Chapter 492 Pegasus Knight
The Kingdom of Delong was originally a populous country with fertile land. The total population was about 50 million more than a decade ago.
In recent years, due to continuous defeats, large tracts of territory have been divided and the population has fallen into the hands of neighboring countries.
Before the outbreak of the civil war, the population of the Kingdom of Delong was already smaller than that of the Kingdom of Harland, with only about 26 million, equivalent to the loss of half of the population. Now it has lost another 4 million due to the war. When the war is over, there will be insufficient population and development potential.
Because of this civil war, even if the Kingdom of Anton immediately puts down the civil strife, the strategy of the Kingdom of Harland has been largely realized.
In the past year, the civil war in the Kingdom of Delong broke out, resulting in a large number of war refugees pouring into nearby countries. Except for a small number of nobles, these war refugees were basically reduced to slaves.
The influx of slaves directly led to a sharp drop in slave prices. The Kingdom of Harland immediately seized the opportunity and began to use supplies and arms to buy serfs from the Maya and Grant kingdoms.
Under Richard's governance, the Kingdom of Harland has become very rich. Because of the development of industry, even if the Kingdom of Harland has formulated a light tax policy, its tax collection capacity is close to three times that of the Kingdom of Grant.
The wealth of the two countries is even more incomparable. The free people of the Kingdom of Harland can live a very good life, while many serfs under the nobles of Grant do not even have pants to cover their bodies.
The Kingdom of Harland not only has outstanding financial capabilities, but can also make industrial scissors through arms sales. As long as some magic hot air balloons are sold, a large number of people can be exchanged.
Since the magic hot air balloon appeared on the battlefield, as a low-end flying force, it has been welcomed by almost all nearby kingdoms. Compared with the Lion Knight, the magic hot air balloon can not only attack behind enemy lines, but also perform reconnaissance and airdrop missions, and its air combat power is also relatively outstanding.
After the war between the Kingdom of Grant and the Kingdom of Ryan, it relied on a large number of magic hot air balloons to restrict the Lion Duck.
In addition to being restricted by the weather, the magic hot air balloon has almost no disadvantages. If the Kingdom of Harland had not developed a better magic airship, it would have equipped a large number of magic hot air balloons.
The most critical point is that the magic hot air balloons will be sold in large quantities.
This is particularly important because the Kingdom of Ryan only sells a small number of lion ducks every year, which cannot meet the needs of nearby countries to build flying arms.
The advantages of flying arms are so outstanding that the Holy Glorious Empire, the Kingdom of Ryan and other forces that have mastered the ability to cultivate flying magic beasts will of course ban sales.
Even the Kingdom of Harland was also banning sales in the past few years.
In recent years, the Kingdom of Harland has only sold magic hot air balloons to allies such as Stanik and Grant every year. This time, in order to purchase population and weaken the potential of opponents, it has expanded the scope of military sales and started to sell to the Kingdom of Delong and the Kingdom of Maya.
Compared with the conservatism of the Kingdom of Ryan, the Kingdom of Harland also provides a variety of after-sales services, such as training soldiers, repairing equipment and other miscellaneous requirements.
This time, the Kingdom of Harland provided a lot of logistical services for the sale to the noble coalition of the Kingdom of Delong.
From the training of soldiers to the assembly and maintenance of the internal equipment of the magic hot air balloon, even the tips for observing wind direction and climate were passed on to customers.
In short, as long as you are willing to sell people, Harland Territory has all kinds of services.
Under the training of the Harland Kingdom, magic hot air balloons appeared on the front line in April of the 3283rd year of the Dawn Calendar.
The Kingdom of Delong does not have many flying troops. There are only two flying tigers and a dozen lion ducks in the court.
These lion ducks are male lion ducks purchased from the Kingdom of Ryan, and they cannot breed. Relying on a small number of flying magic beasts to fight alone, it is impossible to stop the more than 100 magic hot air balloons that have formed a scale.
The appearance of flying troops immediately seriously affected the battle on the front line.
The noble coalition took advantage of the reconnaissance advantages of flying troops and their fast speed to successfully sneak attack King Anton's food route many times in a row, leaving the Anton Kingdom's siege army stretched to the limit.
At the same time, a large number of magic hot air balloons carried supplies and used airdrop tactics to airdrop food, cloth, medicine and other supplies that were lacking in the city into the castle.
Due to the lack of anti-aircraft firepower outside the city, the magic hot air balloons could not be threatened, and the success rate of airdrops was abnormally high.
In desperation, King Anton could only concentrate a small number of flying magic beasts and high-level magicians to attack the magic balloons.
Relying on a small number of flying magic beasts and high-level magicians, they could only occasionally ambush the careless magic balloon group, which did not fundamentally change the development of the situation.
Seeing that the situation was not favorable to him, the Kingdom of Anton once again showed an excellent overall view. He used his skillful hands and decisively left the front line. He personally went to the Kingdom of Ryan to meet Rosen, the plenipotentiary envoy of the Holy Glorious Empire, hoping to get the help and support of Rosen of the Holy Glorious Empire.
In recent decades, the envoy of the Holy Glorious Empire has been stationed in the Kingdom of Ryan.
Although the ancestor of the Kingdom of Delong was a duke of the Holy Glorious Empire. The ancestor of the Kingdom of Sis was the second son of Charles VI of the Holy Glorious Empire. Logically, it had a closer relationship with the Holy Glorious Empire.
However, as time went on, more than a hundred years ago, the Kingdom of Ryan abandoned the God of the Earth and converted to the God of Gloriousness, and received the support of the Holy Glorious Empire. Now its national strength is very advanced among the eastern countries.
Today, the Kingdom of Ryan actually serves as a tool for the Holy Empire of Light to control the situation in the eastern part of the continent.
King Thomas of the Kingdom of Ryan tried his best to participate in the Five-Nation War, partly to expand his territory, and partly to implement the strategy of regional balance in the Holy Glorious Empire.
But Envoy Rowen never expected that the Harland family would be so fierce, helping the Grant royal family to withstand the pressure, defeating the Three-Nation Alliance in one fell swoop, and eating up the East Coast.
In order to prevent the Grant Kingdom from being the only one, the Harland and Grant families merged into one. Envoy Rowsen reported to Emperor Edward VII and used the method of division and provocation to alienate the relationship between the Grant and Harland families. In the end, he successfully used a crown to split the powerful Grant Kingdom.
Before the Harland family became independent from Grant. The Grant Kingdom was already a powerful country with three million square kilometers of land and 80 million people. After the Harland family became independent, the potential of the Grant Kingdom was even weaker than that of the Kingdom of Ryan. It no longer had the power to unify the east and was no longer a threat to the Holy Glorious Empire.
The most popular kingdom now is Harland Kingdom, because Richard has established a new order and vigorously developed magic civilization and industry. Harland Kingdom is developing rapidly, and even the Holy Glorious Empire feels threatened.
Although the Holy Glorious Empire has enough power to destroy Harland Kingdom, the situation does not allow it to do so.
Richard is the favored one of the Goddess of Dawn, and Harland Kingdom also regards the Dawn Church as the state religion.
The strength of the Dawn Church in the eastern part of the continent is far greater than that of the Glorious Church.
Moreover, in recent times, the demigod Catherine of the Dawn Church has descended to the mortal world and controlled the Red Moon Plane, while the Glorious Church has fallen the incarnation of the gods, and the situation has become worse.
If we look at the entire Crystal Wall Universe, the Goddess of Dawn and the God of Glorious God are both gods of the good camp. Although there is internal competition, they are on the same front after all.
Facing the threats of the Demon Lord and the Lord of the Undead, both sides have to join hands to fight the enemy. Internal competition will never develop to the point of fighting a religious war.
Since it is impossible to destroy the Kingdom of Harland by violence, the Holy Empire of Light can only use other means. In order to prevent the Kingdom of Harland from taking a breath and swallowing up the Kingdom of Delong, the Holy Empire's special envoy Rosen contacted the two major churches of royal power and justice, and pressured the Kingdom of Harland to sign a peace treaty through diplomatic means.
In recent years, a considerable part of the situation in the eastern countries has been manipulated by Rosen.
Before Richard was promoted to Duke, he was just a chess piece on the chessboard. It was not until he wore the crown that he was upgraded to a chess player, and his influence gradually became comparable to Rosen.
Rosen originally planned to let the Kingdom of Delong recuperate, but he did not expect King Anton to forcefully promote reforms, which triggered a civil war in the Kingdom of Delong.
Although the Kingdom of Harland did not directly tear up the treaty, it took advantage of the loopholes in the Four-Country Treaty and sold a large number of magic hot air balloons through commercial means, which directly changed the situation of the civil war in the Kingdom of Delong.
After listening to the situation reported by King Anton, Rosen was also a little embarrassed.
According to the national policy formulated by the Holy Glorious Empire, when interfering with the situation in the eastern countries, try to hide behind and try not to use your own power if you can.
However, in this situation, the political, diplomatic and economic support behind it is no longer sustainable. If you want to break the balance, you must provide military support to improve the situation.
The Holy Glorious Empire also has a strong force in the eastern part of the continent. The army of the Red Moon Plane alone has more than 100,000 troops. In addition, Rosen himself has a guard of more than 1,000 people, which is very capable.
In recent years, the Holy Glorious Empire has adopted a contraction strategy and reduced the garrison of 60,000 troops and three legions in the Red Moon Plane.
Two of these three legions were transferred back to the headquarters, and one was stationed in the Kingdom of Ryan.
Compared with a few years ago, the power of the Holy Glorious Empire in the eastern part of the continent has actually weakened a bit. Even if it is not as strong as a few years ago, this power is still very considerable.
The Holy Glorious Empire Legion is far more combat-savvy than the local kingdom army. One legion has 3,000 Warcraft cavalry and 500 Pegasus Knights. In addition, the legion also has a 300-man mage group. The total number of professionals in a legion of the Holy Glorious Empire is nearly 10,000.
The legions of the eastern powers such as Grant and Ryan generally only have a few hundred Warcraft cavalry, an elite semi-professional heavy infantry battalion, and a magic support team of more than a dozen people. The total number of professionals in the entire legion is only 2,000.
The armies of Delon and the East Coast are still a step behind those of Grant, Ryan and other powers.
If the two sides fight, the legion of the Holy Glorious Empire can fight one against five, or even one against ten.
Even the regular legion of the prestigious Harland Kingdom generally has a Warcraft cavalry battalion with a number of between 300 and 1,000 people, averaging about 600 people. In addition, it has a magic crystal cannon battalion, a magic airship battalion, a reconnaissance demon hunter squadron, and a mage regiment of more than 80 people. The number of professionals in the legion is more than 3,000.
Even the regular legion of the Harland Kingdom cannot compare with the regular legion of the Holy Glorious Empire in terms of special arms.
However, the army of the Harland Kingdom is equipped with a large number of magic crystal cannons and alchemical bombs. If it has twice the military strength, it is enough to fight against a legion of the Holy Glorious Empire.
Although the Holy Glorious Empire does not have many troops in the eastern part of the continent, it still has the strength to intervene in the civil war of the Delong Kingdom.
Rosen thought about it and decided to support King Anton after weighing the pros and cons. He personally came forward to coordinate a loan for King Anton, and then drew out the Pegasus Knights from the Holy Glorious Empire Legion, allowing the Pegasus Knights to help King Anton fight in the name of mercenaries.
Since he had already added money, Rosen also took out a sum of resources to recruit magicians from the Holy Glorious Empire, and soon formed a magic group of more than 200 people. Then through the ultra-long-distance teleportation array, this magic group was transferred together with the Pegasus Cavalry to assist King Anton in the battle.
Pegasus is a third-level magic beast cultivated by the Holy Glorious Empire, and it is also the lowest-end flying soldier in the Holy Glorious Empire. Although the combat effectiveness of Pegasus is not as good as that of Lion Duck, its load-bearing capacity is much higher than that of Lion Duck, and it is easier to breed.
Compared with Lion Duck Knight, Pegasus Knight can wear armor on both horse and man, and wear heavy enchanted armor, with superior defense capabilities. At critical times, it can even attack the infantry formation, making the army's tactics more abundant.
Taking the Holy Glorious Empire as an example, there are three types of flying soldiers, the lowest end is Pegasus Knight, the middle end is Lion Duck, and the high end is Wyvern.
As for the more powerful Dragon Knight, the Holy Glorious Empire certainly has them, but the total number is less than five fingers.
Although the Holy Glorious Empire invested 700 soldiers in the name of mercenaries, the effect was immediate and changed the situation on the front line again.
When the Pegasus Knights appeared on the battlefield, they directly suppressed the magic balloon troops of the noble coalition of the Kingdom of Delong. The two sides fought several fierce air battles. In the end, most of the magic balloons were shot down, and the Pegasus cavalry also suffered about 20 casualties.
The flying soldiers were severely damaged, and the magician group hired by Anton also took action unexpectedly. Dozens of middle and high-level magicians used the spell of turning fossils into mud to directly open a gap in a section of the solid city wall.
King Anton also went to the battle in person, leading the elite to attack the gap fiercely. The Lion Mountain Castle, which had persisted for eleven months, finally could not be defended.
After the fall of Lion Mountain Castle, despite the heavy casualties on his side, King Anton did not let his soldiers kill indiscriminately. After the war, he only killed the diehard nobles, but showed his generosity to his followers.
Most of the unfortunate Lion Mountain family's adult males died in the war, and the women were reduced to slaves and became sexual slaves of the officers.
After breaking through Lion Mountain Castle, King Anton's power increased greatly, and he directly forced more than 30 hereditary nobles to surrender. The battle line directly advanced 150 kilometers until it suffered again under Marcel Castle.