Chapter 215 Orc Invasion

Harland's territory is not strong enough, and Richard doesn't want to be in the limelight now.

Only when the territory develops to a higher level and reaches the level of hereditary earl, will Richard need to become famous.

The reputation will be spread, which is very beneficial for Harland's territory to recruit talents.

The reputation will be improved, and it will also reduce the hostility of the surrounding nobles and reduce the pressure on Richard to carry out reforms.

But there is a big premise, that is, the strength of Harland's territory must be outstanding.

At least to be promoted to earl, there must be a population of 300,000 and 10,000 elite soldiers as basic requirements.

It was March, and the orcs led their troops south again.

Shouts and horns continued to sound in every corner of the North.

The orc army once again appeared in the north of Harland Valley.

This is the fourth orc invasion Richard has experienced. Compared with nine years ago, Richard has grown from a grassroots officer to a leader of an army.

The army of Harland's territory now has 21 infantry squadrons, 4 cavalry squadrons, and headquarters personnel, with a total number of more than 4,000.

In the province of Geda, the noble private army commanded by Richard has become an important military force in the province.

In Fort William, looking at the rising smoke, Richard immediately issued an order to assemble and informed several nearby hereditary nobles of the orc invasion.

This time, the six barons of Black River County, Rice, Barton, Bazel, Dak, Soren, and Sharp, were willing to accept Richard's command.

In the many battles with the Harland Territory, Baron Rice and others did not suffer defeat, and Richard's command ability was recognized by the nearby nobles.

Moreover, the Harland family is powerful, and they are convinced to hand over the army to Richard for command.

Six hereditary barons, with 1,500 soldiers, are stationed in Malte Castle. The supply of the noble coalition does not need to be borne by the Harland Territory.

Richard only needs to provide food, and the six hereditary nobles will settle with gold coins after the war.

Nowadays, the Harland Territory is not short of food, and can supply 1,500 noble coalitions for a long time.

The noble coalition garrisoned the Malte Castle to guard the rear road for the Harland territory.

Richard concentrated the main force in William Castle, and only the third battalion was stationed at the front-line military station.

The third battalion had five squadrons of infantry, one squadron of auxiliary soldiers, plus the battalion guards and commanders, with a total force of about 1,100 people.

"How is it, have you found out the main attack direction of the orcs?"

Every time the orcs invaded, they would cross the Eagle Mountains through different mountain passages.

In recent years, they usually go through the Harland Valley.

Now the Harland Valley has been controlled by the Grant Kingdom and has completely become the territory of the Harland family.

If the orcs want to enter the Geda Province, they can only take a detour unless they directly capture the Harland family military station and William's two castles and open up the Harland Valley.

"There are three battalions of orcs stationed opposite the military station fort, and another two battalions of orcs chose to take a detour to the east, and should be going through the northern valley of Graveson."

After listening to the report of the intelligence staff, Richard still stared at the map: "What is the situation in the Pratos Valley?"

"The two recent orc invasions did not go through the Pratos Valley, and the defense of the Pratos Valley was handed over to the Redeemer Legion. We did not send too many scouts in this direction, and the intelligence, intelligence is not clear yet."

Richard's inquiry immediately made the intelligence staff understand that there were omissions in the early intelligence investigation. At the end, he was so nervous that he couldn't speak.

Richard knocked on the table hard and said angrily: "No matter whether others have defense or not, the Pratos Valley is only a dozen kilometers away from the territory. If there is a loophole here, our situation will become very dangerous. Immediately arrange personnel to strengthen the intelligence and reconnaissance force of the Pratos Valley, and we must figure out the key attack direction of the orcs."

Facing the invasion of the orcs, the Harland Territory has formulated a variety of plans, but in order to implement these plans, it is necessary to figure out the key attack direction of the orcs before taking the next step.

Every time the orcs invade, they start with three axes, launch a full-scale attack, and test the loopholes in the defense line. After finding the loopholes, they invest the main military force to tear the defense line on the southern foot of the Eagle Mountains, and then begin to annihilate the living forces of the Grant Kingdom and plunder a large number of people and property.

The last time the orcs invaded, Commander Zakli wiped out the orc army in Graveson Castle.

This battle was brilliant, and it was a rare victory for the Grant Kingdom in the past ten years, second only to the battle in which Count Martins annihilated the orc army and laid out to kill the orc legend.

The two consecutive orc wars annihilated the orc army, and the Northern Army is now the orcs' key research opponent.

Because of its outstanding military achievements, the Northern Army has been replenished quickly in recent years, forming a good cycle. Now it is fully equipped with a total of 24,000 soldiers, and the number of professionals exceeds 1,000.

Because of the continuous important victories, the mental state of the soldiers of the Northern Army is very good.

The combat effectiveness of the Northern Army now exceeds that of the Wild Lion and Grizzly Legions, and it is the most important pillar of the Grant Kingdom in the northern province.

According to common sense, the revenge of the Orc Empire is very strong.

Count Martins killed the orc legend, and the orcs immediately added four legions to invade the Grant Kingdom, killed Count Martins, and launched a tragic revenge on the earldom.

Now the Northern Army has become a thorn in the eyes and flesh of the orcs. According to the character of the orcs, they must draw a large number of legions to attack the Geda Province.

I didn't expect the orcs to do the opposite. Now the orc army in the northern part of Geda Province has only five battalions, just over 10,000 people.

Although the organization of the Orc Empire and the human army is not much different, the composition of the Orc Empire is still the traditional tribal form, and the control and command capabilities of the army are obviously not as good as one level.

It's not that the orcs don't want to change, and they mixed orcs of different races.

But this military system innovation failed quickly, and there were hundreds of tribes among the orcs.

Not only did the tribes have different languages, but there were also serious conflicts between races, and they often had internal strife and conflicts.

In order to make all the tribes contribute, they could only be incorporated into different tribes in squadrons.

There are many kinds of orcs in a battalion, which often seems very chaotic.

Fortunately, the Orc Empire has recently promoted the Orc Common Language on a large scale, but because different orcs have different vocal organs.

When using the common language across races, sometimes many meanings are unclear.

The combat effectiveness of different orc races is even more different. Judging the main attack direction of the orc army simply by the number of people may not be correct.

The real main attack direction of the orcs is not necessarily the direction with the most troops, but it must be the direction with the most elite troops.

Generally speaking, the human scouts in that area suffered the most losses, and the orcs covered the widest battlefield. The less intelligence detected, the more likely it is that the orcs will attack.

More directly, the harpy mainly appears in that direction, which is generally the focus of the orcs' attack.

There are large troops stationed near the Pratos Valley, and the situation is unlikely to deteriorate to an unmanageable level in a short period of time.

Zakli is stationed in Harden Castle with a legion of redeemers, and the Pratos Valley is also his defense zone.

The Redeemer Legion is a small legion with only four battalions and a total strength of about 9,000 people.

Because the Mad Lion Legion suffered the most serious losses in the rebellion last spring, two Redeemer Legions are stationed in the Gascoigne Province.

Zakli's troops are stationed in Baron Harden Castle, and the other legion, led by the legion commander Huo Xiu, is stationed in the Count of Martins.

There are two legions of redeemers, one in the east and one in the west, plus the Mad Lion Legion and the noble private army. There are more than 45,000 troops stationed on the front line of Gascoigne Province.

Because the province of Gedda was not affected by the rebellion last year, there was no legion of redeemer stationed there.

However, the defense of the Pratos Mountains in the western border area of ​​the province was handed over to the legion of redeemers led by Zakri for assistance.

In addition to the Northern Legion, the main defense force in the north of the province is the noble private army led by the Harland and Roman families, with about 35,000 troops stationed on the front line.

There are two regular legions stationed on the front line of Rah Province, one legion of redeemers, plus the private army of the nobles in the province, with the largest number of troops stationed on the front line, adding up to more than 60,000.

Although the front-line forces of Gedda Province are the least, the geographical advantage of Gedda Province is the greatest.

The north of Gedda Province is the middle of the Eagle Mountains, with towering mountains and few valleys between mountains. The defense width is about 160 kilometers, and there are only three passages to go south.

By guarding these three passages, the orcs cannot cross the Eagle Mountains and invade the territory of the Geda Province.

The western Pratos Pass was handed over to the Redeemer Legion for garrison.

The Geda Province only needs to guard two mountain passes.

Two castles have been built in the central Harland Valley, one in the south and one in the north to lock this passage. Richard is responsible for guarding this passage.

The eastern valley is still a large piece of wasteland, which has not been developed and has not been granted hereditary nobles. Only the Graveson Castle was built in the north of the valley.

The geographical advantage of Graveson Castle is far less than that of Fort William.

Because the Black River flows eastward from this area, there is a large alluvial plain near Graveson Castle. The northern valley is low-lying and relatively flat, which is more suitable for a large army to break in.

Stein, the new commander of the Northern Legion, is an outsider. He is an old subordinate of Duke Roger and a senior official of the Royal Guards.

Because of this connection, Duke Roger transferred him to the Northern Army to purge the remaining poison of the former army commander Zakri.

Zakri won the battle and had a high prestige in the Northern Army, and promoted many officers.

After Stein took office, he severely suppressed these people, and many of them have voluntarily retired. Because of the loss of some excellent officers, the combat effectiveness of the Northern Army has also been affected.

Stein is experienced in the army and is very clear about this.

The past ten years have been a glorious decade for the Northern Army. Not only has one army commander become a hereditary earl and promoted to a great noble, but there are also six or seven senior officers in the army who have been promoted to hereditary nobles.

Stein is unwilling to be disgraced and become a laughing stock in the Northern Army. However, in order to ensure the reliability of the Northern Army, political punishment must be carried out.

Especially since the status of the Northern Army is so special, Zakri's influence must not be allowed to continue.

Due to political infighting, the morale of the Northern Army has been somewhat unstable during this period. Stein plans to let the Northern Army rest for a period of time. At Graveson Castle, Stein orders Viscount Romen to garrison with the coalition of nobles.