Lord Harland
Chapter 378 The scapegoat
In the battle of East Castle, the Harland territory lost no more than 500 people, so they ate a lot of fat.
After capturing the Castle of East, Richard ordered the population to be counted and supplies to be collected, while he also ordered the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade to collect the population in the Duchy of East.
After more than ten days of continuous fighting, the Warcraft Cavalry divided its troops and captured thousands of villages and three castles. According to the general statistics of the staff officer, there are now 360,000 people concentrated near East Castle.
These 360,000 people are all captured prisoners of war. Except for the 30,000 auxiliary soldiers and their families who are free citizens, the rest, whether nobles or civilians, will be classified as indentured servants as long as they cannot pay the ransom.
After swallowing such a huge amount of fat, of course Richard wanted to keep the fruits of victory and tried to evacuate from the Delong Kingdom.
Counting the 50,000 indentured slaves purchased some time ago, this trip south to the Harland Territory was a great success, and the total population added to the territory will exceed 400,000.
To feed a population of 400,000, about 100,000 tons of food are needed a year. Fortunately, Harland led the army to completely obtain the Duke of East's grain depot, plus the remaining grain collected from the Castle of East, totaling about 130,000 tons.
However, it is not an easy task to send 130,000 tons of grain and 400,000 people to northern Xinjiang, and it requires a high level of organization.
After capturing East Castle, Richard immediately began to organize households and people.
The indentured slaves near East Castle were organized into an auxiliary squadron to guard them in units of one thousand households.
A thousand households have a population of about five to six thousand people.
The 360,000 indentured slaves were divided into seventy thousand households. Richard dispersed the eight thousand auxiliary soldiers into the seventy thousand households.
Among the 8,000 auxiliary soldiers, a total of six veteran squadrons of Haaland's leaders serve as the backbone. In addition, Richard promised to allocate land to the auxiliary soldiers and make them free citizens. As long as they do not fight hard battles, the morale of the auxiliary soldiers can be barely maintained. Maintain it.
The auxiliary troops were reorganized and divided into six squadrons. Including 800 casualties in two battles, there were only about 4,300 elites left in Harland's territory of 6,000.
The combat strength has been reduced by a quarter, and a huge amount of loot has been eaten. From Richard to the ordinary soldiers, they all want to go home quickly.
With such morale, Harland's army no longer wanted to continue fighting in the Kingdom of Delon.
On the first day of April, Haaland led the army to start marching and withdrawing from East Castle.
With a population of 360,000, the retreat was naturally not fast. The retreating army of 70 thousand households stretched for more than a hundred miles. Although many preparations were made, the road was still noisy, and many indentured slaves were trying to escape.
After only one day of walking, more than a thousand escaped slaves were hacked to death along the way. These escaped slaves were basically nobles in the Dukedom of East.
In order to protect the spoils of war, Harland's more than 4,000 elite troops were also restricted. If they encountered an enemy, they would be almost unable to fight.
Fortunately, Harland has a bipedal flying dragon cavalry that can monitor the enemy's actions from a distance, giving Richard time to prepare in advance.
Otherwise, if the enemy cavalry rushes in, hundreds of thousands of people will become confused, and the scene of Liu Huangshu's escape into the new field may be repeated.
Drifen flew in the air on a flying dragon and saw the chaotic team of indentured servants.
In his sight, more than a dozen auxiliary soldiers brought up several fleeing nobles, beheaded them without hesitation, and then insulted their wives and daughters in front of everyone.
Seeing this scene, Drifen's face suddenly couldn't bear it.
Drifen was born into a noble family of the Kingdom of Delon, and logically he hated the invaders of the Kingdom of Grant. But he became an indentured servant, and it was Richard who saved his life, gave him a second chance, and brought his relatives back to Harland Territory. As a noble who lost his fiefdom, he must now fight for the second rise of his family.
Drifen turned his head, and after struggling a little in his heart, he still sympathized with the landless nobles of the Dukedom of East.
After all, being reduced from a noble to a slave is something that many people simply cannot accept. It is a normal choice for nobles to run away. If they are caught, they can beheaded, so why insult their families?
Harland's leadership was tight, and this scene actually meant that he had lost control of the situation.
Seeing this scene, Drifen immediately landed, stopped the violence, and saved seven or eight women and children.
The Harland Territory has implemented a military rank system for more than ten years. Generally speaking, the rank of the captain is between major and colonel.
The captain of Lord Harland's main force group usually has the rank of colonel, the captain with the lower rank is usually the lieutenant colonel, the captain of the city defense army usually has the rank of major, and occasionally there are the auxiliary captains with the rank of captain.
The bipedal dragon cavalry squad leader that Driffin serves is exactly the rank of captain. In fact, anyone selected as a Wyvern Knight will be awarded the rank of Major. Drifen's subordinates are all mid-level professionals. Although the number of bipedal flying dragon cavalry is small, their importance is even slightly greater than that of the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade.
Although he has only joined Harland for a short period of time, Driffin's military rank has been promoted from colonel to colonel. Now he has not only regained his freedom, but has already accumulated two major achievements and made a very good start.
Drifen carried the rank of colonel on his shoulders, far exceeding that of the captain of the auxiliary corps. He ordered to stop the atrocities, and then severely punished several officers who violated discipline in front of the auxiliary squadron leader, and beheaded all the auxiliary soldiers who insulted women. After settling the women and children, Drifen once again mounted the wyvern and carried out his reconnaissance mission.
At night, when visibility was no longer sufficient, Driffin returned to the team. He entered Richard's military tent directly and said: "Today I flew about 160 kilometers south and only saw some scattered reconnaissance teams from the Delong Kingdom. The enemies in the south do not pose much threat to us."
Not long after, the bipedal flying dragon cavalry who were conducting reconnaissance from different directions came back one after another. Through their reports, Richard knew that the number of enemies in the south was small, and the Duke of Orlando in the west was threatened by Duke Duran's troops, so no chasing team was sent.
Now the only thing that can threaten the safety of Harland's army is the mobile corps led by Duke Anton, which is located in the northeast. Duke Anton's position may cut off Richard's retreat.
Richard thought for a long time and arranged the tasks for tomorrow.
"Tomorrow's key investigation direction will be in the northeast. The Warcraft Cavalry Brigade must also be concentrated and separated from the serf team."
Seeing that Richard was still staring at the map, Drifen hesitated on his face, and finally gave his opinion: "Our marching speed is too slow, we only walked about ten kilometers today.
At such a marching speed, it would take about a month to rush back to the Duchy of Guise. There are too many loopholes in marching with hundreds of thousands of people. Otherwise, if we give up part of the population or half of the population, we can improve the organization of the auxiliary troops and move faster on the road. "
Before Drifen finished speaking, Richard waved his hand and said: "We haven't reached this point yet. If these 300,000 people are successfully sent back to the Harland Territory, we will have the foundation to develop the northern part of the Eagle Mountains. .
Moreover, the mobile corps led by Anton not only has one of our enemies, but also the Duke of Guise and the Northern Army nearby. Even if the Northern Army was restrained by the Second Front of the Kingdom of Dron and unable to send main reinforcements, the Duke of Guise would still have about 20,000 people under his command. "
"But both we and the Duke of Guise have already grabbed a lot of loot. After the plunder, the soldiers may not be willing to bear the arduous battle. Besides, we and the Duke of Guise have no mutual trust, and both of us want to make the other party a scapegoat. Both of us have no mutual trust. If the army cannot cooperate sincerely, I am afraid that it will not be Anton's opponent."
Anton himself is a legendary second-level knight. There are about 3,000 Warcraft cavalry under his command, and the remaining infantry cavalry are also elites drawn from the Kingdom of Delon. Whether it was Harland's detachment heading south or the Duke of Guise's regiment, they were no match for the Anton Mobile Corps in the field.
Although he has the legendary fourth-level magic item, the Star Necklace, in his hand, Harland leads a small army with only more than 4,000 combat-effective troops. Even if Richard released three star bombs to cripple Anton's three thousand Warcraft Cavalry, he still wouldn't be able to defeat the remaining opponents who were ten times more powerful.
The current situation is already a multiple-choice question. If Anton targets the Duke of Guise, Richard can take the opportunity to escape with the loot.
If Anton targets Richard, the Duke of Guise will probably flee first and not send troops to assist him.
The march on the second day was still very chaotic and as slow as a snail. The whole day was busy until night, and we only walked about ten kilometers. However, on the second day, the number of escaped slaves was much smaller, perhaps because the road was littered with headless corpses.
This slow march lasted for about five or six days.
The few thousand families at the rear finally left East Castle. The long march stretched for more than a hundred miles. Richard ordered the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade to act as the vanguard. The First Brigade was at the rear, and the Guard Brigade and the 28th Brigade were walking in the middle.
The three armies are tens of miles apart, and it is difficult to concentrate and fight a large-scale battle at this time.
After leaving East Castle, the team finally picked up the pace. A week later, this huge marching team could already walk about thirty miles a day.
The slaves pushed wheelbarrows, carrying young and old, and slowly entered the buffer zone between the two countries. At this moment, through the investigation of the bipedal flying dragon cavalry, Richard already knew that a fierce battle broke out between the Duke of Guise and the Anton Corps.
After all, Anton is not a fool, and of course he will fight opponents who pose a greater threat.
The Duke of Guise is not only a traitor to the Kingdom of Delon, but also has territory in the south. Of course, he is a priority opponent to attack.
The Dukedom of Harland is in the north, and only occasionally goes south to thresh the valley. If it were Richard, he would also give priority to attacking the Duke of Guise.
In just a few days, Anton and his mobile corps had surrounded the Duke of Guise's troops.
This time when they went south to the Grass Valley, the Grant Kingdom's northern and Grizzly Bear regiments were restrained by the Delon Kingdom's First and Second Front Armies and did not achieve much results.
Earl Steven and the coalition of southern nobles were also blocked by the Ninth Legion on the East Coast and the army led by Duke Hubble.
Although Zachary's Iron Lion Army had snatched tens of thousands of serfs, and there were also the East Coast Thirteenth Army and the Sixth Army nearby, they could barely maintain their victory.
Because Anton mobilized heavy troops from the western defense line and formed a mobile corps, the three Dukes of Harland, Guise, and Duran all led their armies into the belly of the Kingdom of Delon.
Among them, Richard achieved the greatest results, defeating the main force of Duke of East, annihilating 50,000 enemies and capturing a population of 360,000.
The Duke of Duran also invaded the two duchies of East and Orlando, capturing a population of about 100,000.
The Duke of Guise used his troops the most aggressively. He once invaded the vicinity of Saint Sith Castle and captured a population of 250,000. It's just that Taila's hatred was targeted by Duke Anton and surrounded by the buffer zone.
After being surrounded by Anton, the Duke of Guise sent a messenger first, requesting the nearby Northern Army and Harland's army to send troops for assistance.
After receiving the letter asking for help, Rab, the commander of the Northern Army, reluctantly dispatched three brigades to support the Duke of Guise, but was blocked by the reinforcements sent by Anton.
When the letter asking for help was delivered to Richard, Richard and his troops had already entered the buffer zone for three days and walked about fifty kilometers.
If we send troops to relieve the siege at this moment, there will be no use at all if there are few people. If Richard personally led the team and Harland led the troops out in full force, although it was possible to save the Duke of Guise, hundreds of thousands of indentured slaves would be without protection and would have no ability to deal with risks.
Now that Harland's army has too much to take care of itself, it can barely control the migration of hundreds of thousands of people. Of course, Richard wants to safeguard the interests of Harland's territory and will not send troops to assist.
On the contrary, he also took advantage of Anton's advantageous opportunity to encircle and annihilate the Gith army, urged the auxiliary troops, and asked the indentured slaves to speed up their march. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Duke of Guise being the scapegoat, he could reduce losses and escape with the loot smoothly.
Taking advantage of the thirteen days that Anton had to encircle and annihilate the Guis army, Richard took hundreds of thousands of people to cover 250 kilometers of land in one breath. When the news came that the Duke of Guis's troops were besieged and annihilated, Richard Has fled back to the Grant Kingdom.
It was now late April. The war lasted for more than fifty days and finally ended.
In this battle, the Grant Kingdom's army did not actually have unified command. The various tribes almost spontaneously went south to clear the grass valley. Although they lost the Guis Legion, they also invaded the hinterland of the Delon Kingdom. Together, the several legions robbed 500,000 slaves. about.
Hundreds of thousands of troops fought several good battles, which greatly affected the war potential of the Duke of East, and annihilated about 100,000 troops of the Kingdom of Delon.
However, the Grant Kingdom lost the entire Guis Legion, and together with the battle losses of various ministries, the total total exceeded 40,000. According to the exchange ratio of wars in recent years, it is actually considered a huge defeat.
The Delong Kingdom has a large population, with a total population of more than 50 million. Most of the troops lost are third-rate troops such as the provincial city defense army. Even if it loses an army of 100,000, it can be replenished in a relatively short period of time.
Moreover, the Delong Kingdom has been defeated many times in recent years, with losses exceeding 100,000 in many battles. Having lost many battles has raised the threshold for suffering losses. In this battle, the main force of the Delon royal family was not lost, but they were able to annihilate the Gith army in an organized manner, improving the strategic situation on the border, and the cost was affordable.
The Duke of Guise was killed in battle, and the Duke of Guise lost about half of its main force. The territory also faced a battle between heirs. Within ten years, it was basically impossible to organize an army and go south to the grass valley.
The Dukedom of Guise lost one of its main legions, and there was a big gap in the southern defense line.
If this gap is not blocked, the cavalry of the Delon Kingdom can penetrate the gap, enter the Grant Kingdom, rob, and plow the grass valley in the opposite direction.
Now that the Duke of Guise was unable to plug the gap, he could only continue to let the royal family contribute and dispatch a legion south to plug the gap.
Going south to conquer the Kingdom of Delon, the royal family got the biggest benefit. Of course, they couldn't stay out of it at this time, so they had to continue to mobilize a Guards Corps from Nolan to go south and station themselves at the border area of the Duchy of Guise.
Today, in the southern border area, the Grant royal family has stationed three Guards regiments and three frontier regiments. The total number of main troops is about 150,000.
The royal family left only one Mad Lion Legion in the northern border area, with a total of 24,000. Without a large army to garrison, the influence will naturally gradually diminish and be slowly surpassed by the Haaland family.
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