Chapter 277: Expanding the Army Again
This year's fiscal expenditures are relatively small and there is a large surplus. Next year, Richard is planning to expand the army by four thousand, increasing the number of soldiers in the Harland Territory to 20,000.
Now that the area of Haaland's territory has doubled, he needs to defend more than 400 kilometers of defense line from east to west.
The defensive pressure has become extremely heavy. Next year, Richard not only plans to expand the army, but also plans to strengthen the construction of auxiliary troops and provide more subsidy funds to the auxiliary troops.
In Harland's territory, the training of auxiliary soldiers has been very tight. Except for the lack of breathing techniques, the training subjects of more than a dozen auxiliary squadrons are almost the same as those of the regular army.
In previous battles, the casualties of the auxiliary soldiers were relatively small. Many of them were veterans with more than five years of military service. In defensive operations, the auxiliary soldiers could also play a big role.
Because many soldiers have made military exploits this year and become free citizens, next year there will be more than 8,000 soldiers receiving military pay, and the expenditure on military pay will increase by 20,000 gold coins.
According to Richard's estimation, next year's military investment is likely to increase to 300,000 gold coins. If revenue cannot be increased next year, the territory will run a fiscal deficit.
The monetary policy of Haaland's territory is close to the gold standard system, and all metal currencies are in circulation. Once a fiscal deficit occurs, the problem will become very serious.
However, there will be new income in the Haaland territory next year, the first of which is coinage income.
Starting this year, the Graveson County copper mine has been completed and copper ingots will be smelted in September. After the copper ingots were successfully smelted, they were sent to the mint, and the first batch of copper coins was minted in late September. However, this batch of copper coins was of low quality and was not circulated in the market.
In the next few months, the mint continued to improve the process. By December, the copper coins produced by the mint were finally recognized by Richard and gradually circulated in the territory.
Copper is a precious metal that can be used to mint coins, and in the Haaland territory, deflation is a very serious problem. Next year's coinage income will bring in at least tens of thousands of gold coins.
Secondly, Richard is planning to sell alchemy bombs to others. The alchemy bombs in Harland territory are less powerful than those made by Heart of Elements, but the cost is very low.
Now that there are enough magicians in Harland's territory, there is no shortage of materials for making alchemical bombs. The confidentiality problem has been solved, and alchemical bombs can be manufactured on a large scale. Even if an alchemy bomb sells for ten gold coins, it is still a hugely profitable business. The profit from selling a few thousand bombs is very considerable.
After the fiscal meeting, it was soon the birthday of the goddess, and the Harland family held their annual family dinner.
Because Richard dealt with Tang En harshly, the atmosphere at this year's family dinner was very solemn. His third uncle Bernie did not come back, and his father William was not happy either and looked gloomy. When other family members saw Richard, they all remained silent, as if a mouse had seen a cat.
Just after the goddess's birthday, King Roger's special envoy, Marquis Allen, came to Northern Xinjiang. Marquis Allen sent a letter to Richard. After inspecting the four provinces in northern Xinjiang, he was going to come to the Earl of Harland to talk to Richard.
Last year, the royal family established a new province, Grotta Province, in northern Xinjiang. Although this province is a new province, the Jonathan family has developed it for many years, built sixteen castles, and cultivated as much as five million acres of farmland. Its foundation is better than that of the Gascoigne province. There are more than 600,000 serfs settled in the Grotta Province.
The foundation of Grotta Province is very good, and the Grant royal family does not need to invest too many resources to operate it.
Marquis Allen is the chairman of the Noble Council. He has an extraordinary political status in the royal capital of Nolan and is considered one of the top figures with real power. After he inspected Northern Xinjiang, he came to the Harland territory, and Richard had to greet him personally.
After Richard became a hereditary noble, he rarely went to the royal capital and did not mingle with the aristocratic circle. Although Marquis Allen was the chairman of the Noble Council, this was the first time Richard met him. On the contrary, Richard's father, William, once went to Nolan to clear up relations, dealt with Marquis Allen, and met several times.
"Dear Count Harland, I took the liberty to come to your door. In addition to discussing some business matters with you, the most important thing is to discuss the alchemy bomb."
In last year's intervention war, Richard used a large number of alchemy bombs in the war. There must be personnel deployed by the royal family among the coalition forces of the three provinces. After a little analysis, it is clear that the Haaland family must have manufactured alchemical bombs on a large scale. Otherwise, Richard dropped more than 1,500 alchemical bombs last year, which at the normal purchase price would have been enough to bankrupt the Harland family's finances.
Now that Duke Jonathan has seen this, Nolan is not lacking in smart people, and the Grant royal family quickly discovered something.
"The manufacturing cost of alchemy bombs in Harland territory is indeed relatively low. If produced on a large scale, the cost will not exceed two gold coins, and the power is only slightly lower than that of explosive arrows. Soldiers who use alchemy bombs only need a short period of training to be able to use them. It plays an important role in the development and growth of the Harland family, and the role of secret weapons like alchemy bombs is also very crucial.
Of course, the Roger Kingdom is my loyal lord. Since he proposed it, of course I am willing to exchange it, but I also have a few here. A condition."
Seeing that Richard relaxed and had the idea of exchange, Marquis Allen breathed a sigh of relief and felt that it was not difficult to complete the task.
After the transaction between Duke Jonathan and Richard in July last year, the Jonathan family had already created many alchemy bombs in October. The Grant royal family was well-informed and placed intelligence agents within the Jonathan family. After realizing that the Jonathan family army was equipped with alchemy bombs on a large scale, they immediately analyzed that the two major families, Jonathan and Harland, had completed an exchange of interests.
After taking over the Grand Duchy of Stanik, the strength of the Jonathan family has expanded a lot. Even though their energy has been dispersed, the threat to the Grant royal family has been reduced, and it is still the focus of the royal family. However, the special reality requires the great nobles of the Grant Kingdom to cooperate in order to maintain the situation surrounded by wolves.
Before Marquis Allen entered the northern Xinjiang for inspection, King Roger had given him a secret order. He must obtain the method of making alchemical bombs. In terms of military technology, he could not be too far apart from the two major families of Harland and Jonathan.
In recent years, the strength of the Haaland family has expanded rapidly, especially its military strength, which is now second only to several dukes. For such important nobles, if the royal family wants to gain benefits from them, they can only choose exchange and compromise.
"Earl Richard, of course you can put forward conditions. As long as they can be met, I can agree on behalf of the king." Finding that Richard was willing to negotiate, Marquis Allen immediately understood that it would not be difficult to complete the task.
"First of all, the royal family cannot spread the alchemy bomb manufacturing technology. Secondly, it cannot compete with the Haaland territory to sell alchemy bombs. Thirdly, I hope to exchange 600 square kilometers of land to connect the two territories. In addition, eight trades are required. One hundred Tenghui potions, one hundred enchanted armors, one hundred iron horned horses, one hundred enchanted crossbows, sixty explosive arrows, and the complete Barbarian Breathing Technique was traded. There are also additional conditions that the royal family needs to get every
year Provide two hundred Tenghui potions to Harland for thirty years."
Although Richard's requirements are many, the total resources are only hundreds of thousands of gold coins. The Grant royal family is not short of such conventional resources. After all, the Grant family controls a kingdom and earns millions in revenue every year. After hearing Richard's transaction request, Marquis Allen agreed to his transaction conditions on the spot.
In fact, even if Richard trades the royal seal, Roger Kingdom will meet his conditions.
In the long run, the royal seal is worth more, but in the short term, the Harland family is in urgent need of war resources.
After weighing the pros and cons, Richard finally chose short-term interests and traded a batch of war resources that could quickly increase the strength of the army.
Marquis Allen had very high authority and immediately allocated a group of resources from the four provinces of northern Xinjiang. He also drew up a royal power contract and signed his name. However, for the contract to be legally binding, King Roger needed to personally sign it to fulfill the treaty.
In late January, the two parties completed the exchange.
In the next month, after taking 800 Tenghui potions, the soldiers of Harland Territory accumulated accumulated experience and were successfully promoted to more than 60 professional officers.
With the arrival of the enchanted armor and the iron horned horse, Richard once again expanded the number of Warcraft cavalry, formed a fourth Warcraft cavalry squadron, and by the way expanded the strength of the reconnaissance cavalry.
Currently, four Warcraft Cavalry squadrons have been organized and trained in Harland Territory, and there are also 80 Warcraft Cavalry included in the reconnaissance cavalry. There are nearly 500 Warcraft Cavalry, which is stronger than the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade of the Northern Army. During the war, it can be organized into a separate Warcraft Cavalry Regiment.
To form the Warcraft Cavalry, the soldiers are carefully selected from veterans, because they are all elite veterans and do not require basic training. The time to form combat effectiveness is shorter than recruiting new soldiers.
After entering March, the recruitment of new recruits has been completed and the soldiers have begun recruit training. Normally, new recruits need to train for a year before being mixed with veterans.
After recruiting 4,000 new soldiers, the number of troops in Haaland Territory has exceeded 20,000.
Although there are 20,000 soldiers, the defense line of Harland Territory is 400 kilometers long, and seven or eight border castles need to be defended. The orcs have a strength advantage, and it is impossible to fight a decisive battle with Harland Territory. Instead, they will choose to divide their forces and break through Harland Territory. The defense line of Rand territory.
No castle can be lost. Once the frontline castle is lost, orcs will plunder and plunder the rear. The family wealth in Harland's territory is not very rich. As long as a battle fails, it will take many years to recover.
The seven castles on the front line must be stationed with elite troops and strong generals. The southern foothills of the Eagle Mountains are dominated by Flame Fort, Lightning Fort, Depot Fort, and Salt Lake Fort as the focus of defense. In addition, Platos Canyon also needs support from Harland Territory, and the nearby Fort Sophia is also considered a front line.
The county at the southern foot of the Eagle Mountain Range is the core of Harland's territory and the focus of territory management. This county will be stationed with seven infantry brigades, a Warcraft Cavalry brigade, half a reconnaissance brigade, a magic hot air balloon squadron, plus logistics , military law and other headquarters personnel, with a total strength of 14,000.
There are two mage towers in the swamp basin. A large garrison can stabilize the situation. The mage towers in Harland's territory are basically stationed here. The depot is not far from the headquarters, Fort William, and only needs to garrison one brigade. Outside the isolated territory of Salt Lake Fort, this area is basically deserted and far away from the core territory. Two brigades of troops are needed to hold it for a long time.
There are three remaining infantry brigades, a Warcraft Cavalry brigade, half a scout cavalry brigade, a magic hot air balloon squadron, logistics and military law personnel all stationed in Fort William. These soldiers add up to more than 7,000.
The eastern county of the Grotta River is less populated. Duke Jonathan has withdrawn his soldiers after the handover of the territory. Richard sent four infantry brigades, half a cavalry reconnaissance brigade, and a magic hot air balloon squadron to station, with a total strength of about 7,000.
Canyon Castle is located at the forefront of the county east of the Grotta River. It is also the focus of the county's defense. One and a half infantry brigade, two squadrons of cavalry, and the Magic Hot Air Balloon Squadron will basically be stationed here, with a total strength of nearly 3,000 troops.
The riverside castle in the east cannot be ignored. The orcs once passed through here and broke through the defense line laid out by King Roger. The garrison here also has a large group of infantry, a squadron of reconnaissance cavalry, and the garrison is close to two thousand.
The King's Castle, the capital of the county east of the Grotta River, has only one and a half brigade and two squadrons of reconnaissance cavalry, which is slightly stronger than the castle on the river bank.
Because the new recruits have not yet completed their training and each unit is not fully staffed, the actual number of troops stationed is smaller.
After the Birthday of the Goddess, the army in Harland Territory began to mobilize on a large scale, and Richard also began to replenish ordnance for the county east of the Grotta River. Heavy trebuchets, alchemy bombs, steel armors, and enchanted armors are continuously transported to the front lines such as canyon castles and riverside castles.
Because of the long distance, in order to facilitate overall command, Richard had to appoint an army commander to coordinate and command the 7,000 soldiers in the eastern county of Grotta River.
Among the officers in Harland's territory, Soros was actually the only one with prestige and the ability to command seven thousand soldiers.
Even though Thoros likes to command Warcraft cavalry to charge into battle, he is the only one who can take on the responsibility now. He can only reluctantly accept the task and serve as the supreme commander of the eastern county of Grotta River.
Lost, captain of the second brigade, and Jennings, captain of the sixth brigade, respectively served as deputy captains. The strength of Lost and Jennings has improved in recent years.
Lost was promoted to a fourth-level knight, and Jennings was promoted to a fifth-level warrior later that year. Zhan Nings is one year younger than Richard. He was promoted to a fifth-level warrior when he was less than thirty years old. His talent is better than Richard's.
Through the attribute panel prompts, Richard knew that his warrior level was not far away from advancement. According to the current training speed, he should be promoted to a sixth-level warrior in June in four months.
Richard has been a fifth-level warrior for four years and three months, and his warrior talent is almost as good as that of his father William. Richard's luck was much better than William's. When he was young, William was already a high-ranking officer of the Northern Army. He had laid a stronger foundation since childhood and had not gone through detours, making it easier to climb up.
(End of chapter)