Realm of Power

In the early morning, an attendant cautiously opened the bedroom door and used a candle to light the candlestick that had accumulated candle tears. The dim yellow light woke up Hassan Rimbaud, who was sleeping soundly on his desk.

"My lord, there is an urgent order. The messenger is waiting in the front hall. Please go and greet him quickly." The attendant said to him cautiously.

"Emergency Order"

Hassan Rimbaud tilted his aching neck, stretched his numb limbs, hurriedly put on his coat and rushed to the front hall. Before he arrived, he saw the entire hall filled with bright lights and shadows. A group of emperor's guards wearing double-winged armor stood at the door of the hall, looking at him with a vigilant look.

"The emperor's imperial guards? Didn't you say that the investigators will arrive in half a month? Why did they arrive so early!"

Hassan Rimbaud's long-tested eyebrows frowned slightly, and an ominous premonition arose in his heart. When he walked into the hall, a tall and burly captain of the Guards was already waiting. When he saw him, he quickly came up to him and took off his helmet. He bent down and saluted, "Is this Mr. Hassan Rambo? Hello, I am Eric, captain of the seventh regiment of the Guards. Sorry to disturb you."

"You are Eric!" Hassen Rimbaud paused, and it turned out to be someone he knew. He nodded and said, "I have seen you. You were one of the people who came from Kyoto last time to exchange Miss Julia with the Julius family. One is Philip from the Intelligence Department, and the other is you! "

"I didn't expect Lord Hassan Rimbaud to still remember the little one," Guardsman Eric laughed.

"That's fine. I don't have to prove myself. This is a letter written by Miss Algernon Julia." Eric took out a secret letter from his arms and handed it to Hassen Rimbaud, who was confused. "Please take a look at it. I believe it." Your Excellency also knows that Kyoto is conducting a thorough investigation into the criminal incident of selling military supplies. This time, we have specially advanced our trip in order to eliminate those worms selling military supplies as soon as possible. Please help me! "

"Help!" Hassen Rimbaud's strong heart trembled. After taking the secret letter and reading it over, his face became ugly and he suddenly became silent.

The situation was worse than he expected, and this time the Imperial Guard took direct action. It shows that the woman is determined. In order to avoid accidents during the escort, the Guards have the power to execute the target immediately after catching it. They do not even need the most basic review. What a ruthless woman, as long as one does not need to be investigated of those who are dissatisfied with it. It will be cleaned up. As for the sale of military supplies, in such a chaotic situation, it is not just a casual saying, but the tens of thousands of troops on the Western Front were abandoned for 2 months without any care. The soldiers were so hungry that they had to dig wild vegetables to fill the food. abdomen. Who will pursue such a crime? ,

"Lord Hassen Rimbaud!" Eric, the captain of the Guards, saw Hassen Rimbaud was silent, and his face suddenly darkened.

"Ahem, isn't the culprit of reselling military supplies already in Kyoto?" Hassan Rimbaud coughed dryly. After a long time of wind and waves, I have never seen any scenes. He said slowly and solemnly, "It was very clear some time ago that the businessmen from the northwest were behind it. They also confiscated the property of so many people from the northwest. The smell of blood has been lingering for more than a month, and now they want to arrest people again, Miss Julia." What are you going to do?"

"Please be careful with your words, Mr. Hassan Rimbaud!" Eric snorted with great dissatisfaction, and several guards immediately surrounded him with murderous intent. Seeing that the posture seemed to indicate the intention of taking direct action, a hot-blooded The advancing guard immediately grasped the sword with murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

Feeling the coldness in the atmosphere, Hassan Rimbaud's face was slightly cold and he said politely

"What? Do you still want to take action here? This is the headquarters of the Sixth Army. There are three squadrons of the Sixth Army stationed outside! As long as there is an accident here, they will rush in and tear you apart. They don’t see the majesty of the Imperial Guard!”

"Don't get me wrong, Mr. Hassan Rimbaud! Young people are ignorant!"

Eric's expression changed, and then he realized that he was at Hassan Rambo's base camp, and he quickly apologized with a smile. He glared hard at the Guardsman. He was Algernon Julia's confidant, and he was responsible for the Kyoto Incident. The Ministry of Military Affairs was severely weakened in this incident, and military power fell to Algernon Julia. In his hands, his status also rose with the tide, although in name only He is still just the captain of the Imperial Guard, but his supervisory power is so high that it even exceeds that of an ordinary general. For Hassen Rimbaud, the empire's first general who has expired, he completely watched the other party once help redeem him. It was only for the sake of returning to Algernon that Julia was so polite.

According to the previous plan, if the other party had any objections to the matter, he would not mind arresting Hassen Rimbaud immediately, and he believed that Hassen Rimbaud, as the main commander of the Western Front Army, had an unshirkable responsibility for selling military supplies. It’s too easy to make up a crime, but I didn’t expect that Hassan Rimbaud is the kind of person who doesn’t accept hard and soft policies.

Taking a deep breath, Eric suppressed his inner reluctance and said, "Don't you, adults, not know the principle of eradicating all evils? It's useless to just remove the dead branches of a broken tree. It must be uprooted." They all have to be eradicated!”

The young guard turned his nostrils upward and said in a cold voice filled with arrogance, "Moreover, the lady had already received a tip-off when she was in Kyoto. In the area where Lord Hassan Rimbaud was stationed, it was said that a large number of soldiers were fleeing! Don't worry about those moths, sir!" , it’s better to pay more attention to this! If this situation continues to expand, I don’t know how many people Mr. Hassan Rambo will have left when the Northern Army arrives. Don’t let those guys in the Northern Army see the joke, Miss. If I brought it, I brought it.”

After Eric finished speaking, he laughed, and left arrogantly with a group of guards. As soon as he stepped out of the door of Hasen Rimbaud's residence, Eric's face turned gloomy, and his eyes flashed with a hint of coldness.

The Guards officer with his sword drawn next to him asked curiously, "Sir, according to the plan, we just arrested that old guy who was getting in the way. He was beaten like a dog by the Falcon Empire. What are you doing in front of us?" With his reputation as a famous general, as long as he is on the Western Front, it will be difficult for us to capture him. Even if he has three squadrons of troops under his command, I don’t believe that the troops below will dare to move after he is captured!”

"What do you know! The lady said that Hassan Rimbaud is a fierce tiger. He is cautious by nature, and he has a perception that is different from ordinary people. If you are not completely sure, don't take action easily!" Eric looked at the black sky above his head and spoke solemnly. Says "Don't compare Harsen Rimbaud to those other generals, just look at how many times he destroyed his enemies from the clutches of the Vecian Falcon. You can tell how powerful he is by escaping. The falcon's claws never fail. This proverb makes everyone frown. It has no effect on this guy who is as quiet as a virgin and as active as a rabbit. Rusty will fight in the early stage. , the Eighth Army Corps that attacked at the same time was swallowed whole by the Falcon Army, but his Sixth Army firmly withstood the Falcon Army's attack throughout the winter.

Late in the Battle of Rusty, on the Eastern Front. When the central line fell completely, he held on to the western front for 18 days. In the end, despite the encirclement and pursuit by the Falcon Army, he was still alive and well and escaped with tens of thousands of troops from the encirclement. At this moment, all the Gallic generals were waiting to see Falcon flag and trembling inside. He was the only one who dared to face the wind and led more than a dozen attendants and guards to patrol the border every day. To be fair, if all the generals in Gaul could be like him, the empire would not have become what it is today in just two years. What a look! "

"Then why are you targeting him deliberately?" The Guards officer became more and more puzzled. Such a famous general. Why treat it this way?

"Appreciation is appreciation, Rusty's battle. It has shown that Hassan Rimbaud can't stop the Falcon Army!" Eric sighed. "The 110,000-strong army of the Northern Army marching westward is about to arrive. The army needs a commander. In terms of qualifications and reputation, as well as experience fighting the Falcon Army, ha Sen Lanbo is the best choice, which is something I don’t want to see. The Northern Army is the last elite force in the empire. If possible, Miss hopes to send the most trustworthy person to take command, so she must severely suppress Hasen Lan! Bo, it’s best to let him give up this idea in the end! "

During the autumn harvest season in August, the golden wheat waves turned into wheat straw piled several meters high in the fields, and the fragrance of cooking smoke wafted in the wind.

With a slight feeling of ambiguity and helplessness, Xu Lidong, the special envoy of the Central Asian Empire, looked at the scene outside the carriage. The half-setting sun shone on the river in front, and the stones and the water surface were glowing with golden luster. After entering the Falcon Empire-controlled area from the Gaul border, Xu Lidong paid special attention to everything outside the car window.

This was the first contact between the Zhongbia Empire and another powerful empire, the Falcon Empire. It seems that the Rusty area, where the Gauls were rumored to have lost many troops, has basically returned to normal. Although the roads are still somewhat bumpy, compared with the vast ruins on the border of the battle, this place is already very lush. This was originally a very prosperous place. It was an ordinary scene, but Xu Dongli felt a lot of emotions.

August is supposed to be the harvest season. In my hometown of Zhongbia, the desolation of the fields has become more and more serious due to the war. A large number of strong laborers have been forced to join the army and are constantly being consumed on the battlefield. Even with With its solid population base, the Central Asian Empire also began to suffer from a shortage of human resources. Of course, the most critical thing is that the most densely populated northern region of the Zhongbia Empire has been trampled by the iron hoofs of the nomadic Dongting people. The population has been reduced by 50%, and large areas of fertile land have become no man's land where corpses are left. Excellent In the fields, only weeds as tall as humans grow. When the wind blows, they make a frightening swaying sound.

The people of Dongting do not have a tradition of managing the population. In their eyes, the people in the occupied area are just wastes wasting food besides becoming slaves. Wastes have no value left behind.

They should all be killed. The most valuable thing is to turn the land stained by human blood into the most fertile pasture. This is the most direct idea of ​​​​the Dongting nobles. They lead the cavalry to slaughter the Central Asians and destroy the fertile land. It turned into a wasteland, and one city after another became a dead zone. The heads of the dead were strung up and hung on the city gates. The strings of skeletons made a shuddering whine when the wind blew by.

The cruel Dongting people firmly believed that what they did was inspired by Changshengtian, and they were following the will of Changshengtian. They even slaughtered people with awe-inspiring righteousness. Wherever the nomadic cavalry going south passed, almost all corpses littered the fields, and the city It was a scene of ruined families and one-tenth of the population of Central and South-Bia disappeared like this.

The once powerful empire was trampled to pieces by the rolling horseshoes coming from the grassland, and was overwhelmed by the scimitars of the grassland people. A large area of ​​​​the north fell. What made the Central Asian Empire most anxious was the large iron ore mines in the northern region. It also fell into the hands of the Dongting people. In the past, the equipment of the Dongting cavalry was mainly leather armor. Iron armor has become more and more popular now, and there is enough iron to forge arrow clusters. The arrows of the Dongting Cavalry were falling down as if they were free. In the past, when the Dongting Cavalry went into battle, they would carry no more than twenty arrow clusters in their quivers. After shooting, they would draw their swords and charge. But now, one quiver is full. It was full, and bundles of spare arrows were dragged behind by a carriage, as soon as the battle started. Just cum! shoot! shoot! , the infantry of the Zhongbia Empire could not withstand such tactics, and almost became phobic. And this year, the report submitted by the forging officer also made the emperor of the Zhongbia Empire panic.

Now it is the Zhongbia Empire's turn to be short of iron. There are not many iron ores in the southern part of the Zhongbia Empire, and the consumption on the front line has reached the bottom line of the inventory. Just like if a large amount of iron ore cannot be found for half a year, the soldiers on the front line will face the miserable situation of having no arrows to shoot and no armor to wear.

Thinking about fighting against the prairie cavalry with unparalleled riding and shooting, without arrow clusters to use and no armor to stop them, it would be a fate of being massacred.

Since there is no such thing in the country, the Zhongbia Empire has put its thoughts on the Gauls. After so many years of fighting, the Gauls' heavily armored infantry regiment with extremely poor mobility has always been the object of ridicule by the Zhongbia Empire. . But now, it's starting to make the Central Asians jealous. How much iron must be used to make the iron lumps of each legion!

"Sir, will the Falcon Empire really agree to our deal?"

Deputy envoy Gongsun Liang sat opposite Xu Dongli and asked worriedly. He looked out the carriage window in a panic. They were originally ordered to go to Gaul to negotiate the arms trade, but they stayed in the capital of Gaul for two days. It took me a month to realize that the entire Kyoto was about to turn into a large foundry. The speed of producing 20,000 sets of infantry armor per month was not unreasonable. However, faced with a huge gap, even I could not take care of such a number of weapons. In a short time, Time is unable to supply China and Bia,

"That's not the way to go!"

The two men, who were burdened with an important mission, joined together and continued westward. I heard that it was because of the emergence of a very terrible opponent in the west of Gaul that the Gauls fell into such a tragic situation. The two men took more than thirty people with them. The subordinates spent more than a month traveling across the entire Gaul. Along the way, they heard rumors about how cruel Falcon Junrui was. The two of them wanted to turn around and go back several times. , but thinking of the troubled Central Asians, and of the imperial warriors who needed armor and weapons to resist the invasion of the grassland people, the two of them gritted their teeth and continued westward. On a sunny afternoon, the mission had the desire to fight to the death. Heart, passed through the Gaul-controlled area and entered the Falcon Empire-controlled area. The Falcon Empire cavalry patrolling along the way thought that the opponent was a caravan and let them go without too much trouble.

Seeing the so-called brutality, on the contrary, there is peace after a good harvest in various places. In some fields, you can see the fields of intensive cultivation, which are not comparable to the sparse wheat grown by the Gauls who randomly grab a few seeds and throw them into the ground. When passing a river, the two of them couldn't look away from the car window.

A huge roulette-like thing a few meters away from the edge of the river caught their attention. The water flow hit the disk, causing bursts of white water splashes. The roulette wheel was rotated by the impact of the water flow. The water on the roulette wheel was stuck easily. Then the lower-lying river water was poured into the water channels. The river water followed the stone-stacked water channels and entered the higher fields.

"What an incredible thing!" As one of the foundry officials, Xu Dongli's eyes were almost dazzled by the waterways. He irrigated the fields without using any manpower. In this way, he was The perception of the Falcon Empire was suddenly turned upside down. This was still on the battlefield. Area, I don’t know what other areas will be like. Three days later, the mission entered the bustling Southwest District. A group of black-armored cavalry appeared on the side of the mission. These cavalry were covered in black as ink from head to toe. Although the armor is a bit darker, it has a ghostly luster.

The cavalry above all looked fierce and murderous, and they looked like real elite troops at first glance. Although they already knew from the Gauls that these cavalry, all covered in black armor, were actually the very noble Central Army of the Falcon Empire.

The weapons are not the common big and bulky bows and spears, but a bow shooter called a crossbow on his back, a curved long sword on his waist, and a cavalry lance hanging on the side of the horse. That's all. Weird weapons made the Falcon Army powerful.

According to the Gauls, the crossbows on the backs of these Falcon cavalry can shoot through targets at a distance of 200 meters, and the curved swords on their waists can cut through the strongest armor.

There is also a huge crossbow as big as a bed frame that can shoot 500 meters, and a weapon that can act like a thunder flash. That is the real killer weapon. Just the sound can kill anyone who is on the battlefield for the first time. The recruits were scared to death

In the past, Xu Dongli thought that this was the Gauls' exaggeration towards the enemy in order to cover up their own defeat.

But when he saw a fat man in black armor, riding a horse and raising a crossbow with his hand, Xu Dong nailed a big wild boar that sprang out of the woods on the roadside to the ground with a roaring arrow. Li's eyes were so bright that he couldn't live without that crossbow anymore, and his mouth almost watered. It was simply a magical weapon to deal with the prairie cavalry!