Realm of Power

The shrill horn echoed in the sky of the Holy City

The Martin Liya army was gathering, like a huge black tide covering the direction of the earth. After repairing for half a night, the Martin Liya army's infantry group also arrived on the battlefield, and a large number of siege equipment was rolled out. Steel shields were like snow, stabbing spears were like forests, and archers in light armor pressed down quickly from both sides.

His Highness Spike announced before the army attacked that which legion would be the first to attack the Holy Capital, the richest temple area in the Holy Capital would be the spoils of war. After hearing such a promise, Lord Martin Liya, who was still a little depressed and complaining last night, They all felt like they had been given a shot of chicken blood. They just wished that their horses could grow two more legs, that their infantry could fly, and that the archers leading the formation could shoot a thousand meters! They rode their horses like meteors flying across the sky and came to the legions under their command. They drew their swords and shouted to cheer up their soldiers. "Everyone dismounts. Whoever is the first to attack the wall of the Holy City will be given a baron and a bounty of one." Wan Empire Gold"

Hearing the shouts of the lords, the eyes of the Martin Liya officers in formation began to turn red, and the hands holding the handles of the swords tightened suddenly. Ten thousand imperial gold was just a drop in the bucket for the Martin Liya lords, as long as they could become The first one to conquer the Holy City, the temple with the rumored mountains of treasures is their loot. If possible, even 50,000 or 100,000 gold coins can be taken out.

But for the low-level officer Martin Liya, ten thousand imperial gold is the second most important thing. What they value is the genuine title. Martin Liya cavalry all jumped off their horses, holding the round cavalry shield in their hands, breathing heavily became anxious. The faces looked serious and cold, especially those of the lower-level officers in Martin's army. This time they also took out all their accumulated belongings, including half-body heavy armor seized from the Harvey people, made of shiny steel. The buckler and the helmet were the cross-top helmet of the Templars of an unknown order. Under the iron bars on the bridge of the nose, there were pairs of red eyes, and the breathing between the noses was heavy.

Baron! A real baronetcy, rather than military honors or something like that, is more inspiring than 10,000 empire gold.

Many of these low-level officers are the second and third sons of the lord's vassal family. Unlike the eldest son of the clan, they are not born with titles. They can only win the appreciation of the lord by fighting and robbing. After being given a title, many of them have been on the battlefield for seven or eight years, or even more than ten years. I have all these old tricks, but I still haven’t touched the edge of the title. The award of military merit is a magic weapon used by the high nobles to motivate their troops. Although they are lords, according to the level of their titles, the titles they can hand out are also Quite limited, but the actual situation is more than ten times more difficult than this.

The main reason is that the number of titles is really not enough. Martin Liya has been expanding indiscriminately for decades in the Southern and Northern Wars. Although the territory has expanded a lot, more titles have been sealed, and the titles in the hands of the lords have already been basically reduced. There are people, one carrot and one pit. You can have as many titles as you want. Martin Liya belongs to the noble family. The reason why titles are the most valuable is because each title is a real title with a fiefdom, not a title similar to reputation. Moreover, once the title is awarded to a person, it is protected by the laws of the kingdom. Even if it is the head of the three major clans, I think To take back the title, it is only possible to wait until the other party has no successor, or it is automatically deprived of it due to lack of military merit.

Therefore, the Lords of Martinliya are all war madmen who are extremely keen on expansion. This is also because if there is no reward that can be obtained, the army commanders below will not listen to you, so even if it is just a low-level baron, It’s also heavy enough to drive everyone crazy! And this time, seven or eight baron titles were thrown out by the major lords in one breath. For the rumored temple property, the major lords also risked their lives." The baron may be very attractive to the people below, but for Everyone is not very attractive. Seeing that everyone is in such a good mood, I will give everyone a boost. Whoever can defeat the defense line of the Holy City first, I will hand over Kutamu to him "as the commander-in-chief of the army." Spike, the crown prince of the Il clan, raised his hand and pointed to the wall of the Holy Capital in the distance with a calm expression on his face, with a smile on his lips. He seemed not to have cared about the unfavorable incident of last night's attack at all. The battle for the Holy Capital in the struggle for southern hegemony is just a game hunt. What we are looking at is who can win the prize in a leisurely manner, rather than hundreds of thousands of troops fighting for several months. The battle between the two major military groups A life and death fight! "Your Highness, are you talking about Kutamu, known as the Water, Wood, and Wind Forest?"

Different from Spike's casualness, the expressions of the other lords all changed. Kutamu is a province near the neighboring royal capital and is an area controlled by the Il tribe. In terms of territory, it is a real The Marquis Territory is not comparable to the Barony Territory they provided. In other words, His Highness Spike took out a Marquis Territory, my God! The lords who reacted couldn't help but gasped. His Highness Spike's gesture was truly astonishing. Such a generous gesture was unprecedented in the history of Martin Liya's war. Even the Martin Liya people more than a hundred years ago At the time of its rise, in the decisive battle with the then regional overlord Haka, although seven or eight barons were thrown out in one go, no marquis was thrown out! "Yes, it's the Marquis of Kutamu." Spike smiled slightly.

It's no wonder that all the wealthy lords have shocked expressions. In fact, if the baron only affects the balance of power within the lord, then a marquis is enough to affect the balance of the three major clans. , but there are three barons, and the one thrown by Spike The Marquis's fiefdom is a piece of water land adjacent to the royal capital. I don't know how many people are jealous. Of course, the former owner of such a good place cannot be an ordinary person. This fiefdom is actually owned by Spike, the crown prince. One of the three major fiefdoms controlled by the Yi family of the three major clans. In that Martin Riya, it is definitely a first-class and excellent harvest. Any lord who gets it will increase his power by a lot, and it will also determine that in the next ten years, he is expected to become the strongest outside the three major clans. One of the five lords, this is an irresistible temptation for any lord." You are so generous, we will do our best!" The lords responded in unison, with eager expressions on their faces. They knew that Spike was determined to win this battle, not only because of the struggle for hegemony between the north and the south, but also because the El tribe was about to leave the throne. Retired, and the Sam people who succeeded him were in decline.

If Spike can win this battle and his reputation increases, even if the Sam tribe becomes the new king, the El tribe can still control the core of Martin Li Ya's power, because the power of Martin Li Ya is in the hands of the lord. In essence, the big clan is an alliance of major lords. Who can win the loyalty of the lords, whether it is a royal family or not, is no longer important.

In the past ten years, Silver Fox led the Anxili family to gradually surpass the other two clans, and even tried to integrate the three clan structures in the country. It was because the lords of the three major clans worshiped Silver Fox, and the Battle of Stam, Silver Fox made many moves and completely lost the level he should have. It seemed that the Anxili family suffered a heavy blow, but what was really shaken was the confidence of the three major clan lords in fighting the empire. If even His Highness Silver Fox suffered a disastrous defeat, they would what to do? The main force of the empire was in the Holy Capital battlefield. For a period of time, people within the Martin Liya Army were in panic. At this time, Spike, the new commander who took over as Silver Fox, suddenly showed his astonishing talents. Whether it was astonishing before the war His bold plan leads the Lord The rapid attack of fifty miles in one night and the attack on the Holy Capital City in one night tore apart the originally anxious predicament, allowing the hesitating Martin Li Ya army to see the hope of victory, and even half of the victory was already in his hands. , all that's left is a powerful final blow!

Spike has proven that he is no less inferior to the original Silver Fox. In terms of rewards, Spike is much more generous than Silver Fox.

At the beginning, Silver Fox only brought out a baron from the corner of the Anxili family, but His Highness Spike had a complete marquisdom, and it was also a fertile land adjacent to the royal capital. There was no comparison at all! People's hearts are against each other. At this moment, even the lords of the Ansili family who originally supported Silver Fox have to secretly give Spike a thumbs up. If Martin Liya can have this son, it will definitely be a century-old achievement for the Martin Liya Kingdom. With luck, if His Highness Spike really defeats the Empire this time and crushes the Empire's ambition to move south, then there is nothing wrong with everyone supporting His Highness Spike as the new Prince Martin Sharptooth! "Send the order, capture the Holy City, and add another barony!"

The major lords gave categorical orders to their respective cavalrymen. After all, it counts only if they are captured. Two baronies are exchanged for one marquisate, and they will make a lot of money! After receiving the order, the messenger cavalry nodded, turned around and ran towards the front of the army that was still moving in formation. His voice was loud and loud, stirring up all directions. "My lord's latest order, whose troops are the first to capture the Holy City, add another barony."

"What! What was the messenger shouting just now?"

"Oh my God, did I hear wrongly? Add another barony!" The eyes of Martin Liya's officers were wide open. They felt like they were crazy. Is today a lucky day? It's not that they didn't hear clearly, it's that they couldn't believe their ears. Adding another barony after one barony means two baronies. This is incredible. Although the barony is the smallest among the territories, it can be mastered. The families of the two baronies basically already have most of the status of a marquisdom. Even if they encounter some weak and declining marquisdoms, they are still qualified to be equals. At this moment, the entire advancing column of Martin's army suddenly became violently commotion.

Martin's army, which was still moving forward in formation, suddenly accelerated like a collapsing flood.

"Everyone, move forward!"

There was an overwhelming roar, and a dozen tall improvised siege towers were pushed forward by a dozen soldiers on each side. The wooden axles, which were not regular circles, made a rattling sound, and the heavy tower began to sway. The pendulum moved forward slowly, crushing two heavy deep marks in the black mud below. A heavy drum beat sounded, and then the war drums sounded one after another, ten, one hundred, and one thousand. The drums were loud and deafening on the entire front. Each drum here was only about thirty centimeters long and covered with bison skin. , and even other animal skins with interlaced patterns. Although the drum surface is not large, the number is amazing.

The Martinliya people are originally a migratory people on the prairie. Every year during the flood season, the Martinliya long boats filled with migrants are more than 20 meters long and can carry forty or fifty people, while the small ones can carry four or five people. The long canoe on which hundreds of boats sailed along the flooded river went straight to the hinterland of the prairie, while at the bow of the boat At this location, one hundred round war drums covered with buffalo skins announce the arrival of the rainy season and the migration signal to all the places passing by with thunderous drum beats as fierce as raindrops. This has always been the message of the Martinliya people. Tradition, for every Martin Liya person, this intensive drumbeat can ignite the blood in their bodies

"Capture the Holy Capital"

"Martin will win with all his strength"

Thousands of chests made a sound at the same time. The roar was like thunder in the sky, like the strong wind blowing the military flags on the walls of the Holy Capital.

The faces of the Temple soldiers on the walls of the Holy Capital all turned pale, and the weapons in their hands were so tight that they felt heavy. Are all Martin Liya monsters? The fighting last night lasted for more than four hours, and the dead are still piled under the city, almost two meters high. How long did it take for them to regain their strength all of a sudden? I thought that Martin Li Ya would not recover immediately when his morale was frustrated, but he didn't expect that it was just dawn, and it was only more than three hours since the last time. With such a scene of such a surge of morale, Martin Li Ya What did the Yaren eat? It’s like they were injected with chicken blood!

The archers of the Temple Army began to raise the compound bows in their hands towards the sea of ​​​​people rushing in the distance. The front end of the compound bows, the cold light of the Mitsubishi arrows supplied by the empire, let the people below run at the front. The Martin Liya infantrymen raised their round shields one after another, blooming like flowers on the ground.

"Steady, don't mess up!" the temple officer next to the archer yelled hoarsely, but almost immediately, his voice was drowned in the terrible sound of tearing bow strings. It was the sound of the Empire's heavy ballista launching. The range of the ballista was far greater than that of the archer, and dozens of white lights were seen flying across the distance of more than 200 meters in front of them like meteors.

Bang bang bang, the landing point. In front of this terrible impact momentum, Martin's sharp-toothed infantry were penetrated by a thread as if they were made of paper and mud. The sound of armor shattering and the metal twisting of shields flying through the air was heard everywhere.