Partners for Cooperation
The army marched very slowly. Most of the rivers here flow from west to east, making it impossible for the army to transport supplies. They also lacked livestock and had to march on foot.
Victor also brought a considerable number of prisoners of war with him, mostly from various territories along the way. With them, Victor could more easily take over these territories. If they encountered fierce resistance, these prisoners of war could also be used as cannon fodder.
At this point, Victor knew the importance of speed in warfare, and there was nothing he could do about his declining moral standards.
However, the sight of the slow-moving army still made Victor very uncomfortable. Although he had abandoned a large amount of supplies and entrusted the wounded to the Coastal Defense Fleet, the army still had to guard the prisoners, so it could not move quickly.
Just as Victor was pondering how to speed things up, a messenger approached him. "Your Excellency, Regimental Commander Ron has asked me to report that there is a group of envoys ahead who claim to be from the Red Hemp Family. They wish to see you and ransom their viscount's son."
Upon hearing the messenger's report, Victor's spirits lifted. This was the first independent nobleman to approach him after the war, and he hoped it would be a good start.
"However, I'm not very familiar with the Red Hemp Family. How about this, Michael, could you go find Steward Magnus for me?" Victor didn't really know much about the family, only that they were a viscount-level noble family whose specialty was a naturally red sisal. Their sisal carpets were very popular in the duchy and surrounding countries, making them one of the wealthier noble families in the Eastern Region.
He then told the messenger, "Go back and tell Ron to treat the messengers well, and that I will go to him."
"Yes, sir!" The messenger carried Victor's orders back to report to Ron.
A short while later, Magnus rode over. Magnus had been on the carriage carrying Count Black Count's body to guard the body and to keep the news under wraps.
Even now, very few people know about the Count's death. Victor even kept it from his allied nobles, because the Count Black's death would really affect the balance of the Eastern Region. Victor was willing to let these allies have greater influence in the Eastern Region, but he did not want them to have any thoughts of replacing the Great Oak Family.
Victor led his troops south by land, partly to purge the noble families along the way, and partly to suppress news of Count Black's death. The nominal southward army was a joint force led by Victor and Count Black.
He planned to become Brando's guardian as previously agreed, and also help him stabilize the situation in Great Oak Territory and eliminate anyone who might threaten Brando.
If the news of the Count's death were leaked in advance, many capable and ambitious nobles would interfere in the succession issue of Great Oak Territory, which would cause trouble for Victor's work.
"Magnus, the Red Hemp Family has come to ransom their heir. Do you have any information about this family? I can let their heir go, but I need this family to submit to the Northern Frontier Allied Army behind me."
Victor stopped thinking about the impact of Count Black's death. He now wanted to focus his energy on suppressing the Eastern Region. The Red Hemp Family was quite powerful, and if they could surrender willingly, it would save him a lot of time.
Magnus understood what Victor meant, and after a brief moment of thought, he said, "The current head of the Red Hemp Family is Viscount Boateng. He is very intelligent, but also timid. In the past, he listened to the Count and actively responded to the Count's call during the Civil War, contributing troops and money without hesitation."
However, after the Count was defeated, he was among the first Eastern nobles to side with Grand Duke Mora. Before the Noble Council could reach a decision, he had already sent Mora a considerable amount of money.
Later, Silver Maple City may have made him some promise, and immediately withdrew Red Hemp Territory's ships from the Coastal Defense Fleet, which became the fuse for the disintegration of the Coastal Defense Fleet. Sonanda had a lot of opinions about him.
If I remember correctly, the Red Hemp Territory's fleet is quite strong, and the fleet's leader is an old subordinate of the Count and a friend of Sonanda, named Van Dyke.
Sonanda had been trying to persuade Van Dyke to return to the Coastal Defense Fleet, but hadn't had the chance. However, this naval battle wiped out the Red Hemp Territory fleet, and even Van Dyke, along with the Red Hemp Territory heir, were captured.
As expected of Magnus, he knew these nobles of Suffolk County quite well. Victor felt that he had made the right choice in seeking his advice. Victor quickly asked, "If I want this Red Hemp Territory to submit willingly, is there any good way?"
"Lord Victor, the solution is readily available. Viscount Boateng only has this one son, and he is not young. He should not easily give up this heir. You can use this to control this viscount."
Victor nodded knowingly. Suddenly, he thought of something and turned to ask the clerk behind him.
"How many Red Hemp Territory did we capture this time?"
The clerk quickly flipped through the battle report he had prepared, "Your Excellency, we captured more than 4,000 people from Red Hemp Territory this time. The fleet consisted of 14 ships with more than 1,700 people and more than 2,300 infantrymen. However, there were very few combat soldiers. Among them, 1,800 were Serf Soldiers and there were only 500 regular soldiers."
At this point, Magnus added, "That Viscount Boateng is very timid. In addition, the Red Hemp Family has always made its fortune through trade, and its army is really not good at fighting. For a long time, they have preferred to use Serf Soldiers to fill the ranks. This time, their infantry should have surrendered without losing much."
After listening, Victor muttered to himself, "In that case, he is indeed a rather suitable candidate."
Even when he was preparing to head south, Victor had one problem: the three noble counties in the east, Cambridge County and Boler County, had allied noble families with the Golden Sunflower Family, but Suffolk County had no trustworthy partners.
Once Victor leads his army further south into the Southern Region to support Count Lloyd, the entire Eastern Region will be guarded by these allied nobles.
There's not much of a problem in Boler County. It has not only the Golden Sunflower Territory, but also traditional allies like the Silver Sunflower and Black Oil Pine, as well as two potential allies, the White Asparagus and Olive Territory. So there's no need to worry.
Cambridge Territory also has allies like Oil Sunflower and my grandfather's Edelweiss Flower, so we can rest assured.
Suffolk County is quite special. It is the largest of the three noble counties in the east, covering more than 40,000 square kilometers. Apart from a quarter of it belonging to Great Oak Territory, the remaining land belongs to 19 other noble families of varying sizes. Because of their maritime trade, most of them are very wealthy and powerful, with 6 families holding the title of Viscount.
Victor strongly suspects that the Duchy of Suffolk County back then in order to counterbalance the Great Oak Family. Otherwise, with the strength of the Great Oak Family, they could easily suppress other independent nobles in a smaller county.
Previously, Suffolk County was in a state of mutual resistance between the Great Oak Family and 19 other noble families. It was not until the arrival of the Count Black that the power of the entire Suffolk County noble family was united by taking advantage of the opportunity to fight against the invading fleet of the East Sea Alliance.
Although the mission was not fully accomplished due to the interference of the former Grand Duke, the Count Black did gain the support of the Suffolk County nobility and became influential throughout the Eastern Region because of this achievement.
If Count Black were still alive, Victor could have gone south without worry. Count Black was confident he could easily stabilize the situation in Suffolk County. But now that Count Black is gone, the truth can't be hidden forever. As for Brando, it would be good enough if he could inherit Great Oak Territory with Victor's help. Asking him to help stabilize Suffolk County is asking too much.
Victor had to find another way. Fortunately, Blue Rose Territory was also in Suffolk County, which could be considered a foothold. However, the nobles in Suffolk County were too powerful and numerous. The half-crippled Great Oak Territory and Blue Rose Territory alone were not enough to stabilize the situation. He had to expand his power.
The Red Hemp Territory that has now appeared on its own initiative is indeed a potential partner for Victor. Victor has decided to thoroughly investigate this family to see if it meets his requirements.