Throne of the North.

Chapter 133 Conditions for Victory

What a courageous nobleman.

At this moment, Ryan couldn't help but admire Viscount Hogg's choice.

If a charge was carried out on this kind of road, even a knight would stumble and be trampled to death by his own troops. After all, except for a flat section of the road that was less than five meters wide, both sides were covered with rocks and overgrown with weeds.

"Lord Ryan, Viscount Hogg's cavalry lost 230 horses. The number of knights who died in this war should be over 120. These are the bodies we were able to find."

"But the death toll of our slave soldiers exceeded five hundred."

It is impossible to give an exact number for the brief battle to clear up the battlefield, but such losses allowed Viscount Hogg's army to successfully avoid being attacked from both sides.

Harrington, covered in blood, knelt in front of Ryan.

"Master Ryan..."

He could not say anything. If the soldiers around him had not been afraid of the majesty of the knight and desperately guarded him, Harrington would probably have died in the continuous charge of thousands of cavalrymen.

"Get up. It's not your fault. I took away all the elite soldiers. The rest are all slave soldiers. It's impossible to expect them to be fearless and brave."

Ryan did not mean to blame Harrington. This war was doomed from the moment Viscount Hogg chose to let his most elite cavalry lead the way.

The cavalry is not just cavalry. After they dismount, they are thousands of knights who focus on training.

Ryan was able to break through Viscount Hogg's slave army with just five hundred apprentice knights. Similarly, on this road, Viscount Hogg could use a thousand of the same team to kill the slave soldiers into fear and despair.

"I think Viscount Hogg has lost more than 10% of his trump cards. I'm afraid he won't dare to take such extreme risks in the future."

The chaotic battlefield required a long time to clean up, but a few hours later, Ryan heard some shocking news.

Baron Freeman's castle was breached.

Count Weiss's army arrived from the south, and the fleeing Viscount Hogg appeared in the north at the right time. The two sides attacked at the same time, and with the effect of the rage potion continuing, they actually took down the fortress standing on the hillside.

The biggest reason was that in order to attack Viscount Hogg's army from the north and south, Iron Mountain County's own two thousand soldiers were also mixed in the army commanded by Harrington. Therefore, there were only less than three hundred people defending Baron Freeman's castle. When the enemy army arrived, the civilians and slaves in the small town in Baron Freeman's territory had no time to enter the castle to assist in the resistance.

Lord Viscount Walter, looking at Baron Freeman in the dim hall, whose facial expression was exactly the same as Baron Malik, Ryan couldn't help but sigh.

"I told you to leave your troops in the south for defense, but you insisted on bringing them to the north."

At first, they listened to Ryan and left the last 2,000 slave soldiers of the Tieshan County nobles on the southern defense line. But when they heard that they could defeat Viscount Hogg from both sides, they couldn't wait to write their names in the history of victory in the war.

Of course, the most crucial thing is that if they play a huge role in the war, they will be able to find ways to obtain more wealth and benefits after the war.

As a result, two thousand soldiers came to the north.

"Lord Viscount Walter."

Ryan looked at Viscount Walter and said:
"You need to have the slaves harvest the food outside quickly. There won't be a two-pronged attack in the next war. If you don't harvest the food outside your castle quickly, it will become food for the enemy."

"I'll arrange it right away, but..."

Viscount Walter looked at Ryan.

"Lian, lend me a thousand slave soldiers to help harvest the crops."

It is not an easy task to harvest all the grain from the fields outside the castle in a short period of time. It requires a large number of manpower. Viscount Walter's original slaves were lost in several brutal wars and have not received much replenishment for the time being.

"I will lend you two thousand men, and you must do it quickly." Ryan did not mean to refuse. When those slave soldiers were not soldiers, they were serfs themselves. The production and harvesting of crops were instinctive for them.

"Tell those slaves that the harvested grains will be their rations for the next war. Don't even think about hiding them."

As a noble who exploited slaves, Viscount Walter knew very well that every harvest month, there would be slaves who were so bold as to hide some food in their clothes in the hope that it would not be found.

In the south, under the excellent morals and traditions of the nobles, Baron Freeman's family has been sent to Viscount Walter's territory to meet Baron Freeman.

So the castle was temporarily ownerless, and Viscount Hogg lived there with peace of mind, along with Hector Weiss, the eldest son of Count Weiss's family.

"Your Excellency, you look a little embarrassed."

Hector looked at Viscount Hogg and asked with concern. As a future heir to the earldom, he now also had the aura of a noble.

"The Frozen Baron is as powerful as the rumors say, Hector. Don't underestimate our enemy."

Viscount Hogg spoke up. He did not think the eldest son of the Earl in front of him was qualified to mock him.

"My stupid brother was defeated by the Frozen Baron. I certainly won't underestimate him."

"It's just that your strength is beyond doubt, yet you still suffered heavy losses."

When entering the castle, Hector of course saw the situation of Viscount Hogg's elite troops, which could be said to have suffered heavy casualties.

"Let's talk about the upcoming war. How did you come here? How is the Earl's war going?"

At this time, Viscount Hogg was also very envious of Earl Winter's Flying Wolf Cavalry. Apart from anything else, they were unparalleled in transmitting information.

"Father has entered Beifeng County, but it is not going smoothly. Even the Thunder Giant has difficulty destroying Earl Winter's power on the battlefield."

"The wealth that the governor has earned in the Northern Wind Province over the years is greater than we thought."

"So, if we can occupy Tieshan County, it will be very beneficial to this war."

"Don't worry about that. We are already invincible."

Viscount Hogg said confidently.

"In front of us, Viscount Walter's territory is a plain, and they no longer have cavalry. It is impossible for them to leave the castle and start a war with me."

"But how many barbarians did you bring with you?"

"Four hundred and fifty."

Hector said, with great confidence in his words, this is a true soldier of the Extraordinary Legion.

"Then it's enough to attack the castle. The nobles of Tieshan County only have more than a thousand slave troops left, including the Frozen Baron. As long as we make them lose no more than 30% of their soldiers, the nobles of Tieshan County will surrender to us. Otherwise, their territory will not be able to complete the cultivation next year."

War is never a fight to the death. There is no such war. Even if the nobles are willing, the soldiers will flee in fear in such a bloody fight.

When the loss reaches a certain level, it is over and negotiations can begin.

In fact, if Viscount Walter and Earl Winter of Iron Mountain County had not been so closely bound together, there would not have been any war today. Iron Mountain County would have already surrendered to the war force of Earl Weiss before.

Even now, the nobles of Tieshan County are already very dissatisfied. Too many slaves and warriors have died, which will have a huge impact on next year and even the next few years.

(End of this chapter)