Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Chapter 939: Chapter 123: Aeliria’s Submission and the Scale of the Expeditionary Army (Part 3)

It can be said that this knight was personally promoted from humble beginnings by Su Li, who recognized his talents and greatly utilized them.

Now, he has even been entrusted with an entire Expeditionary Corps, something that’s never been commanded by anyone other than Marshal Orstein, considering the large scale of this army within the territory.

No doubt the Lord intends to cultivate him into a Divine Chosen Knight.

Besides the Hesse Territory offering him great opportunities, there is no other territory that could facilitate his rapid growth like this.

He is an absolutely smart person, gentle yet not weak, decisive yet not ruthless.

Thus, both Su Li and Hilude trust him deeply, confident he’ll make the perfect decisions and not lead this Expeditionary Army astray.

After sitting down, Su Li first looked at Handsome Gilles and asked, ”My Champion Knight, you are the commander of this Expeditionary Army. Please report on the scale and logistics of the army.”

Gilles immediately replied, ”Lord, our enlistment for the Expeditionary Army has been remarkably smooth, responses have been overwhelming, especially after the confirmation of the Holy Great Expedition news from Marle Castle, verifying your information. The territory was in an uproar, with knights from many other territories flocking in from all directions to join our Expeditionary Army because everyone believes you must have close connections with the higher-ups.”

In the dark and corrupt Empire, even a great expedition isn’t considered holy, as collusion and corruption are found everywhere.

It’s always about which troop endures the harshest frontlines and which troop comes in to reap the rewards—with personal connections and interests behind the scenes.

Undoubtedly, the Expeditionary Army from the Hesse Territory is one of the corps most closely related to the commander-in-chief of this expedition. After all, the rumor of Princess Philis and the Lord of Hesse Territory isn’t a secret in Hesse.

Basically, you could pick anyone from a tavern, and they’d talk endlessly for dozens of minutes. Long ago, during Hesse’s struggle for growth, many residents had indeed seen Princess Philis frequently venturing out to shop, enjoying flowers, beautiful clothes, delicious food, and all things lovely.

Of course, the most significant factor was her civilian status that made her the Lord’s female courtier, inciting ridicule within the territory, from knights to commoners, all gossiping behind her back. Some malicious ones even speculated if Princess Philis was a follower of Sado, otherwise how could she, a commoner, climb into the Lord’s bed and captivate him enough to disregard all public opinion, forcing a public declaration to include her as a female courtier.

Talking about the Lord’s public declaration was the most thrilling part for the knights, as the event was so legendary that no one ever imagined a victorious and tremendously revered Lord would publicly declare his love to a commoner under the watchful eyes of thousands.

However many cutting criticisms existed before, with the transformation of Philis’s identity, there were equally grand praises now.

Countless female knights dreamt and envisioned the possibility that if a lord fell dominantly in love with her, ordinary, plain, and impoverished as she might be during her humble beginnings, she’d be wholehearted and unequivocally devoted to him.

It’s fair to say that domineering CEO fiction is extremely popular among women in any world.

Women naturally admire strength, longing to be conquered and favored. Even if that favor is spoken of casually, it brings her joy for a long time. She often doesn’t ponder why a domineering CEO would love someone ordinary and mediocre like her.

Of course, this isn’t necessarily without benefits—the benefit being they are easily marketed to and influenced to do some brainless things for powerful figures and idols.

For instance, in the Hesse Territory’s Expeditionary Army, the proportion of females is astoundingly high.

In this regard, Gilles deserves much credit; his handsome looks gave him a significant advantage during recruitment.

Regarding the specifics of the enlistment, he continued reporting, ”Our Expeditionary Corps currently has a very large scale with over 900 Elite Knights alone, along with official knights and apprentice knights, we have over 2100 knights total!”

”Including their attendants, servants, cooks, and accompanying mercenaries, our Expeditionary Army’s total size has reached 5,329 people!”

5,329 people!

Even the Knight Order Leaders participating in the formation of the Expeditionary Corps exclaimed in unison, knowing the army’s grand scale, yet not expecting it to reach such a level.

Undoubtedly, the Radiant Festival in Hesse Territory played a crucial role during this process. Due to the festival’s existence, the territory attracted a large influx of foreign populations, with peak times possibly having over 20,000 transient residents.

These people are drawn to excitement, possessing substantial outdoor survival skills and respectable combat prowess. Essentially, they perfectly align with the target demographic for the Empire’s Holy Expedition.

However, not every Holy Expedition will enlist every available Ranger Knight in the corps; some Rangers have various reasons, either engaged in other adventures, tied up by employment contracts, or bound to a territory.

Thus, having close to a fifth, even a quarter of the population join the Hesse Territory’s Expeditionary Army is already quite remarkable.

Nonetheless, among these 5,329 people, not everyone is a visitor; a significant number are members from Hesse Territory and various Knight Orders, such as over a hundred Elite Knights from the Red Night Knight Order, all participating in this expedition; additionally Corona Knight Order and Arrow of Light together deployed over 300 knights. The higher the knight tier within the Expeditionary Army, the larger the proportion from the territory’s officials. This is to facilitate the Commander-in-Chief’s ability to direct the entire army, because without exception, Elite Knights are the absolute backbone of any army.