This young master truly has the ambition of a hero.

However, before he could enjoy his victory for long, just as the vanguard cavalry was about to break through, the city gate, which had been wide open, suddenly slammed shut with lightning speed. Only a dozen or so riders managed to pass through, and several unlucky ones were even directly hit by the heavy gate, their flesh and blood mingling with their warhorses.

Upon witnessing this scene, Marquis Richard's smile froze on his face.

Chapter 324: "Self-Defense"

"To quell external threats, one must first secure internal stability..." This saying shouldn't be dismissed as meaningless just because some micro-management master said it.

Dick never held the character or ability of the Northern conservative lords, led by the Marquis of Richard, in high regard, but he never ignored their threat either.

No matter what, that's tens of thousands of soldiers. Even if they were all pigs, it would still take several days to catch them.

Moreover, with the connections accumulated by the Marquis's family over generations, they could even invite Saint-level experts to assist them. Therefore, before the Northern Alliance could concentrate all its efforts on the Northern Expedition against the Orcs, they had to deal with these potential enemies behind them first.

However, everything requires a just cause. Moreover, rather than sending troops and stretching supply lines hundreds of miles to fight a difficult offensive on someone else's territory, Dick would prefer that the other side come to him on its own.

Both involve fighting, but the reputation of an offensive attack versus a defensive counter-attack is vastly different.

So Tia's intelligence department began to operate. They first used their undercover agents in the Dead Tree Party to continuously spread false information to the conservatives that "Lagug is poorly defended." Then they bribed the Marquis Richard's advisors to repeatedly persuade him, arousing his gambler's mentality and making the Marquis feel that he could turn the tide as long as he took a gamble.

As for the two secret letters sent by the Border Legion and the Pass Fortress, they were indeed written by the commanders of the two places, but they were also authorized by Dick.

The intelligence agencies did all this just to encourage the conservatives to throw their lives away!

When Richard's more than 30,000 men rushed toward the main city of Lagug, the city's defenses were indeed as the intelligence indicated, numbering only about 4,000, two-thirds of whom were second-line militia reservists.

However, there is an ambush force of 10,000 men in each of the three directions of the main city: east, west, and north.

Dick used the railway lines within his territory to deploy these ambush forces. The enemy's spies couldn't see through the metal carriages and wouldn't know whether they were carrying cargo or fully armed soldiers.

Richard's army thus plunged headlong into the ambush that had been meticulously prepared for them. As the main city gates fell again, a large number of heads suddenly appeared on the south city wall.

Most of the soldiers crouching behind the battlements were militiamen dressed in cotton-padded clothes, but the weapons they carried were magical firearms, which the empire had explicitly prohibited private armies from equipping on a large scale.

A year ago, under the supervision of Ruby Eyes, the arsenal in Lagug had completed the research and development and pre-production preparation of the improved rifle, and had secretly produced tens of thousands of them.

The new rifle uses a rifled barrel and copper-cased cartridges. These firearms, which combine Earth's technology with alchemy from another world, can instantly give an ordinary person who has never cultivated any supernatural powers the ability to (theoretically) kill low- to mid-level warriors or even high-level mages with a flick of their finger.

For this reason, the empire has been prohibiting local nobles from equipping their private armies with firearms for years. But now that the central government is preoccupied with its own problems, Dick has openly taken out guns and started equipping them with firearms.

The 2,400 reserve militiamen had only received less than two weeks of training, and during the training, in order to keep it secret, they had not fired a single live round. But this did not prevent them from hitting the conservative coalition forces that were charging in dense formations below the city walls.

The powerful round-headed lead bullets could easily pierce through the wooden shields and poor light armor that enemy soldiers originally used to defend against arrows.

Seeing his troops suffer a crushing defeat, with soldiers falling in droves like wheat being harvested, even the most foolish Marquis Richard knew he had been tricked.

Bullshit about a weak defense, they were clearly prepared in advance!

However, it was too late to retreat at this point. Richard, caught in a dilemma, could only grit his teeth and urge his troops to continue the attack, while requesting the three Saint-level experts accompanying him to intervene.

These three were Richard's hired helpers, one a mage and two warriors. Extraordinary individuals of Saint rank or higher were like human nuclear weapons in this world, possessing the ability to change the course of battle at crucial moments.

The problem now is that Dick's side also has no shortage of Saint-level powerhouses!

Almost at the moment the three were about to make their move, several powerful pressures suddenly appeared around them, surrounding them. Dick, who was fully armed, flew out of the city and used magic to address the three powerful figures who were on high alert.

"I'll give you ten seconds to think it over. Now leave, I won't stop you."

"..." x3

The three masters exchanged a silent glance, and without any hesitation, immediately used their unique abilities to escape the battlefield to the south.

It's true that they have some connections with the Richard family and that they received commissions from them, but it's just a few tens of thousands of gold coins and some treasures. It's really not worth risking their lives for such a small reward!

Seeing that the three of them were so sensible, Dick's lips curled up, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Because if a Saint-level war really breaks out, although they are confident that they can kill these three people, the main city of Lagug will more or less suffer damage from the aftermath of the extraordinary war. It would be best to make them back down.

At this point, the initiative on the battlefield had completely fallen into Dick's hands. Although the two sides were roughly equal in strength, the Northern Alliance army was fighting on home ground. Even disregarding the Saint-level experts stationed there, the Northern Alliance's rank-and-file soldiers were far superior to their opponents in terms of training and equipment.

Thus, defeat became inevitable. Richard was unable to stabilize the morale of his troops. Faced with the Northern Alliance army that surrounded them in tight formation, most of the noble private soldiers did not have the courage to fight to the death. Therefore, seeing that they were surrounded, they voluntarily laid down their weapons.

"My lord, please surrender! At least this time it's a human!"

Under the persuasion of his personal guards, Richard and a group of conservative lords from the North had no choice but to surrender.

Dick didn't make things difficult for these "understanding" guys; they had sent him over 30,000 strong laborers in one go, relieving him of any worries about the rear during his northern expedition.

In return for their kindness, they immediately arranged for them to stay at "Laguge Farmhouse"!

"Take good care of these distinguished guests, and don't let them go hungry."

At daybreak, Dick immediately ordered his men to inform the lords of the North that he had thwarted the shameless sneak attack by the conservative coalition led by Marquis Richard at the gates of his own capital city the previous night.

Regardless of the time, place, or who fired the first shot, no one can find fault with Dick in the slightest. This is undoubtedly "self-defense"!

As the "victim," Dick will then rightfully demand some very reasonable compensation from the "perpetrators." He will send people to take over the territories of these captured lords. As for how long the takeover will last, that depends on Lord Dick's mood.

Chapter 325: One Must Have the Mindset of a Beast

Having resolved the concerns about the rear during the Northern Expedition, the Northern Allied Army immediately adjusted its deployment.

It was already the end of January. Although the weather was still cold, winter had officially entered its second half. Compared to the first half, when snowfall was frequent, the air humidity was relatively dry in the two months leading up to spring, and the ground was already frozen solid, making it very suitable for marching.

The orcs, realizing that the humans were about to attack, were also actively preparing for battle.

At this moment in the orc capital, listening to the intelligence reports from his subordinates, the orc king Ramon's face was full of gloom.

Not long ago, he learned from the elves of the Deadwood Party that the Black Forest Empire was in turmoil. Ramon was initially very excited, feeling that the opportunity he had been waiting for was finally coming. As long as the humans fought among themselves, the orcs would have the opportunity to take advantage of the chaos and fulfill the ambitions he had failed to achieve years ago.

However, bad news soon arrived: the humans south of the Central Mountain Range were indeed fighting, but the humans north of the mountain range did not participate. Instead, they quickly gathered their forces and rushed towards them first!

Clearly, his old rival was very calm and had anticipated the orcs' prediction.

However, facing the overwhelming human army, Ramon knew that they were not without a chance of victory, as the vast wasteland provided the orcs with tremendous strategic depth.

Although they are no match for the human race's magic cannons and muskets, and therefore cannot attack the human bridgehead located on the north shore of the fjord, as long as they lure the human army deep into the wasteland, the brave orc warriors will make them understand who the prey is!

So, under Ramon's orders, the orcs followed the human's example and implemented a scorched-earth policy, relocating all settlements within 300 kilometers of the fjord's north shore and destroying water sources.

In order to prevent the humans from launching another amphibious landing, most of the orcs' main forces were deployed to defend the coastal areas east of their capital.

Most orcs believe they have a clear advantage over humans in open field battles, and in recent years, with the help of the Deadtree Party, they have improved their metallurgical forging technology, resulting in a qualitative leap in the weaponry of their army.

Besides equipment, the quality of the orc army's soldiers is now vastly different from what it used to be.

In the last invasion a few months ago, the orcs used a "quick in, quick out" tactic to carry out a crushing raid on the noble territories in the north, central and southern regions. Except for a few troops that suffered heavy losses due to encountering the Northern Alliance army disguised as the Border Legion, the other troops achieved a very good exchange ratio and returned with a full load.

This highly successful surprise attack delighted many tribal chiefs, but Ramon frowned deeply after listening to the descriptions of the battle by the remnants of the defeated troops.

The orc army has indeed become stronger, but so have their opponents!

If most of the humans in the northern border of the Empire were lambs to the slaughter in Ramon's eyes, then the Northern Alliance, led by Dick Best, were the sheepdogs standing between them and the flock.

They're all human, but these guys are so fierce they don't seem like humans at all.

When other humans saw the orcs attack, they were mostly like frightened birds, either fleeing in panic or hiding in their cities and refusing to come out. Only the Northern Alliance dared to confront them head-on.

Ramon has always regarded this human force as a major threat, and now they have taken the initiative to attack!

In early February, the vanguard of the Northern Allied Army set off from the bridgehead, with a massive force of 20,000 men marching out of the fortress and advancing northward along the coastline.

Alongside the army, a large fleet of over a hundred ships accompanied them on the sea. These self-propelled paddlewheel ships were equipped with lightweight modified medium and small magic cannons. Although their range and power were significantly reduced compared to the fortress type, they were still sufficient to provide fire support to the army from the sea.

In addition, most of the army's food and supplies were loaded onto accompanying cargo ships, so the vanguard corps was not burdened by supply trains and could march very quickly.

The accompanying ships have large kitchens where the army's three meals a day are prepared on board, and then high-ranking mages with great skill are responsible for delivering the meals ashore.

The mages of the Northern Alliance never imagined that one day they would become "delivery guys," something that seemed unbelievable to many. Since mages have always been a crucial high-end troop type in armies, they have always been treated like precious treasures, carefully tended to to prevent them from being out of sorts when their firepower was needed.

So at first, some mages complained a bit, but when they saw that Dick, who gave the order, also led his beautiful female mages to serve as food deliverymen, and even the commander-in-chief of the Saint Rank was setting an example, they naturally stopped complaining.

Dick put himself in the orcs' shoes. Facing the overwhelming human expeditionary force, their best tactic was to lure the enemy deep into their territory, then fully utilize the orc riders' mobility and familiarity with the terrain to flank and cut off the human army's supply lines, thus causing the expeditionary force to collapse without a fight.

Therefore, Dick's Northern Expedition strategy was to deploy his forces in a grand and methodical manner, advancing along the coastline and coordinating with the navy. The entire headquarters of the Northern Expeditionary Army was located on the ships, and he personally led his elite troops to escort the fleet.

During the First Orc War, Dick encountered a large group of sea monsters in the fjord and suspected that it was the work of the Dead Tree Party elves. Moreover, there were some druids on the orc side who could transform into sea monsters to attack the fleet, so the enemy was not without naval capabilities.

"Let me emphasize again, the goal of this Northern Expedition is not simply a retaliatory strike like the last raid on the orc capital, but a true war of annihilation to completely 'demilitarize' the orcs. I hope everyone will abandon any unrealistic fantasies. Until those monsters stop eating people and become able to sing and dance, there is no room for reconciliation between us and them!"

Inside the fleet's flagship's conference room, Dick was giving pre-battle instructions to his officers.

Especially when he was talking about the last few sentences, he glanced at a few of the more "saintly" girls in his team, as if to give them a heads-up.

The Northern Alliance was aiming to exterminate the orcs in this battle, to wipe out all the blue-faced, fanged, and hairy creatures. Therefore, he did not want to see anyone hesitate to do it or suddenly jump out to protect the orc cubs behind them, shouting something like "He's just a child."

Orc children are children, but what about the human children that orc soldiers stew in the pot?

Kindness must be shown to the right person!

Fortunately, most of the girls under Dick's command had experienced big scenes in the original world and were aware of the "necessary killing". Even Shizuka Marikawa, who wanted to fight for the "human rights" of the bandit prisoners back then, just sighed softly and didn't say anything more.

Through her experiences here, this naturally naive female doctor has grown a lot.

Among the people present was Nora, Dick's second sister, along with some of her former retainers who had come to Lagug with her.

They hadn't been in Laguge for long. Although they had heard that the fifth young master, who used to be a bookworm in the Duke's mansion, had become a completely different person since arriving in Laguge, incredibly wise and capable, they didn't believe all the rumors.

When they actually arrived in Lagug, they discovered that the rumors were not only not exaggerated, but even somewhat conservative. Apart from his appearance and height remaining unchanged, the Fifth Young Master was completely different from before. The power and confidence he displayed in his strategic planning were something they had only seen in the old duke when he was young.

Nora, the second sister, had a complicated expression. She realized that she really knew nothing about her youngest brother.

Chapter 326: A Gathering of Wise Men

While Dick led his army north to launch a proactive attack on the orcs, in the south of the empire, the third prince, Bailey, and a group of cabinet officials fled to the Marquisate of Leodor, preparing to recruit soldiers and try to build an army capable of returning to the capital.

Despite the fact that Bailey's reputation as the "God of War on the Donkey Cart" has been ruined since the end of the Southern War, no matter how incompetent he is or how outrageous the scandals his father has caused, he is still the legitimate prince of the Hessian royal family, and no one can shake his current status as the "first in line to the throne".

His status meant he possessed legal authority, which could be used to make claims. This made many southern nobles, even if they looked down on this good-for-nothing, willing to send troops to support him and become a nominal royalist for their own and their group's interests.

After all, for some ambitious people, an incompetent emperor is not necessarily a bad thing.

In addition, some lower-ranking nobles and even commoners would rush to pledge allegiance upon hearing the name of the Third Prince of the Empire.

These people, lacking access to information, are unaware of some of the inner workings of the empire's upper echelons and harbor an unrealistic, idealized view of the royal family. They believe the empire's current state is not the emperor's fault, but rather due to the presence of treacherous individuals around him!

Ultimately, the Black Forest royal family, as the key figures in overthrowing the Elven dynasty, has maintained its millennia-old dynasty to this day. Its accumulated power still exists, and there is still room for it to decline.

Even the rebels who responded to Rune Best's call did not initially shout the slogan of "overthrowing the royal family," but rather "establishing a wise ruler." They only intended to force the incompetent and tyrannical Hesse VII to abdicate, and then select a more suitable successor from among the other members of the royal family.

The cabinet that fled south with Pele, once things had calmed down a bit, immediately issued a statement calling on the people of Hesse to "respect the emperor and punish the traitors" and unite to eliminate the rebels.

As for the scandals caused by King Hesse VII, the cabinet has selectively ignored them, and they are prepared to directly "sever ties" with King Hesse VII if necessary.

Anyway, the damned old emperor has already sent it, so it's perfectly appropriate to make a dead man take the blame.

With the support of the cabinet and a group of royalist nobles in the south, the third prince raised more than 50,000 soldiers in a very short period of time.

After all, the southern border of the empire may not have much else, but it certainly doesn't lack people.

However, after the war with the Maple Dew Kingdom ended, the southern region as a whole had not yet recovered from the weakness of defeat. The quality of the soldiers in these hastily conscripted troops was uneven. Apart from a portion of the Imperial Guards who had withdrawn from the capital with the Third Prince and a small number of noble private armies that could barely be called elite, most of the other soldiers were poor people who could not even distinguish between left and right.

An officer in charge of training soldiers in the Imperial Guard admitted that these recruits, who were half-forced and half-tricked into coming by royalist nobles, were generally in poor physical condition. Many of them suffered from long-term malnutrition and were so weak that they were unable to carry out normal military training and were not even qualified to be cannon fodder.

But Pele didn't care about any of that. All he could think about now was expanding his army, fighting his way back to the capital, and taking back everything that was rightfully his!

The current turmoil in the Black Forest Empire has spread to most of its territory, and the area around the capital is in a state of intense fighting, with multiple forces battling each other.

In other parts of the empire, nobles who had heard the news were also eager to participate in the grand event!

Aside from the Third Prince's faction, which claims to be the "legitimate royal family," there are at least seven other forces with an army size of over 50,000, and dozens more with a size of less than 50,000.

　Two factions belonged to the rebel camp: Duke Rocquet, who succeeded Rune Best as the new leader of the Southern Nobles, and Marquis Gohar, the former general who commanded the Second and Seventh Rebel Legions.

Although both men responded to Rune and joined the rebellion, their purposes were different.

Rockett represented the Southern Nobles, who were local lords and had long been a "key target" that the Imperial Central Government had tried every means to weaken. Therefore, their rebellion was aimed at local separatism and autonomy, making them a typical separatist force.

Gohar, influenced by "imported ideas" from Earth, felt that the Empire's current backward and deformed system was no longer suitable for the country's development. The old emperor was incompetent and the cabinet was full of corrupt officials. Gohar wanted to emulate Dai Ying on Earth and implement a true constitutional monarchy. He launched a rebellion with the aim of "removing the corrupt officials from the emperor's inner circle"!

When Rune was still alive, he could mediate between the two, but neither Rocquet nor Gohar expected that Rune would perish together with Hessin VII!

The regicide left no room for maneuver in this rebellion.

Rune's death also removed the cohesive force within the rebel army, causing it to quickly disintegrate.

Rune seemed to have overplayed his hand, but Dick, who had read his handwritten letter, knew that it was actually the Duke's deliberate act. While carrying out his revenge, he also got himself involved, allowing the fire to rage on!

Currently, Gohar's two legions control the central area centered around the palace, while Roquet controls most of the southeastern part of the capital. Although the two rebel forces dislike each other, they have no choice but to fight back-to-back against the swarming anti-rebel armies.

Among the various anti-rebel armies, the Second Army Corps (remnants) led by Reinhardt was in the most awkward position and situation. Neither the rebels nor the anti-rebel forces really recognized him, but they were the only force actively protecting civilians in the capital during this chaotic war.

Using the defensive tactics they had learned during the Southern War, they established a safety zone on the outskirts of the capital, protecting hundreds of thousands of refugees from the ravages of war.