This involves the current composition and command of the Western Frontier Army.
Its main force is undoubtedly the direct descendants of the Salius family. There are about 400,000 soldiers under its command, most of whom are originally private armies, and the rest are newly recruited, who have only received brief training and are used for logistics.
The other 800,000 or so soldiers came from various lords, large and small. Earls probably had tens of thousands of men under their command, viscounts had thousands, and even smaller barons might have only a few hundred men.
In addition to the main force controlled by the Griffin family, the other branch armies are often controlled by a count with a group of small nobles, which makes the command more flexible. They will capture the castles of the original central lords, occupy their land, and plunder their wealth, which is something the original central nobles cannot tolerate.
This also means that this battle is no longer limited to the small-scale internal fighting among the upper echelons of the royal family as in the past.
Although the emperor changed in the past, it had little impact on the powerful nobles in various places, but this time it was completely different.
In the past, the most loyal to the royal family were the nobles in the provinces surrounding the central imperial capital. They often shared the same roots with the royal family, having inherited from the former Cang Yue Kingdom. Moreover, the high-ranking officials intermarried and had a deep relationship.
As for the other minor nobles, although they admired the great nobles and the royal family, because of the huge gap in status, they actually did not pay much attention to the changes in the imperial center and the throne. Anyway, it would not make much difference to them who became the emperor.
But now, the invasion of the Western Alliance is not just about overthrowing the rule of the emperor of the empire and replacing him. The current posture even has the tendency to allow the lords of the Western Territory to rule the central region and replace the entire top management of the empire.
This became unbearable for many nobles who originally wanted to remain neutral, and they began to fight desperately. Many families used all their hidden tricks to fight to the death, and as a result, the intensity of the war increased directly.
The fighting was no longer confined to the battlefield, but took place everywhere, when the army was on the march, when it stopped in camp, and when it rested at night.
Compared with commoners, nobles have richer past accumulation, so there are often many extraordinary people. Under the command of their respective lords, they fight flexibly. It seems chaotic, but it is difficult to catch their tracks, making the coalition forces in the west exhausted.
If we abandon the large army, who will take over the cities, sweep the areas, maintain the rule and extract the benefits? If we do not abandon the large army, these harassing private armies of the central nobles will be a particular headache. Sending a large army to encircle and suppress them will be like shooting a mosquito with a cannon, slowing down the speed and making it difficult to catch up.
It's another night.
An army of the Salius family stopped in the castle that had just been captured. The castle had an excellent geographical location, overlooking a large plain below. Any other place passing through here could not escape the observation of the castle's watchtower.
The bonfire burned quietly, and the soldiers of the Griffin family sat by the fire to rest. They began to make a fire and cook, and the Griffins also ate the prepared fine food in the trough.
Although griffins do not need to be fed specially cooked food, their appetites are often comparable to those of three strong transcendent knights, which is very costly and is also the price of training air combat cavalry.
In the empire, apart from the Griffin Knights of the Salius family and the Blood-Winged Red Dragon Legion of the former Pascal family, the only powerful air forces are well-known. Although other nobles also breed flying monsters, their numbers are generally small, no more than a few dozen at most, far from comparable to those of the two dukes.
The pine wood in the campfire occasionally made slight cracking sounds, and tiny sparks drifted in the night wind, gradually heating the iron pot on the fire. The food inside also slowly emitted white steam and exuded fragrance.
When fighting outside, it is a blessing not to be hungry, and most soldiers will not complain about problems such as the monotony of rations.
The soldiers drank hot soup, and the griffins ate ground beans and minced meat in the trough. Their slightly stiff feathered wings flapped from time to time, creating gusts of air and making the campfire sway.
Just as everyone was enjoying the rare quiet of the night, a sharp whistle pierced the sky. It was the scream of a signal arrow.
A group of soldiers grabbed their weapons and armor and quickly became alert. At the same time, a faint sound was heard from the horizon, and flying figures swooped down quickly.
Wearing black coats and cloaks, with light but protective armor underneath, these people in black and red are the rapier-wielding swordsmen from the noble families in central China.
Most of them practiced the Demon Sequence, and at Sequence 4 they had the ability to glide briefly, and after Sequence 5 they could even fly directly, just like the vampires of the True Red Empire era depicted in ancient murals.
The white scarf was so conspicuous among the black and red uniforms, and those eyes bloomed with a faint red light in the dark night. Then they moved quickly and pounced on the griffin knights who were still resting. Several griffins and knights were directly pierced by the dark red rapiers and fell down trembling.
The blood remaining on the sword was dark red and contained a strong poison.
The Demon Sequence's fighting style has always been extreme and cruel, whether it is against the enemy or themselves. However, in the dark, it would be difficult for the enemy to find the weaknesses of these rapiers, and instead they would be exhausted and have to fight hastily.
Under the cover of night, it was difficult for the griffins to track down the enemy, but it was different for these noble swordsmen of the demon sequence. They were naturally good at night combat and were experts in speed, stealth, assassination, night vision, etc.
After a chaotic fight, the dozen or so griffin knights in the camp were eliminated one by one, and the remaining ordinary soldiers were powerless to save the situation. They could only watch as the fire started and burned all the food and supplies in the camp. The noble swordsmen in red easily broke through the air and flew away.
Everything seemed to have returned to a thousand years ago, when the Griffin Kingdom and the Verdant Kingdom were fighting.
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