News Spreads

After wandering around the camp, Victor returned to the ship.

On the one hand, if he were to live in the camp now, the Logistics Department would definitely invest some manpower and resources to build a private tent for him, Victor did not want to delay the construction of the camp and the dock; on the other hand, most of the army was still at sea and had not landed, so his living on the ship could also show that he shared weal and woe with the soldiers.

Whether the soldiers can see it or not is not important; the officers will help Victor spread the word to all the soldiers that the lord loves his soldiers like his own children.

The next morning, after Victor got up, he received the news that the temporary dock was basically completed.

Victor arranged for his ship to dock directly at the outermost pier. After the ramps connected the deck and the pier, Victor stepped onto the pier.

The entire pier is constructed using light teak from the Black Pine Territory, a superior building material that has become very popular in the Two Rivers Territory in recent years.

Viscount Markut made a fortune for Black Pine Territory by leveraging this specialty, and thus won the support of the territory.

Victor stood on the pier and stomped his feet hard. The pier was very sturdy and did not sway at all.

Just then, an officer from the engineering team walked over, and Victor recognized him as an old acquaintance.

"Sagras, it's been a long time. I was wondering why I didn't see you at the camp yesterday, I only saw Piero. It turns out you were in charge of the construction of this temporary dock."

"That's true, you're the most experienced construction engineer on the entire team."

Sagras stroked his long beard with pride, feeling quite pleased with the lord's approval of him.

"Your Excellency, you flatter me. I can only say that I am the most experienced, but I would not say that I am the best. Piero and Labuyard are both excellent."

However, having served as the engineering team leader for so long, Sagras's answer was quite tactful, pointing out his own strengths while also praising his colleagues.

However, this tactic was largely ineffective against Victor, since he likely knew their capabilities better than the engineers themselves.

"Now that the dock is completed, your engineering team can focus on building the camp. You must finish it as soon as possible, according to the plan we discussed when we were in the Two Rivers Territory. I want this camp to become the stone where we buried our duchy."

Sagras quickly nodded and replied, "Yes, sir, please rest assured."

However, for the time being, the camp construction will have to be handled by Piero, while I need to inspect and improve the dock.

Victor it a bit strange. He could understand building acceptance, but the temporary dock had already completed the entire design plan, so how could it be improved?

Victor raised the question directly to Sagras replied, "Just in case, we prepared a lot of spare parts. Some were used and some were not. After the dock was completed, I checked it again and found that we had enough spare parts to add another pier to the temporary dock."

I plan to make minor modifications to the design while inspecting the wharf, to see if we can add a pier, which would further increase the wharf's throughput.

After all, according to the contingency plan, a second wave of troops would land here.

"I see, Sagras. Looks like I'll have to trouble you a bit more!"

"It is my duty, Your Excellency."

Knowing that Sagras still had much to do, Victor left the dock and went ashore.

As soon as he landed, Sodoma came up from the sea in a small boat to find him.

"Your Excellency, I have discovered several ships belonging to other nobles of Suffolk County off the coast of Rotten Tree Beach. Should we clear them out?"

"We've been ashore for two days now. Such a large fleet is bound to be conspicuous. It's normal for the nobles to notice us, and it's only natural that we're exposed. You can ignore those ships for now. Just keep an eye on the fleet from Great Oak Territory."

Sodoma nodded and left, but just as he was about to jump onto the small boat, Victor called out to him.

"Wait a minute, Sodoma. If those ships don't enter our warning range, we can ignore them. But if they do, don't let them go. We need to make them think that we are highly aggressive."

Although Sodoma didn't quite understand why Victor had added this restriction, it wasn't a problem for him.

Victor's idea was simple: he didn't want these nobles to know the size of his army, so as not to misjudge them or make them have any unnecessary probing thoughts.

After all, Victor's landing force, including the Logistics Department, numbered less than 20,000.

This size is not a significant force for the nobles of the Eastern Region who have already undergone two rounds of mobilization.

It is estimated that the Suffolk County nobles, excluding the Count Black, have a combined force of one and a half legions. If they overestimate their strength and launch a preemptive attack on Victor's landing force, it will certainly affect Victor's next steps.

After receiving Victor's orders, Sodoma began leading his fleet of fast boats to drive away the small boats of the eastern nobles within the fleet's warning range.

Those ships that were obedient naturally fled immediately, but some stubborn ones tried to circle around and reconnoiter after being driven away. They were all caught up by Sodoma's fast ships and scuttled into the sea.

The captured soldiers were simply thrown a plank at them and kicked overboard.

After a round of clearing and witnessing Sodoma's scare tactics, the ships became much more obedient, only watching from a distance and not daring to approach the Two Rivers Territory fleet.

Although they couldn't obtain specific information about this ill-intentioned fleet, they quickly deduced its origins by compiling information from the prisoners thrown overboard.

After the first ships returned to their own territories to report, news of the Northern Frontier Allied Army's southward fleet landing at Rotten Tree Beach spread throughout Suffolk County and quickly spread to the Eastern Four Counties.

However, they could not confirm how many landing troops the fleet brought, so the number became increasingly outrageous.

When the story first spread in Suffolk County, it was a legion of the Northern Frontier Allied Army landing. By the time it reached Cambridge County, it had become two legions, and by the time it reached Boler County, it had become four legions, a total of 100,000 men.

The news became increasingly outrageous. By the time they arrived in Sextus County, Kimberley had already received the entire army of 200,000 men, led by Count Colt himself, from the Northern Frontier Allied Army, sailing south to the Eastern Region.

Count Kimberly looked at the intelligence report in his hand, and then at the endless army that was constantly advancing from afar below the city.

"Count Colt led a large army south by ship, so where did this army I saw come from?"

On April 9, 1634, Count Colt led his army into Sextus County. After joining forces with Alex and Viscount Hawke of White Earth City, the entire army began to advance south and stationed itself directly north of Sextus County, forming a formidable encampment that covered the sky.

The Fifth and Seventh Legion dared not make any rash moves, and the Third Legion and the other two northern Coalition of Nobles legions dared not approach the county town of Sextus County, but instead set up camp and waited for the Imperial Guard Legion led by the Grand Duke Mora and Viscount Borey.

Meanwhile, the First Legion was also reaching the eastern border of Boler County along the Blackwater River, and they received news that a Northern Alliance Army had landed in Suffolk County.

The First Legion then turned directly and continued eastward along the Blackwater River toward Suffolk County.

Standing on the dock of Linshui Town Foss watched the fleet of ships flying the flag of the First Legion directly subordinate to the Duchy sailing down the river. He found it very strange. When he first received the intelligence, this force was clearly heading towards Golden Sunflower Territory. Why was it continuing to advance along the Blackwater River?

"Holmes, what's going on with this First Legion? Are they planning to seize our docks directly?"

Holmes shook his head. "It doesn't look like it to me. These ships are just ordinary cargo ships, they don't even have weapons. If they directly seize our dock, aren't they just asking to die?"

Holmes pointed to the Bed Crossbow and Catapult not far from them, which were defensive weapons equipped at the dock.

"Alright, better safe than sorry. You stay here and keep watch, I'll go back and gather some more troops."

After saying that Foss left the dock.