Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 90 Orlando Steel Nail Mercenary Group
The current situation does not allow Su Li to complain. As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, if he still spreads despair and negative emotions, the morale of the entire army will inevitably be shaken.

So Su Li patted Schwartz on the shoulder and said soothingly, "Relax, my knight. Look at it from a positive perspective. Most of the Green Tide monsters are about this level. They are all soldiers, and most of the 5,000 people are weak monsters from the Goblin tribe. As long as we can train these slaves to be decent, we can gain an advantage in the battle."

Schwartz nodded heavily and said, "You are right, Lord Mingjian. But we need more soldiers, otherwise even the weak monsters in the goblin tribe can overwhelm us if they rush in."

Su Li turned around, looked at Fandral, and asked, "How many more slaves can we recruit?"

Fandral watched the teams of slaves being led into the training grounds in the distance. After a quick calculation, he said, "These are already the strongest of the slaves. If we lower the standards further, we can only recruit two more teams at most, but they will inevitably include women and children. After all, our territory has a total population of only 600 people. Except for those who are too weak to go to the battlefield, we are now almost a whole nation of soldiers."

Su Li's mood was just like the weather at the moment, completely shrouded in dark clouds and haze. Calculating this way, there were only 600 people at most, and it was really difficult to resist the terrifying waves of monsters.

When will a ray of sunshine break through the dark clouds and illuminate the sky?
Just as he was thinking, an excited voice suddenly came from the entrance of the training ground: "Lord, good news! Good news, I have brought reinforcements."

Su Li immediately looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was actually the Minister of Seals, Law En, who was walking quickly despite the heavy rain. Beside him was a strange middle-aged man wearing black plate armor, with a thick beard and a very sturdy physique.

Laun walked quickly to Su Li's side and introduced him, "This is Knight Beckman, the leader of the Orlando Steel Nail Mercenary Group. He has decided to lead the mercenary group to join us in the fight against the Green Tide. At the same time, more than 50 brave Chamber of Commerce guards and workers have decided to take up arms to fight those damned forest monsters."

Are the guards and workers in the caravan also willing to join the battle?

Su Li's eyebrows lit up with excitement. He immediately stepped forward, shook the Knight-Errant's right hand, and said, "Knight Beckman, your joining is truly a timely help to me. On behalf of the territory, I welcome you."

Knight Beckmann drew a "V" on his chest with his index finger across his navel and collarbones, which was the standard salute of the Knights of Redmar, and was likened to a shield against evil and monsters.

After saluting, Knight Beckman said firmly, "Fighting against evil monsters is the unwavering responsibility of us Redmar believers!"

"Besides, Lord, you will pay a high commission for this, right?"

Laun secretly showed Su Li five fingers, and Su Li immediately took a breath of cold air. 50 gold coins!

This mercenary group really knows how to take advantage of others' misfortunes.

But when he thought about the other party having an elite knight and at least five extraordinary people above the apprentice knight level, bringing nearly a hundred strong men to help him fight a bloody battle, he accepted the price.

So Su Li said solemnly: "Of course, as long as your battle is worthy of your honor, I will pay the full fee for hiring you to fight this time."

Su Li had some understanding of mercenaries in this world. It was a high-reward, high-risk profession. Mercenaries could be anyone, from wealthy children seeking excitement and glory to impoverished individuals, or even desperate thugs.

In other words: in most mercenary groups, as long as you are human and can wield a weapon, you can join. This also leads to the uneven quality of mercenary teams. Most of the unbranded mercenary teams are unreliable. They may take away all your money, collude with bad guys, or cowardly run away from the battle like ratmen.

But the remaining mercenary groups are warriors worthy of your trust and can be hired with a large sum of money. Although the atmosphere, hobbies, and prices of these groups may not be satisfactory in some aspects, in order to survive in a world full of dangers, most people choose to spend money to avoid disaster.

After Knight Orstein and Knight Beckmann left to arrange their tactics, Lawn walked over to Su Li and said, "My Lord, it's a good thing you didn't bargain with Knight Beckmann. This is a trustworthy mercenary group, and it's worth paying a large sum of money to hire them."

Su Li asked curiously, "Do they have any famous achievements?"

"Yes, when I went to negotiate, I asked the people from the West Chamber of Commerce for information about this mercenary group to see if they were reliable."

"Their nickname 'Steel Nails' came from a battle near Haimen Pass, when the combined forces of the Empire and the Dwarves fought against a swarm of Greenskins. The bloody and brutal battle lasted from noon that day until dawn the next day. When the Dwarf helicopter formation arrived, the only human team still fighting alongside the Dwarves were this group of Orlando ladies holding halberds. Even the proud Dwarves expressed their admiration for this group of humans, saying that they were "nailed to the battlefield like steel nails." "As a result, the Steel Nail Group gained the friendship of Haimen Pass, and they established a considerable base there. They recruited many outstanding mercenaries there, becoming a large mercenary group. They developed several teams to operate as bounty hunters, fought in high-risk areas many times, and have rich experience in fighting Orcs. This mercenary group is one of their subordinate mercenary teams."

"It is said that their Grand Master, Ferdinand the Skinner, was a powerful champion-level knight. In his private collection, the spoils of his first half of life are displayed: a necklace made of one hundred black orc tusks, an emerald plundered from Ushabti, the right claw of a Skaven assassin with the Weeping Sword still tightly grasped by it... and the product of Ferdinand's special hobby—thirteen scalps of the evil god's champions, commemorating thirteen unforgettable championship duels."

Then this is indeed a trustworthy mercenary team, not the kind of villains who have no principles for profit that Su Li has in mind.

The addition of this mercenary group gave Su Li more confidence in winning the battle.

Su Li braved the rain to check on the training of these Chamber of Commerce mercenaries and workers. They had a high will to fight, and their determination to fight against monsters was even stronger than that of the slaves in the castle.

Su Li was puzzled for a while, then he roughly guessed the reason. If the people in the territory really couldn't win the fight, they could retreat back to the castle.

However, these mercenaries and lumberjacks had to enter the forest no matter what. If they didn't seize the opportunity to join forces with the Hessen army to defeat these monsters, they would have to face the massive goblin horde alone once they entered the forest. At that time, they would be at even greater risk of being attacked and killed. Therefore, their desire for victory was no less than that of the Hessen soldiers.

As the soldiers trained with high morale, time quickly came to the afternoon.

The heavy rain stopped at noon. In summer, rainstorms come and go quickly. Less than half an hour after the rain stopped, all the dark clouds in the sky dissipated, revealing the bright sunshine.

At this time, the territory was full of bustling scenes. In order to boost morale, Su Li spared no expense.

He personally instructed Laun, "The soldiers' training is getting more intense, and their nutrition needs to keep up. We must prepare for battle and provide them with the most adequate food. We must ensure that every soldier, even a slave, gets half a pound of meat, a fish, two bowls of milk, and three bowls of rice a day. We also need to ensure that there is no shortage of vegetables. Distribute all the berries and vegetables that the hunters gather. If there's not enough, harvest some cabbage first."

Cabbage typically matures in 60 to 90 days. The cabbages in my territory have been planted for over a month now, which means they're already halfway through their harvest cycle, considering the climate here allows for three harvests a year. The leaves, while small, are still edible. If they all mature, they won't be eaten in a short time, so it's not considered a waste.

The so-called sharpening of military preparations refers to these preparations before the war. If the soldiers are not well fed and kept strong, how can they have the strength to fight?
Laun nodded in agreement and said, "We will do our best to ensure that all soldiers are well fed and watered before the battle."

"There's one more thing. Four young, strong men from the territory's freedmen have gathered outside the construction site of the Blazing Sun Goddess Monastery, requesting to join the territory's defense team."

Those people from Phyllis's hometown?
Su Li replied directly: "Let them join, I believe in their courage."

Although the saying "He who has constant property has constant heart" has never been proposed in this world, the nobles have similar evaluations of the free militia composed of free people.

An imperial marshal once said: "Perhaps they may appear to the knights as an undisciplined mob, but a man can often fight with twice the strength when defending his hometown and family."

These people spent most of their savings to buy a large farm in Hesse Territory, and they would not let it all be destroyed by the monster invasion at all costs.

Then Su Li thought of Phyllis, the girl who had the potential to ascend to the throne. But he was so busy that he had no time to think about confessing his feelings to her.

At least survive first, then think about the possibility of ascending to the throne!

While he and Lawn were discussing supplies, a burst of hurried horse hoofbeats sounded from afar. Judging from the sound, a cavalry of at least a dozen strong war horses was approaching at a very fast speed!
Soon, Hildre's heroic voice came: "My Lord, I have brought back for you a combat pilgrim group of over 60 people!"

(End of this chapter)