Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 531: Welcome, Prime Minister.

No one dared to stop the three divisions of the Legion of Thunder from moving forward, the dozen noble lands that must pass through the Nasserli region, the so-called lords were not seen at all, and there was no butler of the Fox Fake Tiger who came to protest against the destruction of something in the territory by the battalions of men and women to claim compensation. Instead, the poor colonial numbness stood on the side of the road watching the troops pass through the shitty town streets where they lived, leaving only horse shit all the way...

“I thought some short-sighted aristocrat could jump out and kill an example of a chicken monkey... looks like a smart guy, what a shame...” Claude sat on the horse muttering.

He earnestly hoped that there would be a territorial nobility to loudly accuse the officers and soldiers of the Legion of Thunder of causing damage to his property from the passage of his hereditary family territory. Claude would then be able to hang him on the gallows so that all the territorial nobles would understand what noble territory was in the face of powerful force. Even His Majesty's orders and intentions are nothing, not to mention the life of a small territorial nobleman...

Lieutenant Colonel Mason Hughes spoke with the three horsemen who came back before him, then turned his horse and drove back to Claude on a small ride: “Your Marshal, at the pavilion next to Ten Mile National Road in front, several local lords wanted to see you, and they set up a banquet to ask to see you..."

Well, are you finally here? Claude's spirit was vibrated and his heart said it was nothing more than to stop the road and persuade him to use the Kingdom's righteousness or something to dissuade me from marching against the King. If I don't like it, they will provoke me with a mouthful of yelling or something, and in the end, they will just kill Yippo, leaving me a beautiful name for loyalty and courage in the history books, and I will become the villain who killed loyalists...

“How many men and horses did they bring?” Claude asked.

“Horses?” Lieutenant Colonel Mason Hughes returned to God after a half-day of confusion: "No, Marshal, those lords did not bring any horses, and the pavilion was accompanied by several waiters. The scouts questioned their intentions and said they wanted to ask for your reception in order to talk business with you..."

Business? Claude stunned, a few territorial aristocrats, wanting to talk business with himself...

“Show me.” Claude said.

Six Territorial nobles, of the highest stature, like Claude, are hereditary counts of the kingdom. They're really here to do business with Claude, and as for the Thunder Legion, it's none of their business, and they're now concerned with their heritage family territory, not their kingdom. So what they're going to do with Claude is they're really going to have to talk to Claude, and no one else has the right to do it. They were hoping that the overseas autonomous leaders would sell them new rifles so that they could form a family armed with a local presence.

“I will not hide it from you, Marshal,” said Count Hebrews, headed by him, bluntly: "His Majesty has granted almost all the nobility of the kingdom to the Nasserly region, which can only remain stable for a maximum of four or five years. The Nasseri region would then be the scene of a territorial war between the nobles of the territories, because the territorial war between the lords, which the Royal Army could not intervene in, was a matter for the nobles of the territories themselves, and His Majesty the King could only arbitrate and not send an army to stop it.

We want to form an elite family armed to defend ourselves, and now the most elite army in the kingdom is the Legion of Thunder and the Legion of Rock under the command of His Excellency the Marshal. So we hope that His Excellency the Marshal will agree to sell us the active equipment of the Overseas Autonomous Territories so that we can have an elite family armament to ensure that our territory is inviolable and inviolable, and we are willing to pay any price for that... "

Claude had no idea that the aristocrats of the Territories really wanted to do an arms business with the overseas autonomous territories, but he now had to push the Wangdu side of the matter unresolved, unable to make his own decisions. He also promised, however, that the sale of new weapons and equipment would be discussed at a later meeting of the autonomous territories and that they would be informed of the outcome at the earliest opportunity.

By nighttime camping, Claude asked what was going on with the Territorial War, and then Deputy Mason Hughes really knew something. He told Claude that the Territorial War was a family war between the nobles of the two territories, where the winners annexed the territory of the losers and expanded the sphere of influence in their own territories. Two adjacent territories, where there are more disputes over the amount of irrigated water in a stream or over the territorial boundaries of a cabin in a tree, naturally clash and eventually lead to the emergence of a territorial war.

The lords of both sides summoned horses and friends of the Hooper came to support the fight, and the winners ate. In ancient times, the two sides also held trials of the Duel of God, in which each side produced a knight to fight in the Temple of War. The winner takes away the territory of the loser, or the loser becomes an accessory to the winner, swears allegiance to the winner in public before the god of war, and is made a monarch, after which he shall not disobey the will of the monarch. It can be said that a territorial war is a war between the nobles of a territory that annexes each other and strengthens their own power...

Turns out Claude suddenly realized, but he had no interest in this so-called territorial war, nothing more than hundreds of people fighting at the village level. He turned to Colonel Mason Hughes and asked him how the three divisions of the Legion of Thunder had reacted and responded to the Queen. Does the Red Dragon Corps and the Lion Vulture Corps have any mobility initiatives?

“No,” replied Lieutenant Colonel Mason Hughes, "we did not receive any reply to the hawk message we sent to Wangdu. And the Red Dragon Regiment and the Lizard Regiment stationed at the border between the mainland of the Kingdom and the Nasserly area remain in their camps, without any unusual moves or mobilization of armaments for pre-war mobilization..."

“What is the current state of the Rock Regiment in the Royal City of Polyvisia? ”

“The first division of the Rock Regiment left the Royal City of Polyvisia three days ago and was led by General Bitchcline to the Odin Mountains. Before the operation, he sent a message to the Legion Command stating that the city of Amis was still under the control of armed guards in our autonomous territory. He had ordered the seventeenth local guard regiment to send two battalions to occupy the Odin Mountains until the arrival of the Rock First Division. According to the itinerary, even if the Rock 1st Division carries all its troops by wagon, it will take sixteen days to reach the Odin Mountains.

In addition, General Bitchklin asked in a telegram, if Wang used the Red Dragon Legion and the Lizard Legion to intercept the direction of Thunder Legion at the Kingdom's mainland border and clash erupted, would he lead the First Division of the Rock Legion directly to Wang Du, or would he cooperate with the Thunder Legion to completely annihilate the Red Dragon Legion and the Lizard Legion from behind the mainland border of the Kingdom? ”Lieutenant Colonel Mason Hughes flipped the notebook he was carrying and reported.

Instead of marching, people are using human messengers to convey information and messages. The biggest problem with hawk messengers is that the hawks in the sky are unable to confirm whether the troops marching on the ground are the targets of the messengers and can only communicate between the positions.

Claude shrugged for a moment: "I doubt the king will use the Red Dragon Corps and the Lizard Corps to intercept our march. If His Majesty and the Prime Minister are sober, they should understand that neither regiment will be tied together as rivals to the three divisions of our Legion of Thunder. It has been made clear in our message to Wangdu's hawk that any action that blocks us will be considered a declaration of war against our overseas autonomous territories.

Wang would never dare to start another war at this time, nor would they have the gas to defeat our Thunder Legion and the Rock Legion. If the Red Dragon Legion and the Lizard Legion did come to intercept our way forward, it would mean that both kings have changed. There is a real risk that our arrested parliamentarians and representatives of the Duke will be in danger.

So, you send people to the Royal City of Polyvoria, and you send hawks from there to Amis City, and then you send the hawks there to find General Bitchcline. If the war does happen, order him to lead the Rock First Division straight into the capital. Destroy the guard regiment stationed in the capital, and don't give the king more time to prepare for war or carry out an evacuation... "

In fact, the closer we get to the Kingdom's own borders, the more nervous Claude gets. Because once the Red Dragon Legion and the Lizard Legion set out to intercept the three divisions of the Thunder Legion from marching towards the King, it means that the King has made up his mind to fight this battle. Even if Claude was confident that he could easily crush or annihilate the two regiments in front of him, he couldn't take off a kingdom rebel hat.

In this age of supremacy, even if His Majesty the King made a mistake, he should not have volatilized as a prince, which is a veritable act of treason. Even though Claude used the pretext of travelling to Wangdu to escort the 30 million gold kroner of the overseas autonomous territories and parliamentarians and representatives of the marquis officers back to the overseas autonomous territories, it seemed to many to be a flagrant rebellion to forcibly enter the capital without the permission of His Majesty the King and the Royal Ministry of the Army.

Claude has made a decision in his heart. It's no big deal. If the king is really going to wage war, then this time he will uproot the entire Sterling royal family and destroy the kingdom. As for what to do in the future, there must be a way to get to the mountains, and then we will call the members of the National Assembly and the aristocratic senators to discuss it. The republican system is actually good...

Without the Sterling royal family, you don't have to be guilty of treason. A hundred years from now, perhaps the descendants will celebrate themselves as tomb diggers of the old dynasty, founders of the republic or something. Like overseas autonomous territories, no one is king, no one is on top of him, no one is nobler, equal in decision-making, this system of autonomous councils is already a republican and democratic system...

“Report!” Lieutenant Colonel Mason Hughes interrupted Claude's distraction: “General Albert on the front line sent a messenger saying that smoothly across the border, the Red Dragon Corps and the Lizard Corps remained in their own camp without any anomalies...”

Well, Claude was happy first, but then he felt a little sad. I was ready for a big war, but I didn't anticipate it. Red Dragon Legion and the Lion Vulture Legion. What's going on? Whether Wang Du didn't want to start a war, didn't give any instructions, or whether Wang Du had sent the will to intercept it, but the two regiments knew they were invincible, didn't want to be ordered to attack, and buried their own strength for nothing, so the soldiers didn't move...

If the former is the case and neither regiment has been given any instructions, then it is clear that the King wants to resolve the incident peacefully and acquiesce in the excuse of the Legion of Thunder. Perhaps by the time the Legion of Thunder arrived in Wang Du, the arrested parliamentarians and representatives of the marquis officers had been released and 30 million gold kroner had been returned. Then the Legion of Thunder can all turn back and leave the King on his way back...

If the king had given the Red Dragon Legion and the Lion Vulture Legion the will to send troops to intercept the Thunder Legion, the two Legions did not move against orders. Then it is clear that if there is a battle under the capital, the two regiments will sit idly by while the Sterling royal family is destroyed. This suggests that the so-called direct authority of the two regiments to the Sterling royal family is just empty promises, and that there are other masters and masters behind them...

Claude thought for half a day and still didn't understand what was going on with the Red Dragon Legion and the Lizard Legion. But now that the troops have crossed the border, they do not have to continue to grapple with the problem themselves, the Red Dragon Corps and the Lizard Corps have become a thing of the past. The next step is to see if the troops arrive in the Ibnister Plains and will encounter resistance from the Guardian Corps stationed in King's Capital...

“Keep moving!” Claude said.

Two days later, the fourth division of the Legion of Thunder arrived in the Plains of Ibnister and stopped. General Albert sent an urgent message from a messenger, and the Marquis of Blancat, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, welcomed the arrival of the officers and soldiers of the Legion of Thunder and arranged a cantonment camp for the troops.

“What do you mean?” Claude's a little confused. What the hell is King doing here? It always sounds very strange that the Prime Minister of the Kingdom is here to greet the arrival of the troops. After repeatedly questioning the messenger, confirming that no guard corps officers had been found around the troops, Claude began to wonder if Wang had obeyed the defeat at the outset and did not intend a war with the Legion of Thunder.

“Take Me to the Prime Minister" Claude decided to meet with the Prime Minister, who came to greet him, to find out what was going on.

Thundering 4th Division has set up the camp, and Claude leads the guards straight to the camp. As soon as the curtains were lifted, General Albert, along with several senior officers from the Fourth Division, was accompanied by a tall man with a red face and an eight-word beard wearing regular clothes, laughing.

As soon as Claude entered the bill, General Albert and the senior officers hurried to salute him. General Albert reported: "Marshal, we were just about to go to the Chinese army after dinner to ask for your reception. This is the Marquis Blancat, Prime Minister of the Kingdom, who claims to have something important to discuss with you..."

Claude nodded at the tall man, unloaded his outer cape and threw it at the next Colonel Mason Hughes, and shot the shooter: “I was also hoping to come and find out about the operational arrangements for the King's army tomorrow. It would be an honor to meet the Prime Minister of the Kingdom here. But you can put everything else away first. I'm really hungry and cold on my way here. It's a half-day breeze on the horse. It's better to give me some hot soup or something before I fill my stomach..."

So a bowl of potato stewed beef soup was placed in front of Claude, along with four hot, roasted black loaves of bread. Claude didn't think so either, chewing bread slices in the mouth, sipping potato soup in the mouth, and signaling to the Prime Minister of the Kingdom that the army was eating poorly and slowing down the honorable guests...

Ten minutes later, Claude filled his stomach, indicating that he could withdraw the unfinished food, the senior officers stood up and retired, leaving only Claude, Prime Minister Blancat and General Albert in the camp tent. Lieutenant Colonel Mason Hughes took two bottles of fruit wine in front of Claude and retreated outside the camp tent.

Claude opened the lid of the fruit wine and poured three glasses of wine, which is why he said to Prime Minister Blanchard: "This is the first time we've met, Prime Minister. I've heard so much about you. Especially your five-year plan to revive the Kingdom's economy, which is amazing to me, really fits the current realities of the Kingdom. If it can be implemented, it will only take 10 years, and the Kingdom will be the most powerful country in the Farea continent..."

“Thank you, Marshal, for failing to honor you.” Prime Minister Blancard gently adorned the liquor with a taste in his mouth before slowly swallowing it, as can be seen from his taste of wine: “In fact, you understand that a large part of my five-year programme to revive the economy of the Kingdom is actually based on the economic development strategies of the overseas autonomous territories. And the Autonomous Leader today, Your Excellency the Marshal, has done a great deal of work in it...”

Claude Haha laughed, “I'm just a martial arts man, I just know war, and the rest of it is just fabricated rumors. Well, Prime Minister, we don't have to brag about each other. Or just a little bit, we want to know, how do you want to solve this incident? ”

Chancellor Blanchard did not expect Claude to suddenly go in with a single knife and ask directly about the final solution to the incident. He stunned for a moment, but immediately returned to God and slowly drank the fruit wine from the glass. Nor did Claude and General Albert rush, watching him silently finish his fruit wine.

“In fact, the Kingdom has done its utmost good.” Prime Minister Blancat spoke at his discretion: "His Majesty has acquiesced in the pretext of your outgoing kings and has not instructed the Red Dragon Corps and the Lion Vulture Corps to intercept you. You should know that a number of officers in the Royal Army Ministry and the three regiments saw your announcement very angry and thought that your overseas autonomous leaders had not even taken His Majesty into account. Without permission, they applied to intercept your approach to Wang Du, but all were instructed by His Majesty to press down..."

Claude grinned, “So can we reach the Plains of Ibnister or rely on your mercy? Cut the crap. Let's be honest. Honestly, how did this happen? Why are we marching to Wangdu? Don't you have any idea what your foolish queen has done? We're not fighting right now. You should be happy with your reason, otherwise I can assure you there will be no more Sterling royal family after this war..."