The thunderous sound of horse hooves woke Carl up from his sleep, and the red morning light was shining into the house through the window.
Opening his hazy sleepy eyes, Karl walked to the window with the tapestry wrapped around him and looked down. The whole castle was busy and crowded.
The streets are filled with endless crowds of people.
Soldiers, sycophants, and baggage were crowded together.
There are no familiar figures in the original training ground. The imperial swordsmen no longer wield swords and practice with each other there. Even the tavern and brothel at the corner of the street seem to have stopped operating. They are busy carrying goods and seem to be about to follow suit.
Move the troops.
Karl was about to go out to inquire about the situation when he suddenly saw Ludwig, the captain of the imperial guard, barging in fully armed.
"What happened? Ludwig."
"The army has broken out of camp and set off. His Majesty the Emperor issued the order after discussing with the generals last night."
"We must hurry, your father is already waiting for us outside the city."
Ludwig said urgently.
"I don't quite understand. Was it a temporary decision? Why is that?"
"We have been here for almost half a month. Did something unexpected happen? Did the vampire move? Escape? Or did it sneak attack elsewhere in the empire?"
Karl asked with a confused look.
"No, Mrs. Kislev launched a sneak attack on the vampire lair. Now, the entire imperial coalition is surging towards the border. Some lords' armies have already crossed the border and are advancing towards the hinterland of Sylvania."
"What?! Mrs. Kislev?"
Karl was in a daze and looked at Ludwig with a puzzled look.
But the other party doesn't know too much.
"Let's go on our way first, Your Highness. After meeting your father, you will naturally know everything."
…
After a brief cleanup, Karl Franz, together with his guards and Ludwig, rode on horseback to catch up with the large army of Reikland. On both sides of the road, the Reiker Guards were patrolling, and the troops from Reikland and Wesenland were on guard.
Together, they formed a long snake procession that meandered for several kilometers in the vast land of Bylokhov Swamp.
"Father."
When Karl, along with a small number of guards and Ludwig, found his father in the team, Emperor Louis Bod was riding a war horse and chatting with Archmage Tiras Gorman beside him.
In Karl's impression, his father rarely traveled on horseback, usually in a carriage. This time was unusual. His father not only rode a horse, but also rode an emperor's war horse. All these abnormal behaviors meant that this operation was not simple.
"You came."
"Father, what happened? I only heard that Mrs. Kislev attacked the vampire's lair?"
Karl looked at his father and the flame mage beside him.
"More than just a sneak attack, Rhodes led an unknown number of troops into the hinterland of Sylvania and burned five castles in a row! They arrived at Wadenhof."
"How is it possible? Did they fall from the sky? Or did they emerge from the ground? To the north of Sylvania are the Hell Swamp, the Hungry Forest and the Dark Forest. These places are all places where humans and ghosts cannot travel. How could it be possible for Mrs. Kislev?
Appearing in Sylvania without attacking Blood Rock Castle? Or in the hinterland!"
Carl exclaimed.
Although he is uneducated and has fun all day long, Karl still knows some basic geography knowledge. After all, he has been surrounded by a group of royal teachers since he was a child. Even if he doesn't remember it specifically, he has already heard it.
Long cocoon.
"It's really impossible, but he just did it."
The emperor bit his lip, a look of unwillingness could be seen on his face.
Karl probably guessed the reason.
Before, the imperial army stood still and waited for Kislev to enter the scene first to consume the vampire's strength. But now, Mrs. Kislev has really come to an end and looted several towns in a very short period of time.
A lot of wealth was plundered.
The empire was therefore worried that if it did not end, it would not even have a chance to get a piece of the pie. So, the meeting that originally took a month was held in one night, and everyone's opinions were unprecedentedly unified, that is, to step up the pace and send troops into Shirvanni.
Ya.
Even though he did not participate in the impromptu meeting, Karl had roughly reconstructed the entire incident from this series of performances. He thought about the sharply contrasting attitudes of the electors from various places in his mind, and couldn't help but laugh secretly. Look.
Come on, the only thing that can really unite this group of electors is interests, their common interests. The meat that is on the lips cannot be eaten by neighboring countries.
…
The Dreadfort.
The assault team was exhausted from the past few days of fighting. In this one trip, each of them made a fortune. However, many of the loot could not be taken away.
When they captured the first castle, the plunderers didn't even spare the copper coins from the residents of the town. Now, except for particularly valuable belongings, they don't bother to take them.
Most of the piles of gold coins were finally used by Rhodes to hire local mercenaries. But everyone had no complaints. They really couldn't take away so much. The three-hundred-person assault team traveled through the vast and dark forest, in order to maintain concealment.
And mobility, they don't even have a baggage convoy. How much can each person carry, let alone a war. If you have money, you have to spend your life.
"Great Lord!"
In the lounge, when the soldiers saw their leader walking in, everyone stood up consciously. Even the wounded struggled to get up from the bed. Rhodes stopped them one by one.
"I'm here to see everyone. The wounded should lie down and don't move."
Five cities were captured in a row. When the last castle, the Horror Castle, was captured, Rhodes knew that it was almost time to retreat.
The number of wounded in the team already accounts for 5% of the entire army. Any more will slow down the marching speed of the army. Of course, it is already a drag, but it is still within an acceptable range.
Rhodes walked up to a wounded man, and the field doctor helped check the wound.
It can be seen that the wound on the wounded man's left shoulder has begun to fester. This kind of fester commonly occurs in every injured soldier participating in the battle. At first, Rhodes thought it was the enemy using poisonous arrows or poisoned weapons. But now it seems that it is not poisonous.
It's as simple as an arrowhead or a blade. It's impossible for the defenders of every castle to have poisonous weapons and equip them in the hands of every defender.
There is only one explanation for the collective symptoms of infection among all the wounded, and that is that the air, moisture, and even soil in Sylvania contain toxins that can unknowingly corrupt any foreign life.
As for the indigenous people, each of them has lived on this land for a long time and has already adapted to the environment, climate and water sources. Therefore, they will not be greatly affected. However, the infection still exists. Humans living in Sylvania
Almost all of the residents are skinny and skinny, and appear to be severely malnourished.
Some people who look slightly rosier may be blood slaves or servants of vampires. They can get better food and "nutrition" at the cost of becoming a regular source of blood for vampires.
Marching and fighting in such a land requires the protection of a life mage. But this team obviously does not have one.
They can't stay like this any longer. Although the fruits of victory are tempting, they must control their desires at this time.
Rhodes spread out the map and thought about a new retreat route.
According to the information reported by the scouts, a large number of undead troops have already gathered along their original transfer route...