Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 175: Two Places and Three Items of Extremely Rich Harvest

The knights' numerous breakthroughs finally made Su Li's mood better.

After all, there are always casualties in war. Although the territory’s army suffered heavy casualties, the breakthrough was also very impressive.

During the time he was chatting with Hilde, Commander Orstein finally completed the inventory. Eight elite soldiers died in the territory, but five elite knights were added. If the four new elite knights from the Knights Templar were added, the number of elite knights would increase instead of decrease.

In addition, 17 apprentice knights broke through to become official knights.

However, the ones who gained the most were the armed squires. They suffered the greatest pressure and casualties in this battle, but they also gained the most. After the brutal fighting and the encouragement of life and death, as many as 46 armed squires were promoted to apprentice knights!
This is why Su Li said during the war mobilization that the claims that the Imperials did not want to fight were all rumors. The real Imperials loved the excitement and confrontation on the battlefield.

In this world, war is truly the most important means to help the lower classes achieve class transcendence.

Becoming an apprentice knight essentially meant becoming a member of the empire and a member of the ruling class. Becoming a full knight meant possessing vast estates, wealth, and privileges.

Of course, among all these breakthroughs, the one that attracted Su Li's attention the most was the knight Orstein.

His breakthrough speed is simply amazing. Now he has reached the high-level champion knight. It seems that his promotion speed is not inferior to that of Hildreth.

His own cultivation speed was originally incredible. When he was in Zijing Fort, he became famous for his extremely fast breakthroughs in battle.

When he arrived at the Heisen Territory, he ate a large amount of light-scale fish to improve his qualifications. After many battles in the past six months, he had broken through twice.

Su Li really felt that he also had the hope of breaking through to the God-Chosen level before the arrival of the Green Dragon Legion.

However, Su Li was both looking forward to and wary of this matter.

After all, each breakthrough of this champion knight was after a great battle. If he wants to break through to the God-chosen level, no one knows what kind of tragic and exciting war he will have to go through.

At the moment, the Hessian army is really unable to carry out a large-scale decisive battle. What the Hessian army needs most is to recuperate and restore the size of the army.

But this is not easy. The coalition forces must continue to fight and try to wipe out the remaining demon tribes in the northern mountains while the demon army is weak after the chosen demon is killed.

After all, this is about the scale of the territory's spoils. The demons' main spoils and treasures should be in their camp in the valley.

Thinking of the scale of the spoils, Su Li asked with concern: "What did we gain from this battle?"

Hildurde immediately replied, "We actually gained quite a bit from this battle. The biggest gain was undoubtedly Skaven Bloodfury's massive chainsaw, weighing tens of thousands of pounds!"

A weapon weighing tens of thousands of pounds? Is this the Golden Cudgel?
Su Li said in surprise: "Is it so heavy? I thought it was only a few thousand pounds."

"How is that possible?" Hildur said with a smile. "Thousands of kilograms of steel are only as big as a bar of armor. Steel is very dense, so it's extremely heavy. A weapon the size of a small mountain must weigh tens of thousands of kilograms."

"We negotiated with the dwarves to divide this weapon equally. It contains a large amount of vibranium. After we melt it, we can forge at least ten sets of vibranium rune armor."

"Ten sets of vibranium rune armor?" Upon hearing this good news, Su Li's fatigue was instantly swept away. He felt infinite strength bursting out from his chest. He immediately stood up holding on to Hildur's shoulders.

"Hahaha! Great! Great! With ten sets of Vibranium Rune Armor, we can equip both the Vengeful Sun Knights and the Black Forest Guard with Vibranium Armor."

If he continues to change clothes at this speed, it won't be long before Su Li can realize his original ambition, that is, the elite of the territory will wear vibranium rune armor, ordinary knights will wear star iron armor, and armed servants will wear dwarf's excellent armor.

With such sophisticated equipment, he could face the monsters' siege with much more ease, and could more naturally defeat the enemy with fewer troops.

Use an elite force of one thousand people to defeat a mob of ten thousand monsters including gnolls, gnolls, goblins, forest goblins, etc. in one fell swoop.

The territory's human resources are precious, and the army must always be protected with sophisticated weapons and not be easily lost.

This situation is not something Su Li has to face alone. The situation of the entire human empire is actually similar to his.

After all, this is a world where a new evil demon is born every month, and the forces of good are constantly besieged by the army of evil.

Finding ways to enhance the strength of the territory's army is the most important responsibility of every lord.

Su Li didn't expect that a weapon like Skaven Bloodfury could bring back such a huge profit. He and the dwarf shared the raw materials of the weapon equally, and he was also able to add ten sets of rune armor to the territory.

Hearing about this rich spoils of war, Su Li began to understand why the imperial people liked the excitement and confrontation on the battlefield.

The key is that the material of this weapon is not just vibranium, but also a large amount of refined gold and iron, which can be used to build hundreds of sets of armor for the territory.

All of this can greatly make up for the losses in the territory in this battle.

Just as Su Li was excited, Hildurde gave him even greater encouragement: "My Lord, if we only talk about the Vibranium Rune Armor, the scale is actually much greater than this. The followers of Khorne are all brave warriors. They have purchased powerful weapons and armor for themselves. Their equipment is far more sophisticated than that of goblins."

"In this battle, we killed over one to two thousand Demon Champions and Chaos Warriors. The dwarves generously gave us all of them. If we carefully forge them in the future, we might even have four or five more sets of Vibranium Rune Armor."

Su Li agreed with this number. The demon army was well-equipped. Demons like Khorne's vampires were one thing, but the weapons and equipment on them were not suitable for humans.

However, the armies of the Red Crown's cultists and Chaos Warriors were made up of mortals. They were well-armed and roughly the same size as the combined forces of humans and dwarves.

The Black Forest Commander's 800 soldiers possessed nearly ten sets of Vibranium Rune Armor before the battle. It was common for Chaos Warriors and Cultists, numbering nearly 2,000, to possess four or five sets of Vibranium Rune Armor. If the Dwarves meticulously forged and wrought the armor, maximizing resource efficiency, they might be able to forge six or seven sets.

Not only did all the members of the Vengeful Sun Half-Griffin Knights change their attire, more than half of the Hessian Guard Knights also changed their attire.

Su Li simply raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked, "How could the dwarves be so generous as to give us all the spoils from the battlefield?"

You know, the dwarves' desire for gold and wealth is no less than that of the dragons.

Hildurde smiled and said, "They're so stingy over a few coppers, how could they possibly be generous? They gave us all the spoils for the greater good. They demanded all the spoils beneath the debris flow. We negotiated with them for a long time, but they refused to budge. They insisted that if we also wanted the spoils beneath the ruins, then the spoils on the battlefield should also be divided proportionally between us."

Su Li also laughed when he heard this, and said that given the dwarf's generous character, he must be doing so for greater benefits.

The dwarves' proposed condition was clearly an attempt to manipulate the Hessen Territory. They knew that the Hessen Territory had no fortresses to defend and were eager to acquire wealth and transform it into strength. That was why they insisted on clearing the spoils from the ruins before dividing them.

Negotiating with these bad-tempered dwarves was obviously not the knights' forte.

It’s a pity that the territory’s real negotiation expert, Lawn, is not here, otherwise the Hesse Territory would be able to gain more benefits.

However, Su Li only sighed for a moment before saying, "Forget it. Let's leave the spoils under the ruins to the dwarves. After all, they were the main force in this battle and also suffered greater casualties. It's already generous of them to share Skaven Bloodfury's weapons with us."

The main reason is that Muradin is dead. It seems very mean to keep asking the dwarves to divide the benefits at this time.

As far as transactions between the two parties are concerned, after handling the relationship well, the wealth from future transactions will soon make up for these losses.

After all, according to Su Li's plan, the industries of both sides complement each other. The dwarves produce high-value jewelry, accessories, and a large number of weapons and armor, while Su Li's territory provides them with a large amount of food and fine wine. Both sides can gain profits from the transaction and grow stronger.

Su Li expected that their large population would consolidate the status of Hessen Territory as the granary on the border.

Moreover, Su Li was holding in his hand a treasure that the dwarves valued most. The dwarves paid such a huge price, but Su Li snatched away the spoils. They had been restraining themselves from asking Su Li for it, which showed that they valued this friendship very much.

Su Li raised the dwarven horn in his hand and asked, "What is the function of this horn?"

Hildurde replied, "I just asked Dogrin, and he said this horn has a triple effect."

"First is the [Melee Expert] ability. When this horn is blown, all your soldiers will possess the skills of a melee expert for the next minute, making them even more deadly in battle."

"Then there's [Reorganize Formation]. Any soldier whose courage has collapsed will experience a surge of inner courage and regain their faith in past honor. They'll immediately reorganize their formation and launch a counterattack. This trait also works against fear caused by magic."

"Both abilities can be used once every 10 minutes."

"Finally, the most powerful ability, which can only be used once per battle, is [Summon Ancestral Spirits]. When played by a dwarf, it summons Ankol Redbeard, a powerful ancestor of the Redbeard clan. He will act as a heroic spirit to slay the enemy, but his presence only lasts 30 seconds."

Su Li immediately asked with concern: "How strong is Anker Redbeard?"

If this is championship level, Su Li would feel it is very useless. He is even too lazy to find a dwarf to blow the horn.

If it is the God-chosen level, then it is of great significance. A 30-second God-chosen unit can bring about great changes to the battlefield situation. Even these short tens of seconds may create a chance of victory.

If it is a legendary level! Su Li dare not even think about it, he would rather call it a divine weapon.

Hildre smiled and didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked playfully, "Take a guess. Maybe I can give you a big surprise."

Apparently, this usually heroic female knight's unusual behavior was intended to improve Su Li's post-battle mood. Su Li's eyes lit up, and he asked expectantly, "Could it be a God-chosen level? Could it be a Legendary level?!"

Hildurde smiled and said, "Neither."

"That's definitely not the champion level, could it be..." Su Li instantly took a breath of cold air: "Could it be the Sanctuary level?"

This person, alone, can change the entire battlefield situation.

It is the veritable ceiling of the empire's military power.

Hirud smiled and said, "It's not that exaggerated. It's somewhere between the Chosen and Legendary levels. Before its death, it was a great legendary dwarf. In its youth, it once led only 30 dwarf rangers and attacked a greenskin warlord's camp, killing and capturing over 700 of them in a single battle. This battle made it famous and renowned throughout the Dwarf Kingdom."

"Later, when he came of age, he became one of the most powerful warriors in the Dwarf Kingdom. In the Grey Mountains, he single-handedly purified a dwarven tomb defiled by the undead, allowing countless dwarves to rest in peace. In the Troll Kingdom, he slew a Troll King who attempted to organize an army to besiege Dragonstone Forge. This was the peak of his career, during which he slew all kinds of monsters, from small ones like ratmen, goblins, and goblins to giants, dragons, and even demons."

"Later, the Grey Mountain Province could no longer satisfy his ever-expanding ambitions. He once went out to sea and even sank a night elf's black ark."

"However, due to his excessive pride and stubbornness, he was eventually weakened by the curse of the Tzeentch believers during a battle with the Chosen Ones of Tzeentch. He was then lured to a battlefield ravaged by the winds of chaos, which was extremely beneficial to the Tzeentch believers."

"All the rangers who followed him died in the war. Although he killed all the followers of Tzeentch present, the cunning Tzeentch's Chosen escaped during the war, and his arrogance caused irreparable losses."

"He lost all his honor. To atone for his sins, he shaved his head and became a butcher. He vowed to seek revenge on Tzeentch's Chosen, Chaos the Shapeshifter."

"But because he never met the Chosen of Tzeentch, he died with hatred in his heart, becoming a vengeful heroic spirit, retaining only the strength of a peak Chosen. However, according to his oath, if anyone can help him kill Chaos in the battle against Chaos the Shapeshifter, he will be restored to legendary strength."

After listening to the life story of the heroic spirit Ancol Hongxu, Su Li couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

He truly is worthy of being a dwarf who has grown to the legendary level.

His first feat in his youth was a great achievement that countless people could never achieve in their lifetime.

He dared to attack a greenskin tribe of thousands of people with only 30 people, and killed more than 700 people!

How brave is this?
If this kind of thing had not really happened in history, Su Li would have thought it was a fairy tale.

And if Su Li could rely on the army to forcibly complete this matter, the things that happened later in his life were something that Su Li had no chance of touching until now.

When he was young, he had killed countless monsters including giants, dragons and demons. But now Su Li was being suffocated by a God-chosen demon and a green dragon.

As for killing a troll king, even if he fought with all his territory, it would be impossible. He was the commander of a troll kingdom.

As for his final failure in the ditch, this is perfectly normal in this world.

How many powerful warriors have been on the battlefield for a long time and are rich in experience. They once commanded an army of hundreds of thousands and were undefeated in the world. But in the end, they stumbled in a small-scale battle and even died on the battlefield.

Sometimes it is not that these heroes are careless, but that their inconspicuous opponents may be forcibly elevated to demons by the gods, and be bestowed with massive amounts of divine grace, which is completely beyond the limits of what normal humans can cope with.

Therefore, in this world, even the most powerful individual could encounter unexpected consequences if they were so dazzling that they were targeted by a spirit. If the other party forcibly used a deus ex machina, human power would be completely powerless to counter it.

But a powerful force is never defeated, just like an empire. It may be defeated once, twice, ten times, or a hundred times, but there will always be someone who can stand up and turn the tide at the critical moment.

Even if the evil god could intervene in the mortal world time and again, he couldn't shake the foundation of the empire. Because the empire's foundation is too vast! One or two losses are insignificant.

Su Li also looked forward to the territory growing quickly and becoming as deeply rooted as an empire.

So he took Hildre directly back to the territory and continued to focus on farming.

During the negotiations with the dwarves, another important consideration for Hildurd to advocate giving up the spoils under the ruins was that the focus of the territory should be on farming.

Dwarves can dig tirelessly underground. This is their racial talent and hobby, but the serfs in the Hessian Territory cannot do it.

Their focus was on the farming business in the territory. When Su Li returned from the foot of the Gray Mountains with a small number of knights, the farming business in the territory was developing in full swing.

Under the guidance of Minister of Agriculture Vandal, Bjorn Shallow Bay has completed the second round of weeding as planned and successfully launched the second round of summer planting, planting more than 1,000 acres of pumpkins, more than 3,000 acres of soybeans and more than 2,000 acres of cotton in the fields.

This pioneering achievement was undoubtedly very gratifying, but the price was that more than a dozen slaves fell down from exhaustion.

Agricultural work is really hard, especially in the midsummer when weeding in the fields is a lifelong pain for many farmers.

Working under the scorching sun, facing the loess and back to the sky is the most helpless choice for many farmers.

If they had any skills, they would have gone to work in the workshop long ago.

Of course, this does not apply if the farmland belongs to you!

Owning your own farm and land is the wonderful life that many knights pursue throughout their lives.

In an agricultural society, if every peasant household can have more than ten acres of fertile land and have light taxes and levies, that is the standard of a prosperous era.

These slaves worked miserably for a year, but the output went entirely to the capitalists and farmers.

But there is no need to blame others for this. Who can have an easy time in this world?

They slaves are miserable, but aren’t the knights miserable too?
The battle with the God-chosen demon was a bloody one. They could be chopped into pieces by the monster at any time. If slaves were to take over, could they launch an attack as powerful as the knights?
Even though they had won at a terrible cost, the remaining knights had no time to enjoy themselves. After a brief rest, they formed an alliance with 600 dwarves and launched a cleanup campaign into the canyons of the Grey Mountains.

Under the scorching sun of midsummer, they had to wear heavy armor and lining and launch an upward attack on the monster's lair, Limestone Peak and Limestone Valley.

This place was built into a fortress complex by the demon army. There are three military camps on the top of the mountain, dozens of arrow towers and outposts on the mountainside, and a huge fortress camp in the valley. The defense facilities are linked together and connected in a corner.

If Khorne's followers had not disdained the use of magic and ranged weapons, the attackers would have suffered heavy casualties.

Even so, it would require the Champion Knight to lead a fierce attack on the barriers and remove all external defense strongholds before launching a general attack on the enemy's camp in the limestone valley.

Over the past few days, another six or seven wounded soldiers were withdrawn to the territory. These were soldiers with broken limbs or serious injuries, and they had permanently lost the possibility of returning to the battlefield.

They could only do odd jobs in the monastery of the Church of the Fiery Sun, help the territory train militia, explain tactics to young children, and guide their training.

Those lightly wounded soldiers were briefly treated by the members of the Knights Hospitaller and then returned to the battlefield.

Give them a potion to keep them alive, and they will not die even if they are slightly injured.

None of these things could be done by serfs.

In this world, the knights' rule may be brutal, but when something happens, they will really fight.

Half a month later, good news finally came from the Gray Valley. The Halfling Swan Knight personally reported the exciting news to Su Li.

After a bloody battle, the coalition forces, with the help of the giant crossbow of resentment, fought day and night and finally eliminated all the outer strongholds of the cultists, and successfully broke through the demon camp the night before.

After burning the bodies of all the demons and cultists, the coalition forces found a large amount of loot in the monster camp!
The Dwarf Oath Gold alone is as much as 2000 pieces!
The two parties divided the profits in a ratio of 6:4, and Lord Hessen was able to obtain more than 800 pledge golds.

Su Li had no fault with this ratio.

After all, human knights are not good at siege warfare, and only a few dozen foot knights can play a role.

Moreover, the dwarves provided siege equipment and carried out siege operations. They climbed the peaks first, infiltrated underground, and attacked the city like ants. From long-range suppression with ballistae and muskets to close combat operation with ladders and battering rams, they almost took care of everything.

Human knights only have to follow the dwarves to the city walls on the battlefield in a certain area and kill people with all their might.

Honestly, in any world, a reckless man who could only hack people wasn't very valuable. The key point was that the territory could only provide this kind of help, consisting of only a few dozen foot knights. The other armed retainers who could ascend the city walls were disdainfully considered useless by the dwarves.

If it is just for the assistance in the siege battlefield, then giving 10% of the spoils to the Hesse Lords would be too much.

However, human cavalry played a huge role in defending the flanks and consolidating the outer defense line. The two times the monsters tried to send reinforcements, they were crushed into pieces outside the valley by human cavalry.

Furthermore, the humans provided the dwarves with ample food and fodder, earning their unanimous praise. After all, without their larger companions, they could only eat black bread mixed with gravel on the battlefield. While this didn't affect their fighting ability, having better food certainly made them more passionate.

That's why dwarves are so generous when giving back.

(End of this chapter)