From Witcher to Lord of the Empire.

Chapter 207 I have never fought such a rich battle in my life!
Two quarters of an hour later, Lan got dressed under Hardy's service and came to the study.

Mossack and the old butler Ens have been waiting inside for a long time.

Hardy poured wine for the two old men and Lann respectively, and then stepped aside.

"Tell me about it, Lan." Mossack didn't go to drink, but just looked at Lan with a smile on his face, "You must have gained a lot from this trip to the north. When you were in Novigrad You have already told me part of it, and you also communicated part of what happened with me in your letter. So what do you gain from this northern border meeting? It is really the same as what you said outside, and you have gained other King's support?"

"Half of Novigrad fell under Lann's control" This information was passed back when Triss came back with Warlock Ofir, and it made the two old people unbelievable for a long time.You must know that Novigrad is the number one city in the northern border, and the prosperity of a city even surpasses some small countries in the northern border and even some medium-sized countries. Rui's control, now Lann said he did it?

It can only be said that Chapelle, the alien species among the deformed monsters, is really crucial.After Mossack knew the truth, he had to lament Lane's luck; of course, it was also Chapelle's luck to meet Lane, otherwise he would have to be burned sooner or later.

As for the old druid's question about the talks in the north, Lan shook his head slightly.

"I did sign some agreements with them, but how many and to what extent they will be effective in the end are still to be considered."

"The opinions in the northern border have indeed reached an agreement, but we are still far from 'full cooperation'. In terms of military support and resource tilt on paper, we may be able to drive Nilfgaard away. , but this will inevitably cause Sintra, which is already withered, to suffer greater losses, so we need to think long-term."

The main purpose of what Lane said to the public outside was to "encourage", but the real situation is still somewhat different.Lane then summed up the harvest with the old druid and the old housekeeper:
The full support of Leiria and the United Kingdom of Livia, the military support of Aedirn, the sea transportation support of Redania, the resource support of Temeria, and the promise of Kaedwen not to make trouble.

At the same time, these countries will also issue a joint boycott of Nilfgaard, calling on the northern countries to boycott Nilfgaard at all levels, including trade.I don't know how much I can achieve in the end.

"As expected of Henselt." After hearing Kaedwin's promise, Mossack couldn't help but sneer.

Afterwards, everyone began to count the current strength of Sintra, and began to formulate the next strategy.

Queen Calanthe made great efforts to manage Sintra into the "fifth country" after the four northern countries, and at its peak, it was able to gather an army of [-].However, since the Nilfgaardians set up a trap and wiped out the main force in the first battle, and then they were all stragglers and rogues, the remaining combat power is really not much.

"If Brokilon's current strength is combined with that of Marshal Vesekid's side, plus the young and middle-aged men who continue to gather and join the barracks, we will be able to mobilize about [-] troops in a month's time. .”

Mossack analyzed: "But these 5000 people can only support one battle. If we can't drive Nilfgaard away in one fell swoop and fall into a protracted war, then our logistics will be difficult to support. At least half of the 5000 people will have to Retired to assume a support role."

Lane pondered for a moment: "That is to say, our real 'standing army' level combat power is only about [-]?"

Mossack nodded.

There are two main types of armies in the Northern Kingdom: standing armies and levies.

The standing army is a professional soldier who is completely off-duty, and the task throughout the year is to train and prepare for war.It is mainly composed of knights, imperial guards, and city guards. A powerful army may also have a special numbered army.

Conscripts are essentially peasants. They only have a few dozen days a year to fight for the king on a voluntary basis, and they don't have much combat effectiveness.Basically, they are used as logistics transportation or cannon fodder.After this obligation time has passed, if the battle is not over, then the king will have to pay to hire conscripts to continue fighting for him.

During the Calanthe period, Sintra was full of virtues, which meant that all the people were soldiers, and the quality of the conscripts was also the best in the northern border.Now that the country is ruined and the family is dead, the conscripts are naturally on standby at all times and volunteer to join the army.But they are willing to fight, and now Sintra does not have the capital to let these more than 3000 people go out of production as soldiers. They also have to engage in production work on a daily basis, and even the standing army that is not fighting on the front line occasionally has to help.

So, as Mossack said, these 5000 people are only "worthy of the First World War." After the First World War, no matter what, most of these soldiers will be put into production again.Even if their battle loss rate is higher, the existing structure of Sintra will have to be rewritten, and the overall structure will collapse.

In addition to the 5000 people in Sintra, Leiria and the United Kingdom of Livia, as well as Aden, can clearly have military support.

Like Sintra, the United Kingdom of Leiria and Livia fought the Great Patriotic War, and they could gather about [-] troops with all their strength, and they could all go into battle.

Aden is a big country, and the standing army plus the levying army can make up about 1.But they are only as support, and it is thankful that [-] people can be dispatched to help.No matter how much they say, they themselves, and even other countries in the north may have opinions.

Lanen pondered for a moment, then said to the old housekeeper and the druid, "Let all these 5000 people be out of production and strengthen their training."

Looking at the two elders who hesitated to speak, Lan En said with a smile: "What I have gained this time is not only the help from the northern countries, but also wealth, a large amount of wealth. Not only enough to support our restoration of the country, Rebuilding the country is even enough for us to hire a mercenary regiment to supplement our troops."

Erns reflexively opened the ledger in front of him: "That requires a lot of money."

Lane laughed: "I do have a very 'big' sum of money."

Five thousand in Sintra, fifteen thousand in the United Kingdom, ten thousand in Aden, and no more than 3 people.

And what about Nilfgaard?

During this period of time, through the intentional or unintentional intelligence support of the spy organizations of various countries and the help from Novigrad, everyone now has a general understanding of Nilfgaard:

First, Nilfgaard unified the South, with a population of between 3000-5000 million.This data has fluctuated, because the information on the place is not very detailed.

For horizontal comparison, the population of the entire northern border is about 3000 million.Temeria and Redania, the most populous of the four northern kingdoms, have a combined population of about 1000 million.

What is truly terrifying is the strength of Nilfgaard's troops.The entire Black Sun Empire has a standing army of 35, plus civilians, logistics, conscripts, etc., and it is no problem to pretend to be a million-strong army.

This is an army of one million, and the entire northern army is not so large. Any intelligence agency in the northern border was dumbfounded when it received the news.This is a number that makes people feel hopeless just by listening to it.

Fortunately, this time Nilfgaard did not come out in full force.One is that his interior has not yet been fully integrated, and the other is that they still need to leave people to guard the rear.This time, Nilfgaard sent a vanguard force of [-] to attack the northern border. Only after the gap in Sintra was opened and a base was established, the army behind would be sent over.

This is also because Nilfgaard is a long-distance battle, and the logistics are very tight.That's why Nilfgaard was eager to capture Sintra in the first battle, turning this northern gateway into its own province.It became a springboard for launching a general offensive towards the north.

Of course, this strategic goal has not been realized until today.However, according to intelligence, Nilfgaard has gathered in "Lower Soden" next to Sintra and "Anglin" across the river from Leiria, and has established temporary military forces in these two places. base; several cities south of Sintra were also established as temporary war fortresses by them.

In other words, if Lan wants to drive away Nilfgaard, he must make progress as soon as possible, before Nilfgaard's follow-up troops come to gain a foothold.And Nilfgaard is obviously aware of the northern border talks, and they will definitely be on guard against the movements of Lane and his party.

Mossak analyzed: "According to the information, Nilfgaard's army has been wiped out by the northern coalition forces at one go by [-] people in the original battle of Solden Mountain. In the original battle in Sintra, And the subsequent battles also consumed more than [-] of their troops."

"Even so, there are still more than 6 people." The old butler Ensi frowned.

"The Nilfgaardians are also full of factions. I heard that their emperor Emhyr executed a group of older officers before, which strengthened the cohesion of the troops. But this also made their officers and soldiers lack of coordination. In addition, their current residences are all occupied lands, and a large number of aborigines were captured by them as slaves." Mossak said meaningfully, "They are not standing firmly now."

"Since they found that they could not capture the entire territory of Sintra, the main force has marched eastward to attack the United Kingdom of Queen Mivi. According to what Lane said, Aedirn will support the United Kingdom. Then we will What we are dealing with is the [-] Nilfgaardians currently in Sintra and the [-] soldiers stationed in Lower Soden who may come to support them at any time."

5000 people, three times as many as our own.Moreover, the [-] soldiers under Lann are very precious, and they will be the seeds of the rise of Sintra in the future, so we can't really lose most of them here.

"We need to plan a surprise attack, a blitzkrieg, destroy the enemy's main force and morale, and drive them out of Sintra before the reinforcements can react." Lane pondered, "We must In doing so, the current Sintra cannot afford consumption.”

If they want to accomplish this goal, they need additional support.

Mossak confirmed: "Skellig can help us. They can launch a surprise attack from the river to hold down the enemy army in Lower Soden. It's just that we don't know how many people they can support us."

The people of the archipelago, who are based on families, have a total army of no more than [-].But above the sea, they can defeat enemies that are several times or even dozens of times stronger than themselves.The mobility of coming and going like the wind also allows them to plunder the southern coastal areas almost without damage, which is most suitable for harassment operations.

"I'll talk to Skellig. I just happened to visit Uncle East." Lane said.

Lane then added: "In addition to this, we also need other support. We need a large number of mercenaries. We will not refuse any mercenaries from the northern border, especially Ke Weier's side, they have a huge mercenary group .It just so happened that Redania promised us to open up the transport ships, so that they could transport soldiers to Cintra and fight for us."

Enth said worriedly: "Kovier's mercenary group is indeed brave and good at fighting. But the remuneration that Kevier gave them is a sky-high price. If we want to hire them temporarily, we need at least [-] to [-] times the premium. In addition to the long-distance delivery And logistics, even if all the money in Sintra is paid now, it can’t afford it.”

Kevier Kingdom is located at the northernmost tip of the Northern Territory, and it is a wonderful and absolutely neutral kingdom.It is most famous for its mineral resources. It is said that Kerviel produced 80.00% of the gold in the North and 70.00% of the magic gold.Therefore, even though Kevier had a small population, he relied on mercenary mercenaries to form a powerful army in the northern border, and even defeated the combined forces of Redania and Kaedwen.

"Competing business" with such a country, no wonder the old housekeeper looked worried.

"I'm rich now." Lane chuckled, "Not only do I want to supplement our troops with mercenaries, I also want to upgrade the equipment of the existing soldiers in Sintra. I heard that Nilfgaard's Soldiers are all issued standard equipment, even the lowest-ranking soldiers have chain mail; but the conscripts in the northern border all have their own weapons, and they don’t even have a cotton coat?"

Lan En said seriously: "Our Sintra will be the same as the Nilfgaardians, or even stronger than them."

Ensi sighed harder: "This not only requires a lot of money, but also requires a lot of craftsmen and manpower. This is not what we can do now."

"I will go to the dwarves of Mahakam to buy equipment from them," Lan said. "If possible, I would even ask them to borrow a heavy infantry to fight against Nilfgaard's iron cavalry."

Spend money to hire Koviel mercenaries, buy equipment directly from the dwarves, and even persuade the dwarves to send troops to support them.None of these things sounded unbelievable to Enns and Mossack.But none of them refuted Lane, but after Lane raised it, they began to think about how to achieve the goal Lane set.

Ens took out a notebook and wrote and drew on it for a long time. After a while, he finally confirmed the numbers on it and showed him to Lan En.

"I don't know how many times I've said that today, but Lane - that's a lot of money."

Lan En took it and glanced at it, then said with a smile: "Well, Ens, do we have any vacant warehouses now, I'll show you my current wealth."

The old housekeeper already knew that Lann had the magical space storage ability of [Inventory Bar].After hearing Lan's request, he and Mossack led Lan to an empty barn.

Lan looked around, stretched his left hand forward to open the [item bar], and gently grabbed Ens's back with his right hand.

"Master?" Ernes didn't understand Lan En's actions.

"In case you get too excited for a while." Lann was ready to contract Ens as a [follower] at any time, lest the old butler be overwhelmed by the wealth that appeared in front of him.

Ensi sighed: "Master, I am the royal housekeeper, and I grew up in the palace since I was a child."

The implication: What scene has the old man never seen?

Lan twitched the corner of his mouth, his mind sinking into the system.

…………

Ernes and Mossack may never forget what they saw next:
Lann's left hand seemed to have turned into a spring, continuously spraying out a torrent called "wealth": at the beginning, there were all kinds of golden coins in styles such as krona, florin, oren, and Linta. The currency in circulation today, then began to appear the ancient gold coins of the elves' rule, and then various gold coins that even the knowledge of Mothsak could not recognize.

It is all golden, and silver and copper are not even qualified for decoration.

When the golden torrent passed, red, blue, and green scorching gemstones appeared immediately, among which were also mixed with large diamonds, emeralds, and pearls.These shining little things seem to have turned into stones everywhere on the roadside at this moment.

After that, several gold-encrusted boxes rolled out, and they rolled open in mid-air.Pearl necklaces, gold-cast crowns, gemstone rings and other precious jewelry and decorations rolled out of it; you can also see exquisite antique long swords, gold and silver wine glasses and tableware, glossy porcelain, and framed oil paintings.

When these fragile things first flew out, the two old people almost cried out nervously, worried that a bump would damage their value.But then I saw them rolling down on the coin base that had already covered the warehouse, sinking slowly as if into the sand.

There are already as many coins in the warehouse as there are sands on the beach by the sea, and this is another gold that is more invigorating.

The whole warehouse began to be filled with a choking aroma, or thick musk, or fragrant sandalwood, etc., fragrant.

Ensi swallowed hard and shook his body violently a few times.

Lann pulled the old butler back all the way to prevent him from being buried by these treasures.The three of them retreated all the way to the door, letting the gold coins barely pass over their feet.

Then Lan looked at the old housekeeper with some concern, and was about to do something when he saw Mossak, who was breathing heavily, put his hand on Ens's shoulder.

Even the well-informed old druid was shocked at the moment.But then a magical wave like a forest breeze rose from his body, enveloping him and Ens, and even Lann felt a burst of refreshing comfort and relaxation for a moment.

After a dozen more breaths, Ens finally swallowed a mouthful of saliva, moistened his dry throat, and was able to speak again.

"Master... These are all yours? Where did you get them?"

Lan smiled shyly: "Actually, these are not all. I kept some as pocket money. But it should be enough for the things we just planned, right?"

"It's more than enough..." Ensi muttered to himself.

The fluctuation of natural magic rose again on Mossack's body, obviously he was not calm enough.

The green light rose and fell several times, and Mossack and Ens became more and more calm until they were expressionless.

In the end, the old druid said without any emotion: "I will contact the mercenary group on Keweier's side. I know many acquaintances. Kelda can also help, and I will persuade him to come with me. "

The Kel Siren, the base camp of the Griffin School, is located in the northernmost section of the Kovir Kingdom. Kelda has traveled to every corner of this place for more than 100 years, and has formed a lot of contacts.But which of the immortals has nothing to do with the ruling class?Maybe the current king's grandfather's grandfather was once saved by Kelda.

Ensi also said coldly: "The money is enough to hire a corps of 5000 people to support us... No, we still can't hire too many, otherwise it is easy to hire people and difficult to give away. 5000 people is an appropriate amount. The rest The money is enough to upgrade the equipment of our own troops, build siege equipment, and rebuild Sintra after the war. For a period of time in the future, we will be able to completely rely on importing food from Aden to meet our needs, [-] people The regiments can also be fully devoted to military training.”

Lan was a little uncomfortable with the tone of the two people without any emotional fluctuations, so he could only nod in agreement with their views:
"Ah... yes! That's it."

"Then Ran." Mossak turned his head and said seriously, "Your next task is to go to Skellige to borrow troops first, and then go to Mahakam to find dwarves. All this needs to be more compact, Before Nilfgaard reacts to the policy of the northern countries. One month is a suitable time, enough for Skellige's warships to come. If the dwarves really have heavy infantry support, I can Get Triss, Geron, and a few druid friends to open the portal and let them come over in batches."

"Yeah, ok ok!"

Ensi also turned his head: "Master, before you go out, you still need to see Her Royal Highness, she misses you very much. We have also notified Marshal Vesselkid when we received the news of your return. , you need to accept his troops, and the princess also needs to accept his allegiance."

"Ah... good! I've missed Ciri for a long time too!"

Lan En swallowed: "Is there anything else that needs my attention?"

Mossak and Ens looked at each other expressionlessly, and the fluctuations of natural energy appeared on the two of them again.

"Lan, put away these treasures first, the door is blocked."

"Yes, sir. Then we'll need another place to store our belongings, and the barn isn't safe after all."

Lan En nodded obediently: "...Okay."

(End of this chapter)