Laing's decision to have a decisive battle with Chaos under Konquata City was out of desperation.
They couldn't take down Konquata City in a short period of time, nor could they retreat quickly. Now, the knights were left with a terrible dilemma. The Sea God's Fleet was defeated by the joint forces of Chaos and the Undead Pirates, and was forced to retreat to Culona. Laing was left with two choices at this time.
He could either retreat to Newland and rely on Newland's camp to defend, or he could simply fight the enemy under Konquata City.
But at this time, Laing knew that no matter what choice he made, he must not panic. As the soul of the Brittany army, any action of the Sun King could shake the knights who were already in a difficult situation. Therefore, Laing must look like he had a plan.
So, did Laing have a plan?
Obviously, the answer was yes.
Under Ryan's command, the knight's army began to set up camp under Konkuata. Along Konkuata, the dwarven auxiliary army, under the orders of the great engineer Dugan Ironman, built a four-meter-high wooden wall. They also placed a large number of iron caltrops outside the wall, erected sharp wooden stakes, dug a moat, and used dwarven runes to strengthen the wooden wall and ramparts. Even worse, Dugan Ironman installed a large number of cannons and dwarven flame cannons deep into the wall. At the same time, he built a large number of wooden sentry posts, which were filled with dwarven gunners, human gunners, and crossbowmen. Bastogne's longbowmen also found the most comfortable shooting shelter.
In addition to the Dwarven Runes, Veronica's witches also played a great role in dealing with the possible flying monsters and spells in Konquata Tower. Under the leadership of the female council leader, the witches began to bless the city walls.
Even the Old Guard participated in the construction work under Laing's orders. The large amount of resources that Newland had hoarded was enough for the army to use for 40 days. Admiral Bodrick also sent news that the Sea God's Fleet would be able to break through the blockade and bring in resources in 25 days at most.
Therefore, the knights' army only needed to hold on for 30 days at most to break out of the siege.
After receiving the confirmation, everyone was relieved. Laing also made up his mind to fight his enemies under Konquata City. The north of Konquata City was backed by the Beast Mountain Range, so Laing only needed to surround the city with three walls, and then build another wall on the outside.
The mines that the Dwarves had prepared for a long time came in handy, of course, along with a moat and various traps.
At this time, even the Goddess of Luck was helping Laing.
The reason was very simple: the Army of Chaos was infighting.
Previously, the First Demon Prince Birak had gathered the defeated soldiers of the Khoroth Champion, Khoroth the Bloody, and prepared to march into Konquata City together. However, on the night that both armies gathered, an incomparably bloody massacre unfolded in the Chaos camp.
Whether it was the brave Skalinsians, the cruel Vanaheimlins, the twisted hell-pinnacle people, the crazy Huns, or the bloodthirsty Mongols, these Khoroth believers seemed to have no interest in the so-called "unity" at all. Khoroth the Bloody was extremely angry at Birak for ruining his revenge. As for the Khoroth believers under him, they relied on their desire to kill and hunt, as well as Khoroth's oracle to think about problems.
So what was Khoroth's oracle?
The Blood God's oracle was very simple: Kill, charge, chop!
Do you see Birak's head?
That's right, chop it to death!
Ahhhh! On the first night that the Army of Chaos gathered, Khoroth the Bloody led the Khoroth berserkers and barbarian warriors to launch a suicidal attack on Birak's army. In the thick fog and heavy rain of Obien, the Army of Chaos was attacked by their own people. These Khoroth the Bloody charged into the camp, chopping anything alive they saw. Khoroth the Bloody wielded a Khoroth battle axe in his hand and rode a Chaos steel bull to the front, shouting: "For the Blood God!
I may not be able to defeat the Holy Grail of the Southerners, but do you think I can't defeat you? "
This fierce battle directly caused the camp to explode. The tribes of Chaos that gathered because they had a common enemy immediately exploded. That night, blood flowed all over the coast of Obien. Hundreds of heads were piled up in less than fifteen minutes. Under the leadership of the Champion of Khoroth, the sound of slaughter and the clashing of steel became the main melody of Obien's north coast. Khoroth the Bloody demanded that everyone, including Birak himself, must swear allegiance to him. Otherwise, the Champion of Khoroth was prepared to kill everyone.
The barbarian chieftains and monsters who did not kneel to Khoroth were all beheaded. By the time Birak personally attacked, the Army of Chaos had already lost more than three thousand men.
At this moment, Birak's problem was obvious. Theoretically speaking, the Primordial Demon Prince was a demigod champion. Its actual combat strength was even more powerful than the new Eternal Chosen One who was not equipped with a full set of divine artifacts. However, Birak had a fatal problem. No matter how powerful this Primordial Demon Prince was, it was not the Eternal Chosen One. Therefore, it could not smoothly command the entire army of Chaos. It could only rely on slaughter, coercion, intimidation, and other methods to barely assemble a huge army.
But Birak was different. The Eternal Chosen One only needed to defeat or conquer these powerful beings of Chaos. Then, he would show the combined blessing of the Four Gods of Chaos. These Champions of Chaos or Chosen One would listen to his orders unconditionally because he was the one chosen by the Four Gods of Chaos.
However, at this time, Birak was conquering the tribes in the North. The Four Gods of Chaos had prepared four Champions of Chaos for him. They were the Champion of Tyranny – Undefeated Abar, the Champion of Tzeentch – Cindral – Red Crown, the Champion of Nurgle – Varnier – Reaper, and the Champion of Lust – Betrayer, to be Birak's assistants.
However, the new Eternal Chosen One despised these four Champions of Chaos for being trash. The four of them only had the strength of a Beginner Saint. In fact, Cindral – Red Crown and Birak – Betrayer were even weaker. Birak despised these trash for being useless. He was conquering stronger beings. For example, recently, a Demon Prince of Nurgle called Typhons and a Demon Prince of Lust called Kasoron had announced their loyalty to the Eternal Chosen One. It seemed that a Demon Prince of Tzeentch called Ahriman had also appeared by his side.
Birak was not willing to be Birak's dog. However, for now, he could only continue to be Birak's dog. What troubled Birak the most was that the bloody Khoroth was also Birak's dog. This dog could not be killed so easily.
He had to find a way to get out of this situation. The Demon Prince of Primordial thought that perhaps if he offered the Sun King's head and heart to the Four Gods, they would take pity on him.
The internal strife of Chaos gave the army of knights more time to prepare. The same thing happened to Ulfric's World Walker Army. Everyone knew that Ulfric the Wanderer never cared about the affairs of his followers. He was even happy to see his subordinates kill each other just to choose the strongest to duel with him. In his opinion, only duels had meaning in his life.
Outside Kongkuata City, it was a rare sunny day. In the thick fog and heavy rain, the Knight King, Laing, left his red, blue, and golden tent.
Our Knight King seemed to be preparing something. He came to a corner of the city wall where a few large stones were placed. Laing softly chanted the ancient saint's spell. A green light flashed, then disappeared without a trace. It seemed that something had been activated, but it also seemed that nothing had happened.
The actions of the Knight King aroused the interest of many people. For example, the old father-in-law, Francois, and Kalard came to stand behind Clayon. The old father-in-law, who was proud of his high status and was Sulia's father, asked directly, "Your Majesty, what are you doing?"
"The ancient saint had left many ruins in Obien." Laing gestured for the cart to push the stones and slabs over. He personally reassembled everything. Compared to the upcoming war, the Knight King's expression was relaxed. "We can activate it when the time is right."
"Can it help us in any way?" Kalad also came up. Marquis Garament did not know much about these things. He knew that Laing knew the ancient saint's language and the most ancient secrets. Perhaps the Lady of the Lake was only willing to share these things with her champion.
"Most of the time, it can only help us to resist the enemy's spells. But if it can … it may be of special use." Laing smiled meaningfully and shook his head. "It won't work if I say it out loud."
"Your Majesty, the scouts have reported that the Army of Chaos in the North and the East have different degrees of internal strife. As for the Army of the Dead Pirates in the West, it seems that there are no more movements after landing." François sighed. "It seems that the count of the Ocean of the Dead Empire seems to have made up his mind to wait for the Army of Chaos to move before attacking together."
"Although I don't know why the Army of the Dead would ally with the Chaos, it's obvious that Count Noktelas doesn't want to be a scapegoat for the Chaos," Kalad continued. "Your Majesty, this may be useful."
"Oh! Kalad, you actually came up with this on your own?! " Laing's eyes lit up. He arranged the stones and slates into a strange and mysterious array. Knight King saw that Kalad was about to speak and reached out to stop him. He then spoke to the stone pillar in the language of the ancient saints. "The courage of the Sun God, Cotego, needs to be awakened by the sun."
Dong! The slates lit up.
When the ceremony was completed, Laing stood up. Knight King's face was full of gratitude. He patted Kalad's shoulder enthusiastically. "It's not easy, Kalad!"
"Huh?" Kalad was even more confused.
"François, Kalad, do you know the difference between us and the Empire?" Laing laughed. Knight King gestured for the two marshals to follow him to the next place in a clockwise direction.
The second slates were set up. Laing continued to recite. "The revenge of the Serpent God Sotigo needs to be shown through a blood sacrifice."
This time, the slates did not light up.
"What's the difference?" Kalad was still puzzled.
"The difference between us and the Empire used to be comprehensive, whether it was education, social system, palace positions, military mobilization, or central and local financial systems." Laing spread his hands to Kalad and François. "When Emperor Karl-franz had a complete central standing army, local provincial armies, and village militias, what did our Knight King have?"
"When Karl-franz had a complete palace cabinet and advisory group, and a bureaucratic system that was obviously much more efficient despite some corruption, what did our Brittany have?"
"When Karl-franz had a complete education system from church schools to palace schools and several high-end universities, our Brittany knights still relied on the Round Table Conference and the so-called knight squires for apprenticeship education."
"But don't we have all of that now?" Kalad was still puzzled. "Moreover, there is little corruption in our system. His Majesty's advisory group is efficient and honest. Haven't the central army, the duchy army, and the militia been established?"
"Kalad, these are all forcibly created by His Majesty through victory after victory and reform after reform over the past decade." François did not know whether to laugh or cry. His father-in-law said to Kalad, who really did not understand politics, "We didn't have all these before."
"We have His Majesty," Kalad said without hesitation.
"I won't stay on the throne forever, Kalad." Laing shook his head indifferently. There was no joy or sadness in the Knight King's tone, only indifference. "One day, Brittany will continue our throne under the leadership of another king."
François rolled his eyes. His father-in-law thought of something but did not say anything. Kalad was shocked. "Your Majesty, are you going to abandon your people and your kingdom? You are the Lady's Chosen Champion! "
"I won't abandon my people and my kingdom, but royalty is not eternal, Kalad." Laing said calmly, "One day, I will take off the crown and leave like the first Knight King Arthur, the human emperor Charlemagne, or the savior Ludwig."
"Your Majesty, are you planning to become a god?" Kalad asked. He was really anxious. Everything in the Knight King Kingdom was now incomparably dependent on Laing's reforms and personal prestige.
"I will never try to become a god, whether actively or passively." Laing just shook his head. The king then began to set up the third ancient sacred stone array.
"The strength of Quiggy, the guardian god, needs to be moved by unyielding."
Similarly, this stone slab did not light up.
"François, Kalad, you are the people closest to me. Let me ask you a question." Laing finished setting up the third stone array. "Why do I want to set up ten marshals?"
Without waiting for François and Kalad to answer, Laing continued with a smile, "Is it because I think the title of marshal is very cool? Or is it because setting up ten marshals makes it easier to manage? Or is it because what the Empire has, I also have to have? "
"Your Majesty naturally has his own thoughts when setting up marshals." Kalad did not express his opinion.
"The ten marshals are set up by Your Majesty, which means that they will be managed and granted authority by Your Majesty. At the same time, it also means centralization of power? The originally pyramid-shaped aristocratic vassal system has evolved into a vertical bureaucratic system? "His father-in-law stroked his chin.
"The ten marshals are only the first step." Laing did not say it directly. "Think about it. In the previous system, as Baron Jean, when faced with Marquis Angus's difficulties, could I not just ignore him or even fight back? Because I am not subordinate to him at all? You can't control me, and you are not as strong as me. Why should I listen to you? "
François and Kalad both nodded.
"Then what if I was a general at that time and he was a marshal?" Laing smiled. "Would I still dare to fight back? Ignore him? "
"Yes, my vassal's vassal is not my vassal. However, if the military rank system is introduced, a sergeant or lieutenant will definitely not be able to speak rudely to a general or marshal." François nodded. "Your Majesty, do you wish to separate the military structure from the aristocratic structure?"
"This is only the first and second level." Laing then shook his head. The Knight King took a deep breath. In the thick fog of Obien, the Sun King said something shocking. "François, Kalad, think about it carefully. Is the Knight King Kingdom's knighthood system really used to deal with enemies? We all know that knights are best at dealing with light infantry. They are at a disadvantage when facing light cavalry and heavy infantry. They are also not suitable for many terrains. However, when everyone knows this, why do we still need to use the kingdom's resources to raise knights? Knighthood is a system with low mobilization efficiency, poor financial ability, and it is easy for the tail to be too big. Moreover, not to mention enemies like the Oker Orcs and Chaos who have a large number of heavy infantry units, even in the civil war between humans, how many times have we won against the Empire's strong walls and cannons? "
François was silent.
"If it is not to deal with enemies, who else can it be to deal with?" Kalad asked.
The fourth stone formation was installed. "The hunting of the Forest Tiger God, Huang Qi, requires prey as a guide."
The fourth stone formation lit up.
"Do I need to say more about who we are dealing with?" Laing bared his teeth. "Whose main force is a large number of light infantry? Who needs to divide the knights into different parts of the kingdom so that each person can look after a piece of land and consolidate the existing ruling order? Efficiently deal with internal problems? "
"It's the Orcs!" Kalad blurted out without hesitation. "The Orcs and Goblins tribes."
"Yes, that's right." Laing sighed. He didn't stop. "But besides the Orcs and Goblins, there is another group that is also the target of the knights and aristocrats."
"That is the people of our kingdom! As the foundation of the knighthood system — the serfs! "
The Sun King's words were like thunder that exploded in the thick fog of Obien. It was deafening to Kalad's ears.
The enemy that the knighthood system focused on guarding against was actually our own people?
Serfs?!
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