Lord Harland.

Chapter 293 The Battle Is Coming
The territory of Harland has been developing for more than ten years, and this year it experienced a financial deficit for the first time, with an amount of [-] gold coins, accounting for [-]% of the fiscal revenue.

In the past few years, the fiscal surplus of the Harland Territory added up to about [-] gold coins, and the fiscal deficit of [-] gold coins was not particularly serious.Relying on the gold coins saved in the treasury, the shortfall can be filled.

After the financial meeting, soon came the goddess's birthday.

The Goddess's Birthday is the final festival of the Kingdom of Grant. Although most of the nobles are followers of the God of Kingship and Order, in the Kingdom of Grant, the influence of the Church of King Power is not as deep as that of the Church of Dawn.

During the Goddess's Birthday Festival, the territory of Harland will be closed for ten days.

Even heavily guarded factories and scientific research institutes, except those who need to be on duty, all returned home to celebrate the holiday with their families.

During the goddess' birthday festival, the shops in Harland's territory are also particularly prosperous, and handicraftsmen will sell various small commodities on the street.

Because of the harsh environment in northern Xinjiang, residents in this area don't like saving very much. Both high-income people and ordinary people have a style of carpe gratification.

This kind of national characteristics is actually not very conducive to capital accumulation.

But changing the atmosphere of society and changing people's ideas is not an easy task.

Although Richard has prestige in the territory of Harland, at most he can unite the hearts of the people, assimilate the population from different ethnic groups into the leaders of Harland, and completely reshape the nationality of the people of Harland, which can only be handed over to the next generation people.

Not long after the Goddess's birthday, the six primary schools in Harland's territory have started recruiting students.

This year, Richard lowered the tuition fee again, reducing the annual tuition fee for elementary school to two silver coins and fifteen copper coins, and required the school to provide free breakfast.Although these breakfasts only have goat milk and whole wheat black bread, they can also reduce the burden on children in ordinary families.

Tuition fees have been reduced, and the number of free citizens has increased significantly. This year, more than 600 children were enrolled.On average, every school has recruited students from classes six or seven.

After the Goddess's Birthday, Wendy went to Nolan in person and exchanged [-] magic crystals with the Grant Mage Association for a crystal ball for testing qualifications.

More than a dozen magicians in Harland's territory were dispatched to test the aptitude of the [-] newly enrolled children, and found [-] students with magical aptitude, and one with intermediate aptitude.

These students with magic aptitude received the teacher's key care. After they started to practice meditation, they would join the Harland Mage Association to supplement nutrients for the Mage Association.

Entering February, the soldiers in Harland's territory began to be fully mobilized and put on emergency alert.

The magic hot air balloon troop and the lion cavalry all began to take off to scout the northern area of ​​the Eagle Mountain Range, looking for the whereabouts of the orcs.

The reconnaissance cavalry brigade will also dispatch elites to cooperate with the operations of the air reconnaissance force.

After years of development, Harland Territory is now equipped with three magical hot air balloon squadrons. Each squadron is equipped with eight hot air balloon teams. In addition to the hot air balloon teams organized by the headquarters, more than [-] hot air balloon teams can take off to fight. .

After four years of training, the lion cavalry trained seven lion knights, and the eggs they captured that year were also successfully hatched. In addition, the lion population has expanded in recent years, and the number of young lions has exceeded ten.

By the time of the next orc invasion, there should be two lion squirrel squads available.

Because the magic hot air balloon team has a third-tier archer restraining the harpy, the air reconnaissance force of Harland's territory can already compete with an orc legion's air reconnaissance force.

However, the situation in northern Xinjiang where the enemy is strong and we are weak has not changed. In order to avoid stimulating the orcs, Li Cha ordered to reduce the intensity of aerial reconnaissance and still focus on ground reconnaissance.

The reason why the orcs were able to take the initiative in the battle with humans was not only the superiority of their numbers but also the overwhelming superiority of their reconnaissance forces.

Once the orcs realize that Harland has cultivated a large number of aerial reconnaissance forces, they will definitely concentrate on destroying Harland.

Although Harland Territory has developed rapidly in recent years, it is still not comparable to the huge orc empire.

The limelight should be handed over to the Grant family. Even if the sky falls, there will be tall people to take it up.

Through frequent investigations, the orc army was gradually exposed to Li Cha's eyes.

This time the orcs really mobilized their army and rushed to Harland Territory. According to the scouts' estimates, there were already three orc legions in the northern part of Harland Territory, more than [-] troops.

It is impossible to rely on Harland's territory alone to counter this powerful force.

In order to ensure the authenticity of the information, Harland lost four magical hot air balloons, and more than dozens of scout cavalry were killed and missing.Even the lion cavalry was injured two people, and one lion was so seriously injured that it might not be able to fly in the future.

After detecting the main marching route of the orcs, Li Cha immediately wrote a request for help to the main army in the rear.

Because the reconnaissance force is weak in all respects, the Grant Kingdom's strategy has always been to divide the troops to guard, consume the strength of the orcs, and then wait for the orcs to withdraw.

Such a strategy is very passive. Every time the orcs invade, the Northern Xinjiang region suffers heavy losses.

But the reconnaissance power is not as good as that of the orcs, and any active attack is unilateral and transparent to the orc army.

If you rashly leave the strong castle and the line of defense that has been in operation for many years, you will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

Years of war experience has also proved this point. A few years ago, the Grizzly Legion was hit by the orcs' strategy of encircling the spot and attacking aid, and the entire army was almost wiped out.

Because the Wild Lion Army could not detect the main force of the orcs, they rashly sent troops to a decisive battle with the main force of the orcs, and fell into the trap of the orcs and suffered heavy losses.

After receiving the request for help from the Harland Territory, Rab, the head of the Northern Legion, did not rush to send troops. He first sent a main brigade plus [-] auxiliary soldiers into the Platos fortress group, and Baron Sharp stayed in the territory. Hundreds of soldiers guard this important mountain road together.

Then he ordered the aristocratic coalition forces of Heihe and Luomen counties to station 4000 troops in Harland.

Although the first batch of reinforcements was only 4000 people, Li Cha was still very happy and sent [-] noble allied forces to the North Boundary Fort in Salt Lake County.

Salt Lake County is located in the middle of the two counties in the Harland Territory. Once this county falls, the east and west counties of the Harland Territory will be separated. At that time, they will not be able to look at each other from head to tail, and they will be easily divided and encircled by the orcs.

The geographical location of Salt Lake County is very important, and it is a focus of the defense of Harland's territory, but limited by the number of soldiers, there are only 4000 defenders in this area.

Among the 3000 defenders, there are [-] people in the two main brigades, and nearly [-] auxiliary soldiers and local security forces.

Although there are [-] soldiers defending, it is still the weak point of the defense line.This area is equivalent to the eggs of Harland's territory. Once it is pinched by the orcs, it is easy to fall into a passive position.

Before the war broke out, Li Cha originally planned to mobilize soldiers to strengthen the defense of Salt Lake County. Now the 4000 soldiers sent by the coalition of nobles from the two counties can just strengthen this direction. With these 8000 reinforcements, there are already [-] defenders in Salt Lake County.

With 8000 people guarding Salt Lake County, the orcs can only pose a threat unless they dispatch a legion-level force.

Li Cha can hold the remaining troops in his hands and act as the general reserve.

In order to unify the command, Richard appointed Viscount Roman as the garrison commander of Salt Lake County, and Jennings, the captain of the Sixth Battalion, as the deputy commander.

Harland's territory is now divided into two counties, with a total area of ​​[-] square kilometers. It needs to defend a front of about [-] kilometers from east to west.

This [-]-kilometer line of defense has four key points of defense.

In the far west is the Platos fortress group. Because the Northern Army Corps sent reinforcements, the Harland Territory does not need to send reinforcements for the time being.

According to aerial reconnaissance, there is about half of the Legion's orc army in the north of the Platos defense line.

The area east of Platos is the core of Harland's territory. From Fort Sophia, Fort William to Fort Garrison, and the marsh basin are the focus of Harland's territory management.

In this direction, a large army is stationed in the territory of Harland. There is not only a large army garrisoned in the swamp basin, but also half a mage regiment, and a large army is also stationed in the fort.

Fort William is also the headquarters of the Harland Territory. There are three infantry brigades, one monster cavalry brigade, half a scout brigade, and a magic hot air balloon squadron. The main force is [-] troops.

The total number of garrisons in the three castles exceeds 5000. If the battle is urgent, [-] troops can be dispatched by mobilizing second-line fighters such as auxiliary soldiers, public security, and intelligence personnel.

It's just that the second-line forces such as auxiliary soldiers, public security, and intelligence can only fight city defense battles, not field battles, and defeat the orcs head-on.

To the east of the Passage of the Military Station Fort is Salt Lake County. This area was supported by the nobles of the two counties of Gerda Province, and the defenders had a total of 8000 people.

The easternmost is Grotta River County. The county guards are divided into three castles. There are four infantry brigades, five scouting cavalry squadrons, and one magic hot air balloon squadron. The main force is about 7000 people.

If you are fighting a city defense battle, you can also send [-] auxiliary soldiers to cooperate in the battle.

The defenders in the four areas combined have a total of [-] soldiers, but the real combat effectiveness is stronger, and only the [-] regular troops of the Harland Territory are stronger than the orcs in a head-to-head confrontation.

Through investigation, the orc army that rushed to Harland's territory exceeded three legions, with a total of about [-] orc troops.

The orcs of Grotta River County were the first to fight against Harland's territory.

Canyon Castle is located in the northernmost part of Grotta River County. This castle is located in the east of the Eagle Mountain Range, only 180 kilometers away from the lair of the legendary green dragon.

Near the castle, there are occasional subsaurus activities.In order to avoid stimulating the legendary green dragon, the demon hunting team led by Harland basically did not operate in this area.

During the period of controlling Grotta River County, Harland's territory and the legendary Green Dragon lived in peace, and no conflicts broke out.

The location of the canyon fort is easy to defend and difficult to attack. There are camps built on the mountain beams on both sides of the north, which can support each other with the castle on the front of the canyon.This castle is completely a military fortress, and there are almost no people nearby except the garrison.

"Attention, the orcs are coming up, quickly light the wolf smoke, string the bow and crossbow, and help each other put on the armor. We only have about 10 minutes."

The fortifications in the north of Canyon Fort extend northward for about thirty miles, and brick sentry towers are built every ten miles.

The sentry tower is built on the ridge, with a very good line of sight, and can monitor the enemy from a long distance.The surrounding trees were also cut down, and a trench was built in the rear, through which one could quickly descend the mountain.

A small-scale military depot was established at the foot of the mountain, and more than a dozen war horses were stocked in the military depot, which could quickly allow the defenders to retreat to the back.

Extending northward along the canyon fort, more than [-] sentry towers were built in the north of several valleys, large and small.

According to the terrain, these sentry towers stationed dozens of scouts, and the few were only a few soldiers. The scout cavalry stationed in the watchtowers totaled more than [-] regular troops.

It is by relying on these front-line scouts that the enemy situation in the north of Canyon Castle can be found out.

Since the discovery of the Harpy, the defenders of Canyon Fort have been fully mobilized and can enter a state of war at any time.

On the third day after the harpies appeared, the orc army appeared in the north of the fortress.

The orc vanguard brigade brandished messy weapons and let out majestic cries.The orc captain was rather savage, probably relying on his experience three years ago, he launched a siege without careful investigation.

This orc brigade has a total of about two thousand soldiers, and the two thousand orcs are divided into seven or eight races.They swarmed in disorder and began to attack the defense line established by the defenders of Canyon Fort.

The valley in front of Canyon Fort was only 100 meters wide, and when two thousand orcs poured in, it immediately became chaotic.

The soldiers on the walls of the canyon castle seized the opportunity, and the crossbows in their hands shot out arrows continuously.

Like locusts, the arrows continuously shot through the orc's shield and leather armor, and for a while there was a shrill scream in the canyon.The rabble in the orc army had begun to disperse.

Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, the orc captain immediately mobilized elites, and the snake-bodied heavy infantry quickly entered the battle, intending to climb the city wall and break through the defense line in one fell swoop.

As a result, the defenders had already set a trap, and when the snake-body man appeared on the battlefield, he immediately dropped dozens of alchemy bombs.

After bursts of gunpowder smoke, bed crossbows had already been fired from the city wall, and the officers also used enchanted crossbows one after another, aiming at the snake-body man to greet them, and the snake-body man lost more than half in an instant.

Seeing that the snake-body was about to be wiped out, the orc captain hurriedly urged the harpy to launch a surprise attack and cooperate with the snake-body to fight.

As a result, two hot air balloons rose inside the castle.

There were third-level archers on the hot air balloon, and they were also equipped with bursting arrows. The harpies didn't notice for a while, but three of them were hit by the bursting arrows and exploded into pieces in the air.

Seeing this scene, the Harpy was too frightened to go forward.

Without the cooperation of the Harpy, the battle line was disrupted, and the Snake was quickly surrounded by the defenders.

The main backbone suffered heavy losses, and the orcs immediately couldn't bear the casualties and wanted to withdraw from the battle line.

Seeing the orcs retreating, trebuchets on the city wall were fired one after another. This area had already marked the shooting table in advance, and countless stone bullets fell into the middle of the retreating orcs.The defenders in the camps on both sides also shot arrows from high places one after another. The orc brigade was besieged from three sides, and they couldn't stand it for too long, and were wiped out soon.

(End of this chapter)