Rest and Setting Out Again
Victor paid no attention to these gossips; he now understood what he needed to do most at this moment.
A cool night breeze swept into the tower, Victor, sobering up, continued writing, "... Please rest assured, Father, Lord Benjamin will continue to guide me in the upcoming battles, and Lord Count Colt will be the overall commander. Everything will go smoothly..." His quill suddenly snapped, and he chuckled softly as he gazed at the battlefield ruins outside the window. Unbeknownst to him, he had truly regarded this blood-stained land as a stepping stone to advancement.
The sound of iron boots echoed down the stairs, Baron Brown swaggered in carrying a wine jug. "Writing a letter back home?" He glanced at the unfolded letter and suddenly became serious. "To truly establish a foothold, military merit alone is not enough."
Please enlighten me.
"A marriage alliance," Brown said, leaning against the window.
"That is indeed a good suggestion, Baron Brown, but for me it is merely icing on the cake."
"Indeed, you have already integrated into the circle of the Northern Frontier nobles and are no longer regarded as an outsider."
Victor stroked the Golden Sunflower on the sword hilt and suddenly noticed that the engravings on the petals were unexpectedly similar to the notches on Barbarians battle axe. Perhaps this was the survival rule of the Northlands —whether flower or blade, only by being stained with blood can it take root.
The day after the victory celebration, on August 18, the entire border town was bustling again. Teams transporting spoils of war returned to the town one after another, and the regiments of the Second Legion began to rest and recuperate. For the first time, Victor officially exercised the authority of the Legion Commander, giving each regiment five days to rest, replenish equipment, and treat the wounded.
At the same time, Victor took out the horses from the spoils of war and replenished them according to the losses of each regiment. In order to prevent false reporting of battle losses, Victor also sent Military Judge to inspect them.
This move was welcomed by all the regiments. If spoils were distributed according to battle merits, some regiments might have fought unprofitable battles. At least this time, the legion could help replenish the lost horses, allowing these nobles to reduce some of their expenses.
After the losses of each regiment were replenished, Victor redistributed the remaining spoils.
Just then, the largest slave traders in the Northlands arrived. Keep in mind that only three days had passed since the end of the entire battle, and the victory report had not yet reached Enzo City, yet these merchants had already come here upon hearing the news.
At this point, Viscount Benjamin continued to play his role, using his status and position to directly negotiate deals with these merchants.
Benjamin explained to Victor, "I sent people to inform these slave traders in advance. Whenever there is a major battle in the Northlands, the entire slave market fluctuates. Fortunately, we finished the battle the earliest, so these slaves can still be sold for a good price. Once this major battle is over, I estimate that the entire slave market in the Northlands will experience a big drop in prices. Selling them early will result in higher prices."
The transaction went smoothly. Eighteen thousand Barbarians soldiers were sold as slaves in one go, with payment made directly in cash. Victor witnessed the extravagance of the Northlands merchants; a few of them could casually produce tens of thousands of gold coins, which even made him envious.
However, Victor quickly dismissed the idea. Slave traders were the merchants who valued military strength the most. Their caravan guards were not only responsible for the safety of transporting goods, but also for suppressing goods when necessary.
These wealthy merchants brought nearly 3,000 guards. To ensure the safety and stability of transporting these slaves, they also needed to gather a considerable number of guards to join them. These guards were well-equipped and mostly made up of former war slaves. While they might not be as skilled in battlefield coordination as professional armies, their combat skills and fighting techniques were by no means inferior. Among the nobles of the Three Counties of the Northern Frontier, very few were capable of engaging in this risk-free business, and they were likely also shareholders behind these slave trading guilds.
Later, Victor consulted Viscount Benjamin about this matter, and Viscount Benjamin frankly said, "You're right. The Great Merchant Guilds in the Three Counties of the Northern Frontier are basically front men for the local nobles. Apart from the war slaves they train, most of the guards in those guilds are just private armies of nobles in disguise." Benjamin smiled, "The Silver Maple Family has always been very wary of the Northern Frontier nobles. Although we are not as powerful as the Iron Birch Family, we are still deeply feared. For this reason, we have come up with many ways to hide our family's power."
After learning these things, Victor also realized that the strength of the Northern Frontier nobles, at least the best among them, was not as simple as it seemed on the surface. He had to adjust his current complacent mindset and calm down to continue developing his territory and army.
Afterwards, Victor presented Number One revised spoils distribution plan, which was approved by Legion Commander Benjamin and the spoils were distributed accordingly.
Originally, there were 13,000 warhorses and more than 18,000 inferior horses captured. After replenishing the various units of the legion, there were still more than 7,000 warhorses and more than 12,000 inferior horses left. Victor and Viscount Benjamin each took one-third of them, and the rest were distributed to the various regiments according to their battle merits. At the same time, Victor and Viscount Benjamin no longer participated in the distribution of cattle and sheep, since it was unnecessary to arrange for people to transport them to the territory or sell them.
Of the gold coins obtained from the slave trade, Victor and Viscount Benjamin took the lion's share, with Viscount Benjamin taking 5,000 gold coins, Victor taking 4,000 gold coins, and the remainder being distributed among the various regiments.
Victor personally led the search of the camps of the three tribal chiefs of the right flank of the Barbarians army, where they discovered a large number of gold and Silver Coin, totaling more than 2,300 gold. He immediately gave Viscount Benjamin 2,000 gold, half of which was to thank the Viscount for his help to Victor, and the other half was prepared for Alex. After all, without Alex's recommendation, Viscount Benjamin would not have helped Victor so much. Moreover, Alex would also provide assistance in the subsequent investiture of the title.
This battle not only enhanced Victor's reputation and status, but also greatly strengthened the overall power of his territory.
With over two thousand qualified warhorses and over four thousand packhorses, the size of the territory's Cavalry can be doubled. The quality of horses in this world is even higher, so Light Cavalry are generally equipped with one person and two horses, one for battle and one for packhorse, while Heavy Cavalry are only equipped with one person and three horses, one for two battles and one for packhorse.
Victor swept through three tribes and only managed to gather a little over a thousand warhorses. These horses alone are now worth tens of thousands of gold coins, not to mention the more than 4,300 gold coins he has in hand. Just purchasing supplies is enough to further accelerate the construction of his territory. However, Victor quickly spent half of it to prepare a lot of supplies, such as feed for the horses and replenishment of weapons and equipment.
On the morning of August 24, the entire Second Legion set off again, heading north towards Durham County to support the central defense line as originally planned, and to cooperate with the First Legion of Iron Birch Territory and the First Legion of the Allied Army in their operations.