Chapter 405: Leading the Army to the South
Soros and Jennings were drawn out to march south, and the northern defense line was handed over to Wilde, Roman, Lost, Morgan and others. Sylph and Undine followed Richard to march south, and Sutton was appointed by Richard as the commander-in-chief of the northern defense line of the mountain, responsible for commanding the northern army.
Because 45,000 elite soldiers were drawn from the northern defense line of the Eagle Mountains, Richard incorporated the new recruits into the troops a few months in advance to fill the personnel gap in the northern defense line.
The vassals in Harlan's territory also assembled 8,000 troops and handed them over to his cousin Morgan to command and guard the No. 3 military station.
If the orcs make any unusual movements, Harland can also get support from the nearby Mad Lion Legion and the noble coalition of the three provinces in the northern border.
Richard has obtained full authorization from King Roger. If the orcs invade and the war comes, Sutton has the highest command.
Piero, the commander of the Mad Lion Legion, will also be under Sutton's command.
By September, Harland's army had assembled. On the sixth day of September, Richard led 45,000 troops and marched southward.
This time, in order to avoid trouble with military rations, Richard brought 600,000 sheep.
Because sheep walk slowly, the daily march speed is about 40 to 50 miles. 600,000 sheep, plus various camels, mules and horses for transporting food, and more than 800,000 livestock for logistics.
800,000 livestock, the fodder and food required every day are astronomical figures.
According to the estimates of the logistics department, Harland's sheep and livestock eat more than 40 square kilometers of grass every day. If they encounter a large area of Gobi desert on the road, many sheep, camels and horses will probably starve to death.
Therefore, before marching every day, Richard needs to let the Lion Duck Cavalry conduct aerial reconnaissance and plan the marching route.
Fortunately, it was September when the troops went south. September is the autumn harvest season for the Grant Kingdom.
It is relatively easier to collect fodder when marching in this season. Even so, wherever Harland passed, it destroyed a lot of farmland, causing livestock to eat a lot of food, adding a great burden to the provinces along the way.
Richard discussed with the Kingdom of Roger and decided that the Duke of Harland and the Grant royal family would take out some gold coins to subsidize several provinces that passed through.
The loss of the soldiers passing through was naturally not light. Although the viscounts and barons who passed by on the march southward were reluctant, they had no choice but to fight against the tens of thousands of troops of Harland. They could not raise troops to resist, which was tantamount to hitting a rock with an egg, and the nobles were unwilling to do something to send their own deaths. They could only take out some supplies and ask Richard to pass through quickly.
They walked and stopped along the way. On October 3, Richard led the army into the Earldom of Steven. At this moment, Earl Steven and the southern noble coalition had completed their assembly and arrived near the front line.
The two Dukes Edward and Fox prepared earlier. They arrived in the province of Ferdinand in late September and began to fight against the Kingdom of Delon under the command of William.
Edward and Fox have been fighting against orcs for many years, and their fighting power is much stronger than the soldiers led by Dukes of Gis and Duran in the south.
Before the war, Duke Edward Harris made a very successful pre-war mobilization.
"My dear soldiers, the Edward family has made a decision to develop to the south from now on. The enemies in the south are the weak soldiers of the Delong Kingdom. Their fighting power is like that of a girl, and we can only let them run wild.
From today, we will leave the cold north and enter the warm and prosperous southern region.
Although we have nothing now, if we defeat the enemy, we will soon have food, land, houses, mills, water wheels, slaves, and even beautiful women.
If we want to live a good life, we must go through a big war.
If we win, we will rob money, food, and women. If we lose, we will die. We are people from the northern border, and death is our partner.
As your duke, I, Harris, am not afraid of death. I am willing to lead you to defeat the sissy of the Delong Kingdom and let you have everything you deserve.
Anyway, we have only one life, and we can win if we dare to fight and fight."
It is almost the unanimous opinion of the Duke Edward to develop southward. If the orcs are scared by the soldiers led by Harland, the soldiers led by the Duke Edward will not dare to fight against the orcs either.
Although this army had problems with their mentality, they had excellent skills and tactics and rich war experience, and their combat effectiveness far exceeded that of the soldiers of the Kingdom of Delong.
Now that Duke Edward had inspired their morale, they were like a tiger descending from the mountain in the battle. In less than half an hour, they broke through the formation of the Kingdom of Delong's army from the front.
Although the Kingdom of Delong organized 260,000 troops to fight against the Western Front on a battlefield hundreds of kilometers wide, it was a pity that it was defeated in one battle. The 150,000 elite soldiers of the Kingdom of Grant seemed to be overwhelming and directly broke through the defense line arranged by the Kingdom of Delong.
The Kingdom of Delong suffered a great loss and could not maintain its foothold even after retreating 200 kilometers. They originally wanted to set up defense lines in several castles north of the Mara River, but William led his elite troops to attack the city at night, and finally had to retreat to the south of the Mara River.
By the time Richard entered Steven Province, the Western Front had achieved very brilliant results. With the buffer zone, the Kingdom of Grant pushed the border line southward by 300 kilometers and occupied more than 100,000 square kilometers of land.
William has now divided his troops into two groups. Duke Edward and Duke Fox have dispatched their troops to the west, commanding more than 56,000 soldiers to attack the duchies of East and Orlando in the Kingdom of Delon, to protect the flanks of William's troops and seize territory. By seizing these two duchies, they can expand their territory by more than 100,000 square kilometers.
After the defeat of the Delong Kingdom on the western front, Duke Anton was hurriedly dispatched to support the western theater with elite cavalry.
Anton is a legendary first-order knight and a skilled military officer.
After this person came to the south bank of the Mara River, he took the Warcraft Cavalry by boat that night and crossed the river and raided a Western Front stronghold.
In the next few battles, William suffered some losses, and the Western Front lost more than 8,000 troops.
With the reinforcements of Anton's 3,000 Warcraft Cavalry and 20,000 heavy cavalry, as well as the two Dukes Edward and Fox moving to the west, the army of the Kingdom of Delon moved back to a disadvantage and stabilized the situation.
Although the western front was stabilized, Zachary, the center army, also led five legions to move south.
Zachary's troops were very elite, and there were three small teams of Griffin Knights on the front line. They had the advantage of reconnaissance. Zachary fought very aggressively and even crossed the Mara River and fought to the south of the Mara River.
The Grant Kingdom struck with all its strength, and the Delon Kingdom was immediately in a panic. In panic, the Delon Kingdom hurriedly asked for help from the East Coast United Kingdom.
After receiving the request for help from the Delong Kingdom, the East Coast United Kingdom made a very quick decision. Facing the ferocious attack by the Grant Kingdom, the East Coast United Kingdom gritted its teeth and almost tried its best to mobilize twenty-four legions to participate in the battle.
The Delong Kingdom is a decadent kingdom that was established a thousand and hundreds of years ago. Various interest groups within it are intertwined and suck the blood of the country. Although the population exceeds 50 million and the products are better than those of the Kingdom of Grant, the combat effectiveness of this country's army is very average. In the war with the Kingdom of Grant, the country lost many troops and generals, which looks very miserable.
The East Coast United Kingdom was founded relatively recently and is far from rotten. The internal vitality of the country is stronger than that of the Grant Kingdom. Although the army is not as experienced as the Grant Kingdom, its combat effectiveness is not weak. This country originally had twenty-three legions. Due to the pressure of war, five legions were expanded in the past five years.
Today, the total strength of the United Kingdom on the East Coast is twenty-eight legions. Including the naval forces, the number of front-line troops exceeds 600,000. This number is 100,000 more than that of the Grant Kingdom.
In order to suppress the expansion ambitions of the Grant Kingdom, the East Coast United Kingdom dispatched more than half a million regular troops this time. Among them, as many as fifteen legions entered the Delong Kingdom to help, and the number of regular troops was as high as 300,000.
Another nine legions plus 40,000 naval troops stormed the eastern coastal areas of the Grant Kingdom, forcing the four eastern marquises to constantly ask for help from Nolan.
The Eastern Front was in emergency, and messengers for help kept rushing to Nolan. The Kingdom of Roger went out in person, leading three regiments of the Royal Guards to the two Marquis Territories of Allen and Visia to help the Fourth Marquis stabilize the front.
After Richard led his troops into the Steven Province, reinforcements from the United Kingdom on the East Coast also entered the Delon Kingdom almost at the same time to support all fronts.
The defenders in the central region were under the greatest pressure. The United Kingdom on the east coast mobilized six legions, plus 100,000 troops from the Kingdom of Delong, to push Zachary back to the north bank of the Mara River.
The defense force on the eastern front of the Kingdom of Delon is the weakest, with only 40,000 local troops left, plus the remaining 30,000 troops of the two Dukes Hubble and Isaac. Although there are a large number of troops, the combat effectiveness is actually very sparse, and it is estimated that they cannot defeat the coalition forces of Earl Steven and the southern nobles.
After hearing that Duke Harland, the bravest and best warrior in the Grant Kingdom, led his troops south, the United Kingdom of the East Coast invested nine legions on the eastern front. The commander of the army is also a famous commander, the legendary second-level Mark Dean.
Richard led his troops south and soon entered the Dukedom of Hubble in the Delong Kingdom.
In the last Three Kingdoms War, the Dukedom of Hubble suffered heavy losses. Only about 20,000 troops were left in the 50,000-strong army, and 60% of the land was lost. Now it barely relies on the natural dangers of the Hubble Mountains to defend the remaining 20,000 square kilometers of land. , difficult development.
Duke Hubble still has some hereditary lands, while Duke Isaac has completely lost his territory. Now there is only one Saron castle left, and there are only 8,000 soldiers left. They can barely support themselves solely by the money and food of the Delon royal family. Some viscounts with strong foundations now have better foundations than Duke Isaac.
Richard stationed troops in the northern part of the Hubbard Mountains, and Harland led aerial reconnaissance troops into the enemy's territory.
Gryphons and wyverns are both high-level arms. Entering the southern part of the Hubble Mountains for reconnaissance is like entering an uninhabited land.
Mark Dean stood on a big tree, raised his eyes and looked into the sky, looking at the flying dragon flying in the sky. He estimated the distance in his heart, and finally sighed: "The flying dragon is flying too high. , beyond my range. The bipedal flying dragon cavalry led by Harland is equipped with a special alchemy tool that can observe targets ten kilometers away.
With this special magic prop, the enemy does not need to approach for reconnaissance. Only high-level magicians can set traps to ambush the enemy's high-altitude scouts.
The enemy's aerial reconnaissance is wreaking havoc, and our every move is being observed by the enemy. It is not okay to be so passive. Send an order to the rear and have all the magicians from the royal capital come to the front to help out. Find a way to kill some gryphons and wyverns to suppress the enemy's flying units so that their reconnaissance cannot be so forward. "
Although the East Coast United Kingdom does not have a legendary mage, the magic learning environment is somewhat better than that of the Grant Kingdom. The seven major duke families established a magic academy in Kanas Castle, which was open to the domestic aristocracy. Relying on this magic academy, there are more than 2,000 official magicians in the East Coast United Kingdom.
As for the Grant Kingdom, including the magicians trained by the great nobles, the total number of people is less than 600.
The magicians of the East Coast United Kingdom are not only numerous, but also of higher quality than those of the Grant Kingdom. In Kanas Magic Academy, there are six nine-ring magicians and more than thirty magicians above the seventh ring. The number of high-level magicians is ten times that of Harland Territory.
It is precisely because of this background that Mark Dean has the confidence to mobilize high-level magicians to the front line.
If it were Richard, he would never use high-level magicians in this way.
In fact, in the last war, the East Coast United Kingdom dispatched high-level magicians to attack the magic balloon troops of Harland Territory, but was eventually trapped by Sofia and killed an eight-ring magician with a starlight bomb.
With the continuous reconnaissance of the lion duck and the two-legged dragon, Richard has fully understood the situation of the enemy garrison in the southern part of the Hubble Mountains.
Richard dispersed the flocks of sheep he brought with him to the Earldom of Steven and the Province of Helen, leaving Earl Steven and the noble coalition to guard the grain route and protect the flocks. He took ten days of supplies and marched westward with Harland's army, preparing to first capture the Salon Castle in the west of the Hubble Mountains, bypass the dangerous mountain city defense line, and enter the enemy territory.
Harland's soldiers are all well-trained elite soldiers. Because there are powerful scouts in the sky, Richard does not consider camping on the road for this operation. There is no need to build a solid camp. Harland's army moved very quickly. In just two days, they marched 130 kilometers and appeared near Salon Castle.
According to the reconnaissance of the Lion Duck Cavalry, the main forces of the East Coast United Kingdom are deployed at the Hubble Mountains Pass, Valley, and Grain Storage Point. The Hubble Mountains, which are more than 100 kilometers wide, have four legions deployed by the East Coast United Kingdom, with a garrison of more than 80,000.
There are also garrisons of the East Coast United Kingdom in the castle behind the Hubble Mountains. In this direction, Richard's opponents have a total force of more than 220,000.
Near the Salon Castle, the garrison is relatively weak, with only Duke Isaac's 8,000 troops, plus three battalions of reinforcements from the East Coast United Kingdom, with a total force of 14,000. However, the Jinshan Castle, 40 kilometers behind the Salon Castle, is stationed with a legion of the East Coast United Kingdom, with a total force of about 20,000.
The 34,000 garrisons of the two castles are considered the left wing of the Eastern Front of the Delong Kingdom. These two troops are about 100 kilometers away from the main force, and even if they are faster, they will take two days to travel.
Richard is ready to do a black tiger heart-ripping, and eat this enemy before the reinforcements from the East Coast United Kingdom arrive. The reason why Richard has this ambition, in addition to the starlight bomb, is that Harland has a powerful artillery.
This year, Harland has newly organized three artillery squadrons, which are equipped with 18 magic cannons and all participated in this southern expedition.
The range and accuracy of the magic cannon far exceed that of the heavy catapult. It is a very terrifying siege weapon. Once a shell hits the city wall, the damage is considerable. Even if the enemy has strong castle fortifications, Richard is confident that he can achieve complete victory and wipe out this enemy in a short time.