Imperial Crown.

Chapter 131 Decision (6 words update )

The Church of Light has a Papal State with its own Holy Knights.

They have always been happy to "spread" the glory of the Lord of Light and try to delve into all aspects of the imperial politics. It is said that in the eastern part of the empire and some inland provinces, there are precedents of archbishops or priests becoming lords and ministers.

The Nordic province has always been known for its old-fashioned nature, and the Church of Light has never had enough say.

Therefore, this time, the Church of Light is likely to take advantage of the Death Hand Cult's disturbance to deepen its influence in the Nord Province.

When the Nord Province is unable to solve the problem on its own, the Church of Light will enter the scene in a high-profile manner, emphasize their own value, and let everyone know how indispensable they are.

But the Nord Province is, after all, the territory of the Keynes Empire. Although the Keynes Empire is not in its heyday, it is also one of the only two superpowers on the continent. It is not as easy to overthrow as the Storm Dynasty. How can the Church of Light legitimately station troops in the Nord Province?
"Nobles cannot serve as priests, and clergy cannot be granted titles." Raven continued to analyze, feeling his body getting colder and colder: "So it's... the Fox family!?"

Viscount John smiled and said with a sigh: "It would be great if you were my grandson!"

It’s not that Old John wanted to play an ethical joke, he really admired Raven.

The reason why he returned the town of Shining Gold to Raven was not because he was really afraid of the so-called "threat from the Slater family."

The Griffith family has always had a long history with his family, and he doesn't want to see Griffith decline. Since Raven has shown his desire to revitalize the family, Viscount John doesn't mind giving the younger generation a chance.

Under Raven's governance, Eagle Territory prospered, and now, Raven had brought him rewards beyond his expectations.

Today, Raven has shown a keen sense of smell far beyond his age.

Viscount John's son and grandson are not very capable, so he, an old man, has to go to the war personally. How can he not have a good impression of Raven?

"The Fox family is a latecomer and has always wanted to truly control the Nord Province." Viscount John said, "In the early years, they relied on the power of the royal family, but the current King Cairns XVI has only been on the throne for a short time and is not interested in managing the border areas. It is not surprising that the Count of Montreal has other ideas."

Raven sighed softly.

Viscount John suddenly smiled and said, "Are you beginning to regret helping the Slater family now?"

Raven shook his head decisively: "I will never regret the decisions I make."

Viscount John looked surprised and was about to ask why when suddenly there was a loud noise outside.

Simon walked in and saluted respectfully: "My Lord Baron, Viscount John, Mr. Jude is outside and hopes to enter the camp."

Raven and Viscount John looked at each other, and saw a hint of smile in each other's eyes. Finally, Raven said, "Then let him in."

Soon, Judra came in in a disheveled state. His armor was covered with scratches, there was a penetrating wound on his shoulder, and there was a mark of decay on his face. It was obvious that his escape was not smooth.

When Judra saw Raven and John sitting by the campfire, drinking and chatting leisurely, her heart suddenly started to beat fast, she felt so sad!

After separating from Raven, he was determined to break out and led his men to fight and retreat, but there were too many skeleton soldiers, especially those first-level skeletons hidden among the cannon fodder skeletons. They would make mistakes if he wasn't careful. At the beginning, he could still concentrate on dealing with them, but as the battle progressed, his energy inevitably became a little distracted, and the injuries on his body were left at that time.

In total, it took him two hours to finally lead the team out of the Skeleton Sea. When they stopped to count the number of people, there were only more than 70 people left in the team of about 170 before the battle!

At that time, he could still comfort himself - maybe Raven and John had already died in the Sea of ​​the Dead, and if he could escape safely, that would be a victory!
Not only that, Judra has a backup plan.

He observed Raven's logistics troops evacuating early in the morning, and he sent his scouts to follow and found the hiding place of this team.

The amount of supplies that Raven brought with him made him quite envious. With these supplies in hand, he could gather the defeated soldiers of the coalition forces. Maybe when he fights next time, he will have more soldiers than when he set out!

But when he arrived at the place, he was dumbfounded. Sitting outside were the serf soldiers led by Xue Feng, inside were the Xue Feng Legion, and the battle flags of Raven and Viscount John were planted on the top of the city!

When he came in, he took a count of the number of people. The serf soldiers suffered heavy casualties, with less than three hundred left. However, there were at least two hundred and thirty people alive from the Snow Maple Legion, and not a single one of Raven's personal soldiers was missing!

Calculated in proportion, he who escaped first suffered the most serious losses!
If I had known earlier, I would have gone with Raven to rescue John, and I could have done him a favor. It’s not like now, I have to look at people’s faces to enter the castle!
After saying hello, he could only sit by the campfire in a depressed mood.

Raven and John didn't care about Judra's choice, but with this "outsider" around, the previous topic could not continue.

"After this great defeat, I don't know how many people can survive." Raven sighed: "What should we do next?"

Judra was still determined: "I think we can send people to take over some of the defeated soldiers. Even though they were defeated and retreated, at least they have experience in fighting the undead, which can greatly increase our combat effectiveness."

"It's a good idea, but I object," Raven said.

"Why?" Jude said with a hint of depression: "Indeed, I have selfish motives in proposing this idea. My soldiers have suffered heavy losses and need reinforcements, but if my combat effectiveness is enhanced, it will benefit all of us!"

“So I said it was a good idea.” Raven glanced at him. “But you didn’t consider the logistics.”

"I did bring a lot of supplies, enough to sustain the battle for half a year, but that was based on the premise that I only had thirty-five people under my command."

"Now that our three armies have come together, our numbers have increased twenty times. We could have lasted half a year, but now we can only last a dozen days at most. If you recruit more people, we can't eat them."

This sentence immediately silenced Judra.

Since he had proposed this idea, Judra naturally had a way to solve the logistics problem, but when he saw that Viscount John did not say anything, he swallowed the idea. He thought that the skeleton soldiers did not need food, and although the main camp was breached, many supplies were still there, and maybe he could send people to collect them later.

But he discovered one thing, because Raven did not mention the food stored in the castle when he spoke.

It is winter now, and it is impossible for a noble to have no food in his granary. The fact that Raven did not mention it only means that the food does not exist.

It is very likely that it was moved away or even burned by the members of the Death Hand Cult.

Even those in the castle were not spared, so how could we be lenient towards those in the camp?

"So we can only retreat?" Jude asked unwillingly.

Viscount John slowly shook his head: "We can't retreat. Although our coalition was defeated in today's war, I have also gained some experience."

"The most important point is that we can no longer fight in large groups, at least not before we reach Mon'en City."

Judea was a little confused for a moment: "Although this time it was indeed a disastrous defeat, it was probably because Viscount Morgan died so tragically and we were not well prepared. With this lesson, when we gather together again, we should..."

"Are you willing to let me command the army?" Raven suddenly asked.

"This... Of course, if..." Judra stuttered.

"You won't agree to this, because the army is the foundation of our nobles' survival." Raven said calmly: "Without a royal order and the Duke's presence, leadership is a big problem. Without the ability to reorganize, even after this lesson, we will still be a mess."

"Isn't it because of this that Fisher parted ways with Viscount John?"

Viscount John gave Raven an admiring look: "Not only that, have you noticed that if it weren't for the second-level undead like the Skeleton Knight, the movement speed of the cannon fodder skeletons and the first-level skeletons would not be very fast."

"If we maintain mobility and our reconnaissance efficiency is high enough, as long as we are not surrounded by large troops, we can completely take the initiative in the war."

"We can fight when we want to, and run when we want to. We couldn't do that before because we didn't have good scouts like Baron Raven's men."

Raven asked, "So, your suggestion is to go deeper?"

"That's right." Viscount John nodded: "The real crux of this war is still in Mon'en City. Only by liberating the Slater family can we have a unified command. Otherwise, we will only be worn down bit by bit by the Hand of Death."

"I have stored a batch of food in the Whiterun city in Hippok County. I will send someone to deliver it later. We will set off again after this rest."

Raven of course agreed to this proposal, and Judra had no reason to object.

After discussing some more specific details, everyone dispersed.

After a great battle, Raven was extremely tired and fell into a deep sleep without even meditating.

I slept very soundly.

After a simple wash, Raven came to the hall, where a temporary command table had been set up. Viscount John was sitting behind the table, writing furiously.

Seeing Raven coming over, Viscount John put down his pen and smiled: "You got up early."

"Are you deploying orders?" Raven asked.

"The order has been completed. I am going to send a letter along with the grain transfer order to report home that I am safe." Viscount John said, "Do you want to write one too?"

Raven was slightly stunned and nodded.

After all, it has been almost a month since I left Eagle Territory, and I have just experienced a great war. It is indeed time to inform my family of some news.

Sitting at the table with a pen in hand, Raven thought for a moment and wrote only two words:

"Safety."

Compared to Raven's brevity, Judra was much more "careful" and wrote three letters in one breath, and no one knew who they were given to.

Of course, there would definitely be Denise.

The letter was sent out along with Viscount John's transfer order.

When Viscount John's personal soldiers, who acted as messengers, rushed back with the food, eleven days had passed. This batch of food directly solved the dilemma of running out of supplies.

But the news that followed was not so pleasant.

……

(End of this chapter)