Sword of Dawn

Page 162

The person who killed Francis II and ignited the first fire of the Ansu Civil War died a miserable death.

"It's really disgusting," Tyre looked down at the edge of the pool, and couldn't help sticking out his tongue, "It's like the deep sea mud monster..."

"Put back your tentacles first." Gawain frowned and looked at the sea monster. "To be honest, your appearance has no less impact on ordinary people than the deep-sea mud monster."

Chapter 0389 The King's Blood

Gao Wen was not a passionate young man, and he would not look at the upcoming war with naive and simple thoughts—so even though he was aware of the actions of the end of all things, he did not use his blood to call for peace at all. idea.

After figuring out the cause and effect of the incident, Gao Wen realized that although this civil war was expected by the Society of the End of Everything, it was by no means driven by a cult group like the Society of the End of Everything—it was a historical trend It is an inevitable product, just as inevitable as the war between Anzu and Typhon.

Francis II fell, and the one who killed him was the high-ranking bishop of the End of All Things Society, and his son was the planner, but the old king didn't just die at the hands of these two people, his death was The result of the game and advancement of several forces.

Edmund needed his death, not only because he needed a reason to start a civil war, but also because the prince wanted to eradicate the biggest "compromise" in the royal family, and use the king's death to arouse the righteous indignation of the nobles in the country to the greatest extent. Gain the authority to raise troops within the time limit;

The Duke of the Eastern Realm needs him to die, because the Duke's allegiance has never been to the king, but Prince Edmund, or a "Moen royal family" that can return to the era of the first dynasty;

Emperor Typhon also needed him to die, because Typhon needed Anzu to break out a civil war. Gawain was almost certain that Typhon would quietly watch Ansu's civil war after that until the ancient kingdom fell apart completely;

The Wilde family in the north, the Duchess Victoria Wilde, does she also need the king to die?Francis II is the most difficult king to control since the establishment of the second dynasty. Although this king seems to tolerate compromise, his tolerance is extremely tenacious and cunning. It took him nearly 40 years to break free from the Wilder family. Did the Wilder family want to change to a more obedient king?Like Wales Moen...

Many knives were in Francis II, and all things perish, but pushed those knives of the king a little.

Therefore, Anzu's second civil war is the same as the Ansu-Typhon War, which is a historical necessity, but the difference is that the latter has been postponed, and the former was a foregone conclusion at the moment Francis II fell.

The blood shed by the king will be paid for by the blood of the entire kingdom. Anyone who appeals, summons, runs, and reveals the truth is powerless. Even if it is the "old ancestor" Gawain who speaks, it is impossible for anyone to speak at this time. Listen, in fact, even if some people listen, they will deliberately pretend not to hear.

In the shadow experiment field, the personnel who stayed here are still doing some finishing work.

Tyr put away his sea monster form, and summoned a big water ball to start cleaning up the disgusting wreckage left by Clement's death, while Solderin took his own Iron Rangers The team members began to set up lights in various parts of the shadow experiment field - these fighters have experienced the mental impact brought by the Tyr sea monster form, almost everyone has passed the san check more than three times, and at this time all the san values ​​​​are full of energy Full of fighting spirit, even the work efficiency has more than doubled...

Gawain and Amber came to the center of the shadow experiment field together. Looking at the circular pit on the platform, Gawain thought thoughtfully: "In other words, there is an unstable rift in the corresponding position of the shadow world. When someone activates the Shadow Signet in the real world, that unstable rift will open a space channel in the real world and summon the shadow dwellers?"

"That's my judgment," Amber nodded, "but the space rift is obviously very unstable. It's okay for the shadow residents to pass through. When people from the present world pass through, the passage will quickly collapse."

"...The Shadow Signet Ring is a relic of the ancient Gondor Empire, and this Shadow Experimental Site is also a creation of the ancient Gondor Empire. There must be a connection between them..." Gawain looked around the huge cave, his face full of thought. Look, "Even in the Gondor period, human beings did not study the Shadow Realm very deeply. At most, they could open a small 'different space warehouse' in the Shadow Realm to store some important items, but for Scholars have never made a clear conclusion about the nature of the Shadowlands and the reasons for its formation."

"This should be the place where they studied the nature of the Shadow Realm back then," Amber shook her head and said, "This pit is a fixed portal built back then, and the Shadow Signet is the tool used by the researchers to 'open the door'? "

"Perhaps... But what I'm more curious about is why these researches are carried out in the 'Fortress of Disobedience'," Gao Wen expressed his doubts, "The purpose of this fortress is to find a way out for human beings in the tide of evil , Could it be that...the scholars of Gondor thought that one of the ways out was the Shadow Realm?"

Amber blinked her eyes and thought for a while, then shook her head: "I don't know - although I can enter the Shadow Realm, I don't know if the Shadow Realm will be affected by the demon tide."

"Can you communicate with the shadow dwellers?" Gawain asked, looking into Amber's eyes curiously.

Amber spread her hands: "If you think that two people talking in sleep can be called 'communication', then I can communicate with them."

"I understand..." Gawain shook his head dumbfoundingly, "But then again, what kind of existence are the shadow dwellers? Do they have their own society? Are they 'elemental creatures' of the shadow system?"

Many shadow researchers know about the existence of the shadow dwellers. Even Gawain Cecil, who is not a magician, knows some secrets about the shadow dwellers because of his extensive knowledge, but as Gawain knows As stated, what everyone knows is just "secrets". The special creatures of the shadow dwellers, which have human forms but are obviously different from humans, are a mystery to all scholars. Strangeness, no one has ever successfully established communication with the shadow dwellers, and because the shadow dwellers cannot exist stably for a long time in the present world, no one has ever successfully "captured" them.

Hearing Gao Wen's question, Amber put her hands under her chin and thought for a while, then shook her head: "I don't know, but I suspect they are at least civilized—they are all wearing clothes!"

Hearing this answer, Gao Wen couldn't help but glanced at Amber: "You are well-founded, but what you said is the same as if you didn't say it - aren't you known as the master of shadows? I thought you knew more about the world of shadows than you did. I have more."

Hu Po put her hips on her hips and spoke convincingly: "That's why it's called 'title'!"

Gao Wen: "..."

Is this Shame of the Elf really shameless when admitting such a thing?

Seeing Amber's face full of pride instead of shame, Gawain could only curl his lips, and then looked up and down at the half-elf in front of him: "Again, have you ever thought that you and this shadow experiment field Will it matter?"

When it came to the topic of her life experience, Amber put away her playful smile, and she quietly glanced at the circular pit: "I don't know... Although I saw the space rift and Francis II I had thought about this when I opened the rift with the Shadow Signet... but I had no idea. After all, my parents, whom I have never even met face to face, left me with only one It's just a ring, who knows what the ring means, is it really related to my life experience? Or is it just for the sake of the ring to let the person who finds me eat? Even... Maybe my parents also It's just two thieves, they stole the ring, picked it up, and put it on me casually, after all, the ring doesn't look very valuable when it's not activated..."

"Your adoptive father, and Pittman, don't they know anything about your life experience?"

"Where do they go?" Amber laughed, seemingly very relaxed, "My adoptive father is a thief. He claims to be the strongest stalker in the south, but he has never done anything except petty theft in his life. Pittman Uncle... Needless to say, you all know that although you have some skills, your mind is full of deception..."

"Pittman..." Thinking of the druid in the territory who was dawdling all day long, but actually not only cracked the secret of the divine power inverter array, but also led the establishment of the entire alchemy industry project, and seemed to have a lot of mystic knowledge, Gawain shook his head, "He is not simple."

"Lord, the lighting points are set up—there can only be so many set up first, and the magic mesh units we carry are not enough."

Solderling's report interrupted the conversation between Gawain and Amber: Although the high-level ranger and Gawain would call him old friends in private, when talking about business, Solderin still insisted on addressing Gawain. For the "lord".

Gawain looked around the huge cave, and saw that lighting was set up on the road from the cave entrance to the central platform, and there were also temporary magic spar lamps in some relatively dry areas. He nodded slightly: " Let's evacuate first, and then organize another exploration team to inspect the entire cave. All return."

The next day, Cecil Territory's pre-war mobilization meeting was held as scheduled.

Looking at the heads of various departments standing in front of him, Gao Wen didn't hide anything, and said bluntly: "Everyone, Ansu will face a war—King Francis II was killed last night."

He also hesitated to tell this amazing information so early, but before the meeting, he made up his mind.

This is a meeting that only the heads of various departments of the Government Affairs Department can participate in. Each of the participants determines the operation of a part of the main functions of Cecil society, and they are all qualified to know this information. Secondly, the reason why Gawain let Hetty called this meeting in advance because he saw the fire in Changfeng Fortress the night before and heard the information brought by Amber. He called these people on the premise that he knew the king was assassinated. In the end, Gao Wen also felt that it was time for everyone to clarify the future direction.

Although almost all the high-level officials in the government affairs hall knew that Cecil, a huge social machine, would not be placed at the foot of the Dark Mountains, this layer of window paper still had to be pierced.

Sure enough, Gao Wen's words directly caused an uproar in the conference hall.

Even the two knights, Byron and Philip, who had known about the situation last night, showed serious expressions.

Because until now, they dare not believe that this matter is true.

"I know what you want to ask," Gao Wen raised a hand, and the scene immediately fell silent, and he continued, "It wasn't the Typhons who did it—it was the cultists of the Death of All Things Society, and the cultists who colluded with the cultists. Prince Edmund together. And I have every reason to believe that the Duke of the East is also among them!"

Chapter 0390 Assemble

The nobles of this era seldom talk about war with people other than nobles, because war is a game played by nobles, a chess game played by kings and lords, and war is a tool and stage for them to distribute benefits, so they will not, There is no need to explain to the civilians why their land is involved in the war - but Gawain doesn't think so.

He had to let his subordinates know why the war broke out and what it meant to the territory. Only in this way could he bind the interests of everyone in the Cecil Territory together.

"Everyone, the peace is over. According to my judgment, it won't be long before Prince Edmund and Anzu's most powerful Eastern Legion will announce that the capital has been occupied by rebels, and the two dukes in the capital will And Welsh Moen, who is engulfed by them, will definitely call on the nobles to raise troops in the same name. The second civil war in Ansu may break out in the fire moon, and we—our greatest advantage is to know before everyone else This news."

Gao Wen didn't explain his source of information, but his absolute authority and miraculous performance all the time made it unnecessary for him to explain. Everyone in the conference hall began to think about Cecil's future along the lines of the lord. Bye Knight Lun was the first to break the silence: "The flames of war will reach the southern border sooner or later."

"That's right, three of the four realms of the kingdom will be involved in civil wars, and the southern border cannot stay safe forever," Gawain nodded, "So what we have to do is to firmly control the southern border before the flames of war come in—so that Take the initiative."

The death of Francis II is a big variable for Gao Wen, but this variable is also within his previous bad predictions for this peace negotiation. Although the details are different, he has indeed deduced Ansu's outbreak The possibility of civil war, now that the king is really dead, the situation of this kingdom will be unstable, but for Gao Wen, there is indeed an opportunity hidden in it.

He can be more legitimate, and he can complete the recovery and rule of the entire southern border with more focus.

The chaotic royal capital and the divided Moen royal family will have no time to take care of the situation in the southern border, and the princes of the three realms will not be able to devote extra energy to intervene in the reshuffle of the southern border. They will also be impacted by chaos and become easier to deal with.As long as you can seize this opportunity to go first and complete the integration of the basic board in the early stages of the Ansu Civil War, everything will be easier than previously planned.

Moreover, Gao Wen can also take advantage of the opportunity of this civil war to make many of his follow-up activities more justifiable...

With this in mind, Gao Wen first mobilized the heads of various departments before the battle and completed the distribution of combat readiness tasks. After the meeting, Byron, Philip, Soldering, Hetty and Amber stayed Down: What follows is the actual military closed-door meeting.

"The mobilization of the combat corps is in place," Byron first reported his situation. "At present, the arsenal is still working overtime to hoard weapons and ammunition."

Hetty went on to say: "The preparations for the war in the territory started a few days ago. In addition, I have asked Godwin Orlando to prepare extra news about the nobles in the southern border conspiring to attack Cecil and plunder the wealth of the territory. It can be released in the whole territory as soon as tomorrow."

Gao Wen looked at Amber again, and before he could speak, the latter had already begun to take the initiative to report the news he had just received: "The Viscountess of Glenn has sent the latest secret letter, and the Viscounty of Carroll and the Earl of Pepo have been around for several days. There are armed militias and knights, and it seems that Earl Hossman has already begun to gather troops. They also sent an invitation to Glenn—according to what you said before, the Viscount Glenn agreed."

"They only know that I visited Glenland once last winter, but they don't know that Glenland is already a member of Cecil's faction after just one visit," Gawain shook his head, "I have always let Luo Peini Gulen actively contacted Horsman, and it seems that the effect is not bad."

"Which direction do you think they will attack from?" Soldering asked Gawain.

Gao Wen stood up and came to the map of the southern border hanging on the wall of the meeting room.

"Cecil's back is against the Dark Mountains, which is a natural danger. At least those southern nobles will not challenge this natural danger, so they can only choose three offensive routes: the east side, the west side, and the north side.

"Earl Hossman and the southern nobles he contacted are mostly located in the west and north. If they attack from the east, it means that most of them will have to travel long distances in the wilderness, and there are many mountains on the east side of Cecil. , the only few plains are narrow, so this is not a good line of attack;

"On the west side, the dense western forest is a huge barrier. If they don't want the army to go around in the forest for half a month, they have to take the east-west road between the forest and the Baishui River, or go down the Baishui River. , the former has to face Cecil's blockade, the latter has to pass through the Leslie Territory, and pass under the towering city walls of Tanzania Town... But they may take this risk, because although Viscount Andrew Leslie has been with Cecil is very close, but it is not impossible for the nobles of the southern border;

"Northern... this should be the best route of attack. They can attack the Kant area first, because Kant is Cecil's 'new land'. According to the general rule, they will think that the defense of the Kant area is low, and the local knights and squires are against it. Cecil's loyalty will also be very low, so they will attack here first, and if they take Kant, they can use it as a stronghold to continue to attack Cecil City south."

After Gawain finished his speculation, Soldering touched his chin and said, "So, they might attack from the west and north at the same time?"

"It depends on how many people that Earl Hossman can organize, and whether his authority is enough to support such a division of troops," Gao Wen said, and then looked back from the map, "What we have to do now is Push that Earl Hossman one last time..."

"Push one last time?" Hetty asked curiously.

"Notify Padraic that the supply of alchemy potions to the entire southern territory will be reduced by 25 percent," Gao Wen said to Heidi first, and then turned to Amber, "Let the 25th Production and Construction Office draw up a plan, and let the 25th Brigade spread a message... Let’s say that the Cecil knights who lost their land and the despised king’s mage broke out in riots and destroyed the alchemy factory. Cecil’s interior was in chaos, and the alchemy pharmaceutical industry, which was the backbone of the territory, was about to stop. Wasn’t there a batch of defective products that hadn’t been destroyed? It happened to be used to blow up the North Shore Reservoir, and the [-]th Brigade went to the pier to lay the foundation, blow it up in front of them, and then told them that the mages in the territory were making trouble.”

Amber's eyes lit up: "I like this proposal!!"

Not to mention Amber, even Soldering admired Gawain's thinking at this time, so Philip couldn't help but mutter to Byron: "You said...does the lord do something that is not in line with the spirit of chivalry? "

Byron opened his mouth, habitually wanting to make up another set of nonsense to fool this honest young man, but the plan that Gawain made this time is so dirty that even the old fritters can't wash it off. , he had no choice but to click his tongue twice: "The lord is considering the overall situation, so he has to sacrifice chivalry."

Philip thought for a while, then nodded: "Hey."

Byron looked at him in surprise: "Huh? You've changed your gender? Why aren't you obsessed with chivalry this time?"

Philip thought about it again, and waved his hand: "One thing I realized recently is that I can't talk to you at all - so rather than entangled in chivalry, I want to know the persuader rail gun you promised me last time. when are you giving it to me?"

Byron: "..."

In the spring of Ansu 736, during the last few days of the Moon of Recovery, countless tides, either bright or dark, surged in this ancient country.

However, due to the slow spread of news and the isolation of the southern region itself, almost everyone in the southern region did not know what they would face in the next few years when the tide was just rising.

In the eastern region, Glenland, Ropeni Glenn sent off the envoys from the western region. Watching the carriage with the emblem of the Hossman family disappearing on the mountain road, a warm smile slowly appeared on the corner of her mouth. .

"A mob of [-] people has been assembled..." the Viches said to herself, "It's crazy..."

The middle-aged butler who had been following her for many years came behind the Viches and said softly, "Mistress, the knights and soldiers have assembled."

"Very good," Ropeni Glenn nodded, "Let the knights go first and go to Carol to collect... I will 'help' that good neighbor."

The butler bowed to leave, while Ropeni Grant turned around and stood on the terrace of the castle overlooking the rolling hills in the southern region.

"7 people... Duke Gawain, I hope you can really do what you promised. This will be the last big gamble in my life."

Cecil collar, Whitewater River, accompanied by the roar of steel from the giant repulsion mechanism and hinge device, the huge mechanical bridge connecting the two sides of the river slowly lowered and closed, and all kinds of vehicles and pedestrians who had been waiting for a long time set foot on it. On the bridge deck, a messenger carriage headed for the Kant area ran at the forefront. As the carriage was speeding, a stack of newspapers in the carriage was shaken loose, and several papers that smelled like ink floated to the bridge deck. superior.

A bold headline was printed on the newspaper:

"Outside - War Threats to Our Prosperity and Peace"

Below that, is a line of subtitles:

"Mr. Godwin's Comments on the Situation - Earl Hausman and His Minions Don't Want a Good Life for the People of Cecil"

A pair of feet wearing coarse cloth shoes walked on the mechanical bridge. The owner of these feet stopped in front of this "extra", and then picked up the piece of paper with a thick and strong hand.

Wright Aviken carefully looked at the content on the extra account. This article was completely different from Godwin Orlando's previous style of writing, which was full of elegant language even though he tried hard to be simple. It was simple and straightforward, but It is as offensive as a sharp sword, with strong and hot emotions. There is no doubt that even though this article was written by Godwin himself, its content was not thought up by the "editor-in-chief and president" from Wangdu alone. of.

"The battlefield..."

The priest, who had lost his holy light, grunted softly and slowly clenched his fists.

Chapter 0391 The Day of War Comes

In the study of the lord's mansion under Cecil, Gawain carefully read the information that Amber had just sent.

"It seems that the news of the 25th brigade has been successfully delivered to their masters." Gawain raised his head and looked at the half-elf standing beside him, "There are already more than 40 knights from the southern border, large and small. Gathering their retinues and militiamen under Earl Hossman's command, their actions were completely undisguised. The knights who responded to the call were all walking on the road swaggeringly in broad daylight, messengers delivering news between various noble territories And it's everywhere."

"Actually, when the nobles do these things, they don't hide it," Amber casually picked up an apple from Gao Wen's table, held it to her mouth and said vaguely while nibbling quickly, "Originally, except Cecil has a military intelligence bureau, who can come up with such an intelligence system like you, and taking a step back, the situation is already like this, and there is no need for them to hide it."

Gao Wen sneered and shook his head: "Now I'm just waiting for an official letter. According to the rules of the traditional nobles, a declaration must be sent before the war begins."

Amber stopped gnawing on the apple, with a puzzled look on her face: "Speaking of which... Although Ansu and Typhon have signed a peace agreement, once the civil war breaks out in Ansu this time, those Typhon people will really Won't you immediately tear up the agreement to add insult to injury?"

Gao Wen looked at Amber in surprise: "You can still think of this, you have made progress."

"I'm usually thinking hard too! I just don't have your dirty tactics!" Amber stared, her cheeks puffed up, "And I wanted to ask this from the beginning, but I never found the opportunity That's all!"

Gawain looked at Amber's earnest and angry look, and couldn't help but shook his head with a smile: "Of course Typhon won't call in, at least not now."

Amber looked puzzled: "Why?"

"Typhon has dealt with Ansu for hundreds of years, and they know the characteristics of Ansu people very well," Gao Wen patiently explained, with his own speculation mixed in, "I still remember that I specifically confirmed with that Clement One thing? Emperor Typhon also has people who will die at the end of all things... So from the beginning, this 'peace agreement' is just a drama, but so far, this drama will continue to be played. Rosetta August would watch Ansu fall into civil war, and watch Ansu get deeper and deeper in the next few years, getting weaker and weaker, until the kingdom was almost torn apart, he would enter the market to reap the benefits, but Before that, he would never do anything to Ansu, because he knew... once Typhon made a move now, Ansu's civil war would end immediately."

Amber blinked, and seemed to understand what Gao Wen meant.

"The invasion of the Typhon people will quickly unite Ansu. The Dukes of the Three Realms haven't established enough hatred yet, and they are likely to unify the outside world," Gao Wen put down the documents in his hand, and his thoughts on Ansu three The impression and analysis of a border duke, "Victoria Wilde in the north chose to support a puppet king to stabilize the country; Silas Loren in the east chose to be loyal to the blood of Morn to rebuild the glory of the first dynasty; German is rarely involved in royal family disputes, but half of Ansu's economy depends on his border trade... No matter what role the three dukes play in this civil war, the means adopted are clever or stupid, but at least one thing is certain , That is, they are all using their own logic to maintain this country, I think that Rosetta Augustus must have investigated and understood this.”

Speaking of this, Gao Wen suddenly sighed slightly: "The only thing I'm not sure about now is whether there is some kind of 'tacit understanding' between Prince Edmund and Emperor Typhon, whether it is a big gamble... If If so, then the death of Francis II is too depressing."

"Did you die in a scene, and a gamble outside the scene..." Amber muttered, looking at the apple in her hand, she suddenly felt tasteless, "Maybe everyone is looking forward to this civil war, only that The old king really believes in peace alone... I really don't like the stupid logic of nobles."

A knock on the door came at this moment, interrupting the conversation between Gao Wen and Amber.

The door of the study opened, and the tall and strong priest Wright appeared at the door.

Gawain looked at the only priest on the territory in surprise: "Mr. Wright, what's the matter?"

"Lord," Wright bowed slightly, and then said bluntly, "I want to go to the battlefield."

Gao Wen froze for a moment, he really didn't expect this: "Go to the battlefield?"