With only a rudimentary map in his hand and only one or two memories in his mind, Owen gritted his teeth and set off with the convoy.
The only good thing about the northern border is that the road does not need to be repaired at all, because the terrain is flat, and you can just find the right direction to walk. However, it is relatively easy to get lost. Once you lose your way, you will not even know where you are while walking, because
This damn place has no reference at all.
If Owen hadn't redeemed a special item from the system, he wouldn't have dared to go out, because he himself wasn't sure he could find his way back.
Fortunately, this compass-like prop works quite well. It has two sides, Yin and Yang, which can be separated. After separation, it will always point in the direction of the other party. So as long as one compass is left in the castle, he will not be afraid of not being able to find his way home.
Along the way, Owen desperately tried to perfect the map with only simple lines in his hand, but found that he had overestimated his ability.
Although he has always overestimated his ability, this time the blow was even greater because there was no way to start.
At first glance, everything is covered with grass, not to mention identifiable terrain such as rivers and hills, and there are not even any larger trees or stones. What is the mark on a piece of white paper?
In desperation, Owen had no choice but to give up this idea, but he felt that if his territory grew in the future, he must build a straight road.
We encountered some wild beasts and robbers on the road, but when faced with forty professional soldiers, ten of whom were cuirassiers, no one dared to take action. Even when passing through noble territory, the local lords would give gifts to express their goodwill.
, for fear that these people would change direction and destroy them.
Although this map may seem simple, it is very precious on the border of the North. If the Hydera family had not had the help of the Hairui Chamber of Commerce, it would have been impossible to possess it.
It is backed by the imperial border troops and is convenient for merchants from the empire to come. The speed of development is naturally faster than that of the lords who go deep into the North.
Owen was not surprised by this and looked at the place in front of him that had only appeared twice in his memory.
The location of Mara Town is unique. Not only is it one of the transit points connecting the north and the south, but the water and grass here are good and suitable for grazing. Therefore, Viscount Mara is one of the few lords who can form a large-scale cavalry.
As for the soldiers, they could only maintain a maximum of ten or twenty people. They were not professional soldiers and could not defeat Owen's elite soldiers.
This has little impact on Owen, because his territory is too far from the border of the empire. Even if he goes non-stop, it will take several days, and it is surrounded by wasteland. The nobles in the empire will not hit him if their brains are kicked by a donkey.
idea.
It can be seen from the map that the closer to the border of the empire, the greater the number of lords.
The Northland border is fan-shaped, and similar transfer stations are like fan bones, allowing goods from the north to the south to circulate.
However, with the emergence of noble territories, Owen gradually found the knack of reading maps, and finally felt confident that he was not going the wrong way.
However, because they are too close to each other and compete for interests, a lot of conflicts and frictions will inevitably arise. Various overt and covert struggles will involve a lot of energy, and it is difficult to say clearly what is good or bad.
So when it comes to fighting, you have to hit them accurately and there is no place to run.
According to the density of the map, one day's journey can pass through the territories of two or three Northland nobles. This is unimaginable in the area where Owen's territory is located, because the nearest territory to him requires two days of walking.
But this is exactly what the empire wants to see. The scattered northern border nobles are just a piece of food. But when they get together, their size can be considered a threat, so they often fan the flames.
Fortunately, Irving is really not interested in them, because there is no oil and water at all. Even if the land is conquered, more manpower and material resources will be invested to get a return, and the cost recovery cycle is almost half a generation, so there is no special output.
Under the circumstances, conquering more territory is just a burden.
This is mainly because the northern border nobles are like a handful of seeds randomly scattered by the empire. The farther away they are, the greater the distance. This is because only a few ambitious northern border nobles will choose to go deep into the north to occupy more land. Most of the northern border nobles will
The border nobles remained rational and chose to gather at the empire's borders.
This is no joke. The nobles of the North lack background. There are very few people like the Hydera family who can occupy an abandoned castle. Most of the lords of the North live in stockades built with wood and wood. When it rains, they are like a pigsty.
Coupled with the habit of urinating everywhere, it is really yellow soup and shit, and the fragrance spreads for ten miles.
There is no other way. In a damn place like the Northland, if you lose your territory, you won't even have a place to escape. Otherwise, Owen would not see the Hai Rui Chamber of Commerce once this year, and there would only be a group of hungry bandits.
Besides, based on the many novels he has read, if he, as the protagonist, dares to get close to such a place, he will definitely offend a descendant of a certain imperial noble for various reasons, and then be targeted and hunted down, although the other party will definitely be killed in the end.
He lost to the halo of the protagonist and was slapped in the face by his pretense, but he was full of food and could not plant the fields properly. Instead, he ran for excitement. Was it because all the work in the territory was done, or was Maya no longer fun?
Therefore, Owen's destination is the town of Mara, which is located in the middle of the Northland border. It is one of the transfer stations connecting the north and the south. It is only three to five days' journey from his territory.
The destination of Owen's trip was not to a few large towns near the empire's border, where most of the wealth in the entire Northland was gathered, and where the empire's nobles harvested the wealth on the Northland's border. But he was just to buy some serfs, and there was no need to go there.
.
Because there is more than one similar transfer station, although the importance is there, it is not that great. As a result, the competition for interests is not so fierce, and naturally it will not attract big sharks. The risks are much less. At least with the strength that Irving has shown now.
All I received was goodwill. Whether it was the guards in Mara Town who liked to eat cards or the bandit spies who came here to look for prey, they all learned to smile after seeing Owen's team.
Mara Town is not a small town, but its permanent population is only about 300 people. Because most of the people here are herdsmen, the area is naturally much larger.
The problem is that there is a difference between cavalry and cavalry. When Owen entered the town, he saw the cavalry in Mara Town. Most of them were herdsmen who had transferred jobs. They had good horsemanship and were good at using scimitars, but their combat effectiveness was not satisfactory.
There is no problem in dealing with low-class bandits or half-hearted soldiers of other lords, but if they are faced with Owen's cuirassiers, even if their number is doubled, they will definitely lose.
After all, a scimitar less than three feet long versus a lance more than two meters long, a simple leather armor versus a sophisticated breastplate, free and easy versus well-trained, you know who will lose and who will win.
Training, equipment, morale, cooperation, these are all very different. Without enough numbers, it is impossible to bridge the gap between the two sides.
Moreover, the other arms under Owen were not vegetarian. Spearmen, swordsmen, and infantry archers were all in formation. A small number of cavalry really did not dare to charge, at least the light cavalry in Mara Town did not dare to charge.