Chapter 165 Gunderson went south
to conquer Graveson, but suffered casualties in most of his army. Gunderson was already very angry.
But misfortunes never come singly, and bad news came next. The orc brigade stationed at the military station was raided by Richard.
The military station was lost, and the remaining brigade suffered heavy casualties. The captain and deputy captain were all killed in the battle, and only more than 700 defeated soldiers were gathered.
After two battles, Gunderson's losses were close to 2,000 soldiers.
Although he still has 8,000 troops under his command, the main force only has less than 5,000 left. The remaining 3,000 orcs are all goatmen, and their combat effectiveness is very weak. Like the city defense army, they can only undertake some second- and third-line tasks.
Gunderson returned to the tent and looked at the map carefully.
The war has developed to this point, and the choice once again fell into his hands.
Is it to attack Harland territory and besiege Fort William?
Or go south, defeat the coalition of nobles in Heihe County, and cooperate with the main army to fight?
Just as Gunderson was analyzing the pros and cons, the Harpy once again sent a new order from his superiors.
The coalition of nobles from Lord Wright, Brenner County, and Luomen County, under the command of Viscount Luomen, attacked the main army of the orcs and looted a batch of food and grass.
The commander of the Orc Legion, Drancy, issued an order, asking Gunderson to go south, re-open the food route, and eliminate the noble coalition led by Viscount Romen.
In his heart, Gunderson was inclined to attack Harland's leader and avenge his men. But his superiors issued orders, and he could only obey them and lead his troops south to fight against Viscount Luomen.
Richard discovered that the orcs of Gunderson's tribe were heading south, and he put down some of his worries. The orcs had a main force of 5,000 troops. Although there were many troops in the Harland Territory, even with the coalition of nobles from Heihe County, they were still no match for the orcs in the field.
Once the orcs enter the territory, rob the population, burn down the houses, and pollute the wells, even if the castle is defended and the orcs are repelled, the Harland territory will suffer heavy losses and will never be comfortable.
When Gunderson's troops moved south, Richard immediately asked the indentured slaves gathered in the castle to seize the time for spring plowing and try to avoid agricultural production being affected by the war.
Gunderson had just marched south with his army, and Richard also received a letter asking for help from Baron Sharp.
Baron Sharp married Baron Raphael and became lord of Platos Castle.
Platos Castle belongs territorially to the county of Black River.
But militarily, it is under the command of Gascoigne Province and is the flank fortress of Flame Castle.
After guarding Platos Castle, a complete line of defense was formed with Flame Castle.
In recent years, Baron Sharp has trained two squadrons of soldiers. He has absorbed some of the retired officers and soldiers of the Mad Lion Legion, and the quality of the army is pretty good.
Before the war broke out, Baron Raphael supported a squadron of soldiers to strengthen the defense of the Platos fortress complex.
Coupled with the help of Baron Harden, there is enough strength to hold on.
The orc commander Maruland led three brigades and waited for a month, but still failed to break through the Platos defense line.
But in recent days, the war situation has changed.
This time the orcs invaded, because of the increased strength, the pressure in the direction of Flame Castle was also very high.
A few days ago, the cavalry under Baron Harden was transferred to the direction of the main decisive battle.
Without Baron Harden's powerful cavalry, Baron Sharp suddenly couldn't hold on any longer.
Gunderson's movement south was detected, and Harland's territory was temporarily safe.
Richard decided to lead the main force of the territory and the coalition of nobles from Heihe County to defeat Maruland and the orc army, alleviating his worries.
Fort Sophia is more than ten kilometers away from Platos Castle. Once Platos Castle is lost, even Castle Sophia and Tieshan Fort may not be able to hold on in the face of life and death? Now Black River Castle is blocked by the orcs, and communications are interrupted.
Although Richard defeated a large group of orcs, the defenders of Black River Fort could not receive his report of merit.
Richard ordered the heads of the orcs killed to be pickled and wait until after the war to ask for credit from his superiors.
Then he brought the cavalry to Vicksburg and wrote a letter to the Heihe County noble coalition, asking the Heihe County noble coalition to go north to join him.
The coalition of nobles from Black River County stationed troops at Felic Castle in the Barony of Bazel.
In Felic Castle, the armies of the four baronies of Bazel, Les, Dak, and Dirham have already come out in full force.
Baron Rice mobilized three main squadrons in the territory, and Baron Bazel and Duck mobilized two main squadrons. Even Baron Dirham, the weakest, mobilized four hundred auxiliary troops with all his strength, and executed Second line tasks.
This time the orcs were coming so fiercely that several barons felt the danger and gathered their forces together.
The noble coalition originally planned to defend the Baron of Bazel, but received a request from Richard to join forces.
Richard's position is reserve major general, and his military rank is higher than several barons.
In wartime, it is possible to command the coalition of nobles.
Moreover, Richard has commanded several noble coalition forces, and his abilities have been recognized by the Heihe County noble coalition forces.
In terms of strength, the Haaland family is already second to none in Heihe County.
He also explained in detail the reasons for the troop transfer, and strictly ordered the coalition forces not to shirk their duties and to show up at Vicksburg the day after tomorrow.
Otherwise, after the war, a proposal must be made in the Parliament of Nobles to seriously hold nobles who do not carry out orders accountable.
If this battle is won, Baron Rice and others will not be afraid of pursuing them.
The worst case scenario would be a quarrel at a meeting of nobles.
If this battle fails, people like Baron Rice will be used as an excuse if they do not carry out their orders.
There is absolutely no benefit to being a scapegoat.
They may even be revoked of their noble titles and deprived of their hereditary territory.
This time the orcs invaded, the Grant Kingdom was poorly prepared, the Earl of Martins fell, and the earl died at the hands of the orcs.
After suffering such a big loss, there will definitely be a scapegoat after the war.
Richard had already achieved military success and was not in a key position, so the failure of this battle was naturally not to blame on him.
At that time, the scapegoat can only be the coalition of nobles in Heihe County who disobey orders.
For this reason, even after the troops were moved north and the territory became extremely empty, Baron Rice and others still did not dare to disobey the order and led the soldiers to Vicksburg to join forces with Richard.
In order to defeat the orcs of Maruland, the Harland territory was also mobilized. Ten squadrons of infantry and one squadron of cavalry gathered together, and after joining the coalition of nobles from Heihe County, the number exceeded 3,000.
In addition, the troops in Platos Castle have no disadvantage in terms of numbers. In terms of combat effectiveness, they still have a slight advantage due to the presence of alchemy bombs and Warcraft Cavalry.
For the sake of speed, Richard decided to leave immediately.
They set off in the morning and only completed more than fifty kilometers at ten o'clock in the evening before arriving at the southern part of the Platos fortress complex.
The arrival of this reinforcement alerted the orcs in the north of Platos Castle. However, the enemy's situation was unclear after dark, so Maruland did not rush to send troops and provoke a battle.
(End of chapter)