The King

  The army returned to the city, and Caesar IV came out with all the officials, and Hudson also enjoyed the highest standard treatment.

  It was all normal operations, and the record of the expeditionary force this time was full of legends in itself. What's more, there are negative teaching materials from allies to set off, making it even more difficult to win.

   It can be seen that everyone is very satisfied. Apart from the coach Hudson who benefited from the brilliant victory of the expeditionary force, all the princes and nobles also benefited.

  Military merit belongs to everyone. The children of each family who practiced together not only accumulated a wealth of combat experience, but also made a lot of military merit by the way.

  The most important thing is that the death rate of elite children is low. Except for a few unlucky ones, the direct descendants of each family basically returned in triumph.

   It's not that Hudson deliberately took care of them, but these people were already protected by experts arranged by various families. In the case of constantly winning battles, as long as you don't kill yourself, you basically can't die.

  However, the small casualties are relatively speaking. When the 35,000 army went out, there were only more than 26,500 people left when they returned, and the battle loss rate was close to a quarter.

   Heavy casualties do not mean a decline in combat effectiveness. After a series of victories, the expeditionary army has also displayed its own military spirit.

   Stop there casually, everyone knows that these troops are elite, and the exposed aura is so strong that they can feel the murderous aura even if they are hundreds of meters away.

  Fortunately, all the high-level leaders of the Alpha Kingdom came out of the army, otherwise they would have to make a fool of themselves on the spot after being so provoked by the expeditionary army.

   Hudson obviously felt that Caesar IV had lost his composure, but he concealed it well, and few people noticed it.

  As soon as the triumphant ceremony was over, it immediately entered the celebration part. It's really not easy. Since the outbreak of the Continental War, this is the first time the kingdom has held a banquet.

   As the protagonist of the banquet, Hudson not only failed to feel like a fish in water, but was exhausted physically and mentally.

   It is enjoyment to be worshiped by others, especially to be worshiped by the opposite sex. However, a beautiful noble lady is very eye-catching, and a group of beautiful noble ladies surround her, that is to suffer.

  Unfortunately, Hudson is so rich that he has no blessings to enjoy.

   On the contrary, a group of officers under his command had more fun at the banquet, and some powerful guys even hooked up with noble ladies.

  Of course, this is also a high-risk job, which is a test of eyesight. If you provoke someone you shouldn't hook up with, the consequences will be very serious.

  For example: Most of the noble ladies who surround Hudson asking questions are not to be provoked.

   Either the princess of this family, or the young lady of that family. Those with low status cannot be squeezed in.

   Fortunately, this situation did not last long. After satisfying everyone's curiosity, the crowd dispersed quickly. After all, a married noble like him does not belong to everyone.

   For an affair, you must first consider whether you are willing to pay the price. Many things in the aristocratic world have their prices marked in advance.

   "Marshal Hudson, you came out so soon. How come there are so many ladies and ladies in the capital, but none of them can catch your eye?"

  Hearing the voice of teasing, Hudson was depressed for a while. Now he is the sweet pastry in the eyes of many people, and they all want to come up and take a bite.

   Don't know where the other party is coming from, how dare he mess around. Since ancient times, there have been countless heroes who were destroyed on the bed.

   "Your Highness, how can I answer what you said?"

   Hudson said angrily.

  Different from the princesses of princes and noble families, this Princess Madeleine is the real princess of the kingdom, the sister of Caesar IV.

  When they met last time, the gap between the two sides was too big, and Hudson could only watch from a distance.

  Now everyone can talk together, but this is not the reason to make friends with him. According to the practice of the continent of Aslante, Princess Madeleine should marry a king or heir of a certain kingdom.

  If Hudson is not married, with his current status, the royal family may marry for the purpose of winning people's hearts.

   Of course, this is also a small probability event. The object of royal marriage is first of all birth, and the royal families of various countries in the mainland can more or less be related.

  It is definitely not a good thing for two people who should not be friends to mix together. In case there is any scandal that affects the royal marriage, Caesar IV must turn his face against him.

"snort!"

   "You men are all womanizers!"

  After listening to Princess Madeleine's words, Hudson almost spilled the wine in his hand. Using this method, trying to get his attention is too obvious.

   "Your Highness, if this is the case, I will take my leave first."

   After finishing speaking, Hudson turned and left directly. A royal princess is not worth his time to study.

  There is no love and hate for no reason in the world. He can't believe that Princess Madeleine, who has been educated by the royal family for a long time, is a silly white sweet who came to him simply out of curiosity.

  If it was so easy to attract her, then everyone should have met at the last celebration banquet.

  Everything is value. Intuition told Hudson that the Alpha royal family was not peaceful, otherwise Princess Madeleine would not be so reckless.

  Even if you want to make friends, you don't have to be so eager. Especially in the way of attracting men with women, which is very easy to cause accidents.

  If something happens, the unmarried Princess Madeleine will suffer far more than he, a married nobleman.

   It’s not that you can’t get married. With the national strength of the Alpha Kingdom, royal princesses are always in demand, but the marriage partner is likely to change from the king and heir to an ordinary prince.

  …

   "Your Highness, how are you?"

  The voice of the maid sounded, Princess Madeleine frowned, and said with a depressed face: "Before I had time to say anything, this guy slipped away.

  It seems that he is more cunning than we expected, and if we want him to stop this marriage, I am afraid..."

  Born into the royal family, while enjoying a superior life, you must also pay a corresponding price. The price to pay for being a royal princess is marriage.

  This kind of marriage is not only a marriage between the royal family, but also involves national politics.

  Many times, on the issue of marriage, the right to speak of the parties is not as good as that of the domestic ministers.

   Although an important minister like Hudson cannot decide who the royal family will marry, he can destroy the royal family's marriage plan.

   "Your Highness, if this is the case, things will be troublesome. The ministers in the DPRK and China basically support this marriage. If Marshal Hudson does not object, it will be difficult for us to stop it.

  If you really marry that bastard, you..."

   Before the maid could finish speaking, Princess Madeleine interrupted: "Things are not that bad, my brother is also against this marriage.

  Based on the current situation in the kingdom, our need for this marriage is not that urgent.

  The ministers want to promote this marriage for the benefit of the kingdom, but it does not mean that they can force their elder brother to agree.

   As for Marshal Hudson, this man is too shrewd and not as easy to handle as those ordinary noble children.

  What I did just now was obvious enough, and it didn’t move him. You can’t really ask me to seduce him, can you? "

  …

  The raging fire cut through the night, and the earth-shattering shouts of killing awakened the defenders from their sleep.

   "What happened, so how can there be enemies?"

   Earl Theoren asked in fear.

   These questions, obviously no one can answer him. With the northward expansion of the kingdom's territory, Zijingguan has changed from a frontier to an inland area.

  The former military fortress has now become a material transfer station for the army, and a large number of strategic materials come in and out here every day.

  Due to insufficient preparation, the kingdom's defense line in the border area is not as strong as before. The strategic materials hoarded in the castle fortresses in various places are not as much as before.

  For the safety of materials, the Kingdom hoarded a large amount of strategic materials in fortresses far away from the front line, and Bauhinia Pass was one of the important strategic materials hoarding places.

  Anyway, everyone is ready to fight and retreat from the very beginning, and each line of defense has its own mission. As long as there is enough delay, just retreat directly.

  Since Hudson became the commander-in-chief of the kingdom, the death-knocking has ceased to exist, and the strategy of exchanging space for time has been implemented instead.

  The loss of the first line of defense in front caused an uproar. It was because the loss was too fast. According to the kingdom's plan, they should persist for three months.

  The turmoil subsided quickly because the kingdom had prepared enough lines of defense. Losing a few lines of defense will not affect the overall situation.

  Each line of defense is built on favorable terrain, not only easy to defend and difficult to attack, but also happens to block the enemy's way forward.

   If you pass the line of defense, there is a risk of being cut off from the back. Leading hundreds of thousands or millions of troops to fight, no one dares to leave the rear to the enemy.

  According to the normal situation, Zijing Pass is still three to four hundred miles away from the front line, and the flames of war will not burn so quickly.

   But the reality is very embarrassing. Although I don't know what exactly happened, it has become a fact that the enemy army has entered the city anyway.

   Earl Theoren, who calmed down, hastily ordered: "Hurry up, call the troops in the city to organize a counterattack immediately, we must keep the Bauhinia Pass!"

   It doesn't matter what happened, but the pass cannot be lost. Otherwise, not only will there be problems with the army's food roads, but even the rear will be cut off by the enemy.

  It is a serious crime to let what should be your own fortification become the enemy's fortification.

  It's a pity that it was too late. The raging fire lit up the whole city, and the smell of meat was emitted from time to time.

   Count Theoren, who stepped out of the headquarters, was ashamed, it's over, everything is over! The countless strategic materials that the Kingdom had hoarded at Zijing Pass turned into raging fire at this moment.

  Even if he could keep the pass and lost tens of thousands of tons of strategic materials, the kingdom would not spare him.

   If possible, he would have grabbed Lord James by the neck and asked him why he had let the enemy in.

"kill!"

  Endless anger turned into a single word, and Earl Theoren, who knew he was helpless, picked up the knight sword and led his guards to join the moonlit night fight.

  The shame can only be washed away with blood. At this time, either annihilate the enemy army and salvage the burned strategic materials as much as possible; or directly wrap the corpse in horse leather.

  Almost at the same time, Beitlun Port, hundreds of miles away, was also attacked by orc cavalry.

   It's just that as the port that the Felix family mainly operates, the performance of their family's private army is better than that of the defenders at Bauhinia Pass, and they didn't realize it until they were killed by the enemy.

  The orc masters who descended from the sky robbed the city, but were stubbornly resisted by the defenders. Although it was still unable to stop it in the end, it bought time for the defenders in the city to gather.

  Every minute and every second on the battlefield is precious. Organized defenders and unorganized defenders are completely different concepts of combat effectiveness.

  Duke Daniel, who personally directed the raid, stared at the battlefield indifferently. Obviously, his heart is not at peace.

   This cross-border attack actually learned from Hudson. It's just that in terms of use, he changed it flexibly.

  Using the weak defense behind the enemy army and the cover of night, let the cavalry cross the defense line on the border, go straight to the strategic point behind the enemy army, and launch a surprise attack.

  The good ports in the north are limited, and even fewer have been developed. Beitlun Port is the only large port developed by the Alpha Kingdom in the Northland.

   It can be said unceremoniously that after taking this place, the difficulty of transporting strategic materials on the northern route of the Alpha Kingdom will directly double.

  Cut off the transportation of strategic materials and destroy the hoarding of strategic materials. This is obviously an attempt to trap the defenders on the front line.

   In fact, this is what has to be done. According to the upright style of play, the orc empire may not be able to take much advantage.

   Even if the Alpha Kingdom is defeated, if their own strength is severely damaged, they will be powerless to stop the restoration of the Seven Kingdoms of the Grassland.

  They have personally experienced the strength of the Human Alliance. Daniel is very clear that the current orc empire is no match for the human race.

   "Use all the magic scrolls traded from the elves!"

  After making this decision, Daniel also secretly felt pain. Using magic scrolls as siege supplies is a proper prodigal style.

  But in order to hurry, he didn't care so much. For this attack, not only the main force of the cavalry was mobilized, but all the masters of the orc empire were also mobilized.

   It can be said that this is a gamble. If the defenders on the front line of the Alpha Kingdom find out, the infantry who stay in place will be in danger.

   It is unlikely that the entire army will be destroyed, but heavy losses will certainly be inevitable. If it wasn't for the fact that the five emperors were fooled into sitting in the rear by him, and the game was to kill first and play later, this kind of battle plan would not have been approved.

  The addition of the magic scroll made the war more intense, and the sky also emitted colorful brilliance.

  For a while, flames flew all over the sky, for a while, hailstones fell from the sky, and for a while, a meteorite popped out...

  Accompanied by magic blows, there were countless orc masters who took the lead and rushed to the front line of the battle. The defenders are dazed.

  Similar battles are constantly being staged throughout the northern land. More than ten strategic locations in the Alpha Kingdom were raided almost at the same time.

   Being able to organize resistance is considered a good performance. More defenders who are in a hurry to fight, do not know what happened, and the enemy is killed in front of them.

   A group of military officers sent out a letter for help in a state of confusion. Everyone only knew that they were attacked by the enemy, and the rest were completely blind.

  …

   Marquis James, who was sitting on the front line, lost sleep. Although he didn't know what happened, he always felt that something was wrong.

   "Immediately send Griffin Dragoons to patrol the defense lines everywhere, order the officers on the front line to strengthen their vigilance, and strictly guard against the enemy's sneak attack!

   If you find any changes in the enemy, report to me immediately. "

   After adding an order, he felt a little relieved. It was the first time he commanded so many troops alone, and he was also very disturbed.

   Fortunately, as the defensive side, the mobilization of troops is relatively small. Although there have been many disturbances, they are generally controllable.

  It was just that with the early collapse of the first line of defense, his confidence gradually became insufficient again. At one time, he wanted to apply to the king for a substitution, but he couldn't help himself in the army.

  Everyone knows that sooner or later the war in northern Xinjiang will be commanded by Hudson, but sooner or later, the meaning it represents is completely different.

  The king needs him to persevere for a while, and all the great nobles in the kingdom also need him to persevere first, even if he needs to pay a certain price, everyone agrees.

   There is no way, Hudson is not only outstanding in military exploits, but also too young to find even political stains.

  Now everyone works hard, and checks and balances can still be carried out. If we continue to let it go, what will the next generation do?

   At that time, the people in charge of each family will be Hudson's old department, and they will be short by nature. Even if it is a king, he will have no confidence when he encounters such a powerful minister.

   Unless everyone can guarantee that they can live longer than Hudson, he will not be allowed to become the elder of the kingdom, and the balance of power will be maintained by everyone's seniority.

As soon as the voice fell, a middle-aged officer broke into the headquarters and reported to James: "Marquis, just now the defenders of Fort Bogus received news that the enemy cavalry crossed their line of defense this afternoon and have not returned yet. "

   Orc cavalry crossing the border is nothing new. This kind of thing has not stopped since the outbreak of the war.

   It's just that these cavalry usually return to their station immediately after going deep into dozens of miles and doing some damage.

   This is the first time that something that is gone forever like now has happened.

   "Why didn't you report this kind of thing in advance?"

   James Marquis asked angrily.

   "Forget it, you guys go down first!"

  Taking one's anger out on others is not what a good commander should do. Reason told him that he must control his emotions.

   It is an uncontrollable event that the enemy will never return, and no one knows in advance.

   It's just cavalry crossing the border to cause damage, and that's all handled by the people below. If such trivial matters were reported to his coach, he would have been exhausted long ago.

  The cavalry crossing the border is also taking risks. If they are accidentally bitten by the army of the kingdom, they may be wiped out at any time.

  In the past few days, the orc soldiers who went deep into the rear were defeated by the kingdom's army not once or twice, and they were even wiped out once.

   No good news has been received so far, which means that the enemy cavalry who went deep into the rear have not been annihilated.

  Suddenly, James' complexion changed drastically, his eyes fixed on the map, and he blurted out: "Not good!"