Chapter 8: The enemy arrives

"But he has brought us such a great danger now. He almost killed you... all of us!" Leo still couldn't let go. "There is another thing, which is Ash Rufate."

"What did Ashu Rufate do?" asked Thomas. "Has he screwed up anything?"

"No." Leo replied. "He did a good job, he established his prestige in the army and made everything organized, perhaps a little better than you did. But he is a completely different person from you! He looks like that..."

"What's wrong with him?" asked Thomas.

"Since you were injured, Ashu Rufate looked like a man-eating tiger!" Leo replied. "From that day, his face has become very scary. Not to mention others, even William Daly and I felt numb when we saw him. To be honest, I was a little afraid of Ashu Rufate now. He was not like this in the past."

"Is that right...it seems he is really...my good student."

"Did you accept him as a student? When did it happen?" Leo asked in surprise.

"It seems like it happened a long time ago." Thomas sighed. "In order to prevent Ryan from being irresistible, I did not announce this to anyone. Fortunately, Ashu Rufate didn't mind."

"I thought he was the same as me, but he was just asking you for advice and advice as a later generation. But in this way... I think he is more suitable to be your student than that boy Ryan. Asu Ruffatt showed his face during the competition in the military camp yesterday."

"I remember he didn't seem to like this kind of competition," Thomas said. "He once said he didn't like training with swords."

"I know, even some people laughed at him, and he didn't mind. But it seems that he just doesn't like competitions that lack challenges. Yesterday, he defeated thirty knights alone in the melee competition. Now no one says he dares not do anything anymore."

Thomas showed a faint smile on his face, but was immediately replaced by deeper worries.

"I don't know how Ryan is. Now he should have gotten off the boat... the river is about to freeze... He should be able to make the knights of Casillos sworn allegiance to Princess Irina and command them to form an army... I hope he can come in time..."

...

"We're here!" With this sound, a clear vibration came from the hull, which was a unique impact when the ship was docked.

The sailors began to set up springboards so that the people on the boat could go on smoothly.

Ryan looked at the land ahead. The cold winter wind blew on this land, and there were still traces of harvesting crops on the fields. His future and dreams were placed on this land.

"High up the flag!" Ryan's order was executed. A flag was fluttered in front of the team, and the flag was filled with a long sword emblem of the scorching sun, which was the symbol of the Casillos royal family.

"Go, Duke Ryan." Ruke stood at the bow of the ship and said to his nephew. "Go to meet the lords of Casillos and let them swear allegiance to you!"

"I'm still a little worried..."

"Don't worry. Thomas is definitely much better than you think. He said it would take three months, but he would be sure to say this at least five months." Luke comforted. "Don't worry, when you gather the army, try to regain all the cities controlled by the Paro people-the main force of the Paro people have long been transferred to the border castle to confront the main forces of Saint Gene. The troops in these cities are very limited, and winning is not a problem - then wait patiently until Thomas and the Paro people fight to the death. Even if the Paro people annihilate Thomas, they will be guaranteed to suffer heavy losses and be exhausted. When you defeat the Paro remaining troops, you will be qualified to...attend the throne of Casillos!"

"Thomas..." Ryan wanted to tell his uncle that Thomas was stabbed by him, and he didn't know how to live or die. No, Thomas shouldn't die...but this thought made him feel uneasy.

"What's wrong with Thomas?" Luke asked.

"Why did Thomas... do such a dangerous plan in person?" When he spoke, Ryan found that he could not say it.

"You will understand in the future that people in different positions have different pressures. For example, why do we spend time encouraging the 'temporary' Foreign Minister Duke Landwind. Although he is a fool, he can put a lot of pressure on Thomas. The pressure will make people do things that they are unwilling to do, such as such a risky combat plan." Ruke laughed. "When you accompany the princess to relieve your boredom, I am working hard to do other things... to make Thomas feel enough pressure!"

"Now, my dear nephew, it's time for you to work hard."

Ryan nodded and looked forward again. The lords of Casillos in this area are now without a leader. When a leader who has power in blood and is willing to lead them to resist the Paro people, they will definitely be loyal and follow the leader!

Now, the Paro's border garrison troops resisted the Saint Gene army loyal to Princess Irina. Thomas and Paro's main troops will fight to the death in Derek City, both sides will suffer. No one has the ability to stop him, and he can gather the army with peace of mind and wait for his work. Once he can take the opportunity to defeat the Paro, then Casillos' lord will definitely recommend him as king! At that time, Irina has no choice but to marry him...

"Long live Duke Ryan!" he heard his entourage shouting.

Before, he was a mere knight, but now, he can claim to be a duke. Duke of Ryan of Casillos!

Thomas, don't blame me! Ryan looked at the direction of Derek City and said silently in his heart. If you didn't treat me like that, I could have saved you - of course, your troops were almost completely destroyed. But now... since you chose the lowly wandering mercenary of Ashu Rufate...

He jumped onto the war horse. "Let's go!" he shouted to his followers.

...

The river freezes earlier than expected. When the first light snow fell, large tiny ridges had emerged from time to time. Even if the Paro people wanted to transport them to the border castle through the river, they had to wait until spring.

The emergence of Paro's army was a while later than Thomas expected. This time was enough to make Derek prepare for more adequate combat.

However, when the scout rushed into the city gate, everyone knew that what was coming was coming...

...

Regarding Thomas' strategy in Derek City, it was initially considered an extremely clever tactic of time. Thomas captured Derek City in early winter, with the original intention of making the border defense line built by the Paro people unable to obtain winter supplies in time. In this way, in spring, the Paro people's castles will run out of food and grass, and will naturally surrender without fighting.

In fact, after completely expelling the green skins in the country, Saint-Gen's power grew rapidly. This time it showed extremely powerful combat power, far beyond the general imagination. In the previous invasion of the Greyhound, Saint-Gen's mountainous province with the least population and the poorest land was enough to defeat the Greyhound Knights with a total force of tens of thousands in one fell swoop. When the power of dozens of provinces gathered under the banner of Princess Irina, its military power was enough to scare anyone.

Once Princess Irina's army breaks through the castle defense line on the border between Saint Gene and Casilos, it will inevitably take advantage of the situation to sweep half of Casilos and drag the war into a war of attrition between each other. This is exactly what the Paro people try hard to avoid.

In this winter, all the people who are interested are watching the city of Derek. Everyone knows that this place will determine the outcome of the war. There must be one of the castle defense lines and the city of Derek built by the Paro people.

The Paros' determination to retake Derek was unquestionable. Just one month after Thomas captured Derek, Paro's general Duke Rudolph personally led an army of 60,000 to attack Derek. He was before that he personally led Paro's army to cross the sister mountains and destroyed Casillos in one fell swoop.

Many records point out that this duke actually had a grudge against Thomas to kill his father. Decades ago, the old duke commanded Paro's army to fight the Cassillos army under Thomas. However, the facts proved that the old duke's military talent could not be compared with Thomas. In a rapid and clever surprise attack, the old duke was defeated by Thomas, the entire army was disintegrated, and he was also killed in the chaos. This record is proved by official documents. Because of this, this battle has both public and private significance for General Rudolph, and he regarded it as the most important battle in his life. This also appropriately explains why he spent so much time mobilizing all the troops he could mobilize, trying to swallow Thomas's lonely army in one bite...

——Excerpt from "History of the Stigia War"

When the scout ran to Thomas' room, he found that William Daly, one of Thomas's deputy generals, was at the door of the room.

"Urgent military information, emergency military information! The Paro people are here!" The scout wanted to enter the door, but was blocked by William Daly.

"What a panic! Isn't it just the Paro people coming?" William Daly replied. "They should have come long ago! We are all bored."

"I have to meet General Thomas..."

"You screamed so loudly, Lord Thomas is not a deaf person, so I heard it long ago! Your mission has been completed, go down."

There was obvious doubt in the scout's eyes. But he could not resist the orders of the deputy general, so he had to leave.

Seeing the scouts leave, William Daly rushed into the room. Unfortunately, what he said just now came true. Thomas had heard the scouts' yell, and he was getting up from the bed.

"William Daly, bring my armor!"

"Mr. Thomas, Ms. Feier emphasized that you cannot act! Otherwise, your wound is in danger of cracking. Once your wound breaks and causes inflammation, then her healing magic will never help you again! And no matter what, you cannot wear armor! Ashurufate and Leo are already guarding the city walls, you don't need to worry..."

"William Daly, this is my order!" Thomas ordered sternly, but his tone immediately softened. "Don't worry, I know my body myself, the situation is not as bad as the Prophet said... Well, I don't wear armor. Give me a scepter, and I will carefully patrol the city walls. As long as I control my pace, there will be no problem with my wounds. Do you want me, as a general, not to appear in this situation? The soldiers will immediately doubt it!"

He stared at William Daly, who found himself unable to refuse such an order.

"Well, Lord Thomas. But I must be with you."
Chapter completed!