Chapter 249 Chapter 219 Provocation

Although the cold wind has repeatedly delayed the pace of spring, spring has come after all. After March, the whole Northwest began to get busy. On a land of hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, it starts from Nulin Province in the east, extends to the Northwest Corridor in the west, extends to the Kilimaro Mountains in the north, and reaches Loulan Lake in the south.The troops of the brigade set out and went to various pre-set drill locations. This is the annual spring exercise of the entire empire's army as stipulated by the Roland Empire's decree. The Roland Empire was founded with martial arts. Thousands of years ago, Emperor Aragorn rose above the continent with his astonishing talent and beauty. He conquered the east and the west, conquered the south and fought the north. Only then did he collect the territory of the entire continent into one and establish a Such a huge empire.And ever since Emperor Aragorn himself, such an iron law has been established!

In order to ensure that the empire's army will not lose its combat power due to prolonged peace, the empire's army conducts a spring drill every spring. And such drills were strictly enforced in the Aragorn era. Although later generations, with the end of the Aragonese era, the empire of later generations has been in peace for too long and gradually abandoned this iron law. There was even a history in which the imperial army did not perform exercises for more than ten years, and the military discipline and combat power were exhausted.But later, with the change of the current Augustinian dynasty, this iron law of Aragon the Great was strictly enforced again.

After all, the current Augustinian dynasty has only been established for two hundred years, and there have been some small-scale regional wars during this period, which made the imperial army get a certain degree of vigilance and did not relax too much. Special thanks go to the current emperor, Augustine VI.Although this guy is considered a great tyrant, at least during his tenure, he paid unprecedented attention to the combat and drill of the army, especially during the years of Augustine VI's reign, the imperial army practiced every year, almost without interruption. Pass. Although it is said that during the reign of Augustine VI, he did a lot of absurd things, and the emperor was not too wise. A war in the Northwest was futile and a waste of national power. The situation of the Nanyang expedition was greater than the harvest.

But it is undeniable that thanks to the existence of this emperor, the current average combat effectiveness of the empire's army can be said to be the best that the Roland Empire has maintained in more than a hundred years. ... With the spring breeze, the army marched out. The two northwestern provinces naturally belonged to the Northwest Army in terms of the division of war zones.Although the Northwest Army Corps has secretly fought against the central government and listened to the tune but not the announcement, the annual spring drill has never been neglected. What's more, this annual spring exercise is also a way for the Northwest Army to show its strength, deter the central government of the empire, and show a tough stance, as its own political bargaining chip.Therefore, every spring drill, the Northwest Army Corps spares no effort to carry out the drills, mobilizes the most rigorously trained and most powerful troops, and shows off its power in the northwest land for a drill.

Of course, at the same time, he will not forget to be vigilant about every move in the center of the imperial capital. It is worth pondering that the annual spring performance is a place of special concern to the center of the imperial capital, the northwest! The mobilization of the 200,000 troops—and still not listening to the 200,000 troops under his control, so frequent mobilization, how can the central government of the empire not be nervous? ! Every spring, the Royal City Guards of the Empire would mobilize tens of thousands of elite troops to the west and stationed at the upper reaches of the Lancang Canal. Do something really outrageous.

The same is true for the Northwest Army Corps. At the same time as their annual drills, the two most elite cavalry divisions under the Northwest Army Corps will drive all the way to the eastern border of Nulin Province. In name, it is a normal long-distance training. On the ground, he was also vigilant in confronting the royal city guards in the center, in case the empire took the opportunity to mobilize troops into the northwest. ... For the Northwest Army, although the annual spring drills must always be on guard against the royal guards in the center of the empire, it is a bit worrying.However, over the years, the central government has been unable to take care of the Northwest, and has not had the courage to fight a civil war ruthlessly to completely eradicate the internal troubles in the Northwest.

Over the years, the war faction and the compromise faction in the military headquarters of the imperial capital have been arguing and arguing and quarreling.The hardline battle faction is often the new young generals of the empire, who advocate the use of force to subdue the sovereignty of the Northwest, completely resolve the status quo of warlords in the Northwest Legion, and maintain the centralized rule of the central government. As for the Compromisers, although people hate them in their hearts, these Compromisers are actually not the kind of soft bones they imagined.On the contrary, these people are not selfish, and most of them are sincerely concerned about the country and the people. Every time they quarrel with the main combat faction, they can also come up with a lot of information about the empire's financial military expenditure and The analysis of national strength, speaking from reality, the empire's national strength is now declining, and it is simply unable to fight a civil war-if the war is forced, even if the civil war is won, it will seriously damage the empire's national strength!The ensuing bad results, under analysis, may appear in two situations:

The first is that the empire barely conquered the Northwest and resolved the Northwest Army.But the foreigners from the prairie took advantage of the situation: just imagine, without the Northwest Legion guarding the northwest, and after the civil war, the empire, whose military strength was greatly damaged, would deploy so many troops to deal with the prairie wolves with hundreds of thousands of elite cavalry? The second is, even if the aliens from the Northwest do not take advantage of the opportunity... Then, imagine, if the empire wants to fight a civil war, where will it mobilize troops to fight against the Northwest Army?The closest to the northwest, the best choice is naturally the King City Guards Corps.The Royal City Guard Legion, this is the relative legion of the founding era of Emperor Aragon, the most brilliant "Born Flower Legion", in terms of equipment, combat power, and military strength, it can fight against the Northwest Legion... But the problem is, if after the war , even if the Northwest Army is resolved, but if the Royal City Guards Corps loses too much and their vitality is seriously injured...then the army directly under the central government of the empire is too weak...It is difficult to protect the Northern Army and the Southern Army in the frozen forest in the north. Or other powerful aristocratic lords in the empire will not have different ambitions!

Political power emerges from the barrel of a gun. Although the Roland Continent is a different world, the people here understand this truth! If because of the civil war, the final situation where the central government is weak and the local government is strong... then once the chaos arises, it will not be easy to calm down again! It is for this reason that the empire has repeatedly tolerated and appeased the warlords of the Northwest Legion every year.It made the Northwest Army Corps tail too big. For the Northwest Army Corps, this annual spring drill has another great benefit: money!grain!

... The iron law of the empire, the annual spring exercise, the military consumption required by the imperial military is directly distributed, weapons, horses, food and grass are all supplied by the local government, and the imperial military will compensate the local government with financial allocations. In the Northwest, such a situation gave the Northwest Army even more advantages: the damn wartime regulations more than 20 years ago gave the Northwest Army the right to intervene in local government affairs.And for the annual spring exercise, the local government has to pay an extra amount of military expenses, especially for food and grass. In the name of the exercise, the Northwest Army pulled out so many troops to train back and forth in the two northwestern provinces. Once in one place, you can directly ask the local government for money and food - if you don't give it, you are disobeying the imperial military order.

Governor Bohan has been in the Northwest for many years, and he has been very troubled by this situation.But he also came up with a little knock on the door for this guy.Two months before the annual spring drill, he would order the evacuation of all warehouses in various places, leaving only a small amount of grain and grass supplies.In case the locusts crossed the border during the Northwest Army's rehearsal, no grass would really grow. Over the years, one robbed and the other hid. Every year, a hide-and-seek show was staged in Northwest China. But Du Wei broke this practice this year! ... At noon, the sun rose overhead, and under the blue sky and white clouds, the guards on Loulan City, the city of miracles, were already in full battle. Since yesterday, the Duke has issued an order to restrict the entry and exit of the city gates, especially today, to close the city gates and strictly prohibit anyone from leaving Loulan City.Even those caravans who came from the south to the king of the north, who got the news early, simply chose to take a detour, bypassing Loulan City, and went to some small villages and towns by the Loulan Lake to replenish fresh water and food before moving on. And those who were unwilling to take a detour temporarily went to live in villages and towns near Loulan City. When a black shadow gradually appeared on the distant horizon, the dense sound of iron hoofs, like thunderbolts under a sunny sky, hit the hearts of the guards one after another! The northwest wilderness is flat, and it is most suitable for cavalry attacks.But at this moment, on the horizon, there was a dark line, like a wave, and like a stormy cloud. Looking around, I saw that black cavalry, galloping their horses, their hooves were like thunder, and the sky was full of dust! But standing at the head of the city, some experienced veterans can recognize the opponent's situation by observing the dust. There were at least 20,000 cavalrymen in such a large group, and while they were galloping, the queue was not chaotic, but they were marching towards Loulan City in an undisguised attacking posture in the form of flying geese! The dust that filled the sky almost covered the sky. Most of the guards standing on the wall of Loulan City were elite veterans from the four thousand rebels that Du Wei had subdued that day.These royal guards, who were formerly elite imperial capitals, couldn't help but change their colors slightly when they saw these galloping cavalry! The wind is blowing away, and the momentum is like rushing thunder! In almost a moment, the large number of cavalry had already galloped to the city. With the sound of the horn, the galloping cavalry immediately changed their formation, and stopped about a mile below the city, but it was dark. The cavalry on horseback were all wearing the standard armor of the Northwest Army of the Empire, but everyone's armor was painted with a unique symbol of the Northwest Army with black ink. Judging from the banners, the 20,000 cavalrymen who came were a complete cavalry division.What made the guards on Loulan City angry was that although they stopped at the bottom of the city, they blatantly put on an attack posture! The horns of the cavalry formation of the Northwest Army kept going, and then they saw the banners tumbling, and several thousand-man teams were immediately separated from the two wings, but they were running around.It is clearly in accordance with the battle column, the siege of the city! Someone has already reported to the Duke's Mansion quickly.After hearing the report, Du Wei didn't say anything, just said "Got it." In fact, the anger in Du Wei's heart was also forcibly suppressed. As early as three days ago, the Northwest Army sent someone to inform Du Wei that for this year's spring exercise, the military headquarters of the Northwest Army decided to choose an area near the lake outside Loulan City for the exercise.When this decision was sent to Du Wei, the other party announced that the army had already set out and would arrive in three days! Such a move made Du Wei almost turn his face on the spot, but he endured it patiently. why? Arrive in three days? In other words, when the other party's messenger came to report the letter, the army had already set off! This so-called messenger is even more of a cover!The army has already set off, so I'm hypocritical to tell you!If you promise, you have to promise, if you don't promise, you have to promise! ! At this moment Du Wei listened to the report and immediately ordered to change clothes and go out.He hesitated for a moment. He didn't wear the duke's aristocratic costume, nor the magician's robe, but chose a set of armor—this armor was also produced by Du Wei in the shop in the imperial capital. In other words, it can be regarded as the same as Ruolin's set at the beginning, and the effect has also undergone some improvements. Du Wei was originally tall and slender, and his body was weak when he was young. After he practiced the introductory kung fu of Starry Sky Dou Qi, he has improved a lot. The childishness of young people is also limited by age.However, the prestige between demeanor is getting stronger day by day. At this moment, wearing this specially made armor on his body, when he looked at it suddenly, it was really a heroic aura rushing towards his face.In every gesture, there was a bit of a young general's flavor. As soon as Du Wei gave an order, he took all the guards and elder Yan, and immediately left the Duke's mansion and went to the city gate.