Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Chapter 561: Chapter 23: A Surprise on the Last Day Before the Spring Brings Life to All Things Festival

After listening to Oerstein’s words, everyone indeed relaxed and sat back in their chairs, looking at the military commander of the territory with ease and enjoyment.

Just as Su Li summarized, as this meeting concludes, everyone is filled with anticipation and hope for the next year’s endeavors.

As long as development is stable, next year’s finances will gradually achieve balance in income and expenditure.

In this situation, a relaxed battle with plenty of spoils is indeed an opportunity to improve the territory’s finances.

So Su Li sat back in his chair, leaning against the backrest and armrest, and looked at Oerstein, asking, ”Then, Marshal, please continue to introduce the details.”

Oerstein calmly replied, ”In the southwest of our territory, due to unstable conditions, a rebellion has emerged. They have been conquering and expanding, attracting a large number of peasant rioters, forest bandits, as well as cultists and chaos knights to join.”

”Currently, their scale has reached over 3,000 people, and they have broken through four or five strongholds, destroyed at least two border development territories, and continue to ravage the southwestern frontier.”

”Through scout investigations, we deduce that this harsh winter has made it difficult for them to sustain their supplies, and therefore they had to stir up chaos. It might also be a conspiracy by followers of Treachery, as we’ve seen plenty of Treachery warriors and Treachery chaos warriors among them, and there are even rumors of a Treachery blue scribe in their ranks.”

”If their army does indeed include some sort of powerful caster, then we may have to invite Lady Aeliria to join our ranks and help us counter Treachery’s strong magic.”

A rebellion has emerged?

This situation is indeed unexpected for Su Li. Considering the current strength of the territory, it doesn’t really pose much pressure. To be precise, it might even be considered a proverbial gift before the year’s end.

The opposing force of around 3,000 includes a large number of peasant rioters and forest bandits, essentially cannon fodder units, with probably only a few hundred armored elite as their main force.

The 2,000 elite troops of Hesse Territory, complemented by approximately 500 Church Knights, can defeat them with a single charge.

As long as there are confirmed chaos followers and demons among them, the Church Knight Order will eagerly participate in the war, without even needing Su Li to summon them; they will arm themselves and gather on their own initiative.

This is their most important means of earning glory for the Goddess. The main purpose of the Church Knights is to assist human territories in resisting the armies of evil gods and promote the doctrine of their church.

In this context, over 3,000 rebels will be slayed in battle by hundreds, cleansed and purified by hundreds, while the remaining deluded commoners and raiders will still leave one or two thousand. After the Spring Brings Life to All Things ceremony, they can provide the territory with a vast labor force.

These ordinary people, as long as they haven’t been tainted too much by chaos, still have the possibility of redemption.

The first beauty of the Elves, Morass, was a charming female prophet rescued by Elf Phoenix King Aenarion from the Slaanesh army.

Moreover, behind the prosperity of the Empire’s upper echelons and cities, countless devout followers of Treachery and Sadism churches lurk. These people live seemingly ordinary lives on the surface, but secretly collude and plan treacherous acts.

Many ordinary people, even when in contact with them, have no way of detecting that they are followers of demons.

This is somewhat similar to the situation of this rebel army, with their massive lower-tier ranks akin to the city-dwelling populace, under the rule of Treachery or Sadism followers. However, to be fair, Treachery’s followers may even be too lazy to corrupt them.

Their sole purpose is to die in ignorance, paving the way for the success of the plans of the great Lord of Deception, the Demon Monarch of Ten Thousand Transformations.

Su Li cautiously asked, ”With demons involved, won’t there be any special surprises?”

Oerstein confidently replied, ”Rest assured, Lord, such rebellion is a common occurrence in the Border Prince’s Territory. Each winter, a batch of civilians maddened by the harshness of winter and demon influence would initiate uprisings.”

”The scale of their revolt won’t be too large, nor would their rampage last long. Almost all such rebellions lead to the same outcome, either self-disintegration due to supply cut-off or being annihilated by other stronger pioneer territories.”

”Therefore, I suggest we communicate the news of the harvest throughout the territory. We can advertise with the slogan of distributing food from the granaries and attracting refugees. This would not only elevate the reputation of our territory but also draw a certain number of drifters and might even entice this rebel army to come over. Otherwise, the distant journey would make defeating them difficult without incurring heavy supply costs along the way.”

Upon hearing this, Su Li nodded in agreement; dispatching troops for active pursuit doesn’t align with the interests of the territory.

Providing supplies to such a corps, crossing hundreds of miles to conduct a campaign, might require several times the number of farmers to maintain logistics supply, especially after a victory, encompassing both the army and captives, totaling close to 4,000 individuals.

Supplying such a massive group with food along the long journey means the territory wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else.

Transporting captives is slow; them marching over by themselves is much faster.

After the Green Dragon war, the territory slightly suppressed the pace of external expansion, not only due to the retaliation against Duke Archibald of Sulande Province but also because it could not bear the logistical pressure of external expansion.