"His Royal Highness, although I am the great swordsman of the Principality of Forondo, I don't know the details of this battle. I only participated in the battle when the little prince who assisted our little prince led the troops to besiege the city of Federica in the later stage. Earl Churchwick of the Principality of Handela participated in the planning of the entire war, and he should be the person who knows the war best, so let's invite him to introduce it to everyone." said the great swordsman Limad.
Grand Duke Feisabrun nodded, and turned his gaze to Earl Churchwick: "Can the Earl tell the story of this battle? As a soldier, I am really curious about the unexpected result of this battle. When I heard the two When His Highness sent troops to surprise attack and capture the city of Federica, I always thought that the outcome was decided. I didn’t expect that the overall outcome of the two-year war would change so much. It’s really surprising. As a personal experience of this war Or, I believe the Earl must have a lot of feelings... "
Earl Churchwick did not expect that he would suddenly become the center of attention at the banquet. Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, he secretly scolded Limard, the great swordsman, and had to get up again, and secretly looked at Loris With a quick glance, he saw Lorist's expression of curiosity, which finally made him heave a sigh of relief: "Your Highness, although I participated in the entire process of this war, in fact our four central duchies had no choice but to form a coalition army." The confrontation with the Second Highness was originally out of self-preservation, but the development of the war later surprised us. To be honest, the victory of this war was not what we wanted, but the result forced us to go Take the victory…”
No one expected Earl Churchwick to say such words, and there was an uproar in the hall. It's nothing to do with it but curiosity, but the little Prince Doc of the Principality of Flanders snorted, as if he was very dissatisfied that Earl Churchwick said such self-deprecating words, Limad beside him The great sword master and the golden knight were surprised. On the contrary, the Earl Dalek of the Sabaji Principality sat there with a somewhat sad expression.
Earl Churchwick took a deep breath: "As we all know, the four central duchies have always been the mainstay of the former Cresson Empire. The empire has a total of 29 provinces, and the tax revenue of the eight central provinces accounted for 40% of the former empire. 5. In the age of the empire, no matter whether it was an external war or an internal rebellion, the eight central provinces, under the leadership of the four grand dukes, made outstanding contributions to the empire. In the war of more than 170 years, the eight provinces in the central part also made the greatest sacrifices.
During the civil war of the empire, the three kings fought for the throne, and the four princes in the middle had to form an alliance to protect themselves in order to keep the essence of the empire. The orthodoxy of the Kristian royal family. But then the rebellion of the Grand Duke of Madras changed the situation irrevocably, and the empire was divided into three kingdoms and seven duchies.
Although the four grand dukes in the central region established the principality, they were immediately faced with the invasion of the grand prince. We resisted the grand prince for two years, were exhausted and suffered heavy losses, but we finally won the victory and gained precious peace. It has only been recuperating for a few years, and just after recovering some vitality, the Second Highness came to the city again, and put forward unbearable conditions to the four Grand Dukes, forcing our four Central Dukes to gather coalition forces again to protect themselves... "
"Oh, what kind of conditions did the Second Highness ask you from the four central duchies?" Grand Duke Feisabrun stroked the beard on his chin curiously.
"Transfer the title, and let the four grand dukes take their family armed forces to attack the Principality of Madras..." Earl Churchwick replied.
Grand Duke Fesabrun was taken aback, and a few beards were torn off by his hand: "The Second Highness is crazy, how can such a condition be raised, isn't this forcing a friend into an enemy?"
Earl Churchwick spread his hands and said with a wry smile: "I don't know why the Second Highness proposed such a condition to the four Grand Dukes. Everyone knows that this is impossible. As the four Grand Dukes, the eight central provinces The family territory and sphere of influence have lasted for two to three hundred years and are deeply rooted. Just like Grand Duke Faker declared, the blood of their family has long been deeply integrated with this land, and no one can let them separate.
A few years ago, when the Second Highness rose up in the Antinac Kingdom, the nobles of our four principalities were very happy about it, and even pinned their hopes of revitalizing the Krissen Empire on him. For us, it is a kind of pride to be a nobleman of the Krissen Empire. Our grand duke has said that it doesn't matter if he is the lord of the principality or not. As long as the empire needs it, he can cancel the title of the principality at any time and return to the embrace of the empire.
But none of us expected that the Second Highness came down. He defeated the eldest prince and led an army of 200,000 troops to the eight central provinces. The territory directly under the royal family of Naker, and asked the four grand dukes to serve the empire, and sent out private armed forces to lead us nobles to attack the Principality of Madras, so that the titles and territories of our nobles can be determined according to our achievements...
Only then did everyone understand that in the eyes of the Second Highness, we nobles are the rebels of the empire. We were very sad and very angry, and sent representatives to protest to His Highness the Second Highness. But no one saw the Second Highness, only heard that he was seriously ill. At that time, we all thought that he was deliberately avoiding us, and when we came back, we were so angry that we unanimously asked the four grand dukes to form a coalition army to fight, and to increase assistance to the nobles of the original Ridleys Kingdom, and use them to contain the army of the Second Highness.
No one wants to be a traitor to the empire, but the situation has to force the nobles of our Fourth Principality to become the enemies of His Highness the Second Highness. However, the coalition forces of our Four Principalities only confronted the army of the Second Highness, and did not intend to provoke or initiate an attack. Unexpectedly, His Royal Highness was really seriously ill. The army of the Kingdom of Antinac without him was defeated in the battle with the nobles of the former Kingdom of Ridley, and was lured into a trap and washed away by the flood. With 70,000 people, the situation suddenly changed. It is said that the Second Highness rushed to the front line with illness to stabilize the whole situation.
To be honest, our Four Principalities gathered 200,000 coalition troops to confront the Second Highness's army. Although there was no major battle, the price we paid was huge. The five or six years of peace did restore some vitality to the four principalities in the central region, but the pressure of the 200,000 troops of the Second Highness made the Fourth Principality face the greatest crisis and pressure. The aristocratic coalition forces of the Kingdom of Delis, but the more than 100,000 troops stationed on the border between the Principality of Faker and the Principality of Handela is a sharp ax hanging on the heads of the eight central provinces, and no one knows when it will fall.
The population of the eight central provinces in the pre-empire period was nearly 3.5 million when they were the most prosperous. They were the essence of the empire. Except for the Ontario Great Plains of the imperial capital, no other province could compare. After the imperial civil war, the population dropped to 2.8 million, followed by the invasion of the four principalities in the middle by the barbarian army led by the eldest prince. Wars, natural disasters, man-made disasters, famine, and plagues, within just two years , the remaining population of the eight central provinces is less than two million people, and almost half of them have disappeared..."
When he said this, Earl Churchwick's expression became a little excited: "What the four central principalities want is not war, what we hope for is peace. But what the Second Highness brought was not peace. He forced us to obey his orders and ordered us to obey his orders. Get on his chariot, disobedience is treason. The four principalities in the central region can only gather coalition forces again to guard against the army of His Highness the Second Highness. But the year-long confrontation has forced us to consume countless food and grass reserves, and all the able-bodied men are on board The frontlines and the rear of the land have been left uncultivated and uncultivated, and the eight provinces in central China are going to suffer another famine this year and next... "
"I'm sorry, Earl Churchwick, may I ask you, the four principalities in the middle of your country can't bear the food consumption of 200,000 people, what about the food and grass consumed by the more than 200,000 troops deployed by His Royal Highness in the Kingdom of Ridleys?" Do you know where he came from?" Lorist suddenly interrupted his words.
"Oh, as far as I know, His Royal Highness's army in the Kingdom of Ridleys has a total of nearly 270,000 people, of which 150,000 are the First and Third Royal Guards from the Kingdom of Antinac. There are also 120,000 troops from the former Kingdom of Ridleys, mainly deployed in the province of Campona, who surrendered to His Royal Highness after the Second Royal Highness made a surprise attack on King Federica. The Second Royal Highness originally only transferred the Royal First Guard Corps , and organized these surrendered troops to launch an attack on the nobles of the Ridleys Kingdom, but the effect was not very good. These surrendered troops were repeatedly defeated, which delayed the war.
Later, after the 70,000 troops were washed away by the flood, His Highness finally lost confidence in these surrendered troops, and transferred the Third Army of the Royal Guards from the Kingdom of Antinac to be fully responsible for the rebellion in the Kingdom of Ridleys. The sweeping and clearing of the coalition forces of the nobles, the Royal First Legion, together with the remaining surrendered troops, maintained the oppression of the four principalities in the middle, and there were a total of 130,000 horses confronting our coalition forces of the four principalities.
Since the Second Highness's previous surprise attack on Federica's Royal City allowed him to completely capture all the armaments, food and supplies that the First Prince had prepared and stored in the Royal City, we estimate that the Second Highness's army of more than 200,000 troops could be consumed within eight months. Long. At that time, everyone thought that the war would end soon and His Royal Highness would win. But no one expected that the rebellious nobles of the former Ridleys Kingdom would persist for so long and continue to attack the Second Highness. Even though the Second Highness lost nearly 100,000 yuan, the consumption of so much food and grass after the winter passed made the Second Highness unbearable.
At this time, His Royal Highness used three methods to cope with the consumption of food and supplies and to improve the morale of the frontline troops. The first method was that he issued a grain requisition order, which was to collect their reserves from all the citizens of the Kingdom of Ridleys. Grain, and then take a part of it to cook porridge for the people who have been expropriated to drink, and do their best to ensure the food supply of the frontline troops. After this order was issued, His Royal Highness stood on the opposite side of all the civilians in the original Ridleys Kingdom, and rebellions continued...
The second method is to confiscate the original family property of the nobles of the Ridleys Kingdom for military use, and all confiscated properties are used to reward those soldiers who have won victories. Although this method restored the morale and combat power of the frontline troops, it forced all the neutral nobles to the side of the rebellious nobles. A large number of new troops were added, and they began to fight with the Third Royal Guards, and even won several small battles.
The last way is to transport food from the Antinac Kingdom to come to the emergency. It's just that the distance is long, coupled with the loss of manpower and being robbed by the rebellious nobles, one hundred catties of grain was transported to the front line, and the remaining less than twenty or thirty catties. As a result, the troops stationed on the front line can only be half-starved, and the food in the camp can only be stored for three days.
Grand Duke Faker, the commander of the coalition forces of the four principalities in the middle of our country, was keenly aware of this fighter. The Ford Business Alliance unexpectedly sent troops to capture Campona Province and cut off the transportation from the Kingdom of Antinac to the Kingdom of Ridleys. After the food delivery, Grand Duke Faker ordered us to collect a batch of cattle and sheep, slaughter them and throw them into a cauldron for boiling. As a result, the troops of the more than one hundred thousand His Royal Highnesses who were confronting us collapsed by themselves due to hunger. "
"I still have a question. Why did the nobles of the former Kingdom of Ridleys, that is, those nobles in the territory of Andover Province, oppose His Highness so desperately? As far as I know, the nobles in the territory of Andover Province and the The eldest prince has always been at odds, and they even formed an alliance to resist the eldest prince's violation of their interests. As the Second Highness who conquered the Kingdom of Riedleys, he should understand this very well. If he wants to pacify the Kingdom of Riedles, he must Need the help of these nobles, what makes these territorial nobles and His Highness the sworn enemies, do you know the reason? Earl Churchwick..." Lorist looked at Earl Churchwick and asked.
"Uh..." Earl Churchwick thought for a while and replied: "I should be aware of some reasons. I have met with several nobles from the Andover Province. According to them, the Second Highness offered their surrender The condition is to reduce and transfer the title, and ask them to hand over the ransom money as a redemption for their rebellion after following the eldest prince, so their talks collapsed. Originally, these nobles in the territory only wanted to deal with the Second Highness in a non-cooperative way, who Knowing that the Second Highness's army directly raised the butcher's knife, several noble families were destroyed, and everyone had to raise their flags to resist... "
Lorist smiled wryly, this is purely dizzy. The Second Highness really thought that he could conquer the world with hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands. He had already suffered the losses of those territorial nobles in the province of Anderwolf, but he did not expect to turn around and use the same trick against the four principalities in the middle. As a result, he turned his friends into enemies. This is really his own death.
Removing and reducing the seal is indeed the best way to weaken the strength of the nobles in those territories, but it also depends on the situation. This strategy can only be implemented when one has absolute control over the situation. The Second Highness thought that with the 200,000 troops in hand, he was in control of the situation and decided to implement this strategy. He was obviously too impatient, and this was simply suicidal.
"By the way, Earl Churchwick, didn't you find the whereabouts of His Highness the Second Highness after you conquered King Federica?" Earl Kenmes asked.
"No, no one has found out the whereabouts of His Highness the Second Highness. He disappeared without a trace like the eldest prince. In fact, after the four principalities in the middle of our country disintegrated the more than 100,000 troops on the border, they wanted to stand idly by and didn't want to fight with him again. What happened to the Second Highness? But what happened next enraged everyone in the Fourth Principality. The Second Highness even used our coalition forces to confront his army at the border to let the army of Grand Duke Melain enter the Sabaji Principality from behind. In the territory, burning, killing, looting and looting are all kinds of crimes. Due to lack of precautions, a large number of territories fell, and nearly ten thousand old and weak women and children were killed.
At this time, the business alliance sent representatives, and finally the four princes who were angered decided to send troops to Federica King City. Each principality sent 20,000 troops, and the rest went to the Principality of Sabaji to deal with the invading Duke Melein army. On July 21st last year, our army surrounded the city of Federica and asked His Highness to leave the city and surrender. We guarantee his safety. But this proposal was rejected by a golden female knight defending the city..."
"Golden female knight?" Lorist sat up straight.
"Well, under the Second Highness's subordinates, there are one flower, five tigers, and six gold-ranked warriors. They are the most trusted subordinates of the Second Highness. One flower is the golden female knight. Her name is, her name is, her name is Nuo... .. Ke... Chrisya..." Earl Churchwick's face suddenly changed drastically, and he secretly looked at Lorist, his body trembling a little.
…