Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence

Although the human coalition, under the strong deterrence of Black Forest Territory Order No. 225, did not retreat a single step and barely held its ground,

the situation was still not optimistic. In the afterglow of dusk, Su Li and Earl Stein patrolled the blood-red city walls together.

He surveyed the battlefield, and the fortifications had become riddled with holes. Su Li had underestimated the impact of the fantasy world on warfare.

Siege warfare didn't necessarily require siege ladders. Tree demons could create paths to the city walls with massive vines in various ways. Some clung to the walls like ivy, allowing monsters to swarm up. Others constructed sturdy, fixed ladders that couldn't be pushed down like ordinary ladders, allowing monsters to climb directly onto the walls.

Frankly speaking, the human coalition was caught off guard when they first encountered this, and they immediately deployed their most elite reserves to retake the walls.

This is why the humans quickly ran out of rotation and rest capabilities, and had to issue orders for soldiers to defend to the death.

Of course, the most effective way for the monsters to attack the city was to directly smash through the walls. Large numbers of giants and trolls gave the monsters the ability to breach the walls without any preparation.

To resist these monsters, the humans paid a heavy price. When the monsters retreated, the entire defensive line was covered with corpses lying in disarray. The battlefield of corpses and blood dyed everything in sight red. Countless human and monster corpses were piled together, and burning banners, broken spears, and countless broken swords and arrows were tragically stuck in the bloodstained remains.

In just a few days, the human losses numbered in the thousands. Initially, the death of a squad would make Su Li's heart ache, but he quickly became numb. The deaths of squad after squad were just cold numbers in his eyes.

He had become heartless, able to watch coldly as Earl Stein hammered the table ruthlessly, shouting at the champion knight, "I don't want casualty figures, I just want Black Pike Tower!"

Black Pike Tower was the tallest building in the southern pest district, formerly a notoriously dangerous tavern run by the infamous Hook Gang. It was famous for hosting eel competitions and a very cheap, disgusting, low-quality liquor called "Lucky Swill."

After the outbreak of the war, the building's unparalleled strategic value exploded. It was not only located at an intersection in the south of the city, but also a high point. Any ranged unit from either side stationed there, whether it was a dwarven thunderer or a gnoll hunter, could greatly support their own forces fighting at the south gate.

Moreover, it was close to the Butcher's Wharf on the Blackwater River in the south of the city, which was crucial for the Black Forest Territory to transport wounded soldiers, supplies, medicines, ammunition, arrows, and so on.

Fierce battles broke out here, and the entire building changed hands five times. In the most tragic moments, more than a dozen trolls had occupied the tavern's kitchen and main hall, while the human and dwarven coalition desperately resisted in the second-floor bedrooms.

To defend this place, humans had lost two champion-level knights, namely the Hazard Lance Knight · Emenrick, and the Church Knights’ Red Guard · Rain Bornte.

In this battle, champion knights died like flies. Among the champion knights Su Li knew, four had already been killed in action, and countless were injured.

The last battle for Black Pike Tower ended when the handsome Gilles led his elite trump card regiment to the second floor, killing four tree demons and dozens of gnoll hunters guarding it. Now, Dogrin himself was leading troops to guard it. Dozens of dwarven rangers and thunderers had sworn a solemn oath in the name of their ancestors to live and die with this building.

In the current situation, even if Su Li ordered them to retreat, they would not. This finally brought a touch of sadness to Su Li's numb heart. If the situation could not be fundamentally reversed, then Dogrin, the mountain dwarf friend Su Li had the most interaction with and had known for the longest time, would inevitably die in Black Pike Tower, and there was a high probability that he would not see the sunrise tomorrow.

Because the daily intelligence system had informed Su Li that the Forest Legion would launch the most violent offensive since the outbreak of the war tonight. Four Chosen-level monsters would lead an unprecedentedly massive legion to launch a full-scale attack.

This enormous pressure was truly despairing. The humans were exhausted after fighting for days and nights, and both their mental will and casualty figures had reached the brink of collapse.

However, the monster legion, relying on its massive size, could still launch an unprecedentedly fierce attack.

Although the intelligence system revealed this information to Su Li, it did not provide Su Li with any solutions.

At this moment, Su Li undoubtedly faced a future as desperate and dark as the green dragon's.

Even if he knew everything about the future, what could he do? Without strength, this situation was a guaranteed death.

So, after Su Li inspected the battlefield, he turned to Earl Stein and asked, "My marshal, we must do something to change the situation. If we continue to drag on like this, we can only abandon Black Forest Town and retreat to Black Forest Fortress."

But this was a situation that Su Li could not accept at all. Once he gave up this time, he would lose everything.

The population remaining in Black Forest Fortress would probably not be enough to cope with the crisis when the green dragon attacked again.

As long as this green dragon cheered up a little and didn't sleep so frequently, and its offensive was more frequent, Black Forest Fortress would be taken sooner or later.

Earl Stein knew better than Su Li how critical the army's situation was. It could be said that their taut nerves were on the verge of collapse, especially the knightly orders.

They were far from being as rested as the green dragon thought. When the battle situation was tense, Earl Stein had to send knights to support the defensive battles in the city.

The knights finished the fierce meat grinder battle on the front, and then had to gather and go out of the city, trying their best to quickly cut down a monster legion.

If Su Li had not spared no expense, taking out all kinds of precious fruits, extraordinary grains, dragon bloodstones, cinder pearls, witchcraft props, etc. to motivate the soldiers, the soldiers would have been exhausted long ago.

Of course, there were also benefits. The knights' strength was indeed increasing significantly. Although champion knights and elite knights were killed in action like flies, dazzling people.

New champion knights and elite knights were also emerging in endlessly.

War is the most able to catalyze rapid advances in military strength and the advancement of civilization.

Except for Su Li, whose treasury and finances were almost emptied, every surviving soldier had reaped a great harvest.

But all this was premised on winning this battle. If they couldn't win, the current brilliance would just be a brief firework before destruction.

This truly confirmed the saying that the sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it is only near dusk.

Earl Stein looked at the blood-red setting sun and pondered for a moment, then said, "Lord, Chief Steward Hilldeut and I have planned a counterattack, but we have not been able to make a decision to implement it because it is too risky."

Su Li didn't have as much thought as he did, and said directly, "My marshal, which time in the history of the human empire did we not rely on taking risks to eventually reverse the situation when facing a monster siege?"

"If human heroes didn't have the courage to go all in and just consumed blood and flesh with the monsters, the empire would have been destroyed in countless sieges long ago."

Although this was a world full of darkness and despair, it was also a world full of romance and adventure.

When the human heavy cavalry legion launched a fierce charge, they might be protected by the gods, and directly break through any desperate battle that ordinary people thought was impossible to win.

Even when the Chosen One on the desperate battlefield resolutely and bravely shouted the name of the gods, they might really feel the power of the gods personally descending on him, and win against an enemy that they could not have won before! Emperor Reidmar especially liked to do this. He was the god who loved to personally descend the most, controlling the body of the Chosen One to launch charges and battles. Of course, this also meant that he had a great risk of falling, because when personally descending to the mortal world, he could only exert demigod-level strength at most. If the Chosen One he descended upon was killed in action, his divine body would at least be severely damaged, or even directly fall.

Su Li felt that the Black Forest Territory army's performance in these days had been worthy of the Knight Radiant Goddess's divine grace. Whether it was knights or attendants, they all shouted Violet's name and fought to the death, earning a lot of glory for her.

Then the Black Forest Territory's knights' charge in the decisive battle should receive more of her divine grace protection.

Even if she couldn't personally descend, it shouldn't be a problem to increase the knights' combat power by 20-30%.

The key was that Black Forest Territory had reached a point where it had to change. Taking a risky gamble at least had a 50% chance of winning. Continuing to consume like this would undoubtedly lead to defeat.

So Su Li asked expectantly, "Tell me about your risky deployment. Before the war started, I really didn't expect this green dragon to be so good at fighting. How could a beast understand so many tactics and strategies? It can even be compared to thousands of years of human military theory!"

Earl Stein took a breath and said, "This is because dragons are an ancient and civilized race. It is said that before the Elf and Dwarf eras, the continent was the Dragon Era. These dragons have many civilized inheritances. Their sleep is not because of laziness, but to accept the inheritance in their genes during sleep."

Su Li had heard of this saying. Many legends said that dragons periodically entered sleep because they developed to a certain stage and needed to become stronger, so they absorbed the inheritance in their genes through sleep. After each sleep, they could master certain fighting skills and more powerful dragon language magic.

If that was the case, it was understandable that the green dragon understood so many military strategies and tactics.

Earl Stein then solemnly said, "All this shows that many things are engraved in the dragon's bones. The plan that Chief Steward Hilldeut and I have is precisely aimed at all of this. Do you remember what our biggest trump card for victory in the dragon war was?"

The biggest trump card for victory?

Su Li immediately blurted out, "Consumption? You said the green dragon couldn't outlast us."

"That's right, the green dragon doesn't have the confidence to outlast us." Earl Stein nodded solemnly, "This sentence seems to be both right and wrong at the moment."

"From the battlefield alone, we were too optimistic. Our original plan was to severely damage the green dragon's legion, so as to take advantage of the forest forces' weakness to push the battle line back into the forest, and even sweep the court and destroy the green dragon's nest completely."

Hearing this, Su Li nodded slightly. Before the war, they had underestimated the green dragon's tactical ability. With the heavy human casualties in the battle, Su Li basically didn't have much hope of completely destroying the green dragon's nest. With these human remnants, if they entered the forest, they would probably repeat the green dragon's mistakes, suffer heavy casualties again, and be pushed back.

If they were really pushed back, then the Black Forest Territory's army would really be wiped out, and probably wouldn't even retain a scale of 1,000 people. The human remnants wouldn't even be able to defend the castle.

"However, from the green dragon's character, our judgment can be said to be extremely accurate. The green dragon's command of the attack is so fierce, the troops are attacking day and night regardless of the cost and casualties, and even after suffering a major defeat, they are launching the next round of fierce attack impatiently without any rest or reorganization. There is only one reason, it is eager to end the battle quickly. It and all its Chosen Guards have come to the Black Forest Fortress, and its claws have come out of their nests. The safety of the dragon's nest's wealth is the most important thing in its mind."

This was beyond doubt.

So-called, habits die hard.

The dragon's emphasis on wealth has penetrated into the bone marrow. Their greed makes them absolutely unable to tolerate the risk of the dragon's nest's wealth being swept away.

From the beginning of the green dragon's war to the current stages of attacks, tests, and decisive battles, nearly three months have passed.

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Three months, from the bleakness of the autumn equinox to the cold wind of winter, the leaves turned green and then yellow, yellow and then white, and a quarter of the year has passed.

One can imagine how anxious the green dragon is during this long time. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is suspicious.

Any more than 4 thieves entering its empty dragon's nest would pose a greater threat than Black Forest Territory.

The green dragon must rack its brains to fight wits with humans, while also worrying about the emptiness in the rear.

This is something in the dragon's nature that cannot be changed!

Su Li can bet everything, even emptying the entire treasury, as long as he wins.

But the green dragon can't do it anyway. If it wins the battle, but the wealth is stolen, it can't accept it anyway.

Earl Stein is targeting the green dragon's disposition. It resolutely waved its fist and said, "We want to drastically increase the green dragon's inherent greed and its fear of gains and losses of wealth, so we plan to take a risky gamble and transfer the elite knights from Black Forest Fortress. After leaving here, we will march into the Blood Pine Forest with great fanfare!"

March into the Blood Pine Forest?

Su Li's eyes lit up and asked, "Are you planning to create the illusion that we are going to attack the green dragon's nest?"

“That's right.” Orshtein straightened his chest and said with high morale, “The Green Dragon will absolutely not be able to accept the tragic situation of the dragon's nest treasure being swept away by humans.”

“That's without a doubt.” Su Li decisively agreed with Orshtein's analysis and said, “But what is our purpose? To force them to withdraw?”

“No! It's to mobilize their troops. The Green Dragon will definitely desperately mobilize troops to return for aid. Then we will ambush them on their way back, and when they are exhausted, we will decisively launch a fierce attack! We will strive to destroy their main force in one battle, and even kill the Green Dragon, completely ending the war.”

Hiss~ Su Li immediately took a deep breath and asked, “Charge towards tens of thousands of monster legions with a mere eight hundred knights?”

This is indeed a decisive battle method with extremely strong characteristics of this world. When the war progresses to despair, after countless human deaths and a mountain of blood and rivers, the last knights of mankind gather together, burst out with unparalleled loyalty and courage, and charge forward towards the monsters, towards death, towards the end of the world.

Then, under the blessing of the gods, the tips of the human cavalry's spears shone with brilliant golden light, breaking through tens of thousands of monster legions in one fell swoop, beheading powerful demon leaders, thereby completely reversing the battlefield situation.

All of this can be described as full of romanticism and heroism.

But!

The genes in Su Li's bones don't believe this. He believes more in 'My fate is up to me, not the heavens!' What if the gods don't bless him?

What if in this battle, the Goddess of the Blazing Sun doesn't intervene, wouldn't that be throwing oneself to death?

Compared to the ethereal gods, he still hopes to control his fate in his own hands, 'win first, then fight,' the constant of military strategy.

So after a brief shock, Su Li immediately asked with concern: “Isn't this plan too risky? Our elite knights have been fighting fiercely these days, causing the world to lose its light, and the losses have been very heavy. Direct attrition has already exceeded 400 people, and even Champion Knights and Hippogryphs have suffered casualties of four or five each, with countless wounded. The casualty rate is close to 50%. Can the remaining mere eight hundred elite knights really destroy tens of thousands of monster legions in one fell swoop?”

The casualties on both sides are still easy to calculate. Thanks to Orshtein's excellent defensive tactics, he has repeatedly shattered entire monster legions with extremely small losses. And the dwarves' extremely sturdy and tall fortifications have resulted in a human casualty ratio far superior to the outpost battle.

Roughly calculated, the casualty ratio between the two sides once reached 1:10 at its best, and even in the normal stage, the casualty ratio reached 1:7 or 1:8.

This can be regarded as an epic victory, because in many battles, the human army used blitzkrieg tactics to encircle the Green Dragon's siege legions, and slaughtered them in the vast wilderness of fleeing soldiers.

But even according to the highest ratio, the human casualties are about 1,500, then the Green Dragon Legion's casualties are at most 15,000.

So, without a doubt, the human knights will attack the monsters' huge legion of at least 15,000 or even 20,000+ with 800 knights.

The last time Su Li knew about a battle with such a disparity in strength, he had to trace it back to the Battle of Hefei, where Sun Quan led an army of 100,000 to deliver heads under the city of Hefei.

Frankly speaking, Su Li couldn't pin his hopes of victory on the opponent being as stupid as Sun Quan.

What if the opponent performs slightly better? 800 people charging 20,000 people, that would really be like a meat bun beating a dog, never to return!

More importantly, what if the opponent doesn't retreat? If the Green Dragon continues to command its troops to attack Hessenburg, then it's really completely over.

If the main force leaves for a few days, the current riddled defense line will probably not be able to withstand the Green Dragon's full attack.

Orshtein also knew that this tactic was full of risks and challenges. He himself had not made a firm decision, so he could only force himself to stabilize his violently beating heart and patiently analyze to Su Li: “In military strategy, 'consider defeat before considering victory, so you can fight a hundred battles without fatigue.' So let's first consider the worst-case scenario. What if our main force leaves, and the Green Dragon does not immediately retreat in panic as we expect, rushing to aid the rear, but instead continues to attack the city?”

“In this case, the worst-case scenario is that our Hessen Town is destroyed. You can retreat to Hessenburg under the protection of Steward Hilde, at least you will be safe and sound, and the vault area still exists, and it will not be breached by the Green Dragon in the short term. And our nearly thousand-man knight order will surely be able to sweep away the treasures in the Green Dragon's lair!”

“The wealth inside will definitely far exceed the losses of Hessen Town. It is conservatively estimated that there will be 100,000 gold crowns and 10,000 dwarven oath gold, as well as possibly hundreds of perfect-level weapons and hundreds of sets of vibranium rune armor, and there may even be rare-level equipment!”

Listening to Orshtein's analysis, Su Li suddenly felt a little excited!

Sure enough, as long as the ruler's bottom line is low enough, it is possible to discover that everything has more possibilities.

It just corresponds to that sentence, money is gone can earn again, but conscience is gone can earn more!

How did he expect the Green Dragon not to lead troops back for aid?

Anyway, with Hessenburg, he can hold it for a year and a half without any problems, at most the towns outside are destroyed and ravaged by the Green Dragon.

But if he really earns the accumulation of thousands of years in the Dragon's Nest, and scavenges the treasures of the entire Hessen Mountains and the west side of the Blood Pine Forest.

Then he can easily rebuild the entire Hessen Town. Not to mention the wealth inside, just the hundreds of sets of vibranium rune armor and the potentially considerable number of perfect-level weapons, or even... legendary weapons, that's just breathtaking.

With these, Su Li's army's combat power will not decline, but will instead advance by leaps and bounds.

He only has a mere dozens of sets of vibranium rune armor now, and the Green Dragon is already fighting extremely hard. If he has hundreds of sets of vibranium rune armor, he really dares to block the Green Dragon and kill.

Then Su Li quickly shook his head, abandoned this tempting idea, and quickly said to Orshtein: “Continue to talk about other aspects.”

Dear book friends, I have temporarily decided to go out to collect scenery, to see more castles and monasteries, to increase inspiration. This time, as I said before, I will only add updates for 3 days.

Strive to keep updating during this period of being away from home, and after the New Year, we will prepare for the next round of more updates~ Thank you for your support.