Riding and Slashing

Chapter 224 What does he want?
Alina clenched her hands into fists and started pacing back and forth again, looking preoccupied.

"Just as I said before...it should be okay, right?"

Loris was a little confused.

"What I considered before was [-] dinars, allowing him to establish trade routes in the empire, promising not to attack his territory, and repaying double the food... Maybe these are indeed what he wants, but the problem is that he didn't pay for it at all yesterday. He didn’t negotiate conditions with us, and started mobilizing food and troops today—this probably means that he has more special requirements, and we may not be able to meet his requirements.”

Alina sighed: "He once captured my father, but he released it easily. If it weren't for my father's close relationship with His Majesty, he might have been degraded like Levius... This is not a common sense. card guy."

But Loris shook his head: "Alina, in my opinion, His Excellency Leon may not make any excessive demands."

Alina stopped in her tracks and turned her head: "Why?"

"There are many people who will not show mercy when facing the enemy, but they will not care too much about personal interests in the face of big right and wrong... Both His Majesty the Emperor and your father are like this..."

Loris pointed to the saber on Alina's waist.

It was the orator's sword of Emperor Marius.

"It's the same with you, Knight Commander Loris. But...do you think Earl Leon has such a noble character? My father only said that he is difficult to deal with, but he didn't talk about his character..."

Alina asked with some doubts.

"Ha... Of course not! I don't have such a good virtue..."

The lord's voice came from the gate of the posthouse: "Miss Alina, Sir Loris, I will spare no effort to help solve the Red Death and the Snake Cult... But of course I have conditions."

Alina closed her eyes and sighed, then opened her eyes and looked at Li Ang: "Your Excellency Li Ang, if you have any conditions, just ask..."

"I plan to 'capture' Karen Deer Fortress and rebuild Shieldwind Fortress—that is to say, this time I am not providing assistance to the Bacchus Empire, but leading troops alone to capture Karen Deer Fortress, the strong city of the empire... I have conquered a strong fortress that the Sarleon Kingdom has not conquered for 30 years, maybe King Ulrik will appoint me as the marshal..."

Li Ang looked at Alina with a smile: "I just found out that your father is Governor Justus, but shouldn't Justus' daughter be named Luciana?"

"Six months ago, my name was Luciana... Please call me Alina, Your Excellency Leon."

Alina thought for a while, then shook her head: "I can understand why you want to occupy Kalunbuck Castle, which will probably satisfy King Ulrik. But in this way, you will inevitably become the owner of the Bacchus Empire." The Lord's Great Enemy..."

"I was originally the archenemy of the Bacchus Empire... Alina, I think your Emperor will understand that he actually needs an 'enemy' like me. Probably only General Kryon would be unhappy, So you have to get General Kryon to cooperate..."

Li Ang was still smiling, looking at the sword on Alina's waist.

"Since you have decided, of course I am willing to do so... I will let General Kryon cooperate."

Alina thought for a while, and agreed.

"Since this is the case, my food team will move at noon, and the army will be able to set off the day after tomorrow, so we can probably arrive at Karen Deerburgh at the same time. I know that there is a rush, and I hope that the Knights of the Radiant Cross can open the way for my food team. "

Loris nodded: "This is great, of course we will do our best."

"Very good, I still have a lot of details to understand. Miss Alina, please come to the lord's hall this afternoon to discuss specific countermeasures and tactics with me."

After Li Ang finished speaking, he turned and left.

Alina was stunned for a while, then turned to look at Loris: "It seems that we all guessed wrong..."

Loris was a little puzzled: "Although his request was a bit unexpected, it was just as I imagined, and it was not too much at all. Even if he did not occupy Karen Deer Castle, if he did not receive support, sooner or later there would be Breakthrough by rebellious slaves...even directly destroyed by the plague."

"No, Loris, what I mean is that I originally wanted General Kryon to give up Karen Lulu Castle and free up troops to rescue Boshi City... This means that he didn't ask for anything, but instead offered to help us .I'm more worried now..."

Alina said worriedly, her voice getting lower and lower.

At noon, the convoy full of food was ready to set off under the leadership of the Glorious Crusader Knights.

Accompanied by the food team is the medical team led by Anson.

Ansen organized personnel to investigate the surroundings of Changhe Town overnight, and disinfected all important entrances and exits with lime. The members of the medical team and the patrol team have not rested for a moment since yesterday afternoon.

It has been confirmed that no one in Changhe Town has contracted the Red Death, and Li Ang is relieved.

"Sir Loris, let me introduce you. This is Anson, an excellent medical officer. He once studied at Boshi City Theological Seminary, and has a good relationship with your Knights...so, I entrust his safety to you gone."

Li Ang stood in front of Loris' horse, and pointed to Anson who was sleeping soundly in the carriage behind.

"Of course, protecting doctors is my mission..."

Loris nodded strangely: "Is he your relative?"

Loris probably thought that the people that a great lord like Li Ang would deliberately take care of were probably related by blood.

"No, he is my partner. But his lifelong wish is to become a glorious crusader..."

Li Ang smiled: "I just sincerely hope that my friends can realize their wishes."

Loris turned his head and looked at the somewhat thin Anson: "In fact, in our knight order, outstanding healers have a higher status than knights..."

"It's the same with me... However, the knight in his eyes probably has a higher standard."

Li Ang shrugged: "Hurry up, you guys, if there is no accident, we will meet at Karen Deer Castle in three days."

……

In the afternoon, Alina came to the lord's hall.

"Alina, do you think I might have some plot?"

Li Ang noticed that she seemed a little uneasy.

"Your Excellency Li Ang, to be honest, I really don't understand what you want?"

Alina was indeed thinking about Li Ang's intentions full of doubts. She didn't understand why Li Ang didn't ask for anything, but was willing to take risks to provide assistance.

"I just want to protect my own safety...Since you are all asking me for help, it obviously means that the Bacchus Empire has reached the brink of life and death. If the Bacchus Empire is destroyed by the Snake Cult, the Red Death will spread to The whole continent, then I am afraid that I will only have a dead end..."

The lord shook his head and smiled: "Let me first understand the whole situation in Bacchus territory, and then I will tell you what I want..."

Afterwards, he pointed to the round table in the hall, motioning Alina to sit at the round table.

Alina was a little dazed, except that she didn't hold a wine glass in her hand, Li Ang's actions, demeanor and even tone seemed to be the same as that of Emperor Marius.

She unreservedly told Li Ang about the current situation of the empire without any concealment.

It was as if she was facing Emperor Marius himself.

The current situation of the Bacchus Empire is indeed quite dangerous.

Before that, General Agathon regained Marasburg after hard work, barely restoring the connection between the three major cities of the empire.

But the news that came after that was all bad news.

The Red Death is raging everywhere, the Knights of the Glorious Cross are exhausted, and the troops of the lords are all trapped in the plague.

The outbreak of the Red Death in the surrounding area and the crazy counterattack of the Snake Worshipers made Agathon dragged by the Snake Worshipers around Marasburg and could not escape the crisis of Emperor Lingang.

Emperor Lingang was besieged by the Snake Worship Sect for several months. The high-ranking officials either fled or surrendered. On the contrary, the low-level people in Emperor Lingang organized a militia on their own, and barely kept the port from being captured by the Snake Worship Sect.

However, although the large-scale fleet of the Snake Cult failed to land smoothly from Emperor Lingang, the Dread Legion made a detour to the southeast bay of Siyuan City and landed from Qizha Village.

After repelling a powerful enemy, Emperor Marius ushered in an even more terrifying enemy.

The key to solving the problem actually lies in the rebel army that besieged Boshi City.

This army developed by gladiators was originally created by Alina and Emperor Marius. Although they are currently out of control, at least they can communicate.

If they can be recruited and reorganized into the imperial army, then this army can solve all the difficulties one by one.

They have enough military power and enough drive, after all, they would rather rebel than join the Snake Cult.

A month ago, after Arina returned to Boshi City with the emperor's saber, she and her father, Governor Justus, had reached an agreement to recruit security with the rebel army led by Brutus.

The insurgents still had a lot of trust in Alina. They had already agreed to the conditions - they were pardoned, restored to their status as civilians, and provided them with enough food. , was incorporated into the Second Imperial Army.

This is the Second Army of the Empire in the true sense, and it is not the same as the banner that Levius created to cheat military expenses...

Incorporating this army of tens of thousands of people, of course, requires a lot of food.However, Boshi City was short of food and grass, so the progress was naturally a bit slow. In addition, it was impossible to complete the reorganization in one step due to the excessively large force, so it could only be done slowly.

So Justus sent some low-level officers to appease the rebel army, and then let some leading gladiators enter Boshi City.

It was originally just to show his sincerity that Justus let some leading gladiators enter the city as a witness. After all, an army of more than 1 people must not all enter the city.

But at this time, the Red Death in Boshi City broke out on a large scale...

And the most unfortunate thing is that many representatives of the rebel army who had just entered the city also contracted the Red Death in the city, and most of these representatives were scarred gladiators and core figures of the rebel army.

Although the headquarters of the Knights of the Glorious Cross is in Boshi City, the doctors of the Knights have been scattered to various places a month ago. Facing this situation, Governor Justus can only suspend the recruitment.

He completely sealed off Bozhi City, and locked up those gladiators who unfortunately contracted the disease.

This was a helpless and necessary solution, but the rebels, who were already a little uneasy, misunderstood it.

After all, this army is all slaves, and they don't trust the high officials and dignitaries of the empire.

Although Justus has always had a good reputation, the governor has a reputation as a "brain tank"-this kind of reputation that represents wisdom in the eyes of the lords is basically equivalent to "treacherous and cunning" in the eyes of the slaves.

Although Governor Justus tried his best to explain, the uneducated slaves would definitely not listen. They only knew that many of their companions were forcibly imprisoned as soon as they entered the city.

In the eyes of the slaves, this was probably a conspiracy - they also had a hard time understanding the measures Justus had imposed on those infected with the Red Death.

They thought Governor Justus' previous promise was to trick the leaders into entering the city, and then divide and buy some, and then kill most of them... This is also the result that most of the time the rebels will encounter when recruiting.

So the gladiators who entered the city escaped overnight and returned to the army outside the city, saying that this was a scam by Justus.

He killed many people in order to escape.

Fortunately, Alina and Brutus brothers and sisters were among the slave army outside the city, and they tried their best to control it so that they did not turn into a tragedy where the inside and the outside took over the city in one fell swoop...

The two sides are already full of conflicts. Once the seeds of doubt are planted, it will be difficult to regain trust.

Justus really did his best, he even went out of the city alone, explaining that it was the cause of the Red Death, and Arina and Brutus also tried their best to appease them in the army.

The slaves were reasonable, but they asked Justus to open the city gate and let them enter the city to check.

But how dare Justus open the city gate to let them in at such a time?
These slaves didn't know how to protect themselves. If the Red Death in the city was introduced to the slave rebel army, the result would definitely be the spread of the entire continent!

From the slaves' point of view, since the governor dared not let them enter the city, of course it was untrustworthy, so they killed all the imperial soldiers sent by Justus to appease them, and then surrounded Boshi City again... …

Those were hundreds of low-ranking officers from the Empire's First Legion, including hundreds of imperial knights.

If it wasn't for Alina and Brutus' protection, Justus probably wouldn't be able to go back.

This feud has been forged, and there are many voices opposing the inclusion in Boshi City.

Coupled with the fact that the rebel army besieged the castle, the high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the city were unable to leave the city to escape the threat of the Red Death, and the contradictions became more and more...

Fortunately, before the life-and-death battle between the two sides was about to take place, Knight Commander Loris of the Glorious Cross Knights came back.

Loris convinced the slaves that the Red Death was indeed real.

The people at the bottom of the Bacchus Empire really trust the Knights of the Radiant Cross very much.

Under the guarantee of Loris, Justus collected the surplus food in the city and provided it to the rebel army, in exchange for the last bit of restraint of the rebel army.

In fact, this last bit of restraint was bought by Brutus, the initiator of the uprising, in exchange for his last prestige. The slaves have already begun to doubt the Brutus brothers and sisters.

But no matter what, with everyone's joint efforts, the slave rebel army did not forcibly attack the city, but they also no longer trusted Justus or any nobles in Boshi City.

This was not because they still felt that Justus had lied to them, but because they had already killed many of Justus' subordinates, including many new generation nobles.

Most of the gladiators were not worried about killing those slave owners who had committed many crimes. They also knew that those slave owners were not in the same group as Emperor Marius.

But the soldiers who killed the First Legion of the Empire were completely different from Justus, a new nobleman under the reformists. Everyone in the Bacchus Empire knew that Justus was the closest comrade-in-arms of Emperor Marius.

Even Brutus himself felt that the rebel army was likely to be settled by Qiuhou...

The leading gladiators naturally had a lot of different voices, and it was difficult for Brutus to be regarded as a common leader by them. At present, this army is equivalent to a group of dragons without a leader, and the interior is also in chaos.

But fortunately, they didn't know what to do next in the chaos, so they still surrounded the city, but did not organize an attack.

Because of this, Alina began to try to find other support.

As long as a large amount of food can be transported to Boshi City, and the food can be used to regain the trust of the slaves, it is still possible to save the situation.

But the Red Death was breaking out everywhere, and there was basically no place to support in Bacchus, so Arina had no choice but to seek help from the Sarleon Kingdom with Knight Loris.

"That's it...it is the suggestion of Knight Commander Loris to come to you. He thinks you will be willing to help us, and you are also capable of helping us..."

Alina finished talking about the cause and effect, and then asked a little nervously: "Your Excellency Li Ang, now, can you tell me what you want?"

"Of course, this situation is similar to what I expected...Alina, what I want...is this army, this army of slaves that has gradually grown from gladiators."

The lord was also very happy, and gave Alina an accurate answer directly.

"This... this is impossible, this army..."

Alina was obviously a little flustered. She imagined many answers, and even imagined whether what Li Ang wanted was herself, but she really didn't expect it to be this answer.

"I know that you plan to lead this army to solve the predicament of the Bacchus Empire... You want to relieve the crisis in Emperor Lingang, free General Agathon, and then join forces to kill the powerful enemy and save Siyuan City... I know. But listen to me, Alina..."

Li Ang waved his hand and signaled Alina to listen to him: "Your father is no longer able to gain the trust of the rebels. In fact, no nobleman from the Bacchus Empire can gain their trust, including you. Even Marius The emperor personally promised that they will still worry about the Bacchus Empire's settlement..."

Alina closed her eyes and nodded sadly: "I admit that you are right, but..."

"No but... they will only believe me, because I am the enemy of the Bacchus Empire, the biggest enemy. But, Alina, I will organize them into a strong army, and then deal with the Snake Cult together with the Bacchus Empire …until the Knights of the Glorious Cross control the Red Death. The rebel army is the enemy of Emperor Marius himself, but the Snake Cult is our common enemy..."

Li Ang interrupted Alina again.

Alina's eyes widened suddenly.

"You...I understand...Thank you for your help, Master Li Ang!"

She bowed to Li Ang sincerely: "Perhaps, this is indeed the best solution."

Yes, Alina knew in her heart that if the rebel army was recruited, they would be retaliated sooner or later based on their current enmity with the Empire's First Army...

Especially the leading gladiators, such as Brutus, and Brutus' sister Elena.

And Elena is her only friend...

A day later, Vendatil arrived at Longhe Town with the Noldor troops.

But what I didn't expect was that Amy also came with her female soldiers, insisting on going to Bacchus with Li Ang...

Amy is not the lord's subordinate, she is the royal knight of the princess family, and Li Ang has nothing to do with her.

So an elite force of 800 people began to go south, starting this special journey.

(End of this chapter)