The gate of Heimu Pass facing the empire slowly opened, and an iron bridge stretched to the other side of the moat.
Just at the other end of the moat, there were more than twenty people standing. One of them was holding a flag with a two-legged flying dragon painted on it, which also proved the identity of the person: Earl John of the Davis family.
Ten of the men standing in the front were Earl John and his envoys.
Since the last shelling of the camp, the Empire has been sending more troops here, but has not launched a real attack. However, according to the careful observation of the mages on the Blackwood Pass side, the other side has sent personnel to investigate the outpost camp many times, and they must have a certain understanding of the power of the artillery here. Anyone who has seen the miserable state of the outpost camp and knows how much time the people on Blackwood Pass spent to turn it into this place will definitely seriously consider the consequences before sending troops.
The people who greeted Count John at the other end of the iron bridge were Shi Hao, the current military commander of Blackwood Pass, the head of the Second Regiment of the Guards, Liu Xiang, the political commissar of the Second Regiment, Huang Zheng, the commander of the Independent Battalion, Xiao Chen, the administrative chief of Blackwood Pass, and Zhang Hong, Roger, Evelyn and other external consultants and masters of the Guards. There was also Master Orgas, the former guard of Blackwood Pass who had defected to the Tower of China.
Seeing Count John approaching from the opposite side, Orgas whispered to Shi Hao: "Captain Shi, this is the guy who came over to watch the fun after we bombarded the outpost camp, and then was blown away by us. Hehe, with personal experience, he can now be regarded as the person among the imperial nobles who has the most profound understanding of the power of artillery shells."
"It would be great if you know him. I don't want to waste time with someone who doesn't understand the situation." Shi Hao said.
Earl John was in his early forties, with sharp eyes and a tough demeanor. He was wearing an exquisite steel armor, a cloak behind him, and his hand on the sword, giving him a very aristocratic demeanor.
Behind him followed a flag bearer holding up the family flag, followed by several entourages dressed as noble warriors and a wizard in robes. These people looked very capable and strong, and were obviously the elite under his command.
When they walked across the iron bridge and arrived at the Blackwood Pass, the flag bearer announced a series of titles of Earl John. The guardian of the southern border of the empire, the inheritor of the bloodline of the flying dragon, the ruler of the Davis family, etc. Shi Hao and Xiao Chen couldn't help laughing when they heard it.
However, locals like Count John and Olga looked quite accustomed to this. It was obvious that this was a common way of calling names among the locals. The presence of such a link actually showed that the other party attached great importance to this meeting and that it was of high standard.
After the flag bearer finished announcing his name, Shi Hao simply said, "I am Shi Hao, the commander here, and this is Xiao Chen, the chief executive of Heimuguan. Now the two of us will manage this place together."
Count John was not impressed by this light-hearted introduction and explanation, and said, "Mr. Shi Hao, I am here on the orders of Emperor Alfred to talk to you about Blackwood Pass and the current war. I would like to congratulate you, the Tower of China, for taking this pass. You have not communicated with the Purple Eagle Empire yet, and I believe we can discuss the possibility of cooperation between the Empire and the Tower of China in a while."
Shi Hao was a little surprised by the other party's attitude. He originally thought that the other party would at least make a fuss about their previous shelling of the outpost camp, but now the other party's attitude seemed much better than he expected. He said, "Since Mr. John is here and willing to talk, I welcome you on behalf of the China Tower."
Count John nodded and looked at Orgas. "Sir Orgas, I didn't expect that when I saw you again, you had already lost control of Blackwood Pass. For an old rival like me, it's really a pity."
Olgas smiled and said, "We can't be called old rivals. My old rival has always been Duke Stuart. Haha, I hope you can give your boss a good message for me when you go back this time."
"Of course," said Earl John, with a wry smile.
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Shi Hao and his party led Earl John into the Blackwood Pass. Earl John looked around, but didn't see anything new inside the pass, especially the "cannons" that he was very interested in. Although he didn't know what those things looked like, he had a simple idea in his mind through the descriptions of those black guards, but he didn't see anything similar along the way.
Xiao Chen smiled and asked, "Sir John, what are you looking for? Are you looking for those cannons?"
Earl John was straightforward. He nodded and admitted, "Yes, I felt that kind of power when you bombarded our outpost camp that day. So naturally I wanted to see what kind of thing could make me so embarrassed."
Xiao Chen said: "This is not a difficult task. If the negotiations go smoothly, I can arrange for you to go and see what the pneumatic cannon really looks like."
"Really? I didn't expect you to be so generous." said Earl John.
"Sometimes recognizing the strength of both sides will be of great help to cooperation. After all, many conflicts come from misunderstandings, right?" Xiao Chen pointed to the position above the checkpoint wall and said, "I know that the Earl and Orgas have been confronting each other here for many years, and you have always won and lost against each other. However, everything is different today. In the last battle, we actually only used two cannons, but now there are more than ten times as many cannons on the city wall. You have experienced the feeling of being bombarded by cannons, think about what it would be like if ten times more were used?"
"Although the last bombardment was quite powerful, I still managed to leave safely despite the explosion. Often, changes in numbers will not bring about fundamental changes. The Empire also has many powers that you have not seen, but as two forces with no old grudges, why should we use these powers on each other?" Earl John glanced at Xiao Chen meaningfully and said, "Don't forget our common enemy. That arrogant little girl is still occupying your capital."
Xiao Chen asked, "It seems that you are very good at temporarily putting aside disputes and looking for common enemies."
"The last battle was a despicable sneak attack and a serious provocation. If we had been prepared, the result would have been very different. We never thought that the Chinese, who had no dealings with us, would take the initiative to attack our camp.
We certainly care about the sacrifices of our soldiers, but His Majesty the Emperor is magnanimous. As long as you can meet our demands, the Empire can ignore these matters."
"What request?" Xiao Chen asked.
"It's a very simple request, just open the Blackwood Pass and let our army enter the heart of the kingdom. We will not cause you any trouble, our enemy is always the royal family of the Iberian Kingdom." (To be continued)