Obviously, if there is a spy, it is undoubtedly more likely to be someone close to the king. After all, even the earls did not know the news until they arrived at the Fire Dragon Fort Fortress.
At that time, it was only about ten days away from now. It was impossible for the Northern Principality to make arrangements so quickly, so the time for leaking the news could only be further advanced.
"Except Byron and Jagger, only a few of my commanders and military ministers know about this matter!" The king's expression suddenly darkened a little.
The speculations of Bernard and others prove that there are indeed traitors in high positions within the principality.
Byron and Jagger are the first and second princes.
As for the several commanders and military ministers, they were all extremely loyal subordinates who had followed him for decades, and the king was originally very relieved.
After thinking for a moment, the king saw that all the earls fell silent. The king continued: "Several commanders and military ministers have served me for more than ten years, and their families are also old families in the principality. I think there is no possibility that they will betray me.
big!"
"Perhaps, the best possibility is that one of them accidentally leaked the news to people around him, which caused the autumn plan to be known in advance."
"I will investigate this matter slowly, but in any case, even if it is proven that the Northern Principality has known about our plan, it will not affect our autumn expedition this year."
For the king, this year's autumn expedition plan is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Especially now that we have the opportunity to win Maple Leaf City without any loss, this is definitely a very good start.
Therefore, he did not want to see the earls having scruples about this year's autumn campaign plan because of the possibility of spies.
"Your Majesty is right. In fact, Maple Leaf City's problem this time is not only not harmful, but actually beneficial."
"It allowed us to capture Maple Leaf City with almost minimal losses, and it also made us aware of the existence of spies. In this way, the Northern Principality gave us a big city in vain."
"In addition, from the Maple Leaf City incident, one thing can actually be confirmed."
"That means the situation that His Majesty's secret agent investigated is basically true. Otherwise, the Northern Principality can send a large number of cavalry to contain us as in previous years!"
"To put it bluntly, even if Maple Leaf City succeeds in the Northern Principality's plan this time, it will only be in exchange for thousands of our soldiers. Compared with giving up a big city and a count's castle, it is not cost-effective at all!"
At this moment, Lakoff also echoed the king's words and expressed his own opinions.
After hearing Lakoff's opinion, the expressions of the earls present varied.
Some earls nodded slightly in agreement with his statement, while others frowned in deep thought and did not express an opinion.
"Rakoff is right. Our military advantage is stronger than that of the Northern Principality, so we will attack directly with strong methods!" The king also agreed with Rakoff's words. "Our next target is Earl Barnby's Castle. Now
, please tell me what suggestions you have!”
When the earls heard this, they temporarily put aside their previous discussions about the spies and began to discuss the next attack.
"Your Majesty, I have no objection to the continuation of the Autumn March plan, but in order to ensure the safety of the army, I think we need to carry out more comprehensive arrangements and investigations. Even if the information from the secret agent is true, we should prepare for the worst situation!
"
The count immediately expressed his opinion.
"Well, Kermit is right. Next, the Earl of Barnby has penetrated deep into the hinterland of the Northern Principality. At that time, I will prepare a small team to monitor all intersections in the Earl of Barnby to ensure
The safety of the army during the siege."
"In addition, we also need to strengthen the Rangers' patrol visibility to ensure that the situation in Maple Leaf City will not happen again!"
The king nodded. Needless to say, the earls knew that Maple Leaf City had learned from the past and he would be extremely careful.
"Your Majesty, before this attack, we probably need to do one more thing!" At this moment, Bernard also spoke.
"Bernard, tell me!"
"Your Majesty, you promised last time that when Maple Leaf City is captured, the wealth in Maple Leaf City will belong to our six families!"
"But now Maple Leaf City has been completely emptied, and there is no benefit. In addition, all the vassals who came along the way have gained nothing. I am worried about what they will think."
"Well! This is indeed a problem!" The king nodded slightly after hearing this.
Although the small nobles in Maple Leaf City did not exert much effort this time, they must also care about the feelings of the small nobles below.
The little nobles are not serfs. Just throwing some black bread will make them work hard without complaint.
If there are not enough benefits, the small nobles will definitely slack off in their work.
After all, what was lost in the war was their private property, and they would not be able to reap benefits for a long time, so they would find ways to reduce such losses.
If such a situation occurs, it will be very detrimental to the upcoming Autumn Expedition, and it will affect the morale of the military.
"In this way, when you go back later, tell them that no matter which big city is captured in the next Autumn Campaign, all the benefits in the city will also belong to your six count families."
"And!" The king emphasized his tone, "After this departure, I will also distribute my share of the gold coins harvested from the noble castles in the Earl of Barnby to your six families, and you can distribute them to all the feudal lords.
Take this as a reward!"
"Of course, the premise is that they must fight bravely, and the gold coins will be rewarded to them after the war."
"Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty!"
"Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty!"
Upon hearing this, all the earls immediately offered their greetings.
The Northern Principality, an earldom, can collect almost tens of thousands of gold coins for castle 'guarding'.
Usually, these gold coins were not given to the small nobles, but were the regular recipients of the gold coins from the king and the six counts.
Among them, the king accounts for 50%, the six counts count for 40%, and the last 10% is used as a reward!
Now the king simply does not want to take the next 50%, which means that there are 5,000 gold coins that can be divided among them. This will definitely make the small vassals happy.
"This matter has been settled. Do you have any other suggestions?" The king nodded and continued to look at everyone.
The earls did not speak again after hearing this. In fact, this year's autumn campaign plan is not much different from previous years.
It was just that the original mode of attacking the autumn wind was changed to the matter of capturing the two count's castles, and the troops originally guarding against cavalry support from the Northern Principality were used for siege.
In this mode, you only need to be careful not to be attacked by surprise when attacking the city, and there is really nothing else to do.
When the king saw this, all the earls did not speak, and he understood that there was no other suggestion, so he changed the subject and said, "Since there is no other suggestion, let's talk about Bernard's little vassal at the end of this meeting.
"
"This time Bernard, that little vassal, avoided the loss of soldiers from various families. How do you think he should be rewarded?"