Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 380 Three Mages Serve and the Army Assembles

Although Hilde was not on the front lines, she was very familiar with the intelligence of Blue Mirror Territory. The knights of the Church of the Sun Goddess had been preparing for this battle for a long time and had simulated it many times on the sand table!

Upon hearing Su Li's question, Hilde immediately provided a detailed explanation: "The Blue Mirror Territory takes Blue Mirror Lake as its absolute center of rule. All their hegemonic foundations and territorial development are built around Blue Mirror Lake. Therefore, the area of ​​this territory is undoubtedly much smaller than ours, only about 600 empires."

In the 600 Empires, Su Li pondered for a moment and asked, "So, if we look at it that way, they are roughly equivalent to our Lake Eisonic region?"

“That’s right.” Hilde nodded and said, “So Blue Mirror Lake’s defenses have always been based on the border. They’ve concentrated all their main forces in the eastern barrier, Coldwind Valley. It’s an extremely treacherous pass. To the south are steep and narrow mountain walls, only wide enough for one carriage to pass, and to the north is the raging Brienne River. They built the Rapids Bastion fortress in this treacherous pass nestled between the mountains and the river.”

Rapids Bastion!
Isn't this Tongguan? Tongguan means that the river flows south within the pass, surging through the mountains and passes, hence the name Tongguan.

Su Li hadn't expected that the first piece of information about Blue Mirror Lake would be so troublesome!

Attacking a castle is already difficult enough; attacking a castle as formidable as Tongguan Pass would undoubtedly be even more challenging.

What's even more troublesome is that this fortress is nestled between towering mountains to the south and a great river to the north. Hilde continued, "More importantly, the Blue Mirror Territory, as followers of Mannan, worship the god of tides and the sea, and are skilled in using water in warfare. They may possess the ability to manipulate water currents or launch underwater attacks. Strategic treasures like the Water-Repelling Pearl might also be present. If we are careless during the siege, we could very well be severely damaged by their manipulation of the northern river."

Flooding the Seven Armies?

This is truly a tactic that requires careful consideration.

However, Su Li felt that Mannan's followers should not have such strong abilities. Such methods of changing the weather or waves on such a large scale are not something that ordinary people can do. Even legendary dragons and legendary mages would find it difficult to achieve this with magical power.

Therefore, what needs to be even more cautious is that their army, under the cover of the waves, breaks out of the river.

Su Li asked, "What is the intelligence situation regarding their army? How many infantry and cavalry do they have available for combat?"

Hilde cautiously replied, "Specific military intelligence is a top secret and very difficult to obtain. Just like the size of our territory's army, no one except you and Marshal Orstein knows it, not even I am aware of the total size of the army in the entire territory."

"However, we made a calculation based on some intelligence and past battles. Detailed intelligence confirms that Baron Grant has been a baron for nearly 5 years, and the standard for a baron's army is 3,000 infantry and cavalry. As the lord of a border princely territory, he would not embezzle funds or use inferior troops. Therefore, he has at least 1000 elite knights."

"There are clear battle examples to prove this. Two years ago, a green tide appeared in the Frostfang Mountains north of Blue Mirror Lake. Mogluk, a greenskin warlord from the Ironjaw tribe, won all the challenges and successfully unified all the greenskin tribes in the Frostfang Mountains, thus launching a huge waaaagh attack on Blue Mirror Lake."

"Greenskin tribes, goblin clans, and various warbands from all over the mountain range and surrounding plains have gathered under Mogluk's banner, numbering no less than 20000. They marched down Frostfang Mountain Range and headed toward Blue Mirror Keep."

"Baron Grant immediately mobilized all military forces across the territory, including church militia, mercenaries, and free militia. He gathered a total of more than 5000 men and engaged in fierce fighting with the Green Tide coalition on the plains north of Blue Mirror Lake."

"After two days and one night of bloody fighting, he and the knights of Mannan, leading thousands of elite knights, finally broke through the right flank of the Green Tide, causing a massive collapse of the monster formation. In the end, the monsters' morale wavered and the entire army scattered."

"This battle also made Baron Grant famous and renowned within the Church of Mannan, and earned him the praise of many important figures. As a result, the Stormguard Order of the Church of Mannan was stationed in Blue Mirror Territory."

Stormguard Knights?
This is one of the four major armed forces of the Mannana Church, ranking alongside the Sailors, the Albatross Order, and the Sons of Mannana as the top apostolic orders of the Mannana Church.

However, they are unlikely to participate in the wars in secular territories, especially since there are also Mannan believers in the Black Forest Territory, and their Mannan Church will also move in when Flashspear City is built.

Su Li expected that they would not get involved in this war.

So Su Li put aside his concern for that and instead asked, "Do they have secular knightly orders in their territory?"

Hilde nodded and said, "They also have two knightly orders in their territory. One is the Blue Sword Knights, which was founded by Baron Grant himself. This order is completely loyal to the secular lord and has about 300 elite knights. Their combat strength is estimated to be far inferior to our Crimson Night Knights, and may even be inferior to the Blacksteel Redemption Knights."

"But the other Black Lynx Knights are not to be underestimated! They were originally an elite knightly order stationed at Blackfire Pass. Members wore golden armbands and black lynx claw marks around their right arms as the order's emblem. In 2504, only nine of their four hundred noble knights survived the massacre in Sorrow Valley, while none of their three thousand orc opponents survived. The infamous Mad Earl appointed Sir Otto Guntaran as the order's first Grand Master in memory of these nine survivors. They founded the 'Black Lynx Knights,' named after this mysterious lynx with its black, jade-like fur."

"Knights within the Empire consider the Black Lynx Knights to be the best of the mountain guards. Unlike many knightly orders, the Black Lynx Knights rarely fight on horseback (although they can and do ride horses). They pride themselves on moving silently and swiftly, eliminating enemies as undetected as lynxes. Their officers are either inner-circle knights, noble-born scouts and hunters, or figures from almost invisible folklore. While they also know how to use melee weapons, they primarily use two-handed weapons, with most preferring halberds."

"This knightly order has grown to a considerable size over the years, with about 500 members present in Blue Mirror Territory. We must be extremely careful with this knightly order in our border war with Blue Mirror Territory. We will also find it difficult to gain the upper hand in the mountains."

After listening, Su Li couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Goodness, this battle doesn't seem much easier than the war with the Green Dragon.

Three years ago, the other side was able to field 1000 elite knights. After such a long period of development, they should have at least 1500 to 1800 elite knights, if not 2000.

With the reinforcements he received and the army he urgently mobilized, he might actually be able to muster 3000 elite knights and an even larger armed retinue.

To be fair, the baronship of a border princely territory is far more prestigious than that of a baron within the empire; it's almost on par with the strength of an earl within the empire.

Within the empire, a baron who could muster three thousand infantry and cavalry was considered competent, and most of them were ragtag groups with very few strong and elite knights.

And this Baron Grant truly demonstrated the strength and foundation of the barony.

At this stage, Su Li doesn't want to clash with him. After all, as long as he develops steadily, Su Li's growth rate will definitely surpass his. Given two years, he could really pull out 3000 elite knights.

Then, if we launch another attack on Blue Mirror Territory, the war will be much easier.

But it's clear that the other party won't follow his lead.

Su Li could only prepare early, and then he asked Xilude solemnly, "How many troops can we mobilize now?"

Hilde immediately replied cautiously, "My lord, our army is far smaller than that of Blue Mirror Territory. You should prepare yourself mentally for this situation. Although they intend to provoke a war, they have only sealed off the border, so from an offensive and defensive perspective, they are the defenders and can mobilize more troops to guard their territory."

"We are the attackers, and we cannot abandon production and mobilize all our people to attack the enemy. So all we can mobilize is our elite standing army."

Huh? This situation seems a lot like the Second Mao War.

One side provoked the other by shelling the border. The other side sent troops to attack, deploying only a small professional army. They were then routed by 600,000 enemy soldiers, fleeing hundreds of miles in disarray. It was a humiliating defeat, like pulling a millstone with nothing to their name.

So Su Li clicked his tongue and asked, "We can't only mobilize a little over two thousand troops, can we?"

Hilde wasn't sure what this meant, but she still smiled and said, "While our army is relatively small, it's still more than 2000 men. Our professional army alone exceeds 2500, including over 800 of your high-ranking personal attendants. Add to that the Blacksteel Atonement Mercenary Group, the Free Folk, and several mercenary groups, and our army easily surpasses 3000. The defense of the territory can be entrusted to the armed forces of the various churches. Commander Freya and Commander Sylvanas are both your lovers; they won't refuse your request." This was one of the benefits of maintaining good relations with the Church Knights.

Although they do not directly participate in wars between secular territories, they help secular territories defend key military locations to resist invasions and raids by greenskins, beastmen, undead, and the like.

This is essentially a form of support for secular territories, as it reduces their worries about the rear and allows them to allocate more troops to participate in the wars of secular territories instead of diverting their forces to defend the rear.

For example, the garrisons at Stormshade Keep and Grey Lady Pass can be freed to participate in this westward expedition.

If the power of the territory is gathered, it is easy to pull out a professional standing army of more than 2000. Then, with the addition of dwarven musketeers, dwarven butchers, freemen, and various mercenary groups, it is also easy to mobilize 3000 elite infantry and cavalry.

This wasn't a large-scale expansion of the Blue Mirror Territory's militia through massive conscription. The free militia, including dwarven musketeers, dwarven rangers, and ogre bull warriors, were all elite combatants. These dwarven musketeers only engaged in blacksmithing and adventure in peacetime; in wartime, they were exceptionally skilled dwarven warriors.

Su Li also attached great importance to the upcoming battle, and immediately said to Xilude, "Blue Mirror Territory is already deploying troops to prepare to blockade the border. We cannot sit idly by and wait for our doom. In my name, we shall immediately begin to assemble our troops, sharpen our weapons, and prepare for the expedition!"

The phrase "assembling troops!" signifies that war preparations have begun.

Because the various armies are usually stationed in different fortresses, different camps and different strongholds. For example, the Knights of Vengeance are in Rotten Canyon, the Knights of Blacksteel Redemption are in Bloodpine Forest, the high-ranking squires are in Bauhinia Palace, and a large number of provincial legions are stationed in Grey Lady Pass, White Keep, Stormshade Keep, Lake Leveline, near Gem Pool, around Lake Aissonde, and so on.

Now, with Su Li's order, the Pegasus Knights and Swan Knights spread the word, and all the troops marched towards Flashspear City from all directions of the territory under the cover of night. Fully armed knights, armed attendants holding spears, and countless wagons loaded with supplies marched in orderly formation along the main roads of the territory. Their banners and armor were neat and imposing, and their military might was magnificent!
Meanwhile, the Blue Heron Mercenary Group, stationed below the Rainbow Terraces, also received a high-value job offer. Envoys from Hessenberg led a series of carriages into their camp. From a glimpse of the carriages, one could see glittering jewels and treasures, with chests filled with gold coins, jewelry, gems, and other items symbolizing wealth.

然后在当日，蓝鹭佣兵团便近乎倾巢而出，第75钢铁骑兵联队在他们队长西格弗里德·范海姆的率领下率先踏着雄壮的步伐离开营地，然后是第1长戟中队、第2长戟中队、第3长戟中队、第1弩手中队、第1矮人游侠中队和多达120人的蓝鹭步行骑士中队！

To support so many knights and troops, the monthly expenses would likely exceed 3000 gold crowns, and even without doing anything for a year, the military expenditure would approach 40000 gold crowns.

For this employment, Su Li only used 10000 gold crowns and promised them 20% of the spoils of war (excluding the wealth in the castle), and they would fight for Su Li for up to 3 months!
Also hired was the Fallen Wolf Knights mercenary group. An entire platoon of White Wolf Knights would join the Black Forest Territory's western expeditionary force, fighting bravely under Marshal Orstein's command until the war ended. This was a powerful mercenary group led by a champion knight, composed entirely of elite knights.

Of course, in addition to these powerful mercenary groups and knight orders, Su Li also contacted very powerful external aids, such as the ogre fire stomach mage Uruk Flamehowl mentioned in the intelligence.

This is a powerful champion-level cannibalistic mage capable of using cannibalistic magic. This magic is also known anthropologically as gluttonous shamanic magic, visceral magic, carnal magic, or simply gluttonous magic! It is a mystical spell completely different from the magic used by elven mages. During shamanic rituals, the ogre butcher draws upon the primal power of the Great Stomach God by consuming the body parts of the victims offered as sacrifices. The method of releasing gluttonous magic explains why the ogre butcher always appears as a walking meat pouch, because when casting his shamanic spells, the butcher must consume anything from a healthy heart to a pool of foul-smelling entrails. In performing this act, he can communicate with the power of the Great Stomach God, taking some to apply to himself and giving the rest to his allies, allowing them to trample their enemies or inflict painful curses upon them.

The Gluttony Spell works slightly differently from other spells because the Butcher is not manipulating magical winds, but rather summoning the power of the god he worships, gathering and controlling it—making the Gluttony Spell more like a religious miracle than magic.

It seems, without a doubt, that all of this resembles human divine magic more than actual magic. Therefore, ogres are also recognized citizens of the Empire. Not only do monster legions frequently employ them, but humans also often hire these mercenaries. Even in distant Zhen Dan, a dragon prince relied entirely on ogre mercenaries as the main force of his army. And in the chaotic and disorderly border princely territories, the employment of ogres is particularly common.

This Fire Stomach Mage is capable of using up to six different stomach-enhancing spells.

These are the Bone Crusher techniques—the Butcher uses a shovel to scoop up a handful of ribs, skulls, and femurs and chew them up, even while he's cursing his enemies. The enemies will immediately feel their bones snapping with a loud cracking sound.

The Giant Stomach – By devouring large beasts, the Butcher can summon the power of the Great Stomach God himself, causing the ground beneath his enemies to crack open, revealing a bottomless pit filled with teeth, which gnaw and roar in perpetual anticipation of their next meal. Anyone who falls into it will face eternal torment.

Tooth-crushing technique – By eating a large piece of granite so hard it shatters teeth, the butcher imbues his companions with the resilience of rock and the solidity of a mountain.

The Great Stomach Awakens – The Butcher summons a ravenous Great Stomach, creating a bloody vortex that sweeps across the battlefield, devouring all enemies.

Troll Viscera – Devours the flesh and blood of trolls, granting allies a blessing that gives them troll-like regenerative abilities.

These spells can be described as both offensive and defensive. They can inflict devastating area-of-effect damage, with bloody vortexes sweeping across the battlefield, devouring and tearing countless enemies to shreds. They can also use their gluttonous nature to restore the health of allies. They can even imbue their companions with the resilience of rock and the solidity of a mountain by consuming a massive granite block.

This isn't a blessing for one or two targets, but a blessing bestowed upon an entire squadron's target all at once!

If three squadrons of knights on the battlefield were blessed by this [Fang-Shattering Technique], they would be so tough that they would make the enemy despair.

The knights were already incredibly tough and muscular, their plate armor making them as solid as iron cans. Combined with the effect of the Fang-Shattering spell, even cannon fire couldn't break them.

At this point, we shouldn't treat them as mere mortals. We should think of them as moving mountains. Don't overestimate the power of artillery; a few shells hitting a mountaintop will barely cause any reaction. It would take hundreds of thousands of shells and a prolonged barrage to shear down even a small part of the mountaintop.

However, in this world, no human force can produce hundreds of thousands of shells at once; even if the cannon barrels were torn apart, they couldn't throw that many shells in a single battle.

And no knight would stand still and wait for the enemy's relentless bombardment.

In a fierce assault, the enhancement from this spell was enough to completely alter the battlefield situation in an area. Without corresponding level of means, the enemy simply couldn't stop the charge of three squadrons of knights.

Therefore, Su Li also put a lot of effort into making sure that the Fire Stomach Mage remained in his team.

Ogres have always loved being mercenaries, and Fire Stomach Mages are among the best. Therefore, Su Li sent Foreign Minister Hatzklin and three ogre moneybag masters to recruit it.

Tempted by the large quantity of Firefly Rabbit meat, Uruk couldn't resist and signed an employment contract with the Black Forest Territory. According to the agreement, the Black Forest Territory would provide him with two Firefly Rabbits and 2000 catties of beef and mutton every month, and three Blazing Rings at the end of each year.

This price is truly not low; a single Fire Rabbit costs over 100 Gold Crowns, and the price of two Fire Rabbits is equivalent to the salary of a Champion Knight. In addition, there are 2000 catties of meat, which is comparable to 2000 shi of salary in the East.

However, considering the powerful combat strength of the Ogre Fire Stomach Mage and the huge boost it would bring to the territory's army, Su Li agreed to its request.

Its treatment is higher than that of ordinary champion knights in the territory, but lower than that of champion knights of the Knights of Vengeance and the Knights of the Black Forest Guard, which is quite commensurate with its strength.

After all, an army can't just have kitchen knives and canned food; it also needs mages to provide spell bursts and status support.

Besides Uruk Flamethroat, the beast mage Grondar, the Orc Calamity, who had good relations with the territory, was also hired by Su Li. He didn't choose to join the territory, but instead opted for a cooperative mercenary arrangement. Therefore, he didn't ask for a salary, but instead asked Su Li for [Wild Blood Diamond] and [Tranquilizing Incense]. Both of these were products of Amber Wind, extremely helpful to him, and could increase his spellcasting capacity.

The last point, in particular, was what moved him the most: after this battle, his strength would be significantly enhanced, greatly benefiting his future battles and adventures. That's why he accepted the invitation from the Black Forest Territory and became involved in the battle between human secular territories.

Of course, besides those two, the most powerful mage in Blackforest Territory is always the Winged Deceit, Eliria Erebus. She has agreed to serve as Su Li's mount in this battle, allowing him to fight as a dragon knight. A high-ranking, god-chosen green dragon and powerful Jiren magic will be the trump card in this battle!

With the assistance of three mages, the combat power of the territory's three thousand elite infantry and cavalry will soar to an unprecedented level.

(End of this chapter)