Lord Harland.

Chapter 277: Expanding the Army Again
This year's financial expenditure is relatively small, and there is a relatively large surplus. Next year, Li Cha plans to expand the army by 2, increasing the number of soldiers in Harland's territory to [-].

Now that the area of ​​Harland's territory has doubled, it needs to stick to a line of defense of more than [-] kilometers from east to west.

The defensive pressure has become extremely high. Next year, Li Cha not only plans to expand the army, but also plans to strengthen the construction of auxiliary troops and give them more subsidies.

In Harland's territory, the training of auxiliary soldiers has been very tight.Except for no breathing method, the training subjects of more than a dozen auxiliary squadrons are almost the same as those of the regular army.

In previous battles, the auxiliary soldiers suffered relatively small casualties, and many of them were veterans with more than five years of military experience. In defensive operations, auxiliary soldiers can also play a big role.

Because many soldiers made great achievements in battle this year and became free citizens, next year there will be more than 8000 soldiers receiving military pay, and the expenditure on military pay will increase by [-] gold coins.

According to Richard's estimation, next year's military expenditure is likely to increase to 30 gold coins.If fiscal revenue cannot increase next year, the territory will experience a fiscal deficit.

The monetary policy of the Harland Territory is close to the gold standard system, and all metal currencies are in circulation. Once there is a fiscal deficit, the problem will become very serious.

However, next year Harland Territory will have new income, the first is coinage income.

Since the beginning of this year, the Graveson County Copper Mine has been completed, and copper ingots were smelted in September.After the copper ingots were successfully smelted, they were sent to the mint, and the first batch of copper coins were minted in late September.It's just that this batch of copper coins is of low quality and has not circulated in the market.

In the next few months, the mint has been improving the technology. In December, the copper coins made by the mint were finally approved by Richard and gradually circulated in the territory.

Copper is a precious metal that can be used to mint coins, and the deflation problem in the territory of Harland is very serious.Next year's coinage income will bring at least tens of thousands of gold coins.

Secondly, Richard is going to sell alchemy bombs. The alchemy bombs in Harland's territory are less powerful than those made by the Heart of Elements, but the cost is very low.

Now there are enough magicians in Harland's territory, and there is no shortage of materials for making alchemy bombs. The problem of confidentiality has been solved, and alchemy bombs can be manufactured on a large scale.Even if an alchemy bomb sells for ten gold coins, it is still a huge profit business, and the profit from selling thousands of pieces is very considerable.

After the financial meeting was over, the goddess's birthday soon came, and the Harland family held an annual family banquet.

Because Li Cha dealt with Tang En severely, the atmosphere of this year's family banquet was very solemn, third uncle Bernie did not come back, and father William was not very happy and had a gloomy face.When other family members saw Li Cha, they were all silent, like a mouse seeing a cat.

Just after the goddess's birthday, King Roger's special envoy, Marquis Alan, came to northern Xinjiang.Marquis Allen sent someone to send a letter to Li Cha. After inspecting the four provinces in northern Xinjiang, he planned to come to Earl of Harland to have a talk with Li Cha.

Last year, the royal family established a new province, Grota Province, in northern Xinjiang.Although this province is a new province, the Jonathan family has developed it for many years, built 500 castles, and reclaimed 60 million acres of farmland. The foundation is better than that of the Gascoigne province.There are more than [-] serfs settled in Grota Province.

Grotta Province has a good foundation, and the Grant royal family does not need to invest too many resources to run it.

Marquis Allen is the chairman of the noble council. He has an extraordinary political status in the royal capital of Nolan, and he can be regarded as one of the top figures in real power.After he inspected the northern border, he came to Harland's territory, and Li Cha had to greet him in person.

After Li Cha became a hereditary nobleman, he seldom went to the capital and did not mix in the noble circle.Although the Marquis of Allen is the chairman of the noble council, it was the first time that Richard met him.On the contrary, it was Richard's father, William, who had gone to Nolan to clear up the relationship, dealt with the Marquis of Allen, and met several times.

"Dear Earl Harland, I take the liberty to come to your door. Apart from negotiating with you on some business matters, the most important thing is for the alchemy bomb."

In the intervention war last year, Li Cha used a large number of alchemy bombs in the war.There must be personnel placed by the royal family in the Allied Forces of the Three Provinces. After a little analysis, it is clear that the Harland family must have produced alchemy bombs on a large scale.Otherwise, Richard dropped more than [-] alchemy bombs last year. According to the normal purchase price, it would be enough to bankrupt the Harland family.

Now that Duke Jonathan has seen this, Nolan is not short of smart people, and the Grant royal family soon found out.

"The manufacturing cost of alchemy bombs in the territory of Harland is indeed relatively low. If it is manufactured on a large scale, the cost will not exceed two gold coins, and its power is only slightly lower than that of bursting arrows. Soldiers who use alchemy bombs only need a short period of training to be able to play An important role, the secret weapon of the alchemy bomb is also crucial to the development and growth of the Harland family.

Of course Roger Kingdom is my allegiance to the lord, and since he proposed it, I am of course willing to exchange it, but I also have a few conditions here. "

Seeing that Li Cha was relieved and had the idea of ​​exchanging, Marquis Allen heaved a sigh of relief, feeling that it would not be difficult to complete the task.

After the deal between Duke Jonathan and Richard in July last year, the Jonathan family had produced many alchemy bombs in October.The Grant royal family was well-informed, and intelligence personnel were placed inside the Jonathan family.After realizing that the Jonathan family army was equipped with alchemy bombs on a large scale, they immediately analyzed that the two families, Jonathan and Harland, had completed the exchange of interests.

After taking down the Grand Duchy of Stanik, the strength of the Jonathan family expanded a lot. Even though their energy was dispersed and the threat to the Grant royal family was lessened, it was still the focus of the royal family's attention.However, the special reality requires that the nobles of the Grant Kingdom must cooperate in order to maintain the situation amidst the pack of wolves.

Before the Marquis of Allen entered the northern border to inspect, King Roger had already issued a secret order to him. He must obtain the method of making alchemy bombs. In terms of military technology, the two families of Harland and Jonathan should not be pulled too far.

In recent years, the strength of the Harland family has expanded extremely rapidly, especially its military strength, which is second only to a few dukes.For such important aristocrats, if the royal family wants to benefit from them, they can only choose to exchange and compromise.

"Earl Richard, of course you can put forward conditions. As long as it can be satisfied, I can agree on behalf of the king." Finding that Richard is willing to negotiate, Marquis Allen immediately understood that it is not difficult to complete the task.

"First of all, the royal family cannot spread the alchemy bomb manufacturing technology, and secondly, it cannot compete with Harland's territory to sell alchemy bombs. Thirdly, I hope to exchange [-] square kilometers of land to connect the two territories. In addition, we need to trade eight One hundred Tenghui potions, one hundred pieces of enchanted armor, one hundred iron wildebeest horses, one hundred enchanted crossbows, sixty bursting arrows, and the complete bull breathing method.

In addition, there are additional conditions. The royal family needs to give 30 Tenghui potions to Harland every year for [-] years. "

Although Li Cha had many requests, they only amounted to hundreds of thousands of gold coins. The Grant royal family did not lack such conventional resources.After all, the Grant family controlled a kingdom with several million annual revenues.

Hearing Richard's request for a deal, Marquis Allen agreed to his deal on the spot.

In fact, even if Richard trades the royal seal, Roger Kingdom will meet his conditions.

In the long run, the royal seal is more valuable, but in the short term, the Harland family urgently needs a war resource.

After weighing the pros and cons, Richard finally chose short-term interests and traded a batch of war resources that could quickly increase the strength of the army.

The Marquis of Allen has a high level of authority. He immediately mobilized a group of resources from the four provinces of northern Xinjiang, and drew up a royal contract, signing his name. However, the contract must be legally binding, and King Roger needs to sign it personally to fulfill the treaty.

In late January, the two parties had completed the exchange.

In the following month, after taking 60 Tenghui potions, the soldiers in the Harland Territory accumulated a lot of money and successfully promoted more than [-] professional officers.

With the arrival of enchanted armor and iron horned horses, Li Cha once again expanded the number of monster cavalry, formed the fourth squadron of monster cavalry, and expanded the strength of scout cavalry by the way.

Now Harland Territory has trained four monster cavalry squadrons, and there are also eighty monster cavalry in the scout cavalry.There are close to [-] monster cavalry, which are stronger than the Northern Legion's monster cavalry brigade. They can already be organized into a monster cavalry regiment in a war.

To form the Warcraft Cavalry, the soldiers are carefully selected among the veterans, because they are all elite veterans and do not need basic training, and the time to form combat effectiveness is shorter than recruiting new recruits.

After entering March, the recruitment of recruits has been completed, and the soldiers began their recruit training.Normally, recruits need to train for a year before being mixed with veterans.

After recruiting [-] new recruits, the number of troops in Harland's territory has exceeded [-].

Although there are more than 2 soldiers, the defense line of Harland's territory is as long as [-] kilometers, and seven or eight border castles need to be defended. The orcs have an advantage in troops, and it is impossible to fight a decisive battle with Harland. Instead, they will choose to divide their troops and break through Harland. The defense line of Rand Territory.

Every castle must not be lost. Once the front-line castle is lost, the rear will be plagued by orcs and plundered.The family background in Harland's territory is not strong, so if a battle fails, it will take many years to recover.

The seven castles on the front line must be stationed with elite soldiers and strong generals. The southern foot county of the Eagle Mountain Range focuses on the defense of Flame Fort, Lightning Fort, Military Station Fort, and Salt Lake Fort.In addition, the Pratos Canyon also needs the support of Harland's territory, and the nearby Sophia Fort is also considered the front line.

The South Foot County of the Eagle Mountain Range is the core of Harland's territory, and it is also the focus of the territory's management. This county will station seven infantry brigades, one monster cavalry brigade, half a reconnaissance brigade, one magic hot air balloon squadron, plus logistics , military law and other headquarters personnel, with a total strength of [-].

There are two mage towers in the swamp basin, and a brigade of troops can stabilize the situation. The mage towers in Harland's territory are basically stationed here.The military depot is not far from the headquarters Fort William, and only one brigade is required to garrison.Outside the isolated territory of Salt Lake Fort, this area is basically desolate and far away from the core territory. Two brigades of troops are needed to hold out for a long time.

There are three remaining infantry brigades, a monster cavalry brigade, half a scout cavalry brigade, a magic hot air balloon squadron, and logistics and military law personnel are all stationed in Fort William. These soldiers add up to more than [-].

The eastern county of the Grotta River was less populated. After the handover of the territory, Duke Jonathan had withdrawn his soldiers. Richard sent four infantry brigades, half a cavalry reconnaissance brigade, and a magic hot air balloon squadron. The total strength was about [-].

The canyon castle is located at the forefront of the county in the east of the Grotta River, and it is also the focus of the county's defense. One and a half infantry squadrons, two cavalry squadrons will be stationed here, and the magic hot air balloon squadron will basically be stationed here, with a total strength of nearly [-].

The riverside castle in the east cannot be ignored either. The orcs once passed through here and broke through the defense line laid by King Roger.The garrison here also has a brigade of infantry, a squadron of scout cavalry, and nearly two thousand defenders.

The king's castle, the capital of the eastern county of the Grota River, has only one and a half brigades and two scout cavalry squadrons in the garrison, which is slightly stronger than the riverside castle.

Because the recruits have not yet completed their training, and each unit has not yet been fully staffed, the actual number of troops stationed is smaller.

After the Goddess's Birthday, the troops in the Harland Territory began to mobilize on a large scale, and Richard also began to replenish ordnance for the eastern county of the Grotta River.Heavy trebuchets, alchemy bombs, steel armor, enchanted armor, etc. are continuously transported to the front lines of canyon castles and riverside castles.

Because the distance is relatively far, in order to facilitate the overall command, Richard must appoint an army commander to coordinate the command of the [-] soldiers in the eastern county of the Grotta River.

Among the officers in the territory of Harland, Soros was actually the only one who had prestige and the ability to command [-] soldiers.

Even though Soros likes to command the Warcraft cavalry to charge into battle, now he is the only one who can take responsibility, so he can only reluctantly accept the task and serve as the supreme commander of the eastern county of Grotta River.

Lost, the captain of the second brigade, and Jennings, the captain of the sixth brigade, served as deputy captains respectively.In recent years, the strength of Lost and Jennings has improved a little.

Lost was promoted to a fourth-tier knight, and Jennings was promoted to a fifth-tier warrior a year later.Jennings was one year younger than Richard, and was promoted to a fifth-tier fighter when he was less than 30 years old. His talent was better than that of Richard.

Through the prompt on the attribute panel, Li Cha knew that his fighter level was not far from advanced. According to the current speed of cultivation, he should be able to be promoted to the sixth-level fighter in June in another four months.

It has been four years and three months since Richard became a Tier [-] fighter, and his fighter talent is almost comparable to that of his father William.Li Cha's luck was much better than William's. When he was young, William was already a high-ranking officer of the Northern Army. He had laid a firmer foundation since he was a child. He didn't go through detours, and the process of climbing up was easier.

(End of this chapter)