Under the Red Dragon

“The clouds of war have already enveloped the Golden Land. The orc kingdom in the distance has dismantled the bridge representing friendship and peace, murdered the children of the dragons, infringed upon the interests of merchant guilds, and their military advance is now directed at the Golden Land.”

“But these greedy and vicious orcs are still coveting our territory, wanting to invade our homeland. They want to seize your lands, possess your wives, and turn you back into slaves, draining your blood dry.”

The town head of River Valley Town stood on a high makeshift platform, looking at the densely packed residents gathered in the town center, and shouted with a raised arm.

“They want to take advantage of the Great Lord who rules all races, the wise sovereign of the Golden Land, and the generous lords entering into slumber, to invade our home and enslave the people of the Golden Land,”

“Therefore, under the will of the Supreme Lord, the Sacred Gogmora, this declaration of war against the Orc Kingdom has been jointly signed by the Acting Governor of the Golden Land, Alina, the Minister of Military Affairs, Akz, the Chief Law Enforcement Officer, Naxon, and the Minister of Propaganda, Alfred.”

Every word of the town head was deafening, every word echoed in the ears of the people, because it wasn't just him speaking; every sentence he spoke was loudly repeated by many enraged people, conveying the flames of this anger into everyone's heart.

“The Golden Land officially declares war on the Orc Kingdom! Under the will of the Sacred Gogmora, unite and gather all the people of the Golden Land, and under the banner of the Dragon, drive the orcs away from our homeland and eliminate any enemies who dare to invade this land!”

The sound of voices surged like a tidal wave, wave after wave, surging and boiling. Loud shouts echoed in unison above the town, startling birds and carrying far away.

“The Golden Land Governor's Office, the executive governments of various regions, and the military command headquarters and military departments of various regions shall implement war mobilization for all the people of the Golden Land, prepare for direct combat with the Orc Kingdom, and mobilize all the people of the Golden Land to voluntarily serve in the rear of the war. Before all the warriors die, no free person will need to face the front lines of the war.”

The town head's not-so-tall figure was like an old lion at this moment, the beard under his chin like the mane of a lion, flared and bristling. He raised his arms and shouted: “May the will of the Sacred Gogmora, the Supreme Lord, be with us, and the people of the Golden Land will surely achieve victory!”

“May the will of the Sacred Gogmora, the Supreme Lord, be with us, and the people of the Golden Land will surely achieve victory!” The surrounding residents shouted in unison at this moment, raising their arms and offering their fervor to the fluttering Dragon banner.

In the hearts of most free people in the Golden Land, the lords here can be said to be the most generous and wise lords in the world of Ikania.

Because in other noble territories, not to mention serfs who have no autonomy, even free farmers who own their own land have to pay seven to eight tenths of their hard-earned harvest in taxes each year.

Even in the lands blessed by the Goddess of Plenty, most of the people at the bottom cannot guarantee that they can eat their fill every day, because the more they harvest, the more they have to hand over.

And once in a year of poor harvest, many people will starve to death, or in order to survive, the people at the bottom will sell themselves and their families to the nobles, becoming serfs, and the endless stream of serfs comes from this.

Moreover, in addition to the blood-sucking grain and land taxes, many lords will create various taxes in order to exploit their people, such as window tax, which requires payment for any windows that face the street and open outwards.

Or ornate clothing tax, which levies taxes on people's clothing according to its ornateness.

There are also strange taxes such as beard tax, name change tax, coffin tax, rat tax, hat tax, etc. Although these strange tax types are not large in amount, there are enough varieties.

If one is not careful, even the remaining rations will be confiscated, which puts the people in other noble territories in a state of numbness and worry all day long.

But in the Golden Land, the refugees who voluntarily move here and some freed free people who are attracted by the policies formulated by the Dragon Clan enjoy a ten-year tax exemption period, and after ten years, the grain tax that needs to be paid is only one in five.

Only one-fifth of the grain needs to be handed over each year as the land tax for the current year. Moreover, the Dragon Clan's laws are strict, but as long as the laws of the territory are observed, one can obtain great relative freedom, and there are no strange taxes to exploit them.

The Great Lord of the Golden Land is not these native souls. Under his guidance, the Dragon Clan does not only focus on these farmers who are the foundation of the kingdom.

Moreover, Kalon also knows that the income created by a purely agricultural society is far less than the income that can be created after the development of the industrial base, so now most of the Dragon Clan's wealth comes from more and more factories and commercial trade, and there is no need to exploit those farmers.

Therefore, these free people who have the largest number base are very supportive of the Dragon Lords and will firmly defend their rights and hard-won good life.

“These orc bastards, I have to kill them,” a strong farmer squeezed out of the crowded crowd beside him, raised his hands and shouted: “I can shoot arrows, I used to be an archer captain under a small noble, I want to join the army!”

The other people around who signed up to join the logistics unit immediately paid their respects to this brave warrior. Brave warriors can always get more respect.

With this brave warrior taking the lead, the blood of many young people was immediately aroused, and they squeezed forward, shouting loudly: “I can throw spears, I also want to sign up,”

“I know a little swordsmanship,”

“I'm very accurate with a slingshot!”

The official sent to recruit the logistics support unit sat behind the table with a sweaty face, and the town head beside him showed a satisfied smile, and then shouted loudly: “Come one by one, tell the recruiting officer what you are good at, don't cut in line, hey you, don't squeeze!”

This scene is being staged in all towns. When the crisis comes, all the people of the territory are finally united, and the prototype of the people of the Golden Land, like sparks under the ashes, is gradually igniting.

Bay Stream City, as the city farthest from the Golden Coast, is now shrouded in an atmosphere of impending storm under the guidance of the propaganda department.

These pioneers who have finally obtained the status of free people also volunteered to come and form a not-small team, preparing to transport grain, weapons and other supplies to the Royal Capital by ship to prepare for the subsequent war.

Nora is currently at Uncle Fane's house in the village, watching her elf aunt pack her bags for Uncle Fane and put on leather armor. She is squatting on the ground, taking care of her young brother, a half-elf and half-human, who is also the first mixed-blood born in Bay Stream City.

“Be careful, don't be impulsive. The Dragon Warriors are very powerful. Just stay safely in the rear,” the elf, who is already a wife, has added a kind of sacred brilliance to her already beautiful face, which is the light of motherhood.

Although elves are also a proud race, most of them are also a particularly loyal race, loyal to family and responsibility, except for those infamous variants, the Drow elves.

Fane kissed his elf wife on the forehead and whispered: “Of course I know, but I couldn't protect the purity of the gods before, but now I can do my part for my family and my home. Ashaye, I won't let the orcs get close to here.”

After snuggling with his wife, Fane came to Nora.

Looking at his son, who was surrounded in the wooden fence, holding the wooden carving toy he made by hand, and quietly watching him with round black eyes, he whispered to Nora: “Nora, remember to take care of your younger brother and aunt after I leave. You are my trusted girl.”

Nora has now grown into a big girl. Sufficient diet and lively personality have made Nora tall, with rosy skin, and has grown from a kind girl to a kind wild horse.

“Don't worry, I'll take care of everything, Uncle Fane, you have to be careful,” the big girl Nora put her thick braid on her shoulder and patted her chest to assure.

The most ⊥ new ⊥ small ⊥ said ⊥ is ⊥ in ⊥ six ⊥ 9 ⊥⊥ book ⊥⊥ bar ⊥⊥ first ⊥ hair!

“Yeah,” Fane bent down, hugged his well-behaved son in his arms, gently kissed him on the forehead, and whispered: “Thatis, my son, I will fight for you, may the will of the Sacred Gogmora shine on you and me!”

“Wow,” the originally calm toddler suddenly grabbed Fane's trimmed beard and cried loudly.

……

Built at the foot of the mountains, in the beast garden far outside the Golden City, strong gnoll barbarian warriors used tough ropes to trap the saddle buckles on the chests and backs of bipedal flying dragons and pulled them out of the beast pen.

The restless bipedal flying dragons moved their nostrils, shaking their heads left and right, and the entire beast pen was filled with the fishy smell of these beasts.

Then put a layer of exquisite leather armor on the fragile chest and abdomen of these bipedal flying dragons. These flying dragons have no scales on their bodies, only a layer of wrinkled and tough skin defense, so they are extremely vulnerable to being hit in the weak points when they are used as aerial troops.

Originally, the plan was to put a layer of iron armor on the weak points of the bipedal flying dragons, but the bipedal flying dragons are not true dragon species after all. Although they are considered powerful compared to ordinary warriors, they cannot bear too heavy objects.

It is still easy to carry tall gnoll barbarian warriors and their weapons, but in order to maintain flexibility, no more weight can be added.

A long-handled moon blade was placed on the saddle ring of the bipedal flying dragon. These flying dragons are not as flexible and fast as bat-winged flying dragons, but can be used as close-range combat troops for air-to-ground strikes. These moon blades in the hands of knights will become grass-cutting sickles, but they are harvesting lives.

A six-meter-long bipedal flying dragon with a wingspan of fifteen meters suddenly resisted, struggling with the restraints of the collar around its neck.

“You dare to refuse the Dragon's conscription, beast,” a gnoll barbarian warrior unceremoniously whipped it, and the cold voice calmed the intelligent flying dragon down.

Bipedal flying dragons are not regarded as dragons by the dragons, so these warriors also domesticate these flying dragons as beasts that cannot resist.

Seeing that the bipedal flying dragon had calmed down, the captain of these aerial cavalry, a human warrior, took down the horn from his waist and blew the assembly horn.

These aerial cavalry turned over and rode on the bipedal flying dragons and took off under the leadership of the captain, flying towards the grassland, and far away from these cavalry was a blue dragon, Kalit.

Looking down from these aerial cavalry, it can be seen that not only are many beast groups in the beast garden migrating and moving towards the central area of the Dragon Clan's territory, but the flow of people in the entire Golden City is also transferring out of the city. Countless residents are dragging their families and carrying their belongings to the hinterland of the territory - the Royal Capital.

Only the armory that was opened not far away is getting busier and busier. Countless soldiers are driving horse-drawn carts, carrying carloads of weapons and armaments, and rushing to the Golden City.

As the Blue Dragon Akz said, this is a test, not only a test of war response, but also a comprehensive test of organizational skills, cohesion, and so on.