tolerant policy, but a conqueror is a conqueror, and the military's performance in this regard undoubtedly illustrates this point.

"Captain von Op, just educate such a pariah. If you really beat someone to death, everyone will look good!" A district police officer next to the officer quickly stretched out his hand to pull him away. Now is not the time to kill someone.

Ever since the Duke of Putau landed in Lisbon, the Puntau people who had bowed their heads when they saw Gangfei people and didn't dare to take a breath suddenly became braver, and many Puntau people had already gathered around them. , once it really aroused public anger, the dozen or so people around him were definitely not able to handle it. In the end, it took several minutes for the regional sheriff to finally ask the soldiers to stop. The citizen had already fallen into a coma. covered in blood

"Executioners, barbarians..."

The citizens were huddled together covered in blood, obviously in a semi-conscious state, but they were still muttering in a low voice.

"He's just a Pu Tao untouchable. If he's beaten to death, he'll be beaten to death!" The officer sneered indifferently. He didn't seem to want to stop just like that, but he looked at more and more Pu Tao people around him. . Those countless angry glances also made him start to feel scared from the inside.

"Okay, stop it!" he told his soldiers. "Take this guy away immediately! I have enough reasons to suspect that he has contact with the rebels in Lisbon." Only then did the soldiers react and rushed forward. A soldier tied the Puntu man with a rope. feet, and then used war horses to drag away the unconscious Putao civilian. A long blood trail was dragged out of the Putao man's body, in full view of countless Putao people who were covered in blood. It stretches across the entire Guangping,

The rain is like silk, washing away the blood on Guangping, but for most Puntau people, such humiliation cannot be washed away! The Duke is in Lisbon! The capital of the principality is still insisting, and such news is also spreading in the hearts of more Pudao people.

Duke Rubinthack, the Minister of Military Affairs of Congo, stood tall and tall in front of the window sill of his office. He gazed affectionately into the distance. It had just snowed in the Imperial Capital, and a white blanket enveloped the land in front of him, as well as the frozen lake in the distance. You can vaguely see civilians chipping away at the ice on the lake, and a group of white waterbirds flapping their wings and flying up, like a long line, full of the wild charm of nature. This place may not be as green and colorful as the mountain lakes in the south, but it has the natural simplicity of the northern plateau, showing innocence and beauty in the roughness.

The land in winter is filled with white smoke-like frost. The spiers of the majestic buildings on both sides are projected on the street. No one can be seen on the street. Everything looks so dead. The sun slants to the west and shines through the narrow gaps between the houses. Come down and drag out long shadows

"Mr. Minister," there was a heavy sound of the door opening behind him, and the adjutant walked in from the door in a hurry, holding a battle report in his hand.

"It's the battle report from Lisbonto, right?" Rubinsack turned around, glanced at the battle report in the adjutant's hand, and joked in a relaxed tone, "Judging from the time, it should be about the same, Remshat's 40,000 troops The Putao rebels should have been defeated by now."

"I hope that guy can listen to my advice and not kill the Duke of Putao who raised an army to fight in anger. After all, the empire has not fully controlled Putao. Killing this Duke will undoubtedly greatly worsen the situation that the people of Putao have softened. manner,

"Even if it's just a useless puppet for a few days, I just hope Remshat can still remember it!" The Duke walked to his desk.

"Minister, I'm afraid you will be disappointed!" The adjutant stood up at attention, his face was not relaxed, and unexpectedly handed the report in his hand to Duke Rubensac. "It is indeed from the Lisbon battlefield, but it is not the blue color of victory." !”

"Bial, I didn't expect you to become humorous! If it wasn't victory, wouldn't it still be red for help?" Duke Rubensac smiled and stretched out his generous hand, taking the report from the adjutant's hand nonchalantly, Take the adjutant's words as a kind of ridicule. The battle losses in the Battle of the South have just been calculated recently. Although no substantial progress has been made, the Congolese army still suffered losses of more than 20,000 people, and 37 warships failed in the battle to seize the strait. ,

Duke Rubensac's heart also bleeds,

This is already the third disastrous defeat of the Imperial Navy this year. It is said that His Majesty the Emperor is furious and has decided to make great efforts to rectify the Imperial Navy, which has been disadvantaged in the war. To this end, Duke Rubensack is also troubled. The Navy is not as good as the Army. It does not require a recruitment order to recruit tens of thousands of soldiers. The Imperial Conquest The Battle of Southwest has become a wound that is difficult for the Navy to recover from. Not to mention the losses of warships, the death of tens of thousands of experienced Imperial Navy sailors is the main reason for the Imperial Navy's failure.

A qualified sailor often needs to be polished at sea for several years. After losing so much at once, the Ministry of Military Affairs has no choice but to recruit sailors from merchant ships. However, one is military and the other is civilian. The gap between the two is not just a few numbers. It only takes a few months to get used to it, but His Majesty the Emperor is eager to conquer the South, and the Navy is just trying its best to participate in the war. It is like a seriously ill patient who has not recovered yet, trying to compete with a strong and strong man. It would be strange not to be overthrown.

Remshat is so eager to capture Putau, perhaps because he wants to rely on the maritime superiority of the Putau area to revitalize the Imperial Navy. The navy has become His Majesty the Emperor's biggest worry, and everyone in the Imperial Navy is aware of this. Know.

Scanning the seal of the report, Duke Rubinthack couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. It turned out that it was not the blue color that represented victory. According to the practice of the Gang Fei army, if it was a victory or a great victory, a special royal blue color was used. Ink pad. The report in front of me is shockingly red, which means fighting hard and waiting for help.

"What's going on! What does Remshat want to do? This made Duke Rubensak's white eyebrows frown slightly, and an ominous premonition rose in his heart. Duke Putau landed in Lisbon, In his eyes, it was a stupid move.

"If it is just to drive the army to a place of despair and inspire the soldiers to die, the Duke of Putao's own reputation obviously does not have such a possibility! That is a possibility. This guy is here to die. Yes, it’s not like there wasn’t that kind of thing before. A hero full of tragedy, even if he knew he was about to die, he still stood firm in the capital and refused to retreat. After thinking about it, Rubinsaker could only make this judgment. In addition to secretly feeling some appreciation for the Duke of Putau, , and there was also no hesitation in taking action.

A regional corps entered Puntau, and a border army encircled it on the flank, in order to defeat the rebel army in the shortest possible time. On the one hand, he urgently ordered Remchat's new Tenth Crusade Army to move to Lisbonto. On the other hand, he also urgently mobilized 3,000 border guards between the two countries to move closer to Lisbonto. In front of the combined strength of the two armies of 43,000, the Putao people's strength of 15,000 should be crushed like pieces!

But now, the red color on the battle report definitely shows it. Something unexpected happened! In confusion, Duke Rubensak opened the seal of the report with his fingers, and his eyes fell on the report.

"How could this happen!" Marshal Gangfei, who has been fighting on the battlefield for thirty years, has cultivated his moral character in recent years and rarely has major mood swings. But at this moment, there is a rare look on his old face. Showing a look of horror,

Lisbonto is still stubbornly in the hands of the Puntau people! In this report, the report revealed by Remshat's Tenth Crusade Legion was a disastrous defeat. In two consecutive attacks, the legion suffered more than one-third of its battle losses and was unable to launch an attack on Lisbonto. Rubensa was most disappointed. What Duke Ke cannot accept is that until now, the attack line of the crusade has not even touched the city wall of Lisbonto, let alone conquered this semi-ruined city!

"There must be something wrong! Pu Tao definitely does not have such strength!"

Rubinsack's two white eyebrows knitted together, and he threw the report in his hand heavily on the table. His face was serious as if it was about to drip. As the minister of military affairs of the empire, his eyes would not be focused on one battle or another. In such a trivial matter as defeat, what he valued was the real content of the Battle of Lisbonto. The casualties of 13,000 imperial soldiers did not have a great impact on the military strength of the entire empire, but it had an impact on the empire's general policy. but enough to kill,

The Duke of Putau landed in the ruins of Lisbonto. This seems to be an extremely stupid strategic plan, but at this moment it shows staggering wisdom. Lisbonto, the capital of Putau, is a ruined city that has just gone through turmoil.

But it was such a city that seemed impossible to defend, but the empire's 40,000-strong army, which was armed to the teeth, suffered a bloody blow.

The news revealed here was enough for the old commander of the empire to feel a chill running down his spine.

The empire had spent countless energy and manpower over the years to plant the belief that it was not invincible in the hearts of the Puntau people. Suddenly, due to the failure of Lisbonto, it was pushed to the edge of collapse.

The public opinion of the Puntau people will soon boil again, and this time, it will no longer be able to be easily transferred and calmed down like Remshat, all because the symbolic significance of Lisbonto is far greater than the actual occupation. The capital of Pudao, at this moment, is like a bright beacon that suddenly shines in the hearts of the people of Pudao, rekindling the belief in the country in the hearts of the already confused Pudao people. A nation suddenly regains its soul. And still in such a tragic way

Especially the rumors that I don’t know where they came from,

The Duke's words, "Even if my country turns into hell, I will fight to the death for it" have spread throughout the entire Puntau region in just a few days! The Duke's image at this moment is like a tragic warrior who fought to the death with his motherland on his back.

Duke Rubensac could predict that under the exaggeration of invisible emotions, the people's hearts in Putao were pouring towards the Duke at a speed visible to the naked eye. As long as the Duke of Putao stayed in Lisbonto, which was almost an abandoned city, Putao's People's hearts will keep moving closer, overwhelming and unstoppable, and eventually form a torrent that will force the empire to give in.

Looking at the report in his hand, the old coach Rubin Thacker felt at a loss. He was very sure that Pu Tao people definitely did not have such strength! Otherwise, there would be no need to adopt such a seemingly tricky but outrageous method.

What the other party thought was that it turned the entire war into a battle for the city of Lisbonto. It was really a clever layout. From the moment they landed in Lisbonto, the empire's army was completely dancing according to the opponent's baton. Well!

So who can tell yourself who the man who stands behind the solid wall of Lisbonto and is waving the baton is!

This is an unfair war!

"Your Excellency, Admiral Lecco of the Navy Ministry wants to see you!" The guard's voice sounded outside the door, (To be continued...)