Haaland received a bumper summer grain harvest, Richard let go of his worries, and the two dukedoms of Edward and Fox were gloomy at this moment and fell into a dilemma of food shortage.

Due to the impact of the war, the spring ploughing was delayed by the two major dukedoms, especially the Duke of Edward, and the whole territory was plagued by orcs, and the grain production was reduced by more than 95%.

Although the population has now been reduced by more than half, and the number of displaced people after the war is only 400,000, and the consumption of grain has been reduced by two-thirds, by June it has become a small amount of grain stocks.

This year, the Duke of Edward suffered heavy losses, most of the gold coins were looted by the orcs, and only some of them had to maintain the army and improve their equipment, and they could no longer afford to buy food, so they had no choice but to borrow food from the Grant royal family in order to tide over the difficulties.

The Dukedom of Fox, while slightly better, has had a particularly difficult summer this year. Can't make ends meet, can't support.

The two dukes have always been together for warmth, but now they have become brothers and sisters, Simeone, the second person in Duke Edward's county, came to Duke Fox, ready to talk to Duke Fox, hoping that Duke Fox can advance and retreat together and strengthen his determination.

Simeone entered Duke Fox's mansion, and the two sides exchanged a few polite words, and Duke Fox took the lead in getting to the point.

"Has your food shortage eased recently?"

Simeone nodded and said, "King Roger is still relatively easy to talk and has a sense of the overall situation. This summer, 50,000 tons of grain were loaned from the provinces of Gascoigne and Sodamia, and 200,000 gold dollars were given to us in a grain loan. With the support of the Grant royal family, we should be able to weather the storm. ”

"If we can maintain it this year, what will we do in the future?"

Hearing Duke Fox's emotion, Simeone also felt the same way, and suddenly felt a little sad in his heart, and he didn't speak for a long time.

The great nobles of the Grant Kingdom have never been monolithic, because of factors such as aristocratic origin, geographical location, etc., they are divided into several forces to develop together.

The Seven Earls of the South are the former ministers of the Kingdom of Venus, who have been suppressed by the Grant royal family, and the Seven Counts have married each other and dominated the political situation in the southern region.

Until the Venus family rebelled, and the Seven Counts of the South split.

Although there are still five counts left in the south, one of them is a member of the Grant family, and the remaining four counts have also lost mutual trust.

The Four Marquis of the East are close vassals of the Grant royal family, and in recent years, due to the strength of the Grant Kingdom, there has been some development. The four marquis families have a close relationship with the royal family, frequent marriages, and can be regarded as vassals of the royal family, not only in the eastern region, but also in Nolan has a greater right to speak, in recent years more active, the momentum is obviously rising.

The Jonathan family is an outsider, and now the main forces have migrated to Stanic to develop, and the momentum is far less than ten years ago, and it is gradually becoming mediocre in the kingdom of Grant.

The Duke of York is a branch of the royal family, and its territory is located in the south of the two dukes of Edward and Fawkes, which is considered a reserve force to resist the orcs, and it is necessary to help the two dukes Edward and Duke Fawkes resist the orc invasion at a critical time.

It's a pity that the situation has changed, without the three elite legions under the direct jurisdiction of the royal family, the Jonathan family has also moved the main force to the west, and the two dukes Edward and Fox can't stop the orcs from attacking at all.

Even with the Duke of York, they can't hold the line. The power of the great nobles of Northern Xinjiang has been unbalanced.

The Duke of Lorrain was an ally of the Grant royal family, and the two sides maintained a good relationship for more than six hundred years. However, in recent years, Duke Lorrain has gradually joined forces with the two major dukes of Duran and Guise, dominating the political situation in the southwest of the Grant Kingdom, and gradually separating from the Grant royal family.

The two dukes of Fox and Edward have the shallowest background and are knighted for military merits. The background is closer to the Haaland family.

Simeone was silent for a long time, and then said: "Our current situation is very sinister, the environment outside the territory is very unsafe, and if it is not operated well, it is the situation of the Martins family. The orcs have taken advantage of us this year, and will only use us as the focus of their attacks in the future, honorable duke, what are your plans? ”

Listening to Simeone's question, Duke Fox's face suddenly became a little ugly. He forced a smile and said, "You said that we befriended Duke Haaland, will the situation change?" ”

Simeone shook his head and said, "Duke Haaland is a lion and a tiger, and we can barely count two wild dogs. Wild dogs will not be allowed to develop near the territory of male lions. For Duke Haaland, we did look away before, but we never expected that in just a few years, the strength of the Haaland family would change dramatically. Who would have thought that Duke Harland would be able to defeat more than 300,000 orc elite soldiers, so that the orcs would not dare to fight him head-on?

Now our overt enemies are orcs, but our secret enemies are Duke Haraland. The orc is a greedy python, and Duke Haaland is a fearsome male lion, and neither pythons nor male lions allow wild dogs to develop near their territory.

Asking for the help of Duke Haaland is tantamount to moving wood to put out the fire, and the more wood we move, the more intense the fire will be.

If we have a close relationship with Duke Haaland, this process, although inevitable, may last a little longer. But we have a mediocre relationship with Duke Haaland, and there was a bit of a gap in the past, and the process is bound to be very fast, and I think at most ten years, or even five years, we will end up in the Martins family.

Of course, the accumulation of our two families far exceeds that of the Martins family, in recent years, we have tried our best to support the family members to develop in the southern region, and now they are branching out in the southern region, although they will retire from the status of great nobles, Edward and Fox families will inevitably be the top middle nobles, and will not completely decline.

If it really comes to this point, our generation will be ashamed of our ancestors. ”

Hearing Simeone's words, Duke Fox asked with a very serious face, "Is this your opinion, or Harris's opinion?" ”

"This is the unanimous opinion of our Edwards."

Seeing that Simeone's attitude was very resolute, Duke Fox's face was suddenly in a dilemma.

"It seems that you are determined to develop to the south. But will going to the South make a difference? We went to the south, and we will also be pushed to the front by the Kingdom of Roger, although we will not have to face the orcs, and we will also need to fight against the Kingdom of Delon, the United Kingdom of the East Coast. ”

Simeone nodded, "That's true, honorable duke." But our living environment will soon change. First of all, the military strength of the Delong Kingdom and the United Kingdom of the East Coast is far inferior to that of the Orcs, and our pressure will be much less.

Secondly, we will have more autonomy. If the royal persecution is fierce, we will be able to take refuge in the kingdom of Delon, which will ensure that the royal family will have to compromise with us. Staying in the northern frontier, we will not be able to surrender to the orcs, so we can only fight to the death with all our might.

Now that we still have the power in our hands, we should make a choice now. When the orcs drain our strength, we will have to look at the faces of others and completely relinquish dominance.

Once you fall from the position of a nobleman, it will be more difficult to get up. ”

The situation in the Dukedom of Fox was much better than that of the Duchy of Edward, and it was far more difficult to make this decision than the Duchess of Edward. After all, there are still more than a million serfs in the Dukedom of Fox, and it is not easy to relocate. However, there is no strategic future for holding on to northern Xinjiang.

Continuing to stay in Northern Xinjiang is bound to be the situation of the Martins family. Unless the Duke of Fox can expand its strength by three or five times in a short period of time, it can maintain a balance with the orcs and the Harland leader, and withstand the 300,000 legions of the orcs.

But this kind of miracle can't happen in the Duke of Fox, after all, Duke Fox is not a time-traveler, and there is not so much knowledge beyond ordinary people to learn from. Not to mention the good luck of getting the legendary fourth-order props, which pose a huge threat to the orcs on the frontal battlefield.

Although it was difficult to make a decision, Duke Fox was quickly persuaded by Simeone to move south as soon as possible.

With plans to move south, the two dukes, Fox and Edward, rushed to Nolan together, hoping to negotiate terms with King Roger.

In recent years, the Grant royal family has been bent on developing southward, and the three dukes of Guise, Duran, and Haaland are more supportive, and each southern expedition has sent a large number of soldiers to participate in the war. Edward, Fawkes, York, Lorraine and other great nobles watched from the sidelines, and they also did not share too many benefits, only a barony in the south.

The Jonathan family wants to leave the Grant Kingdom and concentrate on the development of Starnik. But they have worked hard in the Grant Kingdom for a hundred years and accumulated a huge family business, and they can't abandon the business of the Grant Kingdom at all.

The two dukes of Fox and Edward expressed their determination to develop southward, and the Roger Kingdom thought about it for a few days, analyzed the pros and cons, and officially talked about the conditions with the two dukes.

"The two dukes are going south with three legions, and our strength in the south will be significantly enhanced, but if we want to defeat the Delong Kingdom in one fell swoop, we must let Duke Haaland go south with the main two legions to participate in the war. In this way, we can achieve enough results, gain enough territory, and settle the two dukes. ”

Duke Fox nodded and said, "Persuade Duke Haaland to do it." If the southward journey goes well, we will gain fiefdoms in the south, and the territories in the north can be exchanged with Duke Haaland.

But the southern expedition should be carried out as soon as possible, preferably in October this year. One orc went south this year, and a lot of food and grass were consumed, and there must be no plans to invade in a short time. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Duke Haaland was able to mobilize a large number of soldiers to fight south.

Second, this year's southern expedition also has a surprise effect, and when the autumn is high and the horse is fat, it is also suitable for the large army to fight.

The only trouble is whether the food supply along the way can be supplied. Coupled with Duke Haaland, this time the kingdom will mobilize 100,000 elites from the north to the south, and the supply of 100,000 troops will be a very severe test for the supply route. ”

King Roger replied very happily: "The supply along the way will be handled by the royal family, but you will have to pay for the purchase of grain." Because of your heavy losses this year, I can provide you with a batch of low-interest loans.

Your march route will pass through the Duchy of York, the Province of Maryland, the Duchy of Guise, and finally enter the province of Ferdinand, where you will join the armies of the Duke of Guise, the Duke of Duran, and the Grizzlies to form the Western Front, and fight under the unified command of Governor William.

The Central Front was organized by the Northern Legion, the Iron Lion Legion, the White Elephant Legion of the Royal Guard, the Silver Wolf Legion, and the Bianconeri Legion, with Zachary as the commander-in-chief.

The Eastern Front tentatively appointed Duke Harland as commander to command Count Steven's army, and the Southern nobles fought together. ”

King Roger's arrangement, the two dukes Edward and Fox basically have no opinion.

Because of the pressure brought by the orcs, the Kingdom of Grant finally mobilized most of its forces by chance and developed to the south.

In this southern expedition, the three fronts of the army gathered, more than 300,000 elite troops were dispatched, and the focus of the use of troops was also on the Western Front.

The Western Front commanded by William had a total of one corps led by Duke Edward, two legions led by Duke Fox, two legions led by Duke Duran, one and a half legions led by Duke Guise, plus the Grizzly Legion directly under William, the main force exceeded 150,000.

The Chinese Front Army is also a strong general, composed of five elite legions of the royal family, and there are also more than 100,000 elite soldiers on the front line.

Although the troops on the Eastern Front are the weakest, the main force is the most warlike Duke Haaland, with Duke Haaland's 40,000 troops as the backbone, plus the combined army of Count Steven and the nobles, the total strength is nearly 70,000.

320,000 first-line troops, and more than 200,000 troops on the second line to maintain the logistics line, this time in the south, the Grant Kingdom will mobilize more than 500,000 troops to the south, which is larger than the scale of the northern Xinjiang battle against the orcs.

The Grant royal family has been established for more than 600 years, and there has only been one battle of this scale, which is the Battle of Dragon Canyon commanded by Duke Breener.

After King Roger negotiated with Edward and Duke Fawkes, both sides immediately sent envoys to Harland to negotiate terms with Richard.

Hearing that the two families of Edward and Fox were preparing to go south and enter the Delong Kingdom to develop, Richard's face also showed a little joy. If the situation develops in this way, Haaland's territory will dominate in northern Xinjiang, and it will be more justified to expand.

If you borrow the hands of orcs to weaken and eat the two major dukedoms, it will be too ugly.

Richard also wants the Grant Kingdom market, and he also has to deal with the nobles of the Grant Kingdom, and eating too ugly is not conducive to long-term development.

The two families of Edward and Fox made the right choice, and Richard certainly wouldn't open his mouth and deliberately make things difficult.

By the middle of July, the negotiations had already been made, and King Roger sent messengers to inform the two dukes, Duran and Guise. As for the two dukes of Loland and York, they provided a batch of logistics materials and sent troops to protect the logistics line.

The four marquis in the east and the four counts in the south must form a war zone, unify and coordinate, and stick to their homeland.

In this way, the great nobles formed a unified opinion, and the time imperceptibly entered August.

After entering August, Richard had already begun to make preparations for the southern expedition, and this time he went south to mobilize two corps, Soros and Jennings, the Lion Cavalry, the Bipedal Wyvern Knight, the Magic Hot Air Balloon Brigade, the Headquarters Reconnaissance Brigade, the Guard Brigade, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth artillery squadrons all participated in the battle, plus the headquarters staff, military law, logistics and other organs, with a total strength of more than 45,000.

(End of chapter)