Warlord: King of All Clans

In Hekou Town, Leo assembled a total of one thousand regular troops and five hundred conscripted troops, ready to stop the Western Cavalry here.

Also here is Noyce Hobert, the garrison commander of the Western Watchtower. He is a distant relative of the Petukhov family and a branch of the Hobert family.

Rudolf Hobert, Knight of the Banner, was his uncle.

As the garrison commander of the Western Watchtower, he has fifty regular infantry and fifteen cavalrymen guarding the stone fort of the Western Watchtower, which is enough to resist five times the number of bandits.

The soldiers under his command were all brought by himself, but the garrison mission was assigned to the Earl's Mansion, so the military pay was allocated from the Lord's Mansion of Isenbol.

Before the rise of the River Reach, he was the largest force in western Isenbor.

Although the Western Watchtower is just a few stone towers less than ten meters high, connected to some affiliated military camps, and with less than three hundred people in the combat position, it is built on a hill more than ten meters high, and the city wall is more than five meters high. There are only two gates in the front and back for entry.

Two hundred miles west of the Western Watchtower is Bak Pass, the dividing point between the Western Border and the Northern Border. Although Talhanbek of the Western Border has not invaded the Northern Border for decades, small groups of horse thieves who cannot survive in the Western Border have continued to pour in.

They disguised themselves as merchants or horse traders, dispersed into the northern border, and scouted the knight territory west of Isembol, looking for suitable targets for looting.

Moreover, the World Tree Avenue outside the Western Watchtower is surrounded by the foothills of the Grand Barrier in the north and the foothills of the Borokback Mountains in the south. It is full of deep mountains, valleys, caves, and stone hills, making it a paradise for bandits and robbers.

Bandits, robbers, horse thieves, and vagrants gathered together, making it impossible for the knights west of Isenpol to survive.

Hundreds of years ago, the Frelov family built the Western Watchtower here and stationed a team of permanent troops, which barely kept the bandits outside the Western Watchtower.

However, these mountain bandits and horse thieves crossed the western watchtower more than ten years ago and attacked the territory of the Petukhov family, angering the current head of the family, Rigolav.

The square-flag knight Rigolav seized power from the former commander of the Western Watchtower at the Lords' Assembly, and brought his own lord's army. He also asked the Earl's lord's army for 50 regular soldiers. With these troops, it took five years to almost wipe out the bandits outside the Western Watchtower.

But the bandits were endless. Just a few years after Rigolav left, a large number of bandits appeared here again, and it eventually became the training ground for the River Bend Lords.

Obviously, the man who could become the commander of the garrison in the Western Outpost and suppress the bandits in the Western Wilderness by himself was not an ordinary corner flag with only military power.

Noyce Hobart was born into the Hobart family of the Southeast Banner. He had a high level of military ability, and his soldiers were of high quality, and he had made many military achievements.

Only then was he recommended by the Lords' Assembly of Isenpol and became the current border guard commander of the Western Watchtower.

However, facing the attack of two thousand Western Border Cavalry, the Western Outpost seemed too weak.

The always conservative and proud Knight Noyes could only ask Isenbol for help while trying to find a way out for himself.

After all, anyone with common sense would know that it is impossible for the Lord's Mansion of Isenbol to send troops to support the Western Watchtower and help him resist the "enemy".

Although all the nobles in Isenpor knew that this army was called by Tariq, in name, Tariq would not directly state that this was his friendly army.

After all, the North is the North and the West is the West. There are many things that can be done but cannot be said.

Under such circumstances, border guards like him were in the most difficult situation. If they couldn't defend, or if they ran away, they would be deserting the battlefield.

This is simply forcing him to rebel. If he was not in charge, he might have really rebelled.

But not opposing does not mean that Noyes stands on Tariq's side. On the contrary, he is closer to Petukhov and the River Reach Lord, who are full of martial virtues.

Petukhov, who observes rules, takes care of his subjects, and is brave and courageous, is more in line with his values.

Hekou Town now has two thousand residents, most of whom are workers in Hekou Town’s industries. Many of them have already started their own industries and have become vendors in the market, craftsmen, or even nearby farmers.

In addition, there are nearly a thousand new refugees who are unable to enter Hekou Town, but are allowed to survive nearby. They can build huts in designated areas and enjoy the protection of Hewan’s public security laws.

They received permission from their lords to gather wild cassava, hunt small animals, or work as hired laborers on farms and ranches.

The leader of Hewan doesn't just recruit people whenever he sees them, he also has to consider his own digestion capacity.

The population that Hekou Town can accommodate is already full, and the remaining refugees can only be absorbed by the surrounding areas. Every new farm, ranch, or plantation needs to be built to absorb the remaining refugees.

Therefore, most of the new refugees are trying to survive in the shanty towns outside Hekou Town, waiting for resettlement. Some also choose to join nearby natural villages or other knight territories.

Standing in the open space outside Hekou Town, Leo confidently encouraged the generals.

"Although the Western Territory cavalry are fast, most of them are not wearing armor and cannot withstand our longbows and crossbows. On the contrary, their grassland hunting bows cannot penetrate our heavy armor."

"The entire Western Wilds, except for the World Tree Avenue and these fields, are mostly forests and mountains, which are not suitable for war horses to ride. These Western cavalry can't play to their strengths!"

Ivan, Vichi, Bjorn, Basarov and others were all present, watching Leo's performance with expressionless faces.

Because Leo plans to take the initiative!

According to their assumptions, the enemy was originally more numerous and everyone had a horse. Although they had trained a lot of cavalry, their horse combat capabilities were no match for the Westerners who grew up on horseback.

Ordinary horse thieves from the Western Territory can fight back and forth with the armored infantry from the Northern Territory, let alone the organized cavalry?

The knights and knight squires of the North could easily stab horse thieves to death by relying on the defense of their armor and the power of their lances.

The remaining River Bay patrol cavalry had received less than two years of training, and when they encountered horse bandits, they would most likely have to dismount and fight on foot, relying on shield formation defense and long-range weapons to kill the enemy.

After all, the lords' army in the river bend has a high coverage rate of iron armor and is not afraid of the short bows of horse thieves. In comparison, the chance of falling to death in a horse battle may be higher than the chance of being shot by the Western Border cavalry.

Instead of doing this, it is better to defend the city. The siege ability of the people in the West is weaker than that of the people in the North. The walls of Hekou Town and the Western Watchtower alone are enough to make them curse.

But Leo couldn't let go of the land outside the river mouth town that he had developed with great difficulty. This was the first wilderness to be developed on a large scale in the River Bay Territory. Today, there are thousands of acres of farms, ranches, and hunting grounds.

There are cassava and flax plantations, bean and cereal farms, pastures for grazing livestock, and game lands for safe gathering and hunting.

To defend the city meant first giving up these developed areas and relocating all the people living there.

This is why Leo doesn't want to fight. The advanced agricultural tools and systems of Hewan make the productivity of skilled workers three times that of other knights and their subjects. However, once a war breaks out, they will at most become young and strong militiamen defending the city.

Even because of the comfortable life, they have a greater fear of death, and their combat effectiveness will decline slightly.

Because of their different status, Leo and his generals had some differences in their ideas.