Realm of Power

The Nords are very efficient. Although the two kingdoms of Nord and Raedian have become regions of the Falcon Empire, the centuries-old grudges between the two countries cannot be completely forgotten in just a few years. , what the Second Army of the South showed in Lisbon was absolutely superb. First-class combat power, it only took less than half a night to go from comprehensive siege to killing every one. The corpses of the dead were transported out by military carriages and burned collectively. When the sky became bright the next day, the smuggling group gathered. The southwestern neighborhood of the city has been completely wiped out by the Southern Second Army.

The army blocked the road into the southwest neighborhood. No one knew what the situation was inside. Then the army issued an order to clean up smuggling, requiring all smugglers in Lisbon to go to the city center to register before noon. If there were any rebels, they would be Discovered and killed on the spot

The citizens of Lisbonto hid behind their windows tremblingly, watching the military transport carriages drive toward the southwest neighborhoods of the city. The empty carriages went in, and then were shipped out full of unknown goods. The first things transported were the property of the smuggling group. Then there are goods that require the protection of soldiers to transport, such as gold, jewelry,

The wealth amassed by the smuggling group in Lisbon is astonishing. Although he did not have time to take a detailed inventory, Salton was also frightened by the list in front of him. Are you sure the number in the list is correct? "Salton took a deep breath, folded the list in his hand and put it in his pocket. His eyes were full of unconcealable surprise as he looked at the officer who came to report. It was really amazing. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have shot it. I still can't believe that I could accumulate such a wealth just by smuggling. It’s no wonder that His Majesty the Falcon is eyeing this. When the pigs are fattened, they will naturally be slaughtered. The army turned a blind eye to smuggling. This is the secret. It has to be admirable. Such a genius idea! People. This article was originally published by . No one except Wikija Falcon can think of it.

The officer answered cautiously with a solemn look, "It should be correct. Not only did we copy and seal the other party's goods, we also found large, dedicated hidden darkrooms under several target manors. The jewelry cannot be estimated, but several are used to load gold coins." The total number of boxes exceeds 1,000. Calculated based on 7,000 to 10,000 gold coins per box, the number is roughly the same! As for the value of the jewelry, it is not possible to obtain a clear figure for the time being. We have mobilized jewelry appraisers from all over Lisbon, and they should be there. Got the answer within a few days”

"Ten million gold coins alone! There are also countless jewels that cannot be estimated at the moment!"

Salton's eyes were shining too. Although I knew that the smugglers in the Putao area were very rich, I never expected that they would be so rich. These underground monarchs in Lisbon are really as rich as the rest of the world! It is estimated that even if the Besuka incident had not occurred, the Vecia Falcon would have found other ways to deal with all these fat and oily smugglers.

"During the cleaning process, we encountered a special situation." The officer looked at him with a strange expression.

"Special circumstances?" Salton frowned slightly. The army issued a death order, and all resisters would be killed. Are there any special circumstances for the dead?

The adjutant hesitated and asked for instructions, "In addition to these belongings, we also discovered several dungeons used by the smuggling group to hold female slaves. Women were detained in them. The captains at the front are still waiting for instructions from the adults. What should we do with these women? All Kill?"

"Women!" Salton was stunned for a moment and blinked. The slave trade was a source of wealth that the smuggling group valued very much. These women could be kept alone by the smuggling group in the secret room of the headquarters. In addition to his good looks, he should also have an exciting identity. The Southern Second Army received a secret order from His Majesty the Emperor this time. Thinking of the romantic emperor's habits, who knows whether the sudden attack on the smuggling group was because they were interested in the smuggling group's wealth, or whether the smuggling group had touched the emperor's women. Under unknown circumstances, executing these women without authorization would probably lead to big trouble.

Detain these women first! Record their names and identities! Take care of it according to normal standards! "Salton ordered. If the fat man knew Salton's worries, he would definitely laugh or cry. The fat man thought that he had been very self-disciplined during his time in Puntau. He almost never provoked women. Even if he did, it did not involve the relationship between men and women. above,

Reports from the Second Army of the South were coming every day. He glanced at another list of property presented by the Second Army, with a hint of joy on his face. The seized property was mainly jewelry, gold and other hard goods that could be circulated underground, and then He saw the list with more than thirty women's names on it,

"Woman?" The fat man had the same expression as Salton. Kill him? This shouldn’t be necessary! The fat man casually looked at the identities and backgrounds of several women, and suddenly became a little confused. Most of them were women from aristocratic and wealthy families in the Puntao area that had been affected by the war some time ago. There were even a few women from non-rich families. In the past, one of them A noble lady from a noble family was secretly kidnapped by a smuggling group while in exile and sold as private goods for auction in the underground market. Slaves are prohibited in the empire, but due to rampant smuggling in the Putao area, in some areas of the empire, slaves have also appeared. slave,

This kind of young woman with both appearance and status should be worth a lot of money in the underground market. Depending on the appearance and status, the price is between 5,000 and 10,000. If a hostile family buys it, she can also use various methods to buy it. These women should have been sold half a month ago, but because the smuggling group manipulated Reese Bento's business was suspended, and the Southern Army entered the city of Lisbon under martial law. The underground black market could not be held as scheduled. When the Second Southern Army broke into the manor, the smuggling group had been completely disrupted. Who would care about the life and death of these women? If If the army in charge of the search had not been determined to dig deep into the ground, it would not have been easy to discover the secret passage where these women were imprisoned.

If you wait three or four days, even if you find them, they will only be corpses. Because the smugglers only give these women a small amount of food and water every day in order to prevent them from resisting. For most buyers who participate in the underground market, their faces are pale and dull. A beautiful lady who is too fragile to be frail, Far more flavorful than stubborn and rebellious unruly women, this became a routine. Smugglers used hunger to defeat the will and resistance of these noble ladies, making them learn to obey, and they could also ensure that these women had no faults. Many scars, counted in one fell swoop,

After hesitating for a while, the fat man gave Salton the order to secretly send these women back to their respective families. This not only ensures the face of these families, but also gets more support for the fight against smuggling. As expected, many wealthy families in the Putao area who learned that the smuggling group had kidnapped their women began to side with the empire and unanimously gave up their previous accusations against the empire. In response to Besuka's atrocities, the Japanese fully cooperated with the Imperial Army to arrest the smugglers, either openly or covertly.

Salton was indeed a famous Nord general known for his meticulous thinking. Under his command, the scope of the Southern Second Army's attack on the smuggling group was strictly limited. Without affecting the majority of Lisbon civilians, the smuggling group's status in Putau was almost completely uprooted. The military launched thorough investigations in various parts of the Putau area, comprehensively sealed the smuggled goods, and froze the underground transactions of the smuggling group. With the help of local forces, within about half a month, the Second Southern Army arrested more than 13,000 people related to smuggling, of which 4,000 were executed.

Smuggling, which was once rampant in the Puntau area, has been reduced to the role of a rat crossing the street and everyone screams for beatings. Smugglers are no longer seen on the streets. The area controlled by orthodox merchants has rapidly expanded and has become the mainstream in the market. The reputation of the Imperial Army, which severely cracks down on smuggling, has also been greatly improved.

Most people in Putao did not know that when the military was fully combating the smuggling of Putao, the power structure of the empire also changed in this storm, and the Ruidian faction suffered a comprehensive third-level punishment. The first person to bear the brunt of the impact was Plais. This time he was demoted within three levels, from the deputy chief of the empire in charge of military affairs to the administrator of the Palaven region. The undersecretary of the Ministry of Logistics, who was the smuggling group's official name, was seized by the Ministry of Supervision and had a large number of correspondence with the smuggling group. After a brief interrogation, he was executed in the name of colluding with the smuggling group. There were as many as 20 other officials from various ministries involved. People, although only a few people from the Ruidian faction saw blood in this turmoil, most of them saved their lives, but the price was that the entire Ruidian faction was kicked out of the upper core power circle of the empire!

In June, the wind started blowing in the autumn fields. Just as the entire empire was rejoicing in the fight against smuggling and getting busy for the upcoming harvest in July, unsatisfactory battle reports came from eastern Gaul, the only place in the empire that was still sending troops. , Salon's advance to the four eastern ruling areas was blocked.

Because most of the empire's main forces have been transferred to the Southwest and Putau regions, Salon currently has only six infantry flag regiments and one cavalry flag regiment of the empire under his command, with a total strength of more than 70,000 people. However, he faces the four major rulers in the east. The combined strength is about 80,000 people, and then there are the remaining 30,000 Gallic Northern Army under Algernon Julia and Algernon Katya, who have been evacuated from the direction of Kyoto in Gaul. The total strength is 110,000.

With 70,000 troops to deal with nearly 200,000 blocking troops from both sides, Salon also felt a lot of pressure. Fortunately, the forces of the four ruling coalition forces in the east and Algernon were not coordinated. In order to fight for more control, In the area, the three forces are now in a tripartite posture, and Salon's aggressive advance fell into trouble after entering the mountains of eastern Gaul.

The Gauls fought for decades to conquer this area with the forces in the eastern mountainous areas. Finally, they adopted a compromise approach and achieved meaningful control by recognizing the four consuls. In fact, due to the terrain, the eastern mountainous areas It is rugged and complex, not suitable for the movement of large groups of troops, and there are many ethnic groups in the eastern mountainous areas, so it has never been truly conquered.

June 3rd, sunny and windless,

On the front hill where the emperor was stationed, Salon was riding on a war horse, staring at the horizon with his single eye. Before the morning light shone across the sky, the mountain range in front of him was called Poalonso, which is from the eastern mountainous area. The barrier is the current boundary between the empire's control area and the eastern control area. Salon decided to meet the counterattack of the four major ruling coalition forces in the east here.

This eastern barrier is the highest point in the entire eastern mountainous area. Once it is crossed, the rugged terrain of the eastern mountainous area will become meaningless. Whoever can occupy this place can easily use it as a stronghold to attack the area on the other side of the mountain range. I don’t know what tactics to use to defeat each one. For some reason, the eastern ruling coalition, which was originally on passive defense, suddenly launched a counterattack. More than a dozen sentry towers at the front have been captured, and even a medium-sized fortress was lost. Salon's advancement last month was completely in vain. Not to mention the flow, he was suddenly forced to defend with all his strength.

At the other end of the mountain range, the various military flags of the four eastern ruling powers appeared after noon, like the outline of a large forest constantly squirming, and the long black line advancing forward became more and more obvious.

"go ahead!"

The mountain infantry of the Dalachnita family are like a piece of yellow sand. The soldiers holding mountain javelins and bucklers have the impact speed to walk on the mountain as if they are on flat ground. The archer array of the Zhuchenwood family is always on the upper hand. The golden-striped battle flag of the Michelando family is mountain light cavalry, holding sharp four-meter-long assault rifles in their hands. Although the number is not as good as the other three families , but their neat and uniform formation shows that they are all real elites. Finally, there is the military flag of the Lee Kosl family with a black background and yellow edges. The entire row of spears and heavy shields is like a steel wall appearing on the ridge.

The mountain wind picked up the leaves between the two armies, and the bushes made a whining sound. It seemed that the only sound left in the world was the rhythmic rustling of footsteps.

"Get ready!"

Salon looked sternly and waved his hand to the messenger behind him. He expected the counterattack of the eastern ruling coalition, but he did not expect that the number would be so large. However, it was obviously unwise to retreat at this time. Not only would he lose Poalonso, which he had finally obtained, but as time went by, he was afraid that There will never be such a good opportunity again in winter. As the order was issued, the shrill horn of the Falcon Emperor Corps sounded at the same time. The queue spreads out layer by layer, in the middle. An astonishing number of troops were gathered in the three directions of the right and left wings, like a thick long wall blocking the sight of those on the opposite side.

The two armies had a tacit understanding to stay at both ends of the mountain, with a sunken low-lying land in the middle. Looking at each other from a distance, "If the east is willing to belong to the empire, I can use my reputation to guarantee that the status of the four major consuls will not be affected." Salon sent people to shoot the letter to the consul coalition on the opposite side as a final persuasion.

"Stupid man! Tell him that we want the vast land behind him, at least two provinces. Otherwise there is no value in negotiating!"

The head of the Dalaknita family, Daraknitavulf, sent people back without mercy. The head of the Michelando family looked coldly at the Falcon Army on the opposite side from behind the ruling coalition. This was not the first time that the coalition faced The Falcon Empire's army, but this was the first time that the two sides had such a head-on battle. News came from Central Europe Barrow. , the Falcon Empire has successfully annexed the central Congo Empire, making the eastern rulers who have been passively defensive suddenly realize that if they have not taken any action, the imperial army that has withdrawn from Congo will soon suppress them. Come up, now if you take the initiative to fight back, you might be able to seize this mountain barrier first.

This is the undisguised full strength of the eastern ruling coalition. The messengers rushed over like a stream, bringing news from the central command level of the coalition forces. This time the coalition forces mobilized 80,000 troops, and because it was a temporary battle, Salon only had 40,000 troops. The Falcon Army occupied the terrain. very scary,

The two armies have been confronting each other for two hours, and the ruling coalition forces in the east have yet to move.

"Asshole, what's going on?" Salon's eyes were full of bloodshot eyes. It was a hot and suffocating June dog day. For two hours, the heavy armor on his body was so hot that his skin was red. Under this situation, the Falcon Army, which mainly consists of heavy-armed troops, will obviously suffer some losses. Looking at the enemy in front who is as calm as a mountain fortress, Salon can't help but have a bad premonition in his heart. The opponent seems to be waiting for something. ? At this moment, the messenger soldiers of the distant coalition forces suddenly rushed all the way from the central main formation, shouting "Stand up, the whole army is ready to fight" to the soldiers sitting on the ground resting along the way!

The soldiers of the coalition stood up one after another. The armor on their bodies was shining brightly and dazzlingly. The sound of the blades of their armors clashing was like a whirlwind blowing in the mountains. The momentum was frightening.

"Attention, the enemy is coming!"

The infantry captains of the Falcon Army shouted loudly, and the soldiers quickly gathered into columns, holding the spears tightly in their hands. Looking at the overwhelming group of infantry leaning downwards like a sea on the opposite side, the soldiers' breathing was fierce and rapid.

The scorching sun in June shone on their shoulders, which were wearing dozens of kilograms of heavy armor, like hot irons. In the front row were huge siege shields, the steel shields shining in the sunlight. Behind them is a neat black forest of soldiers, with their sharp one-foot-long blades showing a chilling murderous intent in the sun. The sharp horizontal spears made of fine steel form the second line of defense.

The first group to "kill" the coalition forces has rushed into the narrow mountainous area between the two mountains.

"Crossbowmen, shoot!" Following the shout of the order, tens of thousands of Imperial crossbowmen stood up from behind the shield wall, their bright eyes staring at the long line coming up from the opposite side like arrowheads. The arrow clusters on the crossbow flew into the air at the same time, like a silver-white light river waterfall falling from the sky towards the narrow mountain.

"Pay attention to the crossbow!" The coalition troops in the front row raised their shields, and the gunners behind used small bucklers to form a scale-like protective wall.

The arrows hit the advancing coalition troops like a violent storm, and they immediately fell down. The long arrows brought out swirling air currents, piercing into the target's body like a torn cloth.

An officer of the coalition was shot in the middle of his helmet by an arrow. The arrow went through his forehead, and his entire head exploded. His body rolled several meters away. (To be continued..)