CHAPTER 87: CHAPTER 29: THE TERRITORY’S ARMAMENTS

In the face of the dispute between Lauren and Vandar, Su Li did not become angry, which was precisely the reason he had gathered all the cabinet ministers and attendants, as well as the Lords, today.

Eavesdropping alone leads to darkness, listening to all leads to clarity. He planned to listen to everyone’s opinions and reports before making a decision.

During Lauren and Vandar’s bickering, Belos, the Dwarf Rune Blacksmith, reluctantly emerged from the forge. Spending every day beside the furnace, he did nothing but smith and drink, leaving him reeking of sweat and alcohol.

Upon entering the room, he immediately drew everyone’s furrowed brows toward him.

He actually disliked leaving the forge to interact with others, as the obstinate dwarf detested anything that interfered with his smithing.

So upon entering, he shouted with a raised voice, "My friends, esteemed Lord, what matters could possibly require the presence of a blacksmith at a meeting? Wouldn’t I assist the territory more by forging a few more pieces of armor?"

Su Li immediately replied, "I’ve summoned you to discuss weapon forging. Starting now, for the next three days, all other forging activities in the territory will cease. All blacksmiths will focus exclusively on forging weapons and armor, day and night, without rest."

Belos’s small round eyes instantly widened with excitement, saying, "Lord, have you finally come to your senses? We dwarves should indeed focus solely on forging weapons and armor. Producing those crude farming tools is utterly wasting our efforts."

Su Li inquired with concern, "I need to recruit a full-strength military unit. How many weapons and armor pieces does the armory currently hold?"

Belos scratched his head, counting on his thick, short fingers, and gruffly stated, "I’ll need to tally that up: on Giant Brew’s Kissing Day, there are three longswords; on Giant Brew’s Intimate Day, four long lances..."

Lauren couldn’t wait for Belos to clumsily count and directly responded to Su Li, "The armory holds 50 finely crafted two-handed swords and 100 long lances made by dwarves; the armor and chain armor have already been distributed to the knights."

"Is that all the equipment in the armory?" Su Li could not help but clench his fists. With only such a small amount of weaponry, he could muster at most a force of 200.

With all forces combined, the total size wouldn’t exceed 500.

Facing 5000 Green Tide with merely 500 hastily gathered soldiers, even if the soldiers could fight five per person, victory would be hard to achieve.

But the Green Tide couldn’t possibly consist solely of goblins; there would surely be young orcs, giants, and the terrifying Anaric giant spiders.

Well-trained human soldiers might have an advantage over goblins; however, facing brutish and bulky young orcs would be exceedingly difficult, relying on equipment and combat skills to win, and facing giants would require a dozen soldiers just to barely halt their charge.

So, considering it all, 500 soldiers might not even surpass orcs in individual combat strength. If faced with the current scale, the opponent could simply charge, collapsing the fragile human formation, and the Green Tide would then completely submerge everything.

Fortunately, Lauren provided Su Li with an exhilarating piece of news at this moment. This talented civil servant had everything well-organized.

"Lord, the territory’s armory indeed holds limited standard gear for the troops. However, in the castle’s material storeroom, we still have a seized batch of supplies, organized by Harry and his men. These include a batch of fairly quality equipment: 400 weapons including axes, swords, bows, and lances, 30 sets of full-body chain armor, and 100 sets of iron-plated full-body leather armor."

"Damn old thing! Now I get why the equipment sent to the forge for smelting was all tattered, making me pick and choose like a scavenger. So, all the good stuff was hidden by you!" The hot-tempered dwarf’s eyes immediately burned with fury.

But Su Li excitedly pumped his fist: "Ah, my sagacious minister, you’ve truly surprised me. With these weapons and armor, we can at least raise a militia force of 400."

Lauren stroked his beard proudly, looking at the enraged dwarf, and said, "Prioritizing the smelting of those scrap weapons was the proper choice. Since they need melting down anyway, those scraps will occupy you for quite some time."

Su Li then sided with Lauren and said to Belos, "In our prior battles, the spoils we reclaimed should be systematically organized. Your next task is to fully smelt these irreparable scrap weapons and craft more gear as soon as possible. According to our agreement, as long as you put in your full effort, the corpses of giants killed in the upcoming battle with the Green Tide will be handed over to you to handle."

Upon hearing Su Li’s words, the dwarf finally managed to quell his temper, patting his sturdy chest, and confidently vowed, "I will lead all blacksmiths and apprentices in the territory to focus entirely on forging equipment, ensuring the production of 100 fine pieces of weaponry and 6 sets of fine dwarf armor within three days, day and night."

Su Li nodded and said, "I’ll allocate 10 more nimble apprentices for you, sparing no effort, to hasten the forging process!"

Adding 10 apprentices already pushes the limit of what the territory’s two forges can accommodate. Beyond that, additional numbers would only cause congestion with no added effect.

After discussing the weapons and equipment, Su Li turned to look at the Minister of the Seal, Lauren, and the Military Commander, Oerstein, and asked, "The issue of weapons and equipment is being resolved. How many troops can the territory mobilize now?"

Knight Oerstein spoke first, saying, "With Hilude absent, I’ll speak on her behalf about the territory’s directly affiliated attendants. These are the elite forces of the territory. They are well-equipped, well-trained, and practice daily on how to win on the battlefield. They are the backbone of this battle."

"Currently, our elite regular forces consist of 1 champion-level knight, 9 elite knights, 24 official knights, 37 apprentice knights, as well as 117 armed attendants and 48 archer attendants. In total, there are 199 people. Additionally, according to vassal duties, the Balantangborne Clan’s Balan Autonomous Region needs to provide 1 elite-level ogre bull warrior and 12 half-elf archers."

"This is all of our regular forces. If we add two squadrons of shepherds, our total military strength is exactly about two squadrons."

Two squadrons, approximately 240 people.

Facing a 5,000-strong Green Tide with such a small force, he really couldn’t feel relaxed. Frowning, he asked, "Apart from these, can’t we find more elite soldiers?"

Vandar promptly stated, "Our Dawn Church is also willing to have an elite priest, a formal nun, and two apprentice nuns follow you onto the battlefield to fight the monsters."

Even with these four additional people, the combat power is basically negligible.

People from the Dawn Church are not skilled in combat. Four of them together might not be able to fend off an elite knight. So to replace them, these four might not even be able to handle a single giant.

At this time, Lauren thought for a moment, then slowly said, "Our territory has another group."

"Another group?" Knight Oerstein looked at him in confusion. He had already accounted for all the forces he could think of. What was left were just ogre workers and slaves, which couldn’t be considered a proper force—just militia at best.

Lauren said, "Outside the south city wall, there’s a group of mercenaries from a trade caravan! Although they’ve suffered heavy losses, after rest and treatment, there are still at least over 40 of them left, and their leader is an elite-level ranger knight loyal to the Redema Church, with considerable combat strength. There are at least 5 official and apprentice knights among them."

Vandar also remembered these mercenaries, since he treated many of their wounds, leading to a good friendship between them.

He asked, "But didn’t the commerce association director already set off for Marle Castle with escorts a few days ago? Without the director’s orders, can these mercenaries cooperate with us?"

Without waiting for Lauren to answer, Su Li said, "They have no choice! They have to agree, whether they want to or not! After the cabinet meeting ends, Lauren, you and Knight Oerstein should go to their camp, inform them about the impending monster attack, and negotiate their cooperation. We will start with negotiation and won’t hesitate to offer them a sum as a hiring fee."

"It would be best if they agree. If negotiations break down, we will show them our resolve! Either they join us against the evil monsters, or we will use them for practice before facing the monsters!"

Lauren immediately agreed, slightly bowing, and said, "Rest assured, my Lord, I will handle this matter properly. I believe there’s an extremely slim chance they will refuse. When the empire’s citizens face a monster attack, defending the city is what the doctrine encourages."

This doctrine refers to the official teachings of the Redema Church, the church of the Human Emperor Redema, with teachings that include obeying Redema’s directives, aiding dwarves, eternal loyalty to the Emperor, maintaining the empire’s rule, eradicating and destroying demon minions, Greenskins, and all those who use dark magic, no matter where they hide.

Therefore, as citizens of the Empire, safeguarding the empire’s security and destroying the Green Tide is a creed highly esteemed by many warriors. For followers of the Redema Church, nothing is more important than defending the empire Redema founded.

It is very likely that the mercenaries will not refuse the request to join the fight.

Subsequently, Su Li stood up and instructed everyone, "Let’s immediately take action on separate tasks. Vandar, you come with me to gather the slaves and select suitable soldiers. Lauren and Belos, you’re responsible for distributing weapons. Knight Oerstein, you’re in charge of reorganizing the troops and providing initial training."

Arming slaves and forming a convict army is the empire nobility’s last resort. Unless it’s critical, empire nobility will absolutely avoid taking this path.

Because these convict armies can easily turn into peasant mobs. In the Border Prince’s Territory, nine out of ten peasant mobs originate from this method.

Lauren and Vandar took their orders without the slightest hesitation, rushing out of the castle and into the pouring rain to begin their tasks.

But the usually decisive Military Commander, Knight Oerstein, did not move. Instead, he remained in the castle and said to Su Li, "My Lord, you’ve arranged everything meticulously in every aspect, but how could you overlook the most important thing?"