Intelligence and Discussion
After being explained to by the Count Colt father and son, Victor also realized that the Northern Frontier nobles Rebellion group, Iron Birch Territory, was facing serious problems.
The slightest misstep could lead to the collapse of the entire Rebellion group.
Viscount Benjamin, Victor's cheap father-in-law, asked directly.
"My Count Earl, since you have summoned us here, should we launch the attack ahead of schedule? Please give the order, and I, Benjamin, will go through fire and water, even at the cost of my life."
Victor remained silent. After all, Viscount Benjamin was related to the Iron Birch Family by marriage and was a key supporter of the Iron Birch Territory. His current position of being second to third in the Northlands was indeed inseparable from Count Colt's help.
But Victor is different. The Iron Birch Family has indeed helped him a lot, but Victor has also brought a lot of benefits to the Iron Birch Family. Now, if the Iron Birch Family wants to launch Rebellion, Victor has no intention of following them.
As far as he knew, the Iron Birch Territory originally planned to launch a Rebellion with four legions, plus the four legions of the Northern Frontier Allied Army, leaving one or two legions to defend the main camp, which meant that there were no more than six legions available.
If these six legions can take advantage of the preemptive strike and capture the Capital City and Central Six Commanderies in one battle before Grand Duke Mora has time to react and summon the entire duchy's directly subordinate to the Duchy army and loyal nobles.
Even if Grand Duke Mora reacts and gathers his forces, the chances of victory are still very high, given the more elite combat legions of the Northern Frontier nobles.
However, if Rebellion were to be launched now, not to mention that the Northern Low Coalition of Nobles would need time to assemble its forces, even the Iron Birch Territory only has one full-strength legion and two understrength legions, which is at most a little over two legions in strength.
Using such a force to launch Rebellion is unwise.
However, it seemed that Count Colt understood this as well, Count Colt directly interrupted Viscount Benjamin from saying anything further.
"Benjamin, don't be hasty. Let me finish. It's not the right time yet. Besides, even if we were to launch Rebellion now, I wouldn't be entirely confident of victory."
"I will continue to tell you about the current situation. You can talk after you finish listening."
"According to the intelligence provided to me by Commander Lawrence, the envoys of the Western Nobles of the Raine Kingdom should have already made contact with Grand Duke Mora. Grand Duke Mora should already know some of the things and know that we may be about to launch Rebellion."
When Victor heard this, he was also shocked. The situation was even worse than he had imagined. He hadn't expected that Mora already knew about their impending Rebellion.
Count Colt continued.
"My spy, who was planted in the Duchy's Direct Legion, contacted me and revealed some intelligence. Grand Duke Mora has mobilized two direct legions, the Second Legion and the Third Legion, and shifted their defensive focus to the north. The main force of the Second Legion, led by Count Carter, has already entered the Carn City in Notting County."
Notting County, one of the Central Six Commanderies, is a county directly under the Silver Maple Ducal House. It originally had half of the Duchy's Direct Legion army stationed there, and it was also the only piece of land in the Central Six Commanderies that bordered the Three Counties of the Northern Frontier.
Notting County and Durham County are adjacent to each other, sharing a natural border at the Carson Mountains. The Carn City is located at a natural pass in the Carson Mountains, which is the only passage connecting the two counties.
Count Colt lifted the curtain on the wall, revealing a map of the duchy, and pointed directly to the location of Carn City on the map with his scepter.
"Notting County already had two regiments of the Sixth Legion and its direct subordinate units stationed there, totaling more than 100 men; the Second Legion, although a direct subordinate legion rebuilt after the Civil War, was already at full strength. With the addition of the Sixth Legion's forces, Notting County already had about 100 men, and also possessed the natural defense of Carn City and a renowned general like Count Carter. The possibility of us sending troops to take York County now is close to zero."
As Victor listened to Count Colt's introduction, he also fell into thought. Count Carter was not an independent nobleman, but a Court Noble appointed by the former Grand Duke Silver Maple. He was from a collateral branch of a baronial family in Wright County in the Middle East, and his talent was discovered.
During the reign of the previous Grand Duke, he participated in and organized numerous wars, making outstanding contributions to the defense of the southern part of the Duchy against the East Sea Alliance. He was one of the Duchy's most worthy generals, and was considered a contemporary equal to Count Colt.
However, during the civil Civil War, he was still the Legion Commander of the Second Legion. At that time, the Capital City and the Central Six Commanderies were occupied by the Grand Duke Jola. In order to remain neutral and not participate in the civil Civil War, Count Carter voluntarily relinquished his military power and withdrew from the army.
What happened next was that, with the help of the Northern Alliance Army led by Count Colt, Jorah was killed in battle, and Mora won.
However, when Count Carter left the legion, he took a group of officers with him. Later, when the Grand Duke Mora rebuilt the direct legion, the rebuilt legion lacked experienced officers, so they found Count Carter and asked him to continue to serve the duchy.
At this time, Count Carter led his former subordinates to rebuild the Second Legion. Relying on these officers and veterans who survived the Civil War, the Second Legion was the fastest to complete its reconstruction among the five directly subordinate legions, and its combat effectiveness was guaranteed.
As for the Sixth Legion, which was originally stationed in Notting County, it was one of the two Duchy's Direct Legion that survived the Civil War. It was fully equipped and had good combat power. It was also a staunch supporter of Mora. However, the other half of the legion's forces were stationed in Strath County, directly subordinate to the Duchy county in the west, to help the Western nobles stabilize their territories. They could not provide support in the short term.
With nearly 40,000 troops under his command, attacking Notting County would be a dead end for Count Carter.
"I had a plan for being blocked outside Notting County. It won't be too much of an obstacle for us. After all, we can still enter the eastern Duchy through Bria County and go south along the Blackwater River."
After he finished speaking, Count Colt lowered the scepter to York County.
"As for the other Duchy's Direct Legion that Mora mobilized, it was the rebuilt Third Legion. Like the other rebuilt legions, it was incomplete in organization, lacked officers, and was short of soldiers and horses. It only had a few people and was currently stationed near Blackwater City in York County. It was intended to serve as a reserve force here or to intercept our army that was heading south from Blackwater City."
Looking at the map, Victor thought that from Bria County to Suffolk County in the east, it was a flat plain, and the Duchy could not stop the Northern Alliance Army here. As for the eastern county of Essex County, which was directly under the jurisdiction of Cambridge County and bordered the Southern Four Counties, it would not have much impact on the Northern Alliance Army's southward advance.
Deploying a portion of the duchy's military forces in Blackwater City can indeed serve as a means of interception, however...
"Mora made a terrible move!"
Count Colt said it with absolute certainty.