Transmigrated with a Demon-Refining Pot: Hehehe, Refine in an instant

The fall of Sandstone Fortress was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake.

Several small castles in the surrounding area sent men to surrender overnight. Ron didn't even ride a dragon; he just sent Abaddon and his knights on a tour, and the castle gates opened by themselves.

The Iron Rock Fortress further north could not hold out any longer; they were surrounded.

Sure enough, the moment Ron arrived on his dragon.

The castle gates opened, and several nobles led the defending troops to surrender.

With this, the northern frontier of the newly developed territory was pacified.

Ron did not readily use these surrendered organized troops as he had used the nobles.

Instead, all junior officers were replaced, and the troops were dispersed and incorporated into various corps.

These officers and nobles were to pledge their loyalty, as there wasn't much land left for them to conquer.

They had to perform well to demonstrate their loyalty to Ron.

When Ron conquered the frontier where Ironrock Fortress was located, he discovered that the frontier of the Eastern Black Iron Duchy had already raised the highest alert level.

They were clearly aware of the major events that had recently occurred in the Brass Frontier, and were taking precautions to prevent the suddenly appearing dragon knight from going mad.

The marquis guarding the frontier has issued the highest-level mobilization order, and every lord is assembling at top speed.

Ron looked at a city bordering this frontier, which was already densely packed with lords' armies who had come to answer the call.

Ron could easily defeat these people's defenses with Margaret, but after thinking about it, Ron decided not to provoke the Duchy of Black Iron for the time being.

Otherwise, if the Black Iron Duchy and the Brass Duchy team up against him, he might not be able to withstand it.

After watching Ron leave with Margaret, the highest authority of the castle in the Black Iron Duchy below finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With such a grown dragon hovering overhead, anyone would feel immense pressure.

If they upset the other party, or if that dragon knight turned out to be a madman, all of them would lose their lives here.

Even if the duchy intervenes to avenge him later, he won't survive.

Therefore, none of the lords in the entire Black Iron Duchy's expansion territory wanted to fight Ron. Their presence was simply to show that they would resolutely defend their territories, nothing more.

Nearly ten days passed after the Sandstone Fortress and Iron Rock Fortress areas were eliminated.

Ron finally led his army to conquer the entire territory of the duchy, leaving only the lower right corner.

The first batch of ducal legions had already arrived, and more and more legions were on their way.

While both sides were redeploying their troops, Ron took the opportunity to consolidate all his current forces.

Apart from his own river bend territory, he had subdued more than two hundred lords, both large and small.

These nobles were much more eager to carry out Ron's orders than they had been when summoned before.

Previously, those who were called upon to defend against the orcs would only bring two hundred men, and they would have to leave half of their forces in their territory.

Now, in order to save their lives, they'd be willing to send out even the last soldier from their territory.

More than two hundred lords, nearly four hundred territories, and an army of 160,000 to 170,000 men were gathered.

Ron had no experience commanding hundreds of thousands of people. Not only did he lack experience, he also failed to prepare supplies and logistics.

It all depended on these lords who wanted to show their loyalty providing it themselves.

Sure enough, if these lords aren't pushed a little, they won't even know how powerful they are.

Among these lords, there were seven viscounts. Ron gave each of them a legion, which was about 12,000 men, plus logistics and so on, totaling 15,000.

The remaining men, Hart and his men, each led ten thousand men, all of whom were soldiers whose lords had fled and whose remaining troops had been disorganized and incorporated into the army.

The count killed one, but none surrendered.

Ron didn't have a good way to deal with them because they were running too fast.

Later, he rode a dragon to various passes in the Tianluo Mountains, where they were crowded with caravans of nobles fleeing from disaster.

Ron showed no mercy to those who stole his wealth, and ordered Margaret to kill them without restraint.

So eventually, these fleeing nobles and lords no longer dared to escape openly; they probably all hid in the wilderness.

The reinforcements from the duchy finally arrived belatedly.

The Duke of Windsor argued with the nobles for a long time, but still decided that a fight was necessary.

At least Ron needs to tone it down a bit. He shouldn't just be exploiting the Bronze Duchy alone; he can also try to take advantage of the Black Iron Duchy next door.

They might even have to lend a hand then.

Now that the decision to send troops had been made, the final burden fell on the Duke of Windsor.

Who told him to be a third-tier titled knight? Sending only a bronze dragon might result in it getting beaten up by a giant dragon and dragon knights working together.

Things might get worse.

The Duke of Windsor was very unhappy.

He had to be the firefighter before he became Grand Duke, and he still had to be the firefighter after he became Grand Duke.

Wasn't he given the title of Grand Duke for nothing?

But he wasn't the only one unhappy. His noble subordinates were even more unhappy.

Ron swallowed up the settlements, their trade routes were cut off, and they would no longer have annual settlement lords. They urged the Duke of Windsor to send troops, not because of their loyalty, but because they were worried about the cost.

"Your Highness, we can't delay any longer." The Finance Minister held a stack of account books, his face wrinkled like a dried orange peel.

"The taxes from the pioneering territories accounted for 30% of the principality's finances. Now they're all gone. If this drags on any longer, we won't even be able to pay the soldiers' salaries."

"Your Highness, although the other side is a dragon knight, our intelligence indicates that the traitor Ron is still at the Grand Knight stage." The Minister of Military Affairs stood up.

"We have you and Lord Brass Dragon, both of whom are at the third rank, and we also have the advantage in terms of knights. As long as you can hold off that silver dragon, our army can reclaim our lost territory."

"The advantage is in my hands!"

"Yes, yes," the other nobles echoed.

In their view, there was no possibility of losing.

But the Duke of Windsor was not so optimistic. Judging from their strength on paper, it seemed that no matter how they fought, they were bound to win.

But that's not the point!

And there was the adult silver dragon and her dragon rider.

Even if we can win, so what? If we can't deal with those two, what if they keep causing trouble in the principality every day?

Therefore, this is a high-magic world where the strong are respected.

As long as there is a dragon queen, one is qualified to sit at the table for a meal.

Now that they have a dragon, they are entitled to occupy a territory and establish a country.

It's just that the territory was taken from them.

The Duke of Windsor came for a different purpose than the other nobles who were blinded by greed; he was there to negotiate with Ron after a battle.

Don't forget how these duchies and kingdoms originally came to be. The area where the Bronze Duchy and the Iron Duchy were located was also the original territory.

Therefore, there is a generally accepted template for how to handle situations where someone successfully rides a dragon.

That is, a high-ranking nobleman leaves with his vassals, and the original state allows him to recruit nobles willing to follow him.

Ron knew the rule from the beginning, but he wasn't prepared to follow it.

Just kidding. Usually, only nobles with deep-rooted backgrounds can ride dragons. What does Ron have?

They were so poor they were practically bankrupt.

If he doesn't seize a wave of opportunities, where will the money come from, and which noble family will be willing to follow him?

What will we use to develop our territory then? Will we rely on selling silver soaked in Margaret?

So Ron was determined to make a quick buck.

He left the girls and children from Liulichuan in the small garden, so he had no worries about them.

If you're so capable, kill him; otherwise, he'll set fire to the duchy every now and then.

Until the principality is willing to compromise.