Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 184: Territory Army Size and Victory Tactics

Commander Orstein has made extensive preparations for today's report.

He is a believer of the Sun Goddess. Although he has a fiery temper and is arrogant and domineering, he is definitely not a reckless man. On the contrary, he is very wise and knowledgeable.

After all, the Sun Goddess is also known as the Goddess of Wisdom and the God of Tactics in some places.

Knight Orstein's command of military affairs was perfect. After he stood up, he delivered a report in a loud voice that was almost a speech.

"I just listened to the Minister of Agriculture's report in detail. Their agricultural department and the Church of the Dawn Goddess need us to guard quite a few locations."

"The hot spring farm, for example, is not only a tourist attraction in the territory, but also the most important spice production area. If the guards are negligent and a thief takes advantage of the opportunity to steal, the losses to our territory will be devastating."

"And the pastures of the territory, the holy land of the Church of Dawn, the natural spirits beneath Bjorn Bay, as well as Heisenburg, Heisen Town, border outposts, mining outposts, and so on, all require our military garrison."

"This requires us to expand the size of the military and improve its quality."

The size of the army is not only related to the defense of the territory, but also to the subsequent war against the Green Dragon's Legion. It can be said that it determines the life and death of the Hessen Territory.

Su Li asked with concern: "Commander-in-Chief, after this period of full mobilization, has the army made up for the losses in the battle against the demon army?"

Knight Orstein immediately said, "My Lord, we have been recruiting soldiers since returning from the Crimson Highlands. To this end, we have also improved the soldiers' salaries, with each soldier receiving a subsidy ranging from 1 to 30 silver coins based on their ability."

"Coupled with the extremely generous military benefits, every knight family in the territory has enthusiastically signed up to join the army. Chivalrous knights and wandering knights from nearby territories have also come from all directions."

"Our military's strength has recovered to some extent and is currently undergoing reorganization training."

The so-called conscription of the empire obviously did not refer to conscripting soldiers from the free people, but to mobilizing various knight families and sending their family members to the army.

For example, a Hessian Guard knight may have more than one knight in his family. His father, brothers, sons, and other knights may include many extraordinary knights.

Some of these knights trained within their families, some practiced their teachings, traveled extensively, learned military tactics, and challenged monsters. Some sought opportunities in various territories. After all, supporting a large family of knights was no easy task; the cost of food, clothing, and shelter alone was enough to bankrupt even a less affluent family.

Now that Hesse is recruiting troops with all its might, the knights whose families are not based in Hesse are very likely to send letters back to their families to recruit a large number of knights from all over the place.

You have to know that most of the knights and people who joined the Hesse Territory immigrated from the north. Who doesn’t have relatives and friends in the north?
Orstein reported, "After reorganization, we now have 36 Hessian Knights and 6 Demi-Griffin Knights of the Vengeful Sun."

"There are still 68 elite knights in the army. It's also worth mentioning that we have gathered a large number of official knights, totaling 132!"

"I'm requesting to slaughter a batch of tinder rabbits and distribute them to the official knights before the decisive battle. I'll raise their ranks as quickly as possible so they can train with the elite knights soon."

Hearing this, Su Li pondered for a moment. He had no reluctance to slaughter a batch of fire rabbits.

He has been a lord for almost half a year now, and he has deeply understood the saying that feudal nobles can do anything to maintain their ruling position.

As long as he can defeat the green dragon, he wouldn't even blink an eye at a few tinder rabbits, let alone 30 tinder rabbits.

He was just very unhappy with the size of the army.

You should know that in order to increase the size of the army, he specially appointed religious adviser Rong En as the dean of the Provincial Council.

He thought that if he tried his best, he would be able to successfully gather 500 elite knights before the final battle with the Green Dragon.

By then, with the addition of the dwarf coalition, halfling vassals and the free militia of the territory, he might even be able to form an army of two to three thousand.

This was not wishful thinking on his part. This battle against the Green Dragon was a battle concerning the survival of the territory, so a large number of free militia groups would definitely join in.

While the core of an imperial army was a professional force of knights, in defensive operations this force was often surrounded by a larger number of free militiamen, who were drafted into the front lines willingly or not and were willing to fight in battle when necessary.

It was often impossible to calculate how many free militiamen were recruited for a particular battle and to assess their combat effectiveness, as they were never systematically organized and trained.

These militias are often warm-blooded townspeople and peasants brave enough to defend their homes and families from vicious monsters and demons. Others are often hardened individuals like mercenaries, bandits, and pirates willing to sell their strength and skills for money.

The Church of the Sun Goddess in the territory organizes a large number of free people for militia training every weekend. Their combat skills are enough to kill one or two kobolds or goblins.

If there were two or three thousand free militiamen, plus 500 elite knights, Su Li felt that this battle would have the foundation to fight against the Green Dragon.

But the gap between what he had imagined was too great. With Ron as the head of the provincial government, all the elite knights in the territory only numbered a little over 100? Including the official knights, there were only a little over 200.

This means that even if he lowered the standard to that of a formal knight, he would still be halfway there!

He had been somewhat complacent before, thinking that his strength had greatly improved, and could even be compared with that of Bauhinia Fort.

But it seemed far from enough. As far as he knew, a duke could command 10000 heavily armored cavalry, and an earl perhaps 3000. For example, at Zijing Fort, the Zijing family had fought their way through generations to establish control over the entire Zijing Valley. With such a vast territory, the Zijing family's fortress, home to the Knights of the Red Night, alone possessed over 500 elite knights. The entire Zijing Earldom's army likely contained no fewer than 2000 elite knights.

Perhaps the only advantage that the Hessen Territory has over the Bauhinia Earldom is the number of God-chosen and Champion-level knights. Su Li can bring a lot of opportunities to the knights, so their strength increases very quickly.

So Su Li frowned and asked, "After our territory defeated the God-chosen Demon, it has become famous recently. Why are there so few knights joining the territory?"

At this time, Constantine, the leader of the Knights of the Corona, stood up and said, "Let me answer this question. The knights who were drawn to this land by the doctrine, if they cannot join the Hessian Guard, should first join our Knights."

"The number of elite knights in the territory hasn't increased much, but the number of elite knights in our Corona Knights has increased by half. There are now over 90 elite knights, and nearly full knights and trainee knights are serving as reserve members of the Knights Order and undergoing assessment."

Su Li raised his eyebrows. He had said that it was impossible for Rong En to be the dean of the Provincial Council and only attract a few dozen knights to join.

Su Li could understand why the knights preferred to join the Knights Order.

After all, Su Li is currently just a pioneer knight and does not even have the power to award a kingdom knight.

Knights joining the Hesse Territory received nothing but benefits and had to fight alongside commoners. This was something many knights resisted. Many knights within the Empire, unwilling to join the provincial army and fight alongside a group of lowly commoners, even gave up their inheritance rights to their territories and joined various knightly orders within the Empire.

The believers of the Church of the Goddess of the Fiery Sun were attracted to the Hesse Territory, and if they could join the Knights, they would definitely choose to join the Knights first.

Only knights with a strong desire for noble honor would join the army of the Hessian Lords.

If the members of the Corona Knights were included, Su Li's expected goal could be barely achieved.

As for whether this army will accept Su Li’s command?
There's no need to worry about this. Several Chosen Knights of the Fiery Sun Goddess will soon be born in the Hessen Territory. In battles against monsters, the Knights of the Fiery Sun Goddess's Church will undoubtedly accept the command of the Chosen Knights. Constantine will adhere to tradition unless he reaches the Chosen level himself.

As long as Su Li relaxes, this army can even be a high-level elite knight group without Su Li having to pay any salary.

In this way, in the decisive battle with the Green Dragon, Su Li might gather two to three thousand main infantry and five hundred elite knights in shining armor on a river valley battlefield.

On the front battlefield, they can fight a fair battle with the green dragon's followers.

Su Li asked with concern: "After more than a month of full-scale recruitment by the Provincial Affairs Council, how many troops and people does our territory have now?"

This involved both military and civilian matters. Knight Orstein took the lead in reporting on the military aspect: "Our territory currently has three squadrons of knights, three squadrons of directly affiliated retainers, or armed retainers paid by you, Lord. These include two squadrons of foot retainers and one squadron of archers."

"And the knights' squires total three squadrons and two squadrons of feudal lords."

A total of 11 squadrons!
This is almost a large group.

There is no doubt that the size of Su Li's army is close to one-third of the barony.

In fact, if he were to fight in a defensive war, with the help of the Free Folk, Mercenaries, Knights, and the Dwarven Community and Church Guards, he would be able to muster an army of two to three thousand men.

Su Li then looked at the Minister of Seals. Laun immediately stood up and reported in detail, "The current population of the territory is actually no less than before the dwarf army left. Over the past month, we have not only recruited a large number of peasant thugs and northern immigrants, but also captured a large number of badland nomads and mountain raiders."

"Coupled with the slave trade of the slave-hunting group, the territory's population has expanded rapidly. According to statistics from the Provincial Council, there are over 2400 followers of the Fiery Sun Goddess alone, spread across one town and over a dozen villages and farms in the territory."

"The registered population of Heisen Town alone is now over 1700, and the populations of various villages range from dozens to hundreds."

"According to our statistics, there are a total of 2135 freemen in the territory where the taxpayers declare their taxes. Including serfs and slaves, the total population of the territory reaches 4476."

4476 people, assuming five people per household, there are about 800 households.

Su Li remembered it vividly. When he first arrived at the territory, he lamented the radical and explosive ratio of military to civilian support, demanding 31 households to support 50 knights and over 120 armed retainers. In just six months, he had grown the territory from 31 households to over 800, adding an average of four new residents per day. Even with the assistance of a daily intelligence system, this was no easy feat.

It can be said that every bit of development and progress is the result of his hard work, and the growth of every household is the result of his painstaking efforts and hard work.

Without his careful planning and patient management, it would have been impossible for so many villages to emerge in this desolate borderland, and it would have been impossible for such vast and fertile farmland to be developed.

Of course, it is impossible to achieve such fruitful results just by being diligent in government. The key to increasing the number of households in the territory by hundreds is to make use of the tips of the daily intelligence system and absorb as many refugees and immigrants as possible from all over the country.

All of this is Su Li's hard work, and he absolutely cannot allow the evil green dragon to destroy it all.

So after listening to all the reports, Su Li immediately stood up and said solemnly: "The battle with Green Dragon is related to our life and death. I will fully support Commander Orstein's request just now."

"Let all the Fire and Wood Knights in the territory obtain Magical Beast Meat, thereby rapidly increasing their strength. For those knights who have never tasted Lightscale Fish, the territory will provide them with benefits and allowances, ensuring that each of them has a pound of Lightscale Fish meat."

"The territory has done its utmost to improve the strength and treatment of the knights. You knights must also have a complete tactical deployment. I don't care what the cost, I just want victory in this battle!"

Su Li was willing to spend all his money on the tinder rabbit meat. This mature tinder rabbit meat had a direct effect on improving the fire attribute knights below the elite level. As long as his strength had not yet reached the elite level, he could directly gain strength improvement by taking it every once in a while.

Although the light-scale fish cannot directly improve the knight's strength, the fish meat has a time limit. On the day after eating the fish meat, the cultivation aptitude will be significantly improved, and then gradually decrease within a period of time. In the end, it will not disappear completely, and the knight's aptitude will be permanently slightly improved.

So as long as he could win, Su Li was willing to distribute these precious props to all the knights and armed servants.

If he wins, everyone will be able to follow him and enjoy wealth and glory.

We can't win. All these precious treasures are the green dragon's spoils.

Obviously, at this moment, guarding the territory became the consensus of everyone, from lords to knights, armed servants and even free militias, all of whom were united.

Knight Orstein immediately saluted solemnly and said in a firm tone, "We have already developed a comprehensive battle plan to deal with the Green Dragon's invasion and looting."

Then he picked up a thick battle plan from the table and handed it to the senior attendant steward, who then handed it to Su Li.

"This battle plan is a detailed plan that I have worked on for over three months with the High-ranking Chamberlain, the Captain of the Corona Knights, and Lord Ron."

"This battle with the Green Dragon will be different from the previous hasty decisive battles, and even the situation of previous wars will be completely different."

"The Green Dragon's hidden strength is unknown. If we hastily gather our main forces to fight it, a defeat in the first battle may lead to the destruction of our territory."

Su Li smiled and clapped his hands, saying, "Good! Good! Well said. Our territory has developed to the point where it has already left the stage of ephemeral existence."

"We now have the capital to deploy a strategy. We can no longer rush in with all our forces and risk our lives every time we encounter a monster."

Winning first and then fighting is the tactic or strategy that Su Li values ​​most.

The thirteen chapters and six thousand words of "The Art of War" are finally condensed into one essence, which is the four words "win first and then fight".

So Su Li asked with concern: "How does the territory plan to deal with the green dragon in this battle?"

Commander Orstein said, "Both the Black Forest and the Wings of Deception have deep roots and rich history. After battling the dwarven coalition, we've reached a clear consensus: defeating the Green Dragon may be possible, but slaying it is almost impossible."

"So if it involves a full-scale war between the two forces, we must be prepared for the war to last for half a year or even a year."

"Time is the key to our victory. A protracted war is the core tactic for us to defeat the Green Dragon in this battle."

Su Li frowned and asked, "All-out war, fighting the Green Dragon to win? What does this mean?"

To be honest, Su Li didn't quite understand why the Church of the Goddess of the Fiery Sun came up with such a strange tactic.

If those who participated in formulating this tactic were not God-chosen knight seeds, he would have suspected that the knights were afraid of the enemy and were fooling him.

Fortunately, Su Li was a self-aware person. His experience as a social slave in his previous life was very meaningful, teaching him to be humble and listen to others' opinions, rather than being young and arrogant.

He knew very well that, to put it nicely, he was a mediocre military commander, and to put it bluntly, he was a mediocre person who knew nothing about military command.

Leaving professional matters to professionals is his wisest choice.

These knights of the Sun Goddess have spent their entire lives studying military tactics, learning from the strengths of various schools.

Obviously, if the Hessian Army Marshal were to command this war, the chances of winning would be much higher than if he were to command blindly!
So he listened patiently as Knight Orstein continued to explain in detail.

"That's right, just keep consuming it. Green dragons are actually much more afraid of consumption than we are! This is even one of their biggest flaws."

After reaching this conclusion, Knight Orstein continued to explain, "We in Hesse not only have a powerful army and solid fortresses, but also ample food reserves."

"No matter how powerful the Green Dragon's followers are, as long as they can't defeat us in one fell swoop, they will face the difficult task of attacking Hesse Castle."

"So, as long as we fortify our walls and clear the countryside, the Green Dragon's followers will be forced to halt their troops at the gates of the fortified city."

Su Li nodded slightly. Military fortresses and engineering operations are one of humanity’s greatest advantages in war.

Not to mention a green dragon, even the powerful green-skinned waaagh warlord would be beaten to a bloody pulp in front of the human fortress.

As long as the morale of the defenders in the city remains stable, an army of 3,000 people cannot be defeated even by tens of thousands of monsters.

Commander Orlstein shared this assessment. He continued, "To capture Hesseburg, relying solely on the Green Dragon Legion's might is far from enough. Only a Green Dragon himself could wreak havoc with his massive physique, using his dragon breath and acid to corrode it over a long period of time, and only then could he possibly dismantle Hesseburg's formidable defenses."

Su Li frowned and asked with concern: "My commander, how long do you think our Heisenburg can hold out against the rampage of the green dragon?"

Knight Orstein shook his head vigorously and said, "I don't know how long we can hold out. But I know it will be long enough for us to win. Because of the Green Dragon, we can't afford to waste time!"

"Can't afford to waste time? Are you referring to the Green Dragon Legion's lack of food?" Su Li asked habitually. In a war of attrition, especially one involving cold weapons, food is always the most important thing.

Su Li doubted whether this monster army had such a long-term plan as humans. They probably would not collect a large amount of food before the war.

Once food is insufficient, even the most powerful army will collapse.

If the Green Dragon Legion relied solely on hunting, it would definitely not be able to sustain the continuous siege of such a large army.

Orlstein smiled and shook his head. "Food shortage is certainly one of the problems facing the Green Dragon Legion," he said. "But given their cruelty and cunning, they may well have a solution. We cannot underestimate them."

"The biggest reason it can't afford to waste is its treasure trove!"

"Given the green dragon's greed, it would never dare to leave its lair for long and wreak havoc on the battlefield. The treasures in its lair are more valuable than its life. It wouldn't dare to continue consuming them with us, fearing that thieves would sneak into its lair again."

After hearing this, Su Li's eyes lit up, as if he had suddenly realized something. He excitedly stood up and applauded, saying, "That's right! That's right! This is indeed a key to our victory. Especially since the Green Dragon just had its dragon nest stolen, it must be paranoid and suspicious right now."

"As long as we show that we intend to lure it out of its lair, away from its nest, it will become alarmed and hesitant, and won't dare to stay on the battlefield for long."

This war has completely turned into an all-out war. The contest between the two sides is no longer just a clash of swords and armor on the battlefield, but also involves all aspects such as power, logistics, tactics and even the personality of the coach.

And in all this, it is obvious that humans have an overwhelming advantage.

The Green Dragon Legion is indeed powerful, but they are certainly unable to exert their full strength and have various flaws.

This is also why, although the justice camp in this world is always under siege by the evil army, there are always human heroes who can stand up and save the situation.

But Su Li couldn't help but ask: "Do we have to fortify our defenses and clear the countryside, and stubbornly defend to the death? When will the war end?"

Commander Orstein immediately said, "Of course, we are not going to passively defend. On the contrary, we must take the offensive in this battle."

Hearing this, Su Li finally couldn't help but question: "Although I'm not a famous military general, I still have basic military knowledge. Since you chose to defend the city and clear the countryside, why are you taking the initiative to attack? This doesn't conform to the most basic military theory!"

(End of this chapter)