Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence

Su Li was not angered by the dispute between Laun and Fandar; this was precisely why he had summoned all the cabinet ministers, attendants, and lords today.

Listening to only one side leads to darkness, while listening to all sides brings clarity. He intended to hear everyone's opinions and reports before making a decision.

While Laun and Fandar were arguing, Barros, the dwarven rune blacksmith, reluctantly emerged from his smithy. He spent his days by the furnace, either working metal or drinking, leaving him covered in sweat and alcohol.

His entrance caused everyone in the room to frown and look at him.

He also disliked leaving the smithy to interact with others; the stubborn dwarves hated anything that disturbed their metalworking.

So, upon entering, he bellowed, "My friend, esteemed lord, what matter requires a blacksmith like me to attend a meeting? Wouldn't forging more armor benefit the territory more?"

Su Li immediately replied, "I've called you here to discuss weapon forging. Starting now, for the next three days, all other forging work in the territory will cease, and all blacksmiths will devote themselves to forging weapons and armor day and night."

Barros's small, round eyes widened, and he excitedly said, "Lord, have you finally seen the light? We dwarves should focus on forging weapons and armor. Forging those crude farm tools is a waste of our energy."

Su Li asked with concern, "I need to raise an army. How many weapons and armor are currently in the armory?"

Barros scratched his head, counting on his short, stubby fingers, and said in a muffled voice, "I need to count... Three longswords on Troll Brew Kiss Day, four spears on Troll Brew Intimacy Day..."

Laun, impatient with Barros's slow counting, interrupted and answered Su Li directly, "The armory contains 50 masterfully crafted dwarven two-handed swords, 100 spears, and the armor and chainmail have already been distributed to the knights."

"Is that all the equipment in the armory?" Su Li clenched his fist. If there were so few weapons, he could raise a maximum of 200 more men.

That, including all the troops, would not exceed 500 men.

Using 500 hastily assembled soldiers against a green tide of 5,000 would be difficult to win, even if the soldiers could fight five enemies each.

But the green tide wouldn't only consist of goblins; there would be orc boys, trolls, and terrifying Anaryk giant spiders.

Well-trained human soldiers might have an advantage against goblins, but they would struggle against the strong and burly orc boys, needing to rely on equipment and combat skills to win. Facing trolls would require a dozen soldiers to barely hold them back.

So, overall, 500 soldiers might not even be stronger than the orcs in individual combat. Facing the enemy with this scale, a single charge could shatter the fragile human formation, and then the green tide would engulf everything.

Fortunately, Laun gave Su Li an encouraging piece of news. This talented civil official had everything well-organized.

"Lord, the territory's armory does only contain that much standard military equipment. However, in the castle's materials warehouse, we have a batch of captured supplies. I had Harry sort through them, and there's a batch of better-quality equipment, including 400 weapons such as axes, swords, bows, and spears, 30 full suits of chainmail, and 100 iron-studded leather armor sets."

"Damn you old codger! No wonder the equipment sent to the smithy for melting was all broken and needed me to pick through it like garbage. You hid all the good stuff!" The volatile dwarf's eyes immediately blazed with anger.

But Su Li excitedly pumped his fist, "Great, my capable minister, you've truly given me a surprise. With these weapons and armor, we can at least raise a militia of four hundred men."

Laun stroked his beard triumphantly, looking at the furious dwarf, and said, "Prioritizing the melting of the broken equipment was the right choice. Since it's all going to be melted anyway, that junk is enough for you to forge for a long time."

Su Li immediately sided with Laun and said to Barros, "The spoils of war we've taken back from our many victories should be sorted and categorized. You will now focus on melting down these unusable, broken equipment and forge more equipment as quickly as possible. As we agreed, as long as you give it your all, I'll let you handle the troll corpses killed in the upcoming battle against the green tide."

Hearing Su Li's words, the dwarf finally controlled his anger, patted his hard chest, and guaranteed with a full voice, "I will lead all the blacksmiths and apprentices in the territory to forge equipment with all our might, guaranteeing to create 100 high-quality weapons and 6 sets of high-quality dwarven armor for you within three days, day and night."

Su Li nodded and said, "I will send 10 more nimble apprentices to you. Spare no expense to speed up the forging!"

Adding 10 more apprentices was already the maximum capacity of the territory's two smithies. Adding more people would only create congestion and have no additional effect.

After discussing weapons and equipment, Su Li turned to look at the Grand Chancellor Laun and the Military Commander Orstein, and asked, "With weapons and equipment being resolved, how many troops can the territory mobilize now?"

Knight Orstein spoke first, saying, "Since Hilde is not here, I will report on the territory's direct retainers. These are the territory's elite troops, well-equipped, well-trained, and focused solely on killing and winning on the battlefield. They are the backbone of this battle."

"Currently, our elite regular army consists of 1 Champion-level Knight, 9 Elite Knights, 24 Formal Knights, 37 Apprentice Knights, and 117 Armed Attendants, and 48 Archer Attendants, totaling 199 people. In addition, according to feudal obligations, the Baran Tangborn family's Baran Autonomous Territory needs to provide 1 Elite-level Ogre Bull Warrior and 12 Halfling Archers."

"This is all of our regular army. If we add two squads of shepherds, then our total military force would be about two companies."

Two companies, about 240 people.

Facing a green tide of 5,000 with so few troops, he couldn't relax. He frowned and asked, "Besides these people, can we not find more elite soldiers?"

Fandar immediately stated, "Our Dawn Church is willing to send one Elite Priest, one Formal Sister, and two Apprentice Sisters to join you on the battlefield and face the monsters."

Adding these four people essentially added little to no combat power.

The people of the Dawn Church were not good at combat. The four of them combined might not be able to stop an Elite Knight. Alternatively, the four of them might not even be able to deal with a troll.

At this moment, Laun pondered for a moment and slowly said, "Our territory has another force."

"Another force?" Knight Orstein looked at him in confusion. He had already counted all the troops he could think of. The only ones left were ogre laborers and slaves, which couldn't be considered troops, only militia.

Laun said, "Outside the city walls to the south, there is a caravan's mercenary company! Although they suffered heavy losses, after rest and treatment, they have at least 40 people left, and their leader is an Elite-level Ranger Knight who believes in the Redmayne Church, with considerable combat power. There are no fewer than 5 Formal Knights and Apprentice Knights among them."

Fandar also remembered this mercenary company, as he had treated many of their wounds, forming a good friendship with them.

He asked, "But didn't the caravan master leave with the guards for Malet Fort a few days ago? Without the caravan master's orders, will this mercenary company cooperate with us?"

Before Laun could answer, Su Li said, "We can't afford to let them decide. They must agree, whether they want to or not! After the cabinet meeting, Laun, you and Knight Orstein will go to their camp, inform them of the monster attack, and negotiate with them to cooperate. We will start with courtesy and pay them a sum of money as payment."

"If they agree, that's best. If negotiations break down, we will show them our strength! Either they fight the evil monsters with us, or we will use them for training before facing the monsters!"

Laun immediately agreed, bowing slightly, and said, "Lord, rest assured, I will handle this matter properly. I believe the possibility of them refusing is very low. When citizens of the Empire encounter a monster attack, helping to defend the city is encouraged by the doctrine."

This doctrine refers to the official Redmayne Church's doctrine, which is the church that worships the Human Emperor Redmayne. His doctrine includes following Redmayne's instructions, aiding dwarves, forever being loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, maintaining imperial rule, and eradicating and destroying demon servants, green skins, and all those who use dark magic, no matter where they hide.

Therefore, as citizens of the Empire, maintaining the security of imperial rule and destroying the green tide are doctrines respected by many warriors. For followers of the Redmayne Church, nothing is more important than defending the Empire created by Redmayne.

This mercenary company will likely not refuse the request to fight together.

Then Su Li stood up and arranged for everyone, "Then let's split up and act immediately. Fandar, you come with me to gather slaves and select qualified soldiers. Laun, Barros, you two are responsible for distributing weapons. Knight Orstein, you are responsible for reorganizing the troops and conducting preliminary training."

Distributing weapons to slaves and forming a penal army was the last resort of the imperial nobles. Unless absolutely necessary, the imperial nobles would never choose this path.

Because these penal armies easily turned into peasant mobs, and nine out of ten of these peasant mobs in the Border Princes territories originated in this way.

Laun and Fandar obeyed without hesitation, rushing out of the castle to take action, regardless of the pouring rain.

But Knight Orstein, who was always decisive, did not act. Instead, he stayed in the castle and said to Su Li, "Lord, you have arranged everything very well, but how did you overlook the most important thing?"