Chapter 684 – The Approaching Enemy Army

“Cheers, General.”

“Cheers, Duke.”

The crystal clear glasses gently clinked together, making a crisp and pleasant sound.

Schroeder and Henry Ferdinand, Duke of the Northwest, each drank the wine in their glasses.

The Arda Expeditionary Army had just traveled to Sente, the capital of the ducal territory of Manda, where it was briefly resting.

Schroeder had just entered the city and Henry had thrown a banquet to entertain him.

Although he thought it was out of place himself, Schroeder was not in a position to brush off the Duke’s honor, so he came in full gear.

However, the banquet was not all about eating and drinking.

One of Manda’s armies was accompanying Arda’s army, and the duke wanted to discuss matters with Schroeder.

The Ferdinand family with the dukedom is the nominally highest-ranking family in the Northwest Bay, the kingdom is in trouble, the place of the incident is still neighboring their own territory, the duke is obliged to contribute a hand.

“Come here, Garrett!”

A young man was called into view by the duke, and the lad looked at Schroeder with admiration.

“General, I present to you Garret Ferdinand, the finest young man of the new generation of our family, who will follow you on this expedition; feel free to make use of him.”

Garrett snapped his heels together and gave an Arda-style military salute towards Schroeder.

“General, I will saddle up and serve you.”

Schroeder patted him on the shoulder and said encouragingly, “I look forward to seeing you shine in the upcoming battles.”

As a matter of fact, during the phase of preparation for the expedition, many families in the Northwest Gulf wanted to stuff their young sons into the Northwest Army.

For example, Viscount Derek Heller of the Heller family was the first to express such a wish, and finally got his way after softly persuading him.

Young noblemen like him were eager to take the plunge, following the millennia-old tradition of building up a war record that would lead to greater glory and higher titles for them and their families.

Despite the fact that Schroeder, who has experience in fighting orcs, has repeatedly affirmed to them the risks that they may encounter in the future, they still can’t stop this powerful enthusiasm.

In a way, this is also a kind of trust, built on the combat strength of Arda’s army.

Lakeheart had to create a supernumerary combat system for this group. Although it was supernumerary, in order to facilitate cooperation and command, it still managed to be as consistent as possible with Alda’s style in terms of designation, naming many armies that did not belong to each other according to their territories of origin as so-and-so independent companies or something like that.

Of course, not everyone’s sons and daughters are accepted into the army; they must swear on their family’s honor to abide by the rules of the Aldar army and be willing to suffer the consequences of violating them.

At the same time, they must also prove that they have the strength to settle their own supplies, or pay a large sum of money for the Aldar army to do so on their behalf.

After the business was done, Henry began to make small talk with Schroeder, who talked about several anecdotes that had recently occurred in his domain.

“General, do you remember Maltz Kent?”

“The usurper, what happened?”

“Wasn’t he buried in Senter? But just a few days ago, we had a thunderstorm here, and a huge thunderbolt fell from the sky and actually hit his grave. After the thunderstorm, that scene …… tsk tsk tsk, you are not seeing it.”

Henry took a sip of wine and said happily, “Maltz’s entire tomb was directly blown flat, and there was only a big pit left there, with the coffin and burial goods all reduced to pieces.”

Schroeder was a bit incredulous, “To think that such a thing could have happened, could it be that grave robbers did it and camouflaged the scene afterward.”

Henry said with certainty: “It’s true, the grave guard saw it with his own eyes, that’s a good man who is loyal, honest and reliable, and won’t lie.”

Schroeder shook his head, “That’s poignant.” Henry, however, was very relieved and happy.

In private, he was almost taken by Maltz the name of the duke, in public, it is also because Maltz such a mess, so that the whole Ferdinand family prestige plummeted, in the Northwest Bay is no longer the previous position.

He raised his eyebrows and said: ”This shows what? This shows that this guy Maltz is so guilty that a simple death is no longer enough to atone for his sins, and it is only because the Lord of Light has sent down a thunderbolt in continuing to punish him.”

“If I had known this, I shouldn’t have given him a scenic burial for the sake of decency at that time, it was really a waste of a fortune.”

“Lord Duke!”

Henry was about to continue humiliating Maltz Kent when he was interrupted by the sudden arrival of the attendant.

“What has happened to warrant such a panic?”

The Lord Duke, who was on a roll, was upset.

“A knight, claiming to be from the Knights of the King’s Capital, has requested an audience with you. He said he brought important information from the original of the Black Stone.”

Henry and Schroeder looked at each other.

The Knights of the King’s Capital, again from the Origin of the Black Stone, already spoke for itself.

“Tell him to wait for me in the small parlor.”

Half an hour later, a depressing atmosphere filled the small parlor within the Duke’s residence.

There were only three people here, Schroeder, Henry Ferdinand, and the uninvited guest from earlier, a knight named Miso.

The knight had finished, and the entire group fell into a kind of anxious silence.

Schroeder’s expression stiffened.

“I didn’t realize we’d have to face such a bad situation before we even drove beyond the boundaries of the Northwest Gulf.”

Henry, on the other hand, had panicked and droned on with his hands:

“Not …… is there any mistake? Those steppe barbarians who don’t even have writing can defeat the Knights of the King’s Capital? Oh, there is also a large number of Lords of the Plains of Black Stone? You guys …… you just lost?”

Looking at Knight Miso nodding his head speechlessly, the Duke Lord was about to break down.

The opponent’s words just now portrayed a terrifying scenario. After defeating the kingdom’s army in the Sunset Valley, the orc army utilized their superior cavalry to drive in long and long and swept in all directions, while the lords of the Plains of the Black Stone were not their opponents at all, and either died in battle or fled, or …… surrendered, allowing the orc army to grow stronger and stronger like a snowball.

“They tend to pop up from unexpected places and pick your weakest point to launch a fatal strike. Sometimes you’ve already set up the battlefield, but the orc cavalry has long since circled around to the rear to go on a slaughter spree, while the army on the front line will be in a state of military disarray.”

“When finally able to face each other head on, although the kingdom’s soldiers are brave, the orcs’ rounds of mounted assaults will sap their will and magnify the fear in their hearts exponentially, causing the entire army formation to collapse.”

From Knight Miso’s helpless and fearful expression, one could imagine how bad the kingdom’s army had been experiencing lately.

Schroeder looked at Henry.

“Your Excellency the Duke, we must speed up, we must hold back the orc army at the border.”

“General, you are right!”

Henry couldn’t agree more.

After all, Manda was the land to the east of the Northwest Gulf Capital now.

If they could not keep the enemy at bay, the Ferdinand family would be the first to meet the storm.