In the afternoon of that day, Ulf took the remaining musketeers and escorted two carts of supplies to the frontline camp.

"Your Majesty General, I'm very sorry." Ulf lowered his head very guiltily and said to Aledo: "I am responsible for losing a truck of key supplies, and I am willing to accept all punishments."

"I already understand what happened, and it's not your fault, Captain Ulf." Aledo held Ulf's shoulders, straightened him up, and said, "In that case, you can save your life."

The remaining two trucks of supplies are already pretty good. And..."

Aledo turned to look at Boral who was standing next to him. Although the other party was obviously dissatisfied on the surface, he still took a step forward and said proactively: "Your Highness, I just went to check the remaining supplies. Fortunately,

The part of the material is not a key part of the material. Although it will indeed affect the spell... it will not completely fail. If it is not possible, other materials can be used to make up for it. In short, this batch of lost materials will not affect the plan.

Implementation, anyway, other materials delivered are still intact..."

"I understand." Aledo nodded to Boral, then returned to his seat, looked at the sand table on the table and said, "Have you chosen the location?"

"Yes." Boral walked to the sand table and pointed to a location and said: "What I need is an open place to build an altar. After all, this spell consumes a lot of time and magic power, and after the spell is completed, it still needs enough

A wide place for them to attack... so this is about the same. It is not too far away from the battle line and is concealed enough. At least for now, the local birds will not notice this place, but the premise is still that Your Highness

It can attract the enemy's attention to me and ensure that the enemy will not come and cause trouble when I cast the spell."

"Haven't all the enemy spies been cleaned up?" Aledo glanced at Boral unexpectedly and asked: "Didn't you deal with them completely? And how long does it take for the spell to be completed?"

"Night Owl is not a second-rate espionage organization. What I found out before is just on the surface. I'm sure there are still their spies in your military camp, but these people are hidden very deep.

And it's hard to trace." Boral smiled gloomily at Aledo and continued: "But you can rest assured, Your Highness. Although those secret spies still exist, as long as their information cannot be sent out, then

It also cannot pose any threat, so all you have to do is arrange a trustworthy armed force to guard the area around the altar. The reason why the spell will take a long time is because I plan to put all the materials into the altar in one go..."

"Wait!" Aledo stretched out his hand slightly nervously to stop the other party and asked: "I never said I would let you do it all at once..."

"Yes, Your Highness." Boral continued to smile evilly and said to Aledo: "But I have no intention of doing this. Putting all the materials into the altar is just a warm-up method. For example, suppose the first

If you are not satisfied with the work, then you can ask me to forcefully close the altar. If you are very satisfied with this thing, then I don’t have to spend more time preparing it, and I can release it in the shortest possible time at once.

…”

"Okay, I understand." Aledo looked at the terrain on the sand table and pondered for a while, and then inadvertently asked Boral: "If I don't allow it, will you comply?"

"Of course, my highness..." Boral answered very decisively, without even the slightest hesitation, and although there was still a gloomy smile on his face, his body was very polite to Aledo.

A gift.

Aledo looked at the "groveling" Boral in silence and frowned slightly, then ordered him to leave first to prepare, and at the same time asked the herald to summon other generals for a meeting.

After all the irrelevant personnel left the camp, Aledo invited Ulf to sit near him and began to ask: "How is the situation over at Brighton?"

"General... Your Highness, Lord Brighton has secretly returned to the Salanka Pass to take control of the defense. At the same time, he also asked me to bring you a message." Ulf raised his head and looked around and then said cautiously: "Brighton

Your Excellency Don said that he will hold on until the moment you withdraw your troops regardless of the cost... At the same time, the Duke of Nosk also sent a message to reassure you that everything is under control, you just have to give it a try."

After hearing these words, Aledo's nose felt a little sore, and then he quickly straightened up, leaned on the back of the chair, looked up at the chandelier on the ceiling, and sighed. He had no doubt that the information Ulf brought back was false.

After all, he is one of Aledo's closest confidants and one of the most trustworthy people in Aledo. Likewise, whether it is his cousin Brighton or the uncle of the Duke of Nosk, although he occasionally

I would quarrel with them for a while, but the trust and decisiveness they showed at the critical moment still made Aledo burst into tears.

They are the only people in Aledo's life that he can call "relatives". Although he was not particularly close to the Nosk family in the past, compared with the people he has seen for more than ten years,

For his father who he had only met a few times and his brothers and sisters who had tried to assassinate him many times, the father and son of the Nosk family were probably his real relatives.

Although what Ulf brought back was only two words of comfort, the pressure behind it definitely did not make Aledo's side any easier. Because Aledo had received a hidden clue a few days ago.

According to the news, his brother, Freddy Solis, the first prince and regent of the Solis Kingdom, united with the other two dukes to launch a war against the Duke of Nosk.

The reason for the war did indeed sound like that. It was said that the second prince Aledo violated the king's order and provoked a war with neighboring countries without authorization, and then he listed a hundred reasons for Aledo in a variety of ways.

"Great crime" and then claimed that the Duke of Norsk harbored royal sinners and announced that the Duke of Norsk would be demoted.

Of course, although the war has begun, the Duke of Nosk has not yet engaged the enemy, because although Freddy has made up his mind to attack himself first, at least he wants to lead his troops to fight before the Duke of Nosk.

You have to pass through the territory of another duke. Although this duke is a neutral force on the surface, the key is that he and Prince Freddy are very difficult to deal with. Therefore, if Freddy wants to attack, at least he must

Reach a settlement with the other party first and then march to Nosk territory.

Years of resentment cannot be easily reconciled, but in the final analysis, under the temptation of interests, even blood feuding enemies may become "double winners." Politics is such a thing full of drama and irony.

Therefore, Aledo and Duke Nosk will not put their lives and wealth on the hatred of the Duke. However, the resentment between the other party and Freddy will not be resolved for a while, and this will give Nosk

The Duke of Sk and himself gained a certain amount of time to move around.

The war has been forcibly brought to an end. Although it is still far from Aledo's original goal, it is enough from the perspective of strategic interests. This is not Aledo's self-comfort, but

The result of a real comparison of interests.

This war is essentially a surprise attack. Aledo's purpose is to use a new type of army built with gunpowder weapons to attack the northern territory of the Principality of Michael. Coupled with the internal turmoil in the Principality of Michael that has been planned for many years, Aledo strives to start the war.

Finally, the opponent's main combat power has no time to take care of the battle line, so as to achieve the result of deciding the outcome in one battle.

Of course, this must have failed, and failed miserably. Aledo overestimated the power of gunpowder weapons and underestimated the strength of the Principality of Michael. The result was that Aledo's volley kicked directly in the

The brick wall led to the passiveness of the battle situation, and another factor that cannot be ignored is that the early layout also exceeded one's own expectations, because it seemed that unexpected factors were added to both the enemy and ourselves, which intensified the successive conflicts.

Sudden chain.

If there is no trouble from Freddy behind him, then Aledo is indeed qualified to spend about another month or two with the Principality of Michael. Anyway, a decisive battle has not yet broken out between the two sides, so even if he cannot win Ma

Fort Lia, but at least we have to make some more profits on the Bar Plain. After all, the natural climate on the Bar Plain causes the summer harvest here to be slightly earlier than other places, so we insist on harvesting the grain on the plain in the summer before retreating.

It’s also a good ending.

Another possibility is that the originally planned corrupt nobles of the principality can successfully launch a nationwide rebellion and delay most of the principality's combat power. In that case, even if Freddy reaches the territory of Nosk, Alai

Most of them would have the guts to continue the attack on Marienfort.

The display is always so cruel and cold, so people always like beautiful fantasies.

At this moment, Aledo is surrounded by enemies from both sides, and the enemies he has to face are obviously stronger than those in the rear. This leads to the wisest and most humiliating choice to withdraw troops and return reinforcements. But Aledo can also see that.

If it is opened, at least even if you withdraw your troops, the rich Salanka mineral vein will still be in your hands. The rich and vast Bar Plain will naturally be out of control, and the abundant food crops on the plain will probably have no choice but to

At the same time, because of the attack on the Principality of Michael, the country and its related forces and allies were at odds with each other, so no matter how you look at it, you look like you have lost your pants.

But looking at this problem from another way, if you retain your combat power and return to the country to participate in the civil war, then you may still have the opportunity to compete for the land of Solis. Anyway, the initiator of the civil war is not you, and

Aledo is also not interested in the title of King Solis. After all, the title is not only a symbol of status, but also a kind of institutional constraint. And Aledo doesn't like the old system of the Kingdom of Solis at all, so even if

Even if he took over the entire kingdom, he would not inherit the title of king.

In this comparison, Aledo felt that it would allow him to grow more rapidly than to occupy the territory of the principality and then start from scratch by going back to occupy the old resources and then recycle them. Although the risks also exist, relatively speaking this is not the case.

A more stable route.

The principle of losing something and reaping it is not that difficult to understand. At least compared to continuing to fight with Adrian who can't chew, going back to pinch the soft persimmon can be regarded as a kind of substantial compensation. But the problem is that Adrien

Ledo did not intend to withdraw in such an embarrassing manner, and judging from the current battle situation, he could not withdraw even if he wanted to. The battle lines between the two sides had become so fierce that they were almost intersecting, except for the bombardment of each other's artillery and trebuchets.

In addition, the infantry of both sides often had fierce battles at the front of the battle line. Moreover, both sides fought on two fronts. In addition to the fierce main front, the fighting intensity in the southern area of ​​the Bar Plain was also not low.

It's just that the battle there seems to have failed with Ulf's retreat, but Brighton guarding the eastern fortress of Salanca Pass and Torre in the southern part of the front are still able to buy themselves a certain amount of time, so

Aledo planned to use Boral's risky plan to try to counterattack the enemy.

Aledo didn't believe Boral's promise to "break into Fortress Maria and have breakfast there", but at least he believed that Boral's weird little toy should be able to break the current stalemate and win over his own army.

When it's time to retreat safely, at the very least, we must prevent ourselves from losing too many vested interests at the armistice negotiation table.

Aledo looked down at Ulf who looked hesitant, then poured him a glass of water with a smile and asked: "You look like you have something to say?"

"Your Highness..." Ulf asked Aledo in a very disappointed tone: "Are we... going to... withdraw?"

"Don't be so quiet." Aledo looked at the sand table on the table and said: "If you are at a disadvantage, retreating is not a shameful choice. And strictly speaking, we are not retreating but strategic shift... Generally speaking, it is us

The enemies we have to face have to be changed.”

At the same moment, at the gate of the West Guard Fortress, which is the frontline stronghold of Mihail's side, Erica was driving her GAZ armored vehicle slowly into the gate of the fortress.

The reason why Erica spent an entire afternoon taking a detour to get back here was that there was a carriage tied to the back of the armored vehicle. Although this carriage was a specially made magic product, it was essentially a large metal box, so for

The safety of the internal cargo was what took Erica so long to cross the southern plains.

At this time, in the courtyard inside the fortress, Diana, Adrian and several key figures were looking at Erica's black tank, because everyone had seen the excellence of this mechanized vehicle when the armored vehicle entered the fortress.

Therefore, Xing couldn't help but use some crooked thoughts. But in the final analysis, everyone actually understood that the owner of this weird vehicle was definitely not a small role. Not to mention her terrifying name, she was the one who assisted the garrison in the first place.

The fighting power shown when retaking this fortress was enough to make everyone feel difficult to deal with, and most importantly, the elf lady standing in front of everyone was enough to make everyone give up all unrealistic illusions.

"Hey, honey, how was your vacation?" After Erica got out of the car, she walked straight up to Diana and hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

"You smoke?" Diana pushed Erica's head away from her with a look of disgust and asked, "The smell of cigarettes is so strong, you smoke a lot, right?"

"Hehe, not much... Anyway, the journey was boring..." Erica dismissed the topic with a flattering look, then looked outside at Adrian and the others behind her and asked Diana quietly.

: "Aren't you not involved in this matter? Why did you suddenly meet them on a whim?"

"It happened suddenly... I contacted them as the Council of Sages..." Diana pulled Erica to Adrian with some embarrassment and introduced: "Count Cello, this is me.

Companion, Erica the Chosen One.”

Adrian took the opportunity to observe Erica's appearance, but in terms of appearance, Erica is indeed a beauty, but she seems to be a bit tall, and her body is very strong, she looks like a warrior of the war group.

But compared to Erica's appearance, the strange clothes she wore were more eye-catching. However, some people also noticed the strange-shaped objects on Erica's body, especially the obvious dagger-shaped thing on her shoulder.

Everyone, led by Count Persim, felt slightly uneasy.
To be continued...