Realm of Power

In the dark night, Riwardin is as quiet as ever. At the south gate of Riwardin, under the bright bonfire at the top of the city, Salon, the new commander of the Tenth Banner, stands upright at the entrance of the south gate suspension bridge, with his muddy one eye in the dark night. The bright, bloodthirsty swords were crossed on his back, like a mountain, standing in the cold wind of late autumn.

The Tenth Banner Regiment belongs to the legion headquarters and has three combat brigades with a strength of 6,000 people. It is the first unit equipped with horizontal spears and improved infantry crossbows. It is the most combat-effective banner regiment among the newly formed Samoan Guards Corps. Most of them were veterans. Because they were resting some time ago, they did not participate in the southern campaign.

The sound of horse hooves sounded in the depths of the darkness. In the light of the fire, the fat man rode his horse and leapt onto the suspension bridge outside the city. Salon rushed up to meet him and saluted the oncoming fat man with a straight body.

"Legion Commander, Salon, Commander of the Tenth Flag, reports to you!" As the captain of the old guard, Salon preferred to call Fatty the legion commander. The fat man stopped his horse in front of Salon, touched Salon's shoulder lightly with his whip, and said in a serious voice, "Old friend, you are well. Do you know why I am so urgent to transfer you back to Zhivadin?"

"Please forgive me for being stupid, I really don't understand!" Salon looked puzzled, and he was also confused about the sudden order he received. The southern campaign has ended, but his master seems to be still in combat mode. This time he issued the order is the highest level of red shirt chicken feather, which is an emergency transfer order used only during wartime.

The fat man got off the horse and handed the whip to the guard beside him. Zoro quickly followed. In the silent night, the only sound of the friction of stones under his feet was heard.

"I received a report from Caesar Zoro of the Northern Legion. The private army of nobles who were expelled from Kyoto appeared again in the northern suburbs of Kyoto during this period. The will of many nobles in Kyoto is wavering. For these capricious villains, we It must be cleaned up. Before doing it again, we must first remove the power of the private military aristocracy."

"My lord, just give me your orders," Salon said with determination. "As long as your lord gives your orders, there will be a sea of ​​swords and guns ahead, and I will never back down!"

"Very good! That's what I want from you!" The fat man nodded with satisfaction, paused for a moment, and looked at Salon with meaningful eyes, which made Salon feel scared. Fatty usually said this , nothing good will happen. Salon feels like he has fallen into a trap.

"I came to you this time to prepare for the Tenth Flag Regiment to be stationed in the Bohulaban area. I want to completely eliminate the hidden danger of private military nobles."

"Bohu Laban!" Salon looked stunned, feeling a chill behind his back, and said with an embarrassed expression, "Isn't that the headquarters of the private nobles? With the strength of my flag regiment, I'm afraid..."

"What? There are times when you, Salon, are afraid!" The fat man said with a smile, "Yes, you are right! One flag regiment is indeed too few, but if a large force comes, I'm afraid the private nobles will continue to flee. This will It leaves a lot of hidden dangers for Summer’s overall plan!”

"Look at this first!" The fat man took out a map from his arms and handed it to Salon, who was confused. "This is the map of Pohu Laban sent by the Northern Army. It marks the location of the four garrison flag regiments of the noble private army. , it’s a bit difficult for you to deal with four, but if you only need to deal with two of them, the Tenth Flag Regiment should have no problem.”

"Dealing with two flag regiments?" Salon looked at the map with an ugly face. Although his flag regiment had a strong fighting capacity, it only had 6,000 people after all, while a private army flag regiment had tens of thousands of people.

6,000 vs. 20,000, Salon could not help but feel bitter in his mouth, "This battle is really not fought by humans!" Salon muttered to himself, "You are not kidding me, sir. These four flag regiments are stationed along the main road, forming a square shape. It only takes half a day to firmly block the northern passage and support each other. I am afraid that I will be surrounded by reinforcements just after I meet the enemy, not to mention there is an elite light cavalry regiment inside."

"I will arrange this matter." The fat man's face was so angry that Salon was so frightened that he did not dare to speak. He respectfully took the riding whip from the guard and handed it to the fat man, "You only need to follow the order and move the troops to the northern border and wait for the attack order. That’s it!”

"Remember, the key to this battle is suddenness. If you want to come back alive, you must be smarter." The fat man got on his horse, looked at Salon who looked depressed, and told him, "I will be with the private army nobles." Give them a fatal blow when you think of it most! Capture the Pohula Board and open the gate to the northern part of the kingdom. It all depends on your performance! "

In the early morning of late autumn, the fog in the city is like flowing white ribbons. From three o'clock in the morning, the busy outer city of Zivadin has already been noisy. Unloading carriages, arriving merchant ships, and bundles of goods are leaving the merchant ship. Under the hoist, carriages transporting goods have lined up at the trading station outside the city. The large trading station outside the city has been expanded three times, but it still cannot meet the needs of merchants. Many merchants and goods choose to stay in Zhivadin. Spend the night in a suburban town

The six stone bridges outside the city are all lined with long queues of crowded carriages. Only on the seventh dedicated Satsuma military passage can occasionally be seen passing military horse teams, but that is the dedicated Satsuma military passage, even if it is If it were empty, absolutely no one would dare to set foot on that stone bridge.

The congested road made Jones, Nelly and Longsqimoer look melancholy. The red sun in the morning had already risen above the clouds. This morning, Fatty had promised to give him a surprise, but his carriage was awkwardly stuck in the road. At the gate of the city, it is difficult to move even one step forward. We can only wait for the carriage in front to move forward slowly.

Anxiety and depression were clogged in Jones Nelly's chest, her eyes constantly looking at the slow-moving elder outside.

"You know why there are so many carriages in the morning, I didn't stay at Crisco Manor last night." Seeing Jones Nelly's frown, Longsqimoer couldn't help but feel guilty. Cousin Jones' friendship for the mysterious Deacon Harry , even a blind man can see it

"It's nothing! I didn't expect that the morning in Zhivadin would be so lively," Jones Nelly said with an awkward smile on her face. Although she had been to Zhivadin several times, this was the first time she really encountered the "traffic jam" in Zhivadin in the morning. I used to live in the inner city where there were less people, but I never expected that the outer city would be so lively.

Jones Nelly was secretly anxious, but she still said firmly, "That damn fat guy always likes to lie. Letting him wait for us alone in the Business Alliance this time is also a punishment for his lies!"

There was a sound of horse hooves outside the carriage, and Jones Nelly saw the two guards that the fat man had left for her yesterday appearing on the commercial road behind them.

"Honorable lady!" The two guards saluted Jones Nelly with embarrassed expressions. Their hair was wet from the morning dew because they were in such a hurry.

"I'm so sorry. The servants of the Crisco family forgot to wake us up and let two distinguished ladies go on the road first! What a dereliction of duty!"

It turned out that last night, Jones Nelly and Longsqimoer did not rest in the city of Zivadin, but rested in the Kriske Manor outside the city. They set out from the Kriske Manor early in the morning before dawn because it was too late. Early in the morning, I didn’t ask the servants to wake up the two guards. Who knew they would be blocked at the city gate?

"It's nothing! I asked the servant not to disturb your rest!" Jones Nelly apologized, and the two guards quickly bowed their heads in return. After looking at the long queue, they knew that they had encountered a Zhivadin traffic jam, and they were secretly lucky. If he hadn't run into a traffic jam and found out that there were no guards following him, the Governor would definitely not have spared him lightly.

"Please come with us!" Konoe waved to the carriage driver, indicating that the carriage would follow him to the empty seventh lane.

Seeing a carriage with an unfamiliar heraldry break away from the long queue and drive towards the special seventh lane, many businessmen showed strange smiles.

This kind of foreign carriage that does not understand the rules can be seen almost every day. Every time, it goes off in a arrogant manner, and then is driven back like a dog by the Satsuma Castle guards, and then it is honestly rearranged at the back. This has become a common occurrence. It was a fun project for the merchants who were queuing up. They saw that the carriage was about to drive up the seventh aisle, and some people even opened a betting table.

"One pays two, I bet that idiot will be kicked out by the city guards in less than a minute!"

Everyone likes to see others suffer, especially those who are arrogant and consider themselves nobler than others.

The carriage slowly drove onto the stone bridge. Jones Nelly noticed that it was quiet outside the window. Curiously, she gently opened the curtains and was startled by the scene outside.

Time seemed to have stood still. Countless heads popped out of the hundreds of carriages on the other six passages at the same time. Even the city guards who were inspecting the city stopped what they were doing. Everyone just turned their heads and looked stupid. Looking at his carriage, it’s as if he’s seeing something rare.

Jones Nelly felt the silence beside the carriage was terrifying. The empty stone bridge passed under the wheels. The crowded carriages just now had disappeared. There were no carriages in front, behind, left, or right of her.

This strange phenomenon made Jones Nellie's scalp numb. The carriage suddenly shook, and the wheels drove onto the bridge. A stone bridge pier slid past Jones Nellie's eyes. It was engraved with the symbol of the flying Samoan Falcon. The pier's On one side, you can still see dried black blood.

"The seventh passage!" Jones Nelly was shocked by the stone pier in front of her, and suddenly knew why so many people were looking at her carriage. This is the seventh passage! Samoer Military Passage, except for Samoer soldiers, no one is allowed to occupy this passage.

In the past, foreign nobles who did not understand the rules were beheaded by the Samaritan army on this special passage. The Samaritans did not wash away the blood on the bridge piers to warn others who wanted to take this road using the stone piers as a line. , you have to pay the price of blood!

"Cousin Jones, what's wrong with you? What happened outside?" Longsqimoer, who was beside him, looked at Jones Nelly's suddenly white face and asked in surprise,

The carriage suddenly stopped. Before Jones Nellie had time to answer, the voice of the city guard came from outside, "Stop immediately! This is the Samor Military Passage. Please show your identification."

Through the drawn curtains of the carriage, Longsqimoer saw a group of fully armed city guards outside, blocking the front of the carriage. The dense spears formed a wall of guns, and the two rows of crossbowmen behind them squatted and took aim. They were frightened. Longsqimoer's face was pale and his voice was crying.

"What's going on, how did we get here!"

"This is the carriage from the Governor's Palace." The guard leading the way had cold eyes. He looked at the captain of the city guard who was waiting in full formation, took out the guard token from his arms and handed it over, "This is your lord's collaborator and a distinguished guest of Satsuma. Get out of the way immediately! If anything goes wrong, be careful of the Governor’s orders!”

"Governor's Mansion!" The captain of the city guard felt his scalp numb and broke into a cold sweat. Only then did he realize that the two people in front of him were obviously Satsuma Guards. Although they were dressed differently, the sword representing the Guards was hanging on his waist. You can feel the blood even from a meter away

In Samoer, there is only one person who can enter and exit the Seventh Passage in a carriage, and that is the Governor. Even the flag commander is not qualified to pass through the Seventh Passage in a carriage, right? . . . . . . The sweat on the captain's head was falling, but his body was as cold as ice. He waved to the city guards behind him with a hesitant look on his face.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way quickly, don't block the passage of adults!"

The city guards quickly made way and respectfully let the carriage pass.

"No way! Just go in like that?" Everyone outside the city stretched their necks, waiting to see the joke, looking at the carriage in disbelief, and slowly disappeared into the seventh passage of the city.