With the death of two earls in just two years and the loss of most of their power, the Martins family may not have the confidence to manage the territory.

According to normal development, the Martins family will probably give up their status as hereditary counts and retreat to the common nobility.

relied on Donny Martins to achieve a class jump, but the Martins family is not deep in heritage and cannot stabilize the situation at all.

If you want to gain a firm foothold in the hereditary earl class, you must at least pull out a legion that is not weak in combat effectiveness. There must be at least 10,000 elite soldiers and a few hundred Warcraft cavalry.

The counts in the south can pull out a force that is not weak, and the seven counts join forces to weigh even the royal family.

And the power held by Count Martins is a little worse than that of the Haaland family and the Rohmon family.

If Richard had exhausted his army, he could have expanded his army by 8,000 and organized it into a smaller army, while Count Martins could only train an army of 3,000, and the quality of officers and men, weapons and equipment were very average.

The location of the county is also a protruding part, and it is easy to be besieged by orcs.

Although King Charles divided a large area of territory for him, most of it was worthless wasteland, and he made the Donnie Martins family take on impossible tasks, which was actually a kind of unsatisfactory performance.

If the Martins family made a fuss at the meeting of nobles and demanded to give up their titles, it would be enough to make the Kingdom of Grant embarrassed in the Dawn Plane.

Once the great nobles of the Grant Kingdom are not worth much, the political influence will inevitably be too great.

Richard didn't know about the game in the royal capital, and after returning to Fort William, taking advantage of his leisure time during the war, Richard seized the time to make enchanted armor.

This time, he surrounded and annihilated five orc brigades and killed two hundred serpent professionals. These snakes are basically the results of the soldiers of Haaland's territory, and the scales and armor on their bodies have been pulled off by the soldiers.

Together, these scales can be made into more than 300 pieces of enchanted armor.

After the orcs poured in from the province of Gascoigne, they divided into two routes, all the way to the west, with the strength of two legions, besieging the Flame Castle, sweeping the nearby noble territories, capturing the population and looting the gold coins.

The Raging Lion Legion stationed in the Flame Castle, with the retreating half of the Atonement Legion, united the nobles' private army and the orc two legions to entangle, barely maintaining the situation.

Another orc legion turned west and began to attack Baron Harden's castle, intending to invade the province of Geda from the west and plunder.

The situation became dire, and Zachary, the commander of the Ransom Legion, immediately appealed to Fort Blackriver for help.

Stein, the new commander of the Northern Legion, received a letter asking for help, and was immediately in a dilemma.

Because of the political turmoil, there were too many companies, many grassroots officers were dismissed and retired, and the morale of the Northern Legion was not high, and Stein did not dare to fight the orcs.

But once Harden Castle falls, the situation is out of control.

Last time, he used the aristocratic alliance to take the lead, but this kind of thing can't be done often.

Once the aristocratic coalition has complaints, does not contribute to the work, and uses the serf army to fool the situation, the war situation is ruined, and he is mainly held responsible.

After all, Richard and Viscount Rohman had already won the battle, and it would be easier to make excuses when the time came.

Although his confidence was somewhat lacking, when the time came, Stein had to organize a rescue.

He gathered the soldiers of the Northern Legion and began the pre-war mobilization.

"Soldiers, officers, I know that during this time, everyone has suffered a lot of grievances, many people have been punished, and some people have been implicated and driven out of the Northern Frontier Army.

These people are all good officers, and many of them are your old friends, old officers. But politically unreliable, the stronger the ability, the more they have to be suppressed, who let them not stand firm in politics, follow the unlucky guy Zachary.

Now that the orcs are invading on a large scale, I know that the army is a little unstable, but we have to fight.

Our goal in this operation is to rescue this unfortunate bastard, Zackery, who is your old commander, and the officers under his command are your comrades-in-arms for many years, and the companions of life and death.

I ordered the 1st, 3rd, and 6th Brigades to be the vanguard and send troops to rescue today. ”

The 3rd Brigade commanded by William and the 6th Brigade commanded by Bernie were not implicated because of the correct political alignment. These two brigades were the least affected.

The former captain of the first brigade was the deputy commander of the regiment, and because of his higher status, he also had a general relationship with Zachary, so he was slightly less affected.

Now William has been promoted to deputy commander and captain of the first brigade, and Bernie has been transferred to the Lion Legion. The commanders of the 3rd and 6th Brigades were replaced by officers close to Stein's cronies.

But the new captain has only been in business for a short time, and William has much more influence on both teams.

Moreover, William has the highest military rank, the deepest qualifications, and the strongest strength, and he deservedly became the commander of the first echelon.

Black River Fort is 160 kilometers from Harden Castle, but this section of the road is connected by water.

Board a boat from Fort Black, travel 100 kilometers upstream, and then travel 80 kilometers along the Kaya River, a tributary of the Black River, to reach the west of Harden Castle.

Transporting troops by water is not only faster, but also more convenient for transporting all kinds of logistical materials.

William commanded three brigades and set up camp on the banks of the Kaeya River, which was at the horns of Harden's castle, forming a complete line of defense.

After the situation on the battlefield changed, Zachary wrote a personal letter to Richard asking for support.

Richard rushed to Platos Castle with the soldiers of Haaland's territory and confronted the five orc brigades, while Zachary gathered the soldiers to Harden Castle to stand by for reinforcements.

Richard and William, father and son, are less than 50 kilometers away. Although they were on the same battlefield, they could not meet because of the urgency of the war.

At this time, the direction of Pratos to Harden Castle has formed a situation of strategic confrontation.

On the defending side, the first-line defenders of the Grant Kingdom have a total of 19,000. Richard led 5,000 troops, including 3,500 main forces and 1,500 auxiliaries, stationed in the Platos fortress group, and the orcs opposite Richard had a total of five brigades, numbering about 10,000.

In the direction of Harden's Castle, there are 8,000 randem legions stationed in the city, and there are three brigades of the Northern Legion outside the city with 6,000 troops, with a total strength of 14,000, while the orcs opposite them have a legion and a half, including the total number of auxiliaries, about 40,000.

But the kingdom of Grant, with a large number of second-line troops, can be reinforced at any time.

The remaining strength of the Northern Legion is 18,000, and the alliance of nobles in Geda Province can also draw 5,000, and gather all the forces together, which is enough to fight an evenly matched decisive battle with the orcs.

Outside Harden's castle, the orcs launched several tentative attacks, which were easily repulsed by the defenders.

William and Zachary were both excellent officers, and their subordinates were also called elite generals.

The three brigades commanded by William were the main brigades of the Northern Legion, with a total strength of 6,000 troops, more than 400 professionals, and more than 600 pieces of enchanted armor.

These three brigades are very strong in combat effectiveness, and they can defeat the remaining seven brigades of the Northern Legion in one fell swoop, especially the first brigade, the number of professionals exceeds two hundred, and the combat effectiveness is second only to the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade.

Even in hand-to-hand combat with the orcs, the combat effectiveness of the troops commanded by William can be compared to the five brigades of the orcs, which is equivalent to half an orc army.

Moreover, the camp built by William was close to the river, so it could be supported by the navy.

The transports were equipped with small trebuchets, bed crossbows and other heavy weapons, and the orcs made two tentative attacks, killing and wounding five or six hundred soldiers, but they did not find any weak points at all.

If you want to conquer William's camp, I'm afraid you will have to cripple an orc legion.

The Legion of the Atonementers, commanded by Zachary, was not a winning soldier either. This legion was organized and trained by the nobles who failed to stand on the political side, especially the southern nobles, who all hoped to turn around by their military exploits, and the soldiers could be called carefully selected.

In addition, a large number of officers of the Northern Legion who were implicated, many of whom chose to defect to the old commander, these people were very good at fighting, and Zachary knew them very well, and he knew them well and arranged them in the right positions. Although the combat effectiveness of the Atonement Legion is not as good as that of the main legion, it is stronger than the second-tier legion.

In the orc military tent, the legion commander Ninth Order Werewolf Su Yasola sat in the middle, and a large number of orc senior officers sat on both sides below.

"The battle situation is clear, let's talk about it."

An orc captain held his horsewhip and said cautiously: "The main force of the Northern Legion has not yet appeared, so we must be cautious in our actions to avoid revealing flaws." ”

The Northern Legion has completely annihilated the Orc Legion twice in a row, and they are a little jealous of this legion and the senior orc officers.

The deputy legion commander of the ninth-order dragon vein kobold, Usmar, nodded and said: "Through the information sent back by human spies last year, we know that a civil war broke out in the Grant Kingdom, Prince Roger and King Charles fought for the right to rule the country, and finally Prince Roger won the victory, and the civil strife lasted for about a month. Unfortunately, by the time the information came back, the civil strife had already ended. Otherwise, we will be able to achieve a brilliant victory by taking advantage of the civil strife. ”

Last year's situation was indeed very dangerous, if the civil strife lasted for a longer time and the orcs were involved, a large area of the northern frontier of the Grant Kingdom would be lost.

Under the nest, Ann has finished eggs? If the overall situation is defeated, Haaland's territory will not be spared. If you don't do it, the accumulation of years will be ruined.

When Su Yasola heard this, she immediately frowned and said, "What's the use of saying this, let's talk about your opinion first." Do you want to draw the main force, attack Harden Castle, and fight a decisive battle with the human army. ”

"I don't think there is a chance of winning the decisive battle, it is better to divide the troops and plunder."

Suyasola turned her head and stared at the other orc officers: "Your opinion, is it also a division of troops to plunder?" ”

"Yes, after dividing the troops, we will go south and go to the Lab Basin to grab a handful. On the side of Harden Castle, it is enough to leave a legion. ”

Although Suyasola wanted to fight the human army, the other orc officers wanted to go south to raid.

Orcs are a tribal alliance system, and although Surasora is the supreme commander, they also listen to the opinion of the majority to a certain extent.

After the orc army deliberated, it was decided to divide the troops to the south.

Legion Commander Suyasola took a main legion of 25,000 orcs and watched over the defenders of Harden Castle.

Another 15,000 orcs bypassed Harden's castle and began their march into the heart of Gascoigne.

The first unlucky one was Baron Paul.

An ordinary barony can't stop the orcs for a few days.

Although Baron Paul resisted fiercely, he fought to the last soldier with his soldiers, and killed and wounded hundreds of orc soldiers with the trebuchets at the head of the city. However, the territory was only guarded for a day and a half, and more than 10,000 people were still captured by the orcs, and the food and gold coins in the territory became the spoils of the orcs.

Next were the four barons Pelle, Wesker, Pete, and Ramos, all of whom failed to hold out for a few days.

The orcs moved westward and entered the three baronies of Burnham, Tynes, and Cisse.

The three barons Burnham, Cissé, and Tynes were stronger, and mobilized 20,000 serf soldiers to the limit, and these serf soldiers fought very bravely, and they formed an alliance to fight to the death, and even let the orcs lose 2,000 soldiers, and they have not yet captured Burnham Castle.

Although they conquered five baronies after taking it, the orcs had lost 3,000 troops at this moment, plus the 2,000 troops lost in Burnham's territory, and the strength of the orc army in the south was less than 10,000.

By this time, the orcs had already grabbed a large number of people and supplies, achieved their strategic goals, and were not ready to fight hard with the soldiers of the Grant Kingdom.

After the orcs divided their troops to the south, Richard did not take the initiative to fight.

In the previous battles, the Haaland territory had already lost some soldiers, and more than 200 soldiers were killed in the previous battles, and four or five hundred soldiers were wounded.

Compared to the number of soldiers in the territory, the casualties are not light. If the backbone of the veterans is exhausted, there is no virtuous circle, and it will take ten years to form this elite army again.

So in the next battle, Richard chose to avoid the battle as much as possible.

The orcs in the north of the Platos fortress complex did not want to pay too many casualties due to the blockade of the trebuchet, and did not take the initiative to attack the fortress.

The state of non-fighting on the northern front lasted until June.

In the past three months, the orcs who divided their troops to the south have won successive battles, defeated five baronies, and even entered the Labor Basin to grab a circle.

In just three months, the orcs have grabbed a population of 120,000.

Such a heavy loss made the king extremely angry.

King Roger had led his troops to war for many years, and at once he grasped the key and wrote a letter to rebuke Stein, the commander of the Northern Legion. Demand that he take responsibility for reclaiming the population that had been plundered by the orcs, or else he will be held accountable after the war and stripped of his status as a hereditary nobleman.

By this time, Stein had no reason to avoid the war.

Although the orcs robbed the population of Gascoigne Province, the responsibility seems to be irrelevant to Stein. The province of Geda has also won the battle, and the Lion Legion should be held accountable as well.

But Roger was old in the ranks and had a correct view of the war situation, and did not need to listen to the opinions of others.

The reason why the province of Gascoigne suffered heavy losses in this battle was because of Stein's avoidance of the war.

If the Northern Legion had taken the initiative to take responsibility, the Orcs would not have been able to divide their forces at all, and the Gascoigne Province would not have been plundered by the Orcs.

Even if he had a reason to avoid the war, King Roger had labeled Stein as ignorant of the big picture.

(End of chapter)