Lord Harland

After winning this battle, the orcs finally accepted the reality, gave up a large area of ​​territory, and retreated to the north bank of the Samba River.

After this battle, the area on the south bank of the Samba River completely belonged to the Harland Territory. This part of the land covers an area of ​​more than 60,000 square kilometers and is an area with fertile soil. If the south bank of the Samba River can be developed, the population carrying capacity and war potential of the Haaland territory will be doubled.

After winning the defensive battle of the Eagle Mountains last year, the Harland Territory expanded to the northern grassland area. In addition, the royal family rewarded the Earl of Martins with the Harland Territory, adding 90,000 square kilometers of land.

This year's victory in the Battle of Samba River has increased Harland's territory by more than 60,000 square kilometers, and the total area has reached 280,000 square kilometers.

In terms of area, it is equivalent to three duchies.

Such a vast territory is enough to establish a grand duchy according to the unspoken rules of the Dawn Plane.

Although the strength has reached the level of the Grand Duchy, it is not an easy task for Richard to wear the Grand Duke's crown and become independent from the Grant Kingdom.

There are frequent wars in the Dawn Plane, and nobles respect strength. In terms of military strength, the Harland family is enough to establish itself as a grand duke. However, the Dawn Plane has strict political rules, and the nobles' thoughts are relatively conservative and traditional.

If a great noble wants to wear the crown of Grand Duke or King and break away from the original title, he must be recognized by the Holy Radiant Empire and canonized by the Church of the Seven Gods.

Richard has a close relationship with the Church of Dawn, so it should be relatively easy for him to be canonized by the Church of Dawn, but if he wants to be recognized by the Holy Radiance Empire, he must make meritorious deeds for the human race.

Only by making contributions to the survival of mankind can one leave the Grant royal family as a lord.

Otherwise, the Haaland family will inevitably be restricted by the royal family and obey the royal family's orders to a certain extent. Economically and politically, some benefits were transferred to the prince.

If Richard raises his troops to rebel, even if there is a chance to overthrow the Grant royal family, he will not be recognized by nearby countries or domestic nobles. Instead, he will be attacked by a group of nobles and become a laughing stock.

Counting the great noble vassals, the Grant royal family has more than 600 hereditary nobles, and the total number of noble coalition forces exceeds 300,000. Although this force is loose, it is not weaker than the royal family. The great nobles combined had nearly 300,000 troops.

Without the recognition of the nobles, even if Harland's military strength exceeds that of the royal family, he must obey the royal family's orders to a certain extent.

The Battle of Samba River was very influential. This battle not only repulsed the orcs, but also extended the territory to the north bank of the Samba River. He also beat the orcs thoroughly, so that the orcs would not dare to invade Harland Territory easily.

This battle also brought great shock to the Grant Kingdom. When King Roger received the battle report, he couldn't believe it for the first time.

Nolan sent six groups of envoys to the Duchy of Harland to inquire. In order to get the real situation, the royal family even used some spies placed in the Duchy of Harland. Some of these spies even became captains of the regular army and entered the ruling class of the Harland territory.

Since the Harland Territory showed great potential, the great nobles of the Grant Kingdom have been interested in placing some people in the Harland Territory. Although the intelligence department has cracked many espionage cases, there are still many espionage agents hiding in secret, and some have even penetrated into core departments.

The intelligence department has no good way to deal with the well-hidden rats. They can only keep their eyes open and monitor every move in the territory.

The royal family placed a heavyweight spy in the Harland Territory. This person happened to have participated in this war and received a large amount of intelligence. After repeated comparative analysis, the royal family finally determined that the Harland Territory defeated the orcs.

Through this battle, it was clearly revealed that the army led by Harland was now the strongest soldier in the Grant Kingdom.

Although the royal family has nine legions of elite soldiers, it has also organized and trained six second-line corps. Together with the city defense and security forces in various regions, the total strength exceeds 400,000, which far exceeds the Harland Territory in scale.

Harland only led 65,000 regular troops, 40,000 city defense troops, security troops, and 6,000 new soldiers. The size of the army was far inferior to the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Grant royal family. The number of people is roughly equivalent to one-third of the royal family.

But through this battle test, the combat effectiveness of Haaland's army has surpassed that of the royal family.

After all, even if the royal family devoted all their resources and the nine central legions went into battle together, plus the second-line legions, it would be difficult to stop the onslaught of more than a dozen orc legions.

Although the nobles of the Grant Kingdom have never heard the saying that political power comes from the barrel of a gun, the implicit meaning of this saying is that because of years of war, they have a deeper understanding of power.

After receiving this information, King Roger knew that from now on, the relationship with Lord Harland must be slightly adjusted.

Through this battle, the Harland Territory has proven that it does not need much support from the royal family and can withstand the orcs mainly by relying on its own strength.

After the Battle of Samba River, the Grant Kingdom will gradually form two centers of power: Nolan and Fort William.

In fact, with the transfer of the Iron Lion, Grizzly Bear, and Northern Territory armies to the south, the influence of the royal family in the three provinces of Northern Xinjiang has become weaker and weaker. The nobles of Northern Xinjiang are not fools, and they know who is protecting them.

Especially the nobles close to Harland's territory now basically obey Richard's military orders.

The orcs at the No. 10 Military Station were defeated, and the troops in other directions would naturally withdraw.

On the way to withdraw, looking at the demoralized orc army, the commander of the prairie governor-general, Melon La, said with sadness on his face: "Pulilan, the pearl of the prairie, will eventually be lost in my hands."

Seeing that Melonla was in a very low mood, the legendary jackal persuaded: "Perhaps, we should ask the royal court for reinforcements? As long as the royal court assigns us a few elite legions and adds a few legendary dukes, we will definitely be able to defeat the Harland Territory. .

Melonra waved his hand, obviously not agreeing with what the jackal said.

"The Royal Court's energy is mainly focused on the Holy Glory Empire. It has suffered many defeats in recent years and has been deploying soldiers from the six major governor-general areas. In the past thirty years, we have organized six legions to support the Royal Court. The pressure on the Royal Court is greater than We are bigger and it is impossible to support us. After losing this battle, Pulilan has become useless and will soon fall under the control of Harland.

According to the intelligence we have, as long as the north bank of the Samba River is successfully developed, Lord Harland will definitely cross the river and go north to capture the city of Pulilan. "

"Dear Commander, how much time do you think Lord Harland can give us?"

Melonla pondered for a moment, thought for a moment and said: "Based on the development speed and economic scale of Harland Territory, the south bank of the Samba River should be successfully developed in about ten years. By then we will inevitably lose the Pulilan area."

"With a ten-year buffer, we can retreat the tribes in Pulilan to the eastern grasslands."

Melonla shook his head and said: "In the long run, if the Puliland region is lost, the eastern grassland has become a dead place and will eventually fall into the hands of Duke Harland. It is better to let the tribes in the Puliland region move westward and strengthen the Silver Wolf. The power in the mountainous area competes with Stanik and the Lion Kingdom.

Although the Eastern Front suffered a defeat this year, its troop losses were not serious. However, unable to break through Duke Harland's defense line for two consecutive years, the soldiers had lost confidence in victory.

I decided to organize a large army next year and launch a fierce attack in the direction of the Eastern Front a year in advance. This time we will mainly suppress the enemy and concentrate our forces to attack the two Dukes Edward and Fox, while we will stop and rest in the direction of Duke Harland. "

After hearing the decision made by Melonra, the legendary Jackal was shocked. He was the commander of the Eastern Front. He knew the situation of the Eastern Front and knew that the strength of the Eastern Front could no longer compete with the Grant Kingdom as a whole.

In the past two years, the Eastern Front Army of the Orc Grassland Governor's Region organized a huge force and fought three wars with Harland's leader, resulting in extremely heavy losses. Not only were the seventeenth and thirteenth legions annihilated, but a large amount of food and baggage was also consumed, almost wiping out the wealth accumulated by the orcs.

After suffering a serious defeat, they should recuperate and regain their strength in recent years. I don't know why Melonla still wants to start a war.

As a subordinate of a responsible person, the legendary jackal asked questions.

"We will send out a large army next year, but we don't have much equipment?"

"If there is no baggage, let the soldiers eat humans, goats and kobolds."

Hearing Melonra's determination, the Legendary Jackal was more cautious. "Is this risk too great?"

The legendary gnolls were some of Melonla's important assistants. He failed to do his job properly. He acted disobediently and disobeyed orders during the war, and it was difficult for Melonla's strategic goals to be implemented.

If you want the legendary jackal to cooperate, you must get his thinking straight.

"Now we have suffered heavy losses and our military morale is low. We must win a battle as soon as possible to restore our confidence. Although the Harland Territory is very powerful, they have strong competition with human duchies such as Edward and Fox. They are not monolithic internally. There are more Deep contradiction.

In the past ten years or so, there has been almost no major cooperation between them. In the past two years of war, Edward, Fox and other human dukes did not send reinforcements to the Harland Territory, which shows their true relationship. Next year's war will focus on the two duchies of Edward and Fox. There is a high probability that Lord Harland will stand by and not actively participate in the war.

I have greater confidence in this.

Moreover, the attack next year will be beyond the enemy's expectations. Over the years, we have launched an attack every three years. If we disrupt the rhythm, the enemy must not be ready. I think we can achieve greater results. "

After several detailed discussions, Melonla convinced the legendary Jackal to prepare to launch a key attack next year.

It is impossible for Richard to know about the orcs' plan.

After the Battle of Samba River, Richard immediately mobilized Harland's forces to clean the battlefield and treat wounded soldiers.

Although the Battle of Samba River achieved considerable results, the No. 10 Troop Station alone annihilated 20,000 elite orc soldiers on one battlefield. Zooming in to the entire territory, the Harland leader plus the Mad Lion Legion, a coalition of nobles, annihilated more than 38,000 orcs.

After the war, the Grant royal family also granted Richard a new earldom, and the south of the Samba River was nominally handed over to Richard.

Now Richard already has a duke and three counts in his name. Richard has a small number of children, and he himself does not want to divide the territory among different children, so he makes a grace order by himself. Therefore, through the Parliament of Nobles, the territory was divided into two. The territory in the southern part of the Eagle Mountains was the Duchy of Harland, and the territory in the northern part of the Eagle Mountains was the Duchy of Sophia.

After winning the Battle of Samba River, Richard's reputation was a few points higher than that of King Roger. Naturally, the royal capital happily agreed to his modest request.

Now as long as Richard does not openly rebel, the royal family will win over Harland.

After the Battle of Samba River, Richard's status in the Grant Kingdom was significantly improved again, even surpassing the previous Archduke Jonathan.

Although greedy Richard swallowed such a huge piece of fat, the Haaland family has now expanded into a behemoth, and the royal family is also very cautious about touching the interests of the Haaland family.

Because Richard withstood the orcs in the north, the royal family was able to dispatch elite troops to the south to expand the Kingdom of Delong. Compared with the orc empire, which is powerful and fierce in combat, it is naturally easier to expand to the south.

Of course, King Roger saw this very accurately.

Richard obtained a large amount of land, and the officers under his command also made meritorious deeds. This time, there were two people who were granted territory.

One of them is Viscount Luomen, and the Luomen family has made great contributions in several battles. After discussion with the Roman family, they decided to grant the new territory to Corian, the third son of Viscount Roman.

Viscount Romon is a vassal of the Grant royal family. It stands to reason that he should be rewarded with territory by the royal family for his military exploits.

However, in recent years, the nobles of Geda Province have basically followed Richard in fighting. The royal family has not expanded its territory in northern Xinjiang, and may not be willing to use its territory to reward Corien.

After the war, Viscount Luomen found Richard and prepared to go to the Noble Council for activities, intending to make his son Corian a vassal of Richard.

Corien is thirty-five years old and is very close to Richard. Although he is the concubine of Viscount Roman, he is the most talented person in the Roman family. At the age of thirty-five, he is already a sixth-level knight. Because of his many meritorious service, he has great prestige among the army led by Viscount Luomen.

Corien is not the first heir to the Roman family, so the situation becomes awkward. In this situation, once Viscount Luomen dies, I am afraid that the Luomen family will inevitably face a brutal and bloody struggle.

If they can secure a territory in the Harland Territory and expand the pie, the Luomen family can successfully resolve conflicts and develop their influence in the Harland Territory.

As the Northern Army moved south and lost the deterrence of strong troops, the nobility of Geda Province became seriously divided, especially the nobility near the Eagle Mountains. Although they were nominally vassals of the Grant royal family, they had actually become vassals of the Haaland family. .

After the Battle of Samba River, Harland received a large amount of unclaimed land, and Richard readily agreed to Viscount Roman's request.

Another barony was granted to the Soros family, and this barony Soros was ready for Audrey to inherit.

After following Richard for nearly twenty years, uncle Soros has been granted three baronies. If the territories are merged, the Soros family will be promoted to viscount and to the middle aristocracy.

Under normal circumstances, the titles should be merged, but the situation of the Soros family is special. Soros is not the only one who has made great achievements. The three brothers Kent, Morgan, and Audrey have all made considerable military achievements. In order to maintain the cohesion of the family, Soros must keep his balance.

The two baronies of Corien and Audrey were both in the northern area of ​​Double Star Castle, and Richard planned to leave this area to his vassals.

The Barony of Audrey is located in the south of the Viscounty of Bolton and in the east of the Barony of Lost. Corian Barony is located to the east of Martin Barony and to the east of Audrey Barony.

The two baronies of Corien and Audrey are not very large, only over 800 square kilometers, and their territories are basically virgin forests.

Plus Audrey, Corian. There are already nine barons and one viscounty in this area.

After years of development, Richard already has powerful noble vassals under his command. The total number of the noble coalition forces exceeds 6,000, but compared with the 100,000 noble coalition forces directly under the royal family, there is no comparison.