The Maritime Legion now numbered around forty-five thousand men, with nearly four hundred various seagoing ships. Lorist ordered the Legion's current commander,
Of the twenty slave police battalions formed in the Haneabada archipelago, Lorist planned to transform them into twenty Guard Battalions. Together with the five Guard Battalions in the family's territory, they would form a large Guard Corps. Five battalions would make one division, and five divisions would make one corps, for a total of seventy-five thousand men. This would become the
Thanks to the rich spoils from destroying the Haneabada Kingdom, Lorist now had ample capital to prepare for another military reform of the Norton Family's armed forces. In addition to the soon-to-be-established Guard Corps, Lorist intended to form two field and assault corps. One would be the Rockfall Corps, primarily infantry-based, which would serve as the main force for future sieges and assaults. The other would be the Flying Tiger Corps, a cavalry corps focused on field raids and skirmishes.
Days flew by in a whirl of activity. In March, after the New Year, Lorist convened the Family's New Year Knight Assembly at Rockfall Castle in the family territory and announced the resolution for the military reform of the Norton Family's armed forces. The Rockfall Corps would be established, consisting mainly of two heavy infantry divisions and one unicycle steel crossbow division. The archery cavalry and scout battalions would be merged to form two scout divisions. One scout division, one stone-thrower division, plus three newly formed logistics and supply divisions would constitute one division. The corps would total four divisions and sixty thousand men. The corps commander would be the family's Gold Knight Bodfenger, with Gold Knights Malek and the newly joined Mason serving as deputy division commanders.
The Flying Tiger Corps would be established with Gold Knight Tiger Ross as commander and Gold Knights
Finally, there was the Guard Corps, totaling twenty-five battalions and seventy-five thousand men. The corps commander would be Gold Knight Farea. The deputy commanders would be the two Gold Knights Beruneik and Jades, the former slave gladiator.
In addition to these three corps, there was the Norton Knights' Order, led by Commander Terlmann, comprising three battalions and nine thousand men, and the 3,000-strong bodyguard battalion directly under Lorist's command. Then there was the Maritime Legion of eighteen thousand men, commanded by Sembarwood. This meant the Norton Family's regular armed forces had reached 225,000. This did not even include the police battalions, garrison divisions, and town and village defense forces, which numbered over one hundred thousand.
As the main infantry force, the Rockfall Corps would be deployed on Shilovas Island. The Flying Tiger Corps would be positioned between Xing'an Plains and Red River Plains, in front of Rockfall Castle. The Northland's vast skies and expansive wilderness, with its boundless plains, were perfect for cavalry to gallop freely. The twenty-five-battalion Guard Corps would be scattered and stationed: the 1st Guard Battalion would be at Rockfall Castle, the 2nd Guard Battalion at the port city named Seaboard City by the Great Xiroba, the 3rd and 4th Guard Battalions at Turtleshell Fortress and Lying Ox Ridge Fortress respectively, which defended against the mountain barbarians.
Because the western part of Northland had already become the pasturelands of the Norton Family's territory, Lorist, following the suggestions of Fatty and his other subordinates, decided to reopen the old smuggling path through the Swordsmen Mountains that had once been used by Northfield City. This was the very path the former Grand Duke of Northland, Duke Lugins, had once ordered his Gold Knights Chavagny and Henned to use in their sneak attack on the Norton Family's territory. Six or seven years had passed, and the vines that had been burned down had regrown, allowing them to be used once again to hang down and form a new suspension bridge.
With this passage, the cattle and sheep produced by the pastures in western Northland would no longer need to make a long detour through Rockfall Castle to enter the family's territory. Taking the path directly through the Swordsmen Mountains could save two days of travel. Lorist did not plan to build a suspension bridge. Instead, he intended to use the ancient wooden plank roads from Sichuan he had seen on television in his previous life to replace the vine-woven suspension bridge. Then, in the valley where Knight Chavagny had died, a castle fortress would be established, to be garrisoned by the Fifth Guard Battalion.
The remaining twenty guard battalions would conduct training within the family's territory, awakening their combat force and familiarizing themselves with various types of military equipment and martial arts. Lorist told his knights that he hoped to turn the Norton Family's armed forces into an elite, unstoppable military force within two years, worthy of the family's reputation as the roaring bear of the Northland.
After concluding the deliberations on military reform, Lorist reviewed the family's achievements in territory development from the previous year. This year, the development of the Red River Plains and the construction of the North Sea City would be completed. Apart from the new path and castle fortress being built in the Swordsmen Mountains, the major remaining construction project was the Nicole Academy, overseen by Miss Tressidy. Lorist also placed an additional burden on
Skyle was appointed by Lorist as the new governor of Shilovas Island.
After concluding the family council, Lorist finally had some free time. He first went to visit his beloved disciple, Schwert. Before the expedition to the Haneabada Kingdom, Schwert had insisted on going with Lorist. Lorist had said that war was perilous, victory or defeat was uncertain, and it would be hard for him to look after Schwert. But Schwert had argued that he had already advanced to the Black Iron Rank and could handle a few soldiers without issue, not requiring Lorist's care.
Lorist smiled and turned to fetch Reddy, having him take Schwert to practice that artificial dynamic vision. Lorist told Schwert that since he had become his disciple, he must learn this dynamic vision; it was a necessary condition for cultivation in their school of thought. Since he was already at the Black Iron Rank, he could not delay it any longer, and while Lorist was away on the campaign, he should practice it at home first.
Thus, Schwert was led away by Reddy. After Lorist returned to the family territory, Reddy reported that Schwert had indeed developed dynamic vision. However, his physical conditioning was still not as good as Reddy's, or even Pat's, and it took him over half a month of extra practice to get used to the sensation of being tied to an iron ring and spun in circles. He was now being a bit stubborn and refused to come see Lorist.
When Lorist went to the training grounds on the back mountain, Schwert was practicing swordplay. It was evident that possessing dynamic vision had significantly improved his swordsmanship. Lorist was very satisfied; with another two years of practice, Schwert would be able to handle Silver Rank swordsmen with ease.
Besides personally instructing Reddy and Schwert, whenever he had free time, Lorist would pester Miss Tressidy or visit Maple Forest Manor to satisfy his desires with his concubine, Elinna. Then, after two months passed, both Miss Tressidy and Elinna were "hit" again and became pregnant. Compared to the overjoyed Elinna, Miss Tressidy was furious. This year's focus was the construction of the Nicole Academy, and at this critical juncture, she had gotten pregnant because of Lorist. How could she oversee the academy's construction? Thus, she announced that Lorist was an unwelcome person and refused his visits.
Having been rebuffed, Lorist returned to
This was something that had been agreed upon back in the Haniabada Archipelago. Lorist approved Fatty Shi's leave application, then opened several bottles of fine wine and ordered a few small dishes, intending to drink himself into a stupor with Fatty Shi. When the wine had gone to his head and his face was flushed with warmth, Fatty Shi finally voiced his doubts. After destroying the Kingdom of Haniabada, why was Lorist so vigorously expanding the family's armed forces? Did he already have another target in his sights?
The family's armed forces now numbered over three hundred thousand, and the costs of equipment and military expenditure had already far exceeded the income of the family territories. The estimated annual deficit was over one million gold Forde. Fatty Shi was very worried that after a few more years of this, the family would be saddled with a crushing financial burden.
Lorist grinned and pulled over a map of the Duchy of Madras, slamming his fist down on it and slurring his words: "Don't worry, in another two years the Duchy of Madras will be ours…"
Fatty Shi wanted to ask more, but he saw Lorist slump face-first onto the sofa and pass out cold.
Lorist's approval of Fatty Shi's leave set off a chain reaction. Within ten days, more than a dozen Silver Three-Star Family Knights — Dolores, El,
"What the hell do you all think you're doing? Are you all just going to walk away and quit on me?" Lorist was furious. He had Overwatch brought in first to make an example of him and berated him thoroughly.
Overwatch replied aggrievedly: "My lord, when you recruited me as a Family Knight, didn't you give me a high-tier fire-attribute battle technique manual? I was already at Silver Three-Star back then. Over these years I've mastered that high-tier battle technique manual, and I've now reached the peak of Silver Three-Star. I feel like I'm about to break through, so I wanted to request a year off…"
"Ah…" Lorist dragged Overwatch over for an inspection and found that it was indeed as he'd said. The big-bearded former bandit had truly reached the peak of Silver Three-Star. His anger immediately turned to joy, and he clapped Overwatch on the shoulder with a smile: "I approve your leave. Work hard, advance to the Gold Rank as soon as you can, and the family will gain one more Gold Knight. A knight manor in the Red River Plains has already been prepared for you."
Speaking of the knight manors in the Red River Plains, Lorist suddenly realized why so many Silver Three-Star Family Knights were requesting leave. The eight knight manors in the Xing'an Plains had already been distributed to Bodfing, Tiger Ross, and six other Gold Knights — eight in total. Of the eight knight manors in the Red River Plains, three had already been reserved by the Gold Knights Senbawood, the newly joined Jeddes, and Mason. That left five knight manors in contention, and every last one of those Silver Three-Star Family Knights had their eyes on them. Everyone wanted to advance to the Gold Rank as quickly as possible to claim a manor of their own.
"Those bastards, what's the rush! It's not like the family won't be building any more knight manors. What's there to fight over." Lorist approved all the Family Knights' leave requests as he grumbled — the Norton Family planned to keep a low profile for the next couple of years anyway, so nothing should go wrong. At the same time, he picked up the map of the Northland, muttering about finding a place to develop and build some sort of... what was it again.
In this world, certain cold weapons were more suited to warfare than firearms.
Not to mention that the steel crossbows equipped by the family forces had a range of up to three hundred meters, while the effective range of handmade muskets was only a hundred and fifty meters — a difference of half the range. If it came to lining up in ranks and blasting away at each other, the steel crossbows would be far more efficient than firearms.
Schweid knocked and entered: "My Lord, an urgent messenger has arrived from North Sea City, reporting that the Dawn's Flying Fish has returned from Shilovas Island with the latest war report. The Forde Commercial Alliance has mobilized a massive force and occupied Campona Province of the former Redelis Kingdom. The Second Highness's army of one hundred and seventy thousand men is trapped within three provinces of the Redelis Kingdom, cut off from all contact with the Antinac Kingdom. Additionally, Serihelm, eldest son of the Chicd Trading Company, has arrived at Shilovas Island aboard a Peterson Trading Company merchant vessel. He claims to have come as an envoy seeking peace and requests an audience with you. Governor Hanske has detained him on Shilovas Island, awaiting your instructions."
"What did you say?" Lorist was stunned. The last report he'd received during the September campaign against the Haniabada Kingdom had indicated that the Second Highness was suffering repeated defeats in Majik Province, the last province he held in the Redelis Kingdom. However, the Second Highness commanded over two hundred thousand troops, not counting the more than one hundred thousand garrison soldiers spread across the Antinac Kingdom and several newly conquered provinces. Lorist had believed that with such overwhelming military strength, the Second Highness would ultimately prevail.
Who would have thought that after returning from the destruction of the Haniabada Kingdom, the reports about the Second Highness would show him still bogged down in Majik Province of the Redelis Kingdom, entangled with those noble militias. What's more, the Second Highness had dispatched a hundred thousand troops to the borders of the Handra and Fakel duchies, demanding that the four central duchies abolish their national titles and return to the Empire's territory. But this demand was rejected by the four duchies, who once again formed a coalition army to face off against the Second Highness's forces while heavily supporting the noble militias in Majik.
At the time, Lorist had been quite pleased when he received this news, thinking that the Second Highness had finally tasted hardship and learned that anything could happen. Back when they had met in the imperial capital, the Second Highness had sworn with great conviction that all the Grand Dukes of the four central duchies were loyal to the former Krisen Empire, and that the moment his armies advanced, the four Grand Dukes would eagerly flock to his banner to restore the former Empire's glory.
There was still plenty of fighting to be had. Regardless, even though Lorist was technically aligned with the Antinac Kingdom, he understood all too well that the Second Highness was deeply wary of both him and the Norton Family's military forces, which was why the Norton Family had never been summoned to join the fighting. But from the looks of it, the Second Highness could still hold on for now, so Lorist had no intention of meddling. Deploying troops without the Second Highness's formal order would earn him nothing but a charge of rebellion.
Lorist was perfectly content to stay out of it and had no plans to send troops to help, which was why he had retreated to the Northland. Who would have thought that after half a year, not only had the Second Highness failed to eliminate those noble militias of the Redelis Kingdom, but the Forde Commercial Alliance had also stabbed him in the back, seizing Campona Province. With that, the Second Highness had lost all contact with the Antinac Kingdom. The provinces he currently occupied — Portorg Province, where the royal capital of Fedrigha was located, and Andevolf Province — were both territory of the Redelis Kingdom, and he was still mired in fighting in Majik Province. The situation had suddenly become extremely dire; without rear support, he feared the Second Highness wouldn't be able to hold the front lines either.
"That's strange — where did the Commercial Alliance get those troops from?" Lorist muttered as he stood up and said to Schweid, "Send word — I'm heading to Shilovas Island..."
…(To be continued…)