Realm of Power

The fall of Ilrou caused a strong shock in several countries near Normandy. Although everyone was happy to see the decline of Normandy, the regional leader, the speed of decline was too surprising. .

From the landing of the Salander expeditionary force, to the defeat of the main force of the Normans, the fall of Kyoto, and finally even the only barrier, Illu Fortress, was breached after three days of hard resistance, the Falcon Empire's fierce offensive made everyone Neighboring countries have to face up to a problem, that is, the Normans, the most powerful people in the region, were wiped out by an inexplicable country in just 2 months.

If someone had predicted this in the past, they would have been regarded as a lunatic.

Normandy has tens of thousands of troops in the northwest region, and they fight fiercely and bravely. Several generals are ruthless characters who stand alone. Such military power may not be much in the Gallic Empire, but these countries in Normandy and Fujian, The principality of Romana has only about 40,000 troops, and the principality of Dunkirk has about 70,000 troops. Ten thousand people, the Principality of Nista has 30,000 troops, and the San Lorenzo Dominion has 20,000 troops. The strength of the Normans is already obvious. Although the Normans lost more than 40,000 elite troops in Salander, the local remaining troops also had 40,000 troops. Among all the people, except for the Principality of Dunkirk, several other countries do not have the strength to provoke.

But such a military force, with the advantage of local operations, was wiped out in just 2 months. You can imagine the shock to all countries.

The order to dispatch troops from the Gallic Empire had been sent to all countries half a month ago, but no one wanted to take action first. These mysterious enemies were coming fiercely, causing a bloody storm in the Normandy region. Now they are taking action to save the Normans. For It does no good to myself at all,

It's brutal winter now. All countries are facing various food crises, big or small. Mobilizing troops to fight in Normandy is thankless. According to the imperial decree, the aiding troops must also solve the food problem themselves. This is unusual for many countries. To make matters worse, even if the enemy is driven out of Normandy with great pains, these recovered areas still belong to the Normans.

Everyone is waiting and watching, wanting to wait until the last moment when the Normans and Salanders are exhausted from fighting before sending troops. Only then could we maximize our profits and at least give the Normans a hard blow. However, no one expected that the Normans would be defeated, and they would lose so quickly that many kingdoms would be caught off guard.

Just when Ilru was captured, the Romana Principality and the Dunkirk Principality north of Salander had just reached an agreement to jointly send troops at the palace of the Romana Principality. And they secretly agreed to divide Normandy into northern and southern parts along the Alamein line and annex it.

After hearing the news of the fall of Illu, the grand dukes of the two principalities stopped signing their names. He stood up from his seat with gleaming eyes, Normandy was over, and now the area of ​​Normandy was for the empire. In name, it is the land of the Lord, and whoever has the ability to get it belongs to him! You are a fool to waste time here now, in the face of big enough interests. No matter how timid a coward is, he will quickly become a warrior

In the afternoon of the same day, the Principality of Romana was impatient and ordered its 5,000 border guards to cross the border of Normandy. The 20,000 troops of the Principality of Dunkirk simultaneously overran the Polico Mountains on the border. The two armies had a tacit understanding. The horns of each other, in Normandy To the southeast, the 10,000 troops of the Principality of Nista quickly seized the Landeno border area that was originally disputed with Normandy. To the southwest, even the San Lorenzo Autonomous Dominion, which had the weakest total force, did not hesitate to occupy several Originally a border town belonging to the Normans,

Regarding the teams that had started moving on the border, the Falcon Army, which occupied the central and southern areas of Normandy, quickly shrunk the originally somewhat spread front. Instead of immediately launching a counterattack, it unexpectedly abandoned some key areas.

Statunko ordered Reposti's expeditionary force to deploy defenses with Kyoto in Normandy as the center of gravity to withstand the enemies attacking from the southeast and southwest. The 30,000 main force of the Southern Army would stick to the direction of Ilrou and face the enemy. Due to the fierce attack between the Principality of Ker and the Principality of Romana, for a time, the wind-swept northwest coast unexpectedly became the focus of a battle for hegemony.

The carriage was traveling on the wide cobbled street. The fugitive Grand Duke of Normandy, Cavebode, opened the curtain of the carriage and stared at the bustling street with his bloodshot eyes on a huge white fountain flower bed in the center of the city street. The horse-drawn carriages going around and the children running happily on the roadside all made this northwest hero, who was no better than a phoenix, feel a deep sense of regret.

This was once the scene that I wanted to bring to Normandy, but now, I can only appreciate it all on the land of another country. The carriage drove into a wide and gorgeously decorated manor at the end of the street.

The hundred-meter-wide white marble giant building is set against the blue sky and clear water like a fairy tale. The entire building is miraculously built on a huge artificial lake. The sloping steps leading to the door alone reach 30 meters. There is an expensive and luxurious red carpet in the middle. On both sides of the corridor are hundreds of evergreen pines that are green even in winter. The huge flower bed in the center of the steps is dotted with all kinds of exotic flowers and plants.

The purple flowers, whose names cannot even be called correct, form a dazzling huge sea of ​​flowers on the water of the lake in the dry cold of winter. If you don't see it with your own eyes, no one can believe that it is already a cold winter. , instead of playful c mixed season

At this moment, the area he is in is called Beyondde County. It is a free trade city in the northwest of Normandy. Beyondand County City is a neutral city sandwiched between several northwest coast forces.

Its profound background is an important reason why Cavibode chose this place as his place of exile. This is the private fief of the Imperial Finance Minister Prescott. The so-called private fief is actually the place where the wealthy families of the empire live in the mainland of the empire. outside land,

Because they are not within the empire, these private fiefs do not need to pay taxes or tribute to the empire. The status of these private fiefs is like a piece of private land reclaimed by the imperial wealthy. Some people build it as military fortresses, while others use it as a private land. It was built as a trading city. Because it was located in various parts of the empire, private towns could provide various local specialties to the head clan in Kyoto. This was also an important indicator of the status of the imperial family.

For example, the owner of this city, Imperial Finance Minister Prescott, has as many as 14 private fiefdoms throughout the empire, with a total area even larger than Normandy. Although he does not have the name of a kingdom, he has the reality of a kingdom.

Such situations are not uncommon within the empire. For example, Miriam, the Minister of State, owns 8 private fiefs, Webster, the Home Secretary, owns 12 private fiefs, and Horkels, the Imperial Minister, has the most, with 23 private fiefs. Fiefs, but it is said that the private fiefs of this old-fashioned military minister are camps and fortresses used to train soldiers. Therefore, the private armed forces of the Horkels family are known as the first in the empire, with a total of 70,000 people. , comparable to a medium-sized kingdom.

The construction of this Beyond County city was entirely funded by Prescott, the Imperial Finance Minister himself, using more than 10 million gold coins. The entire city covers an area of ​​more than 20 miles, and two rivers run through it slowly from the edge of the city. It flows slowly. If you load the goods on the ship from here, it only takes half a day to reach the northeastern outlet of the mainland. And if you enter the inland of the empire from here, it only takes 2 days to reach the first point of the empire. Alexandra

The carriage stopped in front of the huge white marble steps. A serious-looking waiter in a black dress opened the door of the stopped carriage. The Grand Duke of Normandy, Cavibaud, who escaped with his life in the chaos, had a complicated look on his face. After getting off the carriage, he raised his head and glanced at the huge building in front of him, took a deep breath, and asked, "Is Lord Prescott here?"

"My master is meeting with guests from the empire. He will not be able to meet the Duke until a while later." The waiter hesitated for a moment. He obviously knew Cavibode before he responded extremely cautiously.

"A guest from the empire?" A look of surprise appeared on Cavibode's haggard face. He took out a gold-painted greeting card from his sleeve and handed it over. "Can I take the liberty of asking, are you a distinguished guest from that family?"

"This..." The waiter had a troubled look on his face.

Cavibode took out a small bag of heavy gold coins from his pocket, handed it to the waiter in front of him, and said, "It must be hard to stand here all day long. People who are diligent and responsible should get what they deserve." Respect! "That's so polite!" The waiter weighed the bag with his hands and said with a smile, "Yes, it just arrived last night!" , a person from the Julius family in Kyoto, although he looks young, he seems to be a very thoughtful person."

The waiter's voice stopped, and he looked around and found no one. He said cautiously, "My master said that if the Duke can impress him, there might be a chance to return to the country." It turned out to be Julie, who had not moved for five years. The Les family!”

A trace of shock flashed across Cavibode's face. As one of the three major wealthy families in the empire, the Julius family's own strength is terrifying. The Julius family accounts for two of the ten legion commanders in the empire.

The one responsible for the strategy in the northwest region is the Fifth Imperial Regiment of Lord Julius Ford of the Julius family.

It’s no wonder that even the owner of this house would say something like this,

You must know that according to the empire's military system, the strength of a legion is 100,000 people, and the Julius family has been in charge of the empire's northwest affairs for more than fifteen years.

In terms of influence, just one word revealed to the outside world can still shake the entire northwest direction. To be continued