In just two years, two earls died and most of their power was lost. The Martins family may not have the confidence to run the territory.
According to normal development, the Martins family will probably give up their status as hereditary earls and return to the ranks of ordinary nobles.
Relying on Donnie Martins, he achieved a class jump, but the Martins family's background was not deep and they could not stabilize the situation at all.
If you want to stand firm in the hereditary earl class, you must at least form a legion with strong combat effectiveness. You must have at least 10,000 elite soldiers and several hundred Warcraft cavalry.
The earls in the south can all pull together a powerful force. Even the royal family will have to weigh the seven earls joining forces.
The power controlled by Earl Martins is slightly worse than that of the Harland family and the Roman family.
If Richard went too far with military force, he could expand his army by 8,000 and form a smaller army, while Count Martins could only organize an army of 3,000. The quality of his officers and soldiers, as well as their weapons and equipment, were very average.
The earldom is located in a prominent location and is easily attacked by orcs.
Although King Charles divided him a large territory, most of it was worthless wasteland. He asked the Donny Martins family to undertake an impossible task, which was actually a sign of failure.
If the Martins family makes a fuss at the meeting of nobles and demands to give up their title, it will be enough to embarrass the Grant Kingdom in the Dawn Plane.
Once the great nobles of the Grant Kingdom are worthless, their political influence will be too great.
Richard was unaware of the game in the royal capital. After returning to Fort William, Richard took advantage of his spare time during the war to make enchanted armor.
This time, five brigades of orcs were surrounded and annihilated, and 200 snake-like people were killed. These snake-like people were basically the results of the battles of the soldiers in the Harland territory, and the scales on their bodies were all pulled off by the soldiers.
Together, these scales can be made into more than 300 pieces of enchanted armor.
After the orcs poured in from the Gascoigne Province, they divided their forces into two groups and marched westward with two legions of troops to besiege the Flame Keep, sweep the nearby noble territories, capture the people and rob them of gold coins.
The Mad Lion Legion stationed at Flame Castle, together with half of the Atonement Legion that retreated, combined with the noble private army and the Orc Legion to struggle and barely maintain the situation.
Another Orc Legion turned its troops to the west and began to attack the castle of Baron Harden, hoping to invade the Gedda Province from the west and plunder it.
The situation became serious, and Zachary, the commander of the Atonement Legion, immediately asked Black River Fort for help.
Stein, the new commander of the Northern Army, was in a dilemma when he received the letter asking for help.
Due to political strife and too many involvements, many junior officers were dismissed and retired. The morale of the Northern Army was low, and Stein did not dare to fight the orcs decisively.
But once Haddon Castle fell, the situation was out of control.
Last time, he used the noble coalition to push forward, but this kind of thing cannot be done often.
Once the aristocratic coalition had complaints, did not work hard, used the serf army to fool them, and ruined the war situation, he was mainly responsible for being held accountable.
After all, Richard and Viscount Luomen have already won the battle, so it will be easier to make excuses then.
Although his confidence was somewhat lacking, at this time, Stein had to organize a rescue.
He summoned the soldiers of the Northern Army and began mobilizing before the war.
"Soldiers and officers, I know that during this period, everyone has suffered a lot of grievances. Many people have been punished, and some have been implicated and kicked out of the Northern Army.
These people can be called excellent officers, and many of them are your old friends and senior officers. But they are politically unreliable. The stronger their ability, the more they have to be suppressed. Who makes them unable to stand politically, follow Zachary
This unlucky guy.
Now that the orcs have invaded on a large scale, I know the morale of the army is a little unstable, but we must fight.
Our goal in this battle is to rescue this unfortunate guy Zachary. He is your old commander, and the officers under his command are all your comrades for many years, and your companions in life and death.
I order the First Brigade, the Third Brigade, and the Sixth Brigade to be the leading echelons and send out troops for rescue today."
The Third Brigade commanded by William and the Sixth Brigade commanded by Bernie had no officers implicated because they were politically correct. These two brigades were least affected.
The former captain of the First Battalion was the deputy commander. Because of his higher status and a normal relationship with Zachary, he was slightly less affected.
Now William has been promoted to deputy commander and captain of the First Battalion, and Bernie has been transferred to the Wild Lion Legion. The commanders of the Third and Sixth Battalions have been replaced by close officers close to Stein.
However, the new captain's management time is still short, and William's influence on the two brigades is much greater.
Moreover, William had the highest military rank, the most seniority, and the strongest strength, so he became the first echelon commander without hesitation.
Black River Castle is one hundred and sixty kilometers away from Haddon Castle, but this section of the road is connected by waterways.
Board the boat from Black River Castle, go upstream for 100 kilometers, and then sail along the Kaia River, a tributary of the Black River, for 80 kilometers to reach the west of Harden Castle.
Transporting troops by water is not only fast, but also more convenient for transporting various logistical supplies.
William commanded three brigades and set up camp by the Kea River, forming a complete line of defense with Haddon Castle.
After the battlefield situation changed, Zachary wrote a personal letter to Richard requesting support.
Richard led the soldiers from Harland Territory to Platos Castle and confronted the five orc brigades, while Zachary gathered the soldiers at Haden Castle to wait for reinforcements.
Richard and William, father and son, were less than fifty kilometers apart. Although they were on the same battlefield, they could not meet because of the emergency of the war.
At this time, a strategic confrontation has formed between Platos and Harden Castle.
On the defensive side, the Grant Kingdom has a total of 19,000 front-line defenders. Richard leads 5,000 troops, including 3,500 main troops and 1,500 auxiliary troops. They are stationed at the Platos Fortress Group. There are 5 orcs opposite Richard.
A large group, numbering approximately 10,000.
In the direction of Harden Castle, there are 8,000 Redemptor Legions stationed in the city. There are three brigades of 6,000 Northern Legions on the river outside the city. The total strength is 14,000. However, the Orcs opposite them have one and a half legions.
The total number of auxiliary soldiers is about 40,000.
But the Grant Kingdom still has a large number of second-line troops that can be reinforced at any time.
The remaining troops of the Northern Army are 18,000, and the coalition of nobles in Gedda Province can still mobilize 5,000. All the troops gathered together are enough to fight an evenly matched decisive battle with the orcs.
Outside Harden Castle, the orcs launched several tentative attacks, but were easily repelled by the defenders.
Both William and Zachary were excellent officers, and the men they commanded were also considered to be elite soldiers and strong generals.
The three brigades commanded by William are all the main brigades of the Northern Army. The three brigades have a total strength of 6,000 men, more than 400 professionals, and more than 600 enchanted armors.
These three brigades are very powerful and can defeat the remaining seven brigades of the Northern Army in one fell swoop. Especially the first brigade has more than 200 professionals and its combat effectiveness is second only to the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade.
Even in hand-to-hand combat with the orcs, the combat effectiveness of the troops commanded by William is comparable to that of five orc brigades, which is equivalent to half an orc army.
Moreover, the camp built by William was close to the river and could receive support from the navy.
The transport ships were equipped with small trebuchets, crossbows and other heavy weapons. The orcs made two tentative attacks, killing and wounding five to six hundred soldiers, but did not find any weaknesses at all.
If you want to capture William's camp, you will probably have to cripple an entire orc army.
The Atonement Legion commanded by Zachary is not a winning force either. This legion is composed of nobles who have failed in political alignment, especially the southern nobles, who hope to make a comeback through military exploits, and the soldiers can be said to be carefully selected.
In addition, many of the officers of the Northern Army who were implicated chose to defect to the old commander. These people were very good at fighting, and Zachary knew them very well. He knew people well and placed them in appropriate positions. Although the combat effectiveness of the Redemptor Army was relatively low
Not as good as the main army, but better than the second-line army.
In the orc military tent, the legion commander, the ninth-level werewolf Su Yasora, sat in the middle, with a large number of senior orc officers sitting on both sides below.
"The battle situation has become clear. Let's all share our opinions."
An orc captain held a riding crop and said cautiously: "The main force of the Northern Army has not yet appeared. We must be cautious in our actions to avoid exposing flaws."
The Northern Legion completely annihilated the Orc Legion twice in a row. Even the senior Orc officers were somewhat afraid of this legion.
The deputy commander of the ninth-level dragon-veined kobold Usmat nodded and said: "Through the information returned by human spies last year, we know that a civil war broke out in the Kingdom of Grant. Prince Roger and King Charles competed for the dominance of the country. In the end, Prince Roger won
Victory, the civil strife lasted for more than a month. Unfortunately, when the information came back, the civil strife was over. Otherwise, we could have achieved a glorious victory while the civil strife was taking advantage of it."
The situation last year was indeed very dangerous. If the civil strife lasted longer and the orcs were involved, a large area of Grant Kingdom's northern territory would be lost.
Under the overthrow of the nest, are the eggs intact? If the overall situation collapses, the Harland territory will not be spared. Maybe the accumulation of many years will be destroyed in one day.
After hearing this, Su Yasola immediately frowned and said: "What's the use of talking about this? Let's talk about your views first. Should we allocate the main force to attack Haden Castle and fight the human army in a decisive battle?"
"I think there is no chance of winning in a decisive battle, so we might as well divide our forces and plunder."
Su Yasora turned his head and stared at the other orc officers: "What do you think, do you also think you should divide your forces and plunder?"
"Yes, after dividing the troops, we will go south and go to the Rab Basin to grab some. Just leave one legion here at Harden Castle."
Although Su Yasora wanted to fight the human army decisively, other orc officers wanted to go south to plunder.
The orcs have a tribal alliance system. Even though Sulasora is the supreme commander, he still has to listen to the opinions of the majority to a certain extent.
After a military meeting, the orcs decided to divide their forces and go south.
The legion commander Su Yasola led a main legion of 25,000 orcs and watched the defenders of Haden Castle.
Another fifteen thousand orcs bypassed Haddon Castle and began to march towards the hinterland of Gascoigne Province.
The first unlucky person was Baron Paul.
An ordinary baron cannot stop the orcs for a few days.
Although Baron Paul resisted fiercely and led his soldiers to fight to the last man, and relied on the trebuchet on the city to kill hundreds of orc soldiers. However, the territory was only defended for a day and a half, and more than 10,000 citizens were still captured by the orcs.
Go, the food and gold coins in the territory have become the trophies of the orcs.
Next came the four barons Pellet, Wesker, Peter, and Ramos, but they couldn't last more than a few days.
The orcs mobilized their troops westward and entered the three baronies of Burnham, Tynes, and Cisse.
The three barons Burnham, Cisse, and Tynes were relatively powerful and mobilized 20,000 serf soldiers to their maximum. These serf soldiers fought bravely. They formed a coalition and fought to the death, even causing the orcs to lose 2,000 soldiers.
Capture of Burnham Castle.
Although five baronies were conquered after the victory, the orcs had already lost 3,000 troops at this moment. Coupled with the 2,000 troops lost in Burnham territory, the strength of the orc army going south was less than 10,000.
By this time, the orcs had captured a large number of people and supplies, achieved their strategic goals, and were no longer prepared to fight a hard battle with the soldiers of the Kingdom of Grant.
After the orcs divided their forces and went south, Richard did not take the initiative to ask for a battle.
In the previous battles, Harland Territory had already lost some soldiers. More than 200 soldiers were killed in the previous battles, and there were also 400 to 500 wounded soldiers.
Relative to the number of soldiers in the territory, the casualties are already considerable. If the backbone of veterans is eliminated and there is no virtuous cycle, it may take ten years to build up this elite army again.
Therefore, in the next battle, Richard tried his best to avoid fighting.
The orcs in the northern part of the Platos fortress group did not want to pay too many casualties due to the blockade of the trebuchets, and did not take the initiative to attack the fortress.
The state of peace on the Northern Front lasted until June.
In the past three months, the orcs who divided their forces and went south fought successively and defeated five baronies, and even entered the Rab Basin to rob it.
In just three months, the orcs had already captured a population of 120,000.
Such a heavy loss made the capital extremely angry.
King Roger had led troops to fight for many years, and he immediately grasped the key. He wrote a letter to reprimand Stein, the commander of the Northern Army. He asked him to take responsibility and regain the population plundered by the orcs, otherwise he would be held accountable after the war.
responsibility and deprive him of his hereditary noble status.
By this time, Stein had no reason to avoid fighting.
Although the orcs robbed the population of the Gascoigne Province, the responsibility seems to have nothing to do with Stein. The Gedda Province also won the battle, and if the responsibility is to be held accountable, the Mad Lions should also be held accountable.
But Roger was experienced in the army and had a correct view of the war situation and did not need to listen to other people's opinions.
The reason why Gascoigne Province suffered heavy losses in this battle was because of Stein's avoidance of the battle.
If the Northern Army took the initiative to assume the responsibility, the orcs would be unable to divide their forces, and the Gascoigne Province would not be plundered by the orcs.
Even if he had a reason to avoid the war, King Roger mentally labeled Stein as not understanding the overall situation.