Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 506: Carrot Meeting

After the engineers on the parade ground cleared the snow off the hull of the "Orel", they pulled over a huge "Meursault invisible satin" to cover the entire chariot, so that the "Orel" merged into the white snow behind it.

Xia Houyan and Sean Mountbatten smoked cigars and watched the entire process of the engineers' work.

"Have you memorized the entire map of the federal troop garrisons that I brought back from Thorn City?" Xiahou Yan asked leisurely.

"Yes, lord." Sean nodded. "I and three senior staff officers have memorized the entire garrison map. After we memorized it, the map was burned immediately. Not a single slag was left."

"Very good. Remember, don't leak this to the Imperial Army." Xiahou Yan warned, "When the siege comes, we in Frost Maple Ridge will definitely participate. With the orcs' military deployment intelligence, we can find a way to pick a direction where the Federation's defense is weak. But if the Empire also gets this garrison map, it will be hard to say."

"I understand." Sean hesitated for a moment and asked, "Hasn't even Archduke Rosario informed you about the garrison map?"

When Sean asked this question, Xiahou Yan became a little hesitant.

From the history of Frost Maple Ridge, Grand Duke Grimm Rosario is definitely an old friend of the Igor family. If it weren't for Grand Duke Rosario's help, Frost Maple Ridge would never have developed as smoothly as it is today.

However, Grimm Rosario was not one of Frost Maple Ridge's own people after all: Grand Duke Rosario had his own territory, his own army, and his own responsibilities and obligations to the Empire and His Majesty the Emperor. Xiahou Yan knew very well that if one day the Grand Duke needed to make a choice between Rose City and Frost Maple Ridge, the Igor family would definitely be the one abandoned by Grimm Rosario.

All of this made Xiahou Yan always secretly wary and cautious of Grand Duke Rosario: the Grand Duke was a mature politician, and it was impossible for him not to know the truths of "no reward without merit" and "no free lunch in the world". All along, Grimm Rosario did not clearly state his motives for actively helping Frost Maple Ridge, and at the same time tested and used Frost Maple Ridge with various strange tasks.

Xiahou Yan knew that no matter how much dirty work Frost Maple Ridge had done for Grimm Rosario, he and Grand Duke Rosario still had different goals. One day, the debt of favor owed by the Igor family to Rose City would finally be repaid.

He only hoped that when that day finally came, he and the Grand Duke would not be forced into a cruel situation that no one wanted to see.

  So, at this moment, facing Sean's question, Xia Houyan finally answered:

“No, not even to Archduke Grimm Rosario or the Eastern Army.”

Sean Mountbatten nodded heavily.

"Speaking of Grand Duke Rosario..." Sean thought for a moment and reminded the Lord, "The Empire is going to reopen the 'War Council'. Are you aware of this?"

Xiahou Yan uttered a noncommittal “hmm”.

According to imperial convention, once troops under multiple lords are involved in a military operation, a "War Council" composed of various princes and commanders of the imperial standing army must be convened in wartime to decide major war decisions by voting.

During the period after the Sixth War, the Eastern, Central and Northern Empire Army divisions were mainly responsible for the offensive and defensive missions in the East. The war decisions were made entirely by the headquarters of various fronts and the Imperial Army. Therefore, there was no "War Council" at all.

However, soon after retaking the Bloody Front, His Majesty Basil III began to recruit private soldiers from the lords of the major territories within the territory, hoping to use the local troops of each territory to fill the gaps in the damage suffered by the standing army, and ultimately to gather the strength of the entire empire to capture the holy city of Thorn City in one go.

Therefore, during this period of time, above the narrow bloody front area, in addition to the flags of the old acquaintances, the Eastern Army and the Central Army, there were also various territory flags, and troops from all over the empire entered the front line one after another.

——The City of Thorns is both a religious holy city and an economic powerhouse. As long as His Majesty Basil III gives an order, there will naturally be many lords willing to send troops to help and participate in this new era of the Crusades: after all, those who die on the front line will only be ordinary soldiers recruited from the people in various territories, and once the City of Thorns is captured, it will be these imperial lords who will reap the honor and wealth.

Because the size of the Imperial Army had expanded rapidly in just two or three months due to the addition of troops from various territories, discussions on whether to reopen the "War Parliament" once again became popular: after all, the major lords had sent out their own capital, and they certainly needed to have some say in the decision-making level, otherwise they would not even know how the Imperial Army was trying to trick them.

Amid the clamor of various princes, the imperial family and the imperial military held back for nearly two months, and only gave in seven or eight days ago and agreed to convene a "War Council" for the siege of Thorn City. At that time, all the heads of the imperial territories that had deployed troops on the bloody front would have the right to attend the meeting and vote.

Xiahou Yan received a letter from Grand Duke Rosario two days ago inviting him to attend the "War Council".

Although Frost Maple Ridge still nominally only sent out a "cultural troupe", no fool on either side dared to underestimate the fighting power of the Igor family. If the most important Duke of Frost Maple Ridge did not participate in the "War Council", it would undoubtedly make this ancestral military decision-making mechanism seem a bit unworthy of its name.

However, Xiahou Yan and Shuangfengling have always had an ambiguous attitude towards the tradition of the "War Council".

When the "Purgatory Hammer" struck, the various princes in the southern border of the empire who were responsible for guarding the Lionheart River once tried to form a "War Council", but the military power was seized by the Lord of Frost Maple Ridge, the "President of Southern Military Affairs"...

In the eyes of Xia Houyan and the scoundrels of Shuangfengling, the status of other imperial nobles is similar to that of Charles on the Phoenix Terrace. Who is Charles? He is a popular ridge-peaked arrowhead in the Phoenix Terrace Zoo, famous in the Soul Breaking Land for his stupidity, gluttony and laziness.

  So, let Xiahou Yan discuss military issues with other empire lords? Come on!

The only imperial lord he was willing to discuss issues with was Countess Isa Sandria of the Holy Scar Land, and that was in bed. After receiving the invitation letter from Archduke Rosario, he hesitated for only a few seconds and immediately burned it without any intention of going:

  It's as if the "War Council" makes some ridiculous decision, and the "Wagner" special forces will obey it obediently - the people of Frost Maple Ridge always do what they want!

"Are you really not going to attend the 'War Council'?" Sean saw what his boss meant and asked with a wink.

"No." Xiahou Yan shook the cigar in his hand and said unhappily, "How many of those lords in the empire understand military affairs? I went to the 'War Council' and watched a bunch of stupid nobles arguing about trivial matters and busy with amateurs commanding professionals? Tsk, my blood pressure can't take it. When the time comes, just send Allen to represent me and show up."

"It is indeed possible to send Knight Commander Cousins." Sean Mountbatten nodded, "But I think you are still a little overthinking - this 'War Council' should not be as messy as the one in the South Territory."

"Why?" Xiahou Yan sincerely believed that it was difficult for those rubbish lords in the empire to change their nature.

"Because this 'War Council' has a leader." Sean said.

"Who? Who can suppress those greedy nobles?" Xiahou Yan asked, "Chief of Staff Quentin, or Grand Duke Rosario?"

"It's the Inquisition." Sean Mountbatten's answer was far beyond Xia Houyan's expectations. "My acquaintance at the military staff told me that the major territories participating in this 'War Council' have reached a consensus to support and obey the arrangements and mediation of the Inquisition in the council."

"Are you crazy?!" Xiahou Yan said, "No matter how crazy the empire lords are, they won't listen to a bunch of religious lunatics, right? You are kidding, right?"

Sean did not answer, but smiled bitterly, which surprised Xia Houyan.

……

December 20th of the Imperial calendar.

"Olav's Roost" in the middle of the Blood Front.

The castle was named after Olaf, the god of war in the "War of Doom", who once stationed his troops here. In the hundreds of years since then, Olaf's Roost has been an important fortress for the Empire's human beings on the Blood Front and a bridgehead for monitoring Thorn City - it is the closest point to Thorn City on the Blood Front. Standing on the high tower of Olaf's Roost, you can even see the Merton Gate on the west side of Thorn City and the merchants passing through the gate in peacetime.

Olaf's Roost was also chosen by the Imperial Army as the venue for the War Council. Although most of the lords who sent troops to the East were scattered across the Blood Front, they all sent their representatives to Olaf's Roost today to participate in the largest Imperial War Council in nearly a hundred years.

All were gathered in the ancient redwood meeting room of Olaf's Roost.

At the critical moment of war, everything was kept simple. The imperial nobles who usually showed off their power and lived a life of luxury in their own territories were only given a creaking wooden chair each, and then sat in a circle in the circular meeting room, quietly waiting for the parliament to begin. There were no maids or servants in the meeting room, only a few soldiers in full armor guarding the door.

Of course, the nobles attending the meeting are definitely more concerned about how much benefit they can get in the upcoming war council rather than the treatment they will receive in these few hours.

The person in charge of presiding over this war council was Chief of Staff Quentin of the Imperial Army.

  The senior officer walked to the center of the circular conference hall holding a stack of documents. He first nodded slightly to the Grand Duke of Rosario and Marquis Liam who were sitting opposite him, and then said in a deep voice:

"Then the War Council will be convened now."

Perhaps it was because he had to deal with too many military affairs, or perhaps it was because he was exhausted from dealing with so many imperial nobles, Chief of Staff Quentin looked very tired, and his voice was quite hoarse and low.

However, the entire meeting hall quickly fell silent.

One after another, each with his own ulterior motive, looked towards Chief of Staff Quentin.

"Are all the Excellencies who are supposed to be here here?" Chief of Staff Quentin looked around, roughly counted the number of people present, and muttered, "Of course, the people from Frost Maple Ridge are not here..."

"You can wait a moment." Grand Duke Rosario suddenly raised his voice and said, "His Excellency Duke Elliot Igor wrote to me and told me that he will be here in person today."

The venue was obviously in a commotion because of the appearance of the name "Elliot Igor". In particular, several nobles from the southern border began to twist their bodies uncomfortably, perhaps because they recalled some bad memories.

Marquis Liam was originally calm and composed, but when he heard that Elliot Igor was coming, his expression immediately froze.

Sitting next to Marquis Liam, the "Slayer" Estherville, still dressed in a black robe, turned his head and looked at "Blade of Rondo" Urna not far away, then pursed his lips into a faint smile.