CHAPTER 88: CHAPTER 30: THE MOST IMPORTANT THING BEFORE THE BATTLE IN THIS WORLD

Su Li’s deployment is undoubtedly already very comprehensive, from recruiting troops from the affiliated territories to organizing a convict army, distributing weapons, and arranging training, he has taken care of every aspect.

He has even announced military achievements, rewarding beheadings, and motivating morale in this regard.

He indeed can’t think of any aspect he has missed, especially something important.

If there was truly such an important matter, why did Lauren not mention it at all?

So Su Li furrowed his brow slightly and looked at the towering Oerstein Knight, this powerfully built champion-level knight is his greatest confidence against the 5000 Green Tide. He is resolute and brave in battle, a devout follower of the Sun Goddess, holding firm faith in the Goddess, and has exceptional accomplishments in areas such as military strategy, tactics, engineering, making him a distinguished Military Commander.

He fulfills Su Li’s fantasies of the classical era, those chaotic monarchs who command formidable generals who revel in war.

If there was something Lauren didn’t mention, but he emphasized particularly.

Suddenly, a flash of insight appeared in Su Li’s mind, and he asked, "Are you talking about prayers to the Divine Spirit?"

In this world, there are only two things a Lord must never entrust to others: one is rituals, and the other is the military.

In fact, in this world with divine spirits, the importance of rituals surpasses that of the military.

Their divine spirits are truly present. For example, the White Wolf God Yurik often possesses the Divine Chosen Knight he favors, personally taking the battlefield and striking down foes.

Certain Lords, if overtaken by courtier conspiracies to seize their castles, the divine spirits truly open cheat-like pathways for these Lords, allowing them to overturn disadvantageous situations and reclaim their castles with just a handful of people.

So apart from the material methods Su Li had subconsciously prepared in his previous life, the most important thing he missed is the idealistic matters concerning divine spirits.

Upon hearing this, Oerstein Knight showed a smile, slowly nodding, and said, "The victory or defeat of war, especially such battles where the few confront the many, divine protection is the most crucial factor for our success."

"If we piously pray, we may receive a response from the Sun Goddess. If she grants her divine grace on the fiercely contested battlefield, all of our soldiers will be endowed with formidable strength, dispelling fatigue, becoming immune to fear, and even just a few hundred warriors can defeat thousands or even tens of thousands of troops."

Su Li immediately understood what he meant and asked, "So our immediate priority is to establish a Sun Goddess Monastery?"

"Yes," Oerstein Knight said, "Our territory has been established for so long without powerful divine protection, which has led to panic during disasters. We ought to have a strong divine monastery which can greatly enhance the martial virtue and military level of the territory."

"For example, in the Sun Goddess Monastery, in territories with numerous followers, almost every citizen participates in a ’gathering’ held by the church once a week. This is a temple service accompanied by preaching. Followers of the Sun Goddess will also go to the temple to confess, be purified, and participate in training as part of the local militia."

"Of course, not just us, the followers of Yurik, Redema also regularly participate in church gatherings and undergo military training to defend the territory and combat evil."

Su Li couldn’t help but admire, in this world where knights reign supreme, martial virtue flourishes, truly, in every aspect, it can be considered an enhanced version of the Guanlong Military Group and Government Soldiers.

Every week church followers participate in gatherings and receive part of their militia training, where powerful knights guide the content of their training so that the Empire’s citizens can confront various monsters.

For instance, in remote territories, villages, or even a secluded farmstead, without access to city army protection, they can fend off beastmen, green-skinned war gangs, and bandits who like to raid villages, caravans and more.

Su Li just asked with concern, "We don’t have a Goddess’s priest or chanting master, can we gain the attention of the divine spirits?"

The so-called divine blessing is only mortals seeking a glance from the divine spirits.

"It’s irrelevant," Oerstein Knight said, "Miracles can’t take care of every church. In the Empire, every town, city, and village has a temple of knight’s divine spirit. There are both the majestic temple cathedrals in the capital Terrabheim and many rural churches, which are managed only by a traveling priest visiting once a week. Most devout families have a small shrine along the Empire roadsides. After we build the monastery, clerics will certainly visit."

Su Li could not help but think of that Battle Pilgrimage Group.

The Battle Pilgrims are devout followers of the divine spirits, yet to officially join the knight ranks, primarily comprising apprentice knights and armed attendants. Although these people are fierce and powerful in battle, they also love petty theft, which makes knights have to guard against them all the time.

Perhaps this is an opportunity to keep them within the territory, at least there’s a significant chance to keep their leader, Rong’en Essari, here. He is evidently a pilgrim well-versed in doctrine, capable of channeling Divine Wrath, and highly likely to have the attention of the Sun Goddess.

So Su Li contemplated for a moment before making a decision, saying: "I will soon order all the ogre artisans in the territory to head north-east of the castle to construct a Sun Goddess monastery. They will work tirelessly, aiming to complete the monastery within three days."

With the announcement of this decision, the territory’s religious conflict is essentially settled.

Yurik, the White Wolf God, is defeated, and the Sun Goddess becomes the primary deity for the territory’s worship.

This deity places more emphasis on tactics and leadership, alongside a more open-minded approach, allowing knights to use strategies and engineering devices to achieve overwhelming tactical victories for their army.

Of course, as an officially recognized deity by the Empire, the White Wolf God is still permitted to spread their doctrine within the territory, and they can construct shrines to display their divine grace, but they will no longer receive official support from the territory’s administration.

Upon hearing this, Knight Oerstein was particularly excited, his bloodline surging, and his golden flames soaring, he couldn’t help but laugh excitedly: "My Lord, I’ve felt the descent of divine grace, I’ve advanced to a Middle Tier Champion Knight."

Su Li’s eyes also lit up. It seems the intelligence was correct, today the territory indeed received the Sun Goddess’s attention. As a result, Knight Oerstein’s evangelism succeeded, smoothly receiving the Sun Goddess’s reward.

He also laughed excitedly: "Hahaha, good, very good. Just before a great battle, your strength increases, perhaps this is the goddess’s blessing for our victory."

As Su Li said, the manifestation of the Sun Goddess’s miracle before the great battle greatly boosted the morale of the territory’s army.

In the pouring rain, the enthusiasm of soldiers and slaves was also very high.

There was no other choice, Su Li offered them too much! Just now, knights and nuns responsible for selection announced an inspiring news: all young adults successfully chosen into the Convict Army would be given a bowl of hot Fire Rabbit soup!

This reward drove countless people mad. It meant that many of them would get a chance to change their fate against all odds.

As long as they could successfully awaken their bloodline and become an Apprentice Knight, they would become part of the Empire’s ruling class, no longer lowly serfs, and even their descendants would benefit, never needing to bear the obligations of noble first night rights again.

For this, Su Li sacrificed 6 Fire Rabbits. He left only two pairs of Fire Rabbits for continued breeding, while the rest were all made into meat soup.

A bowl of steaming Fire Rabbit soup in their stomachs, everyone felt warm all over, even during the torrential downpour training, they felt not a trace of cold, instead, their bloodlines were excited, filled with exhilaration.

Su Li also consumed another three pounds of Fire Rabbit meat, as he walked on the training ground, feeling his body steaming hot, large raindrops hitting his face, he felt no bit of chill, as if the rain couldn’t penetrate his surging red flames.

Without anyone else having to say it, Su Li could also be certain that he was about to break through to a High Tier Apprentice Knight, if not by this afternoon, then by tonight.

Vandar didn’t possess the knights’ robust physique, he held an umbrella following Su Li’s side, watching the soldiers and slaves training amidst the torrential rain, reporting: "My Lord, we have currently recruited 30 ogres and 120 strong slaves. Sir Oerstein has dispatched an Elite Knight and 12 formal Knights to organize them. Besides the ogres going north-east of the castle to urgently construct the Sun Goddess monastery, the remaining 120 slaves are undergoing initial training."

Su Li, disregarding the heavy rain, came to the training ground, really wanting to see this newly recruited Slave Legion. They are potential candidates for serf crusaders, if they aren’t properly managed, they could be a sharp blade poised to threaten the territory, rather than serve it.

The person responsible for managing them was Su Li’s previous Guardian Knight, Schwartz, who had organized these 120 people according to the structure of the Red Night Knight Order, training them in basic formation positioning.

As for changing formations, there was no need for further thought. These people had to hold their ground in defense and advance in formation when attacking. They couldn’t rush like a beast herd - this was the highest demand from Military Commander Oerstein.

Following this training direction, Schwartz had already arranged them into a basic square formation, so they seemed somewhat decent, each wearing helmets, a linen coat, a sleeveless leather vest, with an iron-plate armor covering, and several captains even wore a chain armor shirt.

Su Li stepped forward, asking Schwartz: "How are the training results?"

Schwartz wiped the rain off his face, turning to report to Su Li: "Far too lacking, my Lord. This group of fools can put on a show when standing still, intimidating the enemy. But once you have them slightly change direction, over 30% of these fools can’t tell left from right, and some even can’t distinguish front from back. Even if they were all Apprentice Knights, they would still be a bunch of sheep, easily beaten by three teams of Armed Attendants. Unfortunately, most of them are farmers, and I feel that 12 Armed Attendants could defeat them with a single fierce assault, reducing them to cries of distress."

Truly, it’s about the quality, not the quantity, of the soldiers.