Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence

Marshal Orshtein had prepared extensively for today's report.

As a follower of the Sun Goddess, though his temper was fiery and his arrogance overbearing, he was by no means a simpleton. On the contrary, his wisdom and knowledge were quite remarkable.

After all, the Sun Goddess was also known as the Goddess of Wisdom and the Goddess of Tactics in some circles.

Knight Orshtein's grasp of military affairs could be described as perfect. After rising, he delivered a report that was almost a speech, his voice ringing out clearly.

"I listened carefully to the report from the Minister of Agriculture. Their agricultural department and the Church of the Dawn need us to guard quite a few locations."

"Places like the Hot Spring Farm are both tourist attractions for the territory and the most important spice production area. If we are negligent in our defense, and thieves take advantage, the losses to our territory will be very severe."

"And the territory's pastures, the Church of the Dawn's holy sites, the natural spirits beneath Bjorn's Cove, as well as Hassenburg, Hassen Town, border outposts, mine outposts, and so on, all require our army to be stationed there."

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

The size of the army was not only related to the defense of the territory, but also to the upcoming war against the Green Dragon's affiliated legion, which could be said to determine the life and death of Hassen Territory.

Su Li asked with concern, "Marshal, after this period of full mobilization, has the army made up for the losses from the battle against the demon legion?"

Knight Orshtein immediately replied, "Lord, we have been fully recruiting since returning from the Crimson Heights. To this end, we have also increased the army's benefits, with each soldier receiving a subsidy ranging from 1 to 30 silver coins depending on their strength."

"In addition to the extremely high benefits in the army, the various knight families in the territory are enthusiastically signing up to join the army, and chivalrous knights and wandering knights from nearby territories are also coming from all directions."

"Our army's strength has been somewhat restored, and we are currently undergoing reorganization and training."

The so-called conscription in the Empire clearly did not refer to conscripting from the free people, but rather mobilizing the various knight families to send their family members to the army.

For example, a Hassen Guard Knight might have more than just himself as a knight in his family. His father, brothers, sons, and other knights might add up to several extraordinary knights.

Some of these knights trained and cultivated within the family, some practiced their doctrines, traveled around, learned military tactics, and challenged monsters. Some sought opportunities in various territories, after all, supporting a large family of knights was not an easy task, and the consumption of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation alone was enough to bankrupt a family that was not so wealthy.

Now that Hassen Territory was fully recruiting troops, those knights whose family residences were not in Hassen Territory were very likely to send a letter back to their families, recruiting a large number of knights from various places.

It should be known that most of the knights and residents who joined Hassen Territory had migrated from the north. Who doesn't have relatives and friends in the north?

Orshtein reported on this: "After reorganization, we now have 36 Hassen Guard Knights and 6 Griffin Knights of the Vengeful Sun."

"There are also 68 elite knights in the army, and it is worth mentioning that we have gathered a large number of formal knights, reaching a scale of 132!"

"I request to slaughter a batch of Fire Fleece Rabbits and distribute them to the formal knights before the decisive battle, to improve their ranks as soon as possible, so that they can follow the elite knights in cultivation sooner."

Hearing this, Su Li pondered slightly, he was not reluctant to slaughter a batch of Fire Fleece Rabbits.

He had been a lord for almost half a year now, and he deeply understood a saying: feudal nobles could do anything to maintain their ruling position.

As long as he could win against the Green Dragon, let alone a few Fire Fleece Rabbits, even 30 Fire Fleece Rabbits, he wouldn't blink an eye.

He was just very dissatisfied with the size of this army.

He knew that in order to increase the size of the army, he had specially appointed Religious Advisor Rong En as the Dean of the Provincial Council.

He thought that with all his efforts, he would be able to successfully gather 500 elite knights before the decisive battle with the Green Dragon.

At that time, with the addition of the Dwarf Allied Forces, the Halfling vassals, and the territory's free militia, he might even be able to form an army of two or 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 there would definitely be a large number of free militia joining.

Although the core of an imperial army was a professional army composed of knights, in defensive warfare, this force was often surrounded by a larger number of free militia, who were conscripted to the front lines whether they were willing or not and fought bravely when necessary.

It was often impossible to calculate how many free militia were conscripted for a battle and to assess their combat level, because they had never been systematically organized and trained.

These militiamen were usually enthusiastic citizens and farmers - they had enough courage to stand up for the protection of their homes and families from various vicious monsters and demons. Others were usually daredevils such as mercenaries, bandits, and pirates - who would sell their strength and skills for money.

The Sun Goddess Church in the territory organized a large number of free people for militia training every day off, and their combat skills were more than enough to kill one or two Kobolds or Goblins.

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

But the current situation was too far from what he had imagined. With Rong En as the Dean of the Provincial Council, the territory only had a little over 100 elite knights in total? Even with the formal knights, there were only over 200.

This meant that even if he lowered the standard to formal knights, he was still halfway short!

He had been a little complacent before, thinking that his strength had greatly improved, and might even be comparable to Amethyst Fortress.

But now it seemed that he was still far from it. As far as he knew, a duke could have 10,000 heavy cavalry, and an earl could have about 3,000 heavy cavalry. For example, Amethyst Fortress, the Amethyst family had overcome obstacles for generations and brought the entire Amethyst River Valley under their control. In such a vast area, the Amethyst family had more than 500 elite knights stationed in the fortress of the Crimson Night Knights alone. In the entire Amethyst Earl Territory's army, there were probably no less than 2,000 elite knights.

Perhaps the only advantage that Hassen Territory had over Amethyst Earl Territory was the number of God-Chosen and Champion-level knights. Su Li could bring a lot of opportunities to the knights, so their strength improved extremely quickly.

So Su Li frowned and asked, "After our territory defeated the God-Chosen Demon, our reputation has risen greatly during this period. Why have so few knights joined the territory?"

At this time, Constantine, the leader of the Corona Knights, stood up and said, "Let me answer this question. If the knights who are attracted to this land by the doctrine cannot join the Hassen Guard Knights, they all prioritize joining our Knights."

"The number of elite knights in the territory has not increased much, but the number of elite knights in our Corona Knights has increased by half. There are more than 90 elite knights, and as many as nearly 200 formal knights and apprentice knights, who are serving as members of the reserve knights and undergoing assessment."

Su Li raised an eyebrow. He thought that he had specially chosen Rong En to serve as the Dean of the Provincial Council, and it was impossible to attract only a few dozen knights to join.

Su Li could also understand that the knights were more inclined to join the Knights.

After all, he, Su Li, was currently only an Exploring Knight, and did not even have the power to ennoble a Kingdom Knight.

The knights could not get anything but benefits by joining Hassen Territory, and they had to fight alongside a group of commoners. This was something that many knights resisted. Many knights in the Empire even gave up their inheritance rights to join the Empire's various knight orders because they were unwilling to join the provincial army and fight alongside a group of lowly commoners.

Then the followers of the Sun Goddess Church who were attracted to Hassen Territory would definitely choose to join the Knights first if they could join the Knights.

Only those knights who had a strong desire for noble honor would join the army of Hassen Territory.

If the members of the Corona Knights were added, then the goal that Su Li had expected could be barely achieved.

As for whether this army would accept Su Li's command?

There was no need to worry about this question at all. Several God-Chosen Knights of the Sun Goddess would soon be born in Hassen Territory. In the battle against the monsters, the Knights of the Sun Goddess Church would definitely accept the command of the God-Chosen Knights. Constantine would follow the tradition, unless he also advanced to the God-Chosen level.

As long as Su Li could rest assured, then this army would even be a high-level elite knight order that Su Li did not have to pay salaries to.

In this way, when fighting the Green Dragon, Su Li could gather two or three thousand main infantry and five hundred elite knights with shining armor in a river valley battlefield.

On the frontal battlefield, they would be able to have a head-on battle with the Green Dragon's dependents.

Su Li asked with concern, "After more than a month of full recruitment by the Provincial Council, how many troops and residents do we have in our territory now?"

This involved both military and civilian affairs. Knight Orshtein first reported on the military aspect: "We now have a total of 3 knight companies in our territory, and the territory's directly subordinate attendant corps, that is, the armed attendant corps whose salaries are paid by you, Lord, has 3 companies, including two companies of walking armed attendants and one company of archers."

"And the knights' attendant corps add up to 3 companies and two companies of fiefdom army."

A total of 11 companies!

This was close to a battalion.

There was no doubt that the scale of Su Li's army had approached one-third of a barony.

In fact, in a defensive war, plus the free militia, mercenary corps, and knight order's troops, as well as the assistance of the dwarf community and the church guards, he could pull together an army of two or three thousand people.

Then Su Li looked at the Chancellor of the Seal, and Laun also immediately stood up and reported as if enumerating his family treasures: "The current number of people in the territory is actually not less than before the dwarf legion left. In 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 robbers."

"In addition to the slave trade of the slave hunting groups, the territory's population has rapidly expanded. According to the statistics of the Provincial Council, there are as many as 2,400 followers of the Sun Goddess alone, and these people are distributed in a town and a dozen villages and farms in the territory."

"Now Hassen Town alone has more than 1,700 registered residents, and each village has dozens to hundreds of people."

"According to our statistics, there are a total of 2,135 free people in the territory who declare taxes, plus serfs and slaves, the total population of the territory has reached 4,476 people."

4,476 people, calculated at five people per household, is about 800 households.

Su Li remembered very clearly that when he first arrived in the territory, he once lamented that the territory had to support 50 knights and more than 120 armed attendants with 31 households, which was simply a radical and explosive military-civilian ratio.

In just half a year, he developed the territory from 31 households to more than 800 households, an average of 4 new residents per day. Even with the assistance of the Daily Intelligence System, this was not an easy task.

It could be said that every bit of development and progress was the result of his hard work, and every household increase was the result of his painstaking planning and tireless efforts.

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

Of course, diligence alone could not have such rich results. Using the hints of the Daily Intelligence System to maximize the absorption of displaced people and immigrants from all over the world was the key to the territory being able to increase by hundreds of households.

All of this was Su Li's hard work, and he absolutely could not allow the evil Green Dragon to destroy all of this.

So after Su Li listened to all the reports, he immediately stood up and said solemnly, "The battle with the Green Dragon is about our life and death. I will fully support Marshal Orshtein's request just now."

"Let the territory's fire-attribute and wood-attribute knights all obtain magic beast meat, so as to quickly improve their strength. Those knights who have not eaten Lightscale Fish, the territory will give them discovery benefits and allowances to ensure that everyone has half a kilogram of Lightscale Fish meat."

"The territory has done its best to improve the strength and treatment of the knights. Your knights must also have a complete tactical deployment. I don't care how much it costs, I just want victory in this battle!"

Su Li was willing to give away all the Fire Fleece Rabbit meat. This mature Fire Fleece Rabbit meat had a direct boosting effect on fire-attribute knights below the elite level. As long as his strength had not reached the elite level, taking it every once in a while would directly improve his strength.

Although Lightscale Fish could not directly improve the strength of the knights, the fish meat also had a time limit. On the day they finished eating the fish meat, their cultivation talent would be significantly improved, and then gradually decline within a cycle, and finally it would not completely disappear, but would slightly improve the knight's talent permanently.

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

If he won, everyone would be able to enjoy wealth and glory with him in the future.

If he didn't win, so many precious treasures would all be the Green Dragon's spoils of war.

Obviously, at this moment, defending the territory had become the consensus of everyone, from the lord to the knights, to the armed attendants, and even the free militia, they could all twist into one rope.

Knight Orshtein immediately gave a solemn military salute, and said with a tough attitude, "We have made a complete combat plan for the Green Dragon's invasion and looting."

Then he took a thick combat plan from the table and handed it to the High Steward, who was handed it to Su Li by Hilde.

"This battle plan is a detailed operational plan that I have researched for more than three months with the High Steward, the Commander of the Corona Knights, and Lord Ron."

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

"The hidden strength of the Green Dragon is unknown. If we hastily assemble our main force to fight it decisively, it is very likely that a single defeat will lead to the destruction of the territory."

Su Li smiled and applauded, saying, "Good! Good! Well said. Our territory has developed to the point where it has moved beyond the stage of ephemeral existence."

"We already have the capital to deploy strategies. We can no longer recklessly risk everything by bringing all our main forces to fight every monster we encounter, placing ourselves in a desperate situation."

Winning before fighting is the tactic or strategy that Su Li values most.

The thirteen chapters and six thousand words of *The Art of War* are ultimately condensed into one essence: winning before fighting.

So Su Li asked with concern, "How does the territory plan to deal with the Green Dragon in this battle?"

Marshal Orstein said, "Hessen Territory and the Wing of Deceit both have deep foundations and heritage. After fighting the Allied Forces of the Dwarves, we have gained a clearer consensus, that is, defeating the Green Dragon may be achievable, but killing the Green Dragon is probably almost impossible."

"Therefore, involving a full-scale war between the two forces, we must be prepared for the war to last for six months or even a year."

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

Su Li frowned and asked, "A full-scale war, taking a long time to defeat the Green Dragon? What does this mean?"

Logically speaking, Su Li didn't quite understand why the Church of the Radiant Goddess had formulated such a strange tactic.

If those who participated in formulating this tactic weren't all divinely chosen knight seeds, he would have suspected that the knights were afraid of the enemy like tigers and were fooling him.

But fortunately, Su Li is a person who has always been self-aware. His experience as a wage slave in his previous life was still of great significance, teaching him to humbly listen to the opinions of others, rather than being young and vigorous, complacent and arrogant.

He knew very well that his military command skills were, to put it nicely, mediocre, and to put it bluntly, he was an incompetent person who knew nothing about it.

Entrusting professional matters to professional people is his wisest choice.

These knights of the Radiant Goddess have spent their entire lives studying military strategy, drawing on the strengths of various schools of thought.

Obviously, entrusting the marshal of the Hessen army to command this war would result in a higher win rate than his blind command!

So he patiently listened to Knight Orstein continuing to explain in detail.

"That's right, it's about taking a long time. The Green Dragon is actually far more afraid of attrition than we are! This is even one of its biggest flaws."

After reaching this conclusion, Knight Orstein continued to explain, "Our Hessen Territory not only has a strong army and solid fortresses, but also has ample food reserves."

"No matter how powerful the Green Dragon's affiliated legion is, as long as they cannot defeat us in one fell swoop, then they will face the problem of how to attack Hessenburg."

"Therefore, as long as we clear the fields and fortify our defenses, the Green Dragon's affiliates can only halt their troops under the strong city."

Su Li nodded slightly. Military fortresses and engineering operations are one of the greatest advantages of humans in war.

Not to mention a Green Dragon, even a powerful Green-skin Waaagh warlord would be battered and bruised in front of a human stronghold.

As long as the garrison in the city is stable, an army of three thousand can prevent even tens of thousands of monsters from taking it down.

Marshal Orstein also had this judgment, and he continued, "To capture Hessenburg, relying solely on the power of the Green Dragon's affiliated legion is far from enough. Unless the Green Dragon comes in person, wreaking havoc with its massive body, and using its dragon breath and acid to corrode it for a long time, it may be possible to demolish Hessenburg's strong defenses."

Su Li frowned and asked with concern, "My marshal, how long do you think our Hessenburg can withstand the Green Dragon's ravages?"

Knight Orstein shook his head vigorously and said, "I don't know how long it can last. But I know that this time will definitely be long enough for us to achieve victory. Because the Green Dragon can't afford to spend the time!"

"Can't afford to spend the time? Are you referring to the Green Dragon's legion having insufficient food?" Su Li asked habitually. In a war of attrition, especially a cold weapon war of attrition, food is always the most important thing.

Su Li doubted whether this monster legion had such long-term planning as humans. They probably wouldn't collect a large amount of food before the war.

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

If the Green Dragon's legion only relies on hunting, it will definitely not be able to support such a large legion's continued siege.

Orstein smiled and shook his head, saying, "Insufficient food is certainly one of the problems facing the Green Dragon's legion. But with the Green Dragon's cruelty and cunning, it may have a solution, and we cannot underestimate it."

"The biggest reason it can't afford to spend the time is its treasure hoard!"

"With the Green Dragon's greed, it would never dare to stay away from its lair for a long time and wreak havoc on the battlefield in person. The treasures in its lair are more important than its life. It absolutely doesn't dare to spend the time with us, lest thieves sneak into its lair again."

After hearing this, Su Li's eyes lit up, and he had a feeling of sudden enlightenment. He stood up excitedly and applauded, saying, "That's right! That's right! This is indeed a key to our victory. Especially since the Green Dragon has just experienced its dragon lair being stolen, it must now be in a state of paranoia and suspicion."

"As long as we show that we want to lure it out of its lair, diverting it away, it will definitely be alarmed and uncertain, and will not dare to stay on the battlefield for a long time."

This war has completely turned into a full-scale war. The contest between the two sides is not only a collision of swords and armor on the battlefield, but also involves all aspects such as strength, logistics, tactics, and even the personality of the commander.

And all of this, obviously the human side has an overwhelming advantage.

The Green Dragon's legion is certainly powerful, but they will definitely not be able to exert their full strength and have various flaws.

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

But Su Li couldn't help but ask, "Are we going to clear the fields and stubbornly defend? When will this war end like this?"

Marshal Orstein immediately said, "Of course, we are not going to passively defend. On the contrary, we must adopt an offensive posture in this battle."

Hearing this, Su Li finally couldn't help but question, "Although I am not a famous military general, I still have basic military knowledge. Since you have chosen to clear the fields and fortify your defenses, why are you taking the initiative to attack? This does not conform to the most basic military theory!"