Lord Harland.

Chapter 255 Earl Harland

After merging the coalition forces of the nobles of Heihe County, Li Cha left [-] soldiers behind to attack the logistics line of the orc army with [-] main forces and [-] auxiliary soldiers.

In the north of the military station, there is a mountain road. If you march twenty kilometers north, you will find a logistics base for the orcs.

Through the investigation of the magic hot air balloon, there are only three squadrons of sheep guarding this stronghold, and their strength is extremely weak.

Among the strongholds, there are about eight or nine thousand human slaves.

The reason why Li Cha wanted to attack this stronghold was to rescue these slaves.

In March of this year, the Duke of Guise sent 30 slaves, and in April, he swallowed [-] refugees from the Viscount Nelson. Now the population of Harland has exceeded [-].

Although the population growth rate is very fast, the situation of lack of population in the territory has not changed.

With the two rich lands of Gravessen and Swamp Basin, Harland's territory has a population carrying capacity of more than one million.

With a population of 30, even Gravesson and the swamp basin cannot be filled.It will take more than ten years to fully develop Harland's territory.

This year, the Harland Territory Army fought three battles with the Ninth Orc Legion, and the casualties of soldiers exceeded [-].

However, the number of soldiers killed in battle was relatively small, about [-] or so.Most of the remaining wounded soldiers can return to the team after treatment.

The casualties of officers and soldiers were close to one-third, which had a great impact on morale.

Defensive battles can still be fought, and the morale of the offensive battles is already a little low. If there are more casualties, it will be a bit embarrassing.

After all, intelligent creatures are afraid of death. Seeing that many familiar comrades and brothers died in battle, soldiers are certainly not robots, so they naturally feel fear in their hearts.

War is very cruel and destructive to humanity.Fighting inside the territory, soldiers cannot release their fear through killing, looting, rape and other atrocities. Coupled with the long-term absence of family members, they will become particularly depressed.The slightest disturbance would ignite sparks, causing soldiers to mutiny or even rebellion.

After heavy casualties, how to stabilize the morale of the army is very critical, and it is a test of a general's ability to lead troops.

If you have no prestige and are not good at comforting the morale of the army, even if you can lead the soldiers to win the battle, the continuous accumulation of casualties will still make the soldiers rebel.

Richard is very prestigious in the army of Harland Territory.He chatted with soldiers at the grassroots level countless times, issued pensions for more than ten years, and spent a lot of time every year condolences to disabled soldiers.There is not much air in the barracks, and it has solved countless troubles for officers and soldiers.After each battle, as long as there is still enough magic power, Li Cha will also release healing spells to treat the wounded himself.

Although the casualties were not light, the officers and soldiers could still grit their teeth and launch a tough battle.

However, Li Cha has already felt the low morale, so he personally preached before the battle and mobilized before the battle.

"Through investigation, we found that there are only three squadrons of sheep-body people in the front stronghold. Everyone knows the combat effectiveness of the sheep-body people, even inferior to the serf soldiers. This time we attacked the orc logistics stronghold. It is quite easy, ten times the strength of the orcs, and we are still fighting weak sheep-body people. The casualties are estimated to be single digits. Besides, I will let the noble coalition army be the vanguard.

After the war ended, the veterans took turns to take half a month off, and each was rewarded with a gold coin, ten catties of brown sugar, a jar of white wine, a piece of woolen cloth, and a sheep.

The indentured slave soldiers who made military exploits, together with their families, restored their status as free citizens in advance, and immediately divided the land from the official land. "

Li Cha's promise restored most of the morale of the soldiers. Over the years, Li Cha has kept his promise and has a high degree of credibility among the soldiers.

The material rewards and the half-month holiday immediately made the soldiers in Harland's territory elated.

The attack on the logistics stronghold of the orcs went very smoothly, and the coalition forces of the nobles of Heihe County broke through the sheep-body people's defense line in one charge.With almost no casualties, the stronghold was captured and a large number of logistical supplies were seized.

Among them were about [-] gold coins of grain, cotton cloth, and iron materials, and even [-] to [-] coins of the Grant royal family were seized.

There is no shortage of common supplies in Harland's territory. Except for food, Richard distributed them to the noble coalition forces. As for the most valuable population, of course, Harland's territory swallowed it all.

After laying down this stronghold, the morale of the officers and soldiers recovered a little because of the large amount of spoils seized.

There are [-] regular troops in Harland's territory. Before the war, Viscount Nelson swallowed [-] soldiers. The total force is close to [-]. Now there are only less than [-] soldiers left.

More than a quarter of the casualties were considered severe blood loss.The most important thing now is to rest for a while.

The soldiers in Harland's territory are not the kind of serf soldiers, and it is more difficult to expand.

After returning to the Military Station Fort, Li Cha immediately ordered to recruit [-] new soldiers from the territory and expand the strength of the territory to [-].

Of course, the recruits don't have much combat effectiveness yet, and it takes a year of training to be incorporated into the main force.

However, as the wounded soldiers gradually recovered, the combat effectiveness of the army in Harland's territory finally recovered a lot.

According to the financial capacity of Harland's territory last year, it was enough to support [-] regular troops.

There are more than 1 regular troops in hand, which can be reorganized into a smaller army.

The achievements made in this battle are enough for Li Cha to be promoted to earl. If the territory does not have a legion, it will not have the status of a great noble.

After the war, Richard sent someone to send Raquel, the deputy head of the orc army, to Nolan, the capital of the kingdom.

Raquel is an eighth-level professional. Normally, a head is worth five great merits.

A living high-ranking orc officer is of course worth more than a dead one. Although Raquel was captured by Sophia and Wendy, in order to make Richard a great nobleman as soon as possible, the two gave up the credit, and the merit was counted in Richard's name.

King Roger issued an edict to capture Raquel alive and reward Richard with a miraculous achievement.

During the orc invasion this year, Harland's territory alone blocked the orc army. Richard even severely damaged the army in several battles, stabilizing the northern line of defense in Gerda province.

It can be said that Li Cha and the soldiers of Harland's territory have made great contributions and played a very important role. They also rewarded Li Cha with an extraordinary contribution.

In addition, the territory of Harland killed hundreds of orc professionals, a large part of which was counted in the name of Li Cha, adding up to eight great achievements.

Counting some of the credits that Richard and Sophia have accumulated in the past, after the war, Richard can receive a viscount.There are three viscount territories under Richard's name, and they can be merged to be promoted to earl after the war.

Today, the actual needs of the northern border of the Grant Kingdom require a new nobleman to stabilize the situation.

All the political channels for Li Cha to be promoted to the great nobles have been opened. In the current situation in the northern border, the noble council of the royal capital will only support the Harland family and will not hinder it.

With the merits accumulated by Richard and the strength of the Harland family, it is already a certainty that the Harland family will become a great nobleman after the war.

After struggling for more than ten years, Li Cha is about to achieve another class leap.

After defeating the Ninth Orc Legion, Harland's territory returned to calm.When reporting the battle achievements, Li Cha intentionally overreported the casualties.

The above also took into account the strength of Harland's territory, and it was not easy to defeat a legion of orcs, so he didn't put a heavier burden on him.

In the end, it was Duke Jonathan who broke the deadlock, defeated the orc front army, and freed up his hand to change the situation in Lahe Province.

In this year's battle in the Grant Kingdom, although the Orc Empire army suffered heavy casualties, they broke through the defense line of Lahe Province, severely damaged the Grizzly Legion, conquered six noble territories, and robbed Lahe Province of more than [-] people.

The orcs on the western front also achieved fruitful results. They severely damaged Duke Edward's army and took away [-] people. The Duke of Fox was also captured by the orcs and lost [-] people.

Compared with the advertised result of annihilating [-] orcs, it is obvious that the Grant Kingdom suffered a bit.

For a race like the kobolds, it only takes three years to become an adult.It takes six years for a wild boar and a snake to become an adult, and ten years for a werewolf, a lion, and a harpy.

And it takes at least twenty years to train a human warrior.

The orc empire invades once every three years, in fact, to consume the excess population, avoid internal population explosion, and civil strife due to insufficient resources.

After Duke Jonathan defeated the orc army, this year's orc invasion war was roughly over.

The orcs slowly retreated back to the northern part of the Eagle Mountain Range, and the Kingdom of Grant took advantage of the situation to regain the lost ground.

After August, the capital began a new round of rewards and punishments, and King Roger also conferred titles on new nobles.

The Harland family made great achievements in this battle this year, and Richard was successfully promoted to Earl.

Uncle Soros's family has also accumulated enough military exploits, and is about to obtain a fief and be promoted to a hereditary baron.

In order to obtain a better fief, William went to Nolan after the war, communicated with the Marquis Allen, the speaker of the noble council, and expressed the demands of the Harland family.

Richard's request was not high, and he did not propose conditions for dividing the Southern Territory.

The great aristocrats in northern Xinjiang, after making military exploits, would choose to develop to the south as much as possible, and distribute the territory to their heirs to spread the risk.

The Grant royals, despite their reluctance, have sometimes been unable to hold back this trend.Every few years, a piece of fat will be given to the great nobles of northern Xinjiang who have made military exploits. Edward, Fox, and even Duke Jonathan have operated in the hinterland of the Grant Kingdom for several generations, and have developed more than a dozen barons.

A few years ago, the three parties and three earls rebelled, and the territory was swallowed up by the Grant royal family.The behavior of eating alone made the nobles of northern Xinjiang very dissatisfied. The two dukes, Edward and Fox, took the lead and repeatedly made waves in the noble council, initiating proposals requiring the royal family to strengthen the northern military and shoulder greater responsibilities.

King Roger couldn't stand the pressure either, and promised to add a second-tier army.

This second-line central army is temporarily adapted from the Redeemer Army commanded by Zachary.

This time to repel the orc invasion, the two dukes strongly demanded that the new fief be placed in the south, and Duke Jonathan also had the same plan.

The royal family needs to divide three baron territories in the south to meet the requirements of the three dukes.

The territory in the south is different from that in the north. The climate is mild and the land is fertile. There is basically no threat of war. The surrender of three baronies has already made King Roger feel pain.

On the contrary, in the land of no man in the northern region, King Roger can't wait to throw all the burden on the northern nobles, so that the strength of the northern nobles can be strengthened.

The Harland family in the northern part of Gerda province restrained a legion of orcs, greatly reducing the pressure on Gerda province and improving the strategic situation of the royal territory.

In recent years, Gerda Province no longer needs to worry about the troubles in the north.

So the Harland family wants to choose a territory in the north, whether it is the noble council or King Roger, they will open the door to them.

More than 7000 square kilometers of land to the northeast of Fanhua Castle has been assigned to Li Cha, and the salt lake that Li Cha never forgets has also been assigned to the new territory.

Now the territory of the Harland family has expanded to the northern part of Lahe province, the northwest region of Viscount Nelson.

Li Cha intends to develop the salt lake, refine table salt and soda ash, and mine potash in the salt lake, so he must build a castle and station troops in this area.

With Harland's territory in the northwest, Viscount Nelson only needs to defend the northeast, and the pressure will be reduced a lot.Otherwise, the Viscount Nelson suffered heavy losses and would not have the strength to manage the territory, so he could only give up part of the land and move the border southward.

In addition to expanding to the northeast, it took down the Salt Lake area.The territory of Harland also developed to the southwest, swallowing the Barony of Harden, and the area between Gascoigne Province and Gerda Province was also sealed to the Harland family.

The territory expanded in the southwest direction added up to more than [-] square kilometers.

After William completed the communication with the noble council, Richard personally went to the royal capital once, took the newly promoted nobles to participate in the confinement, took the lead in swearing allegiance to King Roger, and became the hereditary earl of the Kingdom of Grant.

At the level of the hereditary earl, they can already influence the policies of the Grant Kingdom to a certain extent, and most of the fate of the territory is in their own hands. They can be regarded as the ruling class of a kingdom.

Being promoted to earl, the Harland territory has the right to mint copper coins, and the deflation situation in the territory can be improved a lot, and it will no longer accept the jurisdiction of the Gerda province, and the degree of freedom is greater.

In the noble meeting, there are also more voting rights.

However, in the political territory of the Grant Kingdom, the earl family can only be regarded as a local overlord and has no overall influence. Apart from the royal family, only a few powerful dukes can really stand firm.The duke family is the partner of the Grant royal family, while the earl and marquis are still subordinates of the royal family.

From the point of view of knighting etiquette, the earl still has to swear allegiance to the king, while the duke does not need to do so.In terms of strength, the strength of the Earl and Marquis is not much different, and the strength of the Duke's family is much stronger, with at least tens of thousands of regular troops under his command.

After the territory was demarcated, the earldom of Harland had a total area of ​​32 square kilometers. By the end of the year, the total population was [-].

Although the population is a little smaller than that of the southern earls, after the expansion of the army is completed, the military strength surpasses the remaining four southern earls.

The economic forces have mutual advantages. Although the southern earls have a small territory, they have more arable land and plant a lot of cash crops. The agricultural output value is almost two or three times that of Harland's territory, but Harland's territory also has some basic industries, and its income gradually exceeds that of the southern earl.

(End of this chapter)