Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 385 First Battle Victory and Massive Gains

The radiance of the water-repelling pearl not only paved the way for the knights but also enveloped the dwarven warriors and fallen wolf mercenaries who had been knocked down by the giant waves and sunk to the bottom of the river. Protected by the divine power of the water-repelling pearl, these physically strong warriors rose from the murky water and stepped onto solid "ground." Although soaked and disheveled, their anger at surviving the ordeal and the frustration of being used as bait instantly transformed into overwhelming fighting spirit!
"For our fallen brothers! Crush them!" The giant butcher wiped the mud from his face, his eyes bloodshot, and roared deafeningly. The dwarves raised their shields and battleaxes once more. This time, they no longer needed to worry about the raging torrent beneath their feet; they could unleash their mountain-like power without reservation! Like moving steel fortresses, they slammed into the enemy infantry scattered by the Sun Knights, who were desperately trying to hold out against the cliffs. The massive battleaxes, burning with vengeful fury, cleaved down, splitting the terrified Blue Mirror soldiers and their shields in two!

The Fallen Wolf mercenaries were equally ferocious. Their howls echoed through the valley once more as they raised their warhammers, pouncing on their wounded prey like a true wolf pack. Yurik's faith made them even more bloodthirsty in their desperate situation, unleashing their fear of death and their rage against the Blue Mirror Territory. Working in conjunction with the dwarves, they ruthlessly slaughtered the scattered enemy forces.

Meanwhile, the battle at the cliff top intensified. Seeing the dramatic reversal in the valley below and the holy reinforcements riding the waves, the dwarven rangers and air cavalry were greatly encouraged!
"For the lord! For victory! Kill them all!" roared the griffon rider Edwin. His griffon swooped down, its talons instantly killing a Mannan knight who was putting up a fight. The air cavalry had a clear objective: open the camp gates and join forces with the dwarven rangers to seize the camp from within and without!
Swan riders and eagle riders circled and swooped down, their dense rain of arrows and javelins precisely suppressing the defenders' firing positions. A dozen or so dwarven rangers, already atop the cliff, held firm like nails at the breach, wielding heavy warhammers and axes to clear the landing zone for their comrades. Deprived of reinforcements and the support of their morale, the cliffside defenders' lines finally began to crumble.

In this battle, the most eye-catching force was undoubtedly the powerful Chosen Knights below. Hilder and the three divine generals were like four red-hot daggers, piercing deep into the enemy's heartland.

With each swing of Hilde's longsword, a burst of scorching golden flames erupted. The Mannan knights' water shields evaporated rapidly before the holy fire, their armor easily melted away. Orstein, the divine general, wielded his massive warhammer, each strike like a meteorite crashing to the ground, crushing enemy soldiers, shield and all, into a bloody pulp as they attempted to form ranks. Dietrich, meanwhile, raised his holy emblem high; the warm glow of Sharya enveloped the charging knights like a shield, dispelling the chilling and sluggish effects of the Mannan magic.

The Mannan Knights' prized naval combat skills were completely neutralized by the power of the blazing sun. Their formations crumbled, the whirlpools they controlled were smoothed out by the power of the water-repelling beads, and even the river beneath their feet, their means of survival, became an easy path for the enemy! Despair began to spread among the Mannan Knights.

The entire right bank of the valley had been transformed into a bloody furnace. Golden Sun Knights, roaring dwarven butchers, and ferocious Fallen Wolf mercenaries, like three unstoppable torrents, relentlessly crushed, divided, and annihilated the Blue Mirror Territory army, plunged into chaos and despair, on the strange battlefield created by the Water-Avoiding Pearl. The river (or rather, the water surface solidified by divine power) was stained crimson with blood, floating with countless remains and corpses.

On the cliff, the wave banner symbolizing the Mannnan faith was swiftly severed by a champion knight's lance and plummeted from the sky. The commands of the Mannnan knights ceased, and the mighty Black Lynx Knights Commander, Joseph, was smashed to pieces by Orstein's warhammer.

Su Li stood atop the low hill, overlooking this battlefield miracle he had meticulously planned and which was ultimately realized by the Water-Avoiding Pearl and the Blazing Sun Knights. He stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze calm. The Black Lynx Knights, the sharpest claws of the Blue Mirror Territory, were nearly wiped out; Mannan's followers and elite knights had also suffered heavy losses. More importantly, this crucial military camp guarding the right bank of the Cold Wind Canyon was about to change hands!

"Issue the order," Su Li's voice was calm yet carried an undeniable force, "Eliminate the remaining enemy forces, seize the cliffside camp! Open the five-mile secret gate! Our target is Stirring Fortress!"

Mannan's divine magic was like a raging wave, coming and going quickly. This raging wave was only one wave. When Su Li used the Water-Repelling Pearl to block this wave of attack, and Mannan's knights were unable to gain an advantage, the outcome was already decided.

The battle lasted from noon until dusk. Hilde found Su Li, who had already returned to the camp to rest. His handsome face beamed with barely suppressed excitement as he reported, "My lord, we have achieved a great victory! Our first battle is a resounding success. We have not only captured the right bank camp, overlooking the entire Stromgarde, but also captured over 500 elite knights and over 400 armed squires. In total, we have killed or captured nearly 2000 people."

Su Li was not surprised by the resounding victory; it was all destined when the two sides engaged in the decisive battle. The Black Forest Territory's army was far superior in both size and quality. The raid on the right bank camp by nearly ten champion-level air cavalrymen had already sealed the camp's fate.

Since the enemy lacked the ability to counter Su Li's powerful mobile force, it was destined that each stronghold would be breached separately. Ten champion knights—even if that military camp had hundreds of elite knights, they might not be able to hold it.

At least when Orstein broke through, Su Li, with seven or eight elite knights, couldn't stop him.

If it weren't for the need to lure the Mannan knights into battle and reduce casualties among the air cavalry, Su Li wouldn't have even sent the dwarves into battle.

But all of this was worthwhile in the face of such a great victory!
Five hundred elite knights! The slave traders, grey market merchants, and slave-catching groups following behind the army are going to make a fortune.

Clearly, given the current state of Blacksene's military preparedness, there's no need to reorganize these Mannan knights. Blacksene's military expenditure is already enormous, and their combat strength is far inferior to that of the Sun Goddess's knights. They will all become commodities for the slave trading guild, earning these guilds 30000 to 50000 gold crowns in this round.

Of course, Su Li undoubtedly earned the most. Even if sold at cost price of 100 gold crowns, it would still be a trophy of 50000 gold crowns.

However, the actual selling price will certainly not be that low. Many of the elite female knights are quite valuable. Some families in the territory are also willing to buy these female knights, not only to enhance their family's strength but also to expand their bloodline.

Handing these prisoners over to provincial officials for careful processing could potentially create a value no less than 70000 gold crowns.

But clearly, the gains from this battle were not limited to that. Hilde continued to report: "The more important gains were in supplies. The enemy suffered a crushing defeat, with abandoned armor and weapons piled up like mountains, and military equipment scattered throughout the valley."

"We seized more than 30 sets of vibranium rune armor, nearly 1000 sets of armor of superior quality or above, thousands of rings and amulets, and countless witchcraft items."

Thousands of rings and amulets?!

Su Li's eyes lit up. He knew that vibranium could be mined slowly and armor could be continuously forged, but the knights' equipment was always relatively scarce.

The equipment that can resonate with a knight's bloodline includes weapons, armor, rings, amulets, and badges.

In the Black Forest Territory, knights are generally known for their superior weapons and armor, but they have relatively few rings, amulets, and badges. Only a very small number of knights are fully armed, as Su Li only possesses a few hundred rings and amulets.

The battle yielded thousands of rings, amulets, and other items! This greatly alleviated the shortage of military equipment in the Black Forest Territory.

Blue Mirror Territory truly lives up to its reputation as a deeply rooted baronial territory. Their army is elite, fully equipped, well-trained, and armed to the teeth.

Then, with the defeat in this battle, all the resources that Baron Grant had painstakingly accumulated went into Su Li's pocket!

This round of food left Su Li with her mouth greasy.

After this battle, half of his knights will be fully armed, equipped with all sorts of gear. At that time, the fighting strength of his territory will undoubtedly be further enhanced.

Just when Su Li thought the battle was over, Hilde continued, "My lord, we've also captured a special knight. We should be able to get a considerable ransom. Would you like to see him?"

Special Knight?

Su Li was slightly surprised, but immediately realized what was going on and asked, "Is he the leader of the Black Lynx Knights?"

There aren't many who can demand a ransom; at least, Su Li has no way of letting the Mannan knights go after this battle.

But if they are members of Mad Marquis's Black Lynx Knights, then it's really worth negotiating. These kinds of foreign aid can basically withdraw from the war after paying the ransom.

Within the empire, it was generally accepted that people of this status would be given certain noble treatment, allowing them the opportunity to redeem themselves.

Hilde nodded and said, "That's right, it was him. After seeing our thousands of troops cutting through the waves and appearing on the battlefield, surrounding them, the Black Lynx Knights raised the white flag and surrendered to us."

"Thanks to the doctrines of the Church of the Sun Goddess and the values ​​of the Glorious War, the other side's surrender was not burdensome. After all, as the chosen ones of the Sun Goddess, it is almost impossible for us to slaughter prisoners."

Su Li also followed this principle. According to the values ​​of the Glorious Wars, a glorious conqueror should bring civilization and stability to the conquered territories, not chaos and death. Therefore, the followers of the Goddess of the Sun would avoid meaningless wars as much as possible, and would only resort to force when absolutely necessary.

Even when force is used, generals should still minimize the pain and death brought about by war: harming civilians and looting occupied towns are strictly prohibited, and surrendering enemies should be treated with courtesy—if the other side also adheres to the values ​​of "glorious war," then if they have committed crimes such as indiscriminate killing of civilians and massacring prisoners, they should be punished or even executed after a fair trial.

From this perspective, the Black Lynx Knights are actually worthy of respect. They never targeted civilians with their swords, and their war was fought honorably; even when they used the power of the torrent, they limited it to the area of ​​Coldwind Canyon.

Both sides served their own masters, and it's perfectly reasonable for the outcome of a war to be decided by merit. Victory or defeat depended on individual ability, so there's no need for any hatred towards them.

But Su Li had no interest in seeing him, so he said, "His talent is just so-so, not worth my time. Send someone to take him back to Flashspear City and have him contact Mad Marquis to send the ransom. If they still want members of the Black Lynx Knights, we can negotiate. 300 gold crowns for each Black Lynx Knight."

Hearing Su Li's words, Hilder said no more, and said, "I will escort Joseph and the black lynx knights to Flashspear City. As a general, this knight commander can at least get back a ransom of more than 3500 gold crowns."

"We also captured more than 20 huge enemy ships in this battle, which are perfect for transporting prisoners and supplies." After arranging the prisoners and supplies, Su Li turned his attention back to this battle. He had come with a large army, so he could not easily withdraw. He had to at least conquer a large area of ​​territory and expand his territory.

As for both sides ceasing hostilities, withdrawing their troops, and restoring their territories and customs to their pre-war state, that is impossible.

Before the war started, the two sides could still talk. Now that they're fighting, and military mobilization is in full swing, there will be no ceasefire until a result is achieved.

Su Li then asked, "What's the situation at Stromgarde? What are my chosen ones' plans for the upcoming battle?"

Hilde calmly replied, "Blue Mirror Lake suffered heavy losses in this battle. Not only was the Black Lynx Knights wiped out, but the Mannan Knights were also severely wounded. We estimate that Stromgarde lost at least a third of its forces. I believe they will be more cautious going forward."

"Regarding deployment, we still prefer to take Stromgarde Fortress. This is the safest battle plan. If we can open up Coldwind Canyon and use it as an advance base, our forces can threaten the entire Blue Mirror Lake Plain. At that time, we can launch attacks at will, with our iron cavalry galloping across the land, and Blue Mirror Territory will be exhausted from dealing with them. The scales of victory will quickly tip in our favor."

"After we have calmly clipped the wings of Blue Mirror Fortress, we can then surround the city with our army, completely besiege Blue Mirror Fortress, and finally take over this rich and fertile basin in one fell swoop."

A rich and fertile basin?

Listening to Hilde's description, Su Li felt that it was quite vivid. Although the Blue Mirror Lake was a vast plain, spanning six or seven hundred miles, it seemed to be surrounded by undulating mountains on all sides. To the east was the Cold Wind Canyon, to the north the Frostfang Mountains, and to the west the Drake Twilight Mountains. Only the south side was slightly flat, which was also a twisted and dense forest.

All of this makes the land occupied by Baron Grant seem exceptionally fertile, not only because of its flat terrain, but also because of the vast Blue Mirror Lake irrigating the territory, and the Brienne River running through it from east to west, making shipping extremely developed.

More importantly, this territory has been established for a long time. As a qualified baronial territory, its population is definitely not less than 20000, and may even reach 30000 or 40000.

If Su Li successfully annexes this territory, his strength will experience a surge. This is a snake swallowing an elephant-level annexation, allowing Su Li to quickly reach a level where he has nearly 100,000 followers.

To be fair, with a force of 100,000 and over 10,000 armored soldiers, he was a well-known warlord in the chaotic world of the Eastern Dynasties, and he was worthy of leaving a mark in the history books.

This is, after all, the medieval era, and the population cannot be compared with that of modern society.

Su Li currently covets the population of this land, so he said, "It would be best to take this rich territory in one fell swoop. However, Striking Fortress is located in a dangerous and treacherous area. If we rely solely on a brute force attack, we might suffer heavy losses and still not be able to take it."

Hilde gestured for him to proceed, and said with a smile, "If Your Excellency would like to come and take a look outside the camp, you are welcome. The strategic significance of capturing the Right Bank camp is far greater than we realize."

Su Li immediately followed her out of the tent and looked in the direction she pointed. He saw that the fire on the cliff where the Right Bank military camp was located had been extinguished, and the crimson banner of the Black Forest Territory was hanging above it.

Under the banners, rows of armored soldiers stood tall, their reflections illuminating the dim sky. From the top of the cliff to the bottom of the valley, hundreds of torches stretched out like fiery dragons, seemingly winding their way along the cliff face.

Su Li was surprised at first, then his pupils lit up as he saw the situation on the cliff. It was a rope made of a large number of dwarven rangers. The ropes stretched from top to bottom, running through the entire cliff. On these ropes, the dwarves were working together to carry heavy mortars.

Like ants carrying loads, they painstakingly moved the mortars up the cliff, bit by bit, until they reached the top.

Su Li said in awe, "The resilience and perseverance of these dwarves are truly admirable."

Hilde also looked on with admiration, but her smile was more relaxed as she said, "While it may seem impressive to humans, compared to the dwarves mining in mines hundreds of meters deep and the dwarven rangers transporting goods through the mountains, this is remarkably easy. You see, when the dwarven rangers are moving through the mountains, they often have to use ropes to hoist supply wagons over cliffs, ravines, and steep slopes. A supply wagon weighs at least two to three times the weight of a mortar."

Actually, the task of hoisting the mortars should have been done by Eliria. Although she was a slender green dragon, her huge claws could easily lift two mortars. She only needed to make two or three trips, and she could transport all the mortars to the right bank camp in less than an hour.

However, this is not in line with Queen Eliria's status. Her aloof temperament means she would not do such manual labor. Her personality is not as warm and easygoing as other dragons.

She was willing to serve as Su Li's mount, which boosted morale and inspired the troops in this battle, all because Su Li had forced her into this situation.

Hilde didn't force her to do that again.

Hearing Hilder's introduction, Su Li was full of confidence in the dwarves' ability to move things, and asked, "Can all the mortars be moved upstairs tonight?"

“No problem,” Hilde said. “The war wagon forts will remain below. If we only transport the mortars and cannons, the dwarves can finish transporting all the forts tonight. However, the biggest problem is transporting the shells. At dawn tomorrow, we will bombard Stromgarde, and we need to bombard it continuously, so the consumption of ammunition will be enormous. This is the most difficult part of our transport.”

This is indeed a problem. Artillery is no match for human knights in this respect. If human knights go to the military camp, providing them with some supplies will suffice. Just send a cartload up; it will last them a long time. If supplies can't keep up, they can eat grass for a while. Resupplying them every few days is enough.

But once heavy artillery units are deployed, there's no going back. The transport mission has only just begun, with a constant stream of shells being transported up there every day.

If supplies aren't delivered within a day, they'll be silenced. But bombarding the Jiliu Fortress on the opposite bank would consume an astronomical number of shells.

Su Li asked, "Then how will the shells be transported afterwards?"

“It mainly relies on the dwarves carrying it back and forth like ants.” Hilde didn’t have a better solution either: “The only good news is that the shells are relatively light. A single dwarf ranger can carry one up the cliff.”

"Wouldn't that be too slow? We could use flying raptors like Pegasus, swans, and giant eagles for transportation."

Hilde smiled and shook her head, saying, "Flying mounts are generally much lighter than ground mounts to ensure flight, and their carrying capacity is far inferior to that of dwarves. In terms of efficiency, dwarven rangers are much more efficient. You think dwarven rangers are relatively inefficient because you consider this cliff an insurmountable chasm. From a human perspective, it is indeed a difficult journey to cross. But for the bloodline of the mountains, it's like walking on flat ground; it's just a few hundred meters."

By this analogy, Su Li suddenly realized that setting up the cannon on the cliff was actually quite feasible. Mountains and cliffs are the most suitable environments for dwarves, and for dwarven rangers, this journey would not be more difficult than a human knight carrying cannonballs for hundreds of meters.

Su Li, who often interacts with dwarves, inevitably uses human thinking to think, so the guards in Stromgarde Fortress are probably even less prepared!

That artillery position on the cliff will surely give them a tremendous shock.

The loss of this military camp had an impact far greater than Baron Grant had anticipated!
With the Blacksem army's preparations complete, the attack on Stromgarde officially began the next day, just as dawn broke and the sun began to shine with golden light.

Above the canyon that the floodwaters passed through yesterday, a huge rainbow stretched across the right bank of the canyon, which both sides regarded as the effect of their own gods' protection.

The knights of Mannnan, in particular, cheered on the castle. Rainbows usually followed the storms, so the knights of Mannnan often considered this a sign of divine favor from Mannnan.

Meanwhile, thousands of elite troops from the Hessian Territory were arrayed below Hessian Castle, their armor gleaming in the sun and their banners fluttering, further convincing them that the rainbow was a display of their divine power.

This is the effect of the Druid's fifth-circle spell, Rainbow Bridge! This Rainbow Bridge makes it easier for allied knights to unleash critical strikes, and wood-elemental knights can carry up to one squad of people and supplies on the Rainbow Bridge. The Druid is leading a large group of dwarves, using the Rainbow Bridge to transport supplies up the cliff face.

As soon as the cannons roar, the elite army of Black Forest Territory will launch a fierce offensive against the fortress of Blue Mirror Territory!

(End of this chapter)