Chapter 324: Rewarding Merits

After redeeming the prisoners of war, the relationship between the two armies improved a little, and Richard and Simone and other upper-class nobles also had more mutual trust.

As the reinforcements arrived, Richard's strength became stronger and stronger, gradually surpassing the enemy. The top leaders of the two countries had a tacit understanding, and Richard did not provoke conflict and expand the war. The more than 100,000 troops of the two countries were in a stalemate.

After the war began, Richard expanded 3,000 new recruits.

Because these new recruits were on the battlefield, they did not have the conditions to complete a year of combat skills training. They could only take on second-line tasks while learning breathing methods and various combat skills.

The regular army of the Dawn Plane not only needs to identify the golden drum orders and learn to form a battle array, but also needs to master a variety of combat skills, such as archery, gun skills, swordsmanship, fighting and wrestling, etc. It often takes a long time of training before they can be incorporated into the regular army.

Soldiers who have not completed training are only slightly stronger than serfs in combat effectiveness. The regular troops led by Harland can defeat these 3,000 new recruits as long as they send out a squadron.

There were less than 7,000 captives left by the Sixth Legion. These people had completed the training of new recruits. Some of them had made military achievements and exchanged for the Fiery Breathing Technique of the Yunis Family, and their quality was better than that of new recruits.

Since the Yunis Family was unwilling to continue to redeem people, Richard recruited these 7,000 prisoners of war and dispersed them into the new recruits. With the incorporation of 7,000 prisoners of war with combat experience, the combat effectiveness of the new recruits was enhanced.

In June, the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth infantry battalions arrived at the front line. With the addition of the four infantry battalions, Harland's direct troops had nearly 12,000 people. In addition, Richard also controlled ten new battalions of about 10,000 people.

Richard selected 300 officers of all levels from the veterans of Harland and placed them in ten new battalions, and then taught the apprenticeship breathing method to the soldiers.

Generally speaking, traditional countries such as the Kingdom of Delong would strictly restrict extraordinary power. Except for the nobles and servants who directly served the nobles, ordinary people had almost no channels to practice breathing methods. Without the mastery of extraordinary powers, there will be no mobility in class.

The East Coast United Kingdom has a special system and is relatively more open. It will teach the breathing method to soldiers who have made military achievements, and there will be a little mobility between classes.

In the face of the invasion of orcs, the Grant Kingdom needs to mobilize all its forces to deal with the racial war. The spread of breathing methods is more extensive, and there is even a professional class in the country. Although this class is not aristocratic, it also has some extraordinary powers. Some professional families are even stronger than hereditary barons.

Before the Harland family was promoted to hereditary nobility, it was a typical professional family.

The Harland Dukedom established by Richard faced a dangerous external environment, and the spread of extraordinary knowledge was more extensive. As long as you join the field army, intelligence department, security army, auxiliary troops and other violent agencies, you will be taught the first three levels of breathing methods.

With this opening, capable people will stand out. Although the Harland family lacks foundation and has only been promoted to hereditary nobility for more than ten years, it has also trained many people.

The earliest soldiers who learned breathing methods, such as Jennings, have been promoted to sixth-level warriors. In other noble forces, a sixth-level warrior can be considered as the upper middle class.

In addition to training warriors, the magic power mastered by Harland has also made great progress.

In just over a decade, the Harland Mage Association has trained three mid-level mages, Wendy, Anne, and Butler, and dozens of low-level mages, ranking third in the Grant Kingdom, second only to the Grant Royal Family and Grand Duke Jonathan.

The Duke of York was established for hundreds of years and is still a member of the Grant Royal Family. Its innate conditions are far better than those of the Harland Family, but the magic power it now has is no longer comparable to that of the Duke of Harland. Selecting talents only within a family is far less than the millions of people in the Duke of Harland.

After entering June, the front line between the Kingdom of Grant and the United Kingdom of the East Coast has stabilized, and the top leaders of both sides began to send envoys to communicate. Although the two countries did not sign a peace agreement because of the Kingdom of Delong, the principle of not expanding the conflict has been agreed upon among the top leaders.

The East Coast United Kingdom no longer invested its strength. The Delong Kingdom alone could not change the situation.

Even if the legendary knight Anton of the Delong Kingdom led the troops personally, he could not break through Steven's defense line. Instead, Steven gathered seven or eight high-level professionals and almost left Anton on the battlefield.

After the death of Duke Brener, although the Grant family did not promote new legends, there has been a surge in talents in recent years. Shane, the deputy speaker of the Magic Council, was promoted to the ninth ring, and Heaton, a member of the Grant family branch, was successfully promoted to an epic knight. Including court nobles and senior officers, there are more than twenty ninth-level professionals serving the royal family.

In terms of top talents, the Harland family has almost no foundation. William, the only one who was promoted to a ninth-level warrior, served as the commander of the Central Corps and was considered a person serving the royal family.

The only one worthy of praise is Richard. Although Sophia and Wendy have good talents, they have not yet fully grown up. The number of high-level professionals in the Harland County is a few points weaker than that of other dukes. Even in the Dukedom of Gis, there are three ninth-level professionals serving, far more than in the Dukedom of Harland.

It takes a long time to train high-level professionals, and it is impossible for such talents to come from the outside world. It will take another ten years for the Dukedom of Harland to make up for this weakness.

By then, Sophia is expected to be promoted to the ninth ring, and Jennings' strength will also be greatly improved. In addition, Wendy and Audrey will have the opportunity to impact the legendary realm. Ten years later, both of them are expected to be promoted to high-level. Counting Richard, Harland has not a shortage of talents. As long as these people grow up, they are enough to lead the territory to prosperity.

After entering July, the war has gradually stopped. After Anton was defeated and injured, the Kingdom of Delong seemed to accept its fate and did not take the initiative to provoke a war.

In August, the autumn harvest began, and the Grant royal family began to count merits and prepare to confer titles and rewards.

In this war of invasion to the south, the Kingdom of Grant annexed 160,000 square kilometers of the Kingdom of Delong, but the Silver Moon Island was lost, and Count Marcel lost half of his territory. According to the current control area, the net profit of the territory is 148,000 square kilometers, which can set up seven or eight large earldoms.

Since June, the noble parliament has been constantly negotiating, and by the end of August, the benefits have been distributed.

The Grant royal family will establish two new central provinces in the south, and Commander Steven will leave the royal court, be promoted to hereditary earl, and become a new noble.

In this battle, the power of the Grant royal family expanded again, and a new branch noble Steven earldom was divided, and two southern provinces were established, which added up to about 60,000 square kilometers of land.

The three dukes of Harland, Guise, and Duran, who invested a lot of resources in the war, each received an earldom.

Because Richard took the initiative to take responsibility, Steven's army was saved. The Roger Kingdom returned the favor and spoke well for the Harland family when dividing the territory. The territory of the Harland family was included in the original Duke of Isaac.

This territory covers an area of ​​more than 19,000 square kilometers, and is 200 kilometers away from the front line. Not only is the terrain flat and the agricultural conditions are good, but it is also far away from the front-line disputes.

It's a pity that the Harland family has no power and is distracted in the south.

Richard's children are still young, and it is impossible for them to run the territory here. Although his brothers have grown up, Richard is not at ease if he invests a lot of manpower and material resources in the south.

After discussing with King Roger, Richard decided to exchange the southern territory for the northern territory.

Exchange the new southern earldom for the Grotta Province.

Richard originally planned to exchange the Gedda Province, but the Gedda Province has been developed and mature for many years, and there is also the favorable terrain of the Dragon Canyon.

The Grant royal family also invested a lot of resources in the Gedda Province and established the Knight Academy. Black River Fort has excellent geographical conditions and is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The Roger Kingdom is unwilling to agree.

The royal family is willing to exchange with Gascoigne Province.

There are a large number of local noble territories in the Gascoigne Province. Most of the territories directly governed by the royal family are in the Flame Fort area in the north of the province, with a total area of ​​only more than 8,000 square kilometers. In exchanging this province, it is also necessary to coordinate internal noble conflicts.

Richard calculated and felt that it was a big loss.

After many communications with Roger's Kingdom, Richard decided to exchange the southern earldom for Grotta Province.

Although Grotta Province has an area of ​​26,000 square kilometers, which is larger than the southern territory, more than half of it is mountainous and its geographical location is on the front line of the northern border, so its value is far less than that of the southern territory.

Although the situation in the southern region is also unstable, the combat effectiveness of the Delong Kingdom is far inferior to that of the orcs, and the pressure it faces is completely different.

The value of the two territories is seriously unbalanced. Richard asked Roger's Kingdom to compensate with the territory of Rach Province and merge the Black River Basin of Rach Province into the Dukedom of Harland.

After considering for more than ten days, King Roger discussed with the court nobles and finally agreed to Richard's conditions and merged more than 9,000 square kilometers of the Black River Basin of Rach Province into the Dukedom of Harland.

After all, after the transaction is completed, the Zakli Division of the Iron Lion Legion stationed in Grotta Province can be transferred to the south. Transferring a northern border legion to the south is equivalent to transferring part of the responsibility of resisting orcs to the Dukedom of Harland, and the pressure on the royal family will be greatly reduced.

Zakli is also a famous general of the Grant Kingdom. After the Iron Lion Legion is transferred to the south, Zakli can command the entire army in an emergency.

William is Zakli's old subordinate, and it is easy to coordinate the command after Zakli is transferred to the south.

The royal family has deployed two main northern corps in the newly occupied area in the south, which is enough to deter the army of the Delong Kingdom and maintain the stability of the front line. Moreover, the two dukes of Gis and Duran have expanded their territories and will not choose to withdraw. The Royal Guard Corps will also be stationed for a few years to help maintain stability in the southern occupied areas.

After the Black River Basin of the Rah Province was assigned to the Dukedom of Harland, the Eagle Castle and the River Bay Ferry Castle were all assigned to the Dukedom of Harland.

The land on both sides of the Black River is fertile, and the population is not small. According to rough statistics, including the Grota Province, there are about 170,000 serfs and more than 60,000 free people assigned to the Dukedom of Harland.

Of course, the southern region has a larger population. The southern earldom under Richard's name has a population of more than 400,000.

The royal family joined forces with the three dukes to swallow up 120,000 square kilometers of land in the south, and the remaining 28,000 square kilometers of land were given to other nobles of the Kingdom of Grant to divide up.

Although the four dukes of York, Loran, Fox, and Edward had sent troops, they had no merits worthy of praise, so they could only be given a consolation prize, and each of them was granted a baronship.

These four barons were located near the province of Illiano, far away from the front line, and were suitable for the duke's second son to inherit.

Of course, the territory in the south is not very large. The baronies are only about 300 square kilometers, which is equivalent to one-third of the baronies in the northern border area. However, the southern territory is a plain area, and its economic strength is greater than that of the northern border area.

The four marquises in the east and the four earls in the south have tied down the six legions of the East Coast United Kingdom. Each family has a viscounty with an area of ​​about 1,000 to 2,000 square kilometers, and the territories are scattered near the royal direct provinces.

The Earl Marcel family has received special care. The new territory covers an area of ​​more than 3,000 square kilometers. The two territories are not far apart and can be exchanged and merged with the southern nobles. Although more than 6,000 square kilometers of land have been occupied by the East Coast United Kingdom, the overall loss is not too severe.

The Earl family of Silver Moon Island also received a consolation prize and was awarded a viscounty.

Compared with the pre-war Silver Moon family, the gap is the biggest, and they have lost their status as great nobles.

After all, they lost the battle and lost their territory. According to the decree of the Grant Kingdom, they have normally lost their noble status.

King Roger is still willing to give them a chance, and the Silver Moon family is grateful.

Luomen and Raphael under Richard's command both won great military exploits and were awarded a barony.

William led the Grizzlies Legion to achieve meritorious service, and six senior officers in the legion were awarded titles. William fought three times and accumulated sixteen great merits, and was awarded the third barony.

If these three baronies were exchanged and merged, William would obtain the status of viscount.

Unfortunately, the merger is no longer possible. These three baronies are located in different regions, and William chose to give them to different sons to inherit.

William wrote to Richard and decided to leave this barony to George. William married three formal wives, and the descendants of each wife will inherit a barony from him.

Richard wrote to George and George left the Northern Frontier in September and went to the south with a large amount of funds to operate.

Compared with Ron, George has the support of his mother's family. Lady Ola and others have earned more than 30,000 gold coins with the influence of the Harland family. With the money Richard funded, George could use more than 50,000 gold coins. He also used the relationship between William and Richard to recruit many soldiers in the Grizzlies and Harland.

Moreover, George's territory was not far from William's station, and he could get William's help in an emergency, so his starting situation was much better than Richard and Ron.

After George went to the south to manage the territory, Mrs. Aura rushed to the south with her children, and the industry of Black River Fort fell into Richard's control. All the business channels and intelligence forces left by William in the northern border were incorporated into Harland.