The war between the Rob Kingdom and the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom was very dramatic.

To put it simply, the Luobu Kingdom is inferior to the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom in all aspects: the population is less than four-fifths of the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom, the territory is less than three-fifths, and it does not have a large plain like the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom, and the vast majority of the territory is high mountains. The official fleet of the Luo Bu Kingdom is even more pitiful compared to the Black Saint Mountain Kingdom, not only are the ships aging and backward, but also less than one-third of the number of ships.

Such a comparison, no matter who looks at it, does not feel that the Black Saint Mountain Kingdom has the possibility of defeat.

But—

About half a month ago, the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom and the Luobu Kingdom broke out into war after a long and unsuccessful negotiation over a disputed territory on the border.

At the beginning of the war, the army of the Rob Kingdom broke into the territory of the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom, and with extremely backward weapons, they crushed several defensive lines of the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom. The official fleet also took the initiative to attack, and under the command of the fleet commander, it sank almost as many ships of the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom as its own, and its own losses were less than one-third.

Such a result, in the early days of the war, was really stunning, but after slowly understanding the details, it is not strange.

Why?

It's very simple, the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom is so rich that many people, including the soldiers, have not lived any hard lives, have not experienced any wars, and are completely just a group of farmers who have never seen blood. The top brass of the army is a group of big-bellied politicians, and there are not many who know how to fight at all.

The kingdom of Luobu is the opposite, because of the lack of plains, the lack of arable land, the population is not very small, and the composition is very complex, which leads to the trend of fighting - for the Luobu people, if they don't fight, don't fight to grab a good piece of farmland, don't fight to grab a little more water to irrigate the farmland, there will be no food to eat, and they will starve to death. Therefore, King Rob is a strong national style, can do his hands, and definitely does not talk much nonsense. And, if you really fight, you are definitely not afraid of death - those who are afraid of death will die a long time ago.

In this case, the kingdom of Black Sacred Mountain and the kingdom of Rob have a dispute over a piece of territory. And this disputed territory is still an extremely fertile plain, and when the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom asks for full possession, it simply challenges the bottom line of all the Rob people.

Once the war began, the Rob Kingdom gave the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom a lesson, making the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom understand that there is nothing great about having money! A rich man with money may not be able to beat a poor man without money!

Of course, the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom has not been unbearable to the limit, although the atmosphere of the whole country is not good, it has not yet rotted to the roots. At critical moments, people continued to stand up and turn the tide, although it could not completely reverse the situation for a while, but it also made the Rob Kingdom no longer as smooth as before.

In addition, many small countries and nobles who owe a lot of debts to the Black Saint Mountain Kingdom have expressed their stance that as long as the King of the Black Saint Mountain is in need, they can immediately send troops to rescue. Therefore, the war will be a long stalemate, if nothing else.

After Richard understood the situation, he looked at the tavern owner and asked, "In that case, then you can't go north in a short time, right?"

"It's not so absolute. The tavern keeper said, "Although the sea is impassable, the land is still passable." The reason why many merchant ships stopped here was that they were preparing to turn from sea to land here, pass through the hinterland of the Black Sacred Mountain Kingdom, which had not yet been attacked, bypass the rest of the countries, and finally completely bypass the Luobu Kingdom, reach the ports of more northern countries, re-enter the sea, and sail north. ”

"Sounds like a bit of a hassle. ”

"But at least it's a solution, maybe a little longer, but it's better than being stuck here all the time. Otherwise, if you wait until next year, the sea route may not be open. The tavern keeper said, picking up the silver coin on the surface of the bar as he spoke, stuffing it into Richard's hand, and exhaling, "Guest, if you really want to go north, I advise you to think about the way by land." As for the money, you can take it, what I said is something that everyone knows, and you shouldn't take money at all. ”

Richard's eyes flashed, and he put the silver coin back on the surface of the bar and said, "Maybe what you said is true that many people know, but I don't know it, and it is valuable to me." You've saved me a lot of time, and you have every reason to take it. If you're embarrassed, get me a piece of bread. I need to eat something and think about what to do next. ”

"W-okay. The tavernkeeper hesitated, put the silver coins away, turned to the back kitchen and shouted, "Nopeth, a loaf of bread, the best kind!

"Oh. ”

Turning his head, the tavern keeper smiled at Richard, then reached out to an empty table against the wall and beckoned, "This guest, you can sit over there, it's quieter, you can think well." As for the bread, it will be delivered immediately. ”

"There is labor. Richard said, picked up the clear water and walked to the table against the wall, sat down and waited patiently.

After a while, the bread was delivered.

Richard picked it up and took a bite, and found that the taste was okay, and there was a faint sweetness, and it seemed that honey was really added - this is amazing - there are no captive-bred bees in the world at present, they are all wild, and it is risking your life to collect honey. The price of honey is extremely expensive, and according to the amount of honey added to the bread, the whole bread cannot be taken without a third of the silver coins, which is considered a very high-end product.

Thinking of this, Richard's favorability towards the tavern owner increased a little again, but that's all, there were no extra thoughts, and he continued to eat. While eating, I wondered if I was really going north by land, and if I was going north by land, it would be easier to do what to do.

At this time, a voice suddenly came from a table next to him, as if asking tentatively: "This ...... Sir, you're going north by land, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Richard turned his head to see more than a dozen people sitting at the table next to him.

The speaker, the leader of the group, was about forty years old, with dark skin and a beard, and a very friendly appearance—as friendly as a butcher who slaughtered a pig.

The other party's voice was a little gentle, and he said in a consultative tone: "Hello, this gentleman, I saw that you and the tavern owner had been talking for a long time just now, so I guess that you may want to go north, if you don't mind, come with us."

By the way, let me introduce myself, my name is Bard, and I am the leader of the Blue Feather Merchant Regiment, who came by boat from Locks in the south and wanted to go to Bingya in the north. When I got here, I was forced to go ashore because of the blockade of the sea and prepared to take the land route instead.

However, I heard that because there have been too many caravans and caravans by land recently, the security is not very good, so I specially hired a mercenary team to protect it. And the price of the mercenary team is really a bit high, and we have some difficulties to bear it ourselves, so we specially invite a lone wanderer like you to join us. Don't worry, I won't ask for too much, as long as you can pay for both of us...... Well, three silver coins are fine. What do you think?"

After speaking, the other party showed an expectant look.