"What are you going to do?! What crime have I committed? Who are you!"
Fabray shouted, but to no avail. Two of Fran's thugs clamped down on him, preventing him from moving.
Since Rhodes became king in Blackhammer Castle, the operation to eradicate the Queen's secret police has been launched rapidly. This net has been laid out for three years, and it is finally time to close it. At least two hundred people were arrested on the same day and sent to
A secret prison.
"Wait, who are you?"
When the attendant was about to be taken away, the chief knight Virgil stood up and stopped Fran. His face was very ugly. There is no doubt that the search for the secret police was strictly confidential. Even Virgil himself had no idea about it.
.He stopped several members of the Brotherhood at the door, one hand already on the hilt of the sword.
"Lord Knight, we are under the command of the King of the North to arrest these traitors. I hope you will not hinder us from carrying out our mission."
Facing the angry chief knight, Fran seemed calm and calm. He used his not-so-strong hand to push away the knight Virgil's arm. And it didn't look like he had any effort at all.
"Lord Rod's order?"
Virgil asked, frowning in surprise.
"Yes, Lord Rhodes's order. Your Excellency, it is not convenient for me to explain too much about this matter here. If you want to know the details, you can go to Lord Rhodes for consultation. But now, I must take this little attendant away.
. His origin is not as simple as you think."
A slight smile appeared at the corner of Fran's mouth. Virgil noticed that his right hand only had four fingers, and the ring finger was broken. No matter how tightly the hands were wrapped, it could still be seen that they were weather-beaten hands, with scars like bugs.
It usually crawls all over the back of his hands.
Brotherhood? Assassin? For a moment, Vergil was a little confused. He didn't know when his lord started planning this matter. Moreover, he could hide it for so long.
…
The Great Hall of Blackhammer Keep.
"We must always be prepared for war. You support me as king. Over in Kislev, Katerina will never stand idly by. With the character of this female tsar, once she hears the news, she will immediately send troops, and
There will be no mercy and no possibility of negotiation. Her suppression of those mobs is a living example. Therefore, we must be prepared for battle in advance."
In the main hall of the small Blackhammer Castle, eight northern lords gathered. They were discussing the upcoming war. Everyone knew that this was a protracted civil war. In fact, the power between the north and the south was not balanced.
The strength is not strong. The total strength of the nine castles combined is less than one-third of the south. The economic strength cannot match the south. Once the war is prolonged, the northern border will be dragged down without the Ice Queen launching a general attack.
collapse.
But compared to the south, the situation in the north is not that bad. At least, they are united. All the northern lords have a common goal and enemy, so they are united and united. On the other hand, the southern camp of Kislev. The Queen's Men
Although they have a powerful regular army, the lords in the south have different intentions. On the surface, they support the queen, but in fact there is still the possibility of swaying. Some local lords simply adopt a perfunctory strategy of delaying the formation of absolute power.
, these people are just outsiders. Rhodes estimates that Catalina still needs to put in some effort to mobilize these people to join the war. This is the only advantage of the North now.
"North of the Twin Rivers, the defense must be strengthened. Now, Watch Fort can no longer serve as the gate to the north. Once the southern army attacks, Watch Fort will inevitably be unable to defend."
Rhodes raised his hand and pointed his sword at another place on the map——
"However, the Twins are not our current main battlefield. Currently, the biggest trouble blocking our way south is Erengrad."
Rhodes continued, pointing the long sword in his hand at the city that was rebuilt on the ruins. Like Black Hammer Castle, New Elengrad was rebuilt five years ago. Now, the generals of Black Hammer Castle and Elengrad
There is still a gap in population and total economic strength. Even if Blackhammer Castle's system is more advanced, after all, Olengrad has a large population base and a more advantageous geographical location. Therefore, in the past five years, Olengrad's development is still slightly ahead of Blackhammer.
Hammerfort. Coupled with the fleet protecting the port, this city is still an important city that thrives and develops.
Because it is geographically very close to the northern border, it can be said to be part of the northern border. Therefore, once the northern coalition forces move south, they must first conquer this city to stabilize the rear. Of course, with the strength of the defenders of Olengrad, Luo
Germany is not worried about not being able to capture it. What Rhodes is more worried about is actually the Kislevian regular navy stationed at the Port of E. Although the navy cannot determine the final outcome of the entire war, it can blockade the port and move a large number of troops
Transfer, or even land from the rear. This is what Rhodes is most worried about. After all, there is almost no navy in the entire northern border. Even though Blackhammer Castle has worked hard to develop a navy for three years, there are still only three ships. And Elron
Grad's naval fleet started a battle with no chance of victory.
"Your Majesty the King..."
While the lords were discussing countermeasures, a familiar voice sounded outside the door. Virgil, the knight of Blackhammer Castle, was standing at the door with a humble look on his face.
"come in."
Rhodes waved his hand and greeted.
"what's up?"
"Um……"
Virgil's eyes scanned the crowd, and some hesitated to speak.
"Say it, we are all our own people."
Feeling that the atmosphere on the court was a bit awkward, Rhodes asked Virgil to speak directly. In a war, he could not lose the support of these lords, so it was very necessary to have an intimate relationship without any distance. Doing this deliberately would be
In order to gain the trust of the lords.
"Um...ok..." Virgil said with a sullen face, walking to the throne, "Your Majesty the King, have you ordered the arrest of the Kislev secret police in the territory?"
"Well, yes. That's my order."
Rhodes replied calmly——
"You have all seen that this afternoon, a large number of people were arrested in Blackhammer Castle. They did not commit any crimes. However, I must send people to arrest them because these people are Catalina's spies placed everywhere. Also.
They are what we know as the secret police."
After saying that, all the lords looked at each other with surprise. Some lords had calm expressions, because like Rhodes, they had been prepared early in the morning to capture these spies and informants.
"If we want to go south, we must stabilize the rear. As long as the secret police are still there, they will continue to pass information to the Queen. So, my suggestion is that you should also take action. Distribute these secret police all over the north.
Catch them all. Of course, this is a long-term task and cannot be completed in a short time. Just like when we went south to the city of Kislev, it cannot be done in a day or two."