Replenishing the Losses

Victor was sitting at his desk in the study of the Stone Castle in Golden Sunflower Territory, Stone Castle Boler County, rubbing his head with one hand and resting the other on the table, looking down at the battle report that had just arrived in his hands.

After acquiring sufficient supplies, Victor, in order to lead his Southern Marching Legion north to provide support as quickly as possible, did not choose to go to Sunset City. Instead, he chose to detour westward via a tributary of the Green Water River and take the canal in the Eastern Region to enter the Blackwater River tributary.

Victor planned to send the fleet directly north along a tributary of the Blackwater River, first into Raine County, then seize Blackwater City, cutting off one of the most important relay nodes of the Duchy's army's two logistical supply lines.

The journey would take them through Boler County, Victor planned to draw some troops from Boler County to replenish the losses of the Southern Marching Legion. So he led his Guard Cavalry away from the fleet and returned to Golden Sunflower Territory.

Upon returning to Golden Sunflower Territory, Victor immediately checked on the troop situation and then summoned Santos was Golden Sunflower Territory injuries and in charge of the territory's defenses.

Although Santos has been recovering from his injury, he has also fulfilled his duties, managing the defense of the entire Golden Sunflower Territory in an orderly manner.

Because independent nobles had Rebellion in several other counties in the Eastern Region, Victor's remaining allies were sending troops to suppress them.

Upon learning of the Rebellion nobles' emergence, Santos immediately dispatched troops to occupy strategic locations around the Golden Sunflower Territory, preventing any potential chaos from spreading outside the territory.

He also wrote to several allied noble families in Boler County, forming a stabilization force to be stationed in the border territories between Boler County and other counties, especially in the territories of nobles with rebellious tendencies. This approach both isolated them from external threats and eliminated internal problems.

After learning about these situations from Santos, Vidoc couldn't help but admire Santos's handling of these problems.

However, this has created a problem. Now, apart from two detachments left behind as Reserve Force, the remaining troops in Golden Sunflower Territory, totaling nine detachments and nearly 5,000 men, have all been deployed by Santos.

Now, there are virtually no troops left in the entire Golden Sunflower Territory that can be allocated to the Southern Marching Legion, which has directly thwarted Victor's original plan.

Victor told Santos about his idea, hoping he could give him some advice, and to his surprise, Santos actually had a great idea.

"My lord, this matter is actually not difficult to resolve. Currently, half of our territory's nine detachments are stationed in several key locations around the territory."

As for the other half, which are stationed in the border territories of Boler County, besides us, Black Oil Pine Territory, Blue Rose Territory, and Oil Sunflower Territory have all sent troops to garrison with us.

As far as I know, these three families' private armies have not been fully mobilized yet. If you need, you can draw on our troops stationed on the border, at least four detachments. The vacant troops can be shared by the troops sent by these three allies.

Besides the three allies within the county, the other allies in the other counties have not mobilized their entire private armies; you can also seek military support from them."

"However, there are rebellious nobles in several other counties. If we divert troops from these allies, will it affect the stability of the Eastern Region and allow these rebellious nobles to expand their power?"

"My lord, I think you don't need to worry. Look at the situation here in Cambridge County. There are only two rebellious noble territories, and both are located near the border of the Central Region. It's obvious that they have the support of Raine County."

But as you know, the main forces of the Duchy have all rushed to the main battlefield in Sextus County, and the Central Region of the Duchy has very limited troops and support, not to mention Raine County.

According to the latest battle report, our allied forces have actually driven these rebels back to their own territory, but perhaps due to concerns about losses, they have not yet attacked the traitors' territory.

As for the situation in Suffolk County, it's like this...

Santos took out a map of the Eastern Region and explained the current Eastern Region there to Victor directly from the map.

As expected of Santos, he kept a close eye on the battlefields in the Eastern Region and made good use of the home advantage of the Eastern Region, sending out a large number of messengers to communicate intelligence with other allies and learn about the latest battlefield intelligence.

From his analysis, Victor gained a much more detailed and comprehensive understanding of the current situation in the Eastern Region than he had previously obtained from the war reports from the Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce.

"That's the situation, my lord. In fact, our allies are all capable of doing so, but it's their selfish motives that make their efforts to maintain stability so difficult."

If we calculate it this way, even after deducting the troops left to deal with those rebellious nobles, I think we can at least arrange one or two regiments to be sent to the Southern Marching Legion, which would satisfy your requirements.

Moreover, you don't need to worry about any more rebellious nobles. Your great victory in the Southern Region has already spread Eastern Four Counties, and those nobles who have already rebelled are probably regretting it now.

As for those noble territories that haven't yet had a chance to rebel, they should have already given up on the idea of starting a rebellion.

Victor's previous request was actually quite simple: the Southern Marching Legion had lost nearly 10,000 men in the battle of Ironvine Territory, partly due to combat casualties and partly due to non-combat losses caused by the hot and humid southern climate.

Especially the troops Victor brought from the Northlands, including those of Baron Brown and Marcus, which consisted mostly of Barbarians, were indeed very unaccustomed to the hot and humid environment of the Southern Region during the transition from spring to summer.

Fortunately, the Southern Marching Legion has now returned north. Once they return to the Eastern Region with a climate closer to that of the Northlands, the Northlands troops that suffered losses due to the climate will likely recover quickly, and most of them will be able to rejoin their units smoothly.

Therefore, the shortage of personnel in the entire Southern Marching Legion is not significant. According to estimates, Victor only needs to replenish the Southern Marching Legion with seven or eight thousand men.

At present, at least four detachments, or about two thousand men, can be drawn from the Golden Sunflower Territory alone. If allied troops are mobilized, the number can easily reach five or six thousand, which is enough to meet the replenishment needs of the Southern Marching Legion.

After listening to Santos's analysis, Victor was very pleased. "As expected of you, Santos, you've been a great help. Now the replenishment of the Southern Marching Legion can be completed quickly. The sooner it's completed, the sooner I can lead my troops north to support the main battlefield."

Just as Victor and Santos were confirming their positions and preparing to send troop mobilization orders to all allies in the entire Eastern Region, Victor received a battle report from the Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce.

Santos, who was with Victor, also learned the details of the main battlefield as soon as possible.

Both were surprised to learn of Haines's death in battle. Viscount Haines, as Count Colt's younger brother, was a well-known general of the Iron Birch Family.

His appointment by Count Colt to command the Iron Birch Second Legion speaks volumes about his abilities; once the Civil War ends, he is sure to become one of the most outstanding new nobles in the Raine Kingdom.

The fact that such a nobleman has died on the battlefield will have a significant impact on the entire Northern Alliance Army.

"Although the battle was evenly matched with similar losses on both sides, the death of Viscount Haines will definitely deal a greater blow to the morale of the Northern Alliance Army."

I reckon this news won't be kept secret any longer and will soon spread throughout the Eastern Region. Those nobles with rebellious tendencies might just raise the banner of rebellion. It seems my plan to mobilize allied troops will also fall through."

Victor was pessimistic about the upcoming fighting in the Eastern Region.

However, Santos raised a question, "My lord, you place too much importance on Haines's influence. This is normal, after all, you are looking at this matter from the perspective of a Northern Frontier nobles."

But to most of the Eastern nobles, this Viscount Haines was really not important; at most, he was just the younger brother of the Earl of the Birch Tree in the North.

His death will not affect the overall situation in the Eastern Region at all; you have absolutely no need to worry about it."

"This..."

Victor agreed with Santos's point, so the two discussed it and decided to stick to the original plan and continue sending mobilization orders to allies in various regions.