After Mel's reminder, Regnar realized how much Annelotte had worried about him, but this girl didn't say a word. From this point of view, Annelotte and Irene are somewhat similar. No matter how much, they always try their best to contribute silently, providing countless help to Regnar, and they never take it from themselves. What more could you ask for. And now, Inelise seems to be joining the ranks.
The next few days were still lackluster. Regnar dealt with mountains of information every day, and at the same time, he did not forget to use his abilities to provide some convenience for Annelotte's experimental project. However, after Mel's reminder, Regnar did not bother Annelotte to do anything for him. Sometimes, you can't always rely on others. Everyone has to face everything by himself.
However, Regnar found that since he came back from Tide City, his tasks were getting heavier day by day. Because not only the battlefield in the south began to undergo subtle changes at this time, but even the north began to become noisy at this time.
"Are the northern barbarians unable to sit still after all?" Regnar frowned as he read the information. According to the information sent back by the spies, the highland barbarians in the north seemed to be gathering an army to go south.
The ice and snow plateau in the north is a small and harsh environment, and the number of barbarians living there is not very large. It is estimated that the population is less than 200,000. But it is precisely because of the harsh living environment that all the barbarians in the northern highlands are brave men who are good at fighting.
It is said that even the barbarian civilians there have one or two levels of fighting spirit. The average strength of the elite barbarian warriors has reached level 7! Although these warriors only number more than 10,000, the empire will feel a headache whenever they think that there is an army of 10,000 people in the north that is close to the level of mid-level warriors.
Because of the harsh living environment, in addition to grazing, barbarians would also go south to the human country from time to time to plunder some supplies. This phenomenon existed even before the Hawke Empire was established. At that time, the Stoke Empire was so vast that the royal family was unable to take care of some remote places. In addition, those barbarians are all brave and good at fighting, and even their blood has a bit of perseverance and unyielding flavor. If it is conquered, it may not have much effect.
Therefore, although the barbarians burned, killed, and looted in the north, the Stoke Empire did not particularly care about their "little fights" with a noble and cool attitude.
After that, Duke Ector of Merlin led the northerners to break away from the rule of the Stoke Empire. The problem of how to deal with the scourge of barbarians naturally fell on the Hawke Empire.
From a normal perspective, the Hawke Empire, as a northern empire, naturally cannot let these barbarians dominate it. After all, when the northerners supported Duke Merlin, part of the reason was the Stoker Empire's laissez-faire attitude towards the scourge of barbarians.
But because the Hawke Empire had just been established, it was when the country was at its weakest, and the Stoke Empire in the south was always eyeing him. Therefore, neither Héctor nor Larvin focused on the barbarians in the north.
They adopted a relatively soft attitude and negotiated with the barbarians. The final result of the negotiations was that the Hawke Empire would provide partial material assistance to the barbarians every year, and the barbarians promised not to invade the northern border of the empire again.
But these barbarians who have muscles in their brains will naturally not be able to be good children in peace. Despite receiving supplies from the Hawke Empire every year, small-scale barbarian invasions still occur from time to time. In line with the principle that the new empire should rest and recuperate, Larvin thought about it again and again and finally failed to make up his mind to have a good fight with the barbarians.
He only strengthened the defense force of the northern defense line. Once he discovered a small-scale invasion of the barbarians, he would launch a counterattack against them mercilessly.
However, as the war between the northern and southern empires began and the war gradually intensified, Larvin could no longer allocate enough troops to resist the barbarians in the north. Therefore, in the past few years, the scale of barbarian invasions has become larger and larger, and their frequency has become more and more frequent. According to the current intelligence, those barbarians... seem to be unable to sit still after seeing the Hawke Empire repeatedly giving in...
…
Bang!
Ralphin slapped the table hard, and the fat all over his body shook, as if venting his master's anger.
"This group of barbarians are simply too bullying!" Larvin said through gritted teeth: "Look at me, the Hawke Empire, who has no time to take care of them because of the war in the south, and yet dares to ride on the empire's neck and shit! They are so big. courage!"
"Your Majesty, calm down." Finance Minister Andrew trembled with fright and said quickly.
"Calm down your anger?" Larvin said viciously: "Unless I wipe out this group of shameless lower races, it will be difficult to eliminate the hatred in my heart!"
"Your Majesty..." the current Minister of Military Affairs said cautiously: "Are you really planning to go to war with the North?"
"Otherwise, what else can we do?" Larvin asked angrily: "Transport supplies to them every year, provide them with good food and drink, keep them fat and strong, and then let them in turn invade the empire? This I don’t want to do anything stupid anymore!”
"Since the war with Stoke, the supplies we sent have become less and less. By last year, they had completely stopped." Andrew reminded carefully.
"I should have given it away a long time ago!" Larvin did not get angry because of this. He said with some regret: "Huh! I should have expected that these barbarians are unfamiliar dogs! Instead of showing them kindness, It would be better to just fight hard and scare them completely!"
"If we really did this, I'm afraid the Stoke Empire would have taken advantage of it." Alfred said calmly: "Your Majesty, I think it is better for us to deal with this matter calmly."
"What do you think?" After venting his anger, Larvin realized that this matter was not something that would lead to a war, so he took two deep breaths and asked after he calmed down.
"First of all, I believe that starting a war is absolutely unrealistic." Alfred calmly analyzed: "The empire is currently at a difficult juncture. If we provoke a war in the north at this time, we will be attacked from both sides. The situation is even more ugly.”
"I understand this too." Larvin nodded: "But the barbarians are getting more and more restless now, and you have seen this information. The scale of this invasion has reached 3,000 people. And the barbarian kings are still gathering. The intentions of all the tribesmen, I think if we don’t take any action, next time they will form a group of ten thousand people to travel to Melinder!”
"Your Majesty." Alfred thought for a while and then said: "These barbarians are certainly hateful, but our biggest enemy at present is still the Stoke Empire. Therefore, what your Majesty wants now is just a stable northern environment. That’s all.”
"That's right." Larvin admitted, and then said angrily: "But these barbarians have a character that can't be settled at a breath. If we don't kill them, how can the north settle down?"
"Your Majesty is right. The northern barbarians are brave and good at fighting, and they all have a restless character in their bones." Alfred replied: "Although supplies are indeed one of the reasons for their plunder, in addition, I think it is actually this nation. A desire for fighting. And since they are so eager to fight... "
Alfred's eyes flashed with a hint of cunning that made Regnar very disgusted. He sneered and said, "Then we will give them war!"
"Sir Alfred has said so much, is it still necessary to start a war?" Regnar couldn't help but ask.
"Lord Regnar misunderstood." Alfred didn't seem to hear the sarcasm in Regnar's tone. He turned to Regnar and smiled: "I mean, give them war, but not fight with them. war."
"..." Larvin thought for a while: "You mean to provoke a civil war between them?"
"That's right!" Alfred nodded, and then explained: "As we all know, the northern barbarians only have one large tribe, but there are still various clan divisions in it."
"Speaking of which, these barbarians are quite similar to the group of orcs in the east!" Larvin couldn't help but sarcastically said. He thought for a while and then said: "But among the barbarians, the Barbarian King has a lot of cohesion for the entire barbarian clan. I heard that as long as the Barbarian King gives an order, it is possible to make other barbarians die immediately."
"This point is a bit exaggerated." Regnar clarified: "The Barbarian King does have a lot of cohesion for the tribe, but if he is really as appealing as the rumors say, such a united whole may have been formed long ago. It has caused chaos in the north. However, the previous chief was defeated by the new chief a few months ago, and now the new barbarian king has just taken office, and it seems that he still has a lot of prestige among the barbarians."
When he said this, Regnar's face looked a little strange.
"So, if we can get rid of the barbarian king, these barbarians are likely to start a civil war?" Larvin said thoughtfully.
"With our incitement, we should be able to achieve this effect." Regnar spread his hands and explained: "According to the tradition of the northern barbarians, every barbarian king will use the barbarian's unique witchcraft when succeeding. Abandoning the power of the previous Barbarian King. Although it will not completely turn them into useless people, it can also reduce their strength to the level of mid-level warriors. In their view, this method can constantly urge the current Barbarian King to work hard in cultivation. To prevent yourself from being surpassed by the clansmen."
"He is a barbarian after all, and his methods are so barbaric." Larvin sneered disdainfully.
"Is this considered barbaric?! You haven't read the detailed information! It is said that before that kind of witchcraft was invented, the previous barbarian kings had their hands and feet broken and completely disabled!" Regnar couldn't bear it in his heart. Live muttering.