Seeing that Viscount Nero was determined not to leave the city, Richard had no choice but to besiege Nero's castle with 11,000 infantry. Two thousand cavalry dispersed and entered the nearby villages to capture serfs and loot grain and grass.

Commanding the cavalry were Morgan, the leader of the Scout Cavalry Group, and Danon, the leader of the 3rd Squadron of the Warcraft Cavalry.

After years of development, the Haaland Territory has organized three Warcraft cavalry squadrons, and there are also fifty Warcraft cavalry in the reconnaissance cavalry, adding up to a total of three hundred and fifty Warcraft cavalry.

The number of Warcraft cavalry is already comparable to that of the Grizzly Legion.

Now the finances of Haaland's territory are close to 300,000 yuan a year, and with a little squeeze, they can buy hundreds of Warcraft war horses. The reason why Richard did not massively expand the Warcraft cavalry was mainly because he did not have suitable soldiers.

A Warcraft cavalry squadron must have at least thirty or so professional officers in order to give full play to the power of Warcraft warhorses and form a strong combat effectiveness. If the quality of the soldiers is not high, even if they buy the Warcraft War Horse and form the Warcraft Cavalry, it is an empty shelf, and they cannot fight with the Warcraft Cavalry of other nobles.

In order to form the third squadron of the Warcraft Cavalry, the new professionals in the territory this year were swept away, and more than seventy veterans who were proficient in horse warfare were also transferred, resulting in no new officers being replenished in the infantry unit for a year.

According to the current rate of training officers in Haaland's territory, the expansion of up to one hundred Warcraft cavalry can be completed every year.

Morgan and Danon led the cavalry to plunder an area of more than 10,000 square kilometers, guided by aerial reconnaissance troops, and in just a few days, they looted dozens of villages.

Richard saw that the Warcraft War Horse was loaded with a full load of food, and the captured serfs were mixed among the cavalry, which looked particularly chaotic.

"Act quickly, send the prisoners to the barracks, and don't block the gates." The officers at the grassroots level kept shouting and maintaining order.

Richard waved his hand and asked the young staff officer next to him to help, and he worked for an hour or two before escorting the captured serfs to the place of detention.

"How is it, are the seizure statistics clear?" Seeing that the logistics staff had returned, Richard asked.

"Counting today's seizures, we have grabbed 1,800 tons of grain and a population of 67,000."

Hearing the news reported by the logistics staff officer, Richard's face changed.

If you want to send these serfs back to Haaland's territory, you need to walk for forty or fifty days on the road, and even if you consume an average of one and a half catties of grain per person per day, you will have to consume two thousand tons of grain on the road.

Now 1,800 tons of grain have been grabbed, which is simply not enough for the serfs to eat on the road, let alone to replenish the shortage of military rations.

"What about livestock? How many? ”

"More than 60,000 sheep, hundreds of cattle, and more than 1,000 mules and horses were caught."

Richard thought in his heart that the beasts were relatively small, and a large part of them should be concentrated in Nero's castle. The 60,000 sheep captured allowed the serfs to eat 20,000 on the road, which could save hundreds of tons of grain

The remaining 40,000 sheep remained in the army, which allowed the military rations to last for a while longer.

It's April now, and a few days ago there was a spring rain, and the grass and trees have sprouted, and it's the spring plowing season.

Richard will arrange special people to graze, and the goat, milk and mutton can be used as military rations, plus the army's stockpiles of grain, which should be able to be eaten until June.

Moreover, although the supplies in the rear are intermittent, there will be some of them.

The western part of the Felaman Mountains is already the hinterland of the Grand Duchy of Starnik, which is located in the middle of the Grand Duchy of Starnik and has not experienced war for more than a hundred years.

After more than 100 years of peace and continuous population reproduction, this area has become a relatively densely populated area, with more than 600,000 people living on more than 10,000 square kilometers of land.

In terms of population density, the population density of this area is four times that of Haaland's territory.

About 100,000 of the 600,000 people were gathered in Nero's Castle, and the remaining 500,000 were scattered in rural villages.

However, in the face of war, the nearby population fled one after another, some of the population went into the mountains, and some of the population migrated to the west, away from the war. Captured by the coalition forces of the three provinces, only one-tenth of the total population.

Through aerial reconnaissance, Richard knew that the land within a radius of more than 10,000 square kilometers had been reduced to a no-man's land in a short period of ten days, and only a very small number of people had returned to the desolate villages.

The destructive power of war on the territory can be seen from this?

This rich land, as long as it encounters a war, becomes thousands of miles without roosters, and the bones are exposed in the wild.

More than 600,000 people in this area are estimated to have starved to death on the road in order to escape the war, much more than those who died directly under the sword.

"Go, call Loss, I have something to talk to him."

After receiving Richard's order, it didn't take long for Roster to rush to the big tent of the Chinese army.

A few days ago, Loster fought with the Silver Knight Viscount York, and although he restrained the enemy, he suffered internal injuries and needed to recuperate for more than ten days.

Seeing Loss, Richard asked, "How are the injuries?" ”

"It's not a big problem, but I haven't been able to raise my strength in the past few days, and I shouldn't be able to fight in a short time."

Richard took out a box from under the bed in the tent, and when he opened it, it suddenly emitted a golden light.

"There are already more than 60,000 serfs in the camp, and the chaos is not good. You take the second brigade with you, and you are responsible for escorting the serfs back to the Harland territory. I can only give you 1,500 tons of grain and 20,000 sheep. You can only eat this batch of grain for 30 days, and you need to solve the rest of the shortfall on your way. This chest of gold coins is for you, and you should keep it carefully. ”

Hearing Richard's order, Loster asked with some hesitation: "The second brigade is gone, what should I do when I need to attack the fortifications?" ”

The army led by Richard, the second brigade was the backbone of the infantry, and it was the backbone of the army in Harland's territory. In the previous battle of the Felaman Valley, relying on the second brigade of soldiers, they broke through the shield of the Viscount of York in one fell swoop and won the victory.

If this elite army is transferred back, it will have a very great impact on the combat effectiveness of the coalition forces of the three provinces, so Lluster has this question.

"Through the last few days of temptation, I have discovered that the commander of Nero's castle is an old and respectful man, and it seems that they want to clear the field through the fortified walls and wait for us to retreat when we run out of food.

Even if you go back, we will have 12,000 soldiers, and the enemy will only have 7,000, and they will not dare to fight our main force.

Second, escorting the serfs back to the Harland territory is very critical to our development, and I don't feel comfortable sending others, this task can only be undertaken by you. ”

After explaining the task, the next day Löster led the second brigade to escort 67,000 serfs back.

There is no resistance in the eastern part of Ferramane, and there are barracks along the way, protected by more than 700 soldiers of the second brigade, and the road is very safe. After seven or eight days, Löster returned to Bulsen Castle without incident.

After a day's rest at Bulsen Castle, he walked for another two days to Pattin's Castle and entered the territory of the Duke of Fox.

Padin Castle is a typical border castle, the product is not abundant, and Löster only bought a few dozen tons of grain, and then emptied the grain store of Padin Castle.

Dozens of tons of grain can only feed more than 60,000 serfs for one day.

After continuing on the road for twenty days, Lluster entered the castle with an army of serfs, and although some supplies were purchased along the way, there was not much food left in the army, and it could only hold out for three days.

In these twenty days, Lost, with an army of serfs, had eaten all the livestock. Even the precious ploughing cattle were all filled in their stomachs.

The march with more than 60,000 serfs was much slower than normal. The supply points along the way, the food on the market was also swept away by Lost. The combined stock of grain in several towns was 200 tons, which was only enough for this huge army to feed for six or seven days.

Located on the banks of the Black River, Parani Castle is an important transportation node of the Duke of Edward, and is also the third largest city in the Duke of Edward, with a population of up to 50,000, the size of the city is no less than that of Fort William.

When Richard entered the Grand Duchy of Stanik with the intervention army, he replenished his food and grass here for twenty days.

When Llustre sent people into the castle to buy grain and grass, he was troubled by the castle's grain merchants.

"What, how can the price of food skyrocket fifty times?"

Hearing the story of the merchant accompanying the army, Llouster personally went to the grain store and decided to negotiate with the grain merchants.

"We are the army of the Earl of Haaland, and the serfs escorted are the trophies of the nobles of the three provinces, are you sure you want to rob us?"

Llouster brought the soldiers to appear in person, and the faces of the grain merchants became very ugly, and in the end, they could not resist the pressure and revealed some of the inside information.

"Dear Knight Loss, this matter is explained from above, and we are also very embarrassed. If you really need food, you can exchange it for slaves. One ton of grain for a hundred slaves, this is the price set by the Duke's Palace, please don't embarrass us lowly merchants. This matter was decided by the big guys, and you can't solve the problem at all if you force us. ”

At the normal market price, a slave could be exchanged for two and a half tons of grain, and the transaction price set by the Duke of Edward's Mansion was obviously an open robbery.

Lluster had carried two thousand gold coins, four hundred had been consumed on the way, and now there were only one thousand six hundred gold coins left, and according to the price of food at Parani Castle, he could only buy sixteen tons of food.

Sixty-seven thousand serfs and eight hundred soldiers were fed seven cents a day and thirty tons of grain. The gold coins that Loster carried were all used to buy food, and he could only eat for half a day.

After hearing the news, Loss's face changed greatly, he never expected that he would encounter difficulties in the Duke of Edward.

Loster is not rootless, he has the powerful Earl Haaland behind him.

Although the grain merchants in Parani's castle were greedy, they would increase their prices by twenty or thirty percent at most. Under normal circumstances, they would not dare to offend the Haaland family at all.

Even if a merchant has the support of a big nobleman behind him, he will not dare to offend a high-profile earl.

Now that the grain merchants in the castle have unified their voices, it must be the Duke of Edward's palace who has come forward in person.

Now the Haaland family has become a hereditary earl, although the strength is weaker than the Edward family, in fact, the difference is not very far.

The Duke of Edward had a population of 1.2 million and about 60,000 soldiers. However, the soldiers under the command of Duke Edward were generally equipped and their quality was not as good as the three main armies in the north.

The elite soldiers in Haaland's territory are enough to defeat one against three.

If the two families clashed, the Duke of Edward did not have a 100% chance of winning.

Both sides are great nobles in Northern Xinjiang, and under normal circumstances, Duke Edward's county will never provoke the Haaland family. Moreover, the booty escorted by Lloester belonged to the coalition of the three provinces, and although the Haaland family took the lion's share, they also had to share the benefits with the hereditary nobles of the three northern provinces.

The Duke of Edward did this, offending the nobles of the three provinces, and it was more troublesome to deal with.

After hitting a nail in the grain merchant, Loster decides to speak to the mayor of Parani himself, who is a member of the Edward family and should have some authority. As a result, he closed the door and did not see any members of Duke Edward's family.

As soon as Lloester left, Simeone, the mayor of the city, sighed, "This time we have seriously offended the nobles of the three northern provinces. Even according to our estimates, if half of the serfs are eaten, the sequelae will be very troublesome. In the long run, I am afraid that the benefits obtained will not be able to compensate for the losses.

Offended the nobles of the three provinces, and when we encounter a crisis in the future, the nobles of the three northern provinces will definitely not come to support.

The most important point is that the soldiers of the three armies in the north are all from the three central provinces, and they are closely related to the hereditary nobility of the three northern provinces. Even if the king gives an order for reinforcements, and the nobles of the three provinces are bent on ghosts, and if we go a little slower on the road, our losses may be great, and the main force may be surrounded and annihilated by the orcs.

Besides, I heard that Count Haaland has a very bad temper, and is not a person who can swallow his anger after suffering a loss, and when he returns with his army, what will happen if he plunders within our territory? ”

Simeone was the cousin of Duke Edward, and was considered an important member of Duke Edward's county. He had a worried look on his face, and from his original intentions, he was unwilling to provoke the Haaland family.

But Duke Edward of Maple Leaf Castle gave the order, and Simone could only carry it out, and the people above did not listen to his objections at all.

"The old man is so confused now, as long as someone makes some slander in the court, he will make a stupid decision."

The person who spoke was also an important member of Duke Edward's family, and his name was Harris, a seventh-order silver knight, and the fourth son of Duke Edward.

Harris is over fifty years old, has no hope of advancing to the Legend, he is not the first in line to the Edward family, and he speaks very boldly in private. When talking about his father, he didn't have a few good words, it sounded very mean, and there was no respect at all.

Simeone is close to Harris, but the news is somewhat closed due to its distance from Maple Castle, the core of Duke Edward's county. After all, he couldn't bear it anymore, and quietly asked Harris: "The old duke is eighty-four this year, and he has been confused since last year, and the orders passed down are messy, and there are many inconsistencies, have the core members of the family discussed letting the old duke retire and enjoy his old age in peace?" ”

When Simone said this, he implicitly meant that he was seriously dissatisfied with Duke Edward, which was strictly taboo.

Now that this kind of open rebellion is coming out of the mouths of the core members of the Edward family, it can be seen that there is a serious problem at the core of the Edward family, which has made it unbearable for many people.

(End of chapter)