Realm of Power

Raindrops were falling on the plains of northern Gaul. The rain and fog were hazy in front of me, and it was almost impossible to see objects hundreds of meters in front of me.

Strong winds swept through the nearby woods, making a roaring sound. The ground was muddy. Three consecutive days of heavy rain washed away the bridge in front. The river surface, which used to be only about thirty meters, quickly rose to about a hundred meters. The mud carried by the flood rushed towards the river below. The town was like a giant red and yellow dragon rolling around. The 110,000 Gallic army led by the famous Gallic general Yarde was forced to block the pass area with dense water network in the northern plain.

After ordering the troops to be stationed on the spot, Yarde held his third military meeting since the northern advance in his military tent. Because of the sufficient troops, familiarity of the terrain, and high morale of the army, he was not sure about the prospects of this counterattack in the northern region. , the Gallic generals maintained an optimistic and positive attitude,

"The Slavs are already in ruins. It only takes one attack to completely eliminate the hidden danger!"

Among the many generals, the most eye-catching is naturally Figueros, who has recently surpassed Hassan Rimbaud and become the number one general in Gaul. Due to his consecutive victories, he has been promoted from a squadron leader to more than ten The forward general of the ten thousand army, the 20,000 Gaulish troops gathered under his command, are the entire army The most powerful force, ever since the battle of Anrak defeated the 100,000 Slavic troops heading south, the name Figueros spread throughout the battlefield like the wings of the wind. He reversed the situation of the battle in Anrak, broke through the obstruction of the Slavic army, and advanced rapidly, one day. Several cities give this name a lot of meaning.

"Figueros! What else can you do?"

After the meeting, Figueros unexpectedly did not leave.

Alder raised his hand to him, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, but he still said with a bright smile. Command the forward troops. Figueros, who defeated the Slavic obstruction and opened the way for the rear army, has become the morale of the entire army. The soldiers are full of excitement for this undefeated general who emerged from the crisis. "Figueros is the number one general in the empire, and Figueros has made unparalleled achievements." Recently, this kind of whisper has been constantly heard in the legion headquarters of Yarde. In addition to admiration, it also contains jealousy and defensive psychology. In fact. An important reason why Yarde was able to crush the Slavic defense line with all his strength was due to Figueros's ability to contain the Slavic forces from the flanks. This fact is obvious to all.

"Are you tired? Come on! Sit down first! Do you want fruit wine or strong wine?" Yard shook his head kindly and picked up the wine on the table. He said to his confidant and beloved general, "However, you can't ask for too much when you are on the front line. You can only enjoy it after you return!"

"Figueros has no other request. He just wants to ask, are the rumors about that incident true?" Figueros asked with a solemn expression, eager to confirm the authenticity of something.

"What's the matter?" Alder frowned slightly. He almost knew what Figueros would ask. This matter had already spread in Gaul and Kyoto, but Yalder believed that it was something that Kyoto needed to consider. As an imperial soldier, the first thing to do is to defeat the enemy.

"I heard that someone in Kyoto used the important bargaining chip of the Julius family to exchange the captured emperor's affairs officer without authorization." Figueros gritted his teeth and asked boldly

"...What's going on?"

A gloomy look flashed across Alder's face, deliberately appearing unconcerned, and Figueros saw it. He already knew the answer in his heart, but he still asked unwillingly, "Some people say that this is approved by His Majesty the Emperor. Although I don't know the specific details of this exchange, using such an important bargaining chip to exchange for someone is always unjustifiable." "

"That's His Majesty the Emperor's affairs officer! He's not an ordinary person!"

"Say this, it's a fact!" Figueros sat down and put his hands under his knees, his face became darker and darker as he listened.

This incident is a major event with important influence on the entire Gallic military community. It has become an indisputable fact that His Majesty the Emperor has a strong preference for the Algernon family. However, the Algernon family was destroyed by the Northwest during the foreign war. The Falcon Empire was defeated again and again, and lost its empire. The Imperial Army's hundreds of thousands of troops (although Hassan Rimbaud led the battle in Rusty, the post-war responsibility was still blamed by Kyoto on the fact that supervisor Algernon Julia failed to supervise the battle and took over the command without authorization). The world has regarded the Algernon family as poison to the empire.

The one who gets the most attention and attracts everyone's hateful eyes is naturally the extremely beautiful Algernon Julia, the emperor's affairs officer. In fact, some people have begun to describe this woman as a disaster to the country!

"...Yes!" Yard hesitated for a moment, and even though he felt very unhappy, he nodded slightly. He saw that Figueros's face was quite serious, even stern. It seemed that he was not just asking casually. That tone went beyond the respect that subordinates should have for their superiors.

After hearing Alder's answer, Figueros looked pained, exhaled a long breath full of resentment, and said with a sneer, "I'm so naive, I thought that if I fought wholeheartedly for the empire, the empire would also pay something for me." Compensation, adults have also made promises, but now, I find that I Wrong, it turns out that Lord Arde would choose to remain silent in the face of a truly powerful opponent! Letting the Julius family, whose hands are stained with the blood of the Normans, just go away without a chance of survival is really hard for his subordinates to control themselves. !" Figueros' face was sad, with a hint of anger and pleading in his voice!

"You are getting more and more presumptuous, Figueros!"

Alder drank the wine in the glass in one breath and glared at Figueros below with great displeasure. He knew very well that this Norman was not satisfied with the Julius family that was in power in the northwest and watched millions of Normans being massacred. Dissatisfied, in his heart, he may not be thinking of one day using the Gallic Emperor to However, the strong rise of the Falcon Empire has made the whole hope more and more dimmer. In order to stimulate the enthusiasm of this confidant general, he once promised in private that if Figueros performed well enough, His Majesty the Emperor would He might hand over the Julius family like prisoners to his disposal.

But now, now that even the Julius family, the object of hatred, is out of control, it is no wonder that Figueros is filled with boundless resentment for the emperor's decision.

"Don't forget, this is His Majesty the Emperor's decision!"

Alder's face turned a little red after drinking. Faced with the promise he made, he had to admit that he had broken his promise! then. While feeling ashamed, this recognition turned into disordered thoughts, which then produced a powerful rebound. He glared viciously at Figueros below, like a child trying to resist.

"As a general of Gaul, your doubts go beyond the bottom line! Do you want your personal grievances to override the interests of the empire?"

Aldert held the wine glass tightly with his fingers, making a squeaking and rubbing sound. His livid face and fiery eyes also deeply hurt Figueros. The moment Figueros' eyes dimmed, the two of them realized at the same time that the invisible but extremely precious kindness of knowing each other had quietly opened a rift!

"I dare not, I am your loyal subordinate! I am also His Majesty the Emperor." Figueros lowered his head, his eyes were completely bloodshot.

"Since you know this, that's enough!" Yald's face relaxed. Pretending to be natural, he waved his hand to Figueros and said, "Go down. You should have a good rest before receiving new orders to attack!"

After bowing silently, Figueros exited Alder's tent.

Alder looked at the gray-faced figure of Ai General Figueros disappearing into the tent. He drank the wine again with a depressed expression. The anger on his face had long since disappeared, leaving only the slightest trace of anger hidden in the corner of his mouth. Smiling bitterly, "Why has it evolved to this point? What terrible turbulence will be brought about by His Majesty the Emperor's willful actions!"

Alder was a little confused about the direction of the Northward Campaign, which had just made some progress. In his drunken state, he seemed to see his young self clumsily receiving the gift from his father, a general of the Guards, at the graduation ceremony. The scene of the Praetorian Guards wearing their swords

"Remember, when you step out, you carry on your shoulders the gaze of the senior guards who have been honored for three hundred years."

Yalder, a cadet of the Imperial Guard who was fifteen years old at the time, had a head of cool chestnut hair, and I don’t know how proud he was! I am so young. I almost never couldn't sleep at night, but in the middle of the night, I was lying on the bed tossing and turning and couldn't close my eyes. As a boy, Alder had soft chestnut hair and fair complexion. He looks like an angelic and beautiful boy with wings collected. He has a calm and capable demeanor, an arrogant and warlike nature, which is very different from his appearance. Therefore, in the eyes of everyone, he is just an overly serious boy.

Seriousness does not mean dullness. I studied in the aristocratic academy in Yard,

There was a boy who was one year older than Ard, with outstanding physique and wrist strength, and he was obviously the bully in the school. It was almost impossible to beat him in a one-on-one duel in school. One day, this young man wanted to take advantage of the teacher's inattention and punish Alder, who always ignored him. He wanted this handsome and beautiful boy with chestnut hair to surrender. Under your own feet! Threatening, Alder's jewel-like blue eyes looked at him, and then suddenly kicked him in the private parts with his legs unexpectedly. When he fell forward, he grabbed a stone and beat him hard, even though the boy had already When he lost his fighting spirit and his face was covered with blood, Yard still refused to give up. Fortunately, the teacher rushed over after receiving the notification from other students and pulled him away.

Alder was unscathed and looked calm, as if nothing had happened. He was standing nearby and adjusting his clothes slowly, as if nothing had happened. It was just when the teacher pointed out that there were stains on his face and body. When the blood was stained, Alder lost all his energy like a deflated rubber ball. It would be bad if my father knew! His mother would not scold him, but her sad and tender eyes frightened Alder more than his father's cold eyes. Alder decided to jump into the park's fountain with his clothes on to wash away the blood stains on his clothes. Falling into the fountain is much safer than fighting with someone!

Thinking about it afterwards, Alder felt that he was completely stupid. There was no need for him to get wet all over, because the Marquis, who knew the whole incident, did not become furious as expected, but looked at him with a shining look. Looking at him, while Alder felt his heart go crazy, he threw him a towel, called the maid to bring him two large glasses of hot wine, and then ignored his mother's eyes that could cut people into pieces. Guang pushed one of the cups of hot wine in front of the shivering Alder and said coldly, "Drink the wine. The chick that licked human blood for the first time should be treated with some exceptions! I'm very happy. It is you who beat the opponent down, not you who are beaten down by the opponent!" This was a quite comfortable experience, and then Yarde entered the Gaul Kyoto Youth Military School, and the good times in the past were over.

With a faint smile from the memory still on his lips, Alder put down his glass of wine and picked up the order from Kyoto he had just received again. His gaze recovered from the confusion. Ten days later, His Majesty the Emperor personally presided over a military meeting to discuss the strategic plan of tilting the empire's strategy to the north and marching into the northern region with all its strength.

This was supposed to be exciting. But looking at the list of participants attached at the back of the document, Alder's drunken face looked a little gloomy. In the position where he was presiding over the meeting, he saw the name of the Emperor's Affairs Officer Algernon Julia on the list of participating officers. See the words "Algernonkaja, deputy commander of the Northward Army"!

at the same time. In the Gallic Intelligence Department, there was also a tense atmosphere. Imperial intelligence officials who were rushing back and forth occasionally glanced at an office in a remote corner of the first floor with strange expressions.

There was the office of Philip, the emperor's special intelligence officer. The Minister of Intelligence, Marquis Harlan, immediately received the report of Philip's return and thought of a major incident that had just occurred in the Southwest District. The Minister of Intelligence chose to escape from illness so unscrupulously that he forgot about those who were still imprisoned in Philep Prison.

"Come here, can anyone tell me where my adjutant is?"

Philippe, who rushed back from abroad in a dusty state, took his cloak and wanted to hand it to the adjutant, but found that there was not even a trace of a ghost. The dark office has been closed with black curtains, and there is not much light coming in. Because of the rain, the room is filled with a dark, damp musty smell.

"Ahem, what's going on?"

Philip covered his nose with his hand that was irritated by the smell, and coughed twice in displeasure. He walked to the window and pulled the curtain of the window. The light illuminated the room, and there were messy piles of documents piled on the table. . You can even see the spider webs tangled on the files, the file drawers show signs of being pried open, and there are scattered items falling on the ground, which are messy as if someone has turned them upside down.

"Bastard!" Seeing this scene, Philip immediately realized what happened to him. Have you been robbed? Impossible, there is no thief bold enough to steal from the Ministry of Intelligence, so there is only one explanation. The person who did all this is the Minister of Intelligence, Marquis Harlan himself!

Sitting on the bench in his office, his eyes were filled with anger, and his gloomy face flashed with anger like a thunderous explosion.

Ten days ago, he was ordered to exchange hostages. Although Algernon Julia now has a very bad reputation, for him, Philip, she was a truly gifted person. He escorted her along the way and encountered several people along the way. An unidentified attack finally brought Algernon Julia back to Kyoto in Gaul. In order to avoid becoming the target of criticism from all forces, Algernon Julia made a wise decision not to enter Kyoto before the imperial meeting.

"Please... is this Master Philip?" A timid voice came from the door.

"I am Philep, you are...? Philep stood up, looked at the door, and found that it was a very young intelligence officer. The two blue horizontal stripes on the cuffs of his clothes showed that he was an intelligence officer. The cadet who did not graduate from the Imperial Military Academy, and his slightly shabby face and clothing showed that his family was not wealthy. This cadet was holding an intelligence document on Ganzouba in his hand, and he looked a little nervous. trembling

"My name is Stanu, a student of the 54th batch of the Imperial Military University. I was assigned to the intern in your office three days ago!" The young student stood up straight nervously and said intermittently, "Adjutant Moro and others have been The ministry had detained and reviewed it, so I had no choice but to be bold and handle the information without permission in violation of the code of intelligence officers.”

"Censorship! What do they want to do!" A trace of anger flashed on Philip's face, and he looked at the curled document in Stanu's hand. Stanu quickly handed over the document in his hand and said cautiously, "This is it."

After taking it and taking a look, Philip's face turned pale and his body even swayed. The intern next to him, Stanu, was frightened and quickly reached out to support him.

Philip stood firm with a pale face. Unexpectedly, the first report he received when he returned to Kyoto was the news that the Southwest Division, which he most relied on, had been uprooted by the Falcon Empire. It was like a bolt from the blue.

As the general person in charge, Li Yuehua was killed in the street by the Falcon Empire army during the pursuit. Together with the more than 60 people involved in the entire southwest region intelligence department, none of them slipped through the net. It can be said that they were completely lost.

The culprit who caused all this turned out to be the Gallic Intelligence Department, which secretly colluded with the Central Asians and adjusted the head of the Southwest Region without authorization. As a result, it aroused the suspicion of the most terrifying Supervisory Department in the Falcon Empire, and then followed the clues. In one fell swoop, they uncovered this huge intelligence network that had been lurking for three months and had cost the Gallic Empire 2 million gold coins to build.

Thinking of the imperial meeting on the northward strategy ten days later, Philip's biggest idea was to beat the Minister of Intelligence, Marquis Harlan, into a pig's head.

If the intelligence source in the southwest region is cut off, how can we still fight the battle to the north?

After discovering that there is a Gaul spy in the southwest, the Falcon Empire will inevitably make adjustments, and the Slavs are not fools. They will start to closely guard against the Gaul caravans.

"Where's that stupid guy?"

He cursed unceremoniously and angrily broke into the office of Intelligence Minister Harlan. The reply from the minister's deputy was, "The minister is not feeling well, please come back another day!"