The 100,000 captives in the city were the most important trophies of the allied forces of the three provinces.

According to the unspoken rules of the Grant Kingdom, plus the credit of the soldiers of Harland's territory, the key role played in the war, Richard can be divided into about sixty percent.

60,000 people, worth 300,000 gold coins.

Such a huge fortune is crucial to the development of Haaland's territory.

But feeding these 100,000 people is not an easy task now.

Because of the devastation of the war, the farmland near Nero's castle has been barren, and about 3 million acres of land have been lost.

In order to save the population of Nero's castle, they must be moved to an area where food is abundant.

There was only one month of food left in the city, not enough to move the entire population back to the three northern provinces.

In the past two months, communication between the front and the rear has not been broken, and both the Haaland territory and the second brigade led by Loster have intermittently sent some letters to Richard.

The Duke of Edward was suddenly in trouble, and Richard had received the news.

Last time, I relied on the power of the Dawn Church to solve the trouble, and this time I can't turn to the power of the church again. As a big aristocrat, the most difficult thing to repay is favors.

If there is a lot of debt, Haaland's territory will inevitably be involved in religious wars.

The Dawn Plane Religious Wars are not only large-scale, but also very brutal, and no less intense than racial wars. As a noble lord, he can't actually get too close to the Dawn Church.

Therefore, this time to escort the population, Richard will definitely bring enough food and will not continue to beg for help.

But there were only 1,900 tons of grain in the city, and even if all the grain was taken away, a maximum of 65,000 people could be moved.

"Everyone knows the situation, we don't have enough food right now, and there is a serious shortage of food near Nero's castle, so we can't stay here for long. I order the Sixth Brigade of Haaland's Territory to escort 60,000 people back to the three northern provinces, and Jennings, you will set off tomorrow and take all 1,900 tons of grain with you. ”

Escorting people is a very important job, and it is not safe to hand it over to someone else.

However, after Jennings left, there were less than 2,000 descendants left around Richard, and it was somewhat insufficient to control the coalition forces of the three provinces. However, according to Richard's estimates, there is no longer a big enemy in the west. It is estimated that there will be no fierce fighting in a short time, and in another month, the first and fifth brigades will be able to rush to the battlefield and replace the second and sixth brigades to return to the gap in the territory.

The most crucial question now is whether we can grab enough food to stabilize people's hearts after moving westward.

In Haaland's domain, there were a large number of slaves from the Grand Duchy of Starnik. Nowadays, many of these slaves from the Grand Duchy of Starnik have joined the army. These soldiers, who were fluent in the language of the Grand Duchy of Starnik, were involved in the conversion of the captives, which helped Richard a great favor and temporarily stabilized the captives.

However, if the problem of food shortage is not solved, these prisoners of war with war experience will be a time bomb after all.

In order to control this group of prisoners of war, Richard employed two strategies. The first was to collect the bows and crossbows and armor of the prisoners of war and replenish the equipment of the aristocratic coalition, and the second was to identify the families of the prisoners of war and organize them into an old battalion, so that the soldiers of Haaland's territory guarded the old camp and used the relatives of the captives to control them.

With their wives and children in their hands, as long as they are not pushed too hard and have sufficient logistical supplies, the prisoners of war are willing to obey orders.

After collecting the prisoners of war, Richard transferred a group of officers from the reconnaissance team and the Warcraft cavalry, and ordered Morgan to be the commander of the captive soldiers, and the squad leader of the Warcraft cavalry, Bagett, and Van Lunding as the adjutants, to assist Morgan in managing the team.

After seven or eight days of collecting prisoners of war and forming the old battalion, Richard saw that there was not much food left, and immediately led his soldiers to the northwest of Starnik.

After continuing to walk for six days, the troops walked about 300 miles into Linus County, only to find a large amount of farmland cultivated.

At this moment, it has entered the middle of June, and the summer harvest is about to be ushered in.

Looking at the heavy ears of wheat in the farmland, Richard finally let go of his worries.

Richard sends a squadron of magical hot air balloons to scout nearby enemies.

In less than an afternoon, the Magic Hot Air Balloon Squadron sent back the information.

Through high-altitude reconnaissance, it was found that this place was not far from Linus Castle, about 200 miles away.

In the course of the reconnaissance, the Magic Hot Air Balloon Squadron also discovered the cavalry under the command of Duke Jonathan, and the distance between the two armies was only one hundred and fifty miles.

Through the scout's narration, Richard had roughly figured out the situation on the northern front.

Linus Castle is surrounded on three sides by the Nit River, and Duke Jonathan needs to cross the fast-flowing Nit River if he wants to take the city.

Twenty-six days earlier, Duke Jonathan had seized the opportunity to inflict heavy damage on Baldwin on the north bank of the Nit River, taking advantage of the weakness of Baldwin's mutual defense.

Without the Baldwin Department on the North Shore, the Haldan Department fell into total passivity.

Now that it was summer, the water was strong and it was difficult to cross the river, so the Haldane troops barely managed to maintain the battle line and block Duke Jonathan on the north bank.

Now there are about 30,000 troops in the Haldane Division, including 2,000 elite Warcraft cavalry.

These two thousand Warcraft cavalry are a great threat to both the main force of the northern front and the southern front where Richard is located.

Duke Jonathan did not dare to cross the river on a large scale, because he was afraid that the Warcraft cavalry would attack half-crossing.

Although the Southern Route Army led by Richard seemed to be outnumbered, there were 16,000 prisoners. However, the second and sixth brigades escorted the population, and now there is a lack of backbone in the army who can fight tough battles, so it is estimated that these two thousand demonic beast cavalry will immediately collapse as soon as they rush.

As long as the enemy fights, the alliance forces of the three provinces are not opponents at all, and they can't stop the charge of the Warcraft cavalry.

Today, Linus Castle has two lines, the north and the south, and the northern line is still the focus of the defense of the Haldan.

Under Duke Jonathan's command, there are now 60,000 soldiers.

After entering the Grand Duchy of Starnik, Duke Jonathan fought several battles with the Linas family, and the casualties were not low, adding up to about 8,000 people. The original army of 60,000 now has only 52,000 men left.

But now Duke Jonathan's army is close to 80,000 men, and it is even stronger than when he entered the Grand Duchy of Starnik. The extra 20,000 troops were all servant troops in the northern region of Starnik who supported the Jonathan family.

Sensing the impending disaster of the Linus family, these minor northern nobles took the initiative to send troops and organized a coalition of nobles to help Duke Jonathan fight. They also provided a lot of food for Duke Jonathan, relieving the logistical supply pressure of the Northern Route Army.

The addition of the northern nobles of Starnik was also a key factor in Duke Jonathan's victory.

The allied army of the three provinces led by Richard on the southern front had a total of 16,000 troops, of which 5,000 were prisoners.

These captives now want to eat, and they are not willing to fight their own people at all. The old troops from the three northern provinces now have only 11 thousand people.

The allied forces of the three provinces are already plundered divisions, and their morale is not high. In today's situation, it is difficult to bear the hard battle.

After analyzing the situation, it became clear to Richard that the top priority was to find a stronghold immediately.

Now the situation of the coalition forces of the three provinces is simply not capable of fighting with the Haldane Department in the field.

But if a firm foothold is taken, the coalition forces can hold on.

It is now less than twenty miles away from the nearest Ria Citadel to the allied forces of the three provinces.

In the flash of lightning, Richard gave an order very decisively, asking the scout cavalry, and the Warcraft cavalry immediately assembled, attacked the castle of ria, and seized the foothold.

The war has now been fought, and Linus Castle has become very empty in the south.

Ria Castle originally had 1,500 city defenders, but because the northern front was tight, they were transferred to the front line to assist in the defense.

Originally, the castle was an area under the direct jurisdiction of the royal family, not the focus of the defense of the Linus family, and there were not many armed men in the castle, and now the defenders were transferred to the banks of the Nit River to guard the ferry, and the castle's defense was almost empty to the extreme. Now facing a cavalry raid, there are only one or two hundred armed men in the city to maintain order.

In a short period of time, the city gate was conquered by the cavalry of the allied forces of the three provinces.

Upon receiving the news of the capture of the castle, Richard immediately ordered his soldiers to hurry up. Before dark, he marched to the castle with a large army.

After entering the castle, Richard immediately ordered: "The logistics staff will work overtime tonight to quickly count the food in the castle." The squadron of guards seized all the grain stores and restaurants in the castle. Immediately seal the gates of the city, and from now on not a grain of grain will be allowed to leave the city.

The inhabitants of the castle were to be counted and counted for seven days, and then the inhabitants of the castle were to be driven out, telling them that the city of Ria was already a battlefield, and that they should go as far as they could to find a way to survive. ”

After entering the city, military affairs were arranged, and it was already late at night. Richard took a nap, and the next morning he summoned the logistics officer in good spirits.

"Did you make the statistics clear last night, how much food is there in the city?"

"It's not all counted yet."

Before the logistics staff could finish speaking, Richard's face showed a little joy. "Isn't there a lot of grain in the granary?"

The logistics staff nodded and said, "Your Excellency Earl guessed right, just what we counted in the grain depot yesterday is about two thousand tons. In addition, the castle has six grain stores, dozens of restaurants, and the wealthy people in the castle can harvest at least a thousand tons of grain. ”

Receiving an affirmative answer, Richard finally let go of his worries.

Although the coalition forces of the three provinces cannot fight field battles now, they can defend the city. Although Haldane's Warcraft cavalry is powerful, it is impossible for them to fly to the top of the city. Protected by fortifications and relying on the strength of the crowd, Richard was no longer afraid of the Haldane Monster Cavalry.

Today, Richard has 16,000 soldiers and 35,000 captives. The soldiers consume three catties of grain every day, and most of the families of the captives are old, weak, women and children, and they consume about one catty of grain every day. Combined with the consumption of war horses and pack animals, the daily consumption of grain is about fifty tons.

The grain collected in the castle is enough to eat for two months, and the allied army of the three provinces now has more than 20,000 sheep and more than 600 tons of grain, which can eat for about 20 days.

With a little saving, this batch of grain lasts for three months. In three months, according to the development of the situation, Duke Jonathan must attack Kleinus Castle and end the war.

Everyone took Richard to the warehouse, saw the mountains of grain, and the logistics staff smiled: "This castle is really rich." Not only did we find a large amount of food, but we also found a treasury and obtained 50,000 gold coins, and even the precious magic crystals, there were about 1,000. ”

"This castle is already the land of Gyeonggi, and its location is equivalent to the administrative district of Nolan in our Grant Kingdom, of course, it is very rich." Richard said with a smile.

Leaving the warehouse, Richard and his officers ascended to the top of the city to inspect the city's defenses. He looked at the large farmland outside the city and said to the officers beside him: "There are still more than 100,000 acres of farmland outside the city, and a bumper harvest is about to be ushered in. ”

The vicinity of the castle was not affected by the war, and the bureaucrats did not have the order to clear the wilderness. Production has not been affected, and more than 100,000 mu of wheat can be harvested, and at least 8,000 tons of grain can be harvested.

In addition, there are 780,000 mu of grain planted with black beans, potatoes and other autumn harvest crops.

Richard led the allied forces of the three provinces to conquer the castle of ria, and the news was delivered to Haldane's desk the next day.

Receiving this bad news, Haldane suddenly became very bad.

Linus Castle is the capital of the Grand Duchy of Starnik, and is home to a large number of people who are not productive. Including the families of the city defense army, the population of the city is about 300,000.

Such a big city is very difficult to hold.

Although Linus Castle has the advantage of being surrounded on three sides by the Nit River, it depends on the rich land on both sides of the Nit River to feed its 300,000 people.

The North Shore was devastated by the war and is now under the full control of Duke Jonathan. Today, Linus Castle is supported by the south bank of the Nit River.

Now that the granary in the rear has been attacked, the situation has suddenly changed, and if the summer and autumn grains are snatched by the enemy, Linus Castle will also face a shortage of food.

However, the main force was pinned down by Duke Jonathan on the northern front, and the transfer of troops to the south will definitely reveal flaws, Duke Jonathan is old in the battle formation, and once the flaws are exposed, he will inevitably launch a general attack.

If the enemy army on the northern front is allowed to cross the Nit River, the Linus family will lose all their chips in this battle.

However, the enemy army on the southern front was left unchecked and could not control the grain-producing areas, and the 30,000-strong army was immediately worried about lack of food, and it could not hold out for long.

For a moment, Haldane was in a dilemma.

Looking at the gorgeous palace, Haldane suddenly regretted a little: "Today's all this is really terrible, if you can cooperate with Baldwin and don't tear each other down, the situation will not evolve to this point?" ”

Although Haldane has passed the king's addiction, he has also led the Linus family to a dead end. He is a powerful and legendary knight and the Optimus Pillar of the Linus family.

Now that he has become the king of the fallen country, Haldane, who has a proud personality, can't accept the reality at all.

"It's all to blame for the damned Sorahman, who rashly provoked the internal strife of the Linus family, causing the family members to slaughter each other. Of course, the stupid James should be more responsible, did not set a clear heir, and died irresponsibly in the court. Baldwin was also a stupid fool, unwilling to cooperate at a critical juncture, and was caught by the enemy and lost a large army. But the fallen king of the Linus family turned out to be my great legendary knight Jordan. What a bad fate was this? ”

(End of chapter)