Lord Harland

Soros and Jennings, the two army commanders, were once again knighted for meritorious service, while the Fourth Army once again sat on the bench.

After being knighted after the war, there were already voices of dissatisfaction among the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Army. In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Richard personally went to the Fourth Army, had a heart-to-heart talk with Wang Del and other backbones, and promised them that they would use them to perform meritorious services in the next war. The restless people's hearts.

After the Battle of Pryland, Harland granted a viscount and four baronies, and granted about 7,000 square kilometers of land to hereditary vassals.

It seemed that Richard was very generous. In fact, compared with the territory that Richard received, what the vassals received was insignificant.

After winning the Battle of Pulilan, hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land in the nearby area will fall under the control of the Harland Territory.

In fact, after the legendary ogre was annihilated last year, the nearby land of 100,000 square kilometers fell under the control of Harland Territory.

Today, in a broad sense, Harland's territory exceeds one million square kilometers, but there are almost no people in more than half of the territory. The territory that has really been developed to a certain extent is the former Harland Territory and the three northern Xinjiang provinces. Even the relatively wealthy territories such as Edward and Fox have not yet recovered from the pain caused by the war due to the invasion of orcs.

The vast northern prairie and coastal forest areas are now basically empty of people.

After the war with the orcs, due to the huge logistical pressure, Richard has discussed with the railway, finance and other departments many times and decided to increase investment this year to build a railway across the Eagle Mountains and connecting the north and the south.

Now there are three railways in Harland Territory entering the Eagle Mountains. The western section of the railway extends to Songtao Castle and is slowly advancing towards Martins Castle.

The eastern section of the railway also extends northeast from Eagle Fort and enters the Eagle Mountains.

The middle section of the railway has the longest mileage. The 200-kilometer railway line from Military Station Fort to Heihe Fort has been put into operation and has now begun to slowly advance towards the Losa Basin.

Richard planned to increase the construction of the middle line first, starting from the No. 10 Military Station and extending from north to south to Hurricane Castle.

Last winter, the 120-kilometer railway from Military Station No. 3 to Military Station No. 10 was opened to traffic. The original plan was to extend to Military Station No. 4. Then build along the canyon castle, Norman castle, all the way to the king's castle.

However, after careful calculation, the railway planning department found that this railway is more difficult to build. It is better to use the power on the middle section of the railway first, which can be opened to traffic in a shorter time.

Now there are 680,000 people in Eagle Province, and the human resources are relatively sufficient. It is very feasible to add 10,000 strong laborers to build the railway.

In order to connect the north and south as soon as possible and reduce logistics and transportation costs, Richard personally ordered Clemen to reduce investment on the east line and asked him to deploy a group of key personnel to be responsible for the construction of the middle line railway. The government will increase the budget by 300,000 gold coins, and Richard will also One hundred thousand gold coins were allocated from the mobile funds and invested in this key project.

The construction of the central line railway is very difficult, especially the section from Depot to Losa Basin, which requires the digging of three tunnels. In order to strengthen the progress of the project, Richard invested the Harland Master Group in railway construction.

He even lowered himself to participate in tunnel excavation.

The magician can use fossils to turn into mud to soften hard stones, or turn mud into stone to provide solid support for tunnels.

Richard's magic power far exceeds that of ordinary people, and he has also awakened the talent of magic multiplication and powerful spell casting. One person can be as powerful as ten high-level magicians. Sophia and Wendy's mental power also exceeded forty points, and they have awakened two major powers. One person's talent can be used by seven or eight high-level magicians. The three of them join forces, which is equivalent to more than twenty high-level magicians participating in the construction.

More than 200 magicians are involved in the tunnel construction project, and together with Richard and other high-level officials, thousands of fossils are turned into mud spells and released every day, and the effect is much more powerful than a few shield machines.

It only took six months to open all three tunnels with a total length of more than ten kilometers, allowing the railway to smoothly enter the Losa Basin.

At the same time, Clemen was on the northern line and had already built the railway from the No. 10 Military Station to the No. 7 Military Station, covering a distance of fifty kilometers.

By October, only 120 kilometers of this longitudinal line were left to be repaired. Seeing that the weather is getting colder, but under Richard's strong request, the middle section of the railway still cannot be suspended in winter.

From the Losar Basin to the No. 7 Military Station, although the terrain is also mountainous, it has already passed the main peak of the Eagle Mountain Range. Most of it is relatively gentle hilly terrain, and there are no mountains blocking the road. Although it is still more difficult to build than the plain areas, next year It should be open to traffic smoothly in the summer.

At that time, relying on this north-south artery, Heihe Fort's food can be transported to the No. 10 Military Station within two days.

Five steam units can replenish 300 tons of supplies for the No. 10 Military Station in two days. This kind of supply strength is enough to support an army of 40,000 to 50,000 people.

Five steam locomotives, with at most 20 train drivers, hundreds of maintenance workers on the railway line, and one or two hundred loaders, can supplement the logistics for the 50,000-strong army.

Now, to transport the same materials from Heihe Fort to Military Station No. 10, using manpower and animal power, the Harland leader needs to use tens of thousands of indentured servants and thousands of large animals. It takes twenty days and more than three thousand materials are consumed on the way. Ton.

Once this railway is put into operation, transportation costs will be greatly reduced.

While the Harland Territory was desperately building the railway, scattered undead began to appear near Pulilan.

The first ones to discover the undead were the Griffin Cavalry in the Puliland area. When the Griffin Cavalry was scouting north, they discovered dozens of undead 200 kilometers north of Puliland.

After discovering the anomaly, Grumang attached great importance to it and strengthened the reconnaissance force in this direction. It was soon discovered that many undead souls had traveled south from the North Icefield and entered the prairie in northern Puliland.

Now Lord Harland's main army has moved south, and the accumulated baggage is not enough to send troops to the ice fields in the north. Moreover, humans cannot be as rough-skinned and fleshy as orcs, and moral values ​​do not allow cannibalism to supplement logistics.

Therefore, Leader Harland could only let go of these undead that had infiltrated.

There are many kobold tribes in the northern part of Pulilan, which can serve as Harland's shield. Now the undead and the kobold tribes have been locked in a battle.

Four months have passed, and the scattered undead are getting closer and closer to the city of Pulilan. A small number of undead have been discovered in the northernmost countryside of Pulilan.

These undead souls seem to have no one to control them and rely on instinct to attack living people.

Because the situation in the direction of Puliland has changed, Richard first asked Sylph to lead the elf archers to station in Puliland City, and then asked the fourth group of Warcraft Cavalry, Harland to lead the mage group, and the Flying Dragon Knights to reinforce Puliland. Leland City.

With the end of the autumn harvest in September, the Eagle Province ushered in a bumper harvest this year, with 240,000 tons of grain harvested. The local people need to leave 180,000 tons of rations to grow grain, which can provide 60,000 tons of food support logistics for the army.

Sixty thousand tons of food can feed 120,000 soldiers for a year. Even with large livestock and warcraft horses, it is enough to ensure food supply for 80,000 people. In addition, a lot of cotton and ramie are grown in Eagle Province, and a clothing factory powered by steam engines has been established in the northern suburbs of Military Station No. 10. Military uniforms do not need to be transported from the southern part of the Eagle Mountains.

As the Eagle Province gradually developed and matured, a certain foundation was established, which greatly reduced the cost of garrisoning troops in Northern Xinjiang.

After late September, because there were more and more undead in northern Puliland, Richard personally appeared in the northern suburbs of Puliland. After several battles with the undead, Richard discovered that the undead coming down from the northern ice sheet were basically unmanned. .

Judging from the clothes, weapons and other antiquities on the undead, it can be seen that these undead came from the plane of dawn during their lifetime and were relatively close to the undead in Princess Oflan's mausoleum.

"I don't know how many lives died on the northern ice sheet during the wizarding era, and it has not been cleaned up for thousands of years."

After the undead appeared in the suburbs of Pulilan, Leader Harland stepped up the reconnaissance intensity of the flying units. The bipedal flying dragon knights even braved the unsuitable weather and came to the edge of the North Icefield to observe the scattered undead moving south.

According to rough estimates from the flying arms, more than a million undead have traveled south this year, and they are basically scattered in the northern part of the prairie, operating over hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land.

Now that the foundation of the Puliland area is unstable and unable to provide a large amount of logistics, Richard cannot send a large number of soldiers to clear out the undead. He can only take two methods. The first is to send bipedal flying dragon knights to sweep the northern area of ​​Puliland and clean up areas close to Puliland. Lilan's undead, secondly, recruit more mercenaries and demon hunters from countries near the Kingdom of Grant, and increase the intensity and price of purchasing soul enchantments and undead materials, hoping to attract some professional mercenaries and demon hunters through profit. .

In order to deal with the legendary dragon, Richard built a demon hunting city in the eastern part of the Sutton territory, and eventually developed a good stronghold. Then he slowly attracted professional demon hunters and formed a demon hunter unit. Without spending too much money, a force of 800 full-time professional soldiers was established.

Now Richard is once again recruiting undead hunters through Harland's business channels.

…

Kanas Castle is the capital of the United Kingdom on the east coast, very close to the coastline. Due to maritime trade, it seems to be more prosperous than Nolan.

The Fire Rose Tavern is a large-scale tavern in Kanas Castle. It is supported by Kanas gangs and hereditary nobles. It is a place where mercenaries near Kanas go for daily recreational activities. It has been established for more than ten years, but recently, Over the past three years, the tavern gradually fell into the control of Harland.

With a large number of soldiers from the United Kingdom on the east coast being captured by the Harland Territory, there is naturally no shortage of people who cooperate with the Harland Territory.

Since seven years ago, the Harland Territory has been secretly deploying in the United Kingdom on the East Coast. Now it has developed a strict intelligence network. Although the upper-level intelligence is difficult to find, this intelligence network has also penetrated into the United Kingdom on the East Coast. in the system.

There are even several hereditary nobles on the east coast who cooperate with the activities of Haaland's intelligence department because of business interests, family security and other factors. This intelligence network has developed more than a thousand intelligence personnel.

Through this huge intelligence network, Leader Harland can not only smuggle goods into the United Kingdom on the east coast, but also spread news to Kanas City.

It was under such a situation that the Fire Rose Tavern gradually fell into the control of Harland.

Of course, the apparent owner of this tavern is a hereditary noble who lost his territory due to the war. This man's name was Stevens Hogan. Apparently, his territory was invaded by the Kingdom of Grant and he lost his title. He was forced to come to the capital to seek refuge with his relatives.

In fact, Stevens is just the second son of the Baron. After being captured by the army led by Haaland, he quickly became a member of the intelligence department. He has been prosperous in Kanas over the years and has become the Kanas Intelligence Station. The station manager has hundreds of intelligence personnel under his command. He is placed in the intelligence department of Haaland, and he is already considered to be at the front of the middle level.

After losing his territory, being defeated and captured, Stevenson had a big obsession in his heart, hoping to restore his status as a hereditary noble.

If the intelligence department wants to be knighted for meritorious service, it does not need to fight for its life on the cruel battlefield, but it needs to continuously send important information to the Harland Territory.

Although Stevens did not send back strategic-level intelligence, he also established a huge intelligence network and controlled the smuggling market of the United Kingdom on the east coast. In total, he accumulated three major achievements. He accumulates meritorious deeds faster than any captain in the regular army.

Front-line intelligence commanders like them are actually more likely to be knighted and meritorious than headquarters intelligence officers.

This time, Stevens once again passed the news about Richard's recruitment of mercenaries to the right people through the intelligence network of the United Kingdom on the East Coast.

A considerable part of the mercenaries on the east coast are retired soldiers, and the main officers come from distant aristocrats.

The nobles of the distant branch also possess a certain degree of extraordinary knowledge and are an important class in the kingdom.

Generally speaking, this class mainly develops in the army and accumulates meritorious service to become a hereditary noble. If there are not many opportunities for the army, these nobles with distant bloodlines will often form mercenary groups. Hoping to bypass the military system and build meritorious service. Richard's uncle Soros came from such a class.

After receiving the news that Richard was recruiting mercenaries, several senior leaders of larger mercenary groups were already discussing activities in private. Among these mercenary gatherings, there were many people arranged by Stevens.

"The Duke of Harland is recruiting mercenaries. Do you think it's credible?"

"I heard that the leader of the Thoros Corps, an important figure in the Harland Territory, was a mercenary captain. Since there are already mercenary captains who have been promoted to hereditary nobles, they should not discriminate against us."

After hearing this, a well-informed mercenary said with contempt: "It is rumored that Soros is the uncle of Duke Harland. If you want to become a hereditary noble, you may not have the reincarnation skills."

Another mercenary retorted: "Whether you admit it or not, many hereditary nobles in Harland are from mercenaries, retired soldiers, and slave soldiers. Compared to our king, Duke Richard will leave more opportunities to Bottom floor. Moreover, even if we cannot be knighted, as long as we obtain the soul crystal, we can exchange extraordinary materials and merits from Harland Leader.

According to the standards set by rumors, a first-level soul crystal can be exchanged for a small gong, a fourth-level soul crystal can be exchanged for a medium gong, and a seventh-level soul crystal can be exchanged for a great gong. If you are lucky enough to get one, The legendary soul crystal can immediately be promoted to the hereditary noble class. "

Amid the heated discussions, many mercenary groups decided to try their luck in the Harland Territory. In just three months, more than a thousand mercenaries from the East Coast United Kingdom entered the Harland Territory.

The mercenaries who dare to go north are all ambitious people. The quality of these people is generally good. The total number of professionals in the more than a dozen mercenary groups in the United Kingdom on the east coast is nearly 300. Stevens was awarded two medium merits by the headquarters for mobilizing a large number of mercenaries into Harland Territory.