Chapter 285：

The news of Arda's army landing on the upper reaches of the Weiss River quickly spread to Center, which caused a great shock in the largest city in the Northwest Gulf.

The Duke's Mansion immediately blocked the news, saying that it was just a rumor, released by the rebel alliance headed by Earl Parker to disturb the morale of the army and the people, and ordered that no one be allowed to discuss this matter.

But the people are still in panic, and the news continues to spread quietly in private. As the city where the Northwest Duke lives, Center has not experienced war for a long time. In this era, war means robbery, massacre, and women's humiliation. Many wealthy families have already planned to flee quietly.

In the hall of the Duke's Mansion, the atmosphere was heavy, and everyone waited silently for the arrival of the lord.

In the past few days, the series of victories Jayce has made here is full of laughter every day, but now I can't hear a single word.

In a small room at the back of the hall, Maltz Kent was discussing matters with his intelligence chief and Emerson.

"It's that fellow Graiman again!"

Maltz Kent gritted his teeth with hatred, and he gave the intelligence chief a dissatisfied look, the meaning of which was self-evident:

How? It took so much effort to hold him back for such a short time?

The intelligence chief was sweating profusely from this stare, and immediately defended himself:

"Your Excellency, it is very difficult to carry out intelligence work in Arda and Berding. The military service station, the militia, the farmers' association...Gleiman's military and political influence on the local area is getting stronger and stronger. Recently, he has also engaged in some public security. The system is responsible for the law and order in the territory. Moreover, his Government Council has also canceled a large number of exorbitant taxes, and the people's loyalty to the lord Graeman is increasing day by day. Those landlords in the countryside are not angry, and their fundamental interests have not been damaged. When it comes to directly confronting their own lords, they all shrank their heads."

"After the salt riots, Huxin Town took strict precautions against possible similar incidents. It would be extremely difficult to create a second incident."

Maltz was quite dissatisfied, and said coldly: "I don't want to hear any reason. I gave you money and resources, and you have to give me corresponding results. Otherwise... it's not just as simple as changing people. "

The intelligence chief shivered, and replied with fear: "Yes, Your Excellency the Duke."

Maltz sighed: "Oh, they are all useless..."

Emerson on the side asked: "Uncle, don't be too anxious. After all the lords are here, they will definitely be able to figure out a way to properly deal with the current situation."

"Huh!" Maltz said dissatisfiedly, "I don't know what they are thinking about when they come up with a **** method? When fighting against the wind, they scramble for the first, lest they lose their own benefits, and they hesitate to move forward when fighting against the wind." , It is my own people who are afraid of death. This group of people can be used but not conspired. Emerson, I plan to suspend the offensive of Biduobao, let Jaes return to the army, and first solve the matter in Fishtail Town. What do you think? How about it?"

Emerson thought for a while and said, "I don't think it's right. The siege of Biduobao is tight now, and a lot of troops and supplies have been invested. Once you give up the previous efforts, it will be in vain. And returning troops now will cause the morale of the army to fluctuate. Not to mention being exhausted in the two places, doesn't this show that something happened to our rear?"

"You're right, is there any other solution?"

"It's better to let the mercenaries who stayed in Center to train our longbowmen go to Fishtail Town, and lead our newly trained longbowmen to test the results of the training. We don't want to recover Fishtail Town immediately and stop them. That’s fine, wait until Fort Bidot is captured, and then concentrate our forces to wipe out or drive back Arda’s army.”

"Um…"

Maltz Kent stroked his beard and considered Emerson's plan.

"Okay, let's do it."

At this time, a servant came in and said cautiously: "Your Excellency, all the lords from all over the world are here, waiting for you to pass."

Maltz stood up and waved: "Go, you follow me, it's time to squeeze some more value from them."

The lords gathered in the hall finally waited for their Duke to arrive. They were already very anxious. Although the incident in Fishtail Town was treated as a rumor among the people, it was a real threat to those in power.

The Duke finally came.

"The siege of Fort Pitto cannot be withdrawn, so we need to organize another army to drive back the Arda people in the rear!"

The Duke's words caused everyone to complain, but there seemed to be no better way at the moment.

"There must be no less than 800 people in the earldom, no less than 400 people in the viscounty territory, and no less than 200 people in the baroniety!"

Maltz set the standards for each family to send troops, with a firm tone, and there was no room for flexibility.

"In addition, you must prepare your own dry food and weapons!"

…

It took a week for a huge army to gather in Center. The total number of soldiers sent by the lords from all over the country was as high as 5,000, plus the 1,000 people and mercenary troops recruited by Maltz Kent himself~www.novelhall .com~ The size of the army has reached more than 6,000 people.

Fergus sneered as he looked at the huge military formation on the school grounds.

"Your lord duke is too cautious! I heard that the Arda people who landed in Fishtail Town are only a little more than a thousand people, so how can you make such a big battle?"

He was the leader of another mercenary team invited by Emerson, but because he came late, he missed Jayce's expedition. Because Jays won consecutive battles, his team was not transferred to the front line, but stayed in Center City as an instructor to train longbowmen for the Duke's mansion. The Duke hoped to have a longbowman force under his complete control.

This made Fergus very dissatisfied, and Emerson secretly promised them that their remuneration would not shrink, which made them stay.

An officer sent by the Duke's Mansion to coordinate the mercenary force smiled helplessly. The sarcasm in the mercenary captain's words was too obvious.

"Captain Fergus, please be careful. Arda people's fire crossbow is not easy to deal with. Its range is not inferior to that of the longbow, but its power is even stronger. If we want to talk about its weakness, the only one is its slow rate of fire."

"And that terrible thunder hammer, it is simply the power bestowed by the gods, and it shakes the whole world, invincible!"

This officer had experienced the Battle of Bidowburg, and was impressed by the performance of the 1st and 3rd Infantry Battalions.

"and also…"

"And their fire crossbows can be used for melee combat. Soldiers are skilled in fighting, right?"

Before the officer finished speaking, Fergus said the rest for him, making the other party speechless for a while.

"Hmph! I'll let the people of Arda see who is the real king of land warfare."

The mercenary leader looked disdainful.

"Let that guy Doug know who is the number one team in the mercenary world!"