I'm not a lord

Chapter 151 The Iron Cable Crosses the River
Earl Chillwind's intentions were good.

The army fears most that its retreat be cut off.

Returning to defend Sanhe City and recovering the Baihe River Basin is the safest and least error-prone option.

It also proves the Earl's own loyalty.

He was also certain that the current Baron of White Bear Territory was not his second son, Roman, and he could take this opportunity to avenge his second son.

It can be said that it kills three birds with one stone.

But the Duke of Moorland didn't think so.

First of all, is Earl Chillwind’s loyalty really reliable?

It was not until the year before last that the Hanfeng Family secretly defected to the Duke.

Before this, the Cold Wind Family were the most loyal border earls of the royal family, guarding the Cold Wind Valley for the royal family for more than a hundred years.

Even though the Earl's words were sincere enough and his analysis was reasonable enough, he still could not gain the Duke of Swamp's complete trust.

After all, all the information about Roman comes from Count Cold Wind's personal opinion.

The Duke and his close associates knew almost nothing about Roman.

You, Count Cold Wind, said that Roman died at the hands of a traitor. Do you have any concrete evidence?
From the perspective of the Duke of Swamp, there are only two things he can be sure of:

First, the White Bear Baron who called himself Roman colluded with Yagna of the Shoalland Baron, and under the banner of the Earl and the Duke, sent troops to invade the four baronies in the White River Basin.

Secondly, this Roman had an astonishingly large army that could easily defeat the coalition of four barons.

In official documents, Roman is the second son of Count Coldwind.

All information beyond this is purely speculation.

Is this Roman really someone else's impersonation?
Is he really not the second son of Earl Cold Wind?
Is it true that the Duke of the Valley or some other great noble is behind Roman?

The Duke of Marsh couldn't tell the difference, really couldn't tell the difference!
There was too little information available to him right now.

How can he make a reasonable decision without sufficient and reliable information?
Based on these logics, the Duke of Swamp completely disagreed with Earl Chillwind's proposal.

At this moment, he had just defeated the illegitimate king who led the army in person, and once again surrounded the important city of Cologne in the crown territory.

The situation is very good, and the Crown of the North seems to be within reach.

If we retreat now, the Duke of Swamp will have to shrink his own front, and the results of the past six months will be wiped out.

The illegitimate king will also get a precious breathing space, time to raise more troops to protect the royal family.

Moreover, there are huge loopholes in Earl Frostwind's proposal.

Sanhe City is an autonomous city and has the power to refuse entry to the Duke's army.

The military discipline in this era is really touching.

Although the court knights under the Duke's command were close to a standing army, their military discipline had not improved much, and they still robbed wherever they went.

Over the past six months, the northwest part of the Crown Territory has been turned over and over by this group of people several times.

Even the Duke can't stop the brothers from getting rich!
Therefore, without a clear enemy attack, Sanhe City was unlikely to allow this army, which was accustomed to looting, to enter the city.

By that time, the enemy army had not yet captured the city, but the people of our own country had already looted everything.

After careful consideration, the Duke of Swamp said to Earl Frostwind below: "Go back first and confirm the true identity of this Roman as soon as possible."

After sending the count away, he called his eldest son Laszlo.

"Father, I don't agree with withdrawing! The only thing we have to do now is to take that damn crown! I still hope to attack Amber Harbor immediately! Don't worry about the rebels behind us!"

After reading the secret letter, Laszlo immediately rejected Count Coldwind's proposal to retreat.

The battle has come to this point. To retreat now would be to completely abandon the Northern Crown, and that would truly fall into the trap of the Duke of the Vale!
Although Laszlo did not agree with the withdrawal, he also believed that this was a conspiracy of the Duke of the Valley.

In the past six months, the Duke of the Valley has been quiet and has not even harassed the border of the Dukedom, but I didn't expect that he was preparing such a big thing!
The royal family has been devastated. If we withdraw our troops now, what difference would that make to us compared to handing the crown to the Duke of the Valley?
A retreat is certainly important, but for an army that relies on looting to replenish its rations, it does not seem that important.

Once they take over the Northern Crown, won’t the entire crown territory be their retreat?
Faced with his overly radical eldest son and the most conservative Earl of Chillwind, the Duke of Swamp finally chose a relatively safe path.

On the one hand, the Duke of Swamp quickly sent an envoy to Three Rivers City, asking Mayor Jurgen to collect more information about Roman and instructing him to strengthen defenses and make sure to defend the city.

At the same time, the Duke also sent an urgent letter to his wife who stayed at the Golden Deer Castle, asking her to mobilize a group of noble knights, and gave her power, ordering her to act according to circumstances.

On the other hand, in order to prevent intelligence leaks, the Duke strictly blocked the news within the army, and only a few senior officials knew about the changes in the Baihe River Basin.

Afterwards, he sent envoys to Coron City and Amber Port respectively, with the main purpose of persuading them to surrender.

As long as the royal family is willing to surrender and seek peace, and send the little princess to marry their eldest son, everything will be easy.

As for the Duke of Swamp and his army, they remained in place to surround the city of Cologne, and always pretended to move eastward to Amber Harbor.

The army will return to Sanhe City from Coron City and will arrive within half a month.

If there is any change in Sanhe City, we can provide timely support.

The Duke currently considers this plan to be the optimal solution.

In fact, the Duke of Swamp had not even considered suppressing the rebellion in the White River region.

Given the terrain in the Baihe River Basin, it is quite difficult to suppress the rebellion.

If the total number of rebels is really more than a thousand according to the intelligence, he must bring back the entire army to quell the rebellion.

The rebels only need to poke the Duke in the ass, but the Duke needs to consider many conditions if he wants to quell the rebellion.

While the Duke of Swamp was sending out messengers one after another, Lynn was releasing them.

The joint delegation that was previously detained in the Shoal Territory has been escorted to the River Marsh Territory.

The composition of this delegation is quite complex, including knights' wives and knights' squires from four baronies, as well as the duchess' maids from Golden Deer Castle.

The ladies' husbands either died in the battle at Green Water River or fled with their respective barons.

Lin En did not make things difficult for this group of local "old hands". He allowed all those who were willing to leave to go, and arranged suitable positions for those who wanted to stay based on their abilities and gender.

To put it bluntly, men were sent to the army and women remarried.

There is always no shortage of widowers in each territory, and these former ladies are quite popular in the marriage market.

The two Duchess maids took away Lynn's handwritten letter and would return to the Golden Deer Castle as quickly as possible.

Arriving in Hehuan Territory together with the joint delegation were several key personnel led by Old Albert.

The territorial governor of Hezhama Territory had already fled with the baron, so Lynn just asked old Albert to take over the position.

Of the six baronies in the White River Basin, River Barony is the largest, most populous, and most southernly located, with a total population of nearly 8,000.

Lynn would only feel at ease if she handed this heavy responsibility to old Albert.

As the name suggests, the River and Swamp Territory has a large number of riverbanks and swamps.

There is a vast marshland in its southeast.

The marshland is dotted with swamps and strings of small lakes. It is the natural boundary between the River Marsh Territory and Sanhe City, and is also a rare natural defense facility.

The south and southwest of Hezhao Territory are all continuous forests, with two forest trails connecting to Sanhe City.

Overall, the terrain of the Baihe River Basin north of Sanhe City is relatively closed, the roads are rugged and narrow, and communication with the outside world is mostly by water.

This is also why the Duke of Swampland divided this place into six baronies, in order to prevent local separatist forces from growing stronger.

Now that Lin En has taken all six baronies, this natural terrain has become his best defense against the enemy.

The enclosed terrain also brought unexpected surprises.

That is, the number of serfs who escaped from the River Marsh Territory was negligible.

These serfs were used to living in the local area, and the terrain made it difficult for them to escape, which was a perfect opportunity for Lin En.

"Albert, you have a very important task. Before the spring plowing season arrives, you must promote the advanced experience of White Bear Territory as much as possible to ensure a good harvest this autumn."

Lynn was used to letting Old Albert take on the most difficult tasks.

Who says Lao Ai is tough, durable and capable?

After the spring plowing is completed, Lin En will give Lao Ai a huge "surprise" this year.

"Understood, sir!"

Old Albert is enjoying it now.

His eldest son inherited the position of White Bear Territory's chief steward, and his two younger sons are currently studying in school, with equally bright futures. Of course, he will always support his bright and great master.

Managing these thousands of people was no difficulty for old Albert.

In the White Bear Territory, he could manage more than 3,000 people and keep them obedient. When he arrived in the River and Swamp Territory, it would only be a matter of doubling the number of people and the amount of arable land, which was still a piece of cake.

The master will protect him and is his most solid backing. What does he have to be afraid of?
Of course, governing a territory involves more than just farming.

On the second day after arriving in Hezhao Territory, Lin En ran all over the territory, memorized the terrain features of each place, and formulated a preliminary defense plan based on the terrain.

Until this autumn, Lin En is unlikely to deploy troops on a large scale. The current military strength is not enough to support his continued expansion. The main focus of his territory is defense and development.

The most cost-effective defense solution is naturally to build fortifications based on the terrain.

On land, he planned to build a large number of blockhouses and watchtowers at the southern exit of the forest to strictly control the entry and exit of people.

On the water surface, he planned to put iron chains across the river, using controllable iron chains and bridges to block the water surface.

March is the dry season of the Baihe River. The water flows slowly and the water level is very shallow, which is perfect for building water surface fortifications.

Just as Lin En was conducting a field survey along the White River, a familiar paddle boat came from the south and docked at the Hezhamaling Pier.

Leon couldn't wait to jump over the side of the boat. "My friend, I never thought you could unify the entire White River Basin after only one year in White Bear Territory!"

Lin En's answer was very humble: "No, we still lack Sanhe City."

(End of this chapter)