Crancia, the capital of Nedshire, Iron Felt City.
Now that the city is under martial law, soldiers patrolling can be seen in the streets and alleys, and the sound of neat training is often heard in the camp outside the city. Tension is now spreading throughout the county and province.
Inside the city lord's mansion, a group of local government officials gathered together. They looked at the map in the center of the table and discussed solemnly.
"Report the current situation." The brown-haired consul was serious.
An intelligence officer next to him stood at attention and saluted, and answered loudly. "Yes, sir!"
"Now the Principality of Heiyan has gathered a large army to invade our country's border. It is called an army of 300,000, and it has raided from the five main border crossings in this county. Now three routes have been broken through by the enemy, and the second route has been resisted by our army and repelled the enemy army. ."
"In addition, according to our informant's report, the other party will soon have a group of airships arriving, carrying new weapons from the Frost and Frost United to help."
"Is it a musket?"
The officials of the Ministry of Industry on the side frowned. Crancia did not know nothing about muskets. Roland Hill had popularized the development route and a series of related products to senior officials.
"Sir, it's not certain yet, and some sources have speculated that it is a magic crystal gun or a war machine."
"It's not good news anyway." A bearded officer shook his head.
"How much combat power can we mobilize now?"
"At present, there are about 40,000 active duty personnel. This is the result of the expansion of the army at the beginning of the year. Now adding up the reserve force and the personnel who have recently undergone intensive training, it can reach up to 80,000."
"It's still not enough. There are more than 300,000 enemies. Although this number has a certain amount of boasting, with the support of the Frost and Frost Union, their equipment is not bad. It is estimated that the army will be further expanded in the future."
"In addition, Heiyan has always had the custom of making a living as mercenaries. Civilian militarized training and common sense are also relatively popular, and they will soon be able to pull up a considerable army."
"Can the neighboring counties provide support?" asked a bespectacled scholar, an alchemist in the county.
"Yes, but they also have their own difficulties." The Consul said slowly.
"The other border counties that were also saved by Feng Xiao have now found many traces of Heiyan soldiers. Maybe the other side will raid, and they can't support much."
"The biggest hope now is the counties and provinces in the rear. Baimu County in Fengxi Province promised to support 20,000 soldiers."
"What about the instructions from the center?"
"At present, the war in the south is urgent, and the enemy's legions are crossing the border one after another. Not only are there about 500,000 enemy troops in New Verga besieging Hopelander, but another 100,000 troops are going up the Heisong River. Finally, the army of the Falcon Kingdom is gradually moving towards At the border, there are about 300,000 desert cavalry and 50,000 Yizu soldiers approaching the border of Mufeng Province."
"Alas... .. all parties are in a hurry, and it is estimated that they will not be able to come to support us."
"It is expected that in three months, the number of enemy troops will continue to expand, and finally reach a peak of about 600,000 soldiers. Even if we increase our recruitment efforts and go all out, we can only gather about 200,000 soldiers at most after March. ."
"You can only rely on the dangerous terrain and city walls for defense." An experienced officer analyzed this.
"Now, I will ask the Alchemist Association in the county to strengthen the city defense and build sentry towers along the way."
"This is my duty." The alchemist with glasses pushed down his glasses. Although the overall level of alchemists in Nedshire is still far from Lourna's, these basic masonry and civil construction are still experienced.
———
Tertiary Age, 1866
The cold wind gradually progressed. As time entered December, a rare war broke out on the Western Continent in the past 100 years, and the last time such a large-scale army was mobilized was the 'Battle of the Broken Bow' one or two hundred years ago.
The former Ruerna, half of Verga, Black Rock, and Falcon have formed a new union, Frost Rose. Under its determination and assumptions at the time of its establishment, they set off towards Crancia in four directions, preparing to devour the great country on the western side of the continent.
Since the destruction of the West Wind, the former seven-nation alliance of Xuehua has disappeared, and the now vigorous civil war has begun. As the opponent of the Xuehua United and the most powerful empire on the continent, the Green Empire is now also facing a surging power struggle and alternation.
The health of the two old emperors is declining day by day, and the wedding date of the crown princes is gradually approaching.
The green empire, the imperial capital Titania.
The wide front door, which is usually closed, is slowly being opened.
The gate is about 100 meters high, allowing 20 carriages to travel side by side, and 100 fully armored knights standing side by side at the gate.
The splendid and majestic city gate reflects a purple-gold halo under the sunlight, and is carved with exquisite rose vines, showing the gorgeous aesthetics of the elves.
When the city gate was opened, the guard of honor knights in dark red and emerald green burqas and armor were revealed behind them. They stood on both sides of the main road, one person every 10 steps, holding a 5-meter-high hanging flag in their hands.
On these flags are various family badges of different colors and shapes, all of which can be displayed at this time are the family badges above the earl, and these honor guard knights with flag guns are all extraordinary Sequence 5 (Gold Rank) ) above exist.
On the way, there were more than 1,200 honor guard knights and more than 1,200 aristocratic family crests, and this was only a small part of the welcoming team. Behind these two lines of honor guard knights were 8,000 elite royal knights above the extraordinary Sequence 4. They wore silver armor, with red and green rose badges on their chests, and held halberds, isolating the crowd of onlookers behind them.
As a slight magic wind blew, the rose petals of wine red and tender green fluttered from the air, and slowly landed on the long central carpet, causing the crowd on the side to burst out with exclamations and cheers.
In the face of such a grand occasion, a team outside the city holding a white-gold flag slowly entered the city.
About 2,000 knights wearing gold-rimmed armor on a white background lined up in a neat queue. They held lances with the flag of a platinum griffin, protected the three luxurious carriages in the center, and walked slowly into the city as everyone watched.
The leader of the team is a knight in gorgeous golden armor and a golden-red cloak. He is not wearing a helmet at the moment. He has slightly dull blond hair, many wrinkles on his face, and gray beard.
This seemingly aged and sharp-eyed old man is the current Duke of Griffin. This time, at the invitation of the current emperor, he brought his son and daughter to the imperial capital.
According to the speculation of many people, the current royal family may marry the Salius family, the Duke of Griffin, that is to say, a crown prince will marry the daughter of the Salius family, and the eldest son of the Salius family, Jaylan Well, will also marry an imperial princess.
In this way, it can continue to maintain the close relationship between the royal family and the Salius family, and act as a heavy ballast stone in the turbulent alternation of power to maintain the stability of the imperial situation.
For a while, the situation gathered, and the momentum was greatly increased. The object of discussion in the imperial capital also shifted from the future White Queen to the family of the Duke Griffin who entered the city now.
——
Jerain wore silver-backed gold-rimmed armor and rode a tall horse behind his father. He raised his right hand and waved it slowly, responding to the excited and burning eyes of the people on the street.
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Countless aristocratic girls showed their gorgeous and bright dresses, blooming like flowers, and they let out a scream and a cry, just to attract the gaze of the eldest son of the griffin, as if the love story in the poem was about to be on them. staged.
In the face of such a scenery, for the sake of image, Jerain had no choice but to keep a smile on his face, but his heart drifted to the scene in his memory, the dark-haired girl standing quietly under the oblique light.
Even if you are born in the top wealthy family in the empire, there are some involuntary moments in life.