Realm of Power

Wearing blue and red velvet armor, the Marquis of Gia climbed to the top of Vernon City under the protection of six guards. The mess in front of him made him frown slightly. The collapsed position of the city gate affected part of the city wall. Fortunately, there was a huge crack. It happened to be the shooting angle of Vernon's Seventeenth Iron Guard, which was a blessing among misfortunes.

The so-called Seventeen Iron Guards of Vernon refers to the four city wall areas of Vernon City and the seventeen large-scale pillars and hundred-arch arrow towers completely constructed of huge conjoined stones. Vernon City is not a large city. It was built as the seven acropolis of Kyoto many years ago. As the gateway connecting the hinterland of Kyoto to the north, more than half of Vernon's defense power relies on these seventeen large and strong arrow towers.

"Gather people together and do your best to repair the cracks!"

The Marquis of Gia secretly breathed a sigh of relief and angrily ordered to the guards behind him. He held his hands on the ice-condensed battlements and glanced seriously at the Tielan Legion lined up in front of Vernon.

Although I was prepared in my heart, I was frightened by the sight in front of me and took a breath of air.

My God, how many people are there!

The Marquis of Giya was so frightened that he could see the entire column of troops in front of him with no end in sight, extending from one side of the ridge to the other side of Lingwai. Their spears were like a forest, and their battle armor was like snow. An overwhelming pressure was coming towards them. It was really hard. The Marquis of Gia was surprised, when did such a huge army exist in the already shaky empire!

"No wonder, no wonder Tielan has the heart to rebel!"

Marquis Gia swallowed hard. Ask yourself, if you were in control of such a huge army, you would do this. In troubled times, whoever has the power is the winner. His wavering only lasted three seconds. Thinking that once Vernon was captured by Tielan's rebels, Kyoto and his family would fall into a catastrophe. Marquis Gia gritted his teeth, pretended to be calm and pulled out his sword, and pointed at the soldiers with pale faces all around. shouted

"Everyone, what is behind us is not the Empire of Kyoto, but your parents, wives and children, your family. If the rebels are allowed to enter, everyone will be destroyed. I have asked Kyoto for help, three hours, only three hours , the reinforcements will arrive!" Marquis Giya vowed to encourage morale loudly,

"Yes, we have no way out!" The Vernon defenders were all shocked when they heard this. His eyes suddenly turned red, his sluggish morale began to rise again, and his trembling hands holding the weapon no longer trembled.

"The whole army holds fast, and the archers are on the tower!"

"Creak" Countless archers unstretched their bowstrings on the arrow towers, and the cold arrows were pointed downwards. The seventeen hundred-hole arrow towers at the top of Vernon City opened at full strength as if they had encountered a dangerous hedgehog. Looking down, Tie Lan was so angry that he almost went crazy. Vernon clearly regarded himself as a rebel! He saw a flag representing death rising slowly on top of the city. Like Tielan, the officers and soldiers of the Kyoto Army almost bulged their eyes when they saw it.

"Death flag! What's going on? Is this going to start a war?"

The soldiers looked ugly and whispered to each other. The orders they received were that the Falcon Army was approaching from behind. However, the battle flag representing the death was raised above the head of Vernon City in front. All kinds of speculations were boiling and fermenting in whispers.

"No way, is it really a rebellion?" The officers looked at each other uneasily on their horses.

"Master Tielan doesn't really want it..." Even the generals who knew the specific situation looked at Tielan with suspicion. Several generals even quietly touched the hilts of their swords, and their eyes became more and more serious. It's getting colder

"Asshole, what do you think I, Tielan, am!" Tielan was so angry that his face turned red with frustration, and he had the urge to vomit blood. An overly cautious approach on Vernon's part. It was a heavy blow to the army under his command. He could feel that the morale of the entire army was wavering. The troops under his command were the Kyoto army, and his family members, old and young, were all in Kyoto. It was no problem to go to the north to fight the enemy. If he raised If he rebels against the flag, most of the troops will mutiny immediately, and Tielan will definitely die without even being a scumbag.

"Sir, we can't let the misunderstanding continue any longer!"

At the critical moment, a figure stood out from the general. It was Pat, the commander of the 10th Infantry Regiment of the Northern Army who had just surrendered. He looked at the death flag flying above Vernon City in the distance and said in a solemn voice, "Now this kind of In this situation, the only way is to ask the adults to go to Vernon City to explain it clearly to the other party, or to eliminate the misunderstanding!"

"Now?" Tielan glanced at Pat gratefully. It's true that the wind knows the strength of the grass, and adversity reveals the heart. No one would have thought that when support was needed the most, only this newly surrendered Northern Army general would stand up to support him. ,

"I'm afraid it won't work now! The Falcon Army's cavalry is approaching quickly... The army cannot be without a command!" Tie Lan took a deep breath.

"If you trust me, I am willing to lead the Northern Army to attack the approaching cavalry of the Falcon Army! This will buy you time to explain!" Pat raised his head sincerely. "Now the situation has reached a tipping point. Explain to Vernon. , opening the passage as soon as possible is the only way to stabilize the army. Although your loyalty is well known, your words are formidable. Once the morale of the army is shaken or taken advantage of by others, you will not be able to defend yourself!"

"Yeah, yeah, just explain it clearly!"

When the generals of the Kyoto Army heard that Pat was willing to lead the Northern Army to resist the most terrifying Falcon Empire cavalry, they all immediately showed relaxed expressions on their faces and echoed incessantly. They wished they could say that Pat was the most brave general in the empire and the best warrior in our empire. A role model for soldiers, sir, go explain it to Vernon! Opening the way for the army to return to Beijing, Master Pat leads the army to fight against the Falcon Army. It will definitely be a story praised by thousands of people in the future!

The Kyoto generals were all smiling, regardless of how pale the face of the other Northern Army general Ellind was. Pat proposed that the Northern Army attack the Falcon Army, and his 12th Infantry Regiment must be among them.

"this....."

Tielan frowned and hesitated. The Falcon Empire's cavalry was notoriously fierce in Gaul. What's more, this time it was the Falcon Empire's most elite emperor's direct line Central Army cavalry. This was the Falcon Empire's top combat power. The Kyoto Army, which fought against the Central Army of the Falcon Empire for the first time, had long recognized the cruel fact that the 20,000 Central Army cavalry could easily defeat three times more blocking troops. In this case, if they wanted to fight against these extremely fierce troops, A cavalry unit with extremely rich combat experience. Fighting in this vast and unobstructed area is simply courting death.

Even Tie Lan felt his scalp numb just thinking about it, so he was moved by Pat's decision.

"Please make a decision immediately, sir. Time is running out!" Pat didn't seem to know what this meant yet. He still looked respectful and embarrassed the other Kyoto army generals.

"Just ask your permission, sir!"

The Kyoto Army generals gritted their teeth and said together that Pat's loftiness made them feel a kind of inferiority from the bottom of their hearts. This inferiority made their sense of superiority as Kyoto soldiers disappear and was replaced by a kind of resentment. Bastard, if you want to die, go ahead! To a dead person, high praise is meaningless!

No one noticed the hint of amusement in Pat's eyes.

"Okay, I grant your request." Tie Lan showed a rare hint of regret. He patted Pat's shoulder heavily with his hand with the iron hand armor, and his lips trembled slightly. "Remember. Come back alive!" "

"With our army at the rear, we will ensure that the army is safe. You can explain it with peace of mind!" Pat got on his horse and gave a military salute to Tielan on the horse, then turned around and ran towards the direction of the Northern Army. Ellind was unwilling to do so. Followed closely, woo hoo! A bugle sounded. The Union Army, numbering as many as 60,000 men, turned to the rear on the left wing.

"Pat, are you crazy? Do you know what it means to fight against the Falcon Cavalry instead?" Ellind was very dissatisfied and whispered next to Pat who was mobilizing troops. The order was given by Tielan. , he didn’t dare to object blatantly, but when he thought about finally returning to Kyoto and embarking on such a near-death mission, he felt very unwilling to do so.

"Elind, how far is it from your family manor?" Pat tightened his grip on the reins of his war horse. She glanced at him with inexplicable emotions, and to his surprise asked

"Ten miles away, my family estate is near Vernon!" Ellind was stunned for a moment.

"Ten miles, that is to say, if Vernon becomes a tragic battlefield, your family will not be spared!" Pat took a deep breath and looked at the northern sky.

"Vernon? Battlefield! What do you mean?" Ellind was startled, and his face became paler. His family was just a nobleman from the outer area of ​​Kyoto, and their fiefdom was not big, just the size of one or two manors, and they had no private property. Soldiers, not to mention those wealthy families who can build arrow towers for self-defense. If, as Pat said, a fierce battle breaks out here between the Falcon Army and the Kyoto Army, his family will definitely be involved.

"You are from Kyoto, so you should know the situation outside Kyoto!" Pat looked a little sad,

"You mean... the plundering of the Kyoto army!" Ellind shuddered on his horse,

The battlefield area is often the most chaotic area. If it is the Falcon Army, it will be better. Although the Falcon Army is brutal, it is mainly soldiers against soldiers. There is not much violence against civilians and ordinary small nobles, as long as they do not oppose the Falcon. The occupying behavior of the Kyoto Army, but our Kyoto Army is different. It used to be able to show some restraint, but since Kyoto has been severely short of supplies and prices have skyrocketed, the last bit of reserve of the Kyoto Army has disappeared.

Recent situations have shown that the Kyoto Army often robs small nobles in the periphery in the name of cleaning up Falcon Army scouts. However, the resistance of the civilians and small nobles encountered during the robbery is even more brutal than that of the Falcon Army. , often killing the whole family and hanging the corpses on the door as a warning to those who want to resist. Little nobles, the increasingly deteriorating environment in Kyoto is also the reason why Elinde, a small noble in turmoil, wants to return to Kyoto quickly, because Elinde knows very well that the consequences of his continued stay in the north will be that his family will be in the Falcon. During the battle between the Kyoto Army and the Kyoto Army, he was torn apart like a leaf caught in a storm and disappeared.

"I know why you returned to Kyoto, but if your efforts fail to achieve your goal, will you still insist on siding with the Kyoto army?"

Pat looked at him, his eyes became sharp, and he asked in a solemn voice, like two sharp swords that made beads of sweat break out on Ellind's forehead. Pat's current expression was really like the day he killed Ruel. His expression changed. Since Ruhl's death, in order to commend Pat, Tielan included Ruhl's 11th Infantry Regiment into Pat's 10th Infantry Regiment. In terms of military strength, it was the twelfth step of Ellinde. Twice the corps,

"Then what do you say?" Ellinde gritted his teeth and said firmly, "Under the current situation, I can only stand on the same line with you. I don't care what you do. My family must be preserved, this is mine. Bottom line!"

"Don't worry, killing Ruel is a last resort. They are all comrades fighting in the north, if possible. I don't want to see more people die! You want to go home, and so do our soldiers. It's just your family We are in Kyoto, and our family is in the north!" Pat smiled slightly and turned to look at the Kyoto army behind him, who had already lost sight of his shadow.

This place is already five miles away from Tielan's main force. Nothing can be seen! Pat raised his hands high and shouted to the 60,000 Northern troops behind him, "Brothers, now is the time for us to make a choice. All those who want to go back to the North and don't want to be used as cannon fodder by the Kyoto Army should put down their weapons. Everyone, please stand on the left side of the road!"

"Crash!" There was a crowd of people. The 60,000-strong Northern Army began to put down their weapons and ran neatly to the left side of the road. Some people were still hesitating when they suddenly heard a "rumbling" sound coming from the distance, like a rolling thunder sound. came from a distance

"What's going on?"

Ellind reached out a hand to catch the snowflakes falling from above her head. The white birch branches beside the road began to tremble rhythmically as the earth shook.

"It's the Falcon Troopers!"

The people who were still stranded in the middle began to scream and ran to both sides of the road in fright. The Northern Army soldiers who put down their weapons also began to become confused.

I saw on the far side of the road, like a black line advancing rapidly. Twenty thousand Falcon Empire Central Army cavalry emerged from a distance, crossing a undulating hill. The rumble of horse hooves was like bursts of muffled thunder, occasionally mixed with the neighing of war horses and the sound of the collision and friction of metal vests.

The black armors formed several long black lines that moved at high speed. Shining with a dark luster under the golden light of the sun, dense cavalry formations continued to emerge one after another on the high hills. From a distance, they looked like black walls that suddenly appeared in the hilly areas. Countless war horses moved forward high-spirited, like a razor cutting across the center line of the earth and stopping in the distance.

"Is Lord Pat here?"

A group of sturdy cavalry in black armor escorted a man coming out of the cavalry group, and the cavalry group behind him stopped neatly. The sharp spear in his hand was hanging down, shining like snow with a frightening brilliance. The bursting mountain wind passed through their queue, and the smell of blood spread in the wind.

It was a bald, one-eyed man wearing heavy armor, with two crossed cross-knife hilts exposed on his shoulders.

The strong man stopped a hundred meters in front of the Gallic Northern Army. His eyes were like sharp knives, and he slowly swept across the tens of thousands of Gallic troops in front of him who were all leaning on the side of the road. In the middle of the road, there were more than a dozen large piles. arms,

The strong and unique image of the strong man immediately caused the Northern Army here to stir up excitement, Salon! One-eyed Salon! The soldiers of the Northern Army were trembling in their steps. They had been fighting with the Falcon Army for a month in the northern land. They had long remembered the unique appearance of this Falcon Army warrior who was said to be able to defeat an army of a thousand men by himself. Just like It's a cat staring at a group of mice,

Under the gaze of this strong man, tens of thousands of people held their breath, not even daring to take a breath.

"Your Excellency, please be Lord Salon, and I am Pat! I have followed the agreement to separate the Northern Army from the Kyoto Army and laid down their weapons. I also ask Your Majesty Falcon to keep his promise. We have no requirements, we just want to go home!" Pat Bite the bullet and get out of the Northern Army. He stopped twenty meters away from Salon and responded boldly, his voice trembling a little,

"Very good, your choice is very wise! If you don't put down your weapon, I will not hesitate to issue the attack order!" Salon grinned slightly, took out a scroll from the armor on his waist, and threw it to the two men. Pat, who was ten meters tall, said in a solemn voice, "This is His Majesty's order. Take a look at it yourself."

After Salon finished speaking, he waved his hand behind him. The hundreds of cavalry following behind him took off the heavy bags from their horses and threw them to the ground. The bags made a heavy slamming sound on the ground, "Crash!" The bags were on the ground. It opened with a sound of shaking and colliding metal, and a dazzling golden color splashed out from inside. Hundreds of bags were like a large sea of ​​yellow and orange gold coins.

"Hiss!" Tens of thousands of northern troops gasped in unison, and their eyes almost burst out when they saw it. "What does this mean!" Pat, who was holding the scroll in his hand and had not yet had time to unfold it, was also dumbfounded. This is What's the situation!

"From now on, the Gallic Northern Army is officially disbanded! You can decide to stay or leave at will. Those who are willing to stay will form the Falcon Empire's Northern First Infantry Flag Regiment on the spot. The flag regiment is you, Lord Pat! Become part of our Salon Legion!"

Salon shrugged his shoulders and said to Pat, "Our army has always been rewarded based on military merit. Killing one person is rewarded with a gold coin. This has always been the case. Our time is very tight and we don't have time to delay here. I know everyone is waiting to spend money. These are the first military expenditures for the First Flag Regiment in the North of the Empire that I specially requested from His Majesty, totaling 600,000 gold coins!"

"Six hundred thousand gold coins!" Tens of thousands of northern troops held their breaths in unison, their eyes turning green. Ever since Alder went to Kyoto, most of their military pay had been deducted by Duke Simon in various pretexts for two consecutive months.

"I don't care what you think, but since it is under my jurisdiction, I want to make it clear. I have no knowledge, so I will borrow your majesty's words. Those who stay will have money, those who join the war will get rich, and those who don't want to fight will get rich." , it’s okay to go back to farming! Okay, that’s it! I’m still rushing to make a fortune!

Salon tilted his head, waved to the group of cavalry that stopped behind him, and shouted, "Let's go, brothers, let's go and stab the Kyoto army!"

"Forward!" 20,000 cavalrymen galloped past the sea of ​​gold coins in a mighty manner. The cavalrymen on top didn't even look at the sea of ​​gold coins under their horses' hooves, leaving behind a group of completely dumbfounded Gaul Northern Army!

"I... want to go back!" In silence, a northern soldier in his forties said cautiously, but his burning eyes stared straight at the sea of ​​gold coins in front of him, full of hesitation. Gaul North has experienced many wars, its reputation has declined, and its economy is depressed. One gold coin is enough for an ordinary family to survive this cold winter.

"No matter what you think, I'm staying. Anyway, there are not many people at home! There's no point in going back!" A young soldier gritted his teeth, walked to the sea of ​​gold coins, picked up a gold coin, and then walked to the pile of weapons

"I still have a wife and children, I need money! I need more money." A soldier walked to the pile of money, stretched out his hand to pick up a gold coin, and also walked to the pile of weapons