"Your Highness, can you introduce the strength of the Principality of Madras?" Lorist said.
His Royal Highness nodded and cleared his throat: "Okay, let me tell you what I know about the Principality of Madras."
Lorist stood up, moved the table in front of him, and hung up a large animal skin map with Reddy so that everyone in the big tent could see it. This is the map of the Principality of Madras. Last night, Shredder ordered people to expand and draw it based on the small map.
"Your Highness, this way please." Lorist handed a long and thin wooden stick to the Second Highness.
This way of describing the situation is really novel. The Second Highness took the small wooden stick and quickly understood what the small wooden stick with a thin end and a thick end was used for. He walked to the map and started a didactic briefing.
"The Principality of Madras consists of three provinces, Yungeshandra Province, which borders the Kingdom of Antinak in the south, and leads to the Principality of Fakr and the Principality of Sabaji in the east. As you can see from the map, Most of the province is small mountains and rivers and the Bailu Lake swamp basin. The arable area is not large, and there are only thirty-five nobles.
Dremque Province is the largest province in the Principality of Madras. It is bounded by the Mitoburo River in the north and the Kingdom of Iberia in the south. Except for the small Hindusen Mountains in the south, it is basically a plain zone. This province was a well-known granary in the former empire period, and the grain it produced could guarantee the consumption and storage of nearly two million people in the three provinces of the imperial capital business circle during the empire period. As long as this province is captured, not to mention one hundred thousand refugees, three or four hundred thousand more will be able to get enough food.
After the Grand Duke of Madras established the country, he transferred a group of territorial nobles to Dremke Province. Now there are about 100 territorial nobles in this province, and only Kebo City is under the direct control of the Grand Duke of Madras.
Finally, West Degrad Province in the west, which is the home of the Grand Duke of Madras, is only connected with Yungeshandra Province. After transferring all the original territorial nobles to Dlemke Province, the entire West Degrad Province was under the direct control of the Grand Duke of Madras.
The Principality of Madras is currently estimated to have more than 1.7 million people, and they use the garrison military service. All territorial nobles and their towns have garrisons as the main guard force. Once the war breaks out, the Principality of Madras will draw garrisons from various places to form a temporary army and go to the front to meet the enemy.
In addition, the Madras Kingdom has also formed two standing legions, the Seamount Legion, which is the first-line guard legion of the Grand Duke of Madras. It has a total of 24,000 people and is well-equipped. It is stationed in West Degrad province all the year round. It is the most trusted legion of the Grand Duke of Madras.
The other is the Iron Guard Corps currently blocking the border and stationed in the fortress castle of Lichtana. The total number of people is 28,000, and it is known as the most defensive army in the world... "
His Highness smiled wryly and said to all the people in the big tent: "Actually, the first battle of fame of the Iron Guards was obtained from my father. In the fourth year of the Imperial Civil War, the Duke of Madras, who has been vacillating, was seduced by others. I finally decided to establish a principality. The situation at that time was that I was leading the White Lion Army to counterattack the army of the first prince. The Storm Legion assisted Grand Duke Melain to defeat the second prince. The situation was very good. We all believed that the rebellion of the second prince would be put down Not far away.
But no one expected that at this moment, the Grand Duke of Madras wanted to establish a principality, and proposed neutrality from the outside world, sealing off the border. As a result, the connection between the imperial capital and the four princes in the central region was cut off, and they could no longer receive material support from the central region, nor could they obtain food supplies from Dremke Province. In order to defend, resist step by step.
Under such circumstances, only by breaking the blockade of the Grand Duke of Madras can the empire regain its vitality. My father led the Royal Guards of more than 63,000 people to the expedition and swept Yungeshandra Province. When attacking Dremke Province, more than 60,000 people were blocked under the city of Kebo.
At that time, there were only some garrison soldiers conscripted nearby, totaling more than 8,000 people, defending Kebo City. But it was these guards who forcibly resisted the attack of my father's Royal Guards. My father sent an army to attack Kebo City for half a year, unable to conquer it, and finally vomited blood in anger.
Due to the arrival of reinforcements sent by the second prince and the front and back attacks of the Grand Duke of Madras Seamount Army, my father had to retreat. There were less than 20,000 soldiers of the Royal Guards who had more than 63,000 soldiers when they went out to fight.
Of the 8,000 garrisons guarding Kebo City, the remaining less than 1,000 were conferred the title of Iron Guard by the overjoyed Grand Duke of Madras, and expanded into an army based on these garrisons, claiming to be the best in the world in terms of defense capabilities.
After that battle, the empire's vitality was severely damaged. Due to the lack of military food and supplies, the defense line had to be retracted. As a result, the eldest prince found an opportunity to send a partial army to bypass the defense line and attack the imperial capital. Supporting a partial teacher, but most of the imperial capital has been destroyed, the prosperity of the past has disappeared, refugees are everywhere, and people are dying...
From this point of view, the Grand Duke of Madras is the real culprit who caused the empire to split. I only hate that I have no power to punish him. Now he sent the Iron Guards to block the border again, with the intention of letting these 100,000 refugees mess up the situation in the Andinak Kingdom again. The messier we are, the more peace of mind he will have.
Therefore, we must take advantage of the food supply and drive these 100,000 refugees to attack the fortress of Liechtana. Even if we cannot conquer it in the end, as long as these refugees are exhausted, it will save us a lot of trouble.
It’s not that we don’t want to save these 100,000 refugees, but that we really can’t do anything, for the more than 1.5 million civilians in the Antinac Kingdom who have just settled down and resumed production, we have to sacrifice them...”
Lorist stood up with a smile and interrupted the Second Highness's words: "Your Highness, we don't need to do this, and we don't need to attack the Lichtana fortress castle. In fact, time is on our side, we can save this There are many ways for the 100,000 refugees, I will not risk the lives of the 100,000 refugees... "
There was a lot of discussion in the big tent, these 100,000 refugees have become the biggest burden on the convoy, and the accumulated food is consumed like running water. Although the Second Highness's idea of driving the refugees to attack the fortress is very cruel, many people think that this is the only solution.
"What good idea do you have? Can you tell me?" The Second Highness looked at Lorist in amazement, really unable to understand why Lorist said that time is on our side.
Lorist took the small wooden stick from the Second Highness's hand, walked to the front of the map and tapped on the map with the small wooden stick: "Here, you seem to have forgotten about Bailu Lake. This is the largest inland lake in the empire, and it is also the largest inland lake in the empire." The natural dividing line between the Kingdom of Antinac and the Principality of Madras.
Let me talk about the first question first, lack of food, but there are fish in this lake, why not fish? In addition to fish, there are many edible wild vegetables such as aquatic plants in the water. We can completely feed the refugees with a small amount of food mixed with these catches and wild vegetables.
Fishing was banned before because this lake is the border between the two countries, why do we still care about it now? Even if the Principality of Madras sees us fishing, it won't mind meddling, as long as we don't get close to the lake shore boundary on his side.
Everyone knows that it will be winter in two months. When the severe winter comes, it will be frozen for thousands of miles, and the sky will be covered with snow. When Bailu Lake freezes, do we still need to worry about the fortress of Liechtana? From any direction, we can pass Bailu Lake and head north. So I say, time is on our side. "
As soon as Lorist finished speaking, the atmosphere in the big tent suddenly became lively. That's right, why didn't everyone expect it? When the weather is cold and the lake freezes, anyone can cross it. Why are you still staring at the traffic arteries under the fortress of Liechtana? And everyone knows that the food and grass savings can only last for three months, but there are fish and aquatic plants in Bailu Lake. Can these be used as food? With such a big lake, fishing has been banned for a long time. It is conceivable that the catch must be extremely rich. By then, let alone a month or two, there may be enough food for half a year.
The Second Highness patted Lorist's shoulder very affectionately, and said with a very happy smile, "As expected of Earl Norton, I heard that you used to be a top student of Dawn Academy, and your reputation is well-deserved. You have solved two serious problems as soon as you came here." , now we don’t need to worry about these 100,000 refugees, haha.”
"Your Highness, you'd better call me Locke. It's too natural to call me Earl." Lorist replied with a smile.
"Okay, then I'll call you Locke, and you have to call me Aurora." The Second Highness laughed.
"Okay, Oro, I still need your help in fishing. Bring some small fishing boats and fishing nets over here. I will also immediately ask man-made boats to weave nets. Try to catch them as early as possible, so that the catches can be dried in good weather." Dried fish for long-lasting storage," Lorist said.
His Royal Highness nodded: "Okay, this is a business, you are very thoughtful. I will go back and handle it."
Lorist grabbed the Second Highness and laughed: "Don't be in a hurry, I have a banquet here tonight and I want to invite His Highness to attend. I plan to promote and recruit some family knights, and I am going to let His Highness be a witness Human."
The Second Highness was startled, and then laughed: "Okay, I will witness the demeanor of the Norton family's angry bear knight."
…
The banquet at night was very lively and rich. Not only did everyone in the convoy get a small portion of wine and meat, but even the 100,000 refugees could relax their stomachs and have a full meal.
A total of forty-eight meritorious persons became knights of the Norton family. Shredder was dissatisfied that twenty-six people on the list of more than seventy people refused to become knights of the Lorist family. After the prince escorted the convoy to the Northland, he went to join the Antinak royal family. Seven of them are veteran students of Chenxi Academy.
Lorist doesn't mind, people have their own aspirations and can't be forced, and twisted melons are not sweet. Rod Wells, Mons Malek, Zeno Farea, Dolles, Lummard and others who he valued can just leave. Only in this way, among the veteran students of Dawn Academy who followed everyone, apart from Chiworth who died in the battle, sixteen of the remaining thirty-seven veteran students joined His Highness Second Highness, and only twenty-one became knights of the Norton family. .
Shredder, Terman, Yuri, and El, who had just recovered from his injuries, stood beside the Second Highness, deliberately chanting in a voice that the Second Highness could hear, that the old students who had taken refuge in the Second Highness were ungrateful, changed their minds, betrayed their friendship, and so on. It made His Highness restless and embarrassed. In the end, it was Chrisya who couldn't see it, and asked Lorist to take the four troublemakers away.
First, Rod Wells and Zeno Farea stepped forward to swear allegiance, followed by Mons Malek, Dolles, Lummard and other nineteen veteran students of Dawn Academy, In the end, there were more than 20 silver knights who were promoted due to meritorious service. Most of them are the family knights of those noble families who were exterminated by Count Cobili in the northwestern region of the Kingdom of Ridleys. They were rescued by the convoy and joined the convoy.
After the last knight swore allegiance to the Norton family to Lorist, Lorist waved to Jim who was standing next to Reddy watching the ceremony with an envious look on his face. Rist stood at attention and saluted: "My lord, what are your orders?"
Lorist took a step forward and lightly patted Jim on the shoulder: "Jim, you have been with me for a while. Although you still have some mercenary habits, your loyalty, diligence and bravery are outstanding. , are you willing to be my knight and charge under the banner of the Norton family's Angry Bear?"
"Of course I am willing." Jim replied without thinking, looking at Lorist with a bewildered expression: "My lord, why are you asking this?"
El and Bodelfinger next to him burst out laughing.
Reddy came over and kicked Jim: "Idiot, my lord wants to accept you as a family knight, why don't you kneel down and swear..."
"Ah?" Jim jumped up excitedly: "My lord, can I really, really be your family knight?"
Lorist smiled and nodded.
Jim quickly tidied up his clothes, but there was actually nothing to tidy up. He knelt in front of Lorist on one knee, and just as he was about to swear, he saw Reddy next to him rubbing his forehead and scolding, "Idiot, it wasn't this foot, that knee fell to the ground..."
The knight swears that kneeling on one knee is also standard, and kneeling on the right knee with both hands or one hand on the left knee is the standard posture.
Jim changed his posture with a blushing face, and then swore solemnly like those knights just now: "I, Jim, am willing to serve the Norton family, follow Lord Norton Lorist, do my duty, and safeguard the honor of the knights of the Norton family. I am willing Become the sharp sword in the hands of Lord Lorist, and fight to the last breath under the banner of the angry bear."
Lorist also solemnly drew out his sword, and patted Jim's left and right shoulders twice: "Get up, my knight."
Baldfinger took the silver bear badge from Pat, pinned it on Jim's left chest, and then hugged Jim tightly: "You are welcome, my brother."
The newly joined knights were drinking and laughing loudly...
Lorist raised his wine glass and came to the Second Highness's side to toast him, and saw Chrisya beside him crying...
"What's the matter with her?"
"I'm happy for you. So many talents have joined you. The revival of the Norton family is just around the corner." The Second Highness explained with some jealousy.
"Hehe, Your Highness, do you still not have enough people to dig from me? I lost more than twenty knights." Lorist raised his silver cup to signal His Highness, and then took a sip of wine: "Oro Your Highness, take them away when you go back later."
"Why? Don't you need them to help you escort the convoy to the Northland?" His Highness asked.
Lorist shook his head: "It's not necessary, we can't delay their future. Your Highness, the Antinac kingdom that you are currently governing is in need of manpower. Let them come to your subordinates as soon as possible so that the kingdom can be established as soon as possible." Merit. It took them too much time to go to the north with the team, and I also recruited so many family knights, and I will soon reorganize the team, so they will have no seats and it will be useless to stay in the team. "
The Second Highness was not hypocritical, nodded and said: "Well, I will take them all away when I go back."
…