Imperial Crown.

Chapter 268 The Beginning of War [2 more]

Anthony didn't dare wipe the saliva off his face. If he made any unusual movement at this moment, he had no doubt that this sensitive and suspicious Majesty would vent his anger on him.

In fact, he never met Montreal in private, and this conversation was fabricated by him.

But Anthony was not worried at all that his lies would be exposed.

Because the facts are there.

The Fox family was indeed very close to the Church of Light, and they did indeed disregard the royal family's reputation and let Gul'dan defeat Akori. His Majesty the King, in his rage, would never invite Montreal to let the two families confront each other.

"Very good, I understand." Keynes XVI gradually took a breath and sat back at the table as if nothing had happened.
"This time, I'll trouble you to return to Nord Province as soon as possible to take charge of the situation."

"The Luokui Project can be launched ahead of schedule."

Anthony suppressed a smile and said, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

He glanced at the map on the table again: "You have been looking at the map. Are you worried about the war?"

As a close minister of King Keynes XVI, Anthony knew that the empire would face a war sooner or later.

Speaking of which, this war is not unrelated to the Cult of the Hand of Death.

Five years ago, an unexploited, high-grade magic crystal mine with extremely rich reserves was discovered on the border of Ina Province in the northeast of the empire. The mine was mainly composed of level 5 and 3 magic crystals, and the highest grade could even reach level 4.

The total reserves are currently difficult to ascertain, but according to estimates by the court wizard, even if tens of thousands of people were deployed to dig, there would be enough to mine for at least 200 years.

A magic crystal mine of this scale and with this much reserve can be said to be the largest newly discovered on the entire continent in the past 300 years.

You know, the reason why the royal capital Mingnagar City was able to rise is because it is adjacent to a magic crystal mine, and the highest grade of the magic crystal mine is only level 5.

At the beginning of the discovery, the empire sent four royal legions to guard the place, and then relocated 4 people to build a city on the spot.

This kind of news could not be concealed, and naturally attracted the attention of the northern neighbor, the Insa Empire.

The two countries have been in constant friction since ancient times. Although there have been no large-scale wars in recent years, the border line has been changing due to small-scale frictions and has not been clarified to this day.

The location where the magic crystal mine was discovered, the area now known as "Makik City", is the disputed territory between the two sides.

Based on this, the Insa Empire proposed joint development through diplomatic means, but the Keynes Empire of course rejected it outright.

Normally this would have taken a long time, but four years ago, the Death Hand Cult caused trouble in many places at the same time, and only the Keynes Empire reacted the slowest and handled it the most awkwardly.

This made the Insa Empire start to take notice and began to deploy troops on the border. The Keynes Empire also made preparations to deal with the war.

Today, the city of Majik is like a kerosene barrel, and no one knows when it will ignite.

"I am indeed thinking about the war." Cairns XVI put one foot on the chair and hugged his knees. "But there is nothing to worry about. There are 27 legions stationed on the border now. Although the Insa Empire's 'Winter Legion' is eyeing us covetously, my 'Blood Rage Legion' is by no means a pushover."

"The food stored at the border is enough to feed these 100,000 troops for two years."

With a finger on the map, Keynes XVI said, "As soon as this spring is over, our army will immediately launch an offensive!"

Anthony walked to the map and hesitated for a moment: "Although I am not good at war, Your Majesty, the city of Majik is in our hands after all. If we delay for one more day, we can gain more. Why should we rush to declare war on the Insa Empire?"

"This will not only give other countries an excuse..."

"Okay, I know what you want to say." Cairns XVI waved his hand to interrupt him: "Ferdinand also told me these words, but I have sent him to the northeastern front. Do you want to go too?"

Anthony forced a flattering smile and said, "Your Majesty, I was just talking nonsense. I still have to help you stabilize the Nord Province, right?"

"I know, you all think I'm too ambitious." This time, Keynes XVI did not let him off easily: "But there is one thing you must understand, it is better to attack than to defend."

"It is precisely because this attack is unreasonable that I have to organize an offensive. Only by attacking first can I seize the initiative and catch the opponent off guard!"

At this point, a hint of enthusiasm flashed in Keynes XVI's eyes: "This will wash away the shame of the war 60 years ago in one fell swoop."

"This time, I will force the Insa Empire to cede territory and ask for peace!"

"When the time comes, I want to see which country dares to say anything!"

Cairns XVI's excitement came and went quickly, and he immediately focused his attention on Anthony: "This time when I go to Nord Province, in addition to the Luokui Project, you also have to help me guard against the Church of Light. These damn termites, it's not enough to lie on the empire to suck blood, they even want to parasitize it!"

Marquis Anthony saluted respectfully: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

The war at the empire level is still brewing, but in Snow Maple County in the Nordic province, there is an imminent small-scale war.

Kojialing, Kojia Town.

Versacine sat in the castle, wearing armor, his face full of gloom, looking at the map on the table with a frown.

Ever since the end of the competition, his life has been getting worse and worse, and the entire Kogar County has also been deteriorating.

The first to be hit was the escort business, with four teams being intercepted and killed in succession, and their bodies piled up in retaliation. This was a clear threat and warning.

This obviously offended someone, but Visasinn couldn't figure out who did it. After all, although he had enemies, not many of them had the ability to do so.

The most likely suspect is Raven.

But the problem is that Wessacin's escort business has been around for a long time, and there has been no conflict between the two companies recently. If Raven wanted to do it, he would have done it long ago. Why wait until now?

In order to save himself, the confused Vissaxin personally performed the escort work and successfully completed two orders.

However, this did not bring back his escort business. In the past two months, he did not receive a single order.

Not being able to do the escort business just means he has lost a way to make money, but the specialty of his territory is still very valuable.

However, just last month, the two trade routes leading to the outside world were completely blocked by troops, so that outside merchants could not come in and his freight fleet could not go out.

And the one who sent troops to intercept was actually Viscount Broca!
This made absolutely no sense, and Versacene thought there must be some misunderstanding, so he suppressed his anger and wrote to Broca in a humble tone, wanting to find out the reason.

But the wording of the letter sent back was extremely harsh. It scolded Vissaxin harshly and even forced Vissaxin to go to Xiecha to confess his crime and apologize!
After receiving the reply, Visasi became furious.

Although you, Brocka, are a viscount, there is no subordinate relationship between us. It's fine if you just find fault with me for no reason, but now you dare to insult me ​​so confidently?
So Visasi made a decision that he regretted to this day - he led a team of cavalry, forcibly opened the trade route in the southwest of the territory, and annihilated a squad under Brocka's command.

This stirred up a hornet's nest. Viscount Brocka immediately issued a public statement, severely condemning Vissasim's bad behavior through the Sky Eagle platform and other channels, claiming that this was a provocation and aggression. If Vissasim refused to apologize and compensate, Brocka would take the most brutal revenge.

Looking at that statement, Versacem almost laughed out of anger.

It was your army, Brocka, that blocked the gate of my territory. I was just passively counterattacking. Do you still have any shame? He also issued a statement in a similar manner, but was surprised to find that the nobles from other counties did not express their opinions on this, while in Xuefeng County, the mainstream voice was actually supporting Brocka!
Lady Doreen, in particular, denounced Wessacine's past bad deeds at the top of her voice on the Sky Eagle platform, and said that if Viscount Broca needed it, she could also send troops at the same time.

Then, the situation spiraled out of control.

Brocazhen personally led his army into the Koga territory of Versasi, and that night, he massacred and burned a village of 700 people.

Only then did Visasi really panic.

He had a battalion of 500 full-time soldiers under his command. Although most of them were cavalry, only a small squad of less than 100 people could be called elite.

Broca, on the other hand, mobilized all his forces, assembling an army of 2000 men, especially equipped with a large number of enchanted crossbows that were a specialty of his family. The offensive was so strong that in the field battle, Versacine had no chance of winning!
He could only send letters everywhere for help, but all fell on deaf ears. Even Baron Seleva, whose territory was adjacent to his and with whom he had always stood together, chose to play dead, as if he had never received his letter.

Only the Slater family responded, and the credible content made Wesassin even more disappointed.

"Respected Baron Wesassin Ota Kovoga, I have heard of your request, but I don't know the cause of this friction, so it is inconvenient for me to intervene. But I hope that you can sit down and have a good talk with Viscount Broca to avoid bloodshed."

If we could sit down and talk, we would have done it a long time ago. I don't need you to tell me!
All methods have been tried. Seeing Broca's army approaching day by day, Vesasi was so worried that he couldn't even eat.

"My Lord Baron." The butler knocked on the open door. "Broca's army is coming!"

Hearing this, Versacine stiffened, then picked up his helmet and put it on: "I'll go to the city wall to take a look."

When he rode out of the castle on horseback, what he saw was the ruins and mess on the ground.

The town was filled with alarm, and the people screamed and ran back to their houses. The street vendors had already run away, and their goods were scattered all over the ground and trampled into the mud.

Versacine's mood became increasingly heavy, and he soon reached the top of the city and saw Broca's army.

The 2000-strong army formed a square formation and lined up in a row, stopping about a mile outside the castle.

The military appearance could not be described as very strict and orderly, but every soldier wore iron-faced leather armor produced in the Eagle Territory, which looked gray even in the sun, like a dark cloud sinking to the ground.

There were about 100 lightly armored cavalrymen on each wing, and in the center of the formation, there were about 200 heavily armored heavy infantrymen, who must be the elite "Silver Yak Corps" under Brocka.

A knight stepped forward and said, "My Lord Baron! What should we do?"

Versacine waved his hand to signal him to be quiet, took a deep breath and shouted loudly: "Broca! Since you dare to send troops to attack me, do you dare to meet me in person!?"

The army split up and a knight in heavy armor slowly walked out and took off his visor about 50 meters below the city wall.

"Howell!?" Wesassin frowned, "Why is it you? Ask your father to come and see me!"

"My father said that you, Baron Wessassin, are irritable and rude. If he comes and is ambushed by your city defense crossbows, it will not be worth it." Howell responded loudly.

Versacine's face turned purple with anger, but before he could refute, Howell continued: "My father has nothing to say to people like you. I just hope you can open the city and surrender to end this meaningless conflict!"

"Shameless, extremely shameless!" Versacin gritted his teeth and said, "You, the Leon family, killed my soldiers and invaded my territory, and now you are here to condemn me and ask me to open the city and surrender!?"

Howell's expression remained unchanged: "It seems that you intend to resist to the end. In this case, don't blame us for being ruthless!"

After saying this, he lowered his armor, turned his horse's head, and drove towards the main camp.

The knight next to him stepped forward and said, "My Lord Baron, the crossbow is ready. Do you want to teach him a lesson?"

"Idiot!" Versacine suppressed his anger. "He is Broca's only son. If he dies here, it will be a fight to the death."

The knight next to him was stunned and secretly groaned in his heart - the enemy is at the gate of the city, and you are still thinking about this?

But it was too late to persuade him, because Howell had already returned to the army and could no longer be seen.

Knowing that his actions just now seemed a bit cowardly, Vesasi said with confidence: "You don't have to worry. They have come from afar to fight, and logistical supply is a big problem."

"Kojia Town has always been one of the most dangerous passes in Xuefeng County. Bloka can't take it!"

"Hold on, in just one or two months, he will take the initiative to ask for peace."

Versacine was not pretending.

The terrain of Kejia Town is quite high, and the city wall is 5 meters high. Now it is winter, and all you need to do is pour water on the top of the city to form an ice layer, which will make it difficult to even put up a ladder.

As long as spring comes and the earth becomes muddy, Brocka's logistical supplies will run out. If he wants to exit with dignity, it will depend on whether Visasi agrees!
Over the next period of time, things developed just as Visasinn had predicted. Broca launched several symbolic attacks, but none of them succeeded.

Although the entire town of Kojia entered a wartime state, it gradually freed itself from the atmosphere of panic.

And Wessassin was finally able to get a good night's sleep.

Anyway, the territory has been almost completely destroyed and spring ploughing has not started yet. As long as we can defend the town, how bad can it get?
Early morning on January 1197, 1, the 27st day of the siege.

Versacine was sleeping in his warm bed.

He had a good dream. He dreamed that he took advantage of Brocka's poor logistics and hasty retreat, and led his elite cavalry to pursue him, chasing him all the way north!

He first captured Howell, then headed straight for Broca's flag. Just as he was about to kill Broca, a fierce knock on the door suddenly sounded:
"My Lord Baron, something bad has happened!"

"Stop yelling!" Vesasi sat up impatiently and threw his pointed nightcap on the bed: "Come in!"

Seeing the butler's anxious look, Wesasi said dissatisfiedly: "What happened that is worth your anxiety? Can Bloca still attack?"

The housekeeper's face was filled with fear, and his voice was shaking: "Not yet, but it will be soon if it continues like this!"

Versacine shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about? Why does Bloka…"

Whoosh - boom!

A huge rock shattered the window, sending wood and stone flying and bouncing off the ground with a clang, and with a blast of air it pinned the butler to the wall.

When.

hum, hum, hum...

The oval-shaped boulder covered in blood and flesh was shaking on the ground.

Wesasi took off half of the bloody arm from his shoulder, and his pupils shrank to the size of a needle tip:
"——Catapult!?"

……

(End of this chapter)