A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

Spring has arrived, bringing with it the warm and mellow wind from the south. Although it is not as warm as the royal city in the south where you can wear short-sleeved clothes, it is getting warmer in the north soon.

The ice and snow in the mountains are melting rapidly, and rivers are rushing down the mountain ridges.

On the flat land at the foot of the mountain, the land that was originally barren due to the heavy snowfall in winter turned green at a speed visible to the naked eye. The green grass shoots emerged from under the earth in just a few days and covered the earth.

The land with increasingly lush green grass makes the warm spring breeze seem to have a touch of grass.

The spring in the Northland is beautiful, but over the years, the Aaron Landis people in the Northland have no time to appreciate the beautiful scenery around them.

Because almost every spring, the northern Geshurs would go south to attack Aaron Landis and plunder food and supplies from the north.

In spring in the North, there is no smell of grass or direction of flowers. On this land, you can only see the smoke of war and smell the smell of blood.

The war in the North this year is even more intense than in previous years.

But not because of the Geshurs, but because of another invader, Gastad.

On the ground, the sound of horse hooves was heard, rapid and overwhelming, as if the ground was shaking with the sound of horse hooves.

I don’t know how many times the cavalry from both sides launched a charge.

The horses are galloping and their momentum is like a rainbow.

In this wilderness, cavalry in black and red leather armor and cavalry in white armor collided heavily.

The tens of thousands of cavalry quickly became entangled together, densely packed, as if dark clouds covered the sky.

The Gastard cavalry wielded long machetes and slashed hard at the enemy.

The Aaron Landis cavalry raised the bright spear in his hand and thrust forward into the enemy's chest.

The war horses were neighing, and their hooves were trampling on the new grass, grinding the green grass into the dark mud.

Either the Aaron Landis cavalryman fell to the ground with his body split open, or the Gastad man fell to the ground with his chest pierced.

Among the galloping horses, no one can stand up again. The moment they fall from the horse, their whole body will be trampled to pieces by the running horses' hooves.

On the battlefield where either you die or I die, everyone's faces are full of ferocity.

They forgot everything, and the only thing they remembered in their minds that were filled with blood was to kill all the enemies they saw in their sights!

The sound of fighting resounded throughout the land and continued throughout the day. It was not until the sun set that both sides sounded the horns of retreat, and everyone slowly retreated.

The corpses left on the ground were piled up on the battlefield, telling the cruelty and tragedy of the war.

It was still very bright, and under the bright sunlight, the countless corpses with mutilated limbs became even more ugly and terrifying.

Coupled with the warmth of rejuvenation, the corpses piled up here quickly began to rot, and the stench fermented and spread in all directions.

Countless flies buzzed around the corpse, and wild rats burrowed inside.

More and more vultures in the sky were attracted by the rotting corpses. After the humans left the battlefield, they fell from the sky and gnawed at the rotting bones and flesh.

The soldiers who were still alive looked at the scene of their companions' corpses being eaten by vultures and wild rats from a distance, and they couldn't help but feel sad.

Maybe tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, they will become one of those corpses, eaten up by vultures and beasts until their bones are left.

However, Gastad's army was the only one who had such a sad mood and began to lose morale.

Unlike the Gastards who would only drag back the surviving soldiers, the Aaronlands would send logistics troops to the battlefield after every battle to look for unconscious survivors and restrain Aaronlands. The bodies of Dis.

The mercenaries led by Keli were incorporated into the logistics army.

They would bring back the bodies of their fallen companions, then dig a pit at the foot of a mountain not far away and bury their companions' bodies underground.

When the soldiers of the logistics army were carrying the corpses of their companions, no one in Gastad's army attacked them, but watched silently as they collected the corpses of their companions on the battlefield.

…………

It was already the eighth day of the head-to-head confrontation between Aaron Landis's army and Gastad's army, and both sides were still evenly matched.

Although everyone has their own losses, no one can overwhelm the other.

Although the veteran Kaleni was not good at surprise attacks, he was a steady general. He not only arranged his camp to be airtight, but also carried out the battlefield attack steadily.

He is just a single person, allowing you to make all kinds of plans. Anyway, I am standing still, just ignoring you, and only fighting head-on with you on the battlefield.

Kaleni's stubborn approach made Tier lose his temper and tried to use various strategies to seduce, provoke, or sneak attacks to no avail. He couldn't help but curse in private. .

Since the last night attack, Kayhos arranged for more than a hundred rangers to take turns to monitor the opponent's military camp at night.

With the abilities of those rangers and their sensitivity to movement, they could lurk very close to the Gastad camp and monitor their movements.

Because of these rangers, the Gastards tried two more night raids but failed. Some brave and skillful rangers even went in at night and killed one or two small leaders of the Gastards.

Unlike the Aaron Landis people, who had good morale, the atmosphere in the Gastard army gradually became unstable.

Among the 140,000 troops of Gastad, there were only 60,000 troops belonging to the main formation of the Gastad people, and the rest were surrendered by generals from other countries such as Kanal, Shida, and Aaron Landis. A mixed army.

These people have been treated differently.

Because of the fear of the Gastards and the fact that they had nowhere to go as traitorous surrender troops, they could endure it before.

But now, due to insufficient food and grass, the soldiers' food began to be reduced, from the original three meals a day to two meals a day.

In fact, this is barely acceptable, but the key point is that the soldiers who were mixed with surrendered troops from other countries not only had two meals, but even the food for each meal was cut in half, which was worse than the soldiers in Gastad's own formation. Many of them can barely feed themselves every day.

But they were starving and had to serve as the vanguard in every battle, forced to fight at the forefront.

Therefore, the casualties of the mixed army are naturally much greater than those of Gastad's own army.

As a result, even if the soldiers of the mixed army, who risked their lives in front of the Gastad soldiers but had not enough to eat, were still afraid of the Gastad people, their dissatisfaction was growing day by day.

In addition, another panic began to spread among the army, but it was suppressed.

Not only the soldiers, but also the non-Gastardian generals from other countries gradually became emotional.

Conflicts gradually began to breed among the Gastad army.

In the camp, a middle-aged General Gastad was frowning and reporting to Tyr, who was sitting on top, about the situation of grain and grass in the military camp.

Although there was a little worry in his eyes, he still looked calm and reported to Tier calmly.

"Your Highness, our food and grass can only last for another ten days at most. Even if the soldiers' rations are reduced again, it will only last a few more days."

"At the same time, if rations continue to be reduced, it will be difficult to maintain the physical strength and combat effectiveness of the soldiers."

After the general finished speaking, suddenly a man dressed as a man who was obviously not a general walked in in a hurry.

He was not as calm as the middle-aged general. He had a panic look on his face and saluted Tire nervously.

"How's it going?"

Tyr asked looking at him.

The man came closer, lowered his voice, and only a few people here could barely hear what he said.

"I can't control it..."

His words caused a sudden change in the expression of the middle-aged general who had been calm just now.

The man continued to whisper: "Your Highness, please make plans in advance."

Tyr sat on a chair, the yellow firelight reflected on his silver-white armor, and thin silver threads scattered in the corners of his narrow eyes.

The handsome face is as cold as ice, and the thin lip line is extremely sharp, giving people an even colder feeling.

Gently, moment by moment, the fingers of his right hand tapped on the armrest of the seat.

The fingers with distinct joints look as if they were carved from bone.

There seemed to be deep mist rolling in the depths of his pupils, settling down bit by bit, immersed to the deepest level.

There seemed to be a violent storm raging in his eyes, revealing cruelty.

Tire didn't speak, but it was obvious that he made a decision at this moment.

No one knows yet what decision he made.

But if anyone looked into his eyes at this moment, they would definitely feel cold all over.

That person must feel that he saw the so-called hell from a person's eyes.

"Starting from tomorrow, we will stop cutting rations and return to the usual supply."

"At the same time, send my order to prepare and withdraw the entire army to the country of Karnar."

After a slight pause, he said,

"Let......stay behind to break up the rear."

…………

………………

It was already late at night, and after visiting the injured soldiers, Garlan returned to his camp accompanied by his follower Tal.

"Speaking of which, Your Highness, I'm a little curious. Why did you guess that the Gastad people would come to the north?"

"Because to the east is the desert."

"ah?"

"It's very hot in the desert. It's okay in winter. But it will get very hot as soon as spring begins. It's even hotter than the Royal City."

"??"

"Tyr's purpose is different from that of the Yithians and the Geshurs. It is not to grab a handful and leave. He wants to occupy Aaron Landis, which is a long time, so he must let Gasth Dade’s soldiers can maintain combat effectiveness for a long time.”

"???"

The little fat man looked confused.

"Prince, I don't understand."

"Tal, what would happen if I asked you to go for a run in the desert under the bright sun?"

"……will die."

You will die of dehydration.

Let alone running around, you don’t even want to move, okay?

"You are like this when you grow up in the Royal City, let alone those Gastard people."

"???"

So is there any connection between what the prince said later and what you said before about judging the reasons why the Gastad people came to the North?

Tarr was still confused.

Looking at the confused look on Tal's chubby face, Garlan smiled and did not continue to explain. He just waved his hand and told the little fat man, who was full of questions, to go back to rest, while he got into the tent.

Um? Xinyas is not here?

Because of the attack on the camp that night, everyone was very nervous about his safety, and then unanimously decided to let Xinyas sleep in the same camp tent with him to protect him at night.

Garlan walked into the tent, took off his cloak, and hung it on the wooden frame on the side.

Although it was already spring, the night was still a bit cool, so Tal had to let him wear a cloak when he went out just now.

Did Sinas go out for something?

As he thought, he sat down and picked up the cup on the table.

...milk again.

Garlan clicked his tongue in his heart.

And it's still warm. It feels warm when you hold it in your hands, and the warmth is transferred to your palms through the cup.

The faint smell of milk made the young man squint his eyes in pleasure.

He raised the milk to his mouth and suddenly remembered that when he came in, the guard in front of the tent reported to him that Caihos had come, and his expression seemed a little anxious.

I don’t know if there is something urgent to come to see him for...

etc.

Just when his lips were about to touch the milk, Garlan's hand paused slightly.

wrong.

Who gave him hot milk?

Xin Yas was so careless that he would not consider such a thing at all.

Tarr stayed with him.

And Caihos... The guard said that Caihos came more than an hour ago. If it were him, it would be impossible for the milk to still be warm.

There are other people in the camp who have been here!

This judgment made Garlan's chest tighten and his mind began to spin rapidly.

An assassin sent by the Gastards?

Was the milk poisoned?

Is that person still in the camp now?

The ability of a person who can sneak into his tightly guarded tent without leaving a trace must not be underestimated.

The firelight swayed on his cheeks. The boy's hand paused for a moment, then he raised it again, opened his lips, and took a sip of milk.

After taking a sip, he didn't seem to like the taste of milk very much. He frowned and put the cup back on the table.

He stretched and looked relaxed.

"A little hungry."

He muttered to himself, stood up, and walked towards the door of the camp, seemingly wanting to ask the guards outside to get him some food.

Probably because he was tired for a day, his movements seemed lazy and not in a hurry, and he walked forward leisurely.

…

Pretending to take a sip of milk, Garlan seemed to be walking forward lazily, with no expression on his face. In fact, his chest was already tense.

His ears were raised high, listening intently for any movement in the camp.

He seemed to be lowering his eyes lazily, but the corner of his eye was sweeping around without leaving a trace.

Just a few more steps and you'll reach the door.

Garlan's body has slowly tensed up, ready to go.

As long as he takes one more step, he will rush out——

Seeing that he had reached the door, the last step was about to be taken.

Suddenly, a pair of hands stretched out from behind him.

One strong arm hugged his whole body, and the other hand tightly covered his mouth.

Garlan's pupils suddenly dilated.

He had already overestimated the ability of this assassin who could sneak into his camp under heavy siege, but now he felt that he still underestimated the terrifying power of the man behind him.

He struggled violently instinctively.

But the arm holding him tightly was terrifyingly strong, almost like an iron pincer, preventing his upper body from moving.

Just when Garlan was shocked and angry, suddenly, a familiar voice came from his ears.

"Don't scream."

That extremely familiar voice made Garlan stunned.

During the period when he was in a state of confusion, the person holding him from behind exerted force on his arm and dragged him from the door back to the deepest part of the tent so easily.

In the deepest part of the camp, there was a small space separated by a thick curtain, which could somewhat conceal some movement. That was where Garlan rested at night.

"How will you be here?"

Looking up in amazement and looking at the familiar handsome face in front of him, Garlan's mind was still a little empty and he subconsciously asked.

Heimos should be in the royal city now.

"The royal city is very safe now, safer than your place."

Heimos answered.

His golden-red eyes swept over Garlan from top to bottom, focused, deeply, and extremely carefully, as if a traveler who had walked in the desert for too long without touching a drop of water finally saw a pool of clear water. .

It's like a child who has finally found a lost beloved thing, checking over and over again to see if there are any scratches on the beloved thing.

"But then..."

Before Garlan could finish his sentence, Heimos suddenly made a move, grabbed his hand, and threw him onto the bed next to him.

Before he could finish the two sentences, Garlan was caught off guard and was pinned down on the bed by Heimos.

He didn't expect Heimos to take action at all, and he didn't react at all.

He lay face down on the bed, and Hermos' left hand pressed hard on his shoulder.

Then, there was a hissing sound.

There was a sudden chill behind me.

Garlan's whole body suddenly felt bad, and he even forgot to struggle for a moment.

He pressed Garlan to the bed with one hand, and Heimos tore the clothes off Garlan's back.

The boy's fair back was exposed to the air.

The warm yellow light reflected on the slender and beautiful butterfly bones, and the milk-like skin glowed slightly.

No scars.

The skin on the boy's back was smooth and white, and there were no marks on his back that he had dreamed about being penetrated by sharp arrows. Heimos' heart, which had been held high, finally relaxed at this moment.

He breathed a sigh of relief, and naturally, the hand holding Garlan relaxed.

The next second, Gallan, who felt that the force holding him down was too weak, turned around suddenly. Regardless of his torn clothes, without saying a word, he raised his leg and kicked him.

Bang.

The boy, whose golden pupils were about to spit out fire, kicked the unsuspecting Black Knight from the bed.

The author has something to say: Well, let’s meet~

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