Madara had arrived.
Not only that, Count Randner was able to gather an army of 20,000 men in just a month or two. This included the Knight of Palas and three other Knight Lords, as well as the Highlanders and Barbarians. Such a large force did not seem like it was just to quell the rebellion, but to show off to those who dared to mock him.
Such mobilization ability meant that Count Randner was far from 'retiring'. Before this, he was like a tiger with squinting eyes. Once he opened his eyes wide in anger, the entire forest would tremble, just like decades ago. Now, the whole of Tónigel was under the control of this tiger. Most of the remaining people were already gloating over the fate of those who dared to touch the tiger's whiskers.
The captain of Gryphine's Knight Guard, Viscount Assel, immediately left his office and walked towards the princess's study after receiving the report. Sir Kopp saw this scene and followed behind him: "Hey, Captain Knight, I heard the news from the south."
Kopf's position in the Royal Faction was not high, but he was on Grandmaster Fleetwood's side. Fleetwood was the princess's teacher, and at the same time, he was also the chief court mage of Aouine. His position in the Royal Faction was revered, and even the leaders of the faction had to lower their heads in front of him. Assel did not want to provoke Fleetwood, so he nodded: "Her Highness thinks highly of the rebels, but unfortunately, she will be disappointed this time. In fact, the lords above are not very supportive of making contact with the rebels. It is too risky. After all, Count Randner is a duke."
"The princess isn't willing to negotiate with Duke Arreck. Sigh, she's still a child after all. No matter how wise people make her out to be, a woman is still a woman. It's inevitable for her to have some naive wishes." Kopp nodded and pretended to sigh.
Assel looked at him and replied: "Politics is politics. The future of the kingdom is more important than anything else. I believe that Her Highness will see this point clearly in the end. Reaching an agreement with Count Randner is the best choice for us. Only then will Her Highness have enough weight to negotiate with Arreck. "
"That's right, but I'm worried that Her Highness won't come to her senses. Did you know, Lord Assel? I heard that she has secretly contacted the rebels. If Count Randner gets hold of this evidence, we will be in a passive position. "
"Don't worry, Master Fleetwood, Duke Anthony doesn't agree to continue secretly supporting those country bumpkins. The Knight Order has also expressed the same intention. Coupled with the current situation, Her Highness won't be stubborn." The Knight Captain replied.
Hearing this, Cope snickered, thinking that the princess was much more stubborn than the rumors made her out to be. Besides, it wasn't as if no one supported her. However, he was a tactful person and would not say anything directly. Instead, he cleverly asked, "What about Lord Oberwei?"
"He …" Asser fell silent. Indeed, the guy called 'Wolf' had always been ambiguous, making it hard for others to understand his thoughts. What was even more troublesome was that Oberwei was the leader of the faction with real power. In terms of intelligence, he wasn't inferior to the cunning fox Makarov. It was because of this person's silence that the voices around the princess could not reach a consensus.
As long as the voices did not reach a consensus, it meant that there were variables. However, Asser did not think highly of the rebels. In his opinion, placing the fate of the kingdom in a gamble was akin to child's play. Cope also had the same thoughts. In fact, most of the people in the Royal Faction had similar thoughts. In their eyes, Count Randner, who held real power in his hands, was much more reliable than a bunch of rebels who had no backing at all.
In fact, he was much more amiable.
As for Princess Gryphine's plan, it was somewhat feasible. However, it was a little too risky. In the eyes of the nobles, the so-called confidence was just a naive idea of a young girl who pursued the so-called 'control of her own destiny'. They had seen this kind of behavior too many times and no longer cared about it. Instead, they had a look of pity and understanding.
The fate of the princess was to be used for political marriage. Since the little girl wanted to struggle, they would let her do it as long as it did not affect the overall situation.
Asser gestured to Cope to leave and pushed open the wooden door of the princess's study. There were many people in the study. He looked up and saw Oberwei, Fleetwood, Makarov, and the Violet Count Baal. Almost all the core members of the Royal Faction were gathered here. The captain of the Knight did not find it strange. In fact, ever since the situation in the south became tense, there had been meetings here almost every day.
However, the atmosphere in the room was a little oppressive, to the point that it was abnormal. Under such circumstances, Viscount Assel had no choice but to submit the new information under everyone's watchful eyes.
"Thank you, Lord Asser." The princess's clear voice was very calm, but for some reason, Asser felt a little guilty at this moment. In fact, Fleetwood was the princess's teacher, but he could be considered half of it. The princess's outstanding swordsmanship was taught by him.
"This is my duty, Your Highness." Asser lowered his head and replied. He saw that Princess Gryphine and the others were not in the mood to read the report, and he understood that everyone present had already heard the news.
He couldn't help but raise his head to look at the incomparably calm half-elf princess. Today, Princess Gryphine was as calm as ever. Her beauty seemed to seep out from this temperament, making people's hearts palpitate. However, the princess was unusually quiet. Her silver hair reflected the candlelight and formed a hazy halo. She placed her hands on her slender knees and pursed her lips. She faced the gazes of everyone present without flinching.
"I understand," she replied, "as your excellencies wish."
Even though it was a compromise, her voice was firm and there was no room for retreat. It was as if even this was the decision she had made herself. Seeing this scene, even Count Baal could not help but shake his head. How good would it be if the princess was a prince?
However, there were no 'ifs' in history.
Compromising with Count Randner and marrying Arreck was imperative. In the hearts of the members of the Royal Faction, the northern barbarians were nothing but chickens and dogs. Once the snow melted, the war between the north and the south would decide their future.
The revival of the kingdom seemed to be unstoppable.
It was a perfect outcome.
… …
"Achoo!" Hadsh sneezed. He rubbed his face to prevent the cold air from freezing his face. Even though the new year had passed, winter showed no signs of ending. Instead, it was getting colder. To the north of the Gris River, the wooden walls of the small outposts in the forest were covered with a layer of icicles. The wood was frozen to the point that it was no different from rocks.
Hadsh placed his gloves on the parapet wall and looked at the forest from the observation tower. There were originally barren lands in the forest, but they had not been planted since winter. The mercenaries had crossed the river before winter, and the only ones left were soldiers like him. Soldiers, mercenaries, soldiers in the castle, guards, and Knight. All of them were professional soldiers from various places.
Many people who were not too far away from Trentheim already knew about the upcoming war, but in their eyes, there was no suspense in this battle. Even though Count Randner was getting old, he was still full of vigor and vitality. His orders were still regarded as authoritative in the areas under his rule, and he was able to gather an army of ten to twenty thousand soldiers in a short period of time. Furthermore, everyone knew that Count Randner had the support of the Undead and the Barbarians. Even the dukes in the north did not dare to underestimate such a force.
However, Hadsh's view was different. Just before today, there were soldiers from different places entering this small outpost for three consecutive days. Four came in three days, six came in the morning of the second day, and seven came in yesterday. In just three days, the number of soldiers in this outpost had reached twenty.
All of them were professional soldiers. This conclusion shocked Hadsh himself. Before he joined the new lord, he was Graudin's Knight. Of course, he could not be compared to the guards in the castle, but Graudin did not have more than fifty soldiers who were as experienced as him. The rest were mostly the nobles' private soldiers or even the militia. They were there to make up the numbers.
Hadsh had experienced several battles between lords. In this era, the battles between lords were often bloody. Even though the nobles were not really hurt, except for those who were unlucky enough to be hit by stray arrows, their private soldiers and Knight's consumption was very high. Only those who had survived a battle could be called a skilled warrior. And for someone like him who had experienced several battles, he simply looked down on those who couldn't even hold a sword. It was useless no matter how many of them there were.
However, a lord would only have around a hundred or so knights under him that he could truly rely on, and not more. First of all, he could not afford to raise them. A professional soldier required a lot of resources, let alone a seasoned Knight. Secondly, there were not many outstanding talents. The attractiveness of a small lord was not as great as the heroes of a region. Any Knight with a little bit of strength would go to a lord like Count Randner. For example, a baron like Graudin only had around a hundred men under his command, which meant that he was a very powerful lord. Even a baron like Graudin only had around a hundred men under his command.
However, Brando was an exception.
This was because all the people under him were gathered by chance. They were mercenaries from the mountain people and even from further places. Although these mercenaries had not experienced any real war, they had been through bloody battles all year round. Those who could survive were often sharper than the average soldier in terms of combat.
The mercenaries under Jutta, Raban, and Cornelius were even more outstanding. Raban's men were originally Erouine's cavalrymen who came from the Karunsu Highlands. They were originally elite scouts, and after being baptized by blood and fire, their individual strength was stronger than the other mercenaries.
However, they were not the strongest because there was also the existence of the Copper Dragon Retto's group. Their strength was not high, and the most outstanding one was only at the peak of Iron-ranked. However, their combat experience was unbelievably rich. Brando had long suspected their identities. Especially with Retto's identity, he suspected that these veterans were veterans of the November War.
This conclusion was a little scary, but it seemed to be the most reliable guess. These experienced mercenaries made up two-thirds of Brando's human subordinates. There were also some original guards from Bucce, Fortress Riedon, and the patrolling cavalrymen who had also fought against Madara.
The last part was Lord Macsen's Knight who followed Carglise and joined the new recruits. Brando now had close to three thousand human soldiers under him, but more than eighty percent of them were true veterans. They were the most experienced soldiers who were not inferior to the official Knight who had been training for years.
Outsiders thought that the Tónigel 'rebels' were just a motley crew of two to three thousand, but Hadsh knew that the young lord had more than two thousand Knight subordinates. More than two thousand Knight, Martha above, could lead an army of a hundred thousand Knight.
When the late King Erik founded the kingdom, he only had two hundred Knight followers.
"There's movement in the forest." Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind him. Hadsh was startled and turned around subconsciously.
… … (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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