Your war hammer is too fake

Following the instructions issued through the mental network, all the system units that had been deployed in place began to act synchronously. The witch hunters took the arrest order prepared by Egwene in advance, led the imperial knights on foot to break into the ornately decorated mansions, and arrested the panicked owners inside and interrogated them on the spot.

Elsewhere, teams of provincial infantry left the barracks under the command of the imperial captains. Some of them set up cordons on the main roads in the city, while the main force broke into various inconspicuous buildings fully armed and killed the mercenaries, ruffians, and even real cultists hiding inside, leaving no one alive.

The slums in Marienburg were the key cleanup areas, where the most troops were concentrated. Even Sir Bayar was ready to go into battle, ready to deal with any possible emergencies. This decision was proven to be correct. When the Westland soldiers in red uniforms were found to have blocked the slums, the Chaos believers hiding there immediately held a ceremony to try to summon demons. Of course, they and the low-level demons they summoned were all gone.

As beings strengthened by the divine blood of Lilith and Egwene, Sir Almalik and Sir Bayar were extremely powerful. Not only were their abilities far superior to ordinary Holy Grails, but the goddess' blessing on them could actually block shells. In sparring, when the two of them joined forces, they were even able to hold Egwene back for a while.

In a one-on-one situation, both of them are more than capable of taking on a common-looking demon that has not been weakened by the Maelstrom.

Unfortunately, their special experience cannot be replicated. The moment the original Holy Grail Knights drank the diluted blood, their souls fell completely into the control of Lilith. Almarik and Bayar had both turned into Chaos Eggs, but they broke free from this control. As a result, they turned out to be a blessing in disguise and obtained a more powerful Powder than the Green Knight.

As soon as the blood sacrifice ceremony in the slums began, the light wizard who was accompanying the team sensed something unusual and immediately alerted Bayar, the commander-in-chief of the cleanup operation. Then, the knight rode the Pegasus sent by the Paraon people and descended from the sky. With one man and one sword, he killed any Chaos creatures that dared to appear in front of him within a minute.

The divine power in Sir Bayar was so strong that as soon as he approached, the tiny rift leading to the realm of Nurgle collapsed and turned into a point in Egwene's account.

The riot was suppressed at lightning speed as soon as it showed signs of starting. All kinds of people involved were arrested and killed. There was no forgiveness and no mercy. The Elector Lady used the purest violence to tell everyone who was in charge of Marienburg. The whole operation started in the early morning. At noon, Evelyn announced a three-day curfew in the city. During this period, all cross-community exchanges were prohibited unless they held a pass issued by the Elector himself.

At the same time, the benevolent Elector also announced that the state-owned stores in various communities would continue to provide unlimited and affordable supplies during this period. As for the poor who could not afford bread, they could receive relief food and job training after registration and verification, and those with good performance could be given priority to join the Westerling military-industrial complex [Coast Heavy Industry] that was being built.

The Lords of the Holy Scriptures follow the principle of "giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him how to fish" in social welfare. Although Aiwen will help the poor, the poor who are able to work must receive vocational skills training and achieve certain results before they can continue to receive assistance from the provincial government. The practice of a certain gold medal lecturer who does not work and only receives welfare is impossible here at Knight Ji. As for what if someone would rather hurt himself than work?

Aiwen's attitude towards this is to provide relief as usual, even if she knows that the person is self-harming. After all, if such people do not commit crimes, that is the greatest contribution they can make to society.

After arranging the final work of the cleanup operation, Egwene led Sir Bayar out of the city. Both of them had flying mounts, and in a short while they arrived at the camp of the troops responsible for clearing the Misty Swamp. The four Grasshopper IIs arrived a week ago and had been hiding here before. After all, the intelligence capabilities of the high elves are still quite strong.

Although this did not prevent a certain Phoenix King from being stabbed to death by an infiltrated Druzi spy, the spy escaped unscathed and fled back to Naggaroth in one piece (Note 1)...

The four gunboats were ready for battle. Due to the short expected journey, the fuel tanks were only filled with half of the maximum alcohol fuel. When Aiwen walked into the field landing area, the dwarf engineers were conducting a final inspection of all the ship's equipment made by the dwarves before the battle.

Although the main force operating the gunboats was from the Aurora Air Force, they had only been in contact with the gunboats for a month and could only barely master the basic operations. Therefore, An Jiyue assigned two dwarf engineers to each gunboat. In addition to the students and imperial engineers sent by Aiwen to learn how to fly the flying ship, these four small gunboats with a total weight of only 600 tons, which were barely equivalent to a Hammer-class frigate, formed a three-nation coalition.

After Knight Ji boarded the leading gunboat, the four gunboats started their anti-gravity engines one after another, slowly and steadily drifting into the blue sky. The maneuverability of the airship is far less than that of the airplane. The climbing rate of the Grasshopper is only 90 meters per minute, which is an average of meters per second. On the one hand, as a first-generation product, the power system of the airship is not that powerful. On the other hand, due to the backward materials science and the structural design that is still in the exploratory stage, the Grasshopper cannot withstand too intense maneuvers.

The camp was located slightly east of the north of Marienburg. After the four Grasshopper-class ships climbed to an altitude of 3,000 meters, they first formed a formation in a rather unfamiliar manner, and then sailed towards the sea in the west at a cruising speed.

With the intelligence provided by Dustan's people and the observations during this period, Egwene has basically grasped the movement trajectory of the High Elf blockade fleet. At the same time as the Grasshopper formation took off, a team of specially recruited Imperial Pegasus Knights also set off from Marienburg. Their mission is to search and confirm the specific location of the blockade fleet.

On January 2503, 1, at about 13 p.m., the two fleets took off simultaneously. An hour later, the Pegasus Knights visually confirmed the traces of the main force of the blockade fleet in the designated area, including all four eagle ships and three falcon ships. According to known intelligence, the other six falcon ships were operating in groups of two in other areas, blocking all waterways near Marienburg.

Just as the Pegasus Knights saw the enemy and informed Egwene of the coordinates through the system unit's mental network, several Sky Slasher airships (Note 2) took off from the High Elves' warships and rushed towards the Pegasus Knights with great momentum. The Pegasus Knights, who had received orders in advance, did not fight back, but instead turned around and fled decisively, relying on their faster speed.

After driving away the Pegasus Knights, these Sky Slashers did not land, nor did they chase them, but just hovered over the blockade fleet. A moment later, the Sea Guard crew with excellent eyesight saw the Pegasus Knights coming again... The Imperials did not approach rashly, they always stayed at a very delicate distance. If the Sky Slashers formation chased them, they would immediately flee, and if not, they would fly back and continue to stare at them, because the Sky Slashers could not catch up with them anyway.

This endless game of chasing lasted for more than an hour, until the fleet commander, who could no longer bear it, ordered the Heavenly Elf Archmage on board to prepare to cast a spell, and only then did he drive away these annoying flies. Among the Pegasus Knights, there was also a Battle Mage who was also riding a Pegasus, and he was also a Heavenly Mage. As soon as the blockade fleet made a move, the Battle Mage noticed that the Heavenly Wind Aegir was flowing abnormally, and quickly led the Pegasus Knights to flee.

After all, he was just a common hero, and his mana was not even enough to carry the shoes of the Asur Archmage on the opposite side. Fortunately, the Pegasus Knights had completed their mission, and the Grasshopper Formation had arrived nearby.

At 15:27, the No. boat, which was leading the way as the lead ship, visually confirmed the blockade fleet on the sea below and notified the other three gunboats in the rear with flag signals. Aiwen, who led the team personally, ordered all gunboats to lower their flight altitude and prepare to cut into the attack track from the side of the blockade fleet. Amid the shrill whistle, the captains ordered all weapons to open the safety, and the steam boilers that had been started when approaching the scene were increased to the maximum output power. The steam harpoons and dwarfs were loaded with ammunition, and the flame guns were checked for the last time before firing.

At 15:33, sixteen balls of blazing flames fell from the sky.

……

Note 1: The one who was killed was the eighth Phoenix King, the "poet" Etis. His prime minister was actually a Druzy spy. After his identity was exposed, the latter stabbed Etis' heart with a poisoned dagger, killed the Phoenix King and fled. It is worth mentioning that in the old setting of Cathay, the High Elves established diplomatic relations and trade with Cathay during the reign of Etis.

Note 2: Skyslasher is a standard feature of the High Elf Navy, and can be found in almost every High Elf fleet.

Chapter 251 Sir, Times Have Changed

The first round of flame cannon fire was all aimed at the same Eagle ship.

Aiwen didn't know if it was the flagship of the blockade fleet, but it didn't matter. The Grasshopper formation began to lower its altitude as it approached the target. Currently, the four gunboats were maintaining a stable altitude of about 1200 meters above sea level, sailing at a constant speed from northeast to southwest at cruising speed.

After the Archmage drove away the Pegasus Knights, the Sky Slashers formation in the sky began to descend. It was not until the fireballs that fell from the sky and landed on the sea that the High Elves realized they were under attack. Teams of Lothern Sea Guards immediately poured out of the cabins and lined up on the deck of the warship, while the Sky Slashers airships that were about to land began to climb again.

Swift Feather Peng flapped its wings vigorously, dragging the airship to circle and rise. The Sea Guard crew on the airship raised their heads, and the sharp eyes of the elves allowed them to quickly find the four ship shadows in the sky. They were surprised at what they saw, and some people subconsciously drew their bows and arrows, but after a moment they frowned and put down their weapons.

The Sky Slashers tried their best to fly higher, and before they could get the enemy into range, the second round of flame cannon salvos smashed into the sea from a high altitude. The first round of shooting did not achieve any results, and sixteen balls of flame floated on the sea and burned slowly. The white warship passed by the sea, and the water currents caused the flames to drift further in the ups and downs. The gunners on each grasshopper-class gunboat corrected the shooting parameters by observing the landing point of the ammunition, and then scored the first hit.

A mass of heated crude oil, molten tar, and other alchemical ingredients hit the white sail, sparks flew everywhere, and the sail itself immediately caught fire. Some Asur sailors rushed over with buckets and poured seawater on the fire, but their actions not only failed to put out the fire, but also caused the sticky oil to flow everywhere, and the sea guards on the deck who were preparing for battle had to break their formation to avoid the flames that were about to flow to their feet.

Failure to control the fire in the first place was fatal. The Eagle Ship that was hit slowed down quickly, and its largest mainsail burned as fiercely as the familiar Richard. It was not until the elven wizard who was traveling with the fleet chanted a spell and summoned a ball of ice-blue gas visible to the naked eye to hit the fire that the fire was finally extinguished by simple low temperature.

Prior to this, the Eagle Ship, the target, was hit by more artillery fire. With the largest main sail completely burned and other sails damaged to varying degrees, the Eagle Ship was almost stationary on the sea. Fixed targets are naturally easier to hit than moving targets. Flames fell from the sky one after another, and the Sea Guards who lined up on the deck to fight the enemy suffered a devastating disaster. More than one artillery fire directly hit their ranks, and the flames devoured the victims' screams before they died.

After the Eagle Ship was disabled, the No. 1 boat where Ewen was located used flag signals to convey new orders to the other three gunboats. The Grasshopper formation immediately shifted its firepower and began to focus on the second Eagle Ship.

The tragic situation of their comrades immediately angered the Sea Guard crew on the Sky Slasher airship. Only one of these Sky Slashers carried the Hawkeye Crossbow. When the distance between the two sides finally narrowed to a certain limit, the Sea Guard crew raised the crossbow, estimated the lead time, and released a precise attack: the arrow slid out of the groove on the crossbow, flew a short distance, followed the guidance of the airflow, and pierced into the oak hull at the bottom of the No. 2 boat. The tail feathers at the end of the arrow shaft trembled and gradually calmed down.

Not surprisingly, the arrowhead barely penetrated the hard hull, causing no real damage. The Grasshopper was covered with 12 to centimeters thick oak, and the thickest part could even withstand a -pound cannon's close-range direct fire. Not to mention the lightweight Hawkeye crossbow used by the Sky Slasher, even the Hawkclaw crossbow used by the Sea Guard in land battles couldn't hit this thing.

The Grasshopper formation ignored the approaching Sky Slasher airship and attacked the blockade fleet on the sea. When the battle started, the Grasshopper formation was located in the northeast of the blockade fleet. After several rounds of salvos, the Grasshopper formation had already run to the southwest of the blockade fleet, and then began to circle around the blockade fleet.

Well, it's basically the way gunships bully opponents that lack field air defense capabilities.

When the second eagle ship also slowly stopped on the sea with flames all over its body, the Sky Slasher formation finally climbed to a height roughly parallel to the Grasshopper formation, and what greeted them was the already pressurized twin-mounted heavy steam harpoons - compared with the model used on the Haimenguan gunboat, the steam harpoon designed by Grim Brockson was larger and heavier, and pressurized faster. The entire device was also marked with tracking runes by the rune blacksmith remotely deployed by Barrel.

The full name is "Flaxon's Tracking Rune", an engineering rune used exclusively for crossbows and specially for dealing with flying targets. After actual testing, An Jiyue found that this thing can be effective against any long rod-shaped ammunition, but not the spherical shells of the cannon. Considering that the space of the Grasshopper class is quite compact, there is no place to put even the smallest psychic reactor. Even after the successful development of the projectile cannon, An Jiyue had no intention of replacing the main weapon of the Grasshopper class.

With a series of "puffs", the thin steel forks heated by the steam broke away from the launch tube, followed by the second one. Without the need for the Sea Guard crew to issue orders, the clever Swift Feather Peng immediately flapped its wings to try to dodge; however, the flying steel forks also changed their direction and bit deeply into their bodies before Swift Feather Peng could react.

The short eagle cry stopped abruptly, and the scattered feathers floated in the air. The only Sky Slasher equipped with the Hawkeye Crossbow was targeted by fire, and Swift Feather Peng dragged the hull of the boat with several steel forks inserted into it like a weight, spinning and falling to the sea. Two Sea Guard crew members clung to the hull tightly, and one of them stretched out his spear with difficulty, trying to cut the rope connecting Swift Feather Peng to the airship.

He failed. He lost his grip because of the large movement.

The remaining Sky Slashers remained unmoved. Before the steam harpoon could be re-pressurized, they quickly moved closer, and all the Sea Guard crew members took out their bows and arrows, and some even prepared to board the ship.

Boarding was a common tactic in naval warfare these days, but no one had ever tried boarding a ship thousands of meters above the sea level. Closer and closer. When the sea guards brought the grasshopper formation within the range of their bows and arrows, they noticed that someone on those flying ships had pointed some kind of weapon at them.

Arrows and bullets crossed each other in the air, and the Dwarflings began their own unique performance. Without giving the elves on the opposite side a chance to shoot a second arrow, the Dwarflings with their own shields swept the Sky Slasher airship, including the people and birds. When the pressure of the Dwarflings' boilers dropped to a level that was not enough to sustain the shooting, and this round of sweeping ended, there were no living enemies in the sky.

The Sky Slasher airships carried by the blockade fleet were completely destroyed, and the naval battle entered garbage time. The warships of the high elves have always been known for their swiftness, but no matter how fast these magic sailing ships are, they can never compete with the Grasshopper class in speed.

The height of thousands of meters was beyond the limit of the ship's enchanted crossbows. The Asur sailors fired spear-like arrows into the sky in vain, and then watched helplessly as the arrows ran out of kinetic energy before hitting the enemy, drawing a parabolic trajectory and falling into the sea. As for the elven wizard from the White Tower of Hos, the grasshopper formation had been hovering outside the range of most heavenly magic from beginning to end, and the spells that could attack the enemy took too long to cast.

Finally, realizing defeat was inevitable, the fleet commander ordered a surrender.

Egwene accepted the other party's surrender. After all, she didn't want to fight to the death with Ulthuan. Boat No. 1 lowered its flying altitude until the waves were almost able to reach the muzzle of the flame cannon. Egwene led Sir Bayar to the flagship of the high elves. In the lingering smell of burning no matter how the sea breeze blew, she personally took the sword handed over by the fleet commander with both hands.

"You will be held captive until I reach a peace agreement with your Phoenix King," Egwene said in Rikspell. "I am sure the Phoenix Court will not give up so easily, but at least for you, this conflict is over."

"Yes, it is over," the dusty Elf Commander replied in Breton. "Please treat my men well, and Ulthuan will pay them a ransom that satisfies you."

"They?" Knight Ji raised her eyebrows: "What about you?"

"I will not trouble His Majesty Finubar to spend money," the Elf Commander said, drawing a dagger. "This war is a complete mistake. Unfortunately, I have no chance to point this out to Your Majesty. My colleagues will soon realize that my failure is not due to my incompetence. But before that, I have no choice but to do this to protect the honor of my family and myself."

After saying this, the Elf Commander stabbed the dagger into his chest.

Chapter 252 Rule, Marienburg!

An Jiyue led Jin Zhifan and stood at the gate of Aldorf and waited for a while.

Soon, a team of Reik Guards in shining armor hurried to the city gate, bringing a four-wheeled carriage pulled by two sturdy draft horses. The two "wood elves" boarded the carriage and then, escorted by twenty Reik Guards, crossed the city and squeezed out a path to the palace area from the surging crowd.

Altdorf has become more prosperous and more crowded than when An Jiyue came last. A series of recent events have had a great impact on the people of the Empire. Modheim has been purified, the Paraon people have been unexpectedly defeated quickly, and Westland has returned to the Empire... All of these things are miracles brought down by Sigmar, the patron saint of the Empire, in the eyes of many people in the Empire.

Of course, the Church of Ulric has a different view on this. The servants of the White Wolf God will seriously refute the claims about Sigmar's apparition at any time and any place, and use unfalsifiable theological theories to prove that it was Ulric who really performed the miracle. In the end, this kind of argument will basically turn into a big fight with fists and feet.

In any case, in Reikland, where the faith of Sigmar holds an absolute advantage, Sigmar believers from all over the empire come to the throne of Sigmar almost every day, both for pilgrimage and to seek a new life. The influx of a large number of foreign populations caused a lot of trouble for the city hall of Altdorf, but fortunately, there were many experienced bureaucrats among Karl Franz's courtiers, and the emperor himself always knew how to use people and was willing to accept any wise advice.

Taking advantage of the recent financial sufficiency, Karl recruited a large number of outsiders to join the free militia company, preparing to wipe out the forest goblin tribe entrenched in the depths of the blood pine forest (Note 1). This is bound to be an action with many casualties, but the emperor has publicly promised that those who survive will be qualified to join the provincial infantry and become part of the regular armed forces of the empire. For the imperial people who come from the civilian class and have no special skills, this is already a very good way out.

The carriage stopped in the square in front of the palace. Jin Zhishi got off first, followed by An Jiyue. The air quality in Altdorf was still so bad, especially in this square. The alchemist girl always felt that she could smell a faint burnt smell... She looked around and her eyes were immediately attracted by the crowded queue in front of the Sigma Temple.

An Jiyue saw a familiar bald man standing on a high platform, speaking loudly to the crowd below, the content of which was nothing more than the teachings of the Sigma Church and various scripture excerpts. Just as she was about to leave, the Sigma Church's high priest, the "Ruthless" Walkerma, who was preaching, also noticed the situation here.

The high priest jumped down from the platform and walked straight over here. The believers at the scene also wanted to follow. Seeing this, Walkerma said a few words to a bishop beside him, who quickly stopped the crowd.

"I smell the stench of witchcraft," this was the first sentence the bald man said to An Jiyue, "What are you doing in Sigmar's throne, witch?"

"This is Lady Arwen Duskstar," Captain Rick, who was in charge of picking her up, stepped forward. "She is the emperor's guest, High Priest. I have been ordered to escort her to the palace to meet the emperor, and I will definitely fulfill my duty."

"Duty," Walkerma glanced at An Jiyue with disgust, chewing on the word, "I've heard of you, your mentor... he can be called a warrior." The high priest's tone softened a little, but the next second it became hard and full of sharp edges again: "Tell me, witch, what tricks are you going to use to confuse Sigmar's chosen one?"

"If you want to fight, tell me the time and place, and I'll go after my meeting with Karl Franz is over," An Jiyue crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "If you don't want to fight, get out of the way."

For a moment, the Jiedushi almost thought that the high priest was going to take action. Under Captain Rick's nervous gaze, Walkerma slowly calmed the anger on his face and relaxed every muscle obediently.

"In the name of Sigmar," he said, "I must be present at this meeting for the entire time."

"It's up to you," An Jiyue said, turning her gaze to Captain Rick, "Lead the way."

The group walked through the square in an almost stagnant atmosphere and headed towards the renovated south gate of the palace. The soldiers guarding the palace opened the gate after checking their identities, and Captain Rick was the first to walk in. Just as An Jiyue was about to follow in, her eyes involuntarily fell on a statue at the gate.

It was a full-length statue of a person about four meters tall, carved from some kind of pure white stone. Judging from the pointed ears on both sides of the statue's head, this person was obviously an elf. The governor glanced at the statue and asked casually, "Who is this elf lady with her face covered?"

Captain Rick, who happened to turn around, said in surprise: "That's your mentor, Ms. Deedlit. Didn't you recognize her?"

"…Sorry, there might be something wrong with my hearing," An Jiyue took a deep breath, "Who do you say this is?!"

"Ms. Deedlit."

An Jiyue felt her fist harden. The girl looked at Captain Rick, who looked puzzled, and then looked at the statue whose face could be seen as that of an old lady even with a mask on. When she was active as "Deedlit", her face was based on Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings movie, but she made some minor adjustments to make her face look younger; and her current face is naturally a high-definition replica of the world's most famous elf princess, Strider's wife.

With Walkerma's eyes suddenly becoming piercing, An Jiyue stretched out her hand, and the statue began to deform under the effect of earth control: the head of the statue first turned into a ball, and then the extremely lifelike and delicate facial features emerged. Then the governor retouched the obviously distorted figure, until the entire statue completely restored her appearance at that time.

"This is my... mentor Deedlit," An Jiyue waved her hand at the surprised imperial man, "She wore a mask for some, um, personal reasons." In fact, it was because the girl felt that doing so would make her more mysterious. "Her face does not need to be hidden from anyone, and I cannot tolerate someone making her look like this... which makes me sick."

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Arwen," Captain Rick said dryly.

"Now, take me to see your master," An Jiyue put one hand on her waist, "right now!"

……

Four days after the battle, the blockading fleet was towed into the port of Marienburg.

The five armed merchant ships were responsible for carrying out this mission. These ships and the crews on them originally belonged to Jahn, but now they have become the property of the Westerland Consortium. The main force of the blockade fleet originally had four eagle ships and three falcon ships, but two of the latter were burned and sunk due to the fire, so now there are only five ships left to tow.

After the main force of the blockade fleet surrendered, Aiwen returned directly - the flame guns of the Grasshopper formation actually had little ammunition. The Grasshopper II was originally designed by An Jiyue on behalf of Barrel, and was intended to be used as a transitional product before the Hammer-class frigate entered service. It is a gunboat that emphasizes explosive firepower output in a short period of time. Its tactical positioning is to break the enemy's formation in the shortest possible time, so four flame guns were stuffed into the not-so-large hull.

Although the standard Grasshopper is good, it is essentially a large bomber. It is easy to waste firepower when attacking small-scale enemies. Only when dealing with a large number of enemies gathered together can its bombing be most effective. In order to solve this problem, Grasshopper II A and Grasshopper II B came into being. The structures of the two are basically the same. The former has four flame cannons installed on the lower part of the hull, while the latter has eight dwarf guns, and it is double-boiler pressurized, which makes it more durable when firing.

Using this thing to deal with the blockade fleet was purely a sudden inspiration, but now it seems that the effect is better than expected: four Grasshoppers destroyed a small-scale high elf fleet without any casualties themselves.

When the high elves' warships were towed to the dock, the whole city of Marienburg, which had just lifted the martial law, was in an uproar. Citizens rushed to the port regardless of everything. Even the Reik River was crowded with all kinds of messy floating objects, and every floating object was full of people watching the excitement. They pointed at the messy Asur warships. The originally white and elegant hulls were ravaged by the dwarf weapons and were charred and ruined. Now even the broken ships of the green pirates looked more respectable than them.

When the high elves on the ship lined up to get off the ship and were shackled by the Westerland soldiers in red uniforms, all the citizens of Marienburg who witnessed this scene felt as if something deep-rooted in their brains had broken. Among the many onlookers, the most excited were undoubtedly the Imperial Dwarves from the Dwarf Home community. They shouted excitedly, and many Imperial Dwarves used their not-so-fluent Elsalin language to loudly mock the silent elven prisoners.

Evelyn saw it all.

"Now," she said, with her back to Sir Bayard, "this city is truly under my control."

……

Note 1: Bloodpine Grove is actually south of Altdorf, but the Battle of Bloodpine Grove in the game is arranged to the east.

Chapter 253 Influence and Internal Affairs

The six remaining falcon ships in the blockade fleet were extremely alert.

It was already evening when the battle ended. Ewen had originally planned to wait until dawn the next day to dispatch the grasshopper fleet again to deal with the falcon ships that did not move with the main force. However, the captured elven wizard told her that they used magic to issue a final order before surrendering, asking the scattered falcon ships to retreat immediately.

The next day, the Pegasus Knights searched the main waterway near Marienburg for a long time, but still could not find the light warships. When the armed merchant ship mobilized from Marienburg finally arrived at the scene and towed the powerless elven warship back, a witch hunter who was active in Le'Angulang as a wine merchant sent a message that the falcon ships appeared in the area and the high elf enclave in Le'Angulang was being evacuated.

Knight Ji was now convinced that the remaining warships of the blockade fleet had indeed retreated. As for the latter piece of news, Egwene felt that the high elves were making a fuss out of nothing. Could they be so crazy as to attack Bretonnia?

Regardless, although the blockade fleet was not swallowed up, it was still an overwhelming and glorious victory. Marienburg's external shipping routes were once again open, the city was prosperous and bustling again, and now everyone under Egwene's rule was convinced that their new ruler was fully capable of protecting them and their business.

As for those fools who were arrested for trying to incite riots, the masterminds were executed, and the accomplices were sent to mine or build roads. The citizens of Marienburg quickly forgot about these scums who dared to oppose the Elector. Even the Nord nobles who once swore that they would never do business with the damned Westman again came back secretly.

In fact, it was not just Nordland. Many noble sons from various provinces came to Westland with their identity documents, trying their best to meet one of the only two female electors in the empire. These people were basically second sons or even illegitimate children who had no inheritance rights, and there were even many female nobles among them. Their demands were simple. Egwene's successful ascension made them suddenly realize that in the imperial ruling system, which was originally a system where everyone had their own job, there were suddenly a lot of new positions.

There is no decent city in Westerland except Marienburg. There are only some small fishing villages scattered along the long coastline and dilapidated farms inland. There are only a few settlements that can be called "towns". However, no matter how bad the fiefdom is, it is still a fiefdom. Speculators who come in droves are willing to swear allegiance to Lord Egwene and become vassals of the Richelieu family in exchange for a fiefdom that can be passed down to future generations.

If it was according to Egwene's own ideas, she would not bother to meet these people at all. With the Holy Book of War in hand, her army did not need the noble class to provide vital shock cavalry, let alone rely on these people to maintain the simple rule of the Renaissance class. The current situation of Marienburg also supported her ruling ideas: as a city that relies entirely on maritime trade, the nobles have no power here, so much so that the merchants of Marienburg have always despised the nobles.

The small population of West Territory is actually a good thing for Egwene. The Knight Princess can slowly train professional civil servants and build a modern administrative system. As for the traditional noble lords?

In Westland, Egwene alone is enough for such a person.

An Jiyue advised her not to be so radical. A genius is half a step ahead of the times, a madman is one step ahead, and what Aiwen wants to do is more than one step ahead? Instead of going all the way to the level of France in the Napoleonic era, it is better to learn from the advanced experience of the Russians and come up with a modified version of Russian-style centralization.

The so-called "Russian centralization" means that the central government directly controls all major cities, transportation hubs and inland rivers, and the remaining unimportant land is broken up and distributed to small nobles. As for why small nobles? Because in Tsarist Russia, the truly powerful nobles all lived in big cities, and the boyars in the countryside were just insignificant country bumpkins who had never had a sense of existence in the political game of Tsarist Russia.

Although the Lords of the Holy Scriptures had different personalities, they all listened to the advice. Aiwen was persuaded by An Jiyue, and she also added some of her own understanding: she met with all the nobles who came to apply for jobs in the city hall, and then told them that if they wanted to win the fiefdom and title, they must prove that they deserved it all on the battlefield.

Even the female nobles who looked about her age were no exception. Anyway, the Imperials were much more open-minded in this regard than the Bretonnians. As long as you could fight, who cared whether you were a man or a woman? The Empire had female soldiers, female officers, female combat priests, and female witch hunters. Although these were not common, they did exist.

The people of the Empire were undoubtedly martial, and most of the nobles accepted the conditions proposed by Egwene without hesitation. A few were swept up in the momentum and had no choice but to agree. Then, Knight Ji had three more companies of pistol cavalry under her command.

As the pre-profession of "Imperial Knights", Pistol Cavalry are all children of nobles, which just fits the origin of this group of people. After serving for several years, Pistol Cavalry who have proved themselves in their military career have the opportunity to join the Knights and become a glorious battle brother; in Westland, the Imperial Knights under Egwene are different from the large and small Knights in the Empire. The latter are actually miniature countries within the country, with a high degree of independence.