Start as Inherited Baroness

In the blink of an eye, several months passed.

It was harvest season again, and the slave estates under Simon's command had a good harvest.

In addition, some villages had passed the tax exemption period and also paid taxes.

The military settlements in various places also had a good harvest and were completely self-sufficient.

The granaries were not enough before, and Minister of Works Yaman led the craftsmen to speed up the construction of many large conical granaries.

The grain harvested this year completely relieved the pressure of food shortage.

In recent times, the number of refugees coming to Xisaidi has gradually decreased, and they have been intercepted by the nobles of Lingudi.

In addition, the wars in many places have subsided, production has resumed in an orderly manner, and people no longer migrate everywhere.

This wave of refugee dividends is about to pass, and the total population of Xisaidi remains at around three million.

In the future, the population is estimated to not explode in a short period of time, and they can only rely on their own reproduction.

In the first few decades, about 100,000 newborns can be added each year, minus accidental deaths, and the net increase is about 70,000 to 80,000.

Simon still needs some time to consolidate the foundation.

However, the Kingdom of North Wind is already impatient.

On this day, Simon received several intelligence reports.

"My Lord Duke, the nobles of North Wind have assembled an army at the Red Rock Fortress, with a number between 100,000 and 150,000."

The information from the octopus spider was delivered to Simon's desk.

"What is the quality of the army?"

Dark Oriole saluted and reported: "There are about 50,000 regular troops, of which two legions of more than 10,000 people belong to the family of Grand Duke Leodo.

The rest are put together by lords and nobles from all over the place, and they are not subordinate to each other and are relatively messy.

The rest are conscripted militias, and they are estimated to have little combat effectiveness.

Oh, by the way, there are also some mercenaries with good strength, about two to three thousand people."

"Oh, chickens and dogs, what's there to be afraid of." Simon heard this and sneered.

"You go and keep a close eye on the developments in North Wind."

"Yes!" Dark Oriole saluted respectfully and left the study.

Simon thought for a while in the room and ordered: "Gallent, I will lead the Brave Guards to the Guanmen Fortress in two days.

Go and call Mad and Moiko over."

"Yes! My lord!" Gallente, who was guarding outside the door, immediately responded and left.

......

Two days later.

Simon led the Brave Guards to set off. This guard currently has more than 10,000 people, all of whom are all-round cavalrymen with two horses.

In addition to combat soldiers, he also brought thousands of auxiliary soldiers riding nags to guard the horse team transporting supplies.

Twenty days later, they arrived at the Guanmen Fortress.

Now there are many decent roads in the West Fortress, which makes it much more convenient to march along the way.

Yurit, the commander of the South Guards, came out to greet them.

Now that the fortress has been completed, the mobilization speed of those people in the North Wind Land is too slow. It is undoubtedly more advantageous to fight a few months ago.

Simon asked: "What is the movement of the North Wind Army?"

"My lord the Duke, it is still calm now." Yurit responded immediately.

"They are too slow." Simon shook his head and smiled.

After that, he inspected the military affairs and settled down in the fortress.

The Courageous Guard Corps was stationed five or six miles northwest of the fortress.

Many military camps were built here, because the Guanmen Fortress could only accommodate at most 10,000 or 20,000 people, and other corps could only build other residences nearby.

In this way, more than ten days later, a large number of soldiers poured out of the Hongyan Fortress and approached the Guanmen Fortress.

They all pushed large siege equipment, from siege towers to baffle carts, and had everything, which was quite complete.

"Let the Griffin Knights attack and burn their catapults."

Simon observed the battle situation on the highest watchtower, and after a while, he issued an order.

"Yes!" The herald immediately went to notify.

After a while, three Griffin Knights took off and soon arrived above the enemy's catapult position, dropping fire pots one after another.

It was not very accurate. Sixty fire pots were thrown, but only three catapults were set on fire.

However, the deterrent effect was full, and the soldiers in charge of the catapults fled, which greatly reduced the effect of this device.

...

"Is there any way to shoot down these three griffins?"

In the army of the North Wind, King Treya Leodo of the North Wind came in person. He looked at the griffins in the sky and asked with a frown.

"Your Majesty, our scorpion crossbows can't reach them. We can only try when they fly low.

I heard that there are some gray-robed mages in the Winterhold Mage Academy who can fly. Maybe we can let them try."

A minister with a gray beard responded respectfully.

"I don't know what those mages are busy with recently. They are so mysterious.

This expedition has made little effort. Only a few high-level mages were sent here." Treya Leodo's tone was full of dissatisfaction.

"Forget it, let the crossbow team keep an eye on the griffins.

There are only three of them, and the damage they can cause is limited.

Let Gonder launch the attack and take down this Guanmen Fortress in three days!"

"Yes! Your Majesty!" Immediately, a guard knight went to convey the relevant orders.

......

On the top of the Guanmen Fortress, Yurit was on the front line and gave orders loudly.

"Archers, prepare rockets!

Aim the catapults at their siege towers!

Get them close before you shoot!" The loud voice echoed through the valley.

Simon put a chair on the watchtower and sat on it, watching the scene calmly.

Not long after, the North Wind Barbarians launched their first tentative attack.

Countless soldiers rushed towards the city wall like ants, pushing all kinds of siege equipment.

"Shoot!" Yurit gave an order, and arrows flew over like locusts.

Suddenly, countless conscripted militiamen fell down wailing.

"Catapult!"

After a while, several fire pots hit the siege tower.

In the blink of an eye, the flames covered the tower, and some soldiers screamed and rushed out and jumped down.

After losing several siege towers, the Beifeng army still had ladders on the city wall, and the soldiers began to climb.

And more than a dozen arrow towers erected in the back were shooting clusters of arrows, suppressing and throwing arrows at the archers of the defenders on the city wall.

For a while, both sides suffered casualties.

This battle lasted for more than two hours, and the Beifeng army left a field of corpses and retreated like a tide.

They did not climb the city wall, because of heavy casualties and morale collapse, they had to retreat.

Not long after the Guanmen Fortress was built, the outer wall was covered with bloodstains. At a glance, at least thousands of people fell under the wall.

"Poor bones by the Wuding River, they are still the people in the spring dream.

Most of them are conscripted militias, too unkind to the people's strength..."

Simon watched the whole process from the watchtower and couldn't help sighing.

The cruelty of this battle was stronger than all the previous offensive and defensive battles.

It's not without reason that Beifengdi was known for its fierce fighting power in the Eagle Kingdom.

Even the conscripted militias are so fearless of death, it's really a name for a man, a shadow for a tree.

Simon ordered: "Go and ask how many people we have been killed and injured."

"Yes!" Gallente responded and left.

Soon, he came back and reported: "My Lord Duke, more than 400 people were killed, all shot to death by the arrow tower on the opposite side."

Simon nodded and said no more.

This loss is completely within the tolerance range.