"Is that Golden Spike City?" Iron Axe turned his goggles and looked at a gray-brown city in the distance.

"According to the map, it should be it, after all, there is only one Sanwan River, and it is unlikely that it will be wrong in the direction. Adjutant Xiong Paw replied. Like Iron Axe, he was born as a hunter in the border town, and he was one of the first people to serve the lord.

"It's kind of weird......" he frowned.

"What's the weirdness?"

"Golden Spike City is the main city in the east, and it is also a major trading center of the Gray Castle, the old royal capital, the Eagle City, and the Golden Spike City, the three of which constitute the prosperous central region of the kingdom, and even I heard its name when I was in the extreme south. "But don't you think we've encountered a pitiful number of merchant ships in the past few days?"

"I don't know," Bearpaw shrugged, "probably because the previous pirate attacks scared the merchants out of their minds and didn't dare to trade here anymore." ”

"The attack was two years ago, and no matter how serious the looting was at the time, it should have been resumed. ”

The walls are ugly and bloated, the brown walls seem to have been deliberately widened, perhaps due to a lack of stone, and the newly built exterior walls are made of red mud with a lot of rubble and wood, somewhat like the rubble walls of the early frontier towns. In addition to this, the surface of the city wall was covered with a layer of shiny things, and due to the distance, the iron axe could not be seen very clearly.

The old and new walls were stacked on top of each other, more than doubling the width of the top of the wall, but the transformation was not very thorough, and some parts were still the same as before, looking rough and potholed from a distance, not at all like a city known for its wealth.

"Whatever, just take it," Bear Paw took out a fire lantern fruit from his bosom and threw it into his mouth, "Even if it's not Golden Spike City, but Silver Spike City and Iron Spike City, Your Majesty's order is to sweep the entire eastern border, right? ”

Iron Axe shook his head helplessly, this guy is still the same as before, he rarely thinks more than three breaths, and the most common thing he does when he encounters a target is to pounce on him with a javelin. While the other hunters were still laying traps and releasing hounds to track their prey, he had already returned with the fruits of the hunt. Legend has it that even the most feared black bear in the forest was reluctant to provoke him too much, hence the title Bear's Paw.

If he had been willing to use his brains more, he would not still be an adjutant by now, and even that guy from Vanna would already be the commander-in-chief of the artillery battalion.

"But the battle process is not the point, the focus is on how to deal with the aftermath," but the next words of the bear paw made Iron Axe feel a little surprised, "If we make a mess of the East, the city hall will definitely find us trouble, but if we don't do anything about it, it will be difficult for those officials to even stand on their feet." Has Your Majesty explained how to behave?"

"No, he just told me to deal with the situation. ”

"That's a headache. Of course, you are the boss, so this matter naturally has to be left to you to consider, and I will do it. Bear Paw grinned.

Iron Axe couldn't help but be interested, "Oh, where is the headache?"

"You really don't know or you're testing me," Bear Paw cupped his forehead, "Of course it's a headache how to deal with those nobles." Dongjing has not waited for a turnaround until now, His Majesty's strength is getting stronger and stronger, and there will definitely not be only one voice within them. When the time comes to take the city, most of the people will surrender, and then trouble will come. How can you tell them apart without Lord Nightingale?"

"Go on," Iron Axe nodded, and it seemed that the other party was not completely brainless.

"Hey, you don't really think about it," Bear's Paw widened his eyes, "The Eastern Front Army itself is not large, and the number of troops that can stay behind is very limited, at most it will take care of an inner city, but this is the base camp of Tifeko! Those nobles are willing to fully cooperate with us after surrendering, what if they have bad intentions and are always thinking about seizing power? Even a handful of such people can make the East unpeaceful- As soon as the army leaves, the city hall will be a trivial matter, and if it is serious, it will be difficult for the officials sent by the city hall to survive. Poisoning, assassination, bribery...... These means are not something that muskets can defend against. ”

"What do you think?" said Iron Axe curiously.

"Boss, it's your business," Bearpaw rolled his eyes and spat the chewed seeds into the tumbling river.

"Let's just assume that now you are the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front Army, just talk about it. ”

"Hmm......" The other party pondered for a while before sighing, "There's no good way, if the nightingale can't come, you can only rely on time to tell." Or buy more rats, take precautions, and then follow the methods of Neverwinter, get some kind of police force to maintain order, and use as few surrendered nobles as possible, and drag it out until the war is over. ”

"Sure enough......" Iron Axe whispered.

"What?"

"No, it's nothing," he put away his goggles, "it's none of your business here, go tell the rest of the boats and get ready to land, we're approaching the docks on the outskirts." ”

"Understood!" As soon as the battle was mentioned, Xiongpaw immediately came to his senses, "After floating on the river for so long, I can finally do it!"

Looking at the back of the adjutant rushing away, the iron axe exhaled and leaned over in front of the porthole of the command room, thinking thoughtfully.

He couldn't help but think of the day before the army left, when Edith talked to him.

The meeting place was in the private room of the tavern opened by Evelyn, which really didn't look like a place to talk about business, Iron Axe thought that the other party planned to wish the operation a victory as an official of the Ministry of Defense, and by the way, he was familiar with the relationship with the army, but he didn't expect that there was only one person in the private room, and what he said was shocking enough.

The content of the conversation between the two happened to be the "headache" that Xiongpaw nagged.

He still remembers every word the other party said.

"Why do you think Your Majesty would put you in charge of the Eastern Front?" Edith's opening remarks surprised him.

"I just obey orders and don't ask why. ”

"But the order won't explain every detail, especially when it comes to things that aren't easy to mention," the Northland Pearl said methodically as she sipped her Chaos drink, "The answer in your mind is because no one else can be in charge except you, but is that really the case? What is the level of strength of those men in the East, you should know better than me that any regular army of five or six hundred men can crush them devastatingly, in other words, a commander at the level of battalion commander is enough to deal with the war on the Eastern Front." On the contrary, the Western Front had to deal with the holy city of Hermes, which was not only complicated, but also much more dangerous. If it is not for special reasons, it is appropriate for you to assist Your Majesty in commanding the Western Front Army and hand over the Eastern Front Army to someone else. ”

"......" Iron Axe didn't answer at the time, but he vaguely agreed with Edith's statement in his heart.

"As for this particular reason, it is actually very simple, and that is your attitude towards the nobility. The other party continued, "As a citizen of Mojinsha, you will not have an inexplicable fear and tolerance for the nobles of the Grey Castle, and the key to recovering the eastern frontier is how to deal with the rebellious nobles. ”

Her analysis was about the same as what Bearpaw had said, but it was much more detailed—so detailed that Iron Axe couldn't help but believe that it was impossible to restore stability to the East with ordinary methods alone.

His Majesty needs people and resources, and he doesn't have that much time to spend on a bunch of scum.

The only problem is ......Your Majesty has not explained this." ”

"Of course not, Your Majesty is the Lord of Mercion after all, so there are some things that can only be done by us," Edith said slowly, "but he is not without hints - the town hall has sent a total of two hundred and sixty-five men to accompany the army, and they are all administrators that His Majesty has cultivated with great difficulty to take over the lands that need to be reclaimed. And the Eastern Front accounted for more than two-thirds of the total number, and you should be able to understand why. ”

Iron Axe remembers that moment was like a bolt of lightning slicing through his heart.

"Don't let your majesty down. Edith concluded.

"My lord, the preparations for the landing of the First Army have been completed, and the fleet can dock at any time!" Suddenly, his subordinates' report interrupted his thoughts.

Iron Axe took a deep breath and ordered in a deep voice, "Go ashore and set up camp and prepare to attack the city!"