Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 139: The Arrival and Support of a Dwarven Army

A massive army of dwarves is coming?

Lawn's words made Su Li and Fandral turn to look at him in surprise.

How many people does it take to be called a large army?
Su Li immediately asked with concern: "My minister, tell me in detail what happened?"

Laun's face was also somewhat shocked. "My Lord, they have come with an entire mountain shield formation, a full 1,200 men! All powerful dwarf warriors."

"And that's not counting the support staff and immigrants who come with them."

After hearing this, Su Li was so shocked that he felt a little uneasy.

Twelve hundred powerful dwarf warriors!
This is an incomparably powerful force. Even the Red Dragon and the Black Dragon would have to flee if faced with such a powerful armed force alone.

A qualified dwarf must have a set of sophisticated dwarf heavy armor, and dwarves are naturally tough and strong, with extremely high magic resistance.

Such a group of dwarves can stand still, set up a shield formation, and let the opponent charge and bombard them relentlessly, but even that may not be able to shake their formation.

Even the most elite knights of the human empire were unwilling to directly attack this iron-turtle-like tortoise shell shield formation.

It was precisely because of this powerful army that the Dwarves became the dominant power of the last era. In its heyday, the Dwarven Empire stood as majestic as a mountain range. Back then, every peak was a Dwarven fortress, and any enemy attack was like an egg against a rock. Dwarven caravans traveled freely throughout the world.

However, the dwarves had fought the Longbeard War with the elves for thousands of years, and hundreds of thousands of people were killed or wounded in a single battle, which severely damaged their vitality. After thousands of years, their population has not been able to recover.

Only then did humans occupy vast areas of the plains, and the empire became the protagonist of this era.

Sometimes, no matter which world you are in, being able to give birth is the biggest advantage.

The total population of Hessen Territory may not even be as much as that of Redbeard Castle. In terms of military strength, there is a serious imbalance between the two sides.

So Su Li said cautiously, "My Minister, although the Dwarves and the Empire have always had a good relationship, it is always better for us to be cautious. Qianjinzi does not sit still in the hall. Please go back and ask Dogrin to come here. I have something to discuss with him."

Laun understood Su Li's concerns. If these 1,200 dwarf warriors had any malicious intentions, Hesse Castle would be surrounded.

And if Dogrin is willing to leave the army and come to Bjorn's Bay, it is obviously enough to prove his sincerity.

Soon, the rough, high-pitched voice of Dogrin echoed from Bjorn's Shallow Bay. "My friend, why must we discuss this here? I've repeatedly told my dwarven brothers about the delicious food in your territory, and they're looking forward to the feast in your castle."

Su Li turned his head and saw Doglin striding towards him with a tall dwarf with a sturdy build and a waist circumference of one meter.

This dwarf was clearly extraordinary. Not only was his waist 10 times thicker than Su Li's, but his arms were thicker than Su Li's thighs, bulging with muscle. He wore a horned helmet on his head, and in his hands, he wielded a dwarven battle axe weighing over a hundred pounds. This terrifying figure, if he were to stand on the battlefield, would likely hack anyone who came to him to pieces.

Apart from his slow pursuit speed, Su Li couldn't think of any other shortcomings.

But his terrifying battle axe didn't need to be pursued. With a single blow, he could hack his opponent to pieces. Even if a powerful elite knight charged, both rider and horse would be shattered.

Su Li asked curiously, "Who is this?"

Dogrin introduced, "This is Muradin Redbeard, the commander of our dwarven Ironbreaker Army. You know, we rangers and butchers can't lead an army."

Upon hearing this, Su Li immediately paid respectful tribute to Muradin.

Besides being powerful, the most important thing for a dwarf army commander is his unparalleled reputation and prestige.

It means that he is a man of reputation whose conduct and honor are spotless.

Unlike the eccentric ranger and the dishonored butcher, the commander of the dwarf army must be a warrior of the most orthodox and upright character.

Therefore, Su Li had to respect their prestige and reputation, and took the initiative to say: "You two, please don't be angry. The reason why we asked you to come here is for the most important cause of our territory at present."

Su Li pointed to the vast plain below Bjorn Bay and said, "This is the most extensive and fertile farm in our territory, and it is also the core of our territory's farming business."

"The food produced here will be crucial to the stability and development of our two territories, Black Forest Territory and Redbeard Castle."

"I invited you here to discuss how we can work together to better develop the farming industry."

Muradin stared at Su Li with round eyes and said, "We dwarves came to visit, but were not given a grand reception and were simply dragged here to work. I'm considering whether to record this incident in the Book of Hatred."

The Book of Hatred is an important record that every dwarf carries with him or her. It records the offenses and humiliations a dwarf has suffered and guides the dwarf to ruthlessly seek revenge in battle. Remembering hatred is one of the most important cultural characteristics of the dwarves.

The most direct impression the halflings had of their bearded distant relative was that he was bad-tempered and narrow-minded. When he disagreed with something, he would take out a tattered book and mutter something to himself.

However, contrary to the general impression, the original purpose of creating this thing was mainly to resolve hatred and eliminate hatred.

Without this item, a petty dwarf could easily turn a small grudge into a big hatred, and in the end, the dwarf himself would not know why he was angry. He would only remember that this person was his enemy!
So Su Li had to say immediately: "My friend, entertaining you is necessary. But a banquet for more than 1,200 people, even in our territory, would take a long time to prepare, right?"

"And this is also the key to our two factions' food security. You don't want the dwarves of Redbeard Keep to eat bread mixed with gravel all the time, do you?"

After hearing what Su Li said, Muradin finally put the Book of Hatred back and muttered, "Since you are doing this for the sake of your work, I will let this matter go."

He turned and looked around Bjorn's Bay, nodded, and said admiringly, "The engineering facilities here are very good, far more impressive than your castle. From a dwarf's perspective, I can't find any faults."

Su Li smiled and said, "This is the masterpiece of the dwarf engineering master. I invited you here mainly to solve the problem of land reclamation. We need a large number of engineering equipment to speed up the reclamation."

Su Li pointed to the burnt black plain below him and said, "We have burned tens of thousands of acres of plains. We hope to reclaim these burned wastelands into vast fertile fields. If we have tens of thousands of acres of wheat fields, we will never lack bread or barley beer."

Barley wine brewed from tens of thousands of acres of farmland?
Muradin and Dogrim both swallowed hard. Dwarves were essentially a bunch of bearded, alcoholic miners. Beer was their lifeblood.

Dogrin immediately said, "My friend, you don't have to worry about the engineers. I have campaigned for you in Redbeard Keep and have brought you over thirty engineers, a hundred miners, two runesmiths, and four jewelers."

"What you need to consider now is making sure you have enough money to pay them. You know, we dwarves are very stubborn. We once worked with a human lord, and we built him a powerful fortress, but when it came time to pay him, he reneged. The enraged dwarves then simply demolished the fortress."

This is really a problem!
These dwarves who moved to Hessen became free people of Hessen, and they were not Su Li's slaves.

Now it is equivalent to Su Li hiring them to mine and make engineering equipment.

The salaries of so many dwarves are a huge expense.

What Su Li lacks most now is money. He has almost emptied all his savings by buying slaves.

He invested in another caravan and took the remaining funds and supplies to Maleburg.

Su Li really doesn’t have much wealth in his hands now.

However, it is precisely because of the consumption and investment of so much wealth that the Hesse Territory has grown so strong today, with a population of over two thousand!

The army directly under his command has also expanded from fifty knights to over a hundred knights, and the number of armed attendants has reached nearly three squadrons.

Without the assistance of the intelligence system, he couldn't believe that he could develop so quickly.

No one dared to believe that he earned more than 5,000 gold crowns in just three months.

The average daily earnings were more than fifty gold crowns. This was like picking up money everywhere.

Therefore, with a bright future ahead of him, Su Li was full of confidence and said to Dogrin, "My friend, don't worry. I won't let your guarantee and reputation be tarnished. I still have nearly a hundred dwarf pledge coins in my hand, which is enough to ensure that the dwarves will receive due compensation for their work."

"And there's also our wealth from business, right? I've prepared a lot of supplies for you."

Hearing this, Dogrim laughed triumphantly: "My friend, your plan will fail. It is not easy to make money from us dwarves. We have brought you a large number of precious items, and we will definitely earn every copper coin you have!"

This was of course what Su Li appreciated the most. He wished the Dwarf Chamber of Commerce would bring a lot of wealth.

The West Chamber of Commerce also has a large amount of gold coins and goods.

They do business with each other in Hesse, and the rich one is Su Li!
By then, Hessen will be a major commercial town and trade center on the border, connecting the trade routes within the empire and between the mountain dwarves.

Su Li could make a lot of money just by collecting taxes.

Su Li immediately asked with concern: "My friend, what good things did you bring me?"

"Of course it's our Star Iron Armor! This is Dwarven fine quality armor produced by the Dragon Rock Forge."

(End of this chapter)