"What? The Duchy of the Purple Rose has been captured! In the spacious castle hall, the old man on the tiger skin chair exclaimed with a dull face. He didn't notice at all that the glass in his hand, which was filled with fine red wine from the city of London, which was called the "Overseas Treasure City" by all the merchants of the Northwest Continent, had fallen out of his hand and shattered on the ground.

"Yes, Lord Duke! The city of Maradoga, the capital of the Duchy of the Purple Rose, and the two most important resource towns, Sack and Portorodo, have all been captured. Kneeling on one knee in front of the old man, a soldier wearing light chain mail with the word 'London' on it suppressed the shock and fear in his heart, and said in a slightly trembling tone. The soldiers standing on both sides of him guarding the old man and several middle-aged and young men in decent cloth clothes all looked at the soldier with disbelief on their faces after hearing the soldier's answer, and their mouths were slightly open as they looked at the soldier who had sent the message.

"Then tell me! How many days has it been since the Dukedom of the Purple Rose fell! Why could I have bought this bottle of wine from that old fellow's son the other day? Although the defense capability of his city is not the strongest in the northwest territory of the empire, it can at least hold out until the reinforcements of the various dukes and counts come! "A leader who has been in politics for many years, although he was shocked by the information that the border sergeant in front of him said at the beginning, he was able to react immediately after a short pause, and immediately judged that this matter would definitely not be related to the dukes and counts within the Lancer Empire. Although the princes of the northwest were divided and generally ignored the rulers of the Ranster Empire, this did not mean that these people would be stupid enough to challenge a man who held the command of tens of thousands of soldiers. Every prince in the northwest knows that even if all the forces in the northwest are added up against the forces owned by the royal family of the Ranster Empire, the best effect is only to be wiped out after defeating a few legions of the opponent. So to sum up, the enemy is definitely foreign, and its strength is definitely very strong, as for the degree of strength, the old man has no bottom in his heart, but his intuition tells him that the enemy's strength is definitely very dangerous.

“……………… Lord Duke, although I can't believe this news, but after we verified the answers reported by several Imperial citizens who escaped from the Dukedom of the Purple Rose, I have to admit this fact, the invaders captured the city of Maradoga, plus the combined time of the towns of Sack and Flu Rodo............. it only took about 1 day at most, no, to be exact, it only took one dark night! After giving another answer, the sergeant paused deliberately, waiting for the surrounding people to digest some information before continuing: "3 days ago! On the night after our trading caravan returned from the city of Maradoga, Lord Duke of Spotted Tiger, the city of Maradoga was attacked by land and water, although the inhabitants who escaped did not see the pattern of the invaders' banner except that they knew that the invaders were humans, but ............ However, it is said that the invaders' troops were not only larger than the number of troops possessed by the Duke of Purple Rose, but also possessed very strong siege weapons, and ............ It seems that there are also rumors that the invaders have a sea monster army! ”

"Professional troops, siege weapons, sea monsters to help.................. If this is the case, then it is also a fact that the Purple Rose Collar with a radius of less than 50,000 kilometers is occupied, but it can block the information for 3 days............ Answer me, the invaders' army must have cavalry units, otherwise I don't believe that the people of the Empire, who are good at mountain warfare, will not be able to escape the pursuit of those people. ”

"Yes! Your Excellency the Duke is right, I know from the mouths of the citizens that the invaders did have a semi-professional cavalry force, and the number of them was definitely as large as one cavalry team, and it was well equipped, no worse than the cavalry of those inland kingdoms. ”

“……… So how are the invaders reacting now, and are they expanding around the Duchy of the Purple Rose? ”

"There is no sign of this at the moment, it seems that those invaders are reintegrating the inhabitants of the Duchy of Purple Rose and carrying out restoration construction, and it seems that those invaders have no intention of continuing to expand."

"So the invaders want to divide the Duke of Purple Rose from the Lancester Empire, and the comers are not good, but judging from all sources, it is very likely that it is the force that occupies the Duke of Purple Rose, and no country in the Northwest Continent is willing to cultivate a semi-professional cavalry force, but if it is really that force, what should I, or the Empire, do? You must know that the Lu Dao Empire can now develop inland, and the military expenses required are all dependent on the monopoly sale of porcelain, red wine, pearls and other things, and the food and weapons needed by the army are also dependent on .................. Then you go down first, except for the members of the Spotted Tiger family, everyone else should also go down, put aside the Duke of Purple Rose in advance, and now make every effort to strengthen the defense of the road leading to the Duke of Purple Rose, if necessary, build a defensive belt............."

"Yes!" When all the sergeants and soldiers present left the castle hall, a young man who was standing in the hall hurriedly stepped forward and asked anxiously, "Grandpa!" What now? Although our Spotted Tiger Dukedom is stronger than the Purple Rose Dukedom in terms of the strength of the army and the city's defense capabilities, and the town is the only one in the town, Tiger Fort, which will not need to disperse the army like the Purple Rose Dukedom, but if it is really as the sergeant said, if the enemy has strong siege weapons, I am afraid ..............."

"Don't be careful, if things are the same as I think, I think the invaders should be coming for a certain product, that thing is currently only in the territory of the old guy of Purple Rose, and now that the invaders have occupied the territory of Purple Rose, then the invaders should not continue to expand inland.................."

"Grandpa, do you know who the intruder is?"

“…………… Overseas treasure city. ”

"What! They're fighting without declaring it! It should be sanctioned by all forces in the Northwest! They ............."

"Child, let me ask you, is the rumored Empire of the Sun Never Setting considered a powerful force in the Northwest Continent before it occupied the Dukedom of the Purple Rose?"

"Uh......... Probably not. The young man shook his head and said.

"That's it! And in the Northwest Continent, are those other kingdoms willing to help the empire fight against foreign enemies, or do they sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and let the mysterious empire on which the sun never sets consume the strength of our empire? ”

“……………… They will choose the latter............ So what now? ”

"What to do? One word, wait! And I think the other dukes and counts, including the other dukes and counts, made the same decision as I did when they heard this message. ”