Chapter 444: The Development of Prilan

Hayden is two years older than Richard, and his professional level has just been promoted to the fifth level. Although he has served as the Minister of Intelligence for a long time, he is actually just a civilian bureaucrat, and his accumulated merits are far from enough. He is still not a hereditary noble.

Although Rogge is the Prime Minister of the Cabinet of Harland Territory and the head of the civil service system, he also does not have many merits. His status is the same as Hayden. Although he has great power, he is also not a hereditary noble.

The two have followed Richard for many years and are considered important figures in Harland Territory. Now the system of conferring titles in the territory has changed, and money can be exchanged for titles. Once the two embezzle for money, Richard will not be able to deal with it. In the end, after a deep discussion with the two, Richard decided to take out a sum of money from his private account and lend it to Hayden and Rogge, so that they can be promoted to hereditary nobles in this way. The two also promised Richard that they would never accept bribes and embezzle, making it difficult for Richard to do it.

One day in late March, the sky was unusually dark, and the dense clouds looked very low. Although it was noon, it looked like dusk.

Especially near the mouth of the Black River, the wind was raging. Seven or eight ships were anchored in the shelter. Even the legendary magic ship with a displacement of several thousand tons would not go out to sea in such weather, but would stay on the shore.

Last year, during the Five Kingdoms War, the mouth of the Black River was captured by the Yunhai Slave Hunting Group of the Sith Kingdom. Although the Harland Navy cooperated with the Jonathan family to defeat the Yunhai Slave Hunting Group, the stronghold that had been operated for several years was also burned down, and years of hard work were destroyed.

After the war, Harland mobilized a large amount of manpower and material resources to rebuild this coastal stronghold. In order to quickly transport various materials, Harland also mobilized the magic airship force to transport thousands of tons of materials at one time. When Richard returned with his troops, Rogge had sent people to build a small castle on the original site, and built infrastructure such as piers, which could accommodate more than a dozen ships to dock.

This new castle, named Xinghui Castle by Richard, is the first stronghold of Harland to operate the ocean.

Last year, the Cloud Sea Slave Hunting Group was repelled, and Harland seized several sunken and stranded magic ships. The Harland Mage Association has the technology to build magic ships, and soon successfully repaired four magic ships.

When the four magic ships were incorporated into the army, the Black River Navy already had four ordinary magic ships, one large legendary magic ship, and twelve steam ships equipped with magic crystal cannons.

The ocean in the Dawn Plane is very dangerous. There are not only fishmen but also many marine monsters and deep-sea monsters. Without the protection of magic power, ships cannot leave the land too far.

Although the steam magic ship is equipped with magic crystal cannons and has extraordinary attack power, this kind of ship lacks the protection of magic shields and cannot sail in the ocean. It can only operate in rivers and offshore. There are only five magic ships that can really sail.

Since last winter, Harland has begun to build the second legendary magic ship. According to the progress of the project, this ship will be able to launch and sail in August this year.

When the second legendary magic ship was commissioned, although the Harland navy was not as strong as the Kingdom of Sith, it could already be on par with the United Kingdom of the East Coast. As the Harland navy became stronger and stronger, it was enough to block the waters of the Black River and the Samba River and protect its coastline.

In the past two years, the railway line in Harland has been built rapidly. After the north-south artery was connected, the railway went north along the No. 10 military station and has been built to the Samba River.

The railway was built to the Samba River, and it was only more than 80 kilometers away from the Prilan Castle.

Although there was no railway bridge, the transported goods needed to be unloaded at the Samba River Station first, and then sent to the north bank by ferry. The transportation of materials was particularly troublesome, but compared with a few years ago, logistics supply has been very easy and simple.

In addition to the northbound railway, the section from the No. 3 military station to the Twin Star Castle has been opened to traffic, and the section from the King's Castle to the Twin Star Castle has also been built by one-third. The western railway has also been built from Songtao Castle to Martins Castle.

As of the end of last year, the Harland Railway had been built for 1,500 kilometers.

In the blink of an eye, the railway era is just around the corner.

Samba River Station is the terminus of the Northern Railway.

This railway still extends to the north and south ends. According to the short-term plan, the northern railway is going to be built to Prilan, and the southern part extends to the south of the Dragon Canyon.

The only factor that limits the connection of this railway is the two major rivers, Samba River and Black River, which cut the planned railway line into three sections. In order to connect this artery and increase the efficiency of railway transportation, two railway bridges must be built to connect the three sections of the railway line.

Although it is very difficult to build a railway bridge, Richard still decided to start this project. The first railway bridge has started construction, and a large amount of construction materials are transported to Samba River Station by train.

Samba River Station is the terminal station, and there are a lot of people getting off here. Many passengers are mercenaries with their families. These mercenaries are ready to enter the north of Prilan to hunt the undead and make meritorious deeds like their predecessors.

By April, with Richard's support of a large amount of gold coins, Hayden and Rogge also followed Odaye and Immorton, successfully used money and materials to purchase enough soul crystals from mercenaries, and successfully became nobles.

Counting Hayden and Rogge, there are already eleven barons in the north of Prilan, forming a defense line 200 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide. The eleven barons have a total of nearly 7,000 private soldiers. With this army at the front, the pressure on the Prilan defenders was greatly reduced.

In addition to the eleven hereditary nobles, there are a large number of mercenaries active in the north of Prilan, with a number of more than 20,000 to 30,000. These mercenaries are basically active in Bolton Forest. They not only hunt the undead that infiltrate from Bolton Forest, but also hunt the monsters in Bolton Forest. The living conditions are very difficult, and the money they earn is all hard-earned.

In just two years, the mercenaries active in the north of Prilan have lost more than 4,000.

If it weren't for the successful mercenary leader being ennobled and setting an example, they could continuously replenish new blood, and many mercenary groups would have planned to retreat.

Frye got off the train at Samba River Station and prepared to venture into the Prilan area. He is over 40 years old and has been on the edge of a knife for more than 20 years. As an adventurer, his professional level is already level 7.

As a seventh-level warrior, Frye can easily seek middle and senior positions in the regular army, with an enviable social status and high economic income.

Promoted to such a professional level, no matter where he goes, the fate of the family will change.

Even in Harland, where the military recruitment examination is strict, a warrior like Fry will be appointed as a lieutenant colonel or even a colonel after entering the army.

Generally speaking, it is very rare for a seventh-level professional to become an adventurer.

Fry was originally an officer in the Duke of York. He has accumulated some merits and has an enviable future. He has the hope of being promoted to a hereditary noble.

But now he has become a criminal. Two months ago, he killed Viscount Snyder with his own hands.

Viscount Snyder is the sixth son of the Duke of York. He was just granted a title in the southern region last year. His territory is not far from the Earl of Philip. Fry is a heavyweight officer assisting Viscount Snyder.

Because Viscount Snyder was drunk and took Fry's daughter, he was killed by the furious Fry.

The Duke of York is the third-ranked noble in the Kingdom of Grant and has a close blood relationship with the royal family. Although Fry's professional level is very high and he is a good talent, other nobles will not take the risk of offending the Duke of York and accept and protect Fry. Even Harland will not do this.

Because the Duke of York borders the Harland Territory, both sides have significant economic and political interests. Richard cannot offend the powerful Duke of York because of a seventh-level warrior.

The great nobles will not accept him publicly. After causing a big disaster, Fry can only change his name and sneak into the Harland Territory for refuge.

As a seventh-level warrior, Fry quietly hid for a while. Because he had to support a large family, it was not a solution to sit and eat for a long time, so Fry had to go to the north of Prilan alone to take risks.

In order to avoid being exposed, Fry also disguised himself as a third-level warrior and prepared to join a mercenary group.

Although the orcs were repelled, the Prilan area was not too safe. There were still orc troops wandering around, and in January this year, there were even silver moon wolf cavalry entering the Prilan area to plunder.

Although the garrisoned Fifth Legion cooperated with the magic airship troops to successfully encircle and suppress two orc troops, severely damaged the silver moon wolf cavalry, and kept the orc elite away from the shop.

But there are still many dog-headed tribes around Prilan. The birth rate of these dog-headed tribes is extremely high, and they have been unable to be killed in the past two years.

Because there are many dog-headed bandits on the road, the 80-kilometer section from the Samba River Station to the Prilan Castle is not very safe.

Frye got off the train at the Samba River Station and took the ferry to the north bank. He waited for three days before gathering enough people to go to Prilan with the same supply caravan.

This team has a large number of people, a total of 500 to 600 people, including an auxiliary transport squadron, more than 60 caravan security personnel, plus scattered mercenaries, more than half of the armed personnel. The rest are the elderly, women and children, most of whom are mercenary families. In the past two years, the number of these mercenary families who immigrated to the north of Prilan has added up to 50,000 to 60,000.

After crossing the Samba River, there are two grain storage bases along the way to Prilan. These two grain storage bases are also post stations and inns along the way, which can serve as military stations in wartime.

The two grain storage points are located on the most important supply line of Purilan, and each is guarded by a squadron of auxiliary soldiers. Although the combat effectiveness of Harland's auxiliary soldiers is not as good as that of the regular army, they have sufficient equipment and their combat effectiveness is no less than that of the main army of the Grant Kingdom.

Normally, with the military station defense fortifications, it can resist 3,000 dog-headed troops.

Purilan Castle has a powerful flying army, and the number of main forces exceeds 20,000. The dog-headed people dare not gather on a large scale to fight against Harland's regular army. Instead, they are scattered around Purilan and fight guerrilla warfare with humans for territory.

In the past two years, although Harland's development in the Purilan area has achieved considerable results and established more than 30 strongholds of various sizes, it has been facing harassment from dog-headed people. The number of pioneers who died in the attacks of dog-headed people has exceeded 2,000.

Although this kind of casualties is not particularly serious, the continuous casualties have greatly hit the enthusiasm for land reclamation in the Purilan area and slowed down the development of this land.

Because the main force is not easy to disperse, local protection needs to rely on mercenaries to a certain extent.

Some mercenaries who don't want to take risks often stay near Priran, mainly fighting against the kobolds.

Although the bounty for kobolds in Harland is relatively low, it is easier and safer to eliminate the kobolds compared to the large number of undead in Bolton Forest.

Frye followed the large army and fought against two groups of kobolds along the way.

The fighting power of the dog-headed people is not strong. The fighting power of ordinary dog-headed people warriors is slightly worse than that of ten-year-old children. The same number of people, the old, weak, women and children are stronger than the dog-headed people.

However, in the Prilan area, the number of dog-headed people exceeds tens of millions, and the number of humans does not exceed 200,000.

Although the dog-headed people cannot be concentrated, they are an intelligent race after all, and the threat to humans is still very high. A few dog-headed professionals will also cause great trouble to the pioneers.

More than ten kilometers away from Prilan Castle, you can see scattered dog-headed people activities. Once you are alone in the northern prairie, you will face dog-headed people looting.

Even a caravan of more than 600 people was attacked and robbed by two or three thousand dog-headed people.

Because of the protection of the army, Frye and others easily defeated the dog-headed troops, and destroyed a dog-headed man's nest along the way, killing more than a thousand dog-headed people.

However, this level of killing and clearing cannot completely eliminate the dog-headed people.

The humans in Harland Territory and the dog-headed people in the Orc Prairie will inevitably be entangled for many years. Only by having enough population, filling the northern prairie, and establishing enough strongholds, can the dog-headed people be completely eliminated.

Fry did not show strong fighting power on the road. He followed the caravan to Purilan after a little effort.

He directly entered the Mercenary Union and prepared to register as a member of the Mercenary Union.

The Mercenary Union in Harland Territory was established for about twenty years. Although Soros served as the president of the Mercenary Union, the actual management work has always been jointly managed by the military and the intelligence department.

In the past, the strength of the Mercenary Union in Harland Territory was average, and both the scale of mercenaries and combat effectiveness were far behind the Demon Hunter Union.

However, in recent years, in order to stop the undead from going south, Richard formulated a system of exchanging soul crystals, orc heads, and Warcraft materials for merits, and more than 30,000 mercenaries poured into Purilan.

In order to take on tasks, these mercenaries joined the Mercenary Union, which led to a significant increase in the strength of the Mercenary Union, which was stronger than the Demon Hunter Union.

The Prilan area is the headquarters of the Mercenary Union, with a total of six or seven hundred people stationed at the headquarters. Among them are three infantry squadrons, about four hundred and fifty armed personnel, and the rest are basically intelligence and civilian personnel responsible for dispatching tasks and registering files.

Fry entered the Mercenary Union and quickly began to register his files under the reception of a female civilian staff member.

"Name?"

"Fresolani."

"Age?"

"Forty-three."

"Gender?"

"Male."

"Place of origin?"

"Duke of Loran."

"Professional level?"

"Level three warrior?"

The two asked and answered one another, and under Fry's fabrication, the files were soon complete.

After registering the files, the female receptionist asked: "Mr. Fry, are you willing to become a free mercenary, or are you ready to join the mercenary group?"

"What is the difference between the two?"

"Free mercenaries can only take on some small tasks, which is relatively safer. Joining the mercenary group may be recruited to fight in Bolton Forest. But joining the mercenary group will have a fixed salary and more opportunities to make meritorious deeds."