I'm not a lord

Chapter 208 Non-Aggression Pact
Lynn hosted a banquet in the military camp to entertain the delegation from Mirror Iron Territory.

One shouldn't hit a smiling face. Even if it's just because of the valuable gift list worth thousands of Northern Gold Shields, Lynn should still do his best to be a good host.

Moreover, the initial negotiations between the two sides went very smoothly.

Although there were many details to the negotiations, Count Mirror Iron's demands totaled only two points.

One option is to maintain peaceful trade as before. During special periods, Count Vasa is willing to pay a premium for grain and ale, while the price of iron ingots will only be slightly increased, much less than the increase in the price of grain.

Secondly, a non-aggression pact must be signed with Lynn.

At the negotiating table, Evan, the envoy from Mirror Iron Territory, said the following:
"Count Vasa believes that we should use the Tranquil River as the boundary, with neither side interfering in the other's military and political activities, and each taking what they need in trade. This should be in the best interests of both of us."

Just by looking at the general contents of this treaty, Lynn could tell that Count Vasa was probably an ambitious man as well.

This man had been in charge of the Mirror Iron Territory for many years, accumulating a large number of elite troops and weapons. Naturally, he could not suppress his ambition to expand outwards.

The current Duke of the Valley is weak and incompetent, making him the best target for Count Vasa.

The Amber Harbor royal family has once again lost face and is no longer able to mediate the conflicts among nobles in various regions.

In addition, Duke Lothair of the Marsh led a rebellion and besieged the royal capital, Amber Harbor.

The entire Northern Kingdom has become the perfect stage for ambitious individuals to unleash their potential.

Lynn, who was also an ambitious man, readily agreed to the treaty.

It is now mid-July, and in less than a month, Baihe Territory will have an unprecedented bumper harvest of grain, so selling a little bit will not have much of an impact.

The road to the limonite mine in Chixi County had only just been completed, and the Gaoya tribe, who had moved into the mine, had four hundred able-bodied men taken away by Lynn to expand his army.

Therefore, this iron mine may not produce a substantial amount of iron ore until the end of the year.

As for the supporting ironworks, thanks to the joint efforts of blacksmith Eric and the county magistrate of Chixi County, it was just completed before the peak of the rainy season.

However, the training and development of iron smelting workers will still take a long time.

Lynn estimates that Chixi County will not be able to produce high-quality iron ingots in a relatively stable manner until at least next spring, or even the middle of next year.

Although he was able to discover iron ore, guide the construction of ironworks, and provide the most efficient bloomery ironmaking technology.

Even Lynn couldn't force knowledge and skills into the minds of the farmers.

Therefore, it is essential to continue the 'grain-iron ingot' trade with Mirror Iron Territory.

If the church forces in the western suburbs and the militia of Three Rivers are included, Lynn currently has nearly three thousand troops under his command, all of whom are professional soldiers who do not engage in production.

Maintaining the weaponry of such a large professional army would undoubtedly require an astronomical amount of iron ingots.

Moreover, Lynn will continue to mass produce troops.

According to the plan, around the time of the autumn harvest, he will recruit another thousand new soldiers and hand them over to his fifth brother, Andrei, to train them rigorously in White Bear County.

The 100 veterans assigned to Lao Wu last year have been transformed into professional instructors, specializing in training new recruits.

This can be considered the prototype of a military academy.

The fifth brother is the principal, and these veterans are the instructors.

With the addition of the school that Timo built in Heron County, Lynn now effectively had a dedicated school for officials and a military academy.

These two schools are like two highly efficient engines; simply throwing talent from the newly occupied territories into them can transform them into a huge driving force propelling the entire force forward.

Lynn's next steps in expansion were quite simple.

Send troops to conquer and occupy the territory, and destroy the superstructure within the territory;
To dispatch officials to manage the territory and disseminate advanced production technologies;
The existing middle-level managers in the territory are tied to high salaries and school places;

By granting them the status of free citizens, they attracted strong local serfs to military academies for training.

These steps will allow you to fully transform the newly occupied territory into your own comprehensive strength, which is equivalent to completely digesting the territory.

The officials and soldiers who emerge from this territory will conquer even more land for Lynn.

Stepping on the right foot with the left foot, you ascend to heaven on the spot.

This is the advantage of institutional development and school construction.

Because Lynn started building this system from the very beginning, his war machines were always able to operate at full power.

Moreover, the power of this chariot will increase, its speed will increase, and its efficiency in conquering new territories will also increase.

However, before starting the high-speed chase, Lynn needs to figure out one thing first.

Who are the potential allies that can be won over? And who are the enemies that should be eliminated as soon as possible?

No matter how strong Lynn is, he's not strong enough to be an enemy of all forces.

Winning over some and striking down others is arguably the most mature and reliable diplomatic strategy.

The visit of the envoy from the Mirror Iron Territory provided him with initial answers to these two questions.

That is to win over the forces south of the Jinghe River and eliminate the forces north of the Jinghe River as soon as possible.

Leaving the Three Rivers City and crossing the Tranquil River, to the south lies the Mirror Iron Territory, to the southwest are the other nobles under the Duke of the Valley, and to the southeast are the nobles of the Crown Territory who have just submitted to the Duke of the Swamp.

These people don't have much to do with Lynn, so there's no need for him to cross the Jinghe River now to attack them.

However, the styles of painting are completely different when going east or west.

To the east lies a group of nobles newly appointed by the Duke of the Marshland. In the early stages of the attack on the Crown Territory, he adopted an attitude of eliminating all nobles loyal to the royal family.

After capturing River Bend, he quickly appointed a group of nobles from among the court knights to govern the newly occupied territories.

Therefore, these newly rich were considered staunch supporters of the Marsh Duke.

Needless to say, west of Sanhe City lies the Turbulent County under the Duke of the Swamp, where officials at all levels are appointed and dismissed by the Duke, and are the most loyal of all.

From this perspective, the subsequent expansion goals become very clear.

Lynn and the Duke of the Marsh are sworn enemies. After reaching a non-aggression pact with the Earl of Mirror Iron, they should seize Turbulentshire as soon as possible to open the passage to Golden Deer Castle.

At the banquet, Lynn raised his glass and invited the envoy, Evan, to drink with him.

After a few rounds of drinks, he finalized the treaty with Jing Tieling on the spot.

Of course, Lynn never took any so-called treaty seriously, not in the past, not now, and certainly not in the future.

Treaties are meant to be torn up, aren't they?
For both Baihe Territory and Jingtie Territory, the cost of attacking the other is currently far greater than the benefits.

There are plenty of easy persimmons to squeeze, why pick the hardest one?
The main commodities of both territories are complementary, so signing a non-aggression pact would be the optimal solution for both sides, at least maintaining peace for a period of time. As for the more distant future, that will depend on their own methods.

The following day at noon, after another meal, the messenger Evan finally returned home satisfied.

He successfully completed the task assigned to him by Count Mirror Iron, and even exceeded expectations.

Even Count Mirror Iron probably couldn't have predicted that Lynn would agree to sign the treaty at the very first meeting.

Even the third brother felt it was a bit too fast.

During a routine military meeting, he raised his doubts and concerns:
“We know too little about Earl Mirror Iron. This treaty cannot be ruled out as a means to deceive us. It is said that his army imitates the court cavalry of the Duke of the Swamp. They are stationed at the Earl’s castle for daily training. Their numbers should be around 1,500. Their combat power is astonishing. We must guard against his sneak attack on Three Rivers City.”

Before settling in White Bear Territory, Lynn and his group had been living south of Jinghe River.

However, the main area of ​​activity is the region where the Valley Duchy and the Grassland Duchy meet, which is a more chaotic area and more suitable for bandits to operate.

The Earl of Mirror Iron is located at the easternmost end of the Valley Duchy, right next to the Crown Territory.

Therefore, Lynn and his men did not know much about Count Vasa.

Many merchants from Three Rivers City frequently travel to Mirror Iron Territory, such as Marcel, a grain merchant who has just become a city councilor.

But Marcel didn't know much either.

Count Vasa was very strict in managing the outside population. Even the closest merchants had difficulty getting close to his castle, let alone finding out details about his army.

In this respect, he is quite similar to Lynn.

But there are no secrets in this world.

According to multiple sources, Count Vasa centralized his territories over the past two decades, during which time he suppressed two rebellious baron relatives and even defeated the former Duke of the Valley who attempted to interfere in the internal affairs of his territories.

His army now numbers approximately 1,500 men and is extremely powerful, virtually unmatched within the Valley Duchy.

Lynn analyzed with full confidence:

"There is no need to worry about threats from Mirror Iron Territory in the short term. Vasa is a smart man and will not try to gnaw on the walls of Three Rivers City. Besides, there is nothing he needs in this city."

Sanhe City doesn't produce grain, and I've relocated most of the population from its western suburbs to Baihe Territory. Unless he can take over both Sanhe City and Baihe Territory in one fell swoop, but is that even possible?

He then issued the latest military order: "Second brother, I have equipped you with five hundred cavalrymen and five hundred cavalry apprentices. The warhorses and equipment are also in place. You must complete the integration of the cavalry battalion as soon as possible!"

"Received!" The second brother, Hugo, quickly stood up and accepted the order.

These days, cavalry units are the most expensive.

The food cost of raising one fine warhorse is enough to feed seven or eight full-time infantrymen.

Even warhorses are more picky eaters than humans. They want to eat the finest oats, drink clean stream or well water, and occasionally have goose or chicken eggs as a supplement.

And that doesn't even include the equipment for the warhorses.

Warhorses require saddles, horseshoes, and front armor, all of which consume a large amount of precious materials and manual labor.

As for cavalrymen on horseback, they also needed to be equipped with the finest plate armor or plate suits.

Lynn hasn't been able to ramp up production yet; there are only about eighty sets of high-quality armor in total, and the rest can only be temporarily replaced with two layers of chainmail.

The second son also knew that his cavalry brigade occupied the most resources, so naturally he had to undertake the most arduous combat missions.

In a short period of time, the number of cavalry under his command rapidly expanded from more than one hundred to five hundred. The ranks were a mixed bag, and they had to undergo rigorous training and reorganization before they could go back to the battlefield.

Soon, Lynn issued a second order:
"Third brother, you currently have three hundred soldiers under your command. I will give you another seven hundred soldiers to expand it into two five-hundred-man battalions. By September, I want to see that they are all fearless in the face of cavalry charges. Can you do that?"

The third brother, Yang, immediately stood up and said, "I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

As the backbone of the infantry, most of the soldiers under the Third Brother's command were from the first batch of soldiers recruited by Lynn in the old White Bear Territory, and their elite status and loyalty need no further explanation.

Now, Lynn directly assigned the seven hundred newly recruited soldiers to the third brother.

These new recruits enlisted in early April and underwent about three months of training in Shirokuma County, making them relatively new recruits.

Generally speaking, they need to undergo at least another quarter of training before they can initially achieve combat capability and be qualified to go to the battlefield.

But Lynn doesn't have that much time.

After occupying Sanhe City, he needed to defend more areas and launch attacks in addition to defending. The shortage of troops was too great, so he had no choice but to take the plunge.

While they said they would give the third brother two more months, Lynn would most likely launch another military campaign in August.

Isn't the battlefield the best teacher?
The soldiers who survive two tough battles are naturally the elite.

The third brother knew, of course, that the burden on his shoulders was heavy, but the more difficult the task, the more determined he was to rise to the challenge.

Then Lynn called on the fourth brother, Joseph.

"Fourth brother, I'm giving you five hundred soldiers, which, together with the original three hundred, will form two four-hundred-man battalions. Although they're not at full strength, the mission is the same as the third brother's. Do you understand?"

"I understand!"

The fourth brother gladly accepted the order, and the five hundred men he was assigned included a group of militiamen and citizens from Sanhe City.

In terms of combat experience and elite status, they are far superior to the third brother's new recruits.

Based on the personnel composition, Lao Si understood that his next combat mission would most likely be defensive.

The vast territory of Sanhe City cannot rely solely on the small number of militia within the city.
The last one to receive the order was Soward Jr.

After a year of training, this once timid and cowardly "prince" of the wilderness tribe has transformed into a resolute soldier.

He currently commands three hundred barbarian archers from lowland tribes, including a small group of the most elite scouts.

Lynn commanded, "Soward, I am entrusting you with four hundred new recruits from the High Cliff tribe. Your task is simple: make them forget about the so-called tribe. Their only loyalty is to me!"

The lowland tribes and the high cliff tribes had a relatively friendly relationship in the past, so there should not be much resistance to the merger of the two forces.

"Sir, just watch!" Little Soward was equally confident.

From the harsh wilderness to the prosperous city of Sanhe, he has experienced many battles and is now married, becoming more and more mature.

The lowland tribes have essentially disbanded, with their members scattered throughout the Salt Mine, White Bear, Shallow Beach, and River Marsh counties.

His father, Soward Sr., is currently enjoying his retirement in White Bear County, where he also oversees security in the local desert settlements.

So was filled with gratitude for Lord Lynn, who had provided hot porridge for the entire clan.

Lynn's purpose in reorganizing the army was singular: to continue waging war!
(End of this chapter)