Chapter 325 Adjusting the Garrison
In late August, the Harland family and the Grant royal family completed the territory exchange. Zachary led the Iron Lion Army southward and entered the Dukedom of Hubbard.
After the Iron Lion Army moved south, a big hole appeared in the northern Xinjiang defense line, and Richard led the coalition forces from the four provinces to begin a rapid withdrawal.
Fortunately, the orcs suffered heavy losses last year and have no intention of invading this year. Otherwise, if they seize the loophole of the Iron Lion Army going south and enter northern Xinjiang through the two valley passages of Anis and Sonia, several provinces in northern Xinjiang may suffer heavy losses.
In recent years, the provincial structure of the Kingdom of Grant has been constantly changing.
First, a civil war broke out, and after the rebellion was suppressed, the territory of the three southern earls was turned into a central province.
Then by supporting the restoration of the Jonathan family, the province of Grotta was carved out from the Dukedom of Jonathan.
This year, the Southern Expedition royal family exchanged the Grota province for the southern territory, and the central four provinces in the northern Xinjiang region were transformed back into three provinces.
For more than ten years, the power of the Grant royal family in the south has been greatly expanded, and six central provinces and one earldom have been established. The territory under direct jurisdiction has expanded by 120,000 square kilometers, the annual economic income has also increased by 600,000 gold coins, and the power under its control has greatly increased.
After the war started this year, King Roger once again chose to expand his army and began to recruit talents from across the country to prepare for a new royal guard corps.
If the formation of the new legion is completed, the number of main legions directly under the royal family will reach nine. Including five royal guard regiments and four regiments of frontier troops, the total number of troops is close to 200,000.
By then, the border army will also be divided into northern and southern parts. The Northern Army and the Wild Lion Army will be stationed in the three northern provinces, while the Grizzly Bear Army and the Iron Lion Army will be stationed in the three new provinces in the south.
Three regiments of the Royal Guards are stationed in Nolan, and the remaining two regiments are also temporarily stationed in the three southern provinces. Counting the main legions left by the two Dukes of Guise and Duran, and the new coalition of territorial nobles, there are a total of 150,000 troops stationed in the newly expanded territory in the south. With these 150,000 troops stationed, the newly expanded territory is enough to block the prying eyes of Delong and the East Coast, and maintain stability.
Maintaining an army of 150,000 to occupy the conquered areas of the Delon Kingdom may result in losses in the short term, but in the long term it will be a huge profit. After conquering the occupied area with a population of more than three million, the Grant Kingdom's national power will also increase dramatically.
Whether it is the royal family or the nobility, with new territories, military power will inevitably expand.
In addition to the royal family, the Harland family is also developing very rapidly. Counting the new territories exchanged this year, the Harland duchy has added 35,000 square kilometers of land, and the territory area now reaches 128,000 square kilometers. Ranked fourth in the Grant Kingdom, behind the Grant Royal Family, Archduke Stanek, and the Duke of York.
The Duchy of Halland has a total of six counties under its jurisdiction, namely East Grotta County, West Grotta County, Halland County, Losa Basin County, Salt Lake County, and Southern Eagle Mountain County.
Almost the entire central and eastern region of the Eagle Mountains is included in the Dukedom of Harland, and one-third of the Black River Basin belongs to the Dukedom of Harland.
In terms of geographical location and comprehensive strength, the Dukedom of Harland has surpassed the three Dukes Jonathan, Fox, and Edward, ranking first in Northern Xinjiang.
The troops began to withdraw from mid-September and returned to the territory in early October.
During this southern expedition, the nobles in the northern Xinjiang region once again reaped a bumper harvest.
The coalition of nobles fought only one large-scale battle. The nobles of the four provinces suffered only more than a thousand casualties in total, and they were granted two baronies.
The nobles who did not receive titles also collected a lot of gold coins and many people through this southern expedition.
As the commander, Richard of course 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 people who were merged into the Duchy of Harland this year The population will reach 360,000. Coupled with the free migration of free people, the new population multiplied.
The population counted by the end of this year will probably exceed 1.4 million.
A population of 1.4 million is scattered over hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land. The degree of development is still not high. There are still large areas of barren mountains and ridges in Harland Territory.
After returning to the territory, Richard continued to issue transfer orders to transfer officials from Harland Territory to the newly created East Grotta County.
East Grotta 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 area of Lach Province. It is considered a densely populated area in northern Xinjiang. Although it has moved to the Grand Duchy of Stanik Many, the royal family also took away its supporters, and there are still 170,000 serfs and 60,000 free people.
In the past, there were thirteen hereditary noble families in this land, and these people were all vassals of Duke Jonathan's family. After Duke Jonathan returned to the kingdom, these vassals followed Duke Jonathan to the Grand Duchy of Stanek. In exchange for this territory, the territory was handed over to the Grant royal family and the new province of Grotta was established.
There are now four hereditary noble territories in the Grotta Province, including the Barony of Burnie, which was granted to Richard's third uncle. The other three hereditary territories are the Barony of Jose, the Barony of Vida, and the Barony of Gruman.
In the intervention army formed this year, the four noble families jointly sent 2,000 troops. Although they did not achieve great military exploits, they reaped many benefits. Each family captured two to three thousand serfs, and their strength was slightly improved.
By signing a territorial exchange agreement with the royal family, all four barons became vassals of the Duchy of Halland.
Due to some disadvantages in exchanging territories, at Richard's request, the three baronies of Sharp, Soros, and Ron were also transferred.
There are now seven hereditary noble vassals under the Duchy of Harland. Among the officers within the territory, a few had achieved military exploits that were relatively close to being knighted.
Martin and his eldest son have already accumulated seven major military exploits. Lorraine, Lost, and Vito have all achieved more than five major military exploits. Even the rising star Jennings has four majors and eight mediums to his name.
These people are not too old. The eldest Martin is just fifty years old and can still serve in the Harland Territory for more than ten years. If things go smoothly, they all have a great chance of being promoted to the hereditary nobility and becoming the leader of the Harland family. vassal.
After the province of Grotta was assigned to the Harland family, part of the local bureaucrats were transferred to the provinces of Lach and Gedda, especially the senior bureaucrats, who were all palace nobles and people who directly served the Grant royal family. These people Richard It is also impossible to use. Among the middle and low-level officials, many locals have remained. These people need to be screened by senior officials led by Harland, and the suitable ones will be retained. Most positions, especially important positions, will only be reserved for Haaland to lead his own people.
In order to avoid any trouble during the handover, we have been keeping a very close eye on everyone during the recent period. After the territory was handed over, all the coins in the treasury were moved away, leaving a lot of food and baggage to offset the southern territory.
After Richard returned to the territory, he settled things in East Grotta County and went to inspect the northern area of the Eagle Mountains in late October. Mainly inspect the double stars, river banks, canyons, nits, hurricanes and other northern border castles.
After climbing over 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 dangerous to move along the northern foot of the Eagle Mountains. It was only a border noble like Richard who had rich war experience and courage who would not be afraid of danger and dare to operate in the buffer zone of both sides.
Within the Duchy of Harland, there are six large valleys that can pass through the Eagle Mountains area. From east to west, they are Sonia Valley, Annes Canyon, North Canyon, Tani Valley, Hurricane Canyon, and Platos Valley.
The army can pass through these valleys, and each valley needs an army to be stationed to resist the orcs.
As the Iron Lion Army Zachary's troops moved south, the defensive pressure of the Duchy of Harland increased greatly, and it was necessary to increase troops in the direction of Sonia Canyon and Annes Canyon.
Fortunately, Double Star Castle, Iron Lion Castle, and Riverside Castle have been established in this area, forming a complete defense line. There is no need for Harland to spend manpower and material resources. He only needs to station a large army in this direction.
After Richard returned to northern Xinjiang with his army, he immediately dispatched the First Brigade, the Fifth Brigade, the Thirteenth, and the Fourteenth Army, with two thousand auxiliary troops stationed in this line of defense.
Because it was too far away from Fort William, the force could not be easily commanded by the headquarters. Richard appointed Soros as the commander-in-chief in the direction of Grotta, commanding the troops stationed in the east and west Grotta counties.
The commander of East Grotta River County appointed Martin to command four infantry brigades and two thousand auxiliary troops, with a total strength of eight thousand men.
There are also four infantry brigades stationed in Sigrota County, and a reconnaissance cavalry brigade is stationed in the King's Castle. Richard also placed the newly built Second Warcraft Cavalry Brigade in Sigrota River County. Including the magic hot air balloon team, there are more than 8,000 regular troops stationed in this county.
Counting more than 3,000 auxiliary troops, the two counties have a total of 14,000 regular troops, 5,000 auxiliary troops, and 2,000 security troops.
Even with 20,000 troops stationed, this direction is still unstable.
When the territory's 4,000 new recruits complete training this year, Richard will organize these 4,000 fully trained recruits into ten new brigades, continue to add three brigades of infantry to this area, and add a magic hot air balloon reconnaissance team, adding Trebuchet crews were supplemented by auxiliary troops, bringing the total number to twenty-eight thousand.
Starting last fall, the Harland leader began to build a castle in the northern part of the Taney Canyon. It took 13 months and 8,000 laborers were mobilized. In September this year, the construction of Nitte Castle was completed.
Both sides of the Taney Canyon are sparsely populated areas that have hardly been effectively developed. In the early years, the Grant Kingdom built the Flying Eagle Fort in the south of the Taney Canyon and mobilized a second-line army to take charge.
With the expansion of the Harland Territory, this canyon has completely fallen under the control of the Harland Territory. The defenders of Flying Eagle Castle have withdrawn from the Grizzly Bear Fort. Now the castles in the north and south of the canyon need Harland Territory garrison troops.
Although the troops were insufficient, Richard could not watch the loopholes appear in the defense line, so he dispatched the second and sixth main brigades to be stationed in Nite Castle in the north of the canyon. As for Tucker Castle and Flying Eagle Castle on the south side of the canyon, they were temporarily We can only have auxiliary troops stationed there.
The remaining five infantry brigades, a reconnaissance cavalry brigade, the 1st Warcraft Cavalry Brigade, headquarters staff and logistics personnel, and territorial mage regiments are all stationed in the Losar Basin, the Tower of Fire, and the Fort William line.
The defense of the Platos Valley can only be left to the aristocratic coalition of seven vassals.
Before going south this year, Harland led a total of fifteen infantry brigades, two reconnaissance cavalry brigades, and a Warcraft cavalry brigade. Including the headquarters personnel, the number of regular troops was approximately 28,000.
In December last year, the territory began recruiting soldiers, and at the beginning of the year, 4,000 people entered the recruit training camp. After the southern expedition, Richard felt that his troops were insufficient, so he recruited 3,000 serf soldiers on the spot in the Dukedom of Isaac, and then recruited 7,000 captive soldiers from the United Kingdom on the east coast.
Counting the 4,000 fully trained recruits, Haaland's army has expanded by 14,000 this year. However, these 14,000 troops may not have experienced the brutal battlefield test, their military morale is not very stable, and their combat effectiveness is not very good. powerful. Give Richard two infantry brigades, and he will be sure to defeat these 14,000 recruits.
After the Iron Lion and Grizzly Legions were transferred south, the defense lines responsible for these two legions were handed over to Harland. In order to defend several valleys, the Harland Territory must speed up its military expansion.
According to the situation on the front line, the regular army needs to be expanded to 50,000 to 60,000 men to maintain the stability of the defense line.
Not only this year, but also the next two years will require large-scale military expansion. Richard has already made a plan and will need to train 6,000 recruits in each of the next two years.
This year's training of 4,000 new recruits is about to be completed. Richard dispersed the 4,000 new recruits into ten new brigades two months in advance. These new brigades were numbered from the 15th to the 24th. A group of key officers will serve as captains of the newly formed brigade, and then prepare to run in for two months before being assigned to various fronts next spring.
According to the plan of the General Staff, three new brigades will be strengthened in the direction of Grotta, three new brigades will be strengthened in the Tarni Valley, one new brigade will be stationed in Salt Lake Fort, two new brigades will be strengthened in the Losa Basin, and Platos will The direction is to strengthen a new brigade.
After completing the reorganization, General Harland had 28,000 old troops and 14,000 new troops, a total of 42,000 field troops. Each county had city defense troops and about 30,000 auxiliary troops. Plus the three thousand soldiers the seven baron vassals could mobilize. The total strength of the Dukedom of Harland will expand to a huge 75,000 men.
It's a pity that it is filled with a large number of recruits and auxiliary soldiers with weak combat effectiveness. The only ones who have truly enhanced their combat effectiveness are still 28,000 veterans. Richard was still a little worried about whether he could withstand the orc army in two years.
After inspecting the border castle along the northern part of the Eagle Mountain Range, it was already November.
November in northern Xinjiang is already very cold, especially in the northern foothills of the Eagle Mountains, which has already frozen in early October.
After Richard arrived at the Canyon Castle, a heavy snow fell, blocking the mountain roads leading from north to south. In the end, he could only bring a few professional officers back to Fort William from the Lothar Basin.
(End of chapter)