596 Chasing profits Part 2 (1/2)
The situation in Sikeqinya was still considered stable, because Sikeqinya was bordered by many mountains. The knights from Holy See could not breach it for the time being. The thing so worrying was that mercenaries from Sikeqinya had seized the opportunity to enter Loulan, because Sikeqinya was not involved in the war.
The Tanggulasi Empire had hired many low grade mercenary groups to defend the castles, while its own army was assembling at Loulan's border. This meant that these mercenaries had helped the Tanggulasi Empire save on a lot of manpower, thus the empire could concentrate all its efforts on dealing with Qin, which was a tough nut to crack.
Mercenaries and businessmen were the same type of people, they could not care less whether or not the Tanggulasi Empire would turn around and invade Sikeqinya after achieving victory. At the moment, Tanggulasi had obtained large amounts of resources in Sikeqinya, using less than half the original duration to ship these things to Loulan's borders.
”Stupid people!” Saleen thought to himself. Even though Sikeqinya was his home country, he had great contempt towards the short-sightedness of Sikeqinyans.
”Aini's concern shouldn't be coming true. Holy Rock City had hired more than ten-thousand mercenaries to be stationed along the Red River. So this five-thousand man mercenary team in Qin's hinterland should not meet with any trouble. Who is able to attack such a large group?”
Julian was forcefully held back, he only returned to camp after the meal.
The Purple Smoke Mercenary Group did not cause trouble for Saleen. Towards a team with less than one-hundred people, this five-thousand man mercenary group was not worried at all. This mercenary group had two grade-6 mages and a dozen low grade mages, it was also considered a mighty force.
Su returned. Using a pair of alchemical binoculars to observe the surroundings, he came back and told Saleen, ”Sir, this bunch of mercenaries are formidable!”
Saleen was intrigued, then asked, ”Why do you say so?”
”We have used less than one-thousand people to defeat more than ten-thousand bandits, but we surely cannot replicate our victory in a fight against these five-thousand mercenaries.” Su's eyes were ablaze with energy. Ever since he arrived on the mainland plane, he had only seen Lex's army, but he knew that Lex's method of cultivating an army was very costly. Those mercenaries he just observed possessed inferior equipment as compared to Lex's swordsman's camp, but their offensive power was much higher.
”If you charge into their camp alone, can you kill Dennis?” Saleen recalled the incident where a Silver Grand Swordmaster had charged into Lex's camp.
”No, they have two grade-6 mages and numerous other swordmasters. The layout of the camp is very systematic, I don't have any idea of how to achieve a breakthrough. I might get surrounded after killing a few hundred people.”
”How many people do you need to triumph over this mercenary group?”
”If Sir is accompanying me and soldiers of similar quality are available, I will require two to three thousand people. If I have Lex's soldiers, I only need one-thousand people. If my men are wearing the Spirit Snake Armor… I will be able to defeat them with a hundred men.”
”Only a hundred men?”
”Sir, these one-hundred people are high grade swordmasters. After donning the Spirit Snake Armor, their abilities will be equivalent to that of a Zun Grand Swordmaster. Even so, I cannot exterminate the enemy, I can only defeat them completely.”
”That's more like it, the trusted soldiers serving a normal noble are only swordsmen, and even a wealthy person like Aini can only gather fifty swordmasters. One-hundred high grade swordmasters wearing the Spirit Snake Armor will translate into a very high cost too. Even though I cannot manufacture the Spirit Snake Armor, I have comprehended its principles. A few more expeditions to the Frozen Sea and I will be able to amass the materials needed to craft armor for an emblem group. Currently, it is meaningless for me to expand the army, but it is still necessary to groom a one-thousand man team. These one-thousand people can be expended as if they are ten-thousand men.”
”Su, when we return to Metatrin City, I will allow you to form an emblem group to follow me into battle. In this emblem group, everyone has to at least be at the standard of a high grade swordmaster. They will don magic equipment and a mage will be allocated to the five brigades. There will also be an additional five-thousand auxiliary troops. The standard of the auxiliary troops will emulate that of the Purple Smoke Mercenary Group.”
Su smiled, ”Sir was still very generous, he is willing to spend so much money to equip an army. This is the magnanimity of a monarch. Mm, Sir is a mage, not a monarch, but it is the same. Even though I cannot return to the subcontinent plane, it will be pretty good to carve out a career on this plane too.”
In his mind, Saleen was thinking, ”The real crisis will only unfold after a year. No matter how weak the Qin army is, it will not allow the knights from the Holy See to breach their defenses in one year. In a year, Lex's Metal Titan will have recovered. By then, even if the Tanggulasi people possess large sieging appliances, the Metal Titan will also destroy them. Without large equipment, it will be impossible to breach Metatrin City with simple tools like ladders. Fycro has said that the subordinates of the Holy See's oracles will not aid the Tanggulasi Empire in battling Metatrin City. Since the Holy See will be fighting on several fronts, it is not possible for it deploy so many holy masters to my city. The longer the duration elapsed, the more advantageous it will be for me. Two years later, mages from the Sregl Island will arrive. Once the thirty-six magical towers are constructed, Metatrin City will be solid as gold. In this one year gap, I can hire Sikeqinya's mercenaries to help me guard against Phoenix Duchy's line of defense. As long as the mercenaries can hold the fort for one year, I don't have to worry anymore. Sikeqinyans, aye…”
The team only set off at noon on the second day. The whole merchant convoy was located in the middle, while Saleen's team was placed at the rear. Accompanied by people from the merchant convoy, Dennis specially sent a brigade of two-hundred men to merge with Saleen's team.
He was not too worried about any ill intentions the guards from the Clyde family might have, he was concerned that the merchant convoy would be threatened from the rear. If these over fifty people got flustered, then the whole team would be affected.