"Sit down." Catherine pointed to the chairs in the room and said, "This is not a formal occasion, so there is no need to be restrained."
When Ryan and others sat down, Catherine asked: "What's going on outside now? Where do the people who have poured into the city live? Do they have food to eat?"
Ryan smiled bitterly and explained: "Katharine, I don't know. I went directly to General Jonas in the morning and returned after forming this team. You should ask Luke or Orlando about these things."
Catherine lightly slapped herself on the forehead and said with a smile: "Look at me, I really deserve a slap." Catherine's lazy look made all the men present feel their hearts skip a beat, even the women Farasi and Alina's heart beat faster than expected,
Catherine gently tucked the hair on her forehead behind her ears with her hands, and then said to Ryan: "Do you know where Luke or Orlando are now?"
Ryan replied: "Luke and Orlando are setting up city defenses in the city wall area."
Catherine said: "Let's set off now. If I can't see it with my own eyes, I don't think I will feel at ease."
Ryan advised: "It's getting late now, why not wait until tomorrow. Maybe after a while, Luke and the others will come back."
"No." Catherine shook her head firmly and said to Ryan, "I have to go now."
"Okay." Seeing that the persuasion was ineffective and that he himself was actually very concerned about this matter, Ryan agreed. Soon, Ryan and others were ready to travel. Catherine, accompanied by Faras, took a seat. A very ordinary-looking carriage, protected by hundreds of people, marched towards the northern city wall of the imperial capital.
It was already evening at this time. If it were normal, many people would have finished their dinner by now and were looking for a cool place to cool off. But now, news that the orc army has reached the outskirts of the imperial capital and imperial officials have evacuated has been spread everywhere in the imperial capital. , making the civilians who were already unsure of their hearts even more uneasy. When spreading these news, many people even deliberately exaggerated, causing local panic in many parts of the city.
"Lian." Catherine opened the curtains of the carriage, stuck her head out and said to Ryan: "Where are you now?"
"In the civilian area in the north of the city, it probably takes an hour to walk to the city wall."
"Stop." Catherine suddenly gave the order. After the carriage stopped, Catherine stepped out with the help of Faras. Perhaps for the sake of convenience, Catherine did not wear those cumbersome royal clothes, but chose Wearing an ordinary robe,
"Come for a walk with me." Catherine said calmly: "Go and see my people."
Ryan glanced at Flanner and signaled him to hurry up and make arrangements. The latter nodded slightly, indicating that he understood Ryan's intention, and quickly turned around and went out to convey the order.
Catherine and Faras walked side by side in front, while Ryan and Alando followed closely behind them. Colin and a dozen other agile soldiers dressed in linen mercenary decorations looked far away. Follow behind,
This is a civilian area in the north of Fernando City, accounting for one-fifteenth of the entire imperial capital. It is home to about 100,000 civilians. Most of the residents here are looking for work in the shops in the commercial district, or working for those in the commercial area. Officials and nobles work as servants, and a small number of them own a shop of their own. Of course, these shops are basically in this civilian area, and the objects they serve are naturally the civilians here.
The streets here are quite narrow compared to the business district, and can only accommodate two carriages traveling side by side. There are low-rise houses on both sides of the streets. Only at the intersection of the two streets, there are a few that are not very large. Big shops, the streets here are paved with the most common stone slabs, and have hardly been repaired in the past 200 years, so the road surface is very uneven, and it feels quite different when walking up. However, although it looks shabby, the ground is There is no rubbish, it has been cleaned cleanly.
"Hey, have you heard?" About forty or fifty people gathered around on the street. Among them was a man wearing servant clothes who pretended to be mysterious and said: "The magic teleportation array in the palace has been activated. Well, those officials and the wealthy nobles all ran away."
"Is it true?" asked a woman around forty years old with a bucket waist.
"Of course." The man in servant clothes looked at the woman who was out of shape due to hard work with disdain and said: "You don't want to ask me what I do. Don't forget, I am the second class of the Earl's residence. Chef, the Earl, who is always known for being particular about food, did not have a meal at all today. I heard from the concierge that the Earl rushed to the palace early in the morning."
"Then we can't say they ran away." Another old man about fifty years old said: "Don't they go to the palace to quarrel every day?"
"Haha, you don't know this." Another man wearing mercenary uniform suddenly spoke: "I was originally hired as a guard by the viscount's house in the south of the city, but today I saw our The Viscount took his three women and a whole carriage of rare things to the palace. The carriage driver who came back later said that in the carriage, one of the Viscount's favorite concubines wanted to bring more. I left with just a few things, but was scolded severely by the Viscount, saying that the number of places in the teleportation array was limited."
"You said that now that the orcs have broken through the Thunder God Fortress and come to the imperial capital, why don't those adults think carefully about how to fight off these damn green-skinned bastards, but they all run away? Could it be that the imperial capital cannot be defended, then what can we do? Do it." A young man in the crowd suddenly asked,
Obviously no one could answer this question. The man in servant clothes opened his mouth, but he didn't say anything as if he was worried.
"What are you afraid of? In the worst case, we'll have to fight those green-skinned bastards." A strong and powerful man squeezed into the crowd and shouted loudly: "Are you just sitting at home waiting to die? It's worthwhile to get a few of them together anyway. .”
"You idiot, don't you know that one orc can beat five idiots like you?"
"You bastard, how dare you scold me."
"Okay, okay, stop arguing."
"Hurry back and pack your things. Maybe we will have a chance to go with those noble officials."
"Damn it, when will you pay me back the money you owe me?"
"How long has it been and you are still thinking about this?"
"If you don't return it, if the orcs come into the city and kill you, who will I find?"
""
The dozens of people talked more and more chaotically, and some people hurriedly went home. This seemed to be a signal. Soon, the group of people gathered left one after another, with doubts and worries on their faces. In fact, they don't know whether it is true or false news and tell their family and friends, and their family and friends will add some of their own imagination and continue to spread it, and a wave of panic begins here. spread,
Catherine on the side tightly grasped Farasi's little hand. She turned around gracefully, looked at Ryan and Alando behind her with a pale face, and said helplessly: "How could this happen? I originally promised to open the teleportation array." I don’t want Luke and the others to be disturbed by those nobles and officials, but now, before the orc army has seen it, my people are in chaos first.”
Everyone was silent. It was obvious that this matter had gone beyond what was expected and had become a bit uncontrollable.
"No, we can't go on like this." Catherine's eyes showed a trace of decision. She held her neck up like a white swan, her eyes blurred but her face was determined as she looked at the end of the street: "Let's go, find Lu immediately. Ke, we must immediately eliminate this panic among the people, otherwise the battle will be fought at the front and chaos will occur behind us, and there will be no need to fight this battle."
On the northernmost wall of the imperial capital, Luke and Orlando were discussing something.
"We are far more numerous than the orcs. If we recruit young adults at all costs, we can definitely form an army of more than 2 million," Luke said. "But this is absolutely not possible. We must leave enough people, otherwise even if After defeating the orcs, we ourselves will not be able to farm due to lack of manpower, and the empire will encounter a terrible famine next year."
"I know." Orlando nodded and said: "So far, I have formed fifteen legions with a total of 800,000 warriors. All my men, whether formal or trainee holy knights, have been separated as officers. In addition, I will hand over to you the first two reorganized legions with a total of 120,000 people, and they will be responsible for the transportation outside the imperial capital."
"Are you ready with your battle plan?"
Orlando shook his head and said: "As for the defense plan of the Imperial City, it was actually formulated by the alchemist Jieshi, one of the Seven Heroes, as early as 200 years ago when the Imperial Capital was built. You have also read it. It is a very detailed plan. plan, but our current situation is the last of that plan, but I have been hesitating, because relying on these improvised civilians, it is simply impossible to block the fierce offensive of the orcs on the city wall, the imperial capital The city wall is not as high as the Thunder God Fortress in terms of height and thickness. More importantly, the entire city wall of the Imperial Capital stretches for more than a hundred kilometers. The orcs can choose to break through at any point, and if we want to defend, we must at least ensure that every meter of the city wall must be protected. With three people standing on the city wall, based on this number, we will have to arrange 400,000 people on the city wall, which is already more than one-third of our current manpower."
"Then shrink within the city." Luke said in a light tone: "According to the last plan of Jie Xi's plan, only use part of the army to resist on the city wall, and put the main force inside the city, as far as possible Consume the power of the orcs, and finally use the two hundred thousand elite warriors to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy."
"But." Orlando's face showed an unbearable look: "The losses to the civilians would be too great."
The two were talking when suddenly a messenger hurried over and said loudly: "Sir Luke, General Orlando, and Her Majesty the Queen are here."