Things in this world are always not as satisfactory as expected.
This is true for Kaidelen, and so is Madam Ursula.
Ursula did successfully form an alliance with the Lionheart Kingdom, and received the support of the Lionheart Kingdom - she made a marriage contract to Ulrich, and signed an agreement with the Lionheart Kingdom as the suzerain, in exchange for an army of two thousand people led by Ryman.
The army led by Ryman is the majority of the garrison of Lion City and Seven Forks Fortress, a mixed force with considerable experience.
His movement trajectory with Ursula also passes through Kewen Village to the north, and then directly crosses Gatu Grasslands and enters Raven Territory.
If they can capture Xiaolu City, then the eastern part of the Raven Kingdom will definitely fall into the hands of Ursula, and Ursula will rule the eastern part of the Raven Kingdom as a vassal state.
At that time, Ulrich will marry Ursula and legitimately gain the right to rule Raven Territory.
Of course, for Ursula, she can also use this to gain the right to rule Lion Territory - marriage is actually fair to both parties in a sense. As for what will happen in the more distant future, it depends on God's will...
But the problem is that Ursula and Ryman failed to capture Xiaolu City as they wished.
The person who blocked her was Count Stephen.
Ursula originally thought that Count Stephen would help her because she had previously asked Raine to inform Gregory IV about the transaction with Gatu people.
In her opinion, if Count Stephen knew the truth, he would probably support her, or at least not hinder her.
In addition, she asked Raine to return to Dark Falcon Fortress to prepare troops, which could form a two-sided attack between her and Ryman's troops.
If everything can be executed in place, it may indeed go as she wishes. But the problem is that Raine failed to see Count Stephen.
And Raine failed to return to Dark Falcon Fortress...
Dark Falcon Fortress was once the residence of Falcon Knight Order. After Falcon Knight Order was declared an illegal knighthood, the people of Dark Falcon Fortress have been hostile to Gregory IV because Falcon Knight Order has been at the forefront of the fight against Gatu people.
Coupled with Falcon Knight Order's past reputation, in the hearts of people in the east of Raven Territory, Falcon Knight Order is even more like the National Knights than Dragon Knight Order.
But a few years ago, in order to ensure the king's position, Gregory IV sent troops to destroy Falcon Knight Order - or it should be called suppressing the rebels.
This is actually understandable. After all, Ms. Ursula is the chief knight of Falcon Knight Order. This knighthood will definitely support Ursula, so Gregory IV will of course characterize Falcon Knight Order as an illegal knighthood.
Of course, the consequence of such suppression is that Gatu people invades more frequently - Dark Falcon Fortress, who has always resisted Jatu's entry, can no longer stop Gatu people.
Especially this spring, Gatu people did not launch an attack on the territory of the Lionheart Kingdom at all. All Jatu troops turned to attack Raven Kingdom...
The areas around Dark Falcon Fortress and Odenburg have suffered a lot from Gatu people in the past few years.
And Lord Odenburg is Count Stephen, Lord Dark Falcon Fortress is the son of Count Stephen, Lord Faramond.
In other words, the Count Stephen family suffered huge losses due to the destruction of Falcon Knight Order.
Count Stephen was of course extremely dissatisfied with this, but the king was blameless for sending troops to suppress the rebellion, so even if he was dissatisfied, Count Stephen could only endure it and formed a Rangers force to fight against Gatu people.
The military strength of this Earl is actually very strong - located on the eastern border of Raven Crow, the two counties Odenburg and Dark Falcon Fortress have to face Gatu people in the south, and Misty Mountain people in the north. If he is not strong, he will be finished...
After several months, Count Stephen gradually drove Gatu people out of Raven Territory, and in the process also annihilated a group of Misty Mountain people--that is, Andongjia's plundering team.
But because Gregory IV was only thinking about how to suppress the rebellion and had no concern for the lives of Odenburg and Dark Falcon Fortress, Stephen had a very difficult time in the past few months. In order to protect the people under his rule, Earl almost emptied his family fortune.
On the contrary, Ursula provided some intelligence support to Stephen during this period - of course, Ursula actually only made some attitude to win Stephen's allegiance, mainly to prevent Count Stephen from dealing with her rebels.
But everything is afraid of comparison. On one side, the king who has the responsibility to protect his vassals did not give any help to his vassals. Instead, he devoted himself to suppressing the rebellion when facing the invasion of Jatu; while on the other side, the weak rebel army, which was already in danger, extended a helping hand to Stephen, even if the support was not much...
Under this situation, Count Stephen became increasingly dissatisfied with Gregory IV, and even began to protect Ursula's rebels.
Although Count Stephen is kind-hearted and has always been extremely loyal to the Raven Kingdom, even the most kind-hearted person still has a temper.
However, in Gregory IV's eyes, he has never been able to find Ursula and has been unable to exterminate Ursula's rebels because Count Stephen did not cooperate - the king felt that Count Stephen lacked the necessary respect and loyalty to him...
At this time, Gregory IV got news of the civil strife in the Lionheart Kingdom, and heard that Forster was openly loyal to Ursula and was banned as 'Grand Duke of Lion Lake Territory'.
Forster was able to meet Ursula, of course, it was Baron Cadelon who was the matchmaker, but they didn't know that this was an 'opportunity' created by Ursula for Gregory IV.
For Gregory IV, this is of course an excellent opportunity, because this situation means that Ursula's rebels are in Lion Lake City, and Lion Lake City's defection to Ursula also gives him an excellent excuse...
If we can take the opportunity to capture Lion Lake City, we can kill two birds with one stone - we can not only eliminate the rebels of Ursula, but also capture the northern part of the Lionheart Kingdom!
In addition, Lionheart Kingdom is in civil strife, so the chance of success is quite high!
So Gregory IV didn't waste time. He reached an agreement with Gatu warlord Zakar, using Count Stephen's Odenburg and Dark Falcon Fortress in exchange for Gatu people's support.
Gregory IV wants to march on Lion Territory, so Count Stephen naturally has to obey the call. This is equivalent to transferring Count Stephen's army and giving Odenburg and Dark Falcon Fortress to Gatu people!
He can directly cross Gatu Grasslands to attack the northern area of the Lionheart Kingdom, and quickly capture Lion Lake City before Lionheart Kingdom can react to resolve the civil strife.
In fact, in Gregory IV's eyes, it is cost-effective to exchange Gatu people's cooperation at the expense of Odenburg and Dark Falcon Fortress - Ursula's rebels have been operating in this area for a long time, and this area is originally the territory of the rebels.
And the Count Stephen family is 'covering the rebels' again.
For Gregory IV, using these rebellious and disobedient territories for trading can be regarded as 'waste utilization'.
Count Stephen naturally doesn't know about this deal - if he knew about it, he would probably rebel immediately...
Therefore, if Count Stephen can be made aware of the existence of this deal, then Earl will definitely return to the army to expel Gatu people and fully invest in Ursula.
Ursula can bring the military strength of Odenburg and Dark Falcon Fortress, plus the troops of Ryman, to easily capture the currently relatively empty Xiaolu City.
Not only that, she can also cooperate with Count Stephen to block the return path of the Raven Kingdom army - if you want to return to Raven Territory, you can only go to Odenburg or Dark Falcon Fortress.
In other words, Ursula could not only occupy the eastern part of the Raven Kingdom, but also be sure to hold it!
But things in the world are always full of surprises...
A few days ago, before Sir Rayman arrived at Count Stephen's camp, Li Ang had already led his troops in a not-too-intense frontal battle with Count Stephen.
--The number of troops on both sides is equal, but the level of eliteness is very different, and the battle is not intense at all.
Noldo Elves's bows and arrows controlled the battlefield from a distance of a hundred meters. The precise rain of arrows prevented the two sides from advancing to the stage of close combat. The battle ended after only a few minutes.
Count Stephen lost more than a hundred people again, and then evacuated directly with this cavalry unit.
Since Count Stephen was retreating to the north, the Lord did not order a pursuit. His purpose was not to annihilate the Crow people, but to ensure the safety of Fletcher and Brave Shield Fortress - he knew that Gatu people has already arrived, because several embarrassed Ebony Gauntlet Knight have already fled to Fletcher Village, and beacon fires have also been lit over there at Brave Shield Fortress.
Three beacons, which means that the number of Gatu people may be beyond imagination and even difficult to count!
Dumbledore returned to Brave Shield Fortress alive, but only the thirty or so Ebony Gauntlet Knight with the best skills were left around him.
He went to lure Gatu people before, originally just to make a gesture and see if there was any way to get some loot, but no one expected that Gatu people would actually send out such a terrifying amount...
Baron Leofric allowed him to leave Brave Shield Fortress, but now Dumbledore no longer wants to run away - the loss is too great, and there will be no good outcome if he goes back to Cliff Bay. It is better to stay at Brave Shield Fortress to fight against Gatu people.
When Sir Rayman arrived near Fletcher Village, there were no Raven Territory troops here, only Gatu people's camps - countless camps!
Thirty miles north of Fletcher Village, where Count Stephen's original camp was, it extends northward to the end of the line of sight. As far as the eye can see, there are all Gatu people's camps - the kind with wheels that can be pulled by draft horses!
Judging from the scale of this camp, Gatu people dispatched at least five thousand people. This did not seem to be for plunder, but more like a clan migration!
Raine had no way of knowing where Count Stephen was, and he didn't dare to look for it.
In fact, he had no intention of searching at all - he was discovered by Gatu people as soon as he arrived, and was chased for more than ten miles.
Of course Raine fled in the direction of Fletcher Village, because the other directions were grasslands and couldn't escape...
But he actually couldn't escape in the direction of Fletcher. The troops he led could not outrun Gatu people on the grassland. They were overtaken by two Jatu centurions a few miles away from Fletcher Village, and were subsequently besieged.
However, Sir Rayman was very lucky. A troop wearing a black background Golden Griffin banner rescued him.
And this is a female military unit.
The one who saved Raine was Griffin Sword Mercenary Group led by Amy and Sarah.
When being rescued by the female soldiers, Raine thought for a moment that she was meeting Falcon Claws - except that they were not wearing sky blue falcon smocks, the female explorers overall looked really like Falcon Claws.
They are all women, they all use women's crossbows, they have the same adventurer helmets, they have the same fighting methods, and they have the same courage and combat effectiveness that are not inferior to any man.
When those Gatu cavalry saw this female soldier unit, they gave up the siege Raine and evacuated directly - this behavior was not normal. The military strength difference between the two sides was not big. Based on Gatu people's past practice, they would probably use two hundred-man troops to hold back this female soldier unit, and then add a steady stream of troops.
This immediate reaction to evacuate seemed like they were unwilling to start a war. Raine probably just ran into them accidentally and was easily beaten.
"Thank you for your rescue, ma'am..."
Raine, who was still a little dazed, kept looking at the female soldiers. He saw the leader Amy, but Amy was observing the Jatu Centurion in the distance at this time and did not get close to Raine.
"Rescue? Maybe... the golden eagle in blue... are you the Falcon Knight? If I remember correctly, Falcon Knight Order seemed to have been destroyed by Gregory IV a few years ago? Why is the Falcon Knight still pursuing Gregory IV?"
Sarah walked up to Raine, looked at Raine's shield and horse clothes, waved at Raine and asked the female soldiers to surround Raine with evil eyes.
She thought that the small team Raine came from the cavalry team under Count Stephen.
"I am Falcon Knight Raine... but I do not follow Gregory IV. Madam, you may have some misunderstanding... I am not Raven Kingdom now."
Raine looked at the ebony military swords in the hands of the female soldiers, and spread his hands. "It seems that you are not Falcon Claws... I thought it was Urvit, the God of the North, who guided me to find the remaining sergeants of Falcon Knight Order."
"As far as I know, Falcon Claws does not believe in Urvit, and the God of the North may not be able to guide you in Lion Territory... You are not a Raven Kingdom person 'now', ha... Raine Knight, of course you are not a Raven now, because you have been captured by me."
The speaker was Amy. She looked at the dozens of riders under Raine who were wearing Raven Kingdom's iconic short skirts, then looked back at the two Jatu centurions going away, and said thoughtfully.
Later, Sir Rayman was taken to the camp where the lord was.
As he passed the bridge, Sir Rayman watched with straight eyes as another team that shocked him came out of the village to hand over to Sarah - that was the Noldor force led by Noel. He was switching defenses with the female soldiers of Griffin Sword, taking over from the returning female soldiers to patrol on the other side of the river.
"... The scale of Gatu people is beyond our imagination. With their military strength, they can launch an attack directly, but why do they stay and camp on the opposite side..."
The Lord Lord is currently discussing with Raphael and others in the camp with a serious face.
But even Raphael, who was most familiar with Gatu people, didn't know what the enemy's intentions were, and everyone could only shake their heads.
"Sir, we are back..."
Sarah and Amy brought Raine to Li Ang: "We met him on the other side of the river and was surrounded by Gatu people. This guy brought dozens of raven riders, but said he was not from the Raven Kingdom... These Raven Territory men really can't lie..."
Li Ang turned around and reached out to hand Amy a glass of water. "Didn't Gatu people set any traps elsewhere?"
"No, we circled around. Except for the north, there was no Gatu people anywhere else. We just encountered this guy being chased... and the Jatu troops besieging him were acting strangely..."
Amy described to the lord the scene where Gatu people retreated after seeing them.
"Did Gatu people change his temper? Seeing so many women, they actually retreated?"
Raphael came over with a puzzled look on his face. "This situation has never happened before. Gatu people usually abducts women, and will not give up even if they suffer losses - their fighting method usually causes very heavy losses, and they always rely on abducted women to reproduce!"
"I probably know the reason why Gatu people did this... this lord!"
Sir Rayman finally had a chance to speak, and he also saw that Li Ang was the leader here.
"What's the reason?"
The Lord signaled Raine to continue speaking.
"The Crow King Gregory IV has reached an agreement with Gatu warlord Zakar. Gatu people will make a gesture of attacking Lionheart Kingdom, but in fact their army will enter Raven Territory and occupy Dark Falcon Fortress..."
Raine is hostile to both Gatu people and Gregory IV, so naturally he will not hide this information.
"So, Gatu people is setting up suspicious soldiers for a show? Just to cooperate with Gregory IV to attack Northern Bay? No wonder they don't attack us..."
Li Ang reacted immediately, but then he shook his head. "But we went out to test, and the thousands of tents Gatu people arranged are all real! They did have thousands of people coming! If If Gregory IV just allowed Gatu people to rob Dark Falcon Fortress, I'm afraid Gatu people may not be able to pay such a high price to cooperate with him..."
"Gregory IV provides Gatu people with more than ordinary plundering opportunities... He wants to let Gatu people completely occupy Dark Falcon Fortress. He will give all the territory of the county to Gatu people! At the same time, he also promised that after occupying Lionheart Kingdom Northern Bay, all the land west of Eagle Claw Fortress will be given to Gatu people for horse ranching - he will give all the hundreds of miles of hilly grassland to Gatu people."
Raine said quickly, "I heard these with my own ears. They were negotiating on the bridge south of Odenburg, and I happened to be hiding under the bridge at that time. I swear with the dignity of a knight that what I said is the truth."
The face of the Lord Lord gradually turned gloomy. "Gregory IV... Can you be considered a king with this kind of behavior? Giving the land and people of the country to the plunderers?"
"Sir, I can understand the Crow King's intention..."
Andongjia raised his hand at this time and pointed at the map on the wall. "He probably wanted Gatu people to block Misty Mountains at Dark Falcon Fortress... The north side of Dark Falcon Fortress is where we went down the mountain before."