I'm not a lord

Chapter 288 Lynn's Plan to Become King

"To declare oneself king? My lord, isn't that a little too fast?"

The clerk, Victor, was startled by Lynn's 'outrageous talk'.

Given the current territory and population of Baihe Territory, calling himself a duke is actually a bit excessive.

According to Victor's thinking, Lynn should take things one step at a time, declare himself Duke after conquering Golden Deer Castle, and then declare himself King when his territory is larger and his wealth is greater.

It's not that we won't claim the title of king, but rather that we will do so slowly, later, flexibly, in an orderly manner, and with high quality.

Taking too big a step can really lead to trouble.

The advantages and disadvantages of declaring oneself king are obvious.

The advantages were a significant increase in prestige, enabling him to legally rival Otto, and the ability to bestow high-ranking noble titles such as duke and earl, which would help him win over other nobles and leaders of various factions.

The downside, of course, is that it attracts too much attention and becomes a target for criticism.

Lynn has now formed an alliance with Count Mirror Iron in the south to fight against Otto.

Although the Duke of Meadows in the west did not explicitly state his position, he had essentially joined the alliance, except for a minor disagreement with Lynn over the Golden Deer Castle issue.

Once Lynn declares himself King in the North, how will his two allies view him?
Everyone treats you like a brother, but you want to be their father?

Is this appropriate?

If Lynn were to declare himself king now, this already fragile alliance would instantly crack.

In Victor's view, since the former dynasty's princess Chloris has already been acquired, the lord can declare himself king whenever he wants, and there is no need to rush.

We should wait until the situation in the North is more stable before considering becoming king.

Lynn waved his hand gently, signaling Victor not to rush: "I completely understand your concerns, but this year is indeed the best time for me to declare myself king, and I will not declare myself king now."

It's only January, and Lynn's plan is to seize the opportunity to become king this fall and winter.

Judging from the current situation in the North, he will launch a major offensive against Golden Deer Castle after the spring and try to take over the entire Marshland Duchy.

By the turn of spring and summer, Otto's army will inevitably march to the east of Three Rivers.

Lynn will then strike back hard against the invaders and defend the territory's sovereignty.

After defeating the enemy, he will launch an eastern expedition in the autumn, take River Bend Fort in one fell swoop, and seize the entire northwestern region of the Crown Territory.

During this period, he will also promote advanced agricultural techniques in the newly occupied territories and recruit and train a large number of new soldiers, which will increase the number of troops by more than 20,000 by next spring.

Of course, these are all Lynn's plans for the coming year, and they can only be achieved if everything goes smoothly.

If he can truly accomplish these plans, no one in the entire North will be able to stop him. So why can't he just go straight to becoming king?

As a scribe, Victor was naturally aware of these plans. After a moment's thought, he replied, "I understand what you mean, sir, but I think it would be more prudent to be called a duke before declaring himself king. The leap from earl to king is indeed too great."

Lynn smiled and asked, "Then which title do you think I should use? Duke of the Swamp?"

Victor nodded seriously: "This is one of the three ducal titles in the North. Of course, it's acceptable. Once Earl Mirror Iron in the South takes White Eagle Fortress, he will probably use the title of Duke of the Valley."

The title of Duke is not just a title; it also symbolizes the rule over a region.

In a sense, it's not that the duke rules over a vast territory, but rather that the person who owns that territory is the duke.

If Lynn conquers Golden Deer, his rule will completely cover the former Marshland Duchy, and the original ducal lineage will be overturned. Therefore, he can certainly declare himself the new Marshland Duke.

"I don't like this title." Lynn's words were somewhat willful.

"You don't like it?" Victor was a little confused.

My lord, who in the North wouldn't love the title of duke?

The reason Lynn disliked the title 'Duke of the Marsh' was actually quite simple.

He just thought the title was too unlucky.

The previous owner of this title, Lothair, had just died from betrayal, his head still hanging on the west gate of Amber Harbor, probably dying with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

Previously, Lothair had twice reached the gates of Amber Harbor, and the second time he almost succeeded, but ultimately failed.

He wouldn't even want such an unlucky title if it were given to Lynn, let alone willingly put it on his own head.

"Besides not liking it, it's mostly due to practical considerations," Lynn asked, lightly tapping the armrest of his chair with his right index finger.
"Suppose you are Otto, and you are facing Count White River and Count Vasa of Mirror Iron, who has just declared himself duke. You have limited troops. Who would you attack first?"

"They will most likely attack Vasa first, but factors such as terrain, food supplies, and city defenses must also be considered."

As they talked, Victor had completely grasped Lynn's line of thinking.

The reason for not calling himself a duke now is to reduce the probability of being attacked by Otto, and to free up more troops to attack Golden Deer Castle. The plan is to skip the dukedom and declare himself king later, thus launching a full-scale counterattack and raising a new banner for the North.

Victor grew more and more excited as he thought about it, and his voice involuntarily rose a few decibels: "My lord, I understand completely now. You are indeed the true savior of the North!"

It's no wonder that Victor suddenly became a bit of a chuunibyou in middle age; he genuinely hoped that the lord could drive out all the invaders from the southern border.

The prospect of a magnificent future filled him with longing.

“Savior? Now is not the time to talk about such things. Come with me to the artillery camp in the forest.” With that, Lynn got up and walked towards the door.

If you count the time, this is already his third year as a lord after he came ashore.

The territory we have is at most the size of two earls, with a population of just over 200,000. There is still a long way to go before we can unify the northern border, so we can't rush it.

“Yes, sir!” Victor hurriedly stood up and followed closely behind Lynn.

In Turbulent Castle in the middle of Turbulent County, Lucas walked steadily into a cramped office.

"loyalty!"

He stood at attention, placed his right fist on his chest, and gave a standard military salute.

Yang, who had just been promoted to honorary court baron, was reviewing a military supplies list when he heard the voice and looked up: "I've read the military intelligence you sent. Recently, enemy forces from the west and north have been frequently harassing your garrison?"

Yang, the third son, is currently in charge of the defense of the entire Tuanliu County, and has a total of two thousand soldiers under his command.

One thousand of them were veterans brought from Baixiong County, who were experienced and had strong combat capabilities.

The other thousand were new recruits enlisted locally last autumn. They were all serfs who had just put down their hoes, thin and clumsy, and needed to undergo a long period of training before they were qualified to go to the battlefield.

To ensure the combat effectiveness of the veterans, Yang took a thousand new recruits with him and trained them carefully, while the veterans were divided into two 500-man battalions, stationed in the northwest and southwest corners of Tuanliu County respectively.

The northwest corner faces the greatest border defense pressure, not only from attacks by the Earl of Blackwood to the north, but also from pressure from Oakshire to the west.

Yang entrusted this heavy responsibility to Lucas.

This young general performed exceptionally well in the Battle of Turbulentshire, repeatedly being the first to scale the castle. He was promoted to captain for his merits and received the Silver Medal personally awarded by Lynn. This year, he was also awarded the title of Knight of Honor, becoming a rising star in the army.

Lucas did not disappoint Lynn and Young's expectations, repelling Count Blackwood's attacks multiple times during his garrison duty and achieving considerable success.

The reason Yang recalled him to Turbulent Fortress was mainly because several groups of enemy troops from the west had suddenly appeared at Lucas's base.

Lucas replied truthfully, "Yes, but they were all repelled by the soldiers, and a batch of weapons and armor were captured."

Yang then asked, "How large is the enemy force in the west? How strong is their fighting force?"

"The scale is not large, only thirty or forty people at a time. They are all there to plunder villages. Their combat effectiveness and fighting spirit are not high. They will run away when they see our soldiers. The equipment level of these enemy troops is also very poor. Many of them are even carrying farm tools such as pitchforks and flails."

When these enemy forces were mentioned, Lucas's expression became somewhat complicated.

Although they were called enemy troops, most of them were actually bankrupt farmers who were homeless and had no food to eat.

Oakshire was one of the wealthiest counties in the Marshlands, with flat terrain, fertile land, and a dense population.

But in order to prevent Lynn's army from continuing to advance westward, Lothair's eldest son, Laszlo, actually created a nearly 50-kilometer-wide no-man's-land east of Oakshire.

Serfs in the region were forcibly relocated westward, and all farmhouses and pastures were burned to the ground.

More than 20,000 people were forced to migrate, and during the migration, some serfs inevitably lost their food and property.

In winter, these serfs, with nowhere else to turn, naturally had no choice but to become bandits.

Laszlo only needed to send a small number of court knights to guide them, and he could turn these bloodthirsty serfs into excellent cannon fodder, specifically for attacking the northwest region of Turbulent County.

Yang sighed softly and said, "When we get back, send all the surviving prisoners to Turbulent Fortress, and I will take good care of them."

This turbulent castle was once the residence of the Earl of Turbulent, but was later demolished by the Duke of the Marsh.

The current castle was rebuilt near the original Earl's castle, but it is much smaller in scale, and the interior rooms are very cramped, only suitable for military use.

The thousand new recruits were so crowded that they had to go outside to do their morning exercises on the flat ground.

If those prisoners are sent here, they will be immediately sent to Redhawk County, the easternmost part of Turbulent County, where County Chief Finn will take care of them.

Lucas nodded and said, "Sir, I have two more important pieces of information to report to you."

"Go ahead."

"Last December, László rejected the lord's offer of surrender. According to captured enemy soldiers, he is currently preparing to inherit his father's ducal title. Also, it seems that Golden Deer Castle is recruiting new soldiers, possibly numbering two thousand."

(End of this chapter)