Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Chapter 481: Chapter 190: Majestic Divine Grace, Triumphal Sevenfold Ceremony, Third Holy Omen

Although this is a considerable sum of money, it will quickly be exhausted given the territory’s monthly fiscal deficit numbering in the thousands.

And among these fiscal deficits, the largest expenditure is the maintenance cost of the territory’s army.

During the preparation for the banquet, Su Li asked Marshal Oerstein, ”Can our territory’s current army size be reduced? I originally planned to control the army’s size after the war and reduce expenses to alleviate financial pressure, but this divine blessing from the Sun Goddess seems to have disrupted many of my plans.”

Under this blessing, many soldiers have gained kill emblems and Eagle Eye Perspective, making them the most elite troops of the territory. They are battle-hardened veterans, and with their abilities, they could easily become company commanders or war gang leaders in other territories.

Although Su Li intends to streamline and simplify, he also cannot just dismiss such excellent troops and let them be cast adrift among the Free People’s Corps.

Oerstein calmly replied, ”Lord, our current army size can no longer be reduced. After the prayer, I cross-checked the army size with Chief Steward Hilude.”

”Many of our Knights need to transition into Forbidden Guard Knights of Hesse. According to assessments, there are more than 140 Knights who meet the criteria for enshrinement as Forbidden Guard Knights of Hesse.”

”This will cause the scale of the Forbidden Guard Knights of Hesse to surge after the war, increasing to about two squadrons.”

”And the price of this will be a further reduction in the size of other armies, with the High-level Directly Affiliated Attendants now reduced to just over 200 people. In any case, we have to draw about 300 Elite Knights from the Provincial Legion to increase the size of the High-level Directly Affiliated Attendants to over 500. This leaves the Provincial Legion with only about 900, and there are just over 400 left in the Free People’s Corps.”

”This scale means our territory is already quite dangerous. If there are Beastmen appearing from several directions at once, we may likely have to rely on the strength of the Free People’s Corps, which will instead increase the territory’s expenses.”

The forces mentioned by Marshal Oerstein comprise all those who received the Divine Grace of the Sun Goddess today.

If we reorganize, it would be 200 Forbidden Guard Knights of Hesse, 500 High-level Attendants, and 900 Provincial Legion. Even counting the Half-Lion Griffin Knight Order and the secular Red Night Knight Order, Su Li’s secular forces total just over 1,800, less than 1,900.

It’s not that this battle directly resulted in over half of Hesse Territory’s army being killed or wounded, but a large portion of the army belongs to the Church Knight Order and the Free People’s Corps.

Those ordinary civil corps are disbanded after the war and return to the territory for production.

The remaining Free People’s Corps consist of elite Mercenary Corps and Brotherhood members.

This means that unless Hesse Territory undergoes a comprehensive military mobilization, it only has around 2,000 deployable troops.

Among these, Marshal Oerstein’s forces are just over 900, so he naturally strongly opposes further reductions.

Confronting Su Li’s intention to reduce the army, he vehemently opposed it and advised, ”Lord, given the current circumstances of the territory, trying to economize makes it very difficult to reverse the financial deficit. My suggestion is to use the Provincial Legion and small elite Knight Orders to generate new income. Whether clearing bandit groups in the forest or sweeping monster camps nearby, both could yield considerable wealth.”

”After overcoming the Green Dragon crisis, it’s time for us to pursue military expansion externally!”