Chapter 104: Bolder Actions
Owen was unaware of the witch’s transformation. After returning to the castle through the Floo Network, he found himself at a loss for what to do. Maya was away, busy reorganizing the Northland Witch Alliance’s intelligence network to make it more efficient. Without her, Owen didn’t even know how to handle the territory’s affairs, as there was no one to bring him documents to sign or reports requiring decisions.
Even if he wanted to do something, he had to first figure it out and then go to the site to give instructions, which was extremely inefficient. So, he simply decided to slack off and spend his progress points mindlessly.
Remembering his initial plan, Owen took Charle and two Teutonic Knights to the barracks.
The territory now had barracks, a shooting range, and stables, used for training infantry, archers, and cavalry, respectively.
Although limited by the lack of commoners in the territory, making it impossible to directly train better soldiers, the soldiers’ loyalty and morale were top-notch in the Northland, even Howard and his son couldn’t find any fault with them.
Recently, Howard and his son had been conducting intensive training for the soldiers every day, with good results. The soldiers’ combat skills and coordination had become more proficient, and they had also learned how to patrol more efficiently and respond to various emergencies. In short, they had become more adaptable.
These changes were not solely brought about by loyalty and morale, but by Howard’s rich life experience.
If he hadn’t worked at the grassroots level for one or two decades, he wouldn’t be so experienced.
This made Owen very satisfied. With Howard, even if outsiders came in the spring, they wouldn’t be able to cause too much trouble.
However, to achieve better results in a short period of time, he still needed to cheat.
The territory didn’t lack soldiers, but quality was just as important as quantity. Moreover, with the territory’s population base, the proportion of soldiers could no longer be expanded, so he had to focus on quality.
This time, Owen’s main goal was to improve the quality of the cavalry. The light cavalry could no longer meet the territory’s current needs, so he needed to spend progress points to strengthen them, focusing on horse archers and lancer cavalry.
Cuirassiers were the most cost-effective, but their speed was average. They were good in head-on confrontations, but in the vast Northland, speed was king. If you couldn’t catch up to the enemy, everything else was useless. Horse bandits wouldn’t choose to engage in a direct confrontation with regular troops; harassment and sneak attacks were their specialties.
The territory had city walls and a large number of infantry, so they weren’t afraid of cavalry sieges or direct confrontations. What they feared were harassment and sneak attacks, so they needed a large number of high-speed cavalry to respond.
According to Owen’s vision, scout cavalry excelled at reconnaissance, horse archers excelled at pursuit, lancer cavalry excelled at surprise attacks, and cuirassiers excelled at assault. With these four types working together, they wouldn’t be afraid even if they encountered enemies two or three times their number.
After deeming it feasible, Owen prepared to upgrade the cavalry.
The territory now had a considerable number of cavalry, and it was not realistic to upgrade them all, especially the cuirassiers, as the upgrade cost was too high and they weren’t needed. Therefore, Owen only slightly enhanced the light cavalry.
Fortunately, since they were already cavalry, it wouldn’t cost many progress points to upgrade them based on their existing foundation. The number of progress points recovered in a day was enough to upgrade several cavalrymen, so the speed was not slow.
When Maya returned, Owen had already completed the integration of the territory’s cavalry. The territory now had 150 cavalrymen: 30 scout cavalry, 50 horse archers, 50 lancer cavalry, 20 cuirassiers, and 2 knights.
Although the troop types were not uniform, making them seem somewhat disorganized, this combination allowed the territory’s cavalry to handle various situations.
A considerable number of scout cavalry enabled them to grasp the situation within a radius of twenty to thirty miles, ensuring they wouldn’t miss any opportunities. The highly mobile horse archers and light cavalry were not only the best pursuers but also the best interceptors. Even if they encountered a surprise attack, they could react in time and wait for the cuirassiers to charge and break up the enemy, after which it was time to press their advantage.
Surprise attacks, assaults, pursuits, rearguard actions โ as long as the enemy’s numbers weren’t several times theirs, they could handle it. This was the trump card Owen had prepared for dealing with the horse bandits occupying Mara Town. If they didn’t know what was good for them, then he would make them disappear.
Owen was cautious, but his caution was directed towards the Imperial Border Army and major powers. He didn’t need to be too concerned about horse bandits or the claws sent to the Northland by certain individuals, as the gains wouldn’t outweigh the losses.
With the current scale of the territory, it would take at least three to five thousand people to eliminate his forces on the surface. After all, an army on the move couldn’t just consist of combat troops; depending on the distance of the expedition, there needed to be at least three to five times as many supply troops. These people didn’t have much combat power, but they were indispensable.
However, to send a force of three to five thousand people to the Northland would cost at least several times, even more than ten times, the price.
Firstly, the journey was long; secondly, they had to cross the border; thirdly, it was illegal.
Unless the Emperor ordered it, this cost was unavoidable.
As for whether the Emperor would target the territory, Owen wasn’t worried about that. He was a legitimate Northland noble. Unless the Emperor intended to shake the foundation of the entire Northland or he raised the banner of rebellion, it was impossible for the Emperor to target him. If the Emperor took action, it would mean denying the legitimacy of all Northland nobles. At that time, everyone would be in danger, and even if the Northland didn’t collapse, it wouldn’t be able to continue developing, as no one would know when they might become the next target.
Even those noble factions within the Empire who had designs on the Northland wouldn’t allow someone to do such a thing.
After learning this from Maya, Owen’s actions became bolder. Not only did he attempt to establish a foothold on the Imperial border, but he also planned to eliminate the unstable factors around his territory.
Of course, he couldn’t handle these matters for now, so they remained only as ideas, waiting for the executors to be in place.
With Maya’s return, Owen finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately handed over all the territory’s work to her.
Although there wasn’t much to do in the territory during the winter, he always felt uneasy without Maya there.
However, as soon as Maya returned, she cornered Owen in his study, preventing him from leaving. Helpless, he could only passively listen to her work report.
In Maya’s eyes, the Northland Witch Alliance was completely in a state of neglect, not playing much of a role at all. It was simply a waste.
To make it effective, the entire alliance had to be reorganized, which was why Maya had been delayed for so long.
“Although the Northland Witch Alliance has good potential, there are still many problems to be solved if it wants to realize its value.” Maya took out a thick stack of parchment and handed it to Owen, who was recovering his energy.
Firstly, there were the Northland Witch Alliance’s assets. Besides the farm and the two shops in the town, there were also quite a few assets belonging to the Witch Alliance in Ferrier Town and the surrounding towns.
However, due to the lack of overt protection, these assets were mostly inconspicuous, either small shops or small shares, generating little profit.
But for Maya, these assets were ready-made intelligence gathering points. Therefore, she had spent a lot of time visiting them, collecting a lot of intelligence and information. However, as for what to do next, Owen had to make the decision.
