Under the Red Dragon.

Chapter 175 Declaration of War
"The dark cloud of war has enveloped the Golden Land. The orc kingdom in the distance has dismantled the bridge that represents friendship and peace, killed the people of the dragon, and infringed on the interests of the merchant group. Their troops are now heading towards the Golden Land."

"But these greedy and vicious orcs are still coveting our territory and want to occupy our homes. They want to rob you of your land, take your wives, make you slaves again, and squeeze your blood dry."

The mayor of Heyu Town stood on a high terrace, looking at the densely packed residents gathered in the center of the town, and cheered.

"They want to take advantage of the great lords who rule over the tribes, the wise monarchs of the Golden Land and the generous lords who fall asleep, to invade my homeland and enslave my golden people."

"Therefore, under the will of the Supreme Lord, the Holy Gogmora, the interim governor of the Golden Land, the Minister of Military Affairs, the Minister of Military Affairs, the Minister of Law Enforcement, the Minister of Law, the Minister of Publicity ...

Every word the mayor said was deafening, and every word echoed in everyone's ears, because it was not just him alone. Every word he said was repeated loudly by many angry people, passing the flames of anger into everyone's hearts.

"The Golden Land officially declares war on the Orc Kingdom. Under the will of the Holy Lord Gogmora, all the golden people will unite and gather together. Under the banner of the dragon, we will drive the orcs out of our homeland and destroy the enemies who dare to invade this land."

The voices of people surged like waves, one after another, surging and boiling. The loud and simultaneous shouts resounded over the sky above the town, scaring away the flying birds and spreading into the distance.

"The Governor's Office of the Golden Land, the regional executive governments, and the local military command and military departments should declare war and mobilize all the Golden People to prepare for direct combat with the Orc Kingdom, and mobilize all the Golden People to volunteer to serve in the rear of the war. Before all the warriors die, no freeman will have to face the front line of the war."

The mayor's not-so-tall body looked like an old lion at this moment, his beard fluttering like a lion's mane, his hair and beard all furious. He raised his arms and shouted, "May the will of the Holy High Lord Gogmora be with us, and the Golden People will surely win!"

"May the will of the Holy High Lord Gogmora be with us, and the People of Gold will surely win!" The residents around shouted in unison at this moment, raising their arms high and offering their enthusiasm to the fluttering dragon flag.

In the hearts of the vast majority of free people in the Golden Land, the lord here is the most generous and wise lord in the world of Ekania.

Because in other noble territories, not to mention the serfs who had no autonomy, even for free farmers who owned their own land, the annual taxes would account for 70% to 80% of the harvest from their hard work.

Even in the land blessed by the goddess of fertility, most of the lower-class people cannot guarantee to have enough to eat every day, because the more they harvest, the more they have to give away.

In years with poor harvests, many people would starve to death, or in order to survive, the lower class people would sell themselves and their families to the nobles and become serfs. This is how a steady supply of serfs came about.

Moreover, it is not just the grain and land taxes that are blood-sucking. In order to exploit their subjects, many lords would create various taxes, such as the window tax. Any window facing the street or opening outwards is subject to a window tax.

Or maybe a fancy-dress tax, where people's clothing is taxed according to how fancy it is.

There are also strange taxes such as beard tax, name change tax, coffin tax, rat tax, hat tax, etc. Although the amounts of these strange taxes are not large, they are diverse enough.

If they were not careful, even their remaining rations would be confiscated, which left the people in other noble territories in a state of numbness and worry all day long.

But in the Golden Land, the voluntary migrants attracted by the policies formulated by the dragon group and some free people who have gained freedom enjoy a ten-year tax exemption period, and after ten years, the grain tax they need to pay is only one-fifth.

Only one-fifth of the grain is required to be paid as land tax each year. The laws of the dragon group are strict, but as long as you abide by the laws of the territory, you can gain great relative freedom, and there are no strange taxes to exploit you.

The great lord of the Golden Land is not these native souls. Guided by his will, the dragons do not target only the peasants who are the foundation of the kingdom.

Moreover, Kallon also knew that the profits created by a purely agricultural society were far less than the profits that could be created after the development of the industrial base. Therefore, most of the wealth of the dragon group now comes from more and more factories and commercial trade, and there is no need to exploit the farmers.

Therefore, these free people, who have the largest numerical base, fully support the dragon lords and will firmly defend their rights and the hard-earned good life.

"I must kill these orc bastards," a strong peasant squeezed out from the crowd, raised his hands and shouted, "I can shoot arrows. I used to be the captain of the archers under a minor noble. I want to sign up to join the army!"

The other people around who signed up to join the logistics force immediately paid tribute to this brave warrior. Brave soldiers always receive more respect.

With this brave warrior taking the lead, many young people were immediately excited and rushed forward, shouting: "I can throw spears, I want to sign up too."

"I know a little bit about swordsmanship,"

"I'm very accurate with the slingshot!"

The officer who was sent to recruit the logistics support troops sat behind the table with sweat on his forehead. The mayor beside him showed a satisfied smile and shouted loudly: "Come one by one and tell the recruiting officer what you are good at. Don't cut in line. You, don't squeeze!"

This scene was played out in all the towns. When the crisis came, all the people in the territory were finally united, and the embryonic form of the Golden People was like a spark under the ashes, gradually spreading across the prairie. As the city farthest from the Gold Coast, the City of Gulfstream was also shrouded in an atmosphere of impending storm under the guidance of the propaganda department.

These members of the pioneer group who had finally obtained the status of freemen also voluntarily responded to the call and formed a large team. They were ready to transport food, weapons and other supplies to the royal capital by ship to prepare for the subsequent war.

Nora was at the home of the village chief Uncle Faan at the moment, watching her elf aunt packing Uncle Faan's bags and putting on leather armor. She was squatting on the ground, taking care of her younger brother, a half-elf and human hybrid, who was also the first hybrid born in Gulfstream City.

"Be careful and don't be impulsive. The dragon warriors are very powerful. You just need to stay at the back." The already beautiful face of the married elf was given an even more holy glow, which was the glow of motherhood.

Although elves are also a proud race, most of them are also extremely loyal, loyal to family and responsibility, except for those variants with a bad reputation, the drow elves.

Faan kissed his elven wife on the forehead and whispered, "Of course I know, but I couldn't protect the purity of the gods before, but now I can do my part for my family and my home. Ashaye, I won't let the orcs get close to here."

After snuggling with his wife, Faan came over to Nora.

Looking at his son, who was sitting in the wooden fence, holding the wooden toy he made by himself, and quietly looking at him with his round black eyes, he whispered to Nora: “Nora, remember to take care of your brother and aunt after I leave. You are a girl I trust.”

Nora has grown into a big girl now. Adequate diet and lively and active personality have made Nora tall and rosy-skinned. She has grown from a kind girl into a kind wild horse.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything, Uncle Fahn, you just have to be careful," the eldest girl Nora assured, patting her chest with her long thick braids draped over her shoulders.

"Well," Faan bent down, held his well-behaved son in his arms, kissed him gently on the forehead, and whispered, "Natis, my son, I will fight for you, and may the will of the holy Gogmora shine upon you and me!"

"Wow," the calm toddler suddenly grabbed Faan's trimmed beard and started crying loudly.

……

In the menagerie built at the foot of the mountains, far outside the Golden City, one wyvern after another was pulled out of the pen by strong gnoll barbarians, tied with tough ropes to the saddle buckles on their chests and backs.

The restless pterosaur's nostrils twitched and its head shook from side to side. The entire animal pen was filled with the fishy smell of these wild beasts.

Then, a layer of fine leather armor was put on the vulnerable chests and abdomens of these two-legged flying dragons. These flying dragons had no scales on their bodies, only a layer of wrinkled and tough skin for defense, so as aerial troops, they were very easy to be hit in the weak spots.

The original plan was to cover the weak points of the wyvern with a layer of iron armor, but the wyvern was not a true dragon after all. Although it was powerful compared to ordinary warriors, it could not bear heavy objects.

It was easy enough to carry the tall Gnoll warriors and their weapons, but if he wanted to maintain his flexibility, he couldn't add any more weight.

Long-handled moon blades are placed on the saddle rings of the wyverns. These dragons are not as agile and fast as the bat-winged dragons, but they can be used as close-range combat troops to attack the ground from the air. In the hands of the knights, these moon blades will become sickles for mowing grass, but what they harvest are lives.

A six-meter-long two-legged dragon with a wingspan of fifteen meters suddenly resisted, struggling against the ring around its neck.

"How dare you refuse the dragon's call, beast," a wolf soldier whipped it unceremoniously. The cold voice calmed the intelligent dragon down.

Wyverns are not considered dragons by the dragons, so these warriors tame them as beasts that cannot resist.

Seeing that the wyverns had calmed down, the captain of the air cavalry, a human warrior, took off the horn from his waist and blew the assembly horn.

These aerial cavalrymen turned over and, led by their captain, rode their flying dragons into the air, flying towards the grassland. In the distance, behind these cavalrymen was a giant blue dragon, Carlit.

As these aerial cavalrymen looked down, they could see that not only were many herds of animals in the menagerie migrating toward the center of the dragon territory, but the entire Golden City's population was also moving out of the city. Countless residents, with their families, used horses or trailers to transfer their property toward the heart of the territory - the King's City.

Only the arsenal that had been opened not far away earlier was becoming increasingly busy. Countless soldiers were driving horse-drawn carriages loaded with weapons and ordnance, rushing to the City of Gold.

As Lanlong Akzi said, this is a test, not only a test of war response, but also a comprehensive test of organizational ability, cohesion, etc.

(End of this chapter)