"Report! Sir Earl, urgent military situation."
The person coming is a member of the guard team staying at the wooden castle in the valley. After dismounting, the guard hurriedly handed a piece of parchment the size of his palm to Art's hand. Art took it and slowly opened it~
"The Duke of Swabia sent a special envoy to join the Duke of Lombardy to send troops to attack the Burgundy Kingdom?" Art thought silently in his heart, his brows gradually knitted together.
"Master~" Ron shouted in a low voice after seeing Art being silent for a long time.
"Let's go back to the valley immediately~" Art immediately turned the horse's head and kicked the horse's belly fiercely. The black war horse neighed, then raised its hooves and galloped away, followed closely by Ron and others.
………
“~Hurry, open the fort door!” Before long, the group of people had arrived at the Beiguan Military Fort. Ron shouted to the defenders outside the door.
"Ron, immediately summon the high-ranking officers above the legion company captain. I'm waiting in the lord's hall. Hurry!"
"Yes, sir~" Then Ron dismounted and left quickly.
………
In the Lord's Hall of Beiguan Army Fort, all the officers were silent after learning the shocking news and discussing it in low voices.
It had only been a few months since the Welsh Army ended the War of Succession, and now everyone was surprised to hear that Swabia in the east and Lombardy in the south planned to join forces to attack the Burgundian kingdom. If the two principalities were to unite, it would be difficult for the Burgundian kingdom to resist.
After a while, Art finally spoke, "At present, the task force has only heard the news. The enemy has not yet set out to attack, and you are already like this. Then if the enemy really attacks, will they run away one by one!" Art's voice resounded throughout the Lord's Hall.
"Sir," Angus said, "No matter when the enemy attacks the Kingdom of Burgundy, we should be prepared in advance. We people have crawled out from the dead and have no fear of life and death. Now, someone wants to ravage our land, do you think we can agree?" Angus said loudly to the officers around him.
All the officers gradually stood up, shouting one by one with indignation.
Ron, who was standing aside, also shouted loudly.
"Okay! This is what our Welsh Legion should look like." Art also stood up from his chair and waved his arms.
"According to the report from the task force, the Lombards have not made any movements yet. At present, it seems that they are unlikely to send troops in the short term. But this does not mean that they will not send troops to attack the Burgundian kingdom. During this period, you We must train strictly. Once the Lombards and Swabians invade, we must defeat them in one fell swoop!” Now that the situation has changed further, another Swabian principality has intervened. This news must be reported to Flanders as soon as possible. Once the enemy invades, the entire Burgundy Kingdom will be involved. Only with adequate preparation can victory be possible.
………
At night, Art led the guards back to the wooden castle in the valley and immediately ran into the study. After a while, Clerk Bob came with his assistant Balor to take the order.
"Sir~" Not long after, Bob had appeared outside the door.
"Come in, Bob." Art put away his quill and gently blew on the wet ink.
"Bob, you immediately send this secret letter to the palace of Besançon via flying pigeons and hand it into the hands of the Marquis. Remember, no one is allowed to open this secret letter~ In addition, this secret letter is for the task force, so you also send it out." Art said seriously, and then put the secret letter into a small wooden tube.
Bob stretched out his hands and carefully took the secret message, saying: "Please rest assured, Lord Earl, I will deliver the secret message safely." Then he turned around and left.
Balor, who was standing aside, crossed his hands on his chest, looking a little reserved, not knowing what the Earl was doing.
More than a month ago, he came with his family from Provence to join Art. After being received by Art, he was assigned to Bob's side as a clerk's assistant to assist Bob in handling paperwork. According to Bob's report, this guy has a flexible mind and positive attitude, and is a rare talent. Putting it there is simply overkill.
At the beginning, Art invited him to the valley because he was interested in this guy's talent and character. Otherwise, he would not have invited him.
After a while, Art said: "Balor, are you still used to being in the valley?"
"Thank you, Lord Count, for your concern. Everything is fine here. My relatives at home also have a house to live in under the arrangement of the government. Now, they finally have a good home. This is also thanks to Lord Count~" Balor was grateful.
"You don't have to be polite, you deserve all of this. With your knowledge and talent, there are few people in the valley who can match you."
"Your lord, the count has given you the award~" Balor showed a slight smile on his face.
"Working under Bob, are you familiar with the procedures of handling paperwork?" Art asked.
"Yes, Lord Earl. I have learned a lot from Lord Bob. And I think these jobs are very easy and do not require any brainpower at all."
Matt was drawn to Balor’s unabashed confidence. I deal with a lot of official documents on weekdays, and I often work until late at night. This guy was extremely relaxed, and Art felt a little ashamed.
The purpose of calling Balor here this time is to listen to his views, and then arrange for him to be a personal secretary next to him, so as to share some of his responsibilities and improve the efficiency of processing official documents. In this way, Art will have time to deal with other matters.
Matt immediately stood up, walked to the table with wine and poured a glass of wine for each of them.
"Come on~" Art picked up the wine glass and walked towards Balor.
"Well, your lord, I am just a small clerk, how dare you take the trouble of pouring wine for me personally." Balor declined.
"In my eyes, Art, there are two kinds of people worthy of me pouring wine for him. One is officers and warriors who are good at fighting, and the other is officials with outstanding talents. You are the second type!" Art handed the wine glass to Balor.
Balor was so excited that he quickly stretched out his hands to take the wine glass.
Ding～
The two of them raised their glasses and drank together.
"Balor, I invited you here to be my personal secretary. Now it's time to fulfill your promise." Art put the wine glass on the table and motioned for Balor to sit down and talk.
"You also know that as the Earl of Wales, I have to deal with endless official affairs every day. Either from the Military Affairs Office, the Government Affairs Office, or foreign affairs." Art said, rubbing his head from time to time. "I heard from Bob that you did a good job at his place." Art looked up at Balor.
Balor smiled slightly, said nothing, and looked straight at Art.
"I called you here today just to hear your opinion. I intend to let you serve as the earl's private secretary. What do you think?"
Balor opened his eyes wide, thinking that he heard wrongly. Said: "My Lord Earl, you want me to be your personal secretary?"
"Your Majesty, Earl, I only know a few words. It's okay for me to assist Mr. Bob, but it's a bit difficult for me to assist you in handling affairs in Wales."
Balor lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said: "Okay, thanks to your lordship's trust, I will do my part."
"Okay, what I want is your words. This is the Balor I met in Lombardy. In this way, you can meet Bob tomorrow and then come directly to the castle to find me."
In the inner court of Besançon Palace, Flanders, who was writing with a quill, raised his head and looked out the door.
The guard then opened the door and walked in. "Report to the Marquis, an urgent and secret message has arrived from Wales."
"An urgent and secret message? Get it quickly!"
The guard hurriedly handed the secret message to Flanders.
"You go out first and close the door."
After the guard went out, Flanders slowly took out the secret message from the small wooden tube. Then slowly unfolded, and then started reading by candlelight~
"Swabia intends to collude with Lombardy to jointly send troops to the Burgundian Kingdom?"
Flanders finished reading, put the secret letter aside, and slowly lay on the back of the chair, staring at the dancing flames without moving.
Faced with this sudden change, Flanders did not panic much in his heart, but thought about the reasons. The matter in Lombardy is not over yet, now Swabia has jumped out. If the two major principalities really unite to deal with themselves, they will not be able to resist them no matter what.
At present, the people sent by Lombardy have all confessed after interrogation. It was precisely because he could not figure out his own details that the Duke of Lombardy published this second volume. Now, Swabia dares to secretly encourage Lombardy to use force against Burgundy. This is challenging its own bottom line.
Flender got up and paced back and forth in the room, taking a sip of wine from time to time to refresh himself.
At present, the country is in dire straits and needs time to recuperate and resume production. It is definitely not a wise move to go to war with the two countries at this time. If the two countries really start a fight, they will not be able to resist it.
After some thought, Flanders decided to send people to the Kingdom of France, using the hands of the French King to put pressure on the two countries and make them curb their ambitions. In addition, Flanders had no intention of becoming an enemy of the Duke of Lombardy, at least not yet. So it was decided to release the spies imprisoned in Besançon, and he wrote to Art, asking him to release the spies imprisoned in Wales as well. In this way, he could show his goodwill to the Duke of Lombardy and also take the opportunity to show his strength to the Duke of Lombardy.
Finally, once the two countries really invade the border, apart from relying on the Liberation Army brought out by himself, the only person Flanders can really trust is Art's Welsh Army. But with the less than 2,000 men and horses in his hands, he could not withstand the iron hoof of the Lombard army in any case. The only way to maintain stability in the southern border and deter the Lombards was to expand the army. As long as the Welsh army could resist the Lombards, the Flanders' army could resist the Swabians with all its strength.
At the end, Flanders immediately picked up the quill in his hand and started writing ~
After a moment, Flanders called the guards and ordered the two letters to be sent out. One letter will be sent to the Kingdom of France in the west by flying pigeons, and the other letter will be sent to the Province of Wales in the south~