When Henry and Mira left Avenella and headed south, they took the outer route, so they only passed through villages. The main reason why they did not go through the big cities that clearly had better, wider and smoother roads was because of the hostility of the deep-rooted Avenella noble territories in the south towards outsiders.
This point is very difficult to understand in normal terms.
As we have said a long time ago, the small country of Avenella has a population of less than two million, but the number of floating people, mercenaries, merchants, craftsmen and the like is not small - if ordinary people use these two sentences If you were to describe the situation in words, you would probably think that this is a vibrant and very enlightened kingdom, but in fact it is far from that.
The aristocrats of Avenella were from Sivallier. Just like the great nobles of Sivallier who discriminated against them, they also discriminated against ordinary businessmen and civilians. In fact, even the commercial capital of Ashenil was opened under the force of the Sivaliya people. If we follow the ideas of the first generation of Avenella nobles, it would be fine if they don't hide all the good things themselves and fight civil war every day. It is simply unacceptable to open the country's borders and welcome those guys of unknown origins to come to find work and trade. Reasonable wrong decision.
And even as time goes by, more and more craftsmen, mercenaries, merchants and all kinds of people begin to come here from many places in order to make a living. More than 90% of these floating population are just Stay in the plains of Ecasta.
It is true that the vast Ecasta, including the city-state and surrounding villages, would not have much of a problem in accommodating such a large population, but various floating populations, including mercenaries, are unwilling to go to the Kingdom of Avenella. In the south, the main reason, apart from the fact that mining and hunting are not open there, is probably the way the Avenela nobles there look at people with their nostrils.
The south is the stronghold of conservative noble families. Although most ordinary Avenella farmers have as simple and honest folk customs as those in the northern region, the proportion of nobles and commoners in the southern and central regions of Avenella is far higher than that of Avenella. Casta. The person who is hit by a random stone while walking on the road may be one of the noble sons of a knight whose name is too long for you to pronounce. These people almost all have the same look of a playboy, just like Mira and Henry when they first met. Like the young man I saw when he was young, he was proud of his noble origin. Even if he was not a real bad guy in essence, his behavior of robbing and forcibly attaching his thoughts to others was equally disgusting.
No one wants to live with a group of guys who look at their nostrils and think they are much nobler than you all day long. In addition, there are not many open trade and minerals in the southern and central regions. Even if there are, they are all done by the nobility's subordinates, except for some who work for them. Apart from the mercenaries, basically no outsiders would go there. The countryside with simple folk customs was fine. The closer to the major cities where the nobility had strong influence, the stronger the prejudice against outsiders became.
In the streets of Ashenil, you can see a lot of people of all kinds. The mercenaries carrying weapons and the merchants selling goods are very lively. But when you go to the city-states in the south and central part, you can only see as if There are aristocratic children everywhere like cockroaches, showing off their immature skills to seduce women and show off their family background and wealth.
The south and the north are two different worlds. In addition to the cultural atmosphere, this is also true for the city buildings. Most of the various southern nobles who are as numerous as cockroaches are grand dukes and knights under the royal family. Ashenil of Ecasta serves as their economic support, but the northern region is regarded as an abandoned frontier in the eyes of the royal capital. Therefore, these lands located at the center of power in the central part of the country have naturally become a kind of "reward" of "safe and fertile land in the rear area close to the royal capital", given to those who have made great contributions in various large and small battles. Knights and barons.
Therefore, in the central and southern parts of Avenella, after crossing the Dowulfberg at the southernmost point of the Ecasta Plain, and walking forward for a while to the west, you can see with the naked eye various large and small castles along the way. They are densely packed and exist in batches like one mountain top after another. They have different styles, some have a long history and some have only been built for more than ten years. Most are surrounded by three or four villages and can accommodate dozens to hundreds of people. Some are so small that they can only accommodate twenty or thirty people, but there are still some , is a territory similar to the Dolfberg territory, slightly inferior or slightly stronger, ranging from earl to marquis level.
The flat and vast Ecasta is the largest plain in Avenella. Further south, after the Dango Gorge, the ground directly sinks into the Li-Dela Wetland. The interior of the country has to experience several ups and downs, and The forest at the foot of Mount Tambur once extended outwards, forming a long and long forest area called "Nela Forest" by the Siwaliya people.
It is accompanied by the Garriel River and has rich water and grass, flora and fauna, especially wild boars and wild deer. This is why the nobles of Sivalier would say that the nobles of Avenella "smell of pig manure". One of the main reasons why the royal capital is "built on a mountain boar's nest". Wild animals are extremely common in these provinces where the center of power of Avenera, surrounded by the Nella Forest, is very common. However, the climate here is quite different from that of Thoradin, so it is not as direct as the Thoradin area. The city-state was built in the rainforest. Most of the castles in central Avenella were built high near lakes or on mountains, so it was quite obvious.
After conquering the territory of the Earl of Dowulfberg, Edward's troops naturally continued to move towards the south. The army of more than 100,000 people entered the forest area from the plain area after reorganizing and recuperating. They continued to advance for a week without encountering any enemies. Even a few small border knight leaders were in trouble in front of an army of this size. Decisively chose to raise the white flag and join Edward's command.
Coupled with the well-known southern farmers who came to defect for a long time, the army of 100,000 people increased or decreased by more than 13,000 after crossing Daowulfberg.
The expanded army needed to be reorganized, and the constant addition of many people along the way, even just because they heard that Edward's militia had better food, also caused a lot of trouble. The proclamation of liberating the slaves that His Highness used to win people's hearts was obviously not a golden rule. Although most soldiers still respected him, the people on the west coast had been accustomed to slaves for thousands of years before the founding of Avenella. This system exists, so even the veterans who identify most with the March Declaration still cannot change their past habits in some words and deeds.
There were Roan and Avenella farmers, Shivalier refugees, mercenaries and militiamen, businessmen who came up as logistical support, and other people of all kinds mixed together. The army was divided into many small groups. The behavior is obviously not as good as the scene described by "everyone is Avenella" as expected at the beginning, and the mutual contempt, small frictions caused by prejudice, etc. are naturally one after another, which makes as a leader The knights of Avenella were suffering from huge headaches and great pressure.
Even within themselves, many people often sneer at the vulgar, money-grubbing mercenaries and the submissive Sivalier refugees. To change all this, it is obviously not just a matter of shouting slogans. As long as it can be done, Edward made a promise in Ecasta, and what he needs to do now is to fulfill it instead of making another one. Everyone has aesthetic fatigue and tolerance limits, and it has never been fulfilled. If you always let people shout slogans there, you will become enthusiastic and stop getting excited.
No matter what, they can only make do with it now, but the various problems that occur every day and night are not just headaches. This is the case with good leaders. They will learn from their mistakes. Lessons learned. Edward destroyed a system. He personally promised that slaves would not have to do whatever they wanted to their masters and die for them. But just destroying it was not enough. He also needed to build another system to replace it.
He needs to reconcile these contradictions, and the matter of establishing the Luoan royal family as another independent royal family of Avenella to win over Luoan's hearts continues to be effective. But it does not only have good results. After all, the Luoans have a long-lasting bad reputation among the people. This is not just because the Luoan people, who are very prejudiced, are indeed still rogues and robbers. There are even many older Avenella people who have a grudge against the Luoan people for killing their wives and taking away their children. Most of them I have let it go, but some people still hold grudges.
If Avenella is to face the next challenge, it will definitely need the power of these exiled Loans. When the news of the end of this matter spreads, millions of Loans who have fled to the west coast will gather here. But adjusting the conflicts between them and the civilians of Avenella is not something that can be done in words. Coupled with the rapid influx of Silvalier refugees and people looking for work in the Ecasta plain, these The combined administrative burden would be enormous, and all of these difficulties would not line up to be solved one by one, they would all come at once—and with all of these things in mind, Edward would still have to work hard to maintain order. and overall integrity, and finally come back to face them.
Adolf, Count of Dowulfberg, who led his subordinates to surrender, was left behind by Edward in Ecasta. He was not worried that the other party would betray him. This staunch supporter of the Sulfaga family would stick to his side if he chose to do so. In this direction, the restoration work of Wolfsburg was supported by Ashenil's side. Charles marched with Edward, while the noble family of Ashenil guarded the rear with troops to guard against the possibility of Otolo and Sivalier. s attack.
The sage's high-profile arrest of the young leader of Otolo reached the ears of His Majesty the Emperor as expected.
Otolo's attitude towards Avenella changed again. It seemed a little ambiguous and complicated. On the one hand, the secret force has already sneaked into the territory, and it is very likely that they have already made contact with Ashbern II. According to the approximate statistics of the border documents, the number of people is more than 10,000. But Otolo may well have started laying the groundwork before Henry and Mira returned and the sage became aware of all this, so the number may actually be more than that.
The support for Ashberon II is certain, and Henry has already analyzed for Edward the reasons why the other party did what he did. But in the final analysis, Avenella is still not a target worthy of Otolo's war. The Lamanite countries in the south of the empire have not stopped yet. When they attacked the Kingdom of Luoan 21 years ago, it was Otolo and the White Church who joined forces. However, when they reached the last city, the empire directly tore the alliance and separated the two small neighboring countries. The Lamanite Kingdom expanded its territory by annexing them together. Since then, friction with the Lamanite Kingdom on the border has never stopped.
The southernmost Lamanite Empire, Rumanato, which calls itself the Selamanite Empire, is now full of conflicts and often conflicts with other surrounding small countries that are also the Lamanite Kingdom. However, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and its threat remains to this day. It still cannot be ignored - in addition, doing it openly will definitely arouse Padrosi's vigilance. The emperor of Otolo has a plan far better than this, so he will not make this wrong move and cause the empire to face the enemy at the same time. Against too many enemies of the same level.
So even if there was support for Ashberon II, it was within a "degree" rather than with great force. Henry hinted at the emperor by capturing the young man but not protesting against Otolo. His Majesty himself intends to maintain this alliance without breaking his face, and will turn a blind eye to their small actions. After that, the merchants of Otolo transported a large number of supplies to Ashenil, and to a certain extent, It shows the fact that His Majesty the Emperor has received this message.
The imperial people are smart, they know how to fight with both hands. If the troops sent there to support Ashbern II defeat Edward's side, it will naturally be good. But at the same time, they did not cut off trade and were still giving Edward some support other than weapons and troops. If Edward won, the Otolo Empire would directly erase the evidence of the existence of that secret force, and Avenella would also This is bound to happen. Among the official and private evidence left by the two countries, there will be no evidence that this force was sent by the Otolo royal family. They will only be a mercenary team of unknown origin, which happens to be composed of Otolo. It's just composed of Toro people.
No matter who wins, Otolo won't have much to lose. Even though he knew that the empire was behind the scenes to help and support him, Edward could only choose to welcome people with a smile. National affairs are not something that a little kid thinks can be decided by fighting to the death. For the future of Avenella, a stable alliance with Otolo is very important. This is a fact, a helpless fact. .
They need each other.
Otolo is brewing and waiting. When all the Lamani countries in the south are integrated into the territory of his empire, it will naturally extend its tentacles towards the west coast. The two countries have common interests in general. For the time being, as long as Avenella Able to show his value as an equal ally, Otolo is also willing to concentrate on dealing with the southern Lamanite countries. As for the empire, after it has solved those Lamanite countries and become more powerful?
That is a question of who reaches the finish line first, just like a death race.
——In any case, when Edward's 100,000-strong army marched south and came to the castle on the border of the Tambourine Forest in the territory of the Marquis of Dordogne, they did not face any real battle for more than half a month after their victory. Some of the arrogant militiamen faced the tens of thousands of militiamen and two thousand heavy cavalry of the Grand Duke of Duran and the Marquis of Dordogne, who had been waiting here to recharge their batteries.
The movement of an army of 110,000 and nearly 120,000 people moving forward obviously cannot be hidden. When the archers as the vanguard conveyed the news of the enemy army back, it was obvious that the Archduke Duran and the Dordogne Houna Bian has also noticed their presence.
This was different from Dolfberg, who had an overwhelming numerical advantage on his side. Ashbern II successfully managed to convince the two Avenella nobles who were closest to Edward and had the strongest troops, and Dordo Nirvana is also an extremely important bridgehead for recuperation when attacking the south.
no matter what.
A tough battle is clearly inevitable.
