Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 89 The most important thing before the war in this world

Su Li's deployment was undoubtedly very comprehensive, taking into account all aspects, from recruiting troops from affiliated territories to forming a convict army, distributing weapons, and reorganizing training.

He has even announced the establishment of military merits, rewards for beheadings, and the promotion of morale.

He couldn't think of what else he had missed, and it was the most important thing.

If it was such an important matter, why didn't Lawn mention it at all?

So Su Li frowned slightly and looked at the tall Knight Orstein. This strong and powerful champion knight was his greatest confidence in fighting against the 5000 green tides. He was determined and brave in battle. He was also a devout believer of the Goddess of the Fiery Sun. He had a firm belief in the goddess and had extremely high attainments in military tactics, strategy, engineering and other aspects. He could be said to be an outstanding military commander.

He satisfied all of Su Li's fantasies about the generals in the classical era who were good at fighting and delighted at the mention of war under the command of the monarchs in troubled times.

If there was anything that Lawn didn't mention, he emphasized it.

Su Li suddenly had an idea and asked, "Are you talking about praying to the gods?"

In this world, there are only two things that the lord must not let others do: one is sacrifice, and the other is war.

Even in this world with gods, sacrifice is more important than the army.

The gods really do come to fight. For example, the White Wolf God, Ulric, would often possess the chosen knights of his choosing and personally take to the battlefield to kill them.

If some lords favored by the gods have their castles seized by powerful ministers, the gods will really give the lords cheats all the way, allowing him to turn the tide and retake the castle with just a few people.

So putting aside the materialistic methods that Su Li had been exposed to in his previous life and had already prepared, the most important thing he missed was of course the idealistic things about the gods.

Knight Orstein smiled upon hearing this. He nodded slowly and said, "The victory or defeat of a war, especially in a battle like this where a small force defeats a large one, the protection of the gods is the most crucial factor in our victory."

"If our sincere prayers can be answered by the Goddess of the Fiery Sun, and she bestows her grace upon the fiercely engaged battlefield, then all our soldiers will be imbued with powerful strength, dispelling fatigue and becoming immune to fear. Even if we only have a few hundred warriors, we can defeat an army of thousands or even tens of thousands."

Su Li immediately understood what he meant and asked, "So our top priority is to build a monastery for the Fiery Sun Goddess?"

"Yes," Knight Orstein said, "Our territory has been established for so long, yet it has never received the protection of a powerful deity. This is why the people panic when faced with disasters. We deserve a monastery of a powerful deity. This will greatly enhance the territory's martial virtue and military prowess."

"For example, at our Monastery of the Sun Goddess, in territories with many Sun Goddess followers, almost every citizen is required to attend a church 'gathering' once a week, which is a temple service accompanied by a sermon. Sun Goddess followers also go to the temple to confess, undergo purification, and receive training as part of the local militia."

"Of course, it's not just us. The followers of Yurik and Redma also regularly attend church gatherings and conduct military training to defend their territory and fight against evil."

Su Li couldn't help but admire in his heart that this world respected knights and flourished in martial virtues. It really could be seen as an enhanced version of the Guanlong Military Group and the Palace Soldiers in every aspect.

Every week, church believers will attend rallies and receive some training as militia. The powerful knights in the church will guide them in the content of their training, so that the people of the empire can fight against various monsters.

For example, in remote territories, rural areas or even a remote farm, without the protection of the city's army, they can fight against beastmen, greenskin war gangs and bandits who like to plunder villages and caravans.

Su Li simply asked with concern, "Without the goddess's priests or chanters, can we gain the attention of the gods?"

The so-called blessing of the gods is nothing more than mortal beings just asking for a glance from the gods.

"It doesn't matter," Knight Orstein said. "It's impossible for the Divine to take care of every church. Every town, city, and village in the Empire has a temple dedicated to the Knight God. There's the sacred and magnificent Temple Cathedral in the capital, Terrabheim, and there are also numerous rural churches. These small churches are only managed by a traveling priest who visits once a week. Most devout families also have a small shrine to the God, which lines the roads of the Empire. After we build our monastery, there will always be priests visiting."

Su Li couldn't help but think of the combat pilgrim group.

The Combat Pilgrims are devout believers of the gods, yet they haven't yet reached the stage of full knighthood, primarily serving as apprentice knights and armed squires. While fierce and valiant in battle, they also have a penchant for thievery, forcing the knights to be wary of them. Perhaps this presents an opportunity to retain them within the domain, or at least to retain their leader, Ron Elsari. He's clearly a pilgrim well-versed in the teachings, even capable of wielding divine wrath. He's likely to have caught the eye of the Sun Goddess.

So Su Li thought for a moment, then made a decision and said, "Later, I will order all the ogre craftsmen in the territory to go to the northeast of the castle and build a monastery for the Goddess of the Fiery Sun. They will work day and night and strive to complete the monastery within three days."

With the announcement of this decision, the dispute over the territory's belief in gods came to an end.

The White Wolf God Yurik was defeated, and the Sun Goddess became the main deity worshipped in the territory.

This god placed greater emphasis on the role of tactics and leadership, and was more open-minded, allowing knights to use strategies and engineering equipment, thereby enabling their army to achieve victory with overwhelming tactical advantages.

Of course, as a god officially recognized by the empire, the White Wolf God is allowed to spread their teachings within the territory, build temples, and demonstrate divine grace, but they will no longer receive official support from the territory.

Knight Orstein was extremely excited upon hearing this. His blood vessels swelled, and his golden aura surged. He couldn't help but laugh excitedly, "My Lord, I feel the arrival of divine grace. I have broken through to the mid-level champion knight."

Su Li's eyes lit up. It seemed the intelligence was correct. The territory had indeed received the attention of the Fiery Sun Goddess today. Therefore, Knight Orstein's missionary work was successful, and he had successfully received the Fiery Sun Goddess's commendation.

He also laughed excitedly: "Hahaha, good, very good. On the eve of the battle, your strength has been improved. Perhaps this is the goddess' blessing for our victory."

Just as Su Li said, the miraculous appearance of the Goddess of the Fiery Sun before the war greatly boosted the morale of the territory's army.

Amidst the heavy rain, the enthusiasm of the soldiers and slaves was very high.

There was no other way, Master Su Li had given them too much! Just now, the knights and nuns in charge of the selection announced an exciting news to them: all the young and strong men who were successfully selected into the Convict Army would be given a bowl of hot velvet rabbit soup!
Countless people went crazy for this reward, which meant that many of them would have a chance to change their fate.

As long as they can successfully awaken their bloodline and become apprentice knights, they will be members of the empire's ruling class from then on, no longer lowly serfs, and even their descendants will benefit, and their children will no longer need to bear the obligation of the nobles' right of first night.

For this, Su Li paid the price of 6 velvet rabbits. Only two pairs of velvet rabbits were left to continue breeding, and the rest were stewed into broth.

After a bowl of piping hot fire velvet rabbit soup, everyone felt warm. Even though they were training in the pouring rain, they did not feel a bit cold. On the contrary, their blood was surging and they were full of excitement.

Su Li also ate three pounds of fire velvet rabbit meat again. He walked on the training ground and only felt his body steaming hot. The raindrops as big as beans hit his face, but he didn't feel any cold at all, as if the heavy rain could not penetrate the red flames surging from his body.

Without anyone else saying much, Su Li could be sure that he was about to break through to the high-level apprentice knight, either this afternoon or this evening.

Fandral didn't have the same physique as the knights. He followed Su Li with an umbrella, watching the soldiers and slaves training in the heavy rain, and reported: "My Lord, we have currently recruited 30 ogres and 120 strong slaves. Lord Orstein has sent an elite knight and 12 official knights to reorganize them. Aside from the ogres who will urgently go to the northeast of the castle to build the Monastery of the Blazing Sun Goddess, the remaining 120 slaves are undergoing preliminary training."

Su Li came to the training ground despite the heavy rain, just to take a look at this conscripted slave army. They were all potential candidates for serf thugs. If they were not properly disciplined, they would not only be unable to serve the territory, but on the contrary could evolve into a sharp blade that threatens the territory at any time.

The person in charge of reorganizing them was Su Li's former guardian knight Schwartz. He had already organized these 120 people into teams according to the organization of the Red Night Knights and was training them in basic queue positions.

There is no need to think too much about changing formations. These people can hold their positions when defending and march forward in formation when attacking. Not rushing forward like a herd of beasts is the highest requirement that military commander Orlstein has for them.

According to this training direction, Schwartz has arranged them into a basic square formation, so they look quite decent. Everyone wears a helmet, a linen jacket, a sleeveless leather jacket, and an iron-studded leather armor. Several captains even wear a chain mail shirt.

Su Li walked forward and asked Schwartz, "How are the training results?"

Schwartz wiped the rain from his face and turned to report to Su Li, "It's a huge difference, my lord. When these idiots stand still, they can still pretend to be bluster and scare the enemy. But once they are asked to turn slightly, more than 12% of them can't tell left from right, and a few of them can't even tell front from back. Even if all of them are apprentice knights, they are still a group of sheep and will be easily defeated by three teams of armed squires. Unfortunately, most of them are farmers. I feel that a fierce charge from armed squires will make them cry for their parents."

It is true that quality of soldiers is more important than quantity.

(End of this chapter)