Gregory IV and Brennus finally reached the city wall.
There was sweat on both of their foreheads.
"Gregory Your Majesty, I heard that you brought your troops here to hunt down the rebels? Do you still plan to continue the hunt?"
The lord did not salute, but directly asked questions with a smile on his face, as if he was the king.
"Lord Li Ang, since the rebellion is no longer here, of course I would like to withdraw our troops. If you have no objections..."
Gregory IV My legs are a little weak now, and my heart is still a little weak. What I said is not at all like what a king should say. To put it simply, he seems a little cowardly.
"Of course I have no objection, if you are willing to surrender..."
Li Ang This is a lion's mouth. This condition is unbelievable even to Brennus - the Duke even picked his ears, obviously thinking that he might have heard wrongly.
"This is impossible! Lord Li Ang... If this is the case, then fight to the death!"
Gregory IV Although he seems a little cowardly, he will never agree to such a shameful condition and surrender to a baron? Then he might as well die on the spot...
"But you invaded my territory, why don't you just leave? At least you have to leave something behind... If you are really not afraid of death, I can also ask Noldo Elves to give you a ride..."
Li Ang is still smiling and shaking his head.
When Duke Brennus saw that Li Ang was planning to blackmail Gregory IV, his eyes widened and he didn't even know whether to speak or not. He simply found a battlement and sat down to watch the two negotiate.
This marshal now looks like a subordinate of Li Ang...
"Your territory? This is the rebel's castle! It's a no-man's land!"
Gregory IV argued.
"Well... this place can probably be regarded as Baron Li Ang's territory now. He is a rebel. Since he led troops to occupy the rebel castle, this territory is indeed his..."
Brennus answered for Li Ang. This scene was obviously intended to blackmail Gregory IV, and Brennus did not turn his elbows outward.
"Now, Your Majesty Gregory, you heard it too... and when you attacked Eagle Claw Fortress, this place didn't belong to the rebels yet! Besides... my Fletcher Village was also attacked by Count Stephen has invaded. Is this your arrangement? There should be no excuse for the Crow Army to invade Fletcher Village's territory, right? You came to suppress the rebellion, but all your troops attacked was my territory! You said it yourself, should you compensate me for my losses?"
Li Ang behaved quite violently, as if he had really suffered a huge loss.
Gregory IV really has nothing to say about Fletcher Village's arrangements - it is indeed him who arranged for Count Stephen to block Lionheart Kingdom's eastern lords there.
Although he did not let Count Stephen attack Fletcher Village, since Li Ang came here, it means that Count Stephen must have been repelled, so the losses were indeed caused by the invasion of the Raven Kingdom.
"Then what are you going to do? Anyway, even if the whole army is wiped out, I can't surrender!"
Gregory IV stopped trying to defend himself and stated his position directly. He looked quite bachelor.
"Let's do this, Your Majesty, disarm your troops. I allow you to take all the noble lords away, but your soldiers have to stay here. You can redeem them with money within a month - but if I don't receive the money after a month, they will be sold to Xingar by me. Isn't this a embarrassment to you?"
Li Ang gave me a very reasonable condition, which was so good that even Gregory IV couldn't believe it.
This processing method is indeed in line with Gregory IV's wishes.
As long as all the nobles can go back, it doesn't matter if the civilian soldiers stay here. Anyway, to Gregory IV, civilian soldiers are like leeks...
As for whether the soldiers should be redeemed after returning to the country - they are all conscripts of various noble lords. Whoever wants to redeem them can just let the lords pay for them themselves.
"If that's the case, then of course..."
Gregory IV was about to agree, but Li Ang put his hands in front of his face to stop him.
"Your Majesty, I haven't finished speaking yet... If you group of nobles want to pass through Gatu Grasslands without soldiers, it will be very dangerous - someone must be responsible for security, right? I just happen to be specialized in this business..."
The lord's raised hand turned into a gesture of counting gold coins.
"You don't have to worry about it now, Lord Li Ang!"
Gregory IV's face started to twitch again.
"Oh?... It seems that you and Gatu warlord Zakar do have some shady dealings... Okay, I wish you good luck, and I hope you won't encounter any thieves after leaving Eagle Claw Fortress..."
Since this king doesn't care about life safety, of course there is no need for the lord to force...
"You! Duke Brennus, are all of you Lionheart Kingdom young lords such shameless people now?!"
Gregory IV felt that he had been intimidated and threatened, and turned to Brennus angrily and asked.
"Haha... why do you think he can become a rebel at such a young age? I'm not even qualified to use the golden coat of arms..."
Brennus had a trace of ridicule on his face and turned around to say sarcastic remarks.
"Okay... Okay! Lord Li Ang, tell me directly, how much do you want!"
Gregory IV simply asked clearly, he didn't want to stay here any longer, lest he would be so angry that he would have nowhere to be treated.
"It hurts feelings to talk about money... Just give me Dark Falcon Fortress. You don't plan to take it anyway, do you?"
The lord smiled even brighter. How could a king not cherish his life...
Brennus's eyes widened again, Li Ang's request once again exceeded his expectations.
"That's the territory of the Stephen family! How could it be given to you?!"
Gregory IV was also shocked. He was already mentally prepared to be ripped off, but he didn't expect that Li Ang actually asked for the castle!
"You are planning to sell Dark Falcon Fortress to Zakar, and you are mentioning the Stephen family...Count Stephen's cavalry withdrew a few days ago and left you here - this is a war deserter. If you don't take back his Dark Falcon Fortress fiefdom, I can't stand it..."
What the lord means is to let Gregory IV punish Stephen Earl for withdrawing his troops early, take back his Dark Falcon Fortress territory, and then transfer it to Li Ang.
"Are you blackmailing me? What if I don't agree?"
Gregory IV did not object directly, but he was quite dissatisfied with Li Ang's approach.
"Your Majesty, just tell me whether you agree or not - if you agree, just write a transfer document and stamp it. Duke Brennus will be a ready witness... Speaking of which, if you give me Dark Falcon Fortress's shabby place, then I can send people to 'protect' you back home, right? Otherwise, do you think my subordinates are willing to go to your ice and snow?"
Li Ang looked indifferent - indeed it didn't matter, it wasn't him who was running out of ammunition and food now.
"You are just a bandit! A robber! How can there be a noble like you? Don't you have any sense of honor in your heart?"
Gregory IV's eyes were red, he was cursing in a low voice, and he looked like he was going crazy.
"Your Majesty Gregory, I am the lord of the Lionheart Kingdom. Opening up territory for the kingdom is the greatest honor for a noble lord..."
The lord was completely unmoved, and the kind smile on his face did not change at all.
"Okay... I'll give you Dark Falcon Fortress! Let's see how you deal with Gatu people and Misty Mountain people there!"
Gregory IV bit his back molars and whispered.
"Then find a place to write a territory transfer document. Remember to write an armistice agreement by the way. Duke Brennus and I will sign it together later... Do you need me to find someone to write it for you?"
The lord gave a very considerate reminder.
Gregory IV snorted, turned around and walked down the city wall, ignoring Li Ang again.
However, on the way back to his unit, Gregory IV seemed less timid. Although he was killed, he knew that his safety was at least guaranteed.
There were only two people left on the city wall.
"Your Majesty the Duke, let's make a deal..."
Li Ang turned to look at Brennus, his face no longer smiling, but with a serious expression.
"You want Eagle Claw Fortress, right?"
Brennus twisted his beard and looked at Li Ang. When he saw Li Ang asking Gregory IV for Dark Falcon Fortress, he thought he roughly understood Li Ang's intention.
"No, Eagle Claw Fortress has nothing to talk about. This is the trophy I deserve... What I want is Long River Town."
Li Ang glanced at Lion Knight and Royal City Guard who were still sitting in the city, and then turned to look into Brennus's eyes. "Master Brennus, please withdraw your people in Long River Town. I am going to attack that rebellious Granlon..."
Brennus can't remember how many times he has been shocked here, but this time is the worst.
He even trembled all over and pulled off a piece of his beard, but he didn't seem to feel any pain.
"... How do you know?... How do you know that the troops recruited by Granlon in Long River Town were sent by me?"
After being silent for half a minute, Brennus asked this sentence in a low voice.
"You are the most powerful duke in the entire kingdom. You have a rich territory, a large population, and a powerful military... But you only brought the king's troops to this battle. So where are your direct troops?"
Li Ang shook his head gently. "Your son Malbert replaced you as the administrator of Long River Town, and after Granlon took over Long River Town, he was able to recruit a large number of troops with strong combat effectiveness so easily in a short period of time... Ha, even if I am guessing, I can guess it!"
In fact, Li Ang was indeed guessing just now, but he knew that the probability of guessing correctly should be relatively high.
After Granlon occupied Long River Town, it recruited a strong force of more than 500 people in just a few days. This is not normal.
The only person who has the opportunity to arrange so many undercover soldiers in Long River Town "waiting for recruitment" is Brennus's son Lord Malbert--after all, he is the administrator of Long River Town.
And judging from the acting skills Malbert has shown before, he also has this ability. This playboy who looks like he travels all day long is actually very smart.
Brennus had hesitation and surprise in his eyes, and he didn't speak for a long time.
"There are only two of us here right now, Lord Brennus, let me tell you straight - I know that you probably want Granlon to stay in Long River Town for a while, so that you can support the thief's self-respect and get a lot of benefits... and if necessary, you can You can work together inside and outside to kill Granlon at any time, or replace it with a 'traitor' and continue to occupy Long River Town. But in the end, it is just for profit, and you will never get Long River Town - the only one who can naturally get Long River Town is me, a rebel!"
Li Ang simply stated Brennus's thoughts directly.
"Li Ang, I still underestimate you... I can quit Long River Town, but do you think you can become the master of Long River Town? Your Majesty will not be happy, and all the nobles will not be happy..."
Brennus looked at the lord's young face and shook his head slowly.
"Ha, that's my business... Your Majesty will be happy..."
Li Ang smiled and looked at the troops sitting in the city - Lion Knight Order had more than half of them killed and wounded, and basically all of the remaining people were injured. But Royal City Guard only had more than 300 people alive.
"Then let me tell you the truth. I can't suffer losses in vain. Since you said it's a transaction, what price are you planning to offer?"
Brennus frowned and started asking the price.
"It hurts feelings to talk about money... Just send all the people you assigned to Long River Town to Lion Lake City? Lion Lake City is much richer than Long River Town, and it is closer to Cliff Bay, so you can get more benefits..."
Li Ang's transactions have always been done fairly and without any cost.
"How to get it? It's impossible for Lion Lake City to be sealed to me. It will definitely become a territory directly under His Majesty's jurisdiction... and Lion Lake City doesn't have any rebels now!"
Brennus doesn't quite understand, how can he raise thieves and gain self-reliance in a place where there are no more rebels?
"Who said there are no rebels... Didn't Forster run away?"
The lord spread his hands. "As long as we all say that he is still in Lion Lake City, he must be in Lion Lake City... This is much easier to control than Long River Town!"
Brennus was stunned for a long time before shaking his head and sighing, "You are really good..."
Lion Lake City is indeed richer than Long River Town, and Brennus does find Lion Lake City more convenient - he is currently controlling Lion Lake City, as long as Li Ang can declare with him that Lion Lake City is occupied by Forster, he can even snatch away the entire Lion Lake City!
Anyway, the nobles currently staying in Lion Lake City are indeed those who previously supported Forster. They are all real rebels. It is reasonable to rob them all - those nobles who are unwilling to rely on Forster have long been kicked out of Lion Lake City, and no one will cause trouble to Brennus.
"... Okay, then it's settled, I will let my troops withdraw Long River Town... However, I think you may not get what you want."
Brennus nodded in agreement, and he also needed Li Ang to be consistent with him, otherwise Li Ang would expose the matter, and he would not be able to reap the benefits of Long River Town. Since Li Ang is willing to cooperate with him in doing things in Lion Lake City, it is acceptable.
Li Ang laughed and stretched out his hand towards Brennus: "Well, happy cooperation, Lord Duke... We can go and sign an armistice agreement with the Raven Kingdom."
Gregory IV did draft two agreements, one was to transfer Dark Falcon Fortress to Li Ang as an 'apology'. The king's transfer can be effective as long as both parties have no objections, and Duke Brennus signed a third-party certificate as a witness.
The other was an armistice agreement declaring an armistice and acknowledging that Raven Kingdom had "crossed the border too recklessly". This was actually a letter of credence. Brennus was the marshal of the kingdom and could sign on an equal footing as the king's representative. Li Ang was a witness to this agreement.
Dark Falcon Fortress has now nominally become the territory of Li Ang. Gregory IV will take Dark Falcon Fortress under its direct jurisdiction and transfer it to Li Ang on the grounds that Count Stephen has withdrawn its troops privately.
Although Dark Falcon Fortress is an enclave, it is a legal territory with a contract written by King Crow himself. This is at least the expansion of territory thousands of miles away.
Moreover, by allowing Gregory IV to transfer it directly, Li Ang actually saved Gregory IV's face - this is not a request for peace after defeat, but rather 'compensation for the losses caused to Li Ang due to reckless dispatch of troops'.
Li Ang did suffer losses, but not at the hands of the Ravens. Instead, more than a dozen soldiers were killed in the battle against Gatu people, including five Noldor warriors under Noel.
One thousand and five hundred civilian soldiers of the Raven Kingdom were disarmed and remained in Eagle Claw Fortress.
The wounded among them were properly treated by Ansen, while the uninjured ones began to clean the battlefield under the command of the female soldiers - it was really just cleaning, because the weapons, equipment and valuables on the battlefield had long been taken away by Li Ang's troops.
The main job of these Crow prisoners is actually to move the corpses outside the city and clean the bloody castle...
When everything settled, Li Ang sent a force to escort the nobles of the Raven Kingdom back home.
To be precise, it is to receive Dark Falcon Fortress - in fact, as long as Li Ang does not let his subordinates act as horse thieves, Gregory IV does not need anyone to escort him across the grassland...
The force he sent was not large in size. It was a group of one hundred Pendor soldiers led by Sir Roland. They were all the Lord's own troops. Andongjia was also in the team.
When the team left, Raine also said goodbye to Li Ang.
Raine had never expected Li Ang to defeat or weaken Raven Kingdom's troops. In fact, he had no idea that Li Ang could blackmail Gregory IV.
Li Ang can get Dark Falcon Fortress, which is actually an unexpected surprise for Raine.
Amy led the troops to save Raine's life, and of course Raine wanted to repay the favor.
Li Ang detained Raven Kingdom's soldiers again, creating excellent conditions for the rebels Ursula and Raine, so this was even more rewarding.
In addition, Raine also wants to rebuild Falcon Knight Order in Dark Falcon Fortress.
Therefore, Raine swore and promised that as long as he was not allowed to deviate from Ursula and Falcon Knight Order, he would obey all orders of Li Ang, which was regarded as selling himself to the lord.
In other words, as long as he is not allowed to break his previous oath, he will be Li Ang's wage earner.
The rebels of Ursula have been operating around Dark Falcon Fortress before. Sir Rayman was able to pull out a lot of troops in Dark Falcon Fortress. Although Falcon Knight Order was destroyed, its influence in Dark Falcon Fortress is still huge.
This is also the main reason why Gregory IV agreed to Li Ang's request.
And Li Ang has learned from Raine that Ursula has formed an alliance with the Lionheart Kingdom. With Raine's relationship, Ursula will also regard Li Ang as an ally.
In this case, then the enclave Dark Falcon Fortress will be a truly controllable territory.
Ursula needs a lord who can support them in Dark Falcon Fortress, which can give her rebels a way out. Dark Falcon Fortress will not be attacked by the Raven Kingdom if it remains in the hands of Li Ang. After all, the two countries have signed an armistice agreement.
And Li Ang needs Dark Falcon Fortress, on the one hand, it is to arrange the business to Raven Territory and Misty Mountains - some businesses can achieve the greatest profits in the bitter cold places north of the Misty Mountains.
On the other hand, it is for Andongjia to recruit Misty Mountain people.
White Deer Fortress and Wheat Fragrance Territory need to wait for the population to grow. It is not easy to quickly expand the size of the army. Currently, we can only try to recruit troops from those Baxian who are gradually moving here - the farmers who originally belonged to Livius's 'Imperial Second Legion'.
But there is no need to wait to recruit troops from the Misty Mountains. Even Dark Falcon Fortress can quickly recruit an army.
As for how to ensure the actual control of Dark Falcon Fortress and the loyalty of the soldiers - this is why Li Ang asked Sir Roland to go to Dark Falcon Fortress.
It is impossible for a Paladin like Roland to betray, because Roland will not be loyal to anyone at all.
And Li Ang is preparing to transform a large number of Misty Mountain people from plunderers into good citizens. In the eyes of Roland, this is basically a fundamental implementation of Goddess of Justice's will, and Roland is an excellent military training instructor.
Before Raine left, he asked Li Ang a question, "Sir, do you think Ms. Ursula can become Queen of Raven Territory?"
Li Ang thought for a while and did not answer directly. Instead, he gave Raine a few suggestions. "I can make Gregory IV give in just because his troops are exhausted and have no supplies. But even so, he is not willing to do anything that will directly affect Li Ang." Take over the loss of dominance... Don't think that catching him or killing him will make Ursula become Queen. You can only defeat him in every aspect and prove that Ursula is better than him..."
I don't know if Raine heard it. Anyway, he just saluted respectfully, and then said, "Sir, I think you are better than the king in every aspect..."
The lord didn't say anything anymore, and waved his hand to tell Raine to get out of here.
After cleaning the battlefield, Amy rebuilt the 'new Falcon Claws' station in Eagle Claw Fortress.
She wants to build the female soldiers of Griffin Sword Mercenary Group into the new Falcon Claws.
Griffin Sword Mercenary Group Those extraordinary female warriors certainly admire female Count Valera. It is a great honor for them to become a member of the new Falcon Claws.
This rebuilt 'new Falcon Claws' just relied on the fame of female Count Valera and the nature of Falcon Claws. They are actually a team. Independent armed forces - they are not the retinue of the Falcon Knight. In fact, they have nothing to do with Falcon Knight Order. The female soldiers have no intention of joining Falcon Knight Order, which has been declared illegal...
Their establishment is actually called 'Griffin Claws', but in order to facilitate the recruitment of new people, they are announced as 'New Falcon Claws'.
Female soldiers are just following their idol Valera.
And Amy is using this method to make them gradually forget Milgan - using idol worship to dilute the influence of the Neptune, which is the same as Emperor Marius using Damia's faith to dilute heretical beliefs.
This is just to allow these female soldiers to become Amy's independent troops.
Amy will temporarily stay in Eagle Claw Fortress to cultivate relationships with her female soldiers. She is now not only the leader of Griffin Claws, but also the lord of Eagle Claw Fortress.
This is also done deliberately to leverage the influence of female Count Valera. A new Griffin Claws led by a female lord will attract more people to settle here and attract many people to settle here.
There are almost no residents in Eagle Claw Fortress. Li Ang and Amy plan to attract people from surrounding villages in this way.
The female lord Amy is actually not legal, but it is reasonable - whoever Li Ang wants to take charge of Eagle Claw Fortress is Li Ang's freedom.
At the same time, Eagle Claw Fortress will remain with Sarah. She will look for more female warriors who are willing to join the 'new Falcon Claws' and form a reliable female soldier unit with Amy.