Judging from the map, it is almost on the same line as Mithril Hall, Fellba Castle and Adeba Castle. It is a truly extremely cold place, with more than half of the year being in a freezing period with temperatures below zero.
The Miral River, the most important transportation route from home to Luskan, is impassable most of the time.
Therefore, foreign trade is mainly concentrated in the short summer.
After all, the cost of river transportation is much cheaper than land transportation.
Especially in order to feed the urban population of tens of thousands, a large amount of imported food is needed every year.
Because of the climate, other than cold-resistant rye and potatoes with a short growth cycle, no other crops can survive here.
In addition, Mirabar is close to the mountains of the Spine of the World, where there are countless monsters, beasts, dragons, and giants. Mirabar can only guarantee the safety of a very small area around it, so the only industry that is acceptable is fishing along the river and animal husbandry that does not require much manpower.
The rye grown was either used for fermentation and winemaking or for feeding horses and other livestock, and potatoes were the only vegetable that most residents could eat for more than half a year.
However, compared to the harsh living environment, Miraba has one thing that other towns in the North cannot match.
That is, it is built on an extremely huge mineral vein.
This vein of ore is large enough to provide the entire North with an ample supply of steel, copper, gems, mithril, adamantium, silver, and gold.
Among them, the shield dwarves firmly occupy the underground mines and are responsible for digging out ore, smelting it into metal ingots, and occasionally making some fine weapons and armor.
Humans are responsible for commercial activities with other towns on the ground, selling these outputs at a good price, and then purchasing daily necessities and transporting them back to meet the needs of town survival and development.
Although Mirabar is a hereditary marquisate on the surface, the actual power lies in the hands of a committee called "Shining Stone".
Dwarves and humans each account for about half of the total, and they negotiate to determine the target production for the year, and occasionally threaten customers with production cuts to make them pay a high enough price for metal products.
To some extent, this is a typical resource monopoly vested interest group.
Even Luskan was restricted by Mirabar for a long time, and the prices of steel and many metal products in the market remained high.
However, this pleasant cooperation between dwarves and humans began to become delicate with the emergence of Zuo Si and the deepening conflict between Mirabar and Mithril Hall.
The emergence of the former led to a large number of undead laborers being put into mines that were previously difficult to mine, producing a steady stream of high-quality metals and minerals.
Not only can it meet its own needs, but it can also be exported to other surrounding towns, completely breaking Mirabar's monopoly on minerals and metal smelting.
Since there is no monopoly, there is naturally no such crucial thing as pricing power.
Dare to threaten customers to reduce production? Believe it or not, I will directly blacklist you and prohibit all trade activities? Moreover, the emergence of airships has also sharply reduced transportation costs, and the reduction of freight costs means the expansion of the circulation range of goods.
Things that could only be purchased nearby at high prices in the past can now be shipped from hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away, and the prices are much cheaper than before.
This directly caused Miraba's proud mining and metal smelting industry to suffer heavy losses, and it could no longer maintain its originally high profits. It was forced to continuously lower prices and cut costs, joining the general trend of collective involution.
But the good thing is that since they joined the trade alliance, they have more customers and no longer have to keep staring at the small piece of land in the North to compete for the market.
In addition, some precious woods, herbs, furs produced in the mountains of the Spine of the World, as well as delicious and plump fish in the cold water rivers, have also become very popular and best-selling goods.
Therefore, even though Mirabar's political and economic status in the North continued to decline, its income did not decrease.
On the contrary, it increased because of the decline in food and cloth prices caused by trade diversification and lower transportation costs.
In comparison, the problems caused by the identical industrial structure between Mirabar and Mithril Hall are even more serious.
To be precise, this incident sparked a conflict between shield dwarves and humans.
You know, dwarves are a very united race, which is completely different from humans.
If there are two dwarf clans in an area, if an external enemy attacks one of them, the other will definitely choose to rescue it at all costs, even if a war has broken out between them for the control of the chassis.
When Drizzt's friend Bruno was retaking Mithril Hall, he received support from an army of 8,000 dwarves from Fort Adbar.
Adeba Castle is separated from Mithril Hall by the entire Silvermoon Alliance, and one has to cross forests, rivers and mountains to finally reach the hidden entrance of Mithril Hall.
Such a huge support did not require any compensation, and even the food and drink consumed during the march and fighting had to be brought by themselves.
This shows how united the dwarf race is.
So it is predictable how the shield dwarves of Mirabar will react when the humans in charge of the business sector begin to suppress their own kind, the Mithril Hall.
There were several times when we almost had a falling out during the meeting.
The dwarves even threatened to end their cooperation, close the mines, and drive the humans out of their territory.
Fortunately, the human representatives of the "Shining Stone" Committee were more rational at the time and decisively chose to compromise to calm the anger of the dwarves.
Right now, humans are carefully maintaining their relationship with the dwarven allies.
But the problem is that the cracks have already appeared, and it is basically impossible to recover.
Especially in Mirabar, profits in the mining and metal smelting industries are declining, while profits in other industries are increasing.
One day this interdependence will be broken.
At that time, the relationship between humans and dwarves will deteriorate sharply, and even a bloody conflict or even a war will break out to decide who is the real master of this land.
However, Miraba is still in the process of rapid economic development, so many sharp contradictions are covered up.
Adventurers wearing armor and holding weapons can be seen everywhere on the streets, in taverns, and inns within the city.
The reason they gather here is that the prosperous business has led to a sharp increase in various demands.
Among them, precious furs and rare animal cubs that can be raised as pets can often be sold at high prices of hundreds or even thousands of gold coins each.
Some nobles and wealthy businessmen are even willing to offer a reward of three to five thousand gold coins to buy a newborn winter wolf or warg.
This is definitely a considerable income for adventurers, so many hunters with similar experience will come to try their luck.
Where adventurers and mercenaries gather, the public security situation will often deteriorate rapidly, and fights, brawls, and bloodshed over a disagreement are common.
Similarly, various forces will try to use these profit-seeking guys to achieve some unknown goals.
Therefore, Mirabar now has a bit of the meaning of the "spy capital" of the North.
Whether it is the Harper Alliance, the Green Garden, the Dragon Cult, the Zhentarim, or the Red Mages, they all have bases here.
The Green Garden, which is mainly composed of druids, is mainly responsible for supervising the damage to the natural balance that these greedy adventurers may cause, and stopping them when necessary.
As one of the many secret forces, Hared III is undoubtedly the best among them.
Because standing behind him was Zuo Si, who possessed vast resources and could fill an entire warehouse with precious metals such as gold and silver like blocks of iron.
With unlimited financial support, this man who held a deep hatred for Elminster easily attracted dozens of adventure teams and mercenary groups, and even formed an adventurer's guild of his own.
By accepting commissions and issuing tasks, he successfully controlled almost two-thirds of the groups with the most powerful destructive power in Mirabar.
Although there is no such thing as loyalty between adventurers and mercenaries.
But as long as there is enough reward, they never mind doing anything, even killing all the rulers of Mirabar and overthrowing the regime here.
At this moment, Hared III was sitting in the office on the fourth floor of the guild headquarters which had just been built, handing all the information he had to Ximamon and Kurremos.
After about seven or eight minutes, the "filial son" Kurremos finished reading the information on hand first, raised his head and asked with interest: "Where did you get this valuable information?"
"Don't forget, I have been Elminster's scribe for many years. I have even witnessed more than one meeting of the Harpers' top brass up close. I know their internal situation inside out."
Hared III pursed his lips and a cold and cruel smile appeared.
Because during this time, he had used his knowledge of the Harper Alliance to successfully kill at least thirty spies who tried to sneak in to gather intelligence, and he also successfully captured several of them and tortured them inhumanely.
Finally, he used the evil and cruel necromancy magic to transform it into a killer who obeyed his orders.
"I see... No wonder you can always seize the opponent's weakness and launch an attack first, and even figure out the intentions of their top leaders."
Kurremos nodded pretentiously, but in fact he was already very happy in his heart.
In his opinion, having a young man like Hared III standing in front to attract the attention of the Harpists was the perfect protective umbrella for him to plan a bigger conspiracy behind the scenes.
In contrast, Ximanmeng directly proposed without any reservation: "Since you know so much about Elminster and the Harper Alliance, why don't you plan a large-scale operation?
You should know that the reason why they have such a huge force in the North is that they have an effective intelligence network.
If we can destroy this hidden and spider-web-like intelligence network, the Harpers will be completely deaf and blind.
By then, as long as we eliminate those who are responsible for external liaison and information transmission, they will be completely paralyzed and become fish on the chopping block."
"You think I don't want to?
The only area I can move around now is Mirabar. It is even difficult to collect information in other places.
In addition, many towns in the North have long-term private cooperation with Harpists, which is also a factor that needs to be taken into consideration.
To me, the Harpers operate like a small network built around nodes.
These networks are then connected together using wires to share intelligence resources.
Therefore, the two most important things to destroy and disintegrate them are: one is to destroy the nodes of this small network, and the other is to cut off their connection with their superiors.
I suggest that we work closely together to launch an all-round, three-dimensional attack on the Harpers throughout the North.
I wonder what you two think?"
As he spoke, Hared III raised his head and stared at Ximamon and Kurremos with expectant eyes.
He believed that with the other party's help, he would be able to paralyze the intelligence network that the Harpers had been operating in the North for many years.
"No problem. I'd be more than happy to be a part of it."
Xi Mameng was the first to express his attitude.
Because once the power of the Harpers is significantly weakened, the Zhentarim will completely occupy the former's ecological niche and gain huge benefits from it.
Kuerremos followed up and said, “I can’t think of any reason to refuse.
But it is unwise to engage in a head-on attrition fight with the Harper Alliance. I think we should do it more covertly.
For example, using the power of Scar Klaus, or bribing the Dragon Cult to let them take the first step to attract some firepower.
In short, we need to incite as many forces that hate the Harpers as possible to join us, and it would be best if both sides suffer losses.
That way we can grab the biggest piece of the pie afterwards.”
"Agreed! I can help contact some barbarian tribes and the beastmen of the beast god Mara."
Ximanmeng suddenly showed a very sinister smile.
When it comes to fanning the flames, provoking wars, creating chaos and conflict, the Zhentarim he leads are absolute experts.
"I am responsible for instigating the Dragon Cult and the local red-robed wizards to make some noise, and by the way, using Klaus to severely damage the Harper leaders and their allies."
As he said this, there was a strange light in Kurremos' eyes.
There is no doubt that hiding in the dark and formulating a huge and extremely evil plan made his spirit extremely excited.
In particular, overthrowing an organization like the Harper Alliance, which has an ancient history and great reputation, can bring unprecedented satisfaction to this filial brass dragon.
"Then I will provide you with a list and methods for identifying Harper spies."
Seeing that his plan was supported, Hared III also revealed a sinister smile.
In this way, the leaders of the three evil camps formally formed an alliance in Mirabar and began to plan a earth-shaking operation.
This time, the Harpers will no longer be facing minor conflicts in one or two regions, but a horrific crisis that will spread from Waterdeep to dozens of towns and large territories across the north.
Once the entire plan is launched, they will no longer have the opportunity to draw personnel from other places to support each other as before.
Instead, you will be completely caught in a complex situation where you are overwhelmed and unable to cope with it.
…
Zuo Si was still unaware of the secret struggle that was about to break out in the north.
Or even if they knew, they wouldn't care too much.
Because what he needs to consider at this stage is not how to integrate the scattered northern lands, but to form a coalition under the banner of "justice" to go north and expel the forces of Zhentilburg.
Thanks to the powerful transportation capabilities of the airship, more than a thousand dark elves from the underground of Dragonspear Castle arrived first in just a few days.
Following closely behind were the fleets of the Nelanther Islands, and reinforcements from Neverwinter and Luskan.
Finally, there is the Silvermoon Alliance army led by Alustriel.
Even King Shane VII, who was still busy conquering the Kingdom of Tethyr, sent a legion of 3,000 men to show his political attitude.
Of course, in addition to the relatively powerful forces mentioned above, some small towns that joined the trade alliance also sent soldiers ranging from fifty to sixty people to two to three hundred people.
For example, Lantan Island symbolically sent out a musket unit of 200 people and 30 cannons as support.
Including the more than 8,000 new troops formed by Am, the total assembled force reached as many as 30,000 to 40,000 in an instant.
It can be said that for the first time in history, the political forces on the entire west coast of the continent of Faerun have united under one banner.
With this unparalleled appeal and political capital, Zuo Si finally tore off his disguise and revealed his ambition.
After seeing this unprecedented scene, the big families in Amn who had originally harbored illusions all gave up the idea of further delay or confrontation, especially the more than 8,000 new troops who were trained as direct descendants. Under the influence of magic, high-quality diet and almost cruel training, their average height grew to about 2.4 meters, and they were covered in enchanted heavy armor.
The giant mounts ridden by the 3,000 cavalrymen were mostly the masterpieces of Ludevic, the necromancer wizard of the floating city. They were all corpse-snaking creatures that knew nothing of fatigue.
Among them, 2,500 were traditional ground troops, which looked like tall four-legged dinosaurs wearing metal armor from a distance.
Their function is very simple and crude, which is to carry the knight forward, knocking over and trampling any obstacles that dare to block the way forward.
Another five hundred are new giant dragons that were hatched through genetic modification technology that combined the advantages of multiple dragon creatures.
Because they have only grown for a few months, they are generally only six or seven meters long, and their intelligence is just enough to just understand commands, but they have an amazing load-bearing capacity and can spit out powerful flames, lightning, strong acid, freezing air and poisonous clouds from their mouths.
As for the knight on the dragon's back, in addition to the most basic melee weapons, he will also be equipped with some throwing objects that can cause splash damage.
For example, there are alchemical bottles that can cause violent explosions and produce damage of different elemental attributes, and there are also bombs made of smoke powder.
Even the ranged weapons are spears that can release lightning magic to attack.
A cheaper version of this was developed long ago and deployed to the fleets of the Nelanther Islands.
Now after upgrading, it has been equipped to the Air Force again.
The only difference is that the latter uses more advanced cylindrical crystals with greater capacity for storing and releasing electrical energy.
Moreover, under the unified coordination and command of the Shuoyou mobile terminal, the powerful combat effectiveness that the new army of Am can exert is definitely not comparable to the traditional army of the continent of Faerun.
In addition, Zuo Si also equipped this army with a large number of priests and masked wizards, so that it had no obvious shortcomings in any aspect.
Especially after the Masked Mage Guild was overhauled from head to toe, most of its members had signed a contract with the ninth layer of Baator Hell, and could sacrifice corresponding spell slots to summon demons of different levels when needed.
Seeing the army marching from the military camp outside the city to the Cloudy Mountains, the representative of Neverwinter, Eribes, could not help but sigh, "This is a magnificent sight that cannot be described in words.
I bet that there is absolutely no city-state or even country on the entire west coast of the continent that can defeat Amn's new army on a frontal battlefield.
This time, Fuzor Chamberlain and his army of Zhentil Keep have met their match.
I just don’t know if the trolls, giants and ogres can withstand such a violent attack.”
Don’t forget those giant dragons or dragon-like creatures in the sky, which are probably special species, and the huge number of wizards.
If the Guild of Masked Mages and the mages of Luskan were considered as a whole, their current strength was not much worse than that of Waterdeep and Silvermoon City.
尤其在数量方面，牢牢占据了压倒性的优势。
也许巨魔并不会畏惧受伤，但却肯定会害怕魔法制造的火焰跟强酸。
不出意外的话，这场战争索斯阁下将会以压倒性的优势取得胜利。
而且借助这场战争，他向西海岸所有人展现了自己的领导力跟号召力。
这在政治上是史无前例的。
伟大的提尔非常期待他接下来将会给整个世界带来怎样的变化和秩序。”
“所以我们无冬城的态度是支持索斯统治从博德之门到巨龙海岸的大片土地？”艾瑞贝斯用不是很确定的语气试探道。
“没错！我们的态度是支持。因为秩序总比混乱强。
索斯阁下已经不止一次证明过，他能成为一名非常优秀的统治者，可以建立相对公正的法律，给大部分生活在社会最底层的民众带来和平繁荣的生活。
世界上没有什么比这更正义的事情了。
至于他本人的阵营倾向和意图，反倒是没有那么重要。”
提尔的牧师面带微笑向身边年轻的圣武士传达了来自神明的旨意。
艾瑞贝斯若有所思的点了点头：“好吧，我想我明白您的意思了。
这倒是跟纳西尔领主的观点很相似。
他也觉得现如今的无冬城正处在历史上最好的时期。
不仅外部没有来自敌人的威胁，内部贵族和平民的矛盾也在繁荣的贸易中得到了缓解。
而且纳西尔领主还认为我们应该坚定追随索斯阁下领导的联盟。
如此一来才能让这种繁荣持续下去。”
提尔的牧师笑着解释道：“纳西尔领主是个睿智的领导者。
虽然他可能在某些方面略显软弱，但却知道对民众来说什么才是最重要的。
好好干！ 他多次单独派遣你来参加这种合作，目的就是为了培养你。
也许等纳西尔领主觉得自己老了、精力不济了，会将领主职位传给你。”
“啊？！”
艾瑞贝斯瞬间愣住了。
因为她虽然已经是领主的得力臂膀，但却从未想过有朝一日会成为纳西尔领主的接班人，更不知道该带领无冬城走向何方。
“呵呵，别那么吃惊。
要知道在无冬城的政治体系中，你早就已经成为领主之下最被认可的继承者。
只不过你自己一直没有往那方面想而已。
而且统治无冬城并没有你想象中那么困难。”
牧师轻轻拍了拍圣武士的肩膀以示鼓励。
就在艾瑞贝斯张开嘴还想要说点什么的时候，突然看到左思和艾拉斯卓肩并着肩从远处走了过来。
她赶忙把脑子里乱七八糟的想法清理干净，单手抚胸略微欠了欠身。
“银月女王，索斯阁下，我非常荣幸能够代表无冬城与您二位并肩作战一起打击邪恶。”
“你太客气了，艾瑞贝斯女士。应该说谢谢的是我才对。”
左思面带微笑的还了一礼并随口客气两句。
因为他根本不在乎这些盟友们带来了多少士兵、提供了多少粮食和武器装备，只在乎对方的政治表态。
后者才是最重要的。
很显然，这些盟友完全没有让左思失望。
有一个算一个都非常干脆的表明了自己的立场，也就是认可他以后取代深水城来做这个“盟主”兼“带头大哥”。
艾拉斯卓脸上挂着玩味的笑容，用半开玩笑的语气调侃道：“也许打完这一仗之后，我们的索斯阁下就要升级为索斯陛下了呢。你打算什么时候宣布自己加冕为安姆的国王或者皇帝？”
“不急，反正权力已经收回来了，剩下的不过是一个称号。你知道的，我向来都不怎么在意这些虚名。”
左思没有掩饰什么，大大方方承认了自己接下来必然要成为君王的事实。
“但在政治上，这个称号是必须的。
我建议你最好把安姆跟北方地区合并一下，然后想个新的名字。
不然如此庞大的国土面积，很容易出现分裂倾向。
毕竟西哈特兰德地区以独立城邦和村镇的形式存在了太长时间，突然之间头上多出了一个国家和君主，民众肯定是会不适应的。”
艾拉斯卓兴致勃勃的给出了自己的建议。
身为政治家的她对于这个即将出现的庞然大物充满了好奇，迫切想要看看左思究竟要如何统治跟治理一个面积、人口和文化差异都如此巨大的国家。
毕竟这位银月城女王光是想要把联盟内部各个城镇融合成为一个国家就已经费尽心思，但却始终没能如愿以偿。
左思轻笑着回答道：“其实统治和治理一个庞大国家远没有你想象中那么复杂。尤其是在民族主义还没有觉醒的情况下，通常情况下只要做到几点就可以了。”
“哦？是哪几点？”
艾拉斯卓两眼微微放光的追问道。
“首先是统一文字和语言，然后是统一度量衡，再接下来是统一政治制度、法律、市场和经济，最后才是打破地域限制让人口和商品在整个国家层面快速流动。
其中统一文字和语言是为了增加思想文化上的认同感，让国家内部人与人之间的交流没有障碍，当人与人之间可以使用同一种语言和文字进行交流的时候，他们就会视对方为自己人。； 统一度量衡则是为了给税收、生产和经济活动带来便利；
统一政治制度和法律则是为了做到一视同仁的公平，尽可能降低地域歧视或是种族歧视带来的负面影响，起码在法律层面大部分人都是平等的；
统一市场和经济可以增加各地之间的相互依存度，比如说一个地方生产钢铁、另外一个地方生产粮食，那么他们就相互需要对方，从而产生紧密的联系；
打破地域限制让人口和商品快速流通，不仅能有效粉碎那些破固有的偏见，还能加快国家内部之间的融合。
当一个地方的人与另外一个地方的人混居在一起不分彼此，那他们之间还会产生矛盾跟分裂倾向吗？ 答案显然是否定的。
事实上我已经提前做了很多的准备，包括拿出飞艇、建立贸易同盟、推动解放奴隶、大量培养官员和执法者等等，都是建立一个统一国家的前置工作。”
左思不慌不忙的阐述了自己的想法。
当然，这些只是初步的理念，具体操作起来必然还需要进行一系列的调整。
除此之外，他还有很多见不得光的隐性控制手段没有说出来。
不过这些凝聚了大量智慧和经验的内容，还是让艾拉斯卓感到了前所未有的惊艳，急不可耐的追问：“这些都是你从其他时空得到的知识和观察到的结果？”
左思微微摇了下头：“不，这是我故乡的历史，是无数人用生命、鲜血和死亡总结出来的经验教训。
如果你感兴趣的话，我们可以等打完这一仗之后单独找个时间聊聊。
不过现在嘛，还是把注意力集中到战争中来比较好。
艾瑞贝斯女士，我希望在穿过云雾山区之后，你能率领无冬城的军队和另外五千士兵沿乌尔登商道向东进发，收复绿色原野和冲萨河沿岸的重要城镇。”
“您的意思是……由我率领一直军队抄后路截断傅佐尔·钱伯瑞的后路？”
艾瑞贝斯似乎意识到了什么，立刻下意识握紧了剑柄。
作为无冬城的二把手，城防军的最高指挥官，她显然非常清楚这个任务的危险性和重要性。
“不，不用截断傅佐尔·钱伯瑞的后路。
我要的只是提前收复这些城镇，让他没办法在撤退的时候依托这些城市为据点进行阻击或是制造破坏。
要知道攻城不管在什么时候都是一件相当麻烦的事情。
我可不希望在打完这场战争之后，还要掏一大笔钱去修缮维护破损的城墙。”
左思耐心的解释道。
尽管他跟傅佐尔·钱伯瑞私下里达成了协议，但天知道这家伙输急眼了会不会在撤离的时候顺手放把火。
所以先拿下城市、清理掉那些驻军相当有必要。
“明白了！请放心，我一定不会辜负您的信任和期望。”
艾瑞贝斯信誓旦旦的拍着胸脯给出保证。
解救被邪恶势力威胁压迫的平民，这原本就是圣武士的职责之一，所以她根本没有任何拒绝的理由。
很快，随着大部队浩浩荡荡穿过云雾山区抵达纳西凯小镇后，这位散发着惊人魅力的半精灵圣武士小姐就拿着任命书，去队伍最后边挑选了五千名由其他城镇拼凑而成的士兵和给养向东方挺近。
艾瑞贝斯前脚刚走，黑暗精灵军团的领导者葵露就找上门来，一脸无奈的抱怨道：“索斯，我要求你给黑暗精灵单独行动的权利。
Our people were too sensitive to the sunlight during the day, and almost every day's march was like torture.
If possible, we hope to march at night and rest during the day.
Otherwise, if they continue like this, they will all collapse in a few days and will not be able to form any combat effectiveness at all."
"Is it that serious?"
Alustriel, who was sitting in the tent, was slightly surprised.
Kui Lu rolled her eyes in annoyance: "Go ask your old lover Drizzt, he knows this feeling best.
Especially those drow who have just arrived on the surface are often fainted by the scorching sun.
We have lost nearly a hundred people in the past few days, and even the divine treatment has no effect. "
"Hey! Don't talk nonsense! What do you mean Drizzt and I are old lovers? Nothing has ever happened between him and me." Alustriel protested with great dissatisfaction.
"Oh - really?"
Kuilu deliberately dragged out the word, and then rudely exposed her sister's past.
"As far as I know, someone has a doll of Drizzt in his collection."
moment!
Alastor didn't know whether he was angry or shy, but a blush appeared on his fair face. He glared at Kui Lu fiercely without making any more excuses.
"Okay, I agree."
After a little consideration, Zuo Si immediately gave a positive answer.
He had originally planned to use this march to allow the dark elves who believed in the Dark Girl to get a little more familiar with the surface residents, in order to reduce their vigilance and estrangement with each other.
But now it seems that I was just overthinking.
You have to know that even after coming to the surface for ten years, Drizzt still couldn't fully adapt to the midday sun, and would often get dizzy from the sun in tropical areas like Calimshan, not to mention these guys who had just come out of the Underdark.
The fact that they could hold out for so many days was enough to prove that they possessed endurance and resilience far beyond that of other races.
"Thank you. I knew you were a reasonable person. Don't worry, even if we march at night, we can keep up with the speed of the main force. As for communication, I will use divine magic to convey the message to you directly."
Aoi was visibly relieved.
Because she was really afraid that Zuo Si would be unkind and force the dark elves to continue to follow the main force and march during the day.
After a short rest in Nashikai for half a day, Zuo Si once again led the army north along the Bay Coast Highway and arrived at the small town of Belgost, which was very close to Candleburg.
Since this place was captured by the army of Zhentil Keep not long ago, and even the temple of Lathander, Lord of the Dawn, was destroyed, it looks a little desolate.
The troops stationed here also heard the news and withdrew to Baldur's Gate early to join the main force, leaving only a few thousand residents at a loss.
Zuo Si left three hundred people stationed here, which made the local people feel a little safer and began to resume production and life in an orderly manner.
After all, no matter who rules in the future, life must go on.
From Nasike to Belgost, and then from Belgost to Baldur's Gate, the coalition forces encountered basically no resistance of any kind along the way, and even spies were rare.
Obviously, Fu Zol Chamberlain already knew the scale of Zuo Si's expedition and the amazing combat effectiveness of the new Amn army, and had no intention of wasting time at all.
He simply gathered all his forces at Baldur's Gate, planning to set up a battle on the north bank of the Chongsa River. If he lost, he would flee eastward along the river and take a boat back to Zhentil Keep from the port on the Dragon Coast.
As for winning...
Sorry, I didn’t even dare to think about it.
Others may not have seen Zuo Si's strength, but Fu Zuoer Chamberlain has seen it with his own eyes.
Especially when they were besieging Mansong, he still could not forget the terrifying power of the killing arrows shot by the nature servants.
Not to mention mere mortals, even a demon lord would be killed on the spot if he was not strong enough.
So Fuzzol Chamberlain might dare to do some small tricks in private, but he certainly doesn't have the courage to confront head-on.
What's more, during the days of occupying Baldur's Gate, he had already plundered enough wealth and supplies, and was planning to return to his hometown to unify the Moon Sea.
There is no time to waste time and energy on this land that is destined not to belong to you.
Just like that, with an unspoken understanding.
The two armies, each numbering more than 10,000, finally met on the flat open land north of the Chongsa River.
Out of diplomatic etiquette, the two sides politely handed over letters of challenge to each other before officially starting the battle, and agreed on the time and place for the battle.
Instead of relying on the strong walls and fortresses of Baldur's Gate for defense, Fuzor Chamberlain decided to go out of the city and fight a fair battle.
It's not that he didn't want to do it, but he was afraid that if Baldur's Gate was reduced to ruins, Zuo Si would come after him.
If after Zhentil Castle is repaired, the other party attacks him and razes the entire city to the ground, he will have no place to cry.
A priest with divine powers can never match the power of a wizard with arcane powers in wreaking havoc and destruction.
Zuo Si was also very generous in not closing the river, leaving the other side a way out.
As the saying goes, leave a way out for yourself when doing things so that you can meet again in the future.
It's just acting anyway, there's no need to work so hard.
As long as all the monster armies recruited with the Scepter of the Tyrant are killed, the remaining human and orc soldiers belonging to the Church of Bane can be let go.
After all, retaining the strength of Zhentil Keep can also, to a certain extent, tie down the energy of Elminster in Shadow Valley.
(End of this chapter)