Chapter Eleven: Expansion of the Army

When summoning his army, Sun Li crammed military knowledge in haste, focusing on the roles of various branches—after all, he had been nothing more than a well-behaved youth of the new century, entirely ignorant of military matters. In his view, large-scale warfare was simply a test of discipline, long-range assault capability, shock power, and defense. In battle, one must always hold a reserve force until the decisive moment, and this reserve was typically the most elite unit in the army. If an advantage was gained and the enemy’s ranks broken, the reserve could charge and shatter them completely. If at a disadvantage, the reserve could fill gaps and turn crisis into safety; sometimes, by finding the enemy’s weak point during their breakthrough, they might even plunge in, disrupt the foe, and snatch victory from defeat.

As for discipline, Sun Li believed that there could be no soldiers more disciplined than those summoned by the Empire System. The so-called “two-tenths casualty curse” of the cold-weapon age—that troops would break at twenty percent losses—was meaningless to his army. He found it curious: in battles against the beastmen, only the goblins would break and flee at such losses, while other, stronger races fought on until half their number lay slain. Perhaps the beastmen’s simple-mindedness was an advantage on the battlefield; their hot-blooded courage and fearlessness only grew fiercer. Fortunately, his own soldiers were even more loyal and unflinching than the beastmen.

Given his shortage of gold, Sun Li first turned to Roman shield-spear infantry. These soldiers carried short spears in their right hands, large rectangular shields in their left, wore leather armor and iron helmets, and fought in tight formations. Whether defending or advancing, they were formidable—one need only recall the glory of Rome to appreciate their value. But for Sun Li, the most important point was their low cost.

He decisively produced four thousand shield-spear soldiers. Without a windfall of gold, this would be his main force.

Next came shock troops. Everyone knew that cavalry was king when it came to breaking enemy lines, but Sun Li chose otherwise, producing a thousand Viking warriors for a very simple reason—he was broke. Even a light cavalryman cost as much as a heavy infantryman, and he couldn’t even afford enough heavy infantry as it was.

These Vikings, nearly two meters tall and powerfully built, wielded battle-axes in their right hands and small round shields in their left, clad in leather armor and horned helmets. Their fierce appearance alone justified their higher cost compared to the shield-spear soldiers.

For his ranged power, Sun Li unhesitatingly recruited two thousand crossbowmen, his favorite, and a thousand English longbowmen to provide arcing fire. He economized on the other units mainly to pour funds into these crossbowmen, his ultimate weapon.

The crossbowmen’s effective range was about 240 paces. Against lightly armored beastmen, who would endure four or five volleys before reaching the lines, Sun Li could only imagine the look on their chieftain’s face. Originally, he had not planned to recruit English longbowmen, but seeing their rate of fire—three times that of the crossbowmen—and their 200-pace range, he changed his mind. Were it not for their limited stamina, losing combat effectiveness after firing a few dozen arrows, he’d have abandoned the crossbowmen entirely.

Both longbowmen and crossbowmen wore leather armor and iron helmets, carrying no melee weapons, making them pure ranged units.

With his remaining manpower, Sun Li recruited a few scout cavalry to supplement reconnaissance, but most became engineers. These engineers, armed with short swords, were only marginally stronger than militia, but their skills in operating siege engines and heavy machinery were indispensable.

He produced ten ballistae and twenty small torsion catapults. These machines, though not counting toward his population limit, were too cumbersome for field battles—they’d barely be in place before the beastmen were upon them. However, with engineers on hand, all manner of siege equipment could be constructed from local materials as needed.

For his veteran spearmen, Sun Li spent resources to equip them with iron-tipped pikes to counter possible wolf-rider attacks. All archer units were rearmed with English longbows and incorporated into the longbow corps as junior officers.

Ryan, a former spearman promoted to sergeant, was appointed commander of the pike phalanx. Robin, a former archer likewise promoted, was made chief of the ranged forces. The rest of the troops answered directly to Sun Li. Two hundred Mamluk heavy cavalry served as his personal guard. Thus, a simple yet efficient legion was born.

Although the system’s upgrade had improved his soldiers’ intelligence, they were still only earnest, slow-witted “normal people.” Sun Li dared not trust them with independent command, so he only promoted two quick-witted sergeants to lead units after their upgrade; overall command would remain in his own hands.

As he pondered his next move, a notification sounded:

“Ding! Population has reached five thousand. Gunpowder Age upgrade quest unlocked: Annihilate the Beastman Empire! You must command at least one thousand native inhabitants of any intelligent race. (This system is for military conquest only. If you exterminate all the people, unpredictable consequences will occur. Host, please act with caution!)”

“Xiaobai, what consequences would come from killing everyone?” Sun Li asked curiously.

“Lord, that information is provided by the system’s programming. I’m only your assistant spirit, not some all-knowing gadget!” Xiaobai replied indignantly.

“Oh, no wonder every mission prompt sounds so stiff—it’s nothing like your cheeky tone,” Sun Li retorted, by now thoroughly used to mocking Xiaobai.

For Xiaobai, this was just one of Sun Li’s many petty flaws and was easily ignored; the more one reasoned with him, the more he basked in his own sense of perfection.

A day later, recruitment was complete, and Sun Li began training the various branches to operate in concert. The system’s troops were all well-drilled regulars, so it took only two weeks of integration for them to reach flawless coordination.

“Obedient, disciplined troops really are the best to command!” Sun Li thought, deeply enamored with this loyal, reliable army that only needed food and shelter and demanded not a single coin in wages.

As Sun Li trained his forces, city construction was also proceeding at full speed. Thanks to the farmers’ efficient labor, a stone wall nearly a hundred square kilometers in circumference now enclosed the city. A small stream ran through its heart. Gates stood at each cardinal direction, with large arrow towers at every corner. Centered on the lord’s manor, residential houses, taverns, and barracks crisscrossed the city in an orderly layout.

Sun Li intended only system-generated characters to inhabit this city, so he set no military restricted zones—everything was arranged for convenience. Farmland and livestock within the walls made the city fully self-sufficient, and under normal circumstances, it would remain completely sealed off from the outside world.

The city appeared well-organized, but despite Xiaobai’s persistent complaints, Sun Li was quite pleased with himself for bestowing it a thoroughly vulgar name.