Three days later, Lion City throne room.
Ulrich was listening in surprise to the military report sent back from the front line by a knight.
"Your Majesty, Count Li Ang led his army to march in three days ago and occupied the largest port in Dexia, Aishikeman... Gaiwan Khan of Turdah Fortress and Aishikeman, the city lord Bahaman, did not dare to stop the march of the fierce lion army. Bahaman has decided Determined to cooperate with the kingdom to deal with Kadan, he and Gaiwan Khan returned to Turdah Fortress to ensure the retreat of the kingdom's army. Count Li Ang originally decided to attack Toba City as quickly as possible before Kadan organized the Dexia army, but..."
The knight was eloquent and reported the matter very clearly, but he obviously did not finish what he said.
But when he said this, Ulrich stood up on the throne, so the knight looked at the king and slowed down his words.
Ulrich actually stood up because he was a little excited and nervous. He really didn't expect Li Ang to be so efficient - it was only half a month after he publicly declared war on Dexia, and Li Ang actually won Aishikeman! This progress is incredibly fast...
Ulrich also understood Li Ang's tactics. Bahad Khan Kadan suffered heavy losses outside Lion City, so Li Ang drove in as quickly as possible before Kadan had not replenished its troops and had no time to summon the Dexia lords to form an army.
In fact, when Li Ang marched into Turdah Fortress, Kadan had probably just returned to his territory, Toba, across the desert, and he must not have had time to react.
This means that the kingdom's army can form a situation where more people fight against smaller forces along the way. Most Dexia lords may not dare to stand in front of the army, so they can coerce some Dexia lords to give in or even cooperate with the kingdom.
But Ulrich knew that although he could figure out the reason why Li Ang quickly captured Aishikeman, he would never dare to do it like Li Ang.
Or it can be said that the vast majority of people do not dare to do this - this kind of running for thousands of miles is a gamble. If you are held back by a brave enemy and the enemy's main force is given enough reaction time and space, you may be trapped and die in the enemy's territory, and it is normal for the entire army to be annihilated.
So Ulrich was a little nervous, especially after hearing that Li Ang planned to continue to quickly attack Toba City, he couldn't help but stand up. "Has Li Ang already marched towards Toba? Montwo, when you come back at this time, is there any accident with the army?"
"Not yet, Your Majesty... After the army entered Aishikeman, it was discovered that Bacchus Empire's fleet was marching towards Aishikeman, so Count Li Ang must deal with first Baxian fleet to prevent the army from being attacked from both sides. It was after discovering this situation that I decided to come back and report to you - Count Li Ang's plan to quickly attack Toba can no longer be implemented. I am worried that the army will be trapped in Aishikeman..."
This knight named Montwo is obviously not a subordinate of Li Ang, and everything he reports comes from what he himself witnessed.
In fact, Montwo is the son of the former lord Eagle Claw Fortress, Kaidelen.
Kaidelen rushed into the Raven Kingdom's army single-handedly. Crow King Gregory IV thought he was a rare warrior, so he brought Kaidelen back to Raven Territory.
And Duke Brennus came back and reported to King Ulrich, "Kaidelen died heroically in battle" - this was the opportunity he gave Kaidelen. Kaidelen had committed treason and only died in battle to save the family.
Therefore, Kaidelen's family only lost their original baronetcy and territory, but they did save their lives and other family properties. Kaidelen's son Montwo also retained his knighthood, but he could no longer be called 'Lord'.
In fact, Ulrich reused Kaidelen's son Montwo – after all, Kaidelen 'died heroically' when the country was in crisis...
Now Montwo was sent by Ulrich to Li Ang's army to monitor the movements of the army. He can be regarded as a close confidant of the king.
"Bax... It's normal for Emperor Marius to have ideas about Aishikeman..."
After hearing Montwo say that he discovered Baxian's fleet, Ulrich murmured to himself.
He actually understands Emperor Marius very well now - it is also a domestic rebellion, and he also suffered heavy casualties from foreign enemies when dealing with the rebels, and Emperor Marius's losses must be much greater than his.
After all, Lionheart Kingdom was only half in chaos, and the tax revenue in most areas was not affected. However, the entire territory of the Bacchus Empire was plunged into war, and there was definitely no harvest in the last quarter.
Today's Ulrich is very poor, so Emperor Marius is naturally even poorer, and may have gone bankrupt.
Therefore, Ulrich immediately understood Emperor Marius's intention of sending the fleet - Aishikeman could solve Emperor Marius's economic crisis.
In the same way, Aishikeman can also solve the problems faced by Ulrich...
"So, it is indeed possible that the kingdom's army will be trapped in Aishikeman... Bax's fleet Li Ang can definitely handle it, but Bahad Khan Kadan may take the opportunity to organize the Dexia army to counterattack...Montwo, go and pass the king's order to Li Ang and ask him to hold on Aishikeman, I will personally lead the army to support..."
Ulrich stretched out his hand to signal the clerk to write the king's order, while giving instructions to Montwo at the foot of the steps.
"Your Majesty is wise. Count Li Ang will definitely be able to stop Bax's fleet, but it will inevitably delay the march to Toba, which will give Kadan time to summon the Dexia army..."
Montwo lowered his head in sincerity.
Today's King Ulrich seems to have returned to its original wise and ambitious appearance.
On the side of the throne room, the clerk who was writing the king's order frowned.
The secretary was a young and handsome nobleman.
This is the son of Brennus, Lord Malbert. He is now the future son-in-law designated by Ulrich.
It's just that Prince Consort hasn't gotten engaged to little Princess yet - Ulrich's little daughter is only ten years old this year and was born during Lion Knight Order's reconstruction.
And until one of Brennus or Ulrich is dead, Ulrich probably will not officially announce the engagement...
Ulrich is in good spirits now, and maybe he can have another son. After all, he is only in his early fifties, and the new princess is young and beautiful, so she may have a chance to get the legitimate heir.
Malbert hesitated for a moment with a pen beside him, but still said nothing. He wrote the edict according to King Ulrich's statement and stamped it with the king's gold seal.
His current status, abilities and responsibilities are that he can only listen to politics but cannot speak.
Nowadays, King Ulrich never convenes a royal meeting, and everything is decided with one word. He cannot pour wine and water in the royal meeting as a cupbearer, and can only appear in the throne room in the name of secretary.
Cupbearer and secretary, these are two positions often held by juniors who are regarded as the heirs of the ruler. According to the law, these two positions can only listen to politics but not speak, but they can learn how to govern the country in the process of listening to politics.
However, when Malbert handed the king's order to Montwo, he said, "Knight Montwo, please hand it over to Count Li Ang with your own hands and bring back Count Li Ang's signature and reply to His Majesty."
When receiving an edict from the king, it is usually necessary to sign a reply, which means to confirm receipt.
Of course, the marshal leading the troops may sometimes refuse to accept the king's order due to sudden changes in the battle situation. But in this case, he must also send a reply to the king to inform the king of the reason for not accepting the order.
"Malbert, do you have any concerns? Just tell me directly, you and I don't need to abide by such strict laws..."
Ulrich noticed the anomaly of Malbert and began to encourage his future son-in-law to commit crimes.
But Malbert seemed reluctant to break the law. After hesitating for a moment, he put down the hand holding the pen, took off the clerk's hat on his head, and then spoke.
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid Count Li Ang will not obey your order."
Malbert was hesitant to speak, but he seemed confident in what he said.
"Why? He is a smart man, he should know the price of disobeying me..."
King Ulrich asked.
"Because he is probably no longer in Aishikeman. Lord Li Ang is very efficient in using troops... That's why I want to remind His Excellency Montwo to have Count Li Ang personally sign for the king's order."
Malbert gestured to Montwo.
Ulrich waved his hand and asked Montwo to exit the throne room.
"Now that there is no one else, what do you want to say?"
Ulrich saw that Malbert had something else to say.
Malbert said softly, "Your Majesty, Long River Town of Count Li Ang is much more valuable than Aishikeman of Dexia... You can definitely go slower to 'support', after all, the journey is long..."
Ulrich was stunned, and then looked at Malbert hesitantly, but at the same time he was also a little relieved - Malbert could say such things, which meant that he was indeed thinking about the king wholeheartedly.
But when Malbert lowered his head and saluted the king, when Ulrich couldn't see his face, he quietly showed a complicated and difficult-to-understand expression.
At that moment, he had a humble smile on his face, but his eyes were filled with the light of ambition.
The capital of Dexia, Toba.
Geographically, Tuoba is located in the south-central part of Dexia, dividing Savannir Desert into northern and southern halves.
This is a quite large city, with a population even larger than that of Erudition City. This city is built under the Ussu Mountains, the place with the most abundant water resources in the entire Dexia.
Ussu Mountains is a huge snow mountain that straddles diagonally between Dexia and Fieltzwe. This is a very high mountain range. Although it is located in the south, it is still covered with snow all year round. The entire southwest of Dexia is surrounded by this mountain range.
It is the existence of the Ussu Mountains that creates a natural dividing line between Dexia and Fieltzwe.
This mountain range is the source of almost all fresh water resources in the entire Dexia, but at the same time, it is also the source of the formation and continuous expansion of Savannir Desert.
A large part of Savannir Desert is the Gobi Plateau, which is the part of western Dexia close to the Ussu Mountains.
The Gobi near the Ussu Mountains is very high in altitude and is a plateau desert with a very wide temperature range. The maximum temperature difference in a year can even reach more than 70 degrees, and it is quite extreme - either the heat is unbearable or the cold is unbearable.
At the same time, the temperature difference between day and night is also very large. Forty degrees during the day and several degrees below zero at night are normal conditions.
This environment makes it difficult for plants to survive in this place. Without plants, it is difficult to retain moisture in the soil, gradually forming a large desert plateau.
But Ussu Mountains is not a complete mountain structure, there is a gap in the middle - between the two huge mountains, there is a valley mouth, where Fieltzwe people has now built 'High Pass Fortress'.
A huge wind outlet is formed at the mouth of the valley, and the moist sea breeze from the west coast has greater pressure, so it 'blasts' from west to east through the huge wind outlet to Dexia territory all year round.
This continuous one-way warm wind brings years of snow to the Ussu Mountains, and turns the Gobi plateau on the east side of the mountains into a source of windy and sandy desert.
The desertified Wusu Plateau is swept eastward by wind and sand year after year, accompanied by huge sandstorms every year, constantly expanding the boundaries of the desert.
Therefore, the entire east side of the Ussu Mountains is full of desolate Gobi and desert, while the territory of Fieltzwe to the west of the mountain range is mostly covered with tree-lined hills, which is like two distinct worlds.
Almost the entire Savannir Desert will be affected by this sandstorm - except Toba City.
A mountain ridge extends horizontally from the Ussu Mountains. This mountain ridge is also the source of the largest river in Dexia, 'Gazi River', and Toba City is at the upper reaches of this river.
The abundant water source makes the river surrounded by tall and strong trees with deep roots. In addition, the horizontal mountains block the wind and sand from High Pass Fortress, making the area around Toba City the most livable area in the entire Dexia.
There are abundant water sources, trees that can block the wind and sand, and large tracts of grassland, and the material output can also be connected directly to the sea along the Gazi River - the 'Narda City' at the seaport is also a big city, but it does not have as many excellent natural ports as Aishikeman.
This is the reason why Toba can become the capital of Dexia - the noble Bahad Khan naturally wants to occupy the best territory in the entire country.
But the current Toba City situation is a bit tense.
After Bahad Khan Kadan returned to Toba, he immediately planned to reorganize the army and tried to kill Emil Xixis secretly to ensure his position.
But before he could recruit new troops, he heard that Li Ang had entered the country with the Lionheart Kingdom's army.
And his younger brother Emil Xixis suddenly disappeared after that.
This made Kadan quite panicked for a while - what he was most worried about was that hostile countries would support Emil Xixis as a puppet.
And Emil is missing. You can imagine this situation with your knees. His younger brother, who has always claimed that he wants to 'divide Dexia equally', is probably looking for the Lionheart Kingdom to divide Dexia equally.
Within a few days, Kadan received the news that Aishikeman was occupied by Li Ang, and it was said that no war occurred.
This made Kadan's heart sink to the bottom - what he worried about most seemed to have happened.
Bahaman is probably forced into helplessness, Kadan can understand.
But Emil Xixis, who suddenly disappeared, must have surrendered to the enemy...
In this case, Aishikeman must be recaptured as soon as possible to show that today's Bahad Khan Kadan is still the strongest in the entire Dexia, otherwise many people will definitely turn to Emil Xixis...
But it is said that Li Ang's army has over ten thousand people and is powerful. Kadan must organize a strong enough force.
Moreover, if Bahaman will surrender, then other lords may also be unstable.
Therefore, Kadan sent envoys to various places, began to gather the armies of various Dexia families, and went to Xingar in person to ensure that Khalifa Tahir, who was strong and had not suffered any losses, was still loyal to him.
Yes, not loyal to Dexia, but loyal to Kadan, which is different.
Although Xingar City Lord Khalifa Tahir has always supported Kadan before, Kadan himself also understands that Tahir must have been wavering.
If I don't show up, I'm afraid Xingar, an inherently unstable place, will directly escape control.
With the troops that had not yet been fully reorganized, Kadan rushed to Xingar at extremely fast speeds, just in time to catch up with Ramon's news about the auction of Aishikeman's city lord at Xingar.