During the court meeting in the palace, there was an uproar when Renn announced the status of the Eastern Expedition. Then Renn immediately announced several countermeasures that he had previously discussed with the two prime ministers and the promotion of titles for Richard, Ross, Thor and others.
On the contrary, the decision did not cause too much trouble. Under the great crisis, the decision that would usually cause endless troubles was passed quickly and smoothly. The envoy announcing the knighthood order also rushed to Longxi Pass that day.
…
Longxiguan
The light rain continued, but the soldiers on the pass still stared at Qiu Yu and continued patrolling. There were also craftsmen who kept moving the rolling stone and fortification materials onto the city wall. Everything was making final preparations for the upcoming war.
In the past few days, fewer and fewer soldiers have returned. From thousands a day at the beginning to a few sporadically returning every day, the gate has been completely closed, and the doorways have been completely sealed with bricks and stones. The defeated soldiers who came back sporadically have been used
The basket was pulled up to the city wall, and even soldiers with good eyesight had already seen what seemed to be orcs and wolves riding in the distance, peering at the city wall.
In the haze of mist and rain, several giant dragons suddenly appeared, piercing the rain curtain and flying towards Longxing Pass. The soldier on the watchtower was first surprised, and then overjoyed. Because he found that the giant dragons that appeared were not
Not the white dragon of the orcs, but the golden dragon they are most familiar with.
…
"Master Richard is back!"
"Master Richard is back!"
Richard sat on the back of the poisonous dragon, looking at the majestic Dragon Breathing Pass below, with a look of emotion on his face. He didn't know how long this human being could rely on to resist the orcs.
Yes, in Richard's mind, he is also not optimistic that Longxing Pass can be defended. This time the orcs have too great an advantage. Humanity lost half of its elites in the Eastern Expedition. Now Longxing Pass can be fought with all the available soldiers.
There are two million people, which seems like a lot, but they have to defend more than a dozen large cities and hundreds of castles stretching for thousands of miles. Any point may be broken through by the orcs.
The combat power of the orcs was originally superior to that of humans, but now the assembled troops also exceed two million, and are still increasing. How can humans fight against the orcs when they cannot have an advantage in numbers.
Moreover, in this battle, humans lacked the traditional advantage of giant dragons. The orcs received full help from the white dragon clan, but the golden dragons almost completely gave up aid to humans. As a result, the situation of humans became even worse.
As for the dragons under Richard's hands, even if the golden dragons in his hands were far more powerful than the white dragons, they still couldn't withstand the huge numerical gap. After several battles, the losses of the dragons under Richard's hands were increasing.
The bigger the dragon is, the only dragons that can follow it back to Dragon's Breath Pass now are an ancient golden dragon, a poisonous dragon and two golden dragons that are not fully healed. Of course, there is also the holy dragon. The archangel gives priority to using his resurrection skills.
In case there is no loss.
In addition to the disadvantages of high-level arms such as giant dragons, humans are still at a disadvantage in terms of top combat power. A holy white dragon offsets the combat power of Richard and the holy dragon, and the powerful old orc is even more powerful.
It has a crushing combat advantage over them.
After the battle at Raging Flame Castle, Richard was seriously injured by the old orc who chased him all the way. He escaped with the recovery effect of the sacred blood bottle and teleportation. The orc had a comprehensive advantage from basic to high-level combat power.
Even Moriel was no longer optimistic about Longxiguan's defense, and had been urging Richard to abandon Longxiguan, trade space for time, and return to the North to survive and accumulate strength.
However, after Richard recovered from his injuries and thought about it, he decided to return to Longxi Pass first.
Several giant dragons fell from the sky, alarming Ross without the need for soldiers to notify him. At this time, Richard suddenly returned and strengthened his own high-end combat power. It was a good thing in any case. Duke Ross had been gloomy for a few days.
Finally he picked up his spirits and ordered to the soldiers outside:
"Go and invite Sir Richard to the meeting hall, and also summon all the army commander-level officers in the city to the meeting hall to greet Mr. Richard."
"Yes, Lord Ross!"
…
…
"Lord Richard, Lord Ross, please go to the meeting hall immediately."
Shortly after Richard landed on the poisonous dragon, the soldiers who were delivering orders hurried to Richard. They said they were delivering orders, but their tone and attitude were very respectful. Perhaps because of Ross's instructions, these soldiers were neither humble nor overbearing when delivering orders.
, they all kept their posture very low when they saw Richard.
"Well, Moriel, Natalis, let the dragons stay where they are and rest. Let's go meet Lord Rose first."
"Let someone prepare some food for the dragon, preferably half-cooked beef and mutton."
"Yes, Lord Richard!"
…
"Master Richard is here!"
Under the guidance of the soldiers, Richard took Moriel and Natalie into the meeting hall. All eyes in the hall immediately turned to Richard.
"Your Excellency Richard, sit here."
Although Duke Ross temporarily took charge of the power of Longxingguan, after learning that Richard was coming, he still added a position for Richard by his side. Duke Ross, who knew Richard's true strength, never thought about it at all.
Look at Nathan before you.
Richard was not polite and followed Duke Rose's invitation to sit next to him. Natalie and Moriel were also discussing matters in the hall.
"Lord Richard, what happened after that day? Where is Lord Thor? And what is the situation in Raging Flame Castle now? What is the situation of the orcs now?"
After Richard sat down, Duke Ross's questions came like a barrage of questions. It's no wonder Duke Ross had so many questions. Without air superiority and the defeat of the ground troops, the army at Longxingguan basically had no source of intelligence.
, their information was all obtained from the defeated troops who fled back. The accuracy of this pieced together information is not enough, and they can only make rough calculations. Now that Richard has appeared, of course he wants to get more information from Richard.
accurate information.
"On the battlefield that day, we met a strong orc who had never appeared in the intelligence. From what he said, he seemed to know His Majesty Aragorn..."
Richard narrated the situation on the battlefield that day, and the people present became more and more frightened as they listened. Sitting here were all the senior officials of Longxingguan, and Richard did not need to cover up information to stabilize his confidence, so he transferred ten points
The cruel truth was told to them so that they could be mentally prepared.
"Has Lord Thor died in the battle?"
"Um."
Richard nodded and couldn't help but recall the last scene of Sol that day.
After the long knife in the old orc's hand knocked off the Red Shadow Sword in Thor's hand, he chopped off Thor's head with one knife. He did not leave any dignity for the pillar of the kingdom, and even grabbed Thor's head.
The head was displayed to the human army below, triggering the army's first major rout.
The golden dragon Asuo also died in a fierce battle. After Thor died, the old orc didn't actually care about the golden dragon's life or death, but Asuo attacked the old orc like crazy, and was finally killed by the old orc.
The terrifying level of a saint-level powerhouse in the lowest realm makes Richard still tremble when he thinks about it. If he hadn't had the ability to teleport, he might have fallen into the hands of the old orc this time.
"So, Sir Richard watched Lord Saul die in battle and escaped on the battlefield?"
Just as Ross and the officers below were feeling pain for Saul, an unharmonious sound suddenly came from below.
As soon as this question came out, the hall immediately fell silent, and the atmosphere became a little tense. Richard is no longer the little-known little nobleman in the north. In less than a year, Richard has become the most rising star in the kingdom.
The fast rising star has already entered the top ranks of the kingdom's powerful people. Compared with Ross and Thor, he is only a few years behind in qualifications. Compared with the officers below, his status is completely different, let alone
While Richard's own strength is not weak, he also holds the dragon card in his hand.
"Count Fran, shut up!"
"Am I wrong? Isn't Sir Richard a deserter who ran away from the battle? If Sir Richard hadn't escaped, Lord Saul would not have died."
Richard glanced at the person who made the voice. There was a little fear in the other person's eyes, but it seemed that he was convinced of Richard's fault. He still raised his head and did not flinch. However, Duke Ross's face was livid with anger, and he was about to be taken down at any time.
posture.
Personally speaking, Richard saved the life of Duke Ross, and the Western Army can still maintain most of its main force and return to Longxi Pass. Richard has made great contributions, and Duke Ross must accept Richard's love.
To be fair, no matter what the specific situation of that battle was, Richard was our own high-end combat force, and he also brought some dragons with him. It was a good thing to come back. It was impossible to impose any punishment on Richard. The Duke of Ross was not there from the beginning.
I never thought about punishing Richard.
The crime of escaping from battle is only used against small soldiers and junior officers. When it reaches the level of Ross and Richard, it cannot be called escaping from battle. It is a violation of the law. Try to preserve your strength as much as possible. Ross even secretly complained about Saul in his heart.
In the end, he had to fight hard and die. If he could run back with Richard, losing 300,000 imperial guards would mean nothing.
I just didn't expect that someone would stand up and hold Richard accountable for escaping from the battle.
"Someone, push Count Fran down."
Duke Ross no longer wanted to wait for this man to continue talking nonsense, so he immediately called the guards to push him down, but Richard waved his hand to signal Duke Ross to calm down.
"Who is this Earl?"
"I am the Earl of Fran, and I have specially led the troops to Longxiguan to help in the battle. If people like Sir Richard who run away from the battle are not punished, I am afraid that the soldiers will be heartbroken and Lord Saul will die with his eyes open."
This man was not an officer from Longxingguan, but one of the nobles gathered from the Great Plains. He was only qualified to participate in this meeting because he had a high enough title and brought a lot of supplies and soldiers.
"Oh? Mr. Fran, what punishment do you think I should receive?"
There was a joking expression on Richard's face, and Moriel and Natalie looked at each other as if they were watching a show. Richard couldn't even be angry at such a fool.
"The Duke of Ross should deprive Richard of his right to command the dragon and send Richard back to prison to await trial."
"boom!"
Suddenly, Richard slammed the table, making many people tremble in shock.
"Sir Fran, I suspect that your accusation has an ulterior motive. I was obviously fighting against the orcs. I fought hard until I was unconscious and was snatched out by my men. After I woke up, I immediately came to Longxing Pass to help in the battle. Why did you say that I ran away from the battle?"
"
Anyway, not many people saw what happened in the sky that day. Naturally, it was what Richard said. It was obvious that Richard was defeated by the old orc and escaped, but to put it another way, it felt completely different.
Before the other party could refute, Richard continued:
"What kind of crime is it to slander a Kingdom Dragon Knight?"
Hearing these words, Earl Fran suddenly felt something in his heart. Richard was also a dragon knight. In the kingdom, the dragon knight's status was higher than that of the nobles. If someone offended the dragon knight, the dragon knight had the right to kill the other party.
"boom!"
Several streaks of golden fighting energy penetrated Count Fran's armor, and a large amount of blood emerged from the wound. Count Fran opened his mouth, but he could not speak because the injury was too severe.
With Richard's strength at this time, he suddenly attacked a knight-level noble. The opponent had no resistance at all. The holy-level fighting spirit was crushed in terms of quality, tearing apart his body like tearing paper.
The thick mail penetrated the body.
"Wow!"
Richard suddenly shot and killed an earl, causing an uproar in the meeting hall. Although everyone thought that this person had no eyesight, after all, the other person was also an earl and brought many elite soldiers to Longxingguan to participate in the battle. Richard
He killed the opponent like a chicken, but no one reacted.
Even Duke Ross, who had just wanted someone to push him down, was stunned by this scene. He opened his mouth to say something, but in the end he could only wave his hand and tell the guards to drag him down.
"This person falsely accused the Dragon Knight and disturbed the morale of the army. I have killed him. I suspect that he is still a spy. Maybe he is a remnant of the Rising Sun Cult. We should investigate it carefully."
Before the war, the kingdom had launched a vigorous campaign to search for the Rising Sun Rebellion, so this crime could be easily pinned on the opponent.
The Duke of Ross did not show off to Richard, nodded in agreement, and continued to start the military discussion. After emphasizing the tasks of each department again, he let the generals leave. As for the dead Earl Fran, everyone chose
Regardless, if a dragon knight kills a count in peacetime, it may be considered a big deal, but in this special period, it is really like killing a chicken.
