"Is that Valencia?" Iron Axe turned the telescope and looked at the city in the distance. It was gray and brown in color.
"According to the map, it should be it. After all, there's only one Sanwan River, so it's unlikely that we got the wrong direction," the adjutant Bearpaw replied. Like Iron Axe, he was a hunter from Border Town and was one of the earliest people to serve the lord.
"It's a bit strange..." He frowned.
"What's strange?"
"Valencia is the main city of the Eastern Region and a major trade center of Graycastle. The old king's city, Eagle City, and Valencia form the prosperous central region of the kingdom. I've even heard of it when I was in the Southernmost Region," Iron Axe explained. Iron Axe explained, "But don't you think the number of merchant ships we've encountered these days is pitifully small?"
"I don't know." Bearpaw shrugged. "Maybe the previous pirate attack scared the merchants out of their wits and they don't dare to do business here anymore."
"The attack happened two years ago. No matter how serious the looting was, it should have recovered by now."
The city wall in his sight was ugly and bloated. The brown wall seemed to have been deliberately widened. Perhaps due to the lack of stone, the new wall was made of red mud mixed with a lot of gravel and wood. It looked like the rubble wall in the early days of Border Town. In addition, the surface of the wall was covered with a layer of shiny stuff, which Iron Axe could not see clearly because of the distance.
The new and old walls were stacked together, which doubled the width of the top of the wall. However, this transformation was not very thorough. Some parts of the wall were still the same. From a distance, it looked rough and bumpy. It did not look like a city famous for its richness at all.
"Who cares, as long as we take it down." Bearpaw took out a Fire Lantern Fruit from his bosom and threw it into his mouth. "Even if it's not Valencia, but Valencia or Valencia, so what? His Majesty's order is to wipe out the entire Eastern Region, right? It's very simple. We just need to attack every city we see. "
Iron Axe shook his head helplessly. This guy was still the same as before. He rarely thought for more than three breaths, and the most common thing he did when he encountered a target was to rush at it with a javelin. While the other hunters were still laying traps and releasing their hounds to track their prey, he had already returned with the fruits of his hunt. It was said that even the most terrifying black bear in the forest was not willing to provoke him too much. That was how he got his nickname, Bear Paw.
If he had been willing to use his brain, he would not still be an adjutant. Even Van'er had become the commander-in-chief of the Artillery Battalion.
"But the process of the battle isn't the point. The point is how to deal with the aftermath." But Bearpaw's next words slightly surprised Iron Axe. "If we make a mess of the Eastern Region, City hall will definitely make trouble for us. But if we don't make a big move, those officials won't even be able to stand firm. Did His Majesty tell us what to do? "
"No, he only told me to handle it according to the situation."
"That would be a headache. Of course, you're the boss, so I'll leave this matter to you. I'll just do as you say. "Bear Paw grinned.
Iron Axe's interest was piqued. "Oh? Where is your headache? "
"Do you really not know or are you testing me?" Bear Paw put his hand on his forehead. "Of course it's about how to deal with those nobles. The Eastern Region has persisted for so long without a turning point. His Majesty's power is getting stronger and stronger, so there will definitely be more than one voice in the inner circle. When we conquer the city, most of them will surrender, and then trouble will come. Without Lady Nightingale, how are you going to distinguish them? "
"Go on." Iron Axe nodded. It seemed that Bear Paw was not completely brainless.
"Hey, don't tell me you really didn't consider it?" Bearpaw's eyes widened. "The Eastern Front Army doesn't have many people, so the number of troops that can stay here is very limited. At most, they can only guard the Inner City, but this is Timothy's headquarters! If those nobles surrender and are willing to cooperate with us, it'll be fine. But what if they have evil intentions and always want to seize power? Even if there were only a small group of such people, they could make the Eastern Region restless. After the army left, the City Hall would be useless. If the situation was serious, the officials sent by the City Hall might not survive. Poisoning, assassination, bribery... these methods can't be defended by guns. "
"Then what do you think?" Iron Axe asked curiously.
"Boss, it's your business." Bear Paw rolled his eyes and spat the chewed fruit seeds into the rolling river.
"Just hypothetically, for example, you're the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front Army. Just say it casually."
"Well..." Bear Paw thought for a while and then sighed. "There's no good way. If Lady Nightingale can't come, we can only rely on time to distinguish them. Or we can bribe more Rats and take precautions. Then we can use the method of Neverwinter to establish a police force to maintain order. We can use as few people as possible from the surrendered nobles until the end of the war. "
"Sure enough..." Iron Axe whispered.
"What?"
"No, nothing." He put away the telescope. "There's nothing for you to do here. Go and inform the people on the other ships to prepare for landing. We're approaching the suburban dock."
"Got it!" At the mention of the war, Bear Paw immediately became spirited. "After floating on the river for so long, I can finally fight!"
Looking at the adjutant's back, Iron Axe exhaled and leaned over the porthole of the command room, deep in thought.
He could not help but think of the conversation Edith had with him the day before the army set off.
The meeting place was in a private room of Evelyn's tavern, which did not look like a place to talk business. Iron Axe had thought that Edith intended to congratulate the success of the operation as an official of the Ministry of Defense and to get familiar with the army. He did not expect that there was only the Pearl of the Northern Region in the private room, and what she said was shocking enough.
The content of their conversation happened to be the "headache" that Bear Paw had been nagging about.
To this day, he clearly remembered every single word that the other party had said.
"Why do you think His Majesty put you in charge of the Eastern Front Army?" Edith's opening remarks surprised him.
"I only follow orders and don't ask why."
"But orders don't explain every detail, especially when it's inconvenient to mention something," the Pearl of the Northern Region said methodically while sipping her Chaos Drink. "You think it's because you're the only one who can take charge. But is that really the case? You should know better than me how strong the people in the Eastern Region are. Any regular army of 500 or 600 people can easily defeat them. In other words, a commander at the level of a battalion commander is enough to deal with the war on the Eastern Front. On the contrary, the Western Front Army has to deal with the Holy City of Hermes, which is not only complicated but also much more dangerous. If there's no special reason, it's more appropriate for you to help His Majesty command the Western Front Army and hand over the Eastern Front Army to someone else. "
"..." Iron Axe did not answer at that time, but he faintly agreed with Edith.
"As for this special reason, it's actually very simple. It's your attitude towards the nobles." Edith continued, "As a Mojin Sandman, you won't have any inexplicable fear or tolerance for the nobles of Graycastle. The key to recovering the Eastern Region is how to deal with the rebellious nobles."
Her analysis was roughly the same as what Bearpaw had said, but much more detailed. Iron Axe could not help but believe that it was impossible to stabilize the Eastern Region by ordinary means.
His Majesty needed people and resources, and he didn't have time to waste on a bunch of scums.
The only problem was … "His Majesty didn't say so."
"Of course not. His Majesty is a merciful God, so there are some things that only we can do," Edith said slowly. "But he didn't give us no hints. For this operation, the City Hall sent a total of 265 people to accompany the army. They're all managers that His Majesty has painstakingly trained to take over the land that needs to be recovered. The Eastern Front Army accounted for more than two-thirds of the total. You should understand the reason. "
Iron Axe still remembered that moment. It was like a bolt of Lightning flashed across his heart.
"Don't let His Majesty down," Edith said at last.
"Sir, the First Army is ready to land. The fleet can dock at any time!" Suddenly, a subordinate's report interrupted his thoughts.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
