Chapter 444: The Two Armies Meet
In the afternoon, the streets of the entire Royal City of Hayden were filled with troops ready to go, and all the nobles, big and small, had assembled according to the orders of the new King Alott.
"Your Majesty has given the order! Set off now!"
"Your Majesty has given the order! Set off now!"
As the messengers on horseback continued to deliver the orders, the mighty troops began to march out of the three gates of Hayden Royal City.
The army of the Principality of Orben filed out of the royal city, while the army of the Principality of Jean was also advancing steadily forward. At this time, the army of the Principality of Jean was less than a hundred miles away from the royal city of Hayden. At the normal speed, it would only take two days to arrive.
…
The next morning, on the road sixty miles away from the royal city of Hayden, King Lawrence summoned eight of his earls to attend an emergency meeting.
Because just a moment ago, King Lawrence received a report from the rangers that a huge camp was discovered forty miles ahead, which was the main force of the Principality of Alban.
King Lawrence was of course very cautious about the unusual behavior of the army of the Principality of Alban, fearing that there might be a trap.
This time, the Principality of Jean is marching south with all its national strength. If there is any major mistake, the power of the three duchies will be completely reversed.
"This morning, the rangers discovered that the army of the Principality of Alban did not intend to defend our attack in the King's City of Hayden, but appeared 20 miles ahead. I am calling you here to discuss whether there is any conspiracy of Hayden!"
At this moment, the entire army was still packing up their equipment and preparing to set off. This time, the parliament was held directly on a flat lawn. The king and eight earls sat at a long table in the open air.
"Your Majesty, have the rangers determined the size of the Alban Principality's army?"
Upon hearing the news that the Duchy of Alban had taken the initiative to attack, the earls were obviously very surprised and began to ponder. After a moment, Avery was the first to ask a question.
"Because the Principality of Alban has sent a lot of rangers, and the terrain here is flat and there are no commanding heights, so our rangers cannot determine the exact number of the Principality of Alban's army."
"However, according to the investigation of the three teams of rangers, the army of the Principality of Alban ahead has at least 30,000 troops."
"Your Majesty, if that's the case, then there's nothing to worry about! Their main force is right in front of us. No matter what tricks they have, as long as we advance slowly, the Principality of Alban will have no use for any tricks they have."
The army of the Duchy of Alban, including nobles of all ranks, has a maximum of about 50,000 men, but here it is certain that there are more than 30,000 men, which means that the Duchy of Alban has indeed given up on defending the royal city and is preparing to fight them to the death in the wild.
In the face of absolute power, even if there are some conspiracies or intrigues, as long as the Principality of Zeon follows the procedures and does not act rashly, there will be no risk.
"Your Majesty, do you think it is possible that King Hayden has received support from other forces?"
At this moment, the Lord of the North suddenly spoke.
"Who could Hayden team up with? Could it be the church?"
"Count Gust, you think too much! The church only dares to support the Duchy of Alban secretly. If he dares to help Hayden openly, the Duchy of Naxis will not agree. At that time, our two duchies will cut off the annual tax revenue paid to the church at the same time. Don't they consider the consequences of doing so?"
Avery immediately retorted, thinking that the Lord of the North was deliberately arguing with him.
However, Gust ignored Avery and looked straight at King Lawrence, waiting for his words.
"In fact, I have the same concerns. After all, the actions of the Principality of Alban this time are too unreasonable."
The king agreed with the Lord of the North's conjecture, and Avery's face became extremely ugly at this moment, as if he had been slapped in the face.
"I think some unknown changes must have taken place in the Principality of Alban, otherwise it would not have made such a move that is bound to fail. So we need to be fully prepared, regardless of whether there really is an accident at that time."
Next, King Lawrence told his plan, which was to select two hundred men from the elite knights of each family, and King Lawrence himself would send out four hundred men, forming a 2,000-man knight group as a reserve force, just in case.
In addition to the 2,000-man knights, King Lawrence also plans to leave behind his own elite legion of 5,000 men, so that there will be a total of 7,000 people as a trump card, which must not be used unless absolutely necessary.
The plan made by the king directly caused the army of the Principality of Jean to lose 7,000 elite soldiers.
If we lose these 7,000 elite soldiers when fighting against Alban's army, we will have to pay a higher price than before to defeat the enemy.
And this loss was passed on to several major earl families, so the king had to summon several major earl families to discuss the matter. Otherwise, if he acted arbitrarily, it would likely cause resentment among the major families.
The next battle will determine the final victory or defeat of this southern expedition, and King Lawrence must eliminate all hidden dangers.
After listening to the king's plan, several earls, of course, understood the pros and cons and fell into deep thought.
"Your Majesty, my Welton family has no objection!"
"Your Majesty, my Jones family has no objection!"
"His Majesty……"
The Lord of the North already had doubts, so he was the first to agree to King Lawrence's plan.
Alice had no objection. Since the Lord of the North agreed, she would naturally support it.
When the other earls saw that two people had expressed their opinions, they all spoke up to express their agreement.
Although this may cause them to lose more soldiers, soldiers are like leeks, there will be another crop after one is harvested. The most important thing now is to ensure victory in the war.
At that time, their gains were unprecedented.
After deciding on the next plan, the king dismissed the earls and the army was about to move forward.
"Alice, you have to take care of yourself! You are the only blood of the Jones family now! That slick Gervis kid will definitely come back safely. I guess he is probably looting somewhere right now!"
After the meeting was over, the Lord of the North looked at his granddaughter who was obviously a little haggard, and couldn't help but advise her with concern.
"Yes, I know, don't worry, Grandfather!"
When Alice heard the words of the Lord of the North, she forced a smile and nodded in agreement.
The Lord in the North had said these words to her many times recently, and even Gandalf had advised her against it several times.
But Alice knew in her heart that if Gervis was really safe and sound, he would have returned to the team long ago.
Now, the royal capital of the Principality of Alban is sixty miles ahead, but there is still no news from Gervis.
There is still no news about Gervis. Alice speculates that there are only two possibilities: either Gervis has been captured by the Principality of Alban, or...
So no matter how others comforted her, Alice couldn't stop worrying.
"Grandfather, how is Caroline's situation going?"
Seeing that the Lord of the North was about to continue talking about Gervis, Alice continued to force a smile and changed the subject.
"Alas, there has been no news of Caroline since the capture of Maiye City!"
"King Hayden does not agree to exchange those minor nobles for people, but wants the Principality of Jean to stop the attack and withdraw its troops! So there is no possibility of compromise on this!"
"It's all my fault. I couldn't resist her pleas and let her come to join the Southern Expedition!"
Speaking of Caroline, the Lord of the North shook his head helplessly. He could already foresee that his granddaughter would be in great danger. Now he just hoped that she would suffer less.
…
One day later, they were forty miles away from the King's City of Hayden.
At this time, the army of the Principality of Jean and the army of the Principality of Alban were already facing each other from afar, and the two sides were located at the two ends of the horizon, like two ferocious beasts with bloody mouths, about to start a life-and-death duel!
(End of this chapter)
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