When François's army entered Örengrád, Laing and Emilia's central army also arrived at the south bank of the Linsk River, in the ruins of the city of Zorn, where the fierce battle had taken place.
The Knight King's long cloak swept across the snow, leaving a very unsettling scene. The snowfield was littered with corpses. François's army did not have time to bury and cremate the corpses. In the end, the ten thousand guards were responsible for burying and cremating the corpses. Morgiana also led the witches of the Lake Goddess to pray to dispel the corruption.
"Come! Come! Hurry! Move faster! " Bertrand, the commander of the Old Guard, ordered the two great swordsmen of the Old Guard to move faster. The carriage of the Countess of the Empire had broken down in the muddy swamp, and one of the wheels had fallen off. Now, four Blackstone Guards were carrying Emilia's luxurious carriage together, and the Old Guard were putting the wheel back in the rotten land.
"François has entered Örengrád?" Today, Amelia was wearing a Nurgoth crimson silk dress with a thick winter coat made of white fox fur. Then, outside the coat, there was a black and gold velvet cloak with the emblem of the Libra on the black and gold crown shining brightly.
Emilia was not as tall as Suria, but her body proportions were also very well-proportioned. Since returning to Nur, she had spent a lot of effort to shape her body. Under the long dress, her slender white legs were wrapped in thick black velvet pantyhose, and she stepped on black suede boots. The slightly raised arch of her feet and the delicate pantyhose formed a beautiful arc. Her sexy and small white toes were together, looking smart and dignified.
"Yes." Laing handed the battle report to Emilia. It was François's report on the battle.
Emilia took a few glances. The Countess of the Empire was not very good at military affairs, but she certainly could not show weakness in front of Laing. "Well done. Now the Army of Chaos at the border of Kislöw, or at least the upper reaches of the Örengrád, has been eliminated."
Laing just smiled. The Knight King was familiar with Emilia. He looked at the two Old Guard who were trying their best to put the wheel back in place and signaled Emilia to continue.
"But it was a little conservative. François had two chances to completely eliminate the army of the Eye of Eternity." As expected, Amelia still had more to say. The Duchess took out the battle report and said, "The first time was when he was chasing after the demon army in the forest, he retreated. The second time was at the Battle of the Linsk River, when Tzeentch's army of six thousand was reduced to less than a thousand. Francois could have personally led the knights in pursuit, but he gave up. He was too conservative."
Laing still smiled and did not say anything.
Emilia suddenly felt that her intelligence was being looked down upon. The Countess of the Empire stomped her feet, splashing a large amount of snow. She said softly, "This way of fighting is too conservative. He always leaves something behind at the end. He's conserving his strength!"
"A good fighter has no illustrious achievements." After Laing looked at Emilia for a minute, the Knight King said, "Do you believe that if I replaced François with Berchemund as the commander, the Red Dragon Duke would definitely be able to wipe out the remnants of the Eye of Eternity's army and kill the Chosen One himself?"
"Then why don't you …" Emilia asked in confusion.
"But if you do that, you'll lose more than two thousand people!" Laing gently knocked Emilia's head with the military report. The Knight King shook his head. "This is why I agreed to let François charge forward. I know him. He fights calmly and steadily. Although it's not a good fight, he can win. Although the enemy escapes a little, his casualties are few. We're fighting thousands of miles away from the border, and the main forces of Chaos have already been eliminated. Are we fighting an army? We're fighting logistics and backup! "
Emilia suddenly stopped talking.
"The vast snowfield is a wasteland. It's cold in winter. In such an environment, if we don't handle it well, the loss of non-combat personnel will be much greater than the loss of combat personnel." Laing continued. The Knight King put his hands behind his back. His dark blue eyes looked at the white snowfield and sighed. "Otherwise, how can the Army of Chaos be so difficult to deal with? If I really intend to end the battle quickly, then we should form the Imperial Guards as the vanguard. I should personally go out and eliminate the remnants of the Army of Chaos. "
"But if that's the case, how many of the Imperial Guards that we've painstakingly trained will be lost? These soldiers are all trained and selected one by one! "
After Laing finished speaking, everyone nearby nodded in agreement.
"Anyway, I'm the commander-in-chief in name. The right to command is yours. You can command however you want. I've never stopped you." Emilia's words were still merciless, but the Empire's countess obviously accepted Laing's words. The little maid's eyes were full of stars. Even though she was now a mother of two, she still worshipped Laing like the little maid. "What's next? Are we going to enter Örengrád like this? Announce that we're going to rebuild the city? "
"We'll definitely enter the city." Laing thought for a moment and then said, "It's almost time. The army under Rokossovsky and Berliat's Ugor Army are about to arrive in Norden."
"As for how to arrange for Örengrád, let's talk about it when we enter the city." Laing looked at the endless snowfield again and sighed in his heart.
Laing's original plan was to clear out Örengrád after conquering it, but now it seemed that it was almost impossible.
He knew that he could not repeat the mistake of Napoleon's attack on Russia. In his previous life, the First Empire of France had prepared a total of 620,000 soldiers to conquer Russia.
In the end, when he retreated from the world of ice and snow with more than twenty thousand soldiers, he had lost nearly five hundred thousand soldiers, two hundred and fifty thousand horses, and one thousand cannons. In order to bring up the rear, only a few thousand of his personal guards were left.
The Emperor had won every battle in the process of entering and retreating, but he still ended up like this. Laing took this as a warning.
The problem that Laing was facing now was much simpler than the Emperor's.
Mrs. Kiesler felt that the Knight King was here to help them recover their homeland. Laing had received a lot of Mrs. Kiesler's support and love. As long as Laing did not ruin his image, Mrs. Kiesler would worship and support him.
However, the winter in Kislöw was too terrible. News from all over the place indicated that he and his army were exhausted.
The problem with logistics was also getting worse. The Empire was no longer able to provide Laing with military supplies to continue the war. The supply line was getting longer and longer, and it had to pass through the enemy's territory.
Solve the problem as soon as possible!
Four days later, Laing personally led the Imperial Guard into the ruins of Örengrád.
The originally huge bronze gate had collapsed. All the streets, shrines, residential areas, factories and docks had been turned into ruins. Örengrád, which had been glorious for thousands of years, could not escape this fate. The barbarians had looted and destroyed everything of value.
At this time, tens of thousands of Mrs. Kiesler had gathered in the city. They were originally hiding in the Grovold Forest and the mountains. After receiving news from François, Mrs. Kiesler rushed back to the city. They lined up and paid the highest respect to Laing!
"Chivalrous Knight King, it was you and your army that helped us recover our homeland!" An old man from Kislöw walked up and offered Laing some fresh Leba and salt. "Please enjoy."
"Thank you." Leon reached out to take it and personally enjoyed a little. Then, he raised his hand, and the entire city resounded with thunderous cheers. The people shouted the name of the Knight King, who was incomparably benevolent and righteous.
That night, Frostfrost Home Hotel, former Örengrád headquarters.
The burned Frostfrost Home's skeleton was still there. François had repaired it a little so that it would not leak out.
Everyone in the room sat down to celebrate another victory. François raised the Snow Goose Vodka and said to Laing, "Your Majesty, what do you plan to do next? Are we going to clean up all the remnants of the Chaos around Örengrád? "
"If possible, I would like to do that," Laing said helplessly, "but the situation does not allow it."
Knight King took out another letter from Emperor Karl-franz.
The Empire's logistics could not hold on any longer. Emperor Ka apologetically expressed that Laing's decision to invade Kislöw was not part of the plan. The Emperor could not persuade the Empire's parliament or the Loric's parliament to continue providing supplies for the knights' northern expedition. In a month's time, the supplies would be completely cut off. By then, if Laing wanted to fight in Kislöw, he would have to find a way to gather food himself.
Everyone's face darkened. Although Örengrád had been reclaimed, there were remnants of the Chaos and Barbarian raiders everywhere. If they wanted to clear them out, it would be a long and frequent security battle that would take months or even two to three years.
"So we have to retreat?" François was very unhappy. His father-in-law spread out his hands and said, "Very well. You have seen the situation in Örengrád. It is in ruins. If we retreat, there will be no defense here. Laing, do you really think Mrs. Kiesler can defend this place by herself?"
"Two things." Laing said calmly, "First, in a few days, Rokossovsky's Kislöw army and Berliat's Ugor army will arrive. We will discuss with them about the issue of stationing troops there."
"Second, try to gather the refugees in Kislöw nearby. In two weeks, we will start the process of a referendum to establish the Grand Duchy of Örengrád and rebuild Duma."
"Then, who will be the Grand Duke?" François asked. "First of all, it will definitely not be a Brittany. Mrs. Kiesler will not accept it. No matter how much we help them, we are still outsiders to them. But if we let a Kislöw native be the Grand Duke, what will happen if they lose control?"
"We didn't intend to control this city politically in the first place." Laing shook his head. "We only provide military protection and enough economic benefits. No matter what, Örengrád is Kislöw's land. Katarina has the law. Any attempt to take Örengrád as a vassal state or even merge it with Brittany will definitely be fiercely opposed by Mrs. Kiesler and even the people of the Empire. This will break the balance."
François nodded slightly. His father-in-law thought that Laing did not need his reminder anymore.
"So, to put it simply, we need such a person." Laing continued. "He must have the determination to revive Kislöw. He must have enough ability to command and govern. He must be willing to make a deal with us. We will provide him with a portion of the army to help defend the city and not interfere with his administration. In return, he must ensure that our economic benefits will not be affected and that he can withstand the pressure from Tsar. We must find such a partner within a week. Then, we will help him spread the news and let him successfully become the Grand Duke in the referendum."
Partner? François's eyes lit up. He suddenly thought of the Essun priest Vladimir. He was tough, strong, capable of commanding, outstanding in martial arts, extremely disappointed in Tsar, and had a lot of personal prestige.
He still remembered the famous words of Essun priest.
"Forgiving the barbarians is something a god should do. The only thing we have to do is to send them to meet their own evil god!"
"I will never forgive those damn northerners under any circumstances. If I meet them in the toilet, I will drown them in the cesspool!"
"What about Rokossovsky's Kislöw army?" Emilia asked. The Empire's Countess was not good at military affairs, but she immediately realized that this was a huge hidden danger. "You spent so much effort to rescue them. Are you going to let them go just like that?"
"Of course not." Laing smiled. "I will restructure this army."
"Restructure?" Morgiana was interested.
"They will have a new name, the Örengrád Guards!" Laing smiled. "As for my personal guards, there will also be a new organization, the Brittany Royal Guards' First Cavalry Regiment! I will give them a new flag with red and white stripes. "
"You mean to say that we should select the elites from this army and absorb them into our army to establish a new organization?" Francois understood. "Very good!"
"Restructure. This will ensure that we will not lose control of this army." Leon nodded. After the Knight King finished, he finally said with some fatigue, "The problem now is, after our main force leaves, how can we slowly drive the barbarian tribes and barbarians from the snowfield, wilderness, and forest out of the land near Erlengrad? If we rely on the mainland for everything, even the kingdom's finances will be dragged down. "
Everyone was silent. This was indeed a very troublesome problem.
After the small meeting, Emilia told Laing that she was going to have a small meeting with the generals of Nur. Morgiana also had to go for a prayer ceremony to expel the corruption. Laing went for a walk outside the Frosty Home Inn alone.
He was still thinking about how to maximize the use of all his forces to ensure that this land could gradually be free from the influence of Chaos and the barbarians after he left. The north of the old world needed a barrier and buffer zone.
After a few steps, the sound of familiar footsteps accompanied by the sound of a walking stick came from the side. The tall lame man limped closer with his walking stick. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, are you in trouble? Do you need my help?"
"Talleyrand, is there anything you can help me with?" Laing looked at the lame man and could not help but smile. "I heard that military strategy is not your forte."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I have never been good at military strategy. To be honest, the wind and snow here make me very uncomfortable." Talleyrand also squeezed out a smile. He was freezing and shivering in the snowy night. "But if you trust me, I think I can still provide you with some advice. I guess you must be worried that if you stay, the long security war will drag down your army and your finances. If you leave, then Mrs. Kiesler may not be able to expel the remnants of Chaos in the nearby area by herself."
"Yes, Talleyrand, do you have any good suggestions?" Laing nodded.
"I have an immature suggestion, Your Majesty." Talleyrand shook his head. "Have you heard of … horse racing?"
"Horse racing?"
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