Warlord: King of All Clans

Although Tariq Frelov, the Grand Lord of Isenbor, did not explicitly state which side he stood on in the struggle between the River Reach and the Gladstone family, he supported the Gladstone family with practical actions.

Over the past year, more than half of the lords in Isenpol knew more or less about the relationship between the River Bay Territory and the Petukhov family.

Many people are well aware that this is a new force cultivated by the Petukhov family.

The Petukhov family was not prominent among the five major banners of Isenpol. Two years ago, like Gladstone, it only had three knighthoods.

It is also a piece of ancestral land, a piece of military merit fiefdom, and a piece of pioneering knight territory.

Two years ago, the Wind Knight Solovy Petukhov retired and returned home, and only then did the fourth Pioneer Knight Territory come into being.

In the circle of lords in Isenpol, the power of the Petukhov family is only slightly higher than that of Gladstone, and ranks second to last among the five major banners.

In terms of family influence, it is probably lower than that of the Gladstone family.

After all, they strictly adhered to the traditional chivalric doctrine, rarely held banquets, and were even unwilling to marry with the nobles of Isenbol. They were simply outliers in the circle of lords.

There are five knights in the Petukhov family, but only one has a wife - Rigolav's wife has passed away and has become a laughing stock in Isenpol.

Except for some corner flags that had a bond of friendship with them on the battlefield, most of the knight lords disliked this square flag located in a remote corner of the mountain.

The central flag of Isenbol's city, as well as the northeastern flag and the southeastern flag, all belong to mature knight territories with five long-term operations.

To the northwest of Isenpol, across the Great Swamp, is the Wolf-Driving Plains Wilderness, and to the southwest is the foothills of the Borokback Mountains, neither of which is suitable for development.

But to the east of Isenpol is the upper reaches of the Anzeno River, with a vast alluvial plain. It has been managed by the northern people for hundreds of years and has densely packed farms with rich products.

The other three square-flag knight territories are all located on the coastal plains downstream. The agricultural, animal husbandry and fishery products produced by each knight territory are enough to feed hundreds of armored soldiers.

There is even a small town of a thousand people in their core knight territory, and caravans trading with Isenbol flow in all year round.

However, the sudden emergence of the River Bay Knights this year not only greatly expanded the influence of the Petukhov family, but also attracted the attention of the Earl's Mansion.

As the largest ruling power in the Earldom, the Earl's Mansion possesses far more intelligence than ordinary knight lords. They are actually very clear about the marriages, alliances, and secret allegiances between small lords.

This is just the unspoken rule of the North. Since the Northern Earl is unwilling to give out titles or baronies, he can only accept these unspoken rules as a buffer.

However, there are still some means of containment. The Earl's Palace cannot suppress these increasingly powerful banners through peaceful means, but it can take action against those who are close to them.

Edward Gladstone's wife is Tariq's aunt. Whether from the perspective of close relationship or balance of power, Tariq naturally stands on Gladstone's side.

The River Bend Peninsula is said to be on the south bank of the Anzeno River, but in fact it extends thirty miles into the Wolf-Driving Plain. It has now been developed into the gravel hills and has circled the back mountain of Gladstone in the northwest flag.

If it was an ordinary corner flag frontier with only a village of about 500 people and dozens of soldiers, then it would just be a matter of standing in line, and the Earl's Mansion would not take it seriously at all.

But the current intelligence is that the population of Hewan has expanded to several thousand people, with three castles and sufficient military power to radiate thousands of square kilometers.

Apart from the family background, looking only at the population and territory, Hewan is already at the level of the Northern Border Banner.

The feud between Gladstone and Riverbend is not a bad thing for the Earl's Mansion.

Edward assembled an army to conquer the enemy, and if successful, it would achieve a balance of power.

Whether conquering the enemy and making it a vassal, or occupying it directly, it is in line with the strategy of the Earl's Mansion.

So when Edward Gladstone complained to Lord Tariq, the Earl's Court did not intervene directly, but allowed the conflict to escalate.

And when Gladstone was forming a legion, he issued a decree ordering Rigolav to gather troops and patrol north to suppress bandits.

The Northwestern Flag attacked the vassal of the Southwestern Flag, but the Southwestern Flag still had to send troops to guard the Northwestern Flag.

This was simply a blatant humiliation and also a warning from the Earl's Mansion to the Petukhov family.

The Gladstone Legion quickly expanded from one thousand people to two thousand people, which was also the direction revealed by this decree.

The corner flags in the north treated the River Bend Frontier Territory as meat on the chopping board.

But Rigolav was not a coward. How could he, who had made a name for himself through military achievements and had become famous, simply surrender and be bullied?

He sent his third brother, Knight Solovy, and his son, Knight Roman, to the river bend for support, while he himself took the Petukhov Legion and went directly to raid Gladstone's hometown!

No, I was just following orders to suppress the bandits!

If the Gladstone family broke through the river bend, he would occupy Gladstone's three knighthoods and bargain with the other party.

If the other party is defeated, he will wait for the other party to negotiate the conditions for him to withdraw his troops.

During the years that Rigolav was in charge, he had trained a lot of cavalry. Now he had a batch of high-quality war horses provided by Hewan. In his own lord's army alone, there were more than one hundred light and heavy cavalry.

Together with the corner flags in the legion, a total of 150 cavalrymen directly surrounded the fleeing corner flag they encountered at the corner.

This wise knight of the corner flag has only knight squires and scout light cavalry, and the rest of his soldiers are infantry.

These infantrymen were in danger of falling off their horses, not to mention fighting on horseback. Under the encirclement and suppression of the cavalry of the Petukhov Corps, some died and some surrendered.

All the stolen cattle and horses became spoils of war for Petukhov's army.

Amid the loud threats from the Knight of the Corner Flag, Rigolav ordered his followers to behead him with an expressionless face.

Having taken a bite of the fat meat, Rigolav led his legion into the alley and surrounded the undermanned Knights of Gladstone.

After a hundred years of operation by the Gladstone family, this knight territory has become very mature, with a solid stone and wood castle and a population of nearly a thousand, almost like a small town.

At the innermost part of the town, close to the hill, an earthen fortress was built against the mountain and by the water as the ancestral home of the Gladstone family.

At this time, all the armored soldiers in this town had been withdrawn, leaving only two or three hundred unarmored militiamen and young and strong villagers.

They held javelins, wooden spears and sickles, and stood on the three-meter-high stone and wooden wall with a look of fear on their faces.

The messenger of the Petukhov Corps rode his horse close to the gate of the village. After shouting twice, the heavy wooden gate slowly opened.

The militia under Knight Gladstone surrendered.