Warlord: King of All Clans

Unfortunately, things in the world are not always smooth sailing. The Borok Mountains are steep and treacherous, and there are very few roads in the central section that can be traversed by an army of ten thousand.

They could only go two or three hundred miles south along the foothills to find the nearest pass to cross, and then, after taking Tem City, invade the Earl of Macdonald's territory to the north.

Such a delay of half a month would allow that guy Strong to steal all the glory.

Now that the frontal battlefield had been won, his blitzkrieg strategy had to be changed, lest the enemy's main force suddenly withdraw and encircle him.

His legion did not have any high-level powerhouses to guard it, and could only fight against garrison troops. Facing the Earl's main force, which was guarded by high-level powerhouses, he would still be at a disadvantage.

Guna was a first-generation Pegasus knight, just like Vera, and had been eating at Riverbend Manor for a long time, so she was also very close to Little Noyes. After finishing her business, she started gossiping.

"You haven't been back to Riverbend in almost two years. Little Bessie has been to the manor several times. If you don't go back, be careful Agatha comes to catch you."

"When are you two getting married? Matriarch has already agreed. When you get married, she can preside over your wedding as a clan elder!"

Little Noyes was very shy about his marriage. Hearing this, his ears turned red, and he became the little militiaman he was back then, "This, it's all up to the Matriarch..."

"Oh dear, I haven't had a good night's sleep for many days. Today I'm going to stay in the castle. Who is the lord here? Clear out his bedroom for me!"

"Yes, ma'am..."

After a great victory, Strong led his troops back to Austlund to rest. His six thousand veterans had suffered heavy losses, and those left to guard the main city were all new recruits. For the time being, they were unable to take Cragrock City, which was heavily guarded, while the iron was hot.

However, the combat power of these new recruits was enough to suppress the local area, so after Strong's great victory, he immediately replaced the garrison in Austlund with new recruits.

He had them take down the large and small castles and villages within the jurisdiction of Austlund, incorporating them into Riverbend's rule in advance.

In this way, by the time the war was over, the Earldom of Gustav would exist in name only, and there would be no way to recover.

At the same time, Strong sent out envoys to the Southern Territory, willing to exchange the Earl of the Southern Territory for the Earl of the Northern Territory.

Two for one!

Even though the war had been over for many days, the military advisors in the Earl's mansion were still replaying the battle, enthusiastically deducing it on the sand table.

Roman was also among them. Through the post-war review, he could better appreciate Strong's terror.

In this battle, after Strong appeared in Earl Macdonald's field of vision with six thousand elite troops, he didn't give much command, as if the victory was entirely due to the Riverbend Legion's valiant combat power.

But military generals like Roman could understand the weight of it.

Without Strong's extensive collection of information on Earl Macdonald, his speculation on the enemy commander's style of leading troops, his prediction of the enemy's marching route based on previous invasions of the Southern Territory, his advance deployment of his own troops and restraint of troop types, and the invitation of the Beastman Sword Saint Baltholomew to help, this great victory would not have been possible.

In an era without satellite maps, large-scale battles were like playing cards, with both sides in a state of war fog.

Earl Macdonald's army of more than 40,000 men spread out, blocking information and clearing out scouts through patrol troops, enough to create a blind spot of sight of hundreds of square kilometers.

Without Strong's precise predictions and Asa's magical perception, the probability of a six-thousand-man legion entering such a large vacuum area and running into the Earl of Macdonald's central army would be infinitely low, while the probability of being discovered and besieged by the enemy would be infinitely high.

And before that, it was also necessary to seize Austlund, the only fortress in the central plains, before the enemy, forcing the other side to speed up their march, revealing flaws, and winning a psychological war first.

If any of the prerequisites were missing, the odds of winning would be reduced by 30%.

Others who win more with less, achieving unexpected victories, rely 30% on strength and 70% on luck.

Strong's great victory, however, relied 30% on luck and 70% on strength!

While Roman and the others were replaying the battle around the sand table, arguing fiercely, a loud command came from the guard outside the war room: "The Matriarch has arrived!"

In the meeting room, everyone immediately stopped arguing and bowed their heads.

Olivia, with Certhia, strode into the war room.

Behind her were also two elves, Totos and Snell, following the Riverbend Matriarch step by step, timidly sizing up the unfamiliar environment.

Not all elves have Freya's courage to face the battlefield directly.

Although the two elves had been shouting to fight and kill every day before the war, clamoring to see rivers of blood, when it came time to send troops, they were more cowardly than the other, hiding behind Olivia and not daring to show their faces.

However, they were not without their efforts. As young elves selected by the elven elders and sent down the mountain to train, they had no shortage of trump cards to save their lives.

Being by Olivia's side at least meant they didn't have to worry too much about the Riverbend Matriarch being assassinated by enemy assassins.

Seeing Freya and Sicks, Totos and Snell immediately rushed over happily, "Freya, Sicks, are you alright?"

In front of her little friends, Freya immediately forgot the fact that "In this battle, the entire Riverbend Legion was beating people up, and only Freya was getting beaten."

She put her hands on her hips and bragged, "I'm amazing. I single-handedly challenged the level nine powerhouse of the Southern Territory, and I didn't fall behind after a hundred rounds of battle!"

"Ah, Freya is so amazing!"

Seeing Olivia walking into the hall aggressively, Strong immediately knew that he was in trouble. He said in a deep voice to Roman and a group of military advisors: "You guys go out first. I have important matters to discuss with the Matriarch."

After everyone left and closed the door, Strong immediately squatted down, smiling foolishly and wagging his cow tail, pretending to be a golden retriever from Riverbend Manor.

Olivia didn't let him off. She picked up the riding whip next to the sand table and lashed it hard on Strong's back.

"Tell me, how many people died in this war?"

"Not many, not many! Two hundred Riverbend soldiers died, eight hundred troll warriors died, and the enemy suffered more than ten thousand casualties!"

In addition to the casualties from ambushing Earl Macdonald, there were also many casualties from the subsequent melee with the supporting troops, but overall, it was less than 30%.

Strong bullied Olivia for not understanding military affairs, only reporting the number of deaths but not the number of injuries and disabilities, which made it sound like even fewer.

Hearing that the casualties were lower than she had expected, Olivia breathed a sigh of relief, but still glared and said, "Next time you use troops, you must be more cautious! Asa's clansmen are not easy either, they all have elders and children at home, don't always bully them."

"Understood, understood!"

After scolding him a few words, Olivia asked in a worried voice, "Can the two earls be exchanged for Leo?"

The smile on Strong's face immediately disappeared, and he shook his head and said: "It's difficult. The Lord is not in the hands of the Southern Territory Earls, but in the hands of the Holy Light Pope. Unless the entire Southern Territory is beaten badly, I'm afraid we won't be able to get him back."

Olivia said angrily: "Are the Southern Territory people so mindless? They captured two earls, suffered 20,000 casualties, and still haven't learned their lesson? Do they really want us to fight our way to the Southern Territory?"

Strong immediately perked up, squatted on the ground, and calculated for Olivia, "In that case, you can allocate me another ten thousand musketeers and a hundred field guns, and I'll kill my way through the Southern Territory and fight to the City of Holy Light."