Chapter 325 Adjusting the Garrison

In late August, the Harland family and the Grant royal family completed the exchange of territories. Zachley led the Iron Lion Legion southward and entered the Duke of Hubble.

After the Iron Lion Legion went southward, a large loophole appeared in the northern border defense line, and Richard led the four-province coalition army to begin to withdraw quickly.

Fortunately, the orcs suffered heavy losses last year and had no intention of invading this year. Otherwise, they would have seized the loophole of the Iron Lion Legion going southward and entered the northern border through the two valley passages of Annis and Sonya, and several provinces in the northern border would have suffered heavy losses.

In recent years, the provincial system of the Grant Kingdom has been constantly changing.

First, a civil war broke out, and after the rebellion was quelled, the three southern earldoms were transformed into central provinces.

Then, by supporting the restoration of the Jonathan family, the Grota province was demarcated from the Duke of Jonathan.

This year, the Southern Expedition Royal Family exchanged the Grota province for the southern territory, and the four central provinces in the northern border area became three provinces again.

Over the past ten years, the Grant royal family has greatly expanded its power in the south, and has established six central provinces and one earldom. The directly governed territory has expanded by 120,000 square kilometers, and the annual economic income has increased by 600,000 gold coins, and the power in control has greatly increased.

After the war started this year, King Roger once again chose to expand the army and began to recruit talents from all over the country to prepare to build a new Royal Guard Corps.

If the new corps is formed, the main corps directly under the royal family will reach nine. Including five royal guard corps and four corps border troops, the total number of troops is close to 200,000.

At that time, the border troops will also be divided into two parts, the North Frontier Corps and the Mad Lion Corps are stationed in the three provinces of the northern border, and the Grizzly Corps and the Iron Lion Corps are stationed in the three newly built provinces in the south.

Three corps of the Royal Guards are stationed in Nolan, and the remaining two corps are temporarily stationed in the three provinces in the south. Counting the main corps left by the two Dukes of Gis and Duran, and the newly built territorial noble coalition, there are a total of 150,000 troops stationed in the newly expanded territory in the south. With these 150,000 troops, the newly expanded territory is enough to block the spying of Delon and the East Coast, and maintain stability.

Maintaining 150,000 troops to occupy the conquered areas of the Kingdom of Delong may be a loss in the short term, but it will be a profitable thing in the long run. After conquering the occupied areas with a population of more than three million, the national strength of the Kingdom of Grant will also surge.

Whether it is the royal family or the nobles, with new territories, the military strength will inevitably expand.

In addition to the royal family, the development of the Harland family is also very rapid. Counting the new territories exchanged this year, the Duchy of Harland has increased by 35,000 square kilometers of land, and the territory area has reached 128,000 square kilometers, ranking fourth in the Kingdom of Grant, second only to the Grant royal family, Grand Duke Stannic, and the Duchy of York.

The Duchy of Harland has a total of six counties, namely East Grota County, West Grota County, Harland County, Losa Basin County, Salt Lake County, and Eagle Mountain South County.

The entire central and eastern regions of the Eagle Mountains are almost all included in the Duchy of Harland, and one-third of the Black River Basin belongs to the Duchy of Harland.

Whether in terms of geographical location or comprehensive strength, the Dukedom of Harland has surpassed the three dukes Jonathan, Fox, and Edward, and ranked first in the northern border.

The withdrawal began in mid-September, and it was early October when they returned to the territory.

This time, the nobles in the northern border area once again reaped a great harvest.

The noble coalition only fought a large-scale battle, and the nobles of the four provinces suffered only more than a thousand casualties, but they were awarded two baronies.

The nobles who did not receive the title also collected a lot of gold coins and made a lot of people through this southern expedition.

As the commander, Richard certainly got the biggest share. He captured 130,000 people from the war-torn areas, plus 170,000 serfs and 60,000 free people in the new territory. The population incorporated into the Dukedom of Harland this year will reach 360,000. In addition to the free people who migrated freely and the new population.

The population counted at the end of this year may exceed 1.4 million.

1.4 million people are scattered over more than 100,000 square kilometers of land. The degree of development is still not high. There are still large areas of barren mountains and ridges in the territory of Harland.

After returning to the territory, Richard began to issue transfer orders to transfer the bureaucrats of Harland Territory to the newly established East Grota County.

East Grota County covers an area of ​​32,000 square kilometers. Most of the land is the territory that Duke Jonathan has managed for many years. A small part is the Black River Basin of Rah Province, which is considered a densely populated area in the northern border. Although many people have migrated to the Grand Duchy of Stanik, and the royal family has taken their supporters with them, there are still 170,000 serfs and 60,000 free people.

In the past, there were 13 hereditary nobles of all sizes on this land, and these people were vassals of Duke Jonathan's family. After Duke Jonathan restored his country, these vassals followed Duke Jonathan to the Grand Duchy of Stanik. In exchange, this territory was returned to the Grant royal family cleanly, and the new Grota Province was established.

Now there are four hereditary noble territories in the Grota Province, including the Baron of Bernie, who was conferred the title of Richard's third uncle. The other three hereditary territories are the Baron of Jose, the Baron of Vida, and the Baron of Grumman.

The four noble families jointly sent 2,000 soldiers to the intervention army formed this year. Although they did not make great military achievements, they did not lose a lot of benefits. Each family captured 2,000 to 3,000 serfs, and their strength was slightly improved.

By signing a territorial exchange agreement with the royal family, these four barons all became vassals of the Duke of Harland.

Because the exchange of territories was a bit disadvantageous, at Richard's request, the three baronies of Sharp, Soros, and Ron were also transferred together.

Now, there are seven hereditary noble vassals under the Duke of Harland. Among the officers in the territory, a few have made military achievements that are close to being awarded a title.

Martin and his eldest son have accumulated seven major military achievements. Loran, Lost, and Vito have made more than five major military achievements. Even the rising star Jennings has four major and eight medium merits.

These people are not too old. The oldest Martin is just fifty years old and can still serve in Harland for more than ten years. If everything goes well, there is a great chance that they will be promoted to hereditary nobles and become vassals of the Harland family.

After the Grota Province was assigned to the Harland family, some local bureaucrats were transferred to the Rah and Gedda provinces, especially senior bureaucrats, who were all court nobles and directly served the Grant royal family. Richard could not use these people. There are quite a few locals who stayed behind among the middle and low-level officials. These people need to be screened by senior officials in the Harland Territory, and the suitable ones will be retained. Most of the positions, especially the important ones, will only be left to Harland's own people.

In order to avoid chaos during the handover, everyone has been keeping a close eye on it recently.

After the handover of the territory, the money in the treasury was emptied, and a lot of food and baggage were left to hedge with the southern territory.

After Richard returned to the territory, he settled the affairs of East Grota County and went to the northern part of the Eagle Mountains for inspection in late October. The main inspections were the two stars, the river bank, the canyon, the Nit, the hurricane and other northern border castles.

After crossing the main peak, the terrain in the northern part of the Eagle Mountains gradually became flat. There were a large number of orc tribes grazing dozens of kilometers away. It was undoubtedly a dangerous thing to move along the northern foothills of the Eagle Mountains. Only a border noble like Richard, who was experienced in war and very courageous, would not be afraid of danger and dare to move in the buffer zone between the two sides.

In the territory of the Duke of Harland, there are a total of six large valleys that can pass through the Eagle Mountains, from east to west, they are Sonya Valley, Annis Canyon, North Canyon, Tani Valley, Hurricane Canyon, and Pratos Valley.

These valleys can pass through the army, and each valley needs to be stationed with an army to resist the orcs.

As the Iron Lion Legion Zakli's troops moved south, the defense pressure of the Duke of Harland increased greatly, and it was necessary to increase troops in the direction of Sonya Canyon and Annis Canyon.

Fortunately, the Double Star Castle, Iron Lion Castle, and Riverside Castle have been built in this area, forming a complete defense line. Harland does not need to spend manpower and material resources, and only needs to station an army in this direction.

After Richard returned to the northern border with the army, he immediately dispatched the first battalion, the fifth battalion, the thirteenth, and the fourteenth armies with two thousand auxiliary soldiers to station in this defense line.

Because it was too far away from Fort William, this unit was not under the command of the headquarters. Richard appointed Soros as the commander-in-chief of the Grota direction to command the garrisons in the two counties of East and West Grota.

The commander of the East Grota River County appointed Martin to command four infantry battalions, two thousand auxiliary soldiers, and a total force of 8,000 people.

Xigrota County also has four infantry battalions stationed, and a reconnaissance cavalry battalion stationed in the King's Castle. Richard also placed the newly built second magic beast cavalry battalion in Xigrota River County. Together with the magic hot air balloon team, the regular army stationed in this county exceeds 8,000 people.

Including more than 3,000 auxiliary soldiers, the regular army of the two counties has a total of 14,000 people, 5,000 auxiliary soldiers, and 2,000 security troops.

Even if 20,000 troops are stationed, this direction is still unstable.

When the 4,000 recruits in the territory complete their training this year, Richard will organize these 4,000 fully trained recruits into ten new battalions, continue to add three battalions of infantry to this area, and increase the magic hot air balloon reconnaissance team and catapult group auxiliary soldiers, increasing the total number to 28,000.

Since last autumn, Harland Territory began to build a castle in the north of Tani Canyon. It took 13 months and mobilized 8,000 workers. In September this year, Nit Castle has been completed.

Both sides of the Tani Canyon are sparsely populated areas and have hardly been effectively developed. In the early years, the Grant Kingdom built the Eagle Castle in the south of the Tani Canyon and mobilized a second-line legion to sit in it.

With the expansion of Harland Territory, this canyon has completely fallen under the control of Harland Territory. The Eagle Castle garrison has withdrawn to the Grizzly Castle for garrison. Now the castles in the north and south of the canyon need Harland Territory to garrison troops.

Although the troops are insufficient, Richard can't just watch the loopholes in the defense line. He sent the second and sixth main battalions to station in Nit Castle in the north of the canyon. As for Tak Castle and Eagle Castle on the south side of the canyon, only auxiliary troops can be stationed for the time being.

The remaining five infantry battalions, a reconnaissance cavalry battalion, the first Warcraft cavalry battalion, the headquarters staff logistics personnel, and the territory mage regiment are all stationed in Losa Basin, Flame Tower, and William Castle.

The defense of the Pratos Valley can only be handed over to the noble coalition of seven vassals.

Before the expedition to the south this year, Harland had trained a total of 15 infantry battalions, two scout cavalry battalions, and one magic beast cavalry battalion. Together with the headquarters personnel, the number of regular troops was about 28,000.

In December last year, the territory began to recruit soldiers, and 4,000 people entered the recruit training camp at the beginning of the year. After the expedition to the south, Richard felt that the troops were insufficient, so he recruited 3,000 serfs in the Duke of Isaac's territory, and then incorporated 7,000 prisoners of war from the East Coast United Kingdom.

Including the 4,000 new recruits who have been fully trained, Harland's army has expanded by 14,000 this year. However, these 14,000 troops may not have experienced the test of cruel battlefields, and their morale is not very stable, and their combat effectiveness is not strong. If Richard is given two infantry battalions, he will be able to defeat these 14,000 new recruits.

After the Iron Lion and Grizzlies were transferred to the south, the defense lines of these two legions were handed over to Harland. In order to defend several valleys, Harland must accelerate the expansion of the army.

According to the situation on the front line, the regular army needs to be expanded to 50,000 or 60,000 to maintain the stability of the defense line.

Not only this year, but also in the next two years, large-scale expansion of the army is needed. Richard has made a plan, and he needs to train 6,000 new recruits in each of the next two years.

The 4,000 new recruits trained this year are about to be completed. Richard dispersed these 4,000 new recruits into ten newly formed battalions two months in advance. These newly formed battalions are numbered from the 15th to the 24th. Richard selected a group of key officers to serve as battalion leaders in the newly formed battalions, and then prepared to run-in for two months before being assigned to various fronts in the spring of next year.

According to the plan of the General Staff, three newly formed battalions will be strengthened in the Grotta direction, three newly formed battalions will be strengthened in the Tani Valley, one newly formed battalion will be stationed in the Salt Lake Fort, two newly formed battalions will be strengthened in the Losa Basin, and one newly formed battalion will be strengthened in the direction of Platos.

After the reorganization is completed, the Harland Lord will have 28,000 old troops, 14,000 new troops, and a total of 42,000 field troops. Each county will have a city defense army, about 30,000 auxiliary troops, plus 3,000 soldiers that can be mobilized by seven baron vassals. The total force of the Duke of Harland will be expanded to a huge 75,000 people.

It's a pity that there are a lot of new recruits and auxiliary soldiers with weak combat effectiveness. The real combat effectiveness is still 28,000 veterans. Richard is still a little worried about whether he can withstand the orc army in two years.

After inspecting the border castle along the northern part of the Eagle Mountains, it was already November.

November in the northern border is already very cold, especially in the northern foothills of the Eagle Mountains, which has frozen in early October.

After Richard arrived at the canyon castle, a heavy snow fell, blocking the mountain road from north to south. In the end, he could only return to William Castle from Losa Basin with a few professional officers.