***
Aaron's carriage, a week after the massacre of the Arcer clan, has finally arrived at its destination. High snow-capped mountains stretched before the eyes, which are a natural barrier for those wishing to penetrate the lands of the Bach clan.
The only way to overcome the Uldar Mountains is to pass through the Moldar Gorge. It appeared naturally many centuries ago. In the middle of the path through the gorge is a rather wide area, in which there is a single small outpost.
There are only three hundred knights there, who protect the way to the lands of the Bach clan from various petty bandits and robbers. Sometimes slave traders wander here to profit, but this, however, rarely happens ...
Beyond the mountains of Uldar are also deployed detachments of knights, a total of about seven hundred. They are needed to ensure the safety of the population and to some extent perform the duties of a law enforcement agency.
«It would be good to build a fortress here,» said Aaron, when the carriage stopped at the outpost.
«The population of our lands is small, a hundred thousand is hardly enough to build one city, and then only if all the inhabitants are driven to one place,» said Einar. «Besides, the lands of the Bach clan are at the very edge, only the ocean is farther away... Even if the population increases, until there is a convenient trade route here, nothing will change anyway.
«And why do we need a fortress, it's still forbidden to fight on the lands of the Moiser clan, so the construction of defensive structures is unprofitable ...» Ilmira added, apparently she was unhappy with the existence of such rules.
After all, she is the daughter of her father... The Bach clan was never afraid of battles, on the contrary, all the clan's talents were focused on war and combat clashes. It was easier for Bradomir to engage in open battle than to pull off murky schemes and build various dastardly conspiracies.
Even though the law prohibiting conflicts between vassals seems correct from the point of view of preserving the unity of small clans, but in fact it destroys this very unity by its very existence... The heads of small clans simply cease to trust each other, expecting some dirty trick from a neighbor. In addition, without frequent battles, skills often begin to rust. This can eventually lead to a loss of combat capability ...
In Aaron's past life, all the lands belonging to the Moizer clan were devastated... The skills of the warriors were rusty, there were practically no defensive structures, and the civilian population simply did not know where to hide and what to do for their survival...
«The war is coming, so...» Aaron spoke, he personally understood perfectly well that the Vis clan lost precisely because of their total unpreparedness for a defensive war.
When the Vis clan declared war on the Weis clan, they could not even imagine that instead of defending the borders, their enemy would launch an offensive...
Clan Moiser was just one of many middle clans who believed that the law of prohibition of conflicts between vassals was beneficial. This eventually resulted in a colossal gap in terms of combat effectiveness and the quality of armed units.
These clans can be understood, the absence of conflict helps to maintain power, and build up economic potential, as well as population. When battles are constantly taking place, people often die, the economic situation becomes unstable, which ultimately leads to a decrease in the birth rate. But the bottom line is that the higher the population, the higher the number of demigods, magicians, and knights, who are the backbone of the war on Aorzorun.
In general, in order to achieve the highest combat effectiveness of the army, it is necessary to maintain a certain balance in the quantity and quality of combat units.
There are only two great clans on the Arandir continent, the Vis clan and the Vyze clan. Their population is approximately the same, only in the lands of the Vayz clan various small conflicts and battles constantly occur, which help to maintain the state of combat units in good shape. While in the territories of the Vis clan, over the past century, many clans have passed laws to prohibit conflicts between vassals, which resulted in the development of the economy and culture. Many residents of the lands of the Vis clan consider those who live in the territories of the Vise clan to be barbarians and cattle, capable of shedding blood in vain.
«War... It will be hard for the Vis clan...» Einar said thoughtfully, after the words of his son.
— Why do you say that? Aaron wondered what his father was basing his conclusions on.
«I used to be a traveler, I saw how people live under the Vais clan,» Einar explained. "The essence of the Weisz clan is absolute power, they are not involved in politics, economics or anything like that, they act directly and decisively. They are not afraid of betrayal by the vassals, as they are ready to punish the unwanted at any moment. Simply put, a wild hungry wolf will never lose to a domestic well-fed mongrel...