Among the four major families in the Northland, the Norton family is the most respected in terms of strength, the Kenmes family is second, the Felim family is the third, and the Shaheen family is the last. However, compared to family history and background, the Norton family was famous in the former Christen Empire with the reputation of the roaring and angry bear, the Felim family was second, and the Pegasus family was also a resounding signboard. Next is the Shaheen family. Although it is a vassal family of the Grand Duke of the Northland and a small baron, it has also experienced the inheritance of the third generation for nearly a hundred years.
Only the Kenmes family has yet to gain a firm foothold. It has transformed from a commercial family to a member of the territorial aristocracy. Without decades of accumulation and several generations of inheritance, it is difficult to gain the true recognition of the aristocratic circle. Just as Earl Kenmes said, the reason why he was moved by his promise to His Highness the Second Highness lies in two points. One is that the time for the Kenmes family to become a territorial noble is too short, and they have no background, and money is useless. The second is that the name is not correct, he bought this title from the second prince, and the second prince is a traitor to the empire and has died, and the Iberia Kingdom he established is now also crumbling, which is obviously a short-lived dynasty. Once the kingdom is destroyed, only God knows whether anyone will recognize the title of nobleman in the territory of the Kenmes family.
The Second Highness was keenly aware of this weakness of the Kenmes family, so he was confident in luring the Kenmes family to join him. For the Earl of Kenmes, this is a good opportunity to justify the name of the family and make sure to become a real noble of the territory. He knew that if the soldiers of the Second Highness were in his hands and swept across the territory of the empire before the unification of the world, he would have to perish if he encountered a family like his own. He would not even give him the chance to reduce or transfer the title. The wealth saved a life for himself and his family, and then he was demoted to a commoner...
Although the current Second Highness is only the former king of the Antinak Kingdom, with no soldiers or generals under his command, and the throne was usurped by his niece, he still represents the orthodox inheritance of the royal family of the former Krissen Empire. So Earl Kenmes was moved, and defecting to the Second Highness meant that his family was recognized as the most orthodox territorial noble. Since then, he, the Earl, has become a member of the territorial nobles.
"You promised him?" Lorist asked while sitting in the tub.
"Not yet. I excused that it is related to the future of the family. I have to think about it carefully and give him an answer in two days. I will come to you immediately after sending him away." Earl Kenmes said.
"Apart from asking you to join him, what other demands did he make to let you take charge of a province and become the grand duke?"
Earl Kenmes spread his hands: "He asked me to find a way to encourage you to attack the Principality of Madras. As long as the Principality of Madras is destroyed, I will be made Grand Duke immediately. But I told him that there is no one from the Norton family. It is impossible to destroy the Principality of Madras by helping us, with the military strength of our Kenmes family and the Shaheen family, we can defeat the enemy, but it is very difficult to destroy the Principality of Madras."
Lorist frowned and thought for a long time, while Earl Kenmes waited patiently by the tub.
The water in the tub became a little cold, and Lorist finally raised his head: "Perhaps, this is a very good opportunity for our four northern families, we can bring the entire Principality of Madras into our power Go within the range. You hang out with the Second Highness for two days before going to him, just say... "
…
In the past two days, Baron Shaheen Henned led his troops out to sweep the surrounding lord's manor castles, and brought back countless food and supplies. Dremke Province, known as the largest granary in the former Krissen Empire, is really well-deserved. Henned went out for two days and robbed four nearby manors. As a result, the food and grass he got back piled up like a mountain, enough for the nearly 100,000 Northern Allied Forces to nest in the camp with gradually improved facilities.
The Second Highness felt like years were spent in the camp of the Northland Allied Forces, because Baron Shaxin went out to rob, oh, he went to raise food and grass, so the Second Highness could not find Baron Shaxin to contact him. And Earl Kenmes didn't know what it was for, so he kept avoiding him. Thinking of what he said would take a few days to think about, the Second Highness couldn't urge him to give him an answer. As for Lorist, he took his guards to go fishing on the Mitobura River every day, as if he was at ease regardless of everything.
Although His Highness the Second Highness received extremely good hospitality in the camp of the Northern Allied Forces, his freedom was restricted. When he wanted to leave the camp, a very polite guard would always appear in front of him, reminding him that as a noble knight watching the battle, please do not walk out of the camp at will, because it will bring trouble to the camp owners. Come very embarrassing confusion. After all, the Northern Allied Forces and the Principality of Madras are just a small conflict at present. If the Second Highness goes out and is discovered by the scouts of the Principality of Madras, the consequences will be very serious, which will affect the war the result of.
For a more ambitious goal, His Royal Highness endured it. He didn't want to be declared persona non grata by the Northland coalition forces, especially at the critical moment when he hoped to win over the Kenmes family to serve under his command. So he could only wander around the camp with his entourage, drooling at the Kenmes and Shaheen family armed with well-equipped standard equipment and armor, imagining that these two elite family armed Under his command, he swept across the Quartet and unified the former empire.
In the camp of the Northland Allied Forces, there are 36,000 people from the Shaheen family, 46,000 people from the Kenmes family army, and 12,000 people from the Norton family, making a total of nearly 100,000 people. Except for Baron Shaheen and his golden knight Tabek who took a light cavalry regiment out to raise food and supplies every day, the rest of the troops were doing chores except training and patrolling the defense camp, such as chopping firewood, building winter barracks, and Go fishing, hunting, herding livestock and more.
In the eyes of the Second Highness, the Northland Allied Forces simply did not do their job properly. A soldier should fight a war instead of doing what these servants do. If the 100,000 troops were under his command, at least half of Dremke province would have been swept by now. With a territory and an elite army, he would have the confidence to defeat the Duke of Madras, and he would be able to let Madera Grand Duke Si hid in his old Woxi Degrad province and did not dare to stand out, but he could march straight to the imperial capital...
The patience of His Royal Highness was finally rewarded, and Earl Kenmes appeared in front of him on the third day.
"Your Majesty, the Kenmes family is willing to dedicate their loyalty to you, and under your banner to clear the thorns and ups and downs of the road ahead for you. May the glory of the God of War protect our kingdom and make Your Majesty invincible." Earl Kenmes He respectfully gave an audience ceremony to His Highness the Second Highness.
His Highness the Second was overjoyed. He knew he had succeeded when he heard Earl Kenmes address him as His Majesty instead of politely addressing him as His Majesty the King. Now besides the Norton family, another powerful territorial noble has joined him, which makes him full of confidence in realizing his goal.
However, when the Second Highness saw Earl Kenmes' frown, he felt very strange: "My lord Earl, what's wrong with you, is there any embarrassment?"
Earl Kenmes replied with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, although my family and I are willing to serve you, forgive me for not being able to fulfill your wish. I cannot use my family's armed forces to take the risk of attacking the Principality of Madras, nor can I persuade My allies continue to fight the Principality of Madras."
"Why? My dear Earl, my promise to you is true and reliable, and I swear in the name of a king. As long as you destroy the Principality of Madras, I will definitely promote you to the Grand Duke. In the future, when I restore the throne and unify Once the territory of the empire is established, you can freely choose a province as your family territory... "
Earl Kenmes shook his head: "Your Majesty, you misunderstood. If we want to destroy the Principality of Madras, our four major families in the Northland must send troops together. The two family legions of Baron Shaheen and I cannot accomplish this." What's more, Baron Shaheen is not interested in fighting the Principality of Madras. As for my family, because of my father, he will also oppose the consumption of our family's army here... "
His Royal Highness asked with some suspicion: "My lord, I have observed you and Baron Shaheen's two family legions in the camp. They are both very elite troops. Nearly 100,000 horses are enough to sweep the entire Dremke province. Even if you fight with the Duke of Madras with all your strength, it is very possible to win, why do you say that the Principality of Madras cannot be destroyed?"
"Your Majesty, you don't know about the military situation of the Principality of Madras. In fact, after the battle between the Duke of Madras and the second prince in Kebo City a few years ago, the Duke of Madras has been rearmamenting for the past few years. Except for him In addition to the 48,000 Seamount Corps deployed in West Degrad Province, a total of 100,000 garrison corps were deployed in Dremke Province. One was the 40,000 guards of the seven castle fortresses in the Hinderson Mountain Range. The second is the 20,000 horses in Vanades City, the third is the 20,000 horses in Kebo City, and the fourth is the 20,000 horses guarding the river. The total force reaches 150,000. If you add the lords The private army can also gather 50,000 to 60,000 troops.
If the two legions of Baron Shaheen and I go to attack the Principality of Madras, soon the Grand Duke of Madras will bring hundreds of thousands of people to trouble us. Even if we win, we will surely lose a lot. However, the Duke of Madras can continue to recruit troops in his territory to supplement the consumption of his troops, and continue to entangle and fight with us without end. But if Baron Shaheen and I are defeated and return to the family territory, it will take at least ten or eight years for the family army to recover...
Your Majesty, you don't know that the Norton family is the most outstanding among the four major families in the Northland in terms of the fighting power of the family's armed forces alone. Their military strength is equal to the sum of the three of our families. Next is the Felim family. Your Majesty may still remember the former Pegasus family. Baron Felim is a descendant of this family. Their family's light cavalry regiment has always been famous for its swift raids. Compared with the two of them, Baron Shaheen's family army is divided into half and half, with a balanced offense and defense. The legion of our Kenmes family is good at defensive operations, and offense is not our strong point.
Your Majesty, I am sorry that I cannot follow your will to attack the Principality of Madras. It is purely hitting a stone with an egg, and a wise man will not do it, unless the four major families of the Northland send troops together. Now I can only offer a little money to His Majesty as a token of my loyalty. If you want to destroy the Principality of Madras, please forgive me for being powerless..." Earl Kenmes took out a thick stack of gold dollar coupons from his pocket, estimated to be around 100,000 gold dollars, and placed them respectfully on the desk.
His Royal Highness’s complexion was a bit ugly. Earl Kenmes’ words showed a meaning. I took refuge in you for the sake of the legitimacy of the title, but if you want to use my family army to fight against the Principality of Madras Forgive me, the Kenmes family is willing to offer a tribute, but they are unwilling to pay for their own family legion for the restoration of the Second Highness. Of course, the Second Highness is dubious about the armament situation of the Principality of Madras that Earl Kenmes said, and what interests him is another news revealed by Earl Kenmes.
"Is it true that you said that the military strength of the Norton family exceeds the sum of the three of you?" His Highness asked.
"Of course, the Norton family's two regular legions have 120,000 people, plus the town garrison has 150,000 people. Our family's legion has 55,000 people, and the Philim family's legion has 46,000 people. There are 42,000 people in the Shaheen family. The three of us add up to less than 150,000, and the Norton family is the strongest in terms of combat power." Earl Kenmes deliberately understated the number of armed forces of the Norton family. Twenty-five battalions of the Guards had been missed. As for the three guard battalions in the big camp, he pretended not to see them. Anyway, the Second Highness didn't know the Norton family's armed forces... .
"If that's the case, I have a question." The Second Highness said, "The Northern Land is already an alliance of your four families, and the Norton family's territory is not connected to other territories except for the border with your three, so why do they still have such an alliance?" Many families are armed, what do they want to do? Aren't the three of you afraid that he will have your ideas?"
Earl Kenmes smiled, just like what Lorist said, the Second Highness is really stumbling the Norton family all the time, even using it to sow discord.
"Your Majesty, do you know why our four families in the North have joined forces?" Earl Kenmes said, "Actually, our four families have only two goals for this alliance. The Grand Duke and his Frontier Rangers."
"The idea of the Kingdom of Iberia? I understand how to guard against the Fesabrun family, but aren't your three families nobles of the Kingdom of Iberia? Why did you plan for the Kingdom of Iberia?" The Second Highness became interested.
"Your Majesty, in fact, after the Norton family sent troops to Windbury to capture the second prince, our three families have been outside the noble circle of the Iberian Kingdom. It is better to say that we are the nobles of the Iberian Kingdom than the Northland The nobles come exactly. The idea of playing the Iberian Kingdom is for Baron Felim. You know they are the Pegasus family. The southern province is his traditional family territory. He also wants to return to the southern province in his dreams.
It's just that the southern province is in ruins now, and if you want to take back the southern province, you must first capture Winston province. But the current king of Windbury is the daughter of the Grand Duke Fesabrun, the queen of the Kingdom of Iberia. If we send troops to Winston Province, there will inevitably be conflicts with the Feisabrun family. The Grand Duke Fesabrun is one of the three gods of war in the empire, and his reputation is illustrious. His ranger border guards are also the biggest threat to the Northland. In fact, our four major families in the Northland are raising their troops to defeat him. The Norton family's armed forces are the main force to deal with the Feisabrun family, so they maintain so many troops. "
"So that's how it is, the Feisabrun family, the Pegasus family, Baron Felim..." His Highness muttered to himself, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "Earl Kenmes, if I am willing to promote Baron Felim to the title of Earl, And entrusted him with the southern province as a family territory, do you think Baron Felim is willing to pledge his allegiance to me?"
Earl Kenmes had a resentful expression on his face, but he was cursing in his stomach: This Second Highness is really shameless. He has no soldiers and no power, yet he regards himself as the former emperor of the Christen Empire, holding money that does not belong to him. The territory is a big favor, to put it lightly, the southern province was conferred on Baron Filim, and he was promoted to earl, but is the southern province his territory? If Baron Felim had pledged his allegiance to him, he would have to send troops to attack the southern province himself. The only advantage was that the Kingdom of Antinac and the Kingdom of Iberia were hostile to each other, and wars took place as a matter of course.
His Highness quickly came to his senses when he saw Earl Kenmes' expression: "Of course, my Lord Earl, I will not forget your achievements. If you can persuade Baron Felim to take refuge in me, you can ask for anything directly." explain."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Earl Kenmes bowed halfway: "Then I'm not too polite. If we can destroy the Principality of Madras, I want West Degrad Province to be the hereditary state of our Kenmes family. territory."
…