Turning Point

In a wooded area in northwest York County, the Secret Agents are traversing the forest.

Because of the dense forest vegetation, Alex's armor was covered with leaves and broken branches, making him look very disheveled.

"Damn it, we've had a bad start. Carter, that old guy, is truly a veteran general of the Duchy. He's even deployed so many patrols behind the battlefield."

Alex reached out and wiped the leaves off his helmet mask, then spoke to Victor beside him.

However, Victor did not respond. Alex turned to look at Victor curiously and saw him frowning, as if he was pondering a difficult problem.

Alex led the horse over to Victor and tapped Victor's helmet. "What's wrong, Victor? Is there a problem?"

At this moment, Victor came to his senses. "It's nothing, but don't you find it strange? Even though the Second Legion is the fastest to rebuild and has the most complete recovery of combat power among the Duchy's Direct Legion, where did they get so many warhorses? In just the last two hours, we've encountered four patrol teams of about ten men each. Could it be that the Second Legion's Light Cavalry has recovered to its pre-war size?"

According to the military system of the Grand Duchy of Vera, unless it is a specially reinforced Duchy's Direct Legion, a legion normally consists of five regiments plus the troops attached to the legion headquarters. Generally, there is only one Cavalry regiment, and at most one Cavalry battalion will be added to the legion's directly subordinate troops. A Cavalry Regiment plus Auxiliary Troops is about four battalions, with about 2,000 to 2,400 men. A Cavalry battalion has no more than 600 men, so a legion has about 3,000 Cavalry in total.

Only a few legions have more Cavalry units. For example, the Imperial Guard Legion has three Cavalry Regiment, one heavy and two light, totaling about 8,000 men. The former Duchy's First Legion has two Cavalry regiments, totaling about 5,000 men. After all, Cavalry units cost far more than infantry units. Supporting one Light Cavalry is equivalent to supporting four to five infantrymen, and Heavy Cavalry would cost at least twice as many.

However, Victor witnessed the Second Legion being defeated Civil War. Alex was one of the instigators of the destruction of the Second Legion. Even if the soldiers were not massacred, but only the officers were targeted for elimination, the weapons and horses must have been confiscated as spoils of war. There was nothing left, so the Second Legion had to repurchase weapons and horses.

Based on the prisoners captured by the patrol squads that Victor and his men encountered, they were organized into at least two Cavalry battalions, totaling more than 1,000 Cavalry. It seems that the Cavalry Regiment of the Second Legion have been replenished, at least enough to form two battalions.

After hearing Victor's words, Alex also fell into thought. "That's definitely not right. The merchant guild I control has already tightened the number of horses sold to the Duchy's Direct Legion. The Second Legion simply can't get that many warhorses. Something's not right!"

"Damn it, could it be..."

Alex thought of a possibility and looked at Victor with a troubled expression.

Victor nodded. "These warhorses may have come from your trading post. Count Carter may have used some means to obtain the horses stored in the trading post."

"That's impossible. How could he dare? He's just a Court Count. The nobles from the mainland who cooperate with me are all viscounts, including members of the Silver Maple Ducal House. What makes him think he can do this?"

Court Noble are honorary titles bestowed by the Grand Duke himself. Although they enjoy a considerable annuity and can serve as officials or political officers in the duchy, they are at the bottom of the noble hierarchy because they do not have fiefs. Even the barons among the independent nobles can look down on court barons and viscounts.

Under normal circumstances, a viscount of an independent noble family would have a higher political and practical status than Court Count, since court titles would be revoked upon death and would not grant any fiefdom, making him even lower than a marquis.

The Grand Duke also liked to bestow titles upon Court Noble. As long as he could afford the annuity, there were more than 200 independent nobles in the entire duchy, but more than 300 to nearly 400 Court Noble, including no fewer than 50 Court Count. It should be noted that there were no more than 40 independent nobles at the viscount level in the entire duchy.

Alex was shocked by Count Carter's behavior, but Victor shook his head. After all, it was just speculation on his part. They would soon arrive at the trading post in Haiden City and then they would know whether his speculation was true or not.

When they arrived at the trading post, the place was in a mess. Fortunately, none of the managers or employees were injured or killed.

Alex and Victor learned from the trading post steward that after Count Carter led the Second Legion into York County, he sent troops to seize all the merchant warehouses in the county and requisitioned all supplies under the pretext of wartime conditions. Even when the stewards of these merchant warehouses used the names of the major shareholders behind them, they could not stop them.

Alex was furious and wanted to kill the trading post manager on the spot, but Victor stopped him. "There's no need to do that. It's not his fault. We just didn't expect Count Carter to be so ruthless. But we can also look at it from another perspective: the Duchy was even less prepared. I guess the Second Legion was barely in place, and it didn't even have enough weapons and supplies, which is why Count Carter had to resort to this tactic."

After hearing Victor's analysis, Alex's anger subsided, and he said to the steward, "Let it go this time. For my brother-in-law's sake, you should thank Viscount Victor."

The shopkeeper knelt down and thanked Victor, saying, "Thank you, Viscount. I, Salos, will certainly repay you."

Victor helped Salos up. "You've worked hard these past few days, but we still have a mission to complete. May I ask if there's any way to obtain a batch of horses around here, or even just riding horses? Please help me, Salos."

Salos looked grateful and said to Victor, "Actually, there is a way. Count Carter has stored a lot of the supplies he collected in Haiden City. He set up a transfer station there, and there are quite a few horses there. Some of the warhorses in the trading post have not been transported away and should still be at the transfer station in the city."

Victor and Alex exchanged glances. After all, they had only brought a little over a hundred men, and although each of them was skilled, it was simply unrealistic to attack a transit station in a city with just over a hundred men.

"My lords, I understand that there are not many troops stationed in Haiden City. Originally, an Infantry Regiment of the Sixth Legion was stationed here. After the transfer station was established, they were also responsible for escorting the transport teams."

"Currently, only one battalion remains stationed in the city. The other four battalions are all involved in the escort mission. This remaining battalion is scattered throughout the city and at the transfer station. With proper planning, it is entirely possible to enter the transfer station and steal the horses."