Chapter 95: Confrontation
Under heavy rainfall, an army quickly advanced.
"What is the situation like in the Kutu Royal City?" a middle-aged man turned and asked the official standing in front of him.
The middle-aged man looked quite unique; he had a narrow and long face and was not very handsome, but he gave off sinister airs, making those who looked at him shudder.
He was currently calmly looking at an official in front of him.
This was Lanlod, the head of the Glin family in the south.
It was him who had started the southern rulers' rebellion.
Currently, he had become the head of the rebel army and was leading the army towards the Kutu Royal City.
However, he now found that after a few months, the situation in the Kutu Royal City was different than what he remembered.
"We are not sure about the specific situation."
The official in front of him looked quite frustrated, "A few months ago we lost contact with the Kutu Royal City. We only heard that Count Nardo headed to the Kutu Royal City and took control of it. Since then, we have not been able to receive any information."
Back when Chen Heng had entered the Kutu Royal City, the nobles who had been in contact with Lanlod all fell into Chen Heng's control. Even though they were not forcefully suppressed, they were being observed and any suspicious moves were pre-emptively stopped.
Under these circumstances, even if those people favored Lanlod, they would not dare to take the risk to send information to him.
Without these people's help, Lanlod essentially lost his eyes in the Kutu Royal City.
Hearing this, Lanlod instinctively frowned.
Losing his source of information was a dangerous signal.
This meant that Chen Heng's control over the Kutu Royal City had reached another level.
He was an incredibly troublesome opponent.
Putting aside Chen Heng's status as the royal family's Guardian Knight, he did not dare to underestimate Chen Heng as Count Nardo.
If possible, he did not want to go up against Count Nardo.
However, not everyone else thought this way.
"Sir, please give orders."
Someone below said with a cold smile, "Once we break open the Kutu Royal City, the city will be ours for the taking."
The Kutu Royal City was the royal city of the Kutu Principality, and it gathered most of the Kutu Principality's fortunes and assets.
If they could take over this city and pillage it, this would satisfy most people and make them quite rich.
Currently, this was what most people were thinking.
Before this, they had already done this many times.
After all, this was the main reason why they followed Lanlod in rebelling.
The wealth that the Kutu Royal City contained was unimaginable, and just taking a slight portion could satisfy most people.
Looking at his allies, Lanlod instinctively frowned but did not criticize them. He only shook his head and said calmly, "Count Nardo is not so easy to deal with."
"What are you so afraid of?"
Someone said, "With our strength, no matter who it is, they are not a match for us."
"That's right!" others agreed.
It had to be said that the rebel army had grown to a monstrous size by now.
Adding on the slaves they had captured on the way, the rebel army now numbered 40,000 to 50,000 people.
No one could compare with such a massive force. Even when the royal family was at its peak, it was not likely for them to have so many people.
With such great military force, they could not help but feel confident and feel that no one was a match for them.
However, Lanlod felt quite troubled.
Indeed, with their current military force, even Count Nardo would not be a match for them.
However, if he staunchly defended the Kutu Royal City, even with their forces, they might not be able to conquer the Kutu Royal City.
After all, he knew clearly the strength of these 50,000 people.
Even though they had an absolute advantage in terms of numbers, these soldiers belonged to different rulers, who had their own ideas.
If it was just a battle in the open, it would not be too bad, but if it was sieging a city, as time dragged on, it was likely for problems to arise.
Moreover, just the consumption of food and resources of 50,000 people was a massive figure.
If time dragged on for too long, they would fall apart before they could conquer the Kutu Royal City.
These were all problems.
Forcefully sieging the city was not a very good choice.
However, now that things had come to this, Lanlod did not have much of a choice.
They had spent a great deal of effort to reach the Kutu Royal City, and if they just left like this, it would be quite a pity, and the various rulers would not be satisfied.
The reason why the rulers had endured mso much was because they desired the fortunes in the Kutu Royal City. This had been a great motivation for them.
As such, Lanlod decided to send emissaries to the Kutu Royal City to see if he could negotiate with Count Nardo.
Within the Kutu Royal City, after receiving the letter from Lanlod, Chen Heng only chuckled.
"What is it?"
Seeing Chen Heng chuckle, Kelly felt quite curious.
"Lanlod sent a letter."
Chen Heng smiled as he handed the letter to Kelly, "He says that if I withdraw from the Kutu Royal City, he is willing to give the entire northern side and a large portion of the royal family's territory to me."
"Sounds quite good."
Hearing this, Kelly could not help but laugh, "But it feels a bit pointless."
"That's right." Chen Heng said, "The northern side is already my territory, and the royal family's territory is under my control right now as well. From this perspective, he's trying to award me what already belongs to me."
"It's not like he can actually take out anything," Kelly said as he shook his head, "His situation is much worse than ours.
"With 50,000 soldiers waiting outside, just the consumption of a single day is an astronomical figure. If he doesn't quickly resolve this, his army will most likely collapse."
"That's right." Chen Heng nodded.
It was because he had long since predicted this, Chen Heng had already relocated the residents near the Kutu Royal City, leaving behind only empty buildings for the rebel army.
Even if Lanlod wanted to support his army by pillaging, there would be nothing he could do.
On the other hand, while Chen Heng also needed to maintain his forces, he had fewer soldiers than Lanlod, and he was the one occupying the Kutu Royal City. He had access to all of the food and resources in the city.
Even though his circumstances were also difficult, there would be no problems in a short period of time.
However, Lanlod was not so lucky.
"How should we reply?" Kelly asked as he looked at Chen Heng.
"Use Her Majesty's name to rebuke his rebellious behavior and order him to leave the Kutu Royal City and return to his own territory."