The breakthrough

Alex suddenly felt that his father was a stranger. When he decided to raise an army, he clearly decided from the beginning to take the lead, minimize interference from the kingdom, and ensure the autonomy of the Iron Birch Family and the Northern Frontier nobles. Why is he now pinning his hopes on the kingdom?

However, Count Colt quickly resolved Alex's question, "But according to the agreement I made with General Lawrence, the Kingdom Navy cannot intervene in our war on a large scale. At most, they can only attack cities on the shore, and they will never go ashore to attack the inland."

So even if it works, it would be good enough if it could draw a portion of the Western Noble Alliance Army back.

"Then what use are they?"

Alex was somewhat puzzled. If the Kingdom Navy was so constrained, what could they possibly do?

Count Colt shook his head. "Your uncle and Viscount Albert are just barely managing to keep things going. The Duchy's Second Legion and Sixth Legion are there. Even though the Sixth Legion has been rebuilt, it is still the elite of the Duchy's Direct Legion."

My biggest concern is the western front. Otherwise, I wouldn't have sent the Fifth Legion of the Northern Frontier Allied Army there. Although it can't push back, having this fresh force can at least help maintain the western front.

If the Kingdom Navy could draw away a portion of the Western Noble Alliance Army, it would undoubtedly further reduce the pressure on Benjamin and Albert, at least allowing them to hold out for a little longer.

Alex hadn't expected that in Colt's eyes, the situation on the Western Front wasn't just a minor collapse, but a major one, as if it were already on the verge of collapse, but he couldn't find the words to refute it.

He was well aware of the battle reports from the western front. After the fortress fell, his uncle, Viscount Benjamin, fought valiantly to prevent the second line of defense from being breached. All units suffered heavy losses, and even Benjamin was wounded.

Fortunately, the fortress didn't have too many supplies left; half of them were stored on the second line of defense. Otherwise, even if Benjamin's Duchy Army's attack, they would have been defeated due to lack of food.

As for Albert's army, it was indeed the army of the Iron Birch Territory, but in conjunction with Benjamin's troops who had already suffered heavy losses, it was already a great effort to hold the second line of defense.

Alex felt a chill run down his spine. They were on the verge of defeat. If the enemy broke through the Carson Mountains on the western front, Durham County would be directly exposed to them.

If the Duchy then announces this news to the Allied Army, the current Northern Frontier Allied Army might collapse, since more than half of the noble territories are in Durham County.

After calming down, Alex thought for a while and asked, "Father, why do you want to use Victor's eastern front as a breakthrough point?"

As far as I know, if you simply move the Fifth Legion, which was originally supporting him, to the western front, Victor's forces are simply insufficient to help him support the Iron Vine Family in defeating the southern army of the duchy!

There, you'll find the entire Fourth Legion directly subordinate to the Duchy, plus at least three legions from the southern nobles. Especially the private armies of the southern nobles, who have long faced off against the East Sea Alliance on both sides of the border; their fighting strength is considerable.

Count Colt stood up abruptly from his chair and paced back and forth in the room. "You're right, Alex. At first, I thought the chances of victory were slim, but Victor fought so brilliantly on the eastern front, not only crushing a Duchy's Direct Legion but also those noble private armies."

He was even able to persuade the eastern nobles to send troops to help him after the war; this is a letter he sent to me through channels in Two Rivers Territory.

Count Colt pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Alex.

Alex noticed that the letter had many creases, indicating that it had been repeatedly taken out and read. He opened the letter and began to read it. The content was very short, only a few hundred words, and the writing style was also very concise, unlike the usual aristocratic style. However, he recognized it at a glance as Victor's handwriting.

The letter roughly stated. "Victor's Southern Marching Legion has achieved its first victory, but the death of Count Black has cast a shadow over this victory. Victor is currently in Sunset City helping with the handover of the Great Oak Family title. According to their previous agreement, Victor will serve as the guardian of the new Earl Great Oak until he comes of age."

Victor has now taken control of the army in Great Oak Territory, and he plans to send his elite troops south to fight alongside his own forces.

He also raised a suggestion: in this operation, he captured a large number of eastern nobles and their private armies. If they were left unattended, it would be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains. However, if they were kept, it would be a waste of manpower to divide up troops to guard them.

However, Victor proposed an idea: to use these captured nobles for his own purposes. Victor obtained a large amount of wealth from these captured nobles through ransoms and reparations, and classified these nobles as the cooperative faction.

However, instead of demanding reparations from the loyalist nobles who died in battle, he subcontracted these tasks to the cooperative nobles, who were then tasked with collecting resources from their territories.

Those cooperative nobles had just been thoroughly exploited by Victor, so they would be very willing to take this opportunity to make amends. Moreover, this approach could directly split the original loyal nobles in the Eastern Region.

To some extent, it also relieved Victor, the Great Oak Territory, and allied nobles of the garrison pressure, allowing them to devote more troops to combat.

At the same time, Victor did not let go of the cooperative nobles. He could not simply believe their promises without taking any action. He demanded that these cooperative nobles send their elite troops from their territories to join his southward campaign.

This would both prevent these cooperative nobles from taking this opportunity to grow stronger and increase the military strength for the southward march, and bringing them south would also be beneficial.

These nobles and their armies had just broken away from the duchy's camp, and sending them north to fight directly against the Grand Duke's forces would certainly be unacceptable to them, but this would not be a problem if they went south.

Originally, under the deliberate control of the Ducal House, the relationships between the nobles in the various regions of the duchy were not very good. The nobles in the Eastern Region and Southern Region had always had conflicts with each other, and they had no psychological pressure to attack the armies of these southern nobles.

Taking this opportunity, Victor obtained a large number of troops from these eastern allied nobles. Combined with the Noble Army of his original allies, this effectively doubled the size of his southward-bound army, meaning the planned Fifth Legion was still in place.

After reading the letter, Alex was so happy he almost jumped up on the spot, but his father was right beside him, so he controlled himself.

"Excellent, as expected of Victor. In this way, the army heading south is not at too great a disadvantage in terms of troop strength. They might actually have a chance to defeat the Duchy Army in the Southern Region."

Count Colt nodded and sighed, "I originally thought that our main battlefield would be the decisive place, but unexpectedly, the weakest part of the eastern front has become the breakthrough point."

Alex understood his father's intention. In the beginning, sending Victor to the east was to let him earn some military merits. After all, the Eastern Region still had Great Oak Territory, and with Victor's army, they could at least maintain a mediocre situation.

If Victor and his men hold out until the main force decides the outcome, they can sweep across the Eastern Region with the momentum of victory, and after the war, they can be granted the title of Count based on this achievement.

However, Victor, with his own help and that of Count Black, so quickly resolved the Eastern Front and directly solved the problems faced by the entire Northern Frontier Allied Army. This military achievement was of great significance.

If Victor were to actually defeat the Duchy Army in the Southern Region in time, it would be a direct rescue of the entire situation, making his achievement even more significant. Alex couldn't even imagine how far Victor could go at that point.

Count Colt voiced what Alex was thinking, "At that time, I will petition the King in my own name to bestow upon Victor the title of Marquis of the Kingdom."

"Call!"

Alex took a deep breath. Marquis, normally in the kingdom, a border count like the Marquis of Count Colt is on par with Marquis, and is considered a member of the high-ranking nobility.

But Victor is different. A year ago he was just a baron, but judging from the current development, he has an 80% chance of being promoted to Marquis in a year, making him a very important figure in the kingdom.

For a moment, Alex felt conflicted, unsure whether he should offer his blessings to Victor.