"That's the Golden Spike City?" Iron Axe turned the observation mirror and looked at a gray-brown city in the distance.
"As shown on the map, it should be it. After all, there is only one Sanwan River, so it is unlikely to go in the wrong direction." Adjutant Xiongpaw replied. Like Iron Axe, he was born as a hunter in Border Town, and he was considered one of the first to serve the lord.
"It's a little weird..." He frowned.
"Where's the weirdness?"
"Golden Spike City is the main city in the eastern border, and it is also a major trading center in Graycastle. The old royal capital, Eagle City, and Golden Spike City constitute the prosperous central region of the kingdom. Even when I was in the extreme south, I heard It has passed its name." Iron Axe explained, "But after walking down these days, don't you think the merchant ships we encountered are pitiful?"
"I don't know that," Bearpaw shrugged. "Probably the previous pirate attack scared the merchants so they wouldn't dare to come here to do business again."
"The attack was already two years ago. No matter how serious the looting was at the time, it should have resumed."
The city wall in the field of vision is ugly and bloated. The brown wall seems to have been widened on purpose, perhaps because of the lack of stone. The newly built outer wall is made of red mud, and it is also mixed with a lot of gravel and wood, which is quite similar. The early rubble walls of Border Town. In addition, the surface of the city wall was also covered with a layer of shiny things. Due to the long distance, the iron axe could not be seen clearly.
The old and new city walls are stacked together, and the width of the top of the wall has more than doubled. However, this transformation is not very thorough. Some parts are still the same as before. From a distance, they appear rough and pitted, not at all. It is a city famous for its abundance.
"Never mind, just take it down," Xiongpaw took out a fire lantern fruit from his bosom and threw it into his mouth, "Even if it's not the City of Golden Spikes, but the City of Silver Spikes and Iron Spikes, so what, Your Majesty The order is to sweep the entire Eastern Territory, right? It's very simple, just see one and fight the other."
Iron Axe shook his head helplessly. This guy is still the same as before. His thinking time rarely exceeds three breaths. The most common thing he does when he encounters a target is to throw his javelin straight at him. While other hunters were still laying traps and sending out hunting dogs to track their prey, he had already returned with the hunting results. According to legend, even the most terrifying black bear in the forest is reluctant to provoke him too much, hence the name bear paw.
If he was willing to think more, he would not still be an adjutant now, even that guy Fanner is already the commander-in-chief of the artillery battalion.
"However, the battle process is not the point, the point is how to deal with the aftermath," but what the bear's paw said next made Iron Axe a little surprised, "If we mess up the Eastern Territory, the city hall will definitely trouble us, but If you don't make a fight, those officials will have difficulty even standing. Has Your Majesty explained how to act?"
"No, he only told me to deal with the situation."
"That would be a headache. Of course, you are the boss, so this matter must be left to you to consider, I will just do it." Bear paw grinned.
Iron Axe couldn't help but become interested, "Oh? Where is the headache?"
"You really don't know, you are still testing me," Bear's paw held his forehead. "Of course, it's a headache how to deal with those nobles. The Eastern Border has not waited for a turnaround until now, but His Majesty's power is getting stronger and stronger. They There will definitely not be only one voice inside. When the city is conquered, most people will surrender, and then trouble will come. Without Lord Nightingale, how can you tell them apart?"
"Continue," Tie Axe nodded, it seemed that the other party was not completely mindless.
"Hey, you don't really think about it," Xiongpaw's eyes widened, "The number of troops on the Eastern Front itself is not large, and the number of teams that can stay behind is very limited. At most, they can take care of an inner city, but here is a fee. Ke's base camp! Those nobles are willing to fully cooperate with us after they surrendered. What if they have malicious intentions and are always thinking about seizing power? Even a small group of people like this can make the Eastern border uneasy-waiting for the army to leave. It's a trivial matter that the city hall is not in name only. If it is serious, the officials sent by the city hall may not survive. Poisoning, assassination, bribing... These methods cannot be prevented by muskets."
"Then what do you think?" Iron Axe asked curiously.
"Boss, this is your business," Bear Paw rolled his eyes and spat out the chewed fruit seeds into the tumbling river.
"It's just an assumption. For example, now you are the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front Army. Just talk about it."
"Hmm..." The other party pondered for a while before sighing, "There is no good way, if Lord Nightingale can't come, we can only tell the difference by time. Or buy more mice and take precautions. , and then according to Neverwinter's method, get some police team to maintain order, use as few surrendered nobles as possible, and wait until the end of the war."
"Sure enough..." Iron Axe whispered.
"what?"
"No, it's nothing," he put away the observation glass, "I have nothing to do with you here, go and inform the people on the other boats and prepare for the landing, we are approaching the suburban pier."
"Understood!" As soon as he mentioned the war, Bear's paw immediately came to his senses, "After drifting on the river for so long, I can finally fight!"
Looking at the back of the adjutant leaving excitedly, Iron Axe let out a breath and leaned over the porthole in the command room, thinking in his heart.
He couldn't help but imagine the scene when Edith was talking to him the day before the army set off.
The meeting place was in the private room of the tavern opened by Evelyn. It really didn't seem like a place to talk about business. Iron Axe thought that the other party was planning to protect the identity of the Ministry of Defense officials. But he didn't expect that there was only Beidi Pearl in the private room, and what he said was shocking enough.
The content of the conversation between the two happened to be the "headache" that Bear's paw was nagging about.
He still clearly remembers every word the other party said.
"Why do you think His Majesty asked you to take charge of the Eastern Front Army?" Edith's opening remarks surprised him.
"I only obey orders without asking why."
"But the order will not explain every detail clearly, especially when it comes to some inconvenient things," Pearl of the North said in an orderly manner while sipping the Chaos drink, "The answer in your heart is because Apart from you, no one else can be in charge, but is this really the case? You should know better than me what the strength of the gang in the east is. Any regular army of five or six hundred people can do it. Destroy them, in other words, a battalion commander-level commander is enough to deal with the Eastern Front. On the contrary, the Western Front has to deal with the Holy City of Hermes, not only the situation is complicated, but also the potential danger is much greater. If not for special reasons , it is appropriate for you to assist His Majesty in commanding the Western Front Army, and handing over the Eastern Front Army to other talents is appropriate."
"..." Iron Axe didn't answer at that time, but he already vaguely agreed with Edith's statement.
"As for this special reason, it's actually quite simple, that's your attitude towards the nobles." The other party continued, "As a citizen of Mojin, you will not have inexplicable fear and tolerance for the nobles of Greycastle, and you will take it back. The key to the Eastern Territory is how to deal with the rebellious nobles."
After that, her analysis was roughly the same as what Bear's Paws said, but it was much more detailed—so detailed that Iron Axe couldn't help believing that it was impossible to restore stability to the Eastern Territory by ordinary methods alone.
His Majesty needs population and resources, and he doesn't have so much time to spend on a bunch of scum.
The only problem is... "Your Majesty didn't explain it that way."
"Of course not. Your Majesty is the Lord of Mercy after all, so some things can only be done by us," Edith said slowly, "but he is not without hints - the city hall sent a total of 260 to this operation. The five people accompanied the army. They were all managers trained by His Majesty to take over the lands that were in urgent need of recovery. The Eastern Front Army accounted for more than two-thirds of the total number, and you should be able to understand the reason. "
Iron Axe still remembered that at that moment, it was like a bolt of lightning flashing across his heart.
"Don't disappoint Your Majesty," Edith said finally.
"Sir, the preparations for the landing of the First Army have been completed, and the fleet can dock at any time!" Suddenly, his subordinate's report interrupted his thoughts.
Iron Axe took a deep breath and ordered in a deep voice, "Go ashore to camp and prepare to attack the city!"