Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 212: The Lion King Title and the Red Brotherhood
The reports made by Orstein and Hilde were very detailed, but to sum it up it was relatively simple: the Hessian army had changed from Su Li's private army to a more professional territory legion.

What methods did the Hessen Lords rely on to increase their army in the past? They bought slaves, captured prisoners, etc. These people were all Su Li's direct attendants.

Now the main force of the Hessen Territory's army has changed from Su Li's private army to the Hessen Territory's provincial army, which is directly recruited from the Hessen Territory's people.

For example, the armed attendants of the three newly formed squadrons were basically recruited from elite soldiers in the territory's free militia.

Although the Free Militia suffered heavy casualties in this battle, overall, they were treated fairly, an outcome even the followers of the Goddess of Justice would approve of. On the fierce battlefield, the commanding generals didn't deliberately use them as cannon fodder; instead, the territory's elite troops served as the backbone in crucial battles. After the battle, they also participated in the compensation process, with the lord generously promising them a 30% share of the spoils.

This is already a good ending. All the people in the empire love the battlefield. Can they still complain about casualties?

Therefore, this war inspired many adventurers and mercenaries who were waiting on the sidelines in the territory. They enthusiastically joined the armed attendant battalion and free militia of the Hessian Territory, causing the size of the territory's reorganized new army to grow rapidly, and it may even exceed the peak value before the war.

Just as Knight Orstein reported, from the territories on all sides of the Border Princes' Territory, various powerful knights-errant, mercenaries and even dwarf rangers have joined the ranks of the Hessian Territory's war.

Especially for the knights of the Flaming Sun Knights, the teachings of the Goddess of the Fiery Sun are widely popular in the southern part of the empire, so the border prince's territory is an important place for the members of the Flaming Sun Knights to travel and train.

In this vast and fertile territory, a large number of Flame Sun Knights serve as resident knights on farms and inns to hone their skills in fighting monsters.

After the war against the green dragon in Hessen became famous, these resident knights immediately followed the teachings of the goddess excitedly and fanatically, and joined this more magnificent war against evil.

So in the southern part of Hesse, dozens of members of the Flaming Sun Knights gathered from various farms and towns in the pioneering territories to Hesse Castle.

Mercenaries and adventurers from various towns also came out of the jungles, valleys and ruins to the Hesse Territory to earn greater wealth.

This meant that Su Li no longer had to spend a lot of money to buy slaves. As long as he raised the recruitment flag, he could recruit a considerable number of troops from the people.

Recruiting soldiers directly from the territory's people offered numerous advantages, starting with the fact that these individuals possessed a strong commitment to defending their homeland. After all, the majority of the Free Militia soldiers were farmers, freemen, and peasants from the territory. Their property, wives, and children were all within Hesse, and their goal of defending Hesse was closely aligned with their goal of defending their homeland.

This means that the provincial army now represents not only the interests of Su Li alone, but the common interests of countless people in the entire Hesse Territory. Defending the country is vividly and vividly combined at this moment.

That is why Su Li only has more than 500 high-ranking direct attendants, while the size of the provincial army is as high as thousands or even tens of thousands of people.

On the other hand, this also greatly saved military expenses. After all, the price of buying a slave was enough to pay the wages of forty or fifty soldiers of the same strength.

Su Li's more than 20000 gold crowns can only buy 100 elite knights, but it can easily maintain the military expenses of 400 elite knights for a year.

However, every time Su Li thought of this, his heart trembled with pain.

一名精英骑士一个月的薪资在5～7枚金王冠，一名正式骑士薪资一个月1～2枚金王冠，一名见习骑士一个月薪资50银币，一名武装侍从薪资也有20银币。

These are the ones that cannot be missed every month!

If the treatment of soldiers is not guaranteed, they will collapse at the first blow even if they are given the best equipment.

In production, slaves, social animals, cattle and horses can be used to exploit labor, but if the military has such an idea, it is really seeking its own death.

It is always people who decide the victory or defeat of a war!
If the treatment is inadequate and the morale is low, an army of 200,000 soldiers with heavy equipment from the navy, army and air force will be defeated and collapse in just a few days in front of 20,000 to 30,000 terrorists and guerrilla soldiers with only light weapons.

The knights in this world really come forward when there is something to do, and that’s because their treatment and status are really high!
It is not easy for Su Li, a small pioneering territory, to maintain such a large army.

He has more than 300 elite knights under his command. The salaries of high-level squire knights are relatively high, about six or seven gold coins. The monthly salary of a champion knight is as high as 25 gold crowns. A chosen knight does nothing for a month and still gets a salary of 100 gold crowns. Therefore, the monthly salary of these elite knights alone is more than 2500 gold crowns.

The more than 500 official knights and apprentice knights also have an expenditure of about gold crowns.

On the contrary, the provincial legions, the huge armed attendant infantry and archer regiments are the most economical. The salary of one soldier is 20 silver coins. Even if it has a scale of 2000 people, the military expenditure is only 400 gold crowns per month.

Therefore, many lords like to maintain a sizable infantry regiment as a facade, because it really saves money!
同样是一个拥兵3000的男爵，一名男爵有1000重甲骑兵2000步兵团，一名男爵有100重甲骑兵3000步兵团。战斗力差距能从天上差到地底下去，前者摧枯拉朽的就能击溃后者这3000乌合之众。

Even in the Hessen Territory, it was the same. 300 elite knights would only need a few charges to chop down 2000 infantry regiments.

Such a large number of elite troops means that even if Su Li does nothing every month, his military expenditure will be close to 3500 gold crowns.

In fact, fiscal expenditures are far more than this, because he also has to maintain a huge bureaucracy and civil service system, as well as taxation, medical care, religion, and infrastructure expenses in the territory.

Not to mention anything else, the construction cost of Hesse Castle alone was as high as more than 1500 gold crowns, the territory's Lion Ring Arena cost more than 2000 gold crowns, and Sharya's magnificent and holy marble monastery and hospital cost more than gold crowns. There are also the territory's armory, blacksmith shops, military camps, etc. Maintaining these craftsmen, blacksmiths, engineers, and church priests is a considerable expense.

Basically, every month, Su Li's fixed expenses are more than 5000 gold crowns. If there are large-scale construction projects and emergency military mobilizations, all these expenses will soar to 8000+ gold crowns.

So once the war broke out, Su Li's small treasury could only last for two or three months at most.

In this situation, Su Li did nothing every day, and the moment he opened his eyes, he saw a fiscal deficit of 200+ gold crowns.

This made him very unhappy, as if he had returned to his previous life as a slave, burdened with high mortgages and car loans, and owed more than 200 yuan every day when he opened his eyes.

Then Su Li looked at Orstein and said, "My Marshal, the territory must end the war as soon as possible. Maintaining such a large army now costs over 3000 gold crowns, not to mention the various mounts and food consumed by the soldiers."

Fortunately, Su Li was determined to build the Hessen Territory into a border granary when he first arrived there.

Therefore, after two good harvests, the territory is not too short of food now, and the stored grain can at least last until winter.

However, if the third harvest season this year fails to produce enough food, or if the farmland outside the city is burned down in large numbers during this period, then at least 30% to 40% of all the people in the territory will starve to death before next summer harvest.

Orstein was also aware of this situation. He knew very well that the lord liked farming life and did not like this kind of war.

So he immediately assured, "My Lord, we have been receiving and recruiting brave warriors from all over the border these days, and our army is rapidly growing. The size of the provincial army has now recovered to over 1500 men. We are confident that we can defeat any of the Green Dragon's subordinate armies in one fell swoop."

The provincial army of 1500 people is already hundreds of people larger than before the war.

Of course, in contrast, the size of the Free Militia was reduced. Originally, there were 1400 provincial troops and 1600 free militia.

In the battle of the border outpost, the Free Militia suffered the heaviest losses, so even after this period of reinforcement, the number of people has barely recovered to 1000.

It’s not that the casualties were as high as 600, but that Su Li dismissed most of the production professionals and asked them to go back to production.

Only a few with stronger combat capabilities were left to receive training in the camp, and the best among them were selected to join the provincial legion.

If everything goes well, the size of the Freedom Militia will be further reduced, gradually from 1000 people to around 800 or 600 people.

Although their size has been reduced, their combat effectiveness will increase rapidly, because the remaining ones are veterans, mercenaries, explorers, wandering knights, and rogue knights who are willing to take risks and fight.

These people were willing to sell their martial arts and combat experience to any lord. Not only did they possess excellent fighting instincts, but they also spent high prices to equip themselves with excellent equipment. Some wandering knights and mercenary leaders even had a set of gleaming armor and a top-notch weapon.

This configuration definitely surpassed that of most provincial legion soldiers. Only knights serving as low-level officers in provincial legions could afford such a configuration. Moreover, it was not issued to them by the army, but purchased by the knight families themselves.

These free militias are very welcome to every empire's lord, and are also a kind of legion maintained by every territory. They are somewhat similar to the mercenary families serving the lord.

There is no need to pay them salaries in normal times. It is enough to give them spoils of war according to the number of battles they fight in wartime.

The military structure of each territory is as follows: a large number of elite knight families and a huge provincial regular army form the main force of the territory, and then there are various free militia groups acting as auxiliary corps and cruising scout corps in war.

They assist the lords in doing some not-so-convenient things and also perform many duties of the death squad.

After Su Li finished talking with Knight Orstein about the regular army, he turned his attention to this aspect. He turned to look at Hilde and asked, "I remember during my recuperation, you told me that several leaders of the free militia wanted to see me?"

Hild immediately nodded and said, "Yes, Lord, we have this meeting arrangement. I think this meeting is very meaningful and can help us recruit a very impressive mercenary group." "Then let them come to see me." Su Li gave the order, then turned to look at the legion with flags fluttering below.

Dozens or even hundreds of vermilion flags fluttered in the wind, showing the romantic heritage in Su Li's genes.

Thousands of well-equipped elite soldiers will advance one after another under these countless vermilion banners, defeating a large number of powerful enemies and encircling and killing countless overwhelming monsters.

Then Su Li said to Orstein: "My Marshal, the army's training should not only target those conventional monsters, but also make the army adapt to super strong ones, so that they can effectively avoid and kill the God-chosen beings."

A professional army has strict training on the spacing between ranks, which can effectively prevent large-scale arrow rain and attacks from giant monsters.

Therefore, even if a giant dragon of the God-chosen level launched a magical bombardment or a ferocious attack, it could only knock away a dozen people, or at most dozens of people.

If the soldiers can be brave and fearless, even the most powerful monsters can be defeated by humans using human wave tactics.

"It just so happens that several Chosen Assassins are about to arrive in our territory. Perhaps you can use them to train your soldiers in tactics against Chosen monsters and gain more experience."

"A God-chosen assassin?" Orstein's eyes lit up. He knew something about the ratmen's impending assassination attempt, so he immediately asked, "Have these ratmen arrived in the territory?"

Su Li nodded and said, "According to the elves in the Gem Pool River, the Skaven have entered our territory. Perhaps if we sleep for a night, we can get their intelligence."

This time the ratman assassin chose the wrong target. Su Li had the assistance of the daily intelligence system, and Phyllis had a powerful amulet of fate in her hand, so she could foresee the fatal attack that would happen the next day in her dream.

Therefore, the Skaven's assassination would definitely be sensed in advance. Once the assassin was exposed from the shadows and surrounded by a large number of heavily armored knights, the outcome would be very disastrous.

In a head-on battle, two assassins might not be able to defeat a knight.

Orstein was full of confidence. He said, "As long as we know the assassin's location, I will lead the knights of the territory to pull out all these rats in the gutter and crush them one by one."

Su Li smiled and patted his shoulder, saying, "Very good, my Lord Marshal. Perhaps after this assassination, you will make a sensation throughout the empire. Even your name will be changed!"

Killing four chosen ones in one battle is obviously a very legendary feat, enough to be praised and sung by countless poets.

Orstein's current title was the Lion of the Blazing Sun, a reputation he had earned during his elite days, but it was clearly no longer worthy of his current strength.

If he crushed four God-chosen warriors in one battle, he would most likely be directly called the "Lion King" by the fanatical knights!
[Lion King Orstein] obviously sounds much more imposing than the Sun Lion Orstein.

Orstein was naturally looking forward to this result.

Not only him, in fact everyone had a feeling that the knights in the territory were clinging to the lord's thighs, and their strength, reputation and other aspects were rapidly soaring.

Although most of them are stronger than the lord, the feeling of following a hero makes Su Li feel like a king high above.

The knights were like tiny specks of dust. If they were lucky enough to land on the shoes of the lord and follow him for even a short distance, it would be a great honor and the greatest achievement and progress in a person's life.

It was all because of the favor and opportunities brought by the Lord that Hilde and Orstein were able to quickly be promoted to God's Chosen Knights in the short journey they followed the Lord.

Otherwise, at this time, according to their original fate, Hilde would still be a slave, and Orstein would still be stuck at the peak of the elite knight, struggling to make a breakthrough.

Unlike now, Orstein even dares to dream of the title of "Lion King".

Not long after Su Li encouraged Orstein, the summoned leader of the Free Militia arrived in Hesseburg.

Before meeting them, Hildreth briefly introduced the situation of these free militia groups to Su Li.

"My Lord, among those who have come is the president of a brotherhood and two mercenary leaders. They are all willing to serve you. However, their methods of loyalty and interests differ slightly. Among them..."

Su Li waved his hand and said, "I'll discuss the specific demands with them personally."

As Su Li slowly walked into the conference hall, the three people in the hall immediately stood up and greeted Su Li with different courtesy gestures.

"Greetings to Knight Suli. May Shaerya bless you with health and safety."

"Greetings, Lord, and good day to you."

"May Ulric bless you with health and keep you free from disease, my lord."

After Su Li sat down at the main seat, he waved to the three people and said, "No need to be so formal, please take a seat."

Then Su Li glanced at the three leaders of the free militia. The first person that caught his eye was a thin middle-aged man in a red leather robe. He was forced to take off the hood on his head and felt a little embarrassed and uneasy under the direct scrutiny.

Next came the two mercenary leaders, both wearing heavy armor, but the difference in style was so great that it could not be more different.

The knight sitting in the front has a young face, with golden hair and a handsome face with a sunny smile. He is obviously a suave knight. If he smiles slightly, he will probably make countless girls scream and go crazy for him.

The last knight had a full beard and messy gray hair that fell on his head. He also wore a heavy wolfskin coat draped over his back and shoulders, and a wolf's head opened its huge mouth and bit his shoulder. This was obviously a follower of Ulric.

After they were all seated, Su Li spread out his hands, pointed his finger, and said, "My high-ranking attendant steward has briefly introduced your situation to me. But in order to better understand, you can first introduce your situation in detail. Who will go first?"

"Me! Me! I'll go first!" As soon as Su Li finished speaking, the middle-aged man in the red leather robe decisively raised his right hand: "Knight Su Li, please allow me to introduce you to our powerful Red Brotherhood."

Su Li frowned and had a very bad impression of this thin middle-aged man wearing a red leather jacket. He did not have the arrogant, domineering, rude and frank temperament of the knights. On the contrary, he seemed very cunning.

If Su Li was a lone knight, this kind of person would not even be qualified to communicate with him.

But he was a lord and needed to have a broad mind that could accommodate all kinds of things. Therefore, even though he was unhappy, he did not show his emotions and looked at him expressionlessly.

Without waiting for Su Li to speak, he began to boast: "Our Red Brotherhood is a powerful war group rooted in the east of the Border Prince's Territory."

"The leader is me, Prodigal Luo. Our brotherhood consists of 80-120 Red Brotherhood thieves, 60-80 highwaymen, 60 Red Brotherhood members, 40 Money Worshippers, and 20 Rogue Knights. All of us are willing to serve the Hesse Territory."

Su Li did a simple calculation and found that the number of members in this brotherhood was as high as more than 300!

Although most of them are armed thugs and highwaymen with poor combat effectiveness, the scale is still very impressive.

A team of 300 people, even if it is a group of green forest bandits, ordinary forces would not dare to provoke them.

They have overwhelming advantages over some small villages, towns and even pioneering lords.

The key is that these people do not need Su Li to pay them salaries. They only need to be paid when they accept tasks assigned by the Lord of Hesse.

At this critical moment of war, Su Li needed to attract all forces to strengthen his own strength. This team of more than 300 people had a huge impact on the outcome of the war, so Su Li naturally hoped to bring them under his control.

Therefore, sometimes the "bandits" are also ambitious princes and lords who have to accept the "righteous army".

After a brief pause, Su Li asked, "Wanderer Luo Ou, you should be aware that we are a territory protected by Her Majesty, the Sun Goddess Violet, and we have a bad relationship with the Church of Lanor. Tell me, what can you do for me to convince me to accept you?"

Luo Ou immediately stood up excitedly and said, "My Lord, then we are steadfast allies. Because our Materialistic Church has also been in constant conflict with the Lanold Church."

"Our Hendrix Church, also known as the Money Worship Cult, is a relatively new faith in the Imperial City and lacks the thousands of years of history and conflict that other faiths have. Our only real enemy is the rivals of the Lanold Church. We've run into conflicts with members of the Lanold Church in many business ventures. Of course, so far, our rivalry has remained at the level of a gang war."

"If you don't mind, I think I have a lot of less formal means to serve you."

(End of this chapter)