I'm not a lord

Chapter 296 The Approaching Southern Army

László's attitude was firm; he wanted to engage in a strategic decisive battle with Lynn as soon as possible in order to save face for the new duke.

Currently, more than a dozen strongholds in Oak County have been easily captured by the enemy, and he has also lost thousands of soldiers and a large amount of military equipment and supplies for nothing.

If things continue to develop like this, what's the point of him being a duke? He might as well become the head of Lynn's transport team!
An army of several thousand men, armed and armored, entered a fortified stronghold with high walls and deep rivers, but they couldn't put up any decent resistance. They were wiped out in just a few hours. László had never fought such a humiliating battle in his life!

But just as he was getting anxious, his mother Anna told him not to rush.

"The more critical the situation, the less we can afford to rush. We need intelligence, we need more intelligence about the enemy."

Anna, after all, was worldly-wise and able to remain calm in critical moments.

Upon hearing this, László jumped up from his high-backed chair, his booming voice echoing throughout the hall:
"Intelligence? We have enough intelligence already. Lynn only has six or seven thousand men in total, many of whom are frail barbarians. With the troops I have, I am absolutely confident that I can completely defeat him!"

Although Laszlo lost nearly three thousand troops in Oakshire, those recruits were nothing more than cannon fodder. With just a small amount of resources, Golden Deer Castle could easily pull out another twenty or thirty thousand.

For the Marsh Duchy, population was not such a valuable resource.

But these cannon fodder can only be used to defend strongholds.

They had not received long-term professional training, and their armor was mostly the most basic leather armor. When they arrived at the battlefield, they couldn't even figure out how to form ranks, making them a complete burden.

Now that the enemy's bronze mortars are proving invincible, the stronghold defense tactics seem to have lost their meaning.

László's elite troops had not suffered many losses, and he believed he still had the strength to fight.

Anna immediately rose from her high-backed chair and retorted sharply, "So you've overlooked the bronze cannons? And those frail barbarians you mentioned, they're all excellent longbowmen. On the battlefield, can your crossbowmen suppress Lynn's longbowmen? Last year in Green Lake Territory, Lynn defeated the Baron's Alliance crossbowmen with his longbowmen!"

Although she was a woman, she was exceptionally familiar with battle formations. Before she was married, she often accompanied her father to the battlefield.

Every word she said really hit the nail on the head.

The war has only been going on for less than two weeks. Although Golden Deer Fort has a lot of intelligence, it is too disorganized and requires time to sift through. At the same time, we must wait for more accurate intelligence.

László gazed at his mother, who was half a head shorter than him, and finally sat back in his high-backed chair, his voice softening: "So, what do you think we should do now?"

In the months since returning to Golden Deer Castle, he has come to realize at least one thing: his mother is the true person in charge of the castle.

There are many things that he, as the new duke, cannot decide.

Compared to the young and unprestigious duke, the generals and officials below were more willing to trust the mistress's decisions.

Without his mother's approval, László would never have been able to lead his troops into battle.

Anna sat down, her hand reaching up to her son's broad palm, gently stroking the calluses on his hand, her tone softening: "My son, what we need to do now is to regain our composure and continue to be patient."

A look of disbelief flashed across Laszlo's eyes, his voice trembling uncontrollably: "How long do we have to endure this? In another week, the entire Oakshire will fall into Lynn's hands."

Anna met her son's shocked gaze and said calmly, "Then let him take it. You are the Duke of the Marshland, and you bear the responsibility for the entire Marshland and nearly a million people. What's wrong with giving up just Oakshire to Lynn for now?"

“But…” László was completely dumbfounded; he never expected his mother to be so generous.

That's his Oakshire, his core territory! Are you just going to give away over 100,000 people to Lynn for nothing?

Anna, instead, took this opportunity to educate her son. She continued to stroke his hand and explained in detail:
“I’ve thought about this for a long time. Listen to me, giving Oakshire to Lynn will actually be more beneficial for us.”

Including castles and manors, there are more than thirty strongholds in Oakshire. Lynn has no foundation of rule in Oakshire and certainly cannot trust the loyalty of the locals.

According to the cavalrymen who escaped, Lynn promised not to plunder the countryside of Oakshire, so he would have to transport food from Turbulent County in the rear. Therefore, he would have to send troops to garrison these strongholds after he occupied them.

We can send small detachments to harass Oakshire. Your cousin has a grudge against Lynn, and I've already sent him a letter ordering him to immediately gather troops and head to Oakshire.”

Anna's idea was simple: since Oakshire was difficult to defend and couldn't be defended, she might as well give it to Lynn.

But this territory is not so easy to take over.

To the northeast of Oakshire lies the Earldom of Blackwood, and to the northwest lies Golden Deer County, where Golden Deer Castle is located.

After Lynn takes over this territory, his sphere of influence will extend westward into a relatively long and narrow protrusion.

Unfortunately, he couldn't solve the food problem on the spot in this newly occupied territory, so he had to transport food from the rear.

Anna immediately saw Lynn's weakness in the supply lines.

You greedy brat, not only have you occupied the land, but you also want to win over the hearts of more than 100,000 people.

Is there really such a thing as having both?
Since you are going through all the trouble of transporting grain from the rear, aren't you just giving them an opportunity to rob your supply lines?

Anna, of course, wouldn't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

She will send László's cousin, the current Earl of Blackwood, with a small number of noble cavalry to harass the newly occupied Oakshire in Lynn, attempting to disrupt Lynn's grain transport routes and the local serfs' spring planting.

In order to protect the supply lines and spring planting, Lynn would have to station troops at the major strongholds.

This would undoubtedly disperse his forces, preventing him from concentrating all his troops for the final battle against László.

The initiative in the entire war will then return to Golden Deer Fort.

As Anna said, her eldest son was responsible for the entire Marshland, so what was wrong with temporarily giving up Oakshire in order to win the war?

Once we defeat Lynn, won't we be able to easily take back Oakshire, which has no natural defenses?
Of course, this underhanded strategy would undoubtedly affect the spring planting of local serfs in Oakshire, leading to poor harvests in the fall and famine in the winter.

But from the very beginning of the war, Anna was determined to make life difficult for the more than 100,000 people of Oakshire.

As a duchess, how many infamy did she bear when she sent tax collectors to various manors to collect taxes?
Debt is no burden; it's not a big deal.

After listening for a while, Laszlo also figured it out. He slapped his thigh with his left hand and said, "Mother, your plan is really good. We can turn Oakshire into a swamp and trap Lynn in the ever-tightening mud!"

Anna smiled with satisfaction when she saw that her son had understood her meaning. She said, "Your analogy is very apt. What we need to do is keep Lynn in Oakshire until summer. We won't even need to fight him."

After going around in circles, the two of them returned to the plan that Anna had set out at the beginning, which was to delay Otto's westward advance to Amber Harbor.

However, the existence of the bronze cannon caused the base delaying strategy to fail.

But Anna, quick-witted as ever, came up with a new plan: "Let Oakshire suffer a bit."

Moreover, she was extremely thorough in her considerations, and then added: "The Jinghe River has now fully thawed and reopened to navigation. We also need to send a fleet to block the Jinghe River waterway west of Sanhe City to prevent Lynn from transporting grain by water."

In short, the goal is to avoid a decisive strategic battle, a one-off deal that would slow down Lynn's advance.

In Anna's eyes, Lynn was nothing short of a devil.

He uses all unconventional methods, and can even produce new weapons that completely defy common sense.

Anna was truly uneasy about sending her beloved son to fight such an 'unspeakable' and formidable enemy. Soon, Golden Deer Castle issued several new orders.

The massive fleet stationed in Golden Deer Lake left the dock and began its southward journey. A group of nobles, led by Earl Blackwood, also received orders to mobilize troops to Oakshire.

However, Anna did not give up on the option of a strategic decisive battle.

If Lynn really has a large number of troops tied up in Oakshire, she is still willing to try to defeat this powerful enemy head-on.

A large number of retired court cavalrymen were rehired by Anna and brought to Golden Deer Castle in armor and on horseback.

A number of municipalities still loyal to Golden Deer also contributed their own civilian armed forces, forming a crossbow unit of several hundred men.

The area surrounding Golden Deer Fortress was suddenly abuzz with speculation, with most people believing that a great war destined to be recorded in history was about to break out.

While the battle for the marshland territory was raging, Amber Harbor at the mouth of the Shizuish River was also bustling with activity.

The new King Otto has issued orders to recruit two large armies to march west along the River Tranquility to subdue the rebels who refuse to submit to the Northern Crown.

The commanders-in-chief of both armies have been selected, but there are still vacancies in their respective armies.

A large number of impoverished nobles who had crossed the sea from the southern border immediately thronged the thresholds of the two commanders, hoping that these two nobles, who were 'destined' to receive the title of duke, would lend them a hand.

After all, His Majesty Otto has already declared that whoever can conquer Golden Deer Castle or White Eagle Castle will be the new duke.

In the eyes of these Southern nobles, even the most renowned Lothair had been beheaded, so what were the remaining forces in the North but easily defeated chickens and dogs?

These two handpicked commanders are already dukes!

If one could join their ranks now, wouldn't that be equivalent to becoming a reserve officer for a count or baron?
However, none of these impoverished nobles were able to see the commander-in-chief, as the two were attending a small luncheon in the palace.

The new King Otto personally hosted the luncheon and raised a toast to the two commanders he had appointed and dismissed: "Leiner, Harvey, you are both renowned and invincible commanders in the South. I entrust this task to you two to help me quell the rebellion."

Reiner and Harvey are both earls of the Southern Territory, the kind who lead territories, but they are not from the Kingdom of Rui, but from two small duchies in the inland region of the Southern Territory.

Both men appeared to be in their early fifties, the peak age for a commander, their bodies not yet fully aged, and they had accumulated rich combat experience through years of military service.

Earl Reiner raised his glass in return: "It is my honor to serve His Majesty. I will do my utmost to eliminate the rebels and ensure the peace and tranquility of the Northern Kingdom."

Count Harvey followed suit, raising his glass and drinking it down in one gulp.

After the three had drunk several rounds, Otto suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, it seems that neither of you has decided on your main attack direction yet. Which of you is willing to go to Golden Deer Castle?"

"I!"

"I!"

Reiner and Harvey spoke in unison, then exchanged a knowing smile.

Golden Deer Fortress is wealthy, while White Eagle Fortress is impoverished; this is common knowledge.

In that case, of course they should seize the richest territories.

Moreover, the Valley Territory where White Eagle Castle is located is crisscrossed by mountains. Not to mention the precipitous castles built on the mountains, the complicated mountain roads alone are troublesome enough.

Poor and difficult to conquer, nobody wants this dilapidated White Eagle Fortress.

Otto's face flushed slightly from the alcohol, and a knowing smile appeared on his lips: "Since you all want to go to Golden Deer Castle, then we'll have to decide by bet."

"I am willing to follow Your Majesty's decision."

"me too."

This time, Earl Harvey went first, followed closely by Reiner.

“Very well, then let’s use the simplest method: a coin toss.” Otto took out a gold coin engraved with his portrait from his small purse at his waist.

This is the legal tender of the Kingdom of Rui, the Rui Gold Shield.

“I’ll toss this coin. If it lands heads, Reiner goes to Golden Deer Castle; if it lands tails, Harvey goes.” After saying this, Otto, seeing that neither of them had any objections, forcefully tossed the coin high into the air.

The gold coin landed on the dining table, spun around a few times, and finally landed with Otto's handsome face up.

"Hey, head-on, I won!" Count Reiner clapped his hands happily.

“I’ve lost to you again, you bastard.” Harvey sighed, looking down.

The two had clashed several times on the battlefield, with each side winning and losing. Today, he lost a round, so Harvey was naturally upset.

Otto put the gold coins back into his purse and made his decision: "Then it's settled. Reiner will go to Golden Deer Fortress, and Harvey will go to White Eagle Fortress. As for how many troops you can bring, that will depend on your respective connections."

In fact, he didn't care at all who went to Golden Deer Castle.

In any case, they were just cannon fodder for him to wear down the inland forces in the north. He didn't believe that these scattered soldiers could break through Baihe Territory and take Jinlu Fort.

As the two new commanders walked out of the palace into the sunset, Reiner, inhaling the salty scent of the sea breeze, squinted at Amber Harbor below and asked, "Brother Harvey, do you think our trip will go smoothly?"

"It's all up to fate," Harvey said, his eyes also narrowed, his words muttering in a somewhat mystical tone.

Reiner then asked, "I'm doing this to secure a territory for my second son, and you must be doing it for the same reason, right?"

Harvey scoffed, "You know me better than my wife does. Do I even need to confirm this?"

Both earls had their own earldoms in the Southern Territory, but those territories could only be passed on to their eldest sons.

If this had happened a hundred years ago, they might have divided the territory into several pieces and given them equally among their sons.

However, with frequent wars in the southern border, dividing up territory would only lead to a rapid decline in the family's power.

Almost no nobleman in the last hundred years would do such a foolish thing.

Before setting off for the North, both Reiner and Otto formally passed their territories to their eldest sons, and each brought only a small number of trusted elites to fight in the North.

At an age when they should be enjoying their retirement, they still have to fight on the battlefield. What is it all for? Isn't it just for a territory that can be passed down to their offspring?

Both men had a beloved second son and hoped to earn a piece of land to leave to him, so that the family could have a future. If the main branch were to perish, there would still be a branch that could support the family's reputation.

As Reiner walked, he said, “Valley Territory is actually easier to conquer than Swamp Territory. I’ve sent people to inquire, and that Earl of Mirror Iron only has a few thousand troops. He’s currently besieging White Eagle Fortress. How difficult can a territory embroiled in internal strife be for you? It’s about the same as eating a piece of bread.”

Harvey rolled his eyes at his arch-enemy: "Isn't the Swamp Territory pretty much the same? I heard that Lynn and Lasslo have already started a war. If you go there now, it's like you're just picking up a duchy for free."

(End of this chapter)