Chapter 305: The Opera Company
won several battles. Although Harland Territory achieved a great victory, the casualties were not light at all.
The Eastern Front annihilated the Gatling Division on the Eastern Front. After two battles, the Soros Division suffered nearly a thousand casualties and about 400 people were killed.
The defensive battle of Platos on the Western Front was even more brutal. The army led by Haaland suffered more than one-third casualties, with nearly 700 people killed.
The Kilam tribe was annihilated on the center line. In order to defeat the main force of the orcs and kill the legendary kobolds, Harland led casualties of nearly 3,000, with more than 1,000 killed. In the battle to kill the legendary dragon-veined kobolds, more than 160 soldiers were killed, half of whom were scouts.
Counting a small number of auxiliary troops, Haaland's army suffered about 5,000 casualties, with more than 2,000 killed in action, and some of the wounded soldiers were permanently disabled. After this war is over, the number of people receiving pensions next year will exceed 10,000, and the financial pressure next year will increase a bit.
Leader Harland has only trained 4,000 recruits this year. Richard is also preparing to expand two infantry brigades, and 4,000 recruits are not enough to supplement them.
This year we can only organize two infantry brigades first, and the shortfalls in the troops can only be filled slowly.
As time went by, Richard and his army had been in the Losa Basin for two months, and it was now early June.
Richard had lived very peacefully in the past two months, and the Orc Empire did not mobilize troops to counterattack.
In this battle, Harland and the Grizzly Legion cooperated to completely annihilate the two main legions of the Kobold Principality. During the retreat, the four legions combined lost more than 10,000 soldiers.
The Kobold Principality only has six legions, with a main force of 120,000 troops, and a one-time loss of 50,000 troops, which cannot be replenished in a short period of time. What's more, Richard also beheaded Kilam and annihilated more than three thousand dragon-veined kobolds. Relying on the power of the Kobold Principality, it is impossible to counterattack in a short time.
According to the system of the Orc Empire, titles are not hereditary. Only by becoming a legend can one break the earth and become a knight.
After the legendary orcs die in battle or die of old age, their titles will be taken back by the orc empire.
The title of the orc empire is more similar to that of a human governor, and it is difficult to pass it on to future generations.
After the legendary wild boar died in battle, the wild boar principality became a territory directly under the central control of the orcs. Now that the Dragon Vein Kobold was killed by Richard, the kobold principality will also be controlled by the orc central government.
The Orc Empire is vast, with a territory of more than 80 million square kilometers. About 30 million square kilometers of land are uninhabited ice fields, and millions of square kilometers of land are polluted by the air of the undead.
The eight major royal families of the orcs, with more than forty legendary main forces, are defending the Holy Glory Empire. The ones fighting against human kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Grant and the Kingdom of Lane are mainly the orc dukes.
Because of the great pressure to defend the Holy Glory Empire, Legend of the Orc Royal Family would not choose to come to a remote place like the Eagle Mountains. The legendary quilboar died in battle for more than ten years, and there was no legendary orc royal to replace him and command the operations in the direction of the Grant Kingdom.
Now that Kilam is dead in battle, the Kobold Principality is in chaos. After the Orc Central appoints a new commander, it will take several months to straighten out the command system.
These few months are very critical for Haaland.
After capturing the Losar Basin, Richard issued an order to start the construction of Hurricane Castle.
Once the construction of Hurricane Castle is completed, the Harland Territory will be able to establish a solid defense line with Hurricane Castle as the core in the northern part of the Losa Basin.
After two months of hard work, the construction of Hurricane Castle is progressing relatively quickly. The foundation has already been laid and the outer wall has been built to a height of four meters.
In order to build this castle, 16,000 indentured servants were mobilized in the Losar Basin, and the number of people led by Harland to transport supplies in the rear totaled three to four thousand people.
The Harland Territory Mage Group will also take turns allocating manpower to use the power of magic to participate in the construction of the castle.
According to engineers' estimates, the castle should be completed by late August.
June is the summer harvest season, and the Lothar Basin is the core of supply for the Kobold Principality. More than three million acres of farmland have been reclaimed here. Despite the lack of planning, the level of agricultural cultivation is not high. The yield per mu is only about 70 kilograms, and the annual grain production exceeds 100,000 tons.
Counting the orcs, there are more than 300,000 orcs in the Lothar Basin, and they can barely make enough food just by growing food. The animal husbandry here is also doing well, and there are many herds of cattle and sheep in the satyr and tauren tribes.
In addition, the orcs also captured a lot of iron horned horses, preparing to imitate humans and train Warcraft cavalry.
In fact, the legion commanded by the orc royal family already has an organized Warcraft cavalry just like the human empire.
Kilam is an ambitious orc. In recent years, it has been sending orcs to capture the iron horned horses at the northern foot of the Eagle Mountains, and has almost captured all the iron horned horses in the northern region.
Kilam originally planned to train 500 Warcraft Wolf Cavalry at one time and unexpectedly severely damage the human army. Unexpectedly, he would die in the hands of humans before it could succeed.
The Iron Wildebeest Ranch established by Kilam in the Losa Basin also fell completely into Richard's hands.
The Wildebeest Ranch controlled by the Kobold Principality is three times the size of Harland Territory. There are more than 300 adult Wildebeests and 200 young ponies.
According to this scale, it does not affect the breeding of iron horned horses. This iron horned horse ranch can provide at least fifty adult iron horned horses every year to supplement the army.
After more than ten years of development, the World of War Horse Breeding Center in Harland's territory has also reached a certain scale. There are more than 100 adult iron horned horses, and there is also a third-level horse king for breeding. There are also more than sixty ponies, which can provide more than a dozen Warcraft horses for the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade every year.
The two racecourses combined will be able to restore the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade this year and replenish battle losses.
In a decisive battle with the main force of the orcs, Harland's Warcraft Cavalry Brigade suffered heavy losses. Not only were forty-five members of the Warcraft Cavalry killed, but more than thirty others were seriously injured and retired from active service. Warcraft horses also suffered significant damage, with more than sixty dead.
Although the flesh and blood of Warcraft was very useful in cultivating soldiers, Richard did not order the slaughter of injured Iron Horned Horses, or the skinning and cramping of those killed in battle. Instead, they were buried with the soldiers in the military cemetery in Harland territory.
The Warcraft War Horse is very sensitive and intelligent, with an IQ equivalent to that of a human child. They actually understand Richard's respect for them.
Compared with the Warcraft cavalry of Edward, Jonathan and other families, the quality of the Warcraft cavalry soldiers led by Harland is lower, but their cooperation with the Warcraft horses is more tacit. When the two sides fight, the Warcraft Cavalry led by Haaland may have a slight upper hand.
Capturing a huge herd of Iron Horned Horses could replenish the battle losses of the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade, which made Richard very happy and finally let go of one of his worries.
In this year's battle with the orcs, both the Edward and Jonathan families suffered greater losses. Although their Warcraft Training Center is larger in scale and can provide up to about two hundred Warcraft horses each year, they will of course give priority to replenishing their own Warcraft cavalry.
If it hadn't been for the capture of the Orcs' Warcraft Horse Farm, the battle losses of Harland's Warcraft Cavalry Brigade might not have been replenished this year. After all, the Losar Basin is the front line and may face war at any time. After discovering the Warcraft Horse Farm, Richard immediately mobilized elite soldiers, moved the Warcraft horses to the rear, and merged the two large groups of horses.
This year's war has affected the agricultural production in the Losa Basin. Although the war lasted for a relatively short time, the summer grain output in the Losa Basin was about 6,000 tons less than in previous years.
Fortunately, Richard was prepared in advance and sold about 40,000 orc prisoners of war, which not only reduced food losses but also recovered part of the funds.
Including the output of animal husbandry, even if 20,000 more troops are added to the garrison, the food this year will be enough.
After taking the Losa Basin, there are a lot of things happening everywhere. Although Richard has decentralized some government affairs, he has still been extremely busy in recent months.
Agricultural production, household registration statistics, defense line construction, many things require Richard's signature and approval.
Now that the summer harvest is over, I can finally relax.
Every June 12th is the Harvest Festival in Harland Territory.
The Harvest Festival is a relatively new festival, only about seven or eight years old. At first, the freedmen spontaneously organized, brought out fruits and food, and celebrated the harvest with singing and dancing on the night of June 12th.
Since last year, the Harvest Festival has become an official holiday in Harland.
On this day, there are not only large-scale performances at the Fort William Opera House, but also grand celebrations in the square.
During this year's Harvest Festival, in order to integrate the population of the Losa Basin into the Harland Territory, Richard specially wrote to Rogge, asking the opera singers from Fort William to come to the Losa Basin and perform for the people here for a period of time.
And on the evening of June 12th, a large celebration is held.
The members of the Fort William Opera Company are all locals, and most of them are very young. Many of them are no more than twenty years old. Since they can remember, they have been free citizens and their lives are relatively prosperous and stable.
Many opera singers have also attended elementary school and have some knowledge.
The artistic development in the Dawn Plane is lackluster, with music, fine arts, sculpture and other arts almost all serving the aristocratic class. In the entire Grant Kingdom, there are very few people engaged in art.
There is only one opera house and dozens of jugglers in the royal capital Nolan. On the contrary, there are a relatively large number of family painters, totaling more than several hundred people in the Grant Kingdom.
The living standards of the people of Grant Kingdom are not high. More than 90% of the country's population are serfs, working hard every day and worrying about food and clothing. Even in the capital Nolan, the vast majority of people are poor and do not even have enough to eat. Of course, there is no soil for the development of art.
After the development of the Harland territory, the living standards of the freedmen were greatly improved.
This year, there are already 260,000 free citizens under Harland's leadership. With enough soil, various arts are springing up like mushrooms after a rain. Folk painters, folk singers, dancers, and jugglers all appeared in Fort William.
After Richard became an earl, he established an opera house, formed a song and dance troupe, and even personally directed the writing of scripts, creating "Soldiers of the Northern Xinjiang", "Song of Spring", "The Great Invention", "A Good Harvest Day", etc. Opera works.
The stories and plots of these works are relatively simple, and the lyrics are close to reality. They praise the soldiers, farmers and scientific researchers led by Harland. They have caused great response and sensation in this place where entertainment activities are extremely scarce.
In just a year or two, the opera singer had become a very popular person in Fort William.
Catherine rode a skinny horse and, together with her companions from the song and dance troupe, followed a material transport team and arduously advanced along the Halland Valley.
After entering the northern part of the Fort, the road was already very difficult. Catherine and others even had to get off their horses, carry some supplies on their backs, and pull their horses forward.
The actors of the cabaret are treated like stars in Fort William and are sought after wherever they go. They receive relatively generous salaries and have no worries about food and clothing. They have never suffered the same hardships as their parents.
It was only half a day after leaving the depot, leaving the spacious road, and carrying heavy luggage on her young shoulders. Catherine felt that her legs were extremely heavy.
"Mr. Steven, how long until we reach Losa Basin?"
Steven turned around and saw Catherine breathing heavily, with some tears in her eyes. So she said comfortingly: "Keep on holding on, we're almost there."
Although Catherine was not admitted to junior high school, she was a smart person. She immediately noticed Steven's perfunctory behavior and continued to ask: "How long do we have to go? How long does it take to get to the Losar Basin?"
Seeing Catherine asking again and again, Steven had no choice but to tell the truth: "At this speed, it will take three days to enter the Losar Basin." Upon hearing
the answer, Catherine felt a little frustrated. He said with a depressed face: "We still have three days to walk, and I can't walk now." "You
have to persist even if you can't walk. There are still scattered orcs on this road who will attack lone people. If you don't follow the big group, Your safety is not guaranteed.
Our mission time is very tight and we cannot wait for you. If we persist for another two hours, there will be a post station more than ten kilometers away. We can rest at the post station." As a star of the Fort William Theater,
Catherine She was quite famous near Fort William, but her social status was not comparable to Steven's.
Stevin was one of the earliest soldiers in the Harland Territory. Although he had average qualifications and was still a second-level warrior for more than ten years, he had a wide network of contacts and great reputation, and had friendships with many senior leaders in the Harland Territory.
Steven has been retired from Haaland's team for five years and is now a transport businessman. His caravan is the same as the official caravan controlled by Richard's cousin Gavin. It is mainly responsible for military logistics and transportation business, and its annual profits are relatively stable.
Now Steven's caravan has dozens of mercenaries under his command. These mercenaries are basically from Black River Fort, and many of them are retired soldiers from the Northern Army. These mercenaries can be regarded as the third-line troops led by Harland, and they must obey the command and participate in the war in an emergency.
Starting last year, Harland led the establishment of two major trade unions: demon hunting and mercenary trade unions. Although Steven is a businessman, he is a member of the two trade unions and formed his own mercenary group. Because of his upper-level connections, both It is relatively prestigious among large trade unions.
Seeing that Steven had become serious, Catherine could only grit her teeth and insist on following the large army and walked to the inn.
After passing the inn, the roads in the valley were much easier to walk. After three days of hard work, the opera troupe followed Steven's caravan and finally arrived in the Losa Basin.
(End of chapter)