After a dinner party, Shen Mu followed Bandak to inspect the castle, which had been named New Uxhall.
Bandak walked ahead, taking the initiative to introduce it.
"Lord, our castle, New Uxhall, has truly reached its utmost potential."
Bandak walked with Shen Mu along the castle walls, pointing to the arrow towers and battlements now garrisoned by Rodok Crossbowman, Rodok Skilled Crossbowmen, and Rhodok Veteran Crossbowman, and said confidently, "According to my calculations, this castle, currently garrisoned by nearly 1,000 people, can withstand a siege of 2,000 to 3,000 people and can hold out for one to three months."
"Hmm, very good." Shen Mu nodded.
He did not question Bandak's statement, as Bandak was well-known for his responsibility.
Moreover, Bandak's arrangements were quite reasonable and well-layered.
Adding to that, these elite Crossbowman from the Rodok Kingdom.
Any enemy wishing to approach this castle must carefully assess the accuracy of the weapons in the hands of these elite Crossbowman from the Rodok Kingdom.
Of course, according to the Rodok people's confidence, and the Rodok Kingdom's formidable reputation on Calradia.
The fate of anyone who dares to attack a Rodok Kingdom castle.
Is to be accurately struck in the head by a steel crossbow bolt.
And be shot dead on the spot.
Shen Mu was very confident in the defensive capabilities of New Uxhall, composed of these Rodok Crossbowman, some Rodok spearmen, and Swadian Light Infantry.
This was also why he placed Bandak here.
Bandak was skilled in defending cities.
Placing him here was simply perfect.
"As expected of Mr. Bandak. When I traveled across Calradia, I knew that Mr. Bandak's expertise in training Crossbowman and his experience in city defense were quite remarkable."
Knight Fatis followed behind them, also surveying this Rodok castle, and couldn't help but express his admiration and praise: "Now it seems Mr. Bandak truly lives up to his reputation."
"You flatter me, Knight Fatis, this is all to serve Respected Lord Shen Mu." Bandak humbly replied again at this moment.
The advantage of a righteous faction lies here.
If the other party does well, praise them; if they do not do well, point it out for correction.
It is always an optimistic attitude that is positive and uplifting.
"This atmosphere is great." Shen Mu was quite satisfied with this atmosphere, so after they inspected the castle of New Uxhall and confirmed that there were no problems with the castle, they returned to the castle's main hall.
"Lord Shen Mu, how should we proceed with our attack on the Green Leaf Group next?" Bandak personally placed a drink brought by a servant in front of Shen Mu and asked.
"Please make the arrangements, Lord Shen Mu." Knight Fatis also looked at Shen Mu.
"Regarding the detailed military arrangements, I also came to discuss them with both of you, as I am not very knowledgeable about pure military deployment when attacking the Wood Elf Village." Shen Mu spoke truthfully and admitted his weakness.
After all, even if the Wood Elf Village was weak at this time, it was still the stronghold of a complete force.
He had heard before that when the Diesel Company tried to attack the Wood Elf Village, they only got halfway before being forced to retreat due to threats appearing in the Wood Elf Village.
One must know that at that time, the Diesel Company was also quite powerful, with over 2,000 Pig-Headed People under its command, all burly and strong, wielding chain hammers, directly smashing any enemy appearing in front of them with a single blow.
At that time, why was the Diesel Company called the top power of Bali River Street, and even subtly seemed to be devouring the entire Long City?
It was because the Orcs owned by the Diesel Company were simply too powerful.
Of course, the Mount & Blade Soldiers that Shen Mu now possessed were definitely stronger than the Diesel Company at its peak, especially the Heavy Cavalry Corps and Heavy Mounted Archer Corps, these two cavalry corps, plus the Holy Tree Knight Legion. As long as they fought in open, flat areas, neither the Diesel Company nor the Green Leaf Group would dare to approach.
Even so, Shen Mu did not want any mistakes to occur due to his lack of command ability.
"I don't have detailed information about the Wood Elf Village, which is the Diesel Company's side, Lord Shen Mu. In that case, we'd best go scout it out."
Bandak slowly spoke at this moment, saying, "Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated. As long as we can obtain some intelligence about the Wood Elf Village, then the subsequent attack on the Green Leaf Group will be greatly aided."
"Next, Lord Shen Mu, didn't you arrange for Zhang Bo to form a negotiation team to go to the Green Leaf Group for negotiations? In that case, perhaps we can arrange for some people to enter and conduct detailed reconnaissance."
Knight Fatis also nodded and offered his suggestion: "If it's reconnaissance, we can have soldiers act as guards, and also have some cavalry act as guards, following along to report any negotiation progress. In reality, they will be reporting the punitive measures within the Green Leaf Group."
"In that case, there's no need for infantry; cavalry alone would suffice. And regarding reconnaissance, those nomads from the Kujit Steppe are all excellent at scouting. After all, even though they are nomads, they are also raiders, so there will definitely be no problem with reconnaissance." Bandak also nodded beside him, offering his suggestion.
"Hmm, so be it." Shen Mu nodded: "I do need to send Zhang Bo to form a negotiation team. So the main negotiators will be led by Zhang Bo, and then I'll send 10 Blue Star Humans along, and then I'll send 20 Khergit Mounted Archer to go with them as bodyguards."
"We believe this is feasible." Bandak and Knight Fatis both nodded.
"And in that case, the troops will begin to concentrate in the direction of New Uxhall." Shen Mu thought for a moment, then continued, "However, troop movements still need to be carried out secretly, so as not to be discovered by any Wood Elf spies who might be hiding outside our New Uxhall and Deherim."
Shen Mu was not exaggerating; he knew very well that outside his New Uxhall and Deherim, there must be some Wood Elf spies hidden among the clustered buildings.
Becoming the eyes of the Wood Elf Village, or the Green Leaf Group, to monitor their every move.
As soon as large-scale troop movements occur.
They will immediately report back.
Thus allowing the Wood Elf Village, or the Green Leaf Group, to have ample time to react. After all, it's clear that the Wood Elf's flexibility and mobility are superior to that of humans. Moreover, even if Shen Mu has more mobile cavalry units, as a military force, they still need to regroup and march.
Instead of directly throwing them into the Wood Elf Village.
Otherwise, a disorganized marching formation, once entering an enemy ambush, would truly suffer a great loss.
Shen Mu did not want any casualties among his current foundation, which was also his trump card, the cavalry units, not even among the low-ranking Mount & Blade Soldiers.
Therefore, caution was necessary.
"Lord, there's no need to do it secretly. Can't we just explain the situation to Zhang Bo and say that this is a force specially prepared by Lord Shen Mu for peace talks, intended to threaten the Green Leaf Group into agreeing to the peace talks and making them a vassal? Wouldn't that be better?" Bandak pondered for a moment and then spoke.
"What?" Shen Mu was slightly taken aback, as if he had thought of something, and let Bandak continue: "You go on."
"Lord Shen Mu, Zhang Bo must think that we hope to achieve peace talks and peace between both sides, and then in terms of rank, we hope the Wood Elf Village becomes a vassal. After all, we can say that we like the Wood Elf race, especially knowing that the Wood Elf race's archery is extremely powerful, and we want them to provide us with archery support, meaning in the upcoming battles, we can get the support of Wood Elf archers."
Bandak shrugged: "After all, anyone can see that our troops in Deherim are renowned for their powerful cavalry and heavy infantry. Although there are many archers and Crossbowman, who would dislike more elite Wood Elf archers becoming the ranged combat units in their army?"
"Oh, I understand what you mean." Knight Fatis also shrugged at this moment, a smile on his face: "Indeed, Wood Elf archers do have a great reputation among those Blue Star Humans."
Of course, Knight Fatis couldn't help but show a helpless expression when he thought about the battle that happened last night: "Unfortunately, last night, I didn't see how powerful those Wood Elf were; they were just some lightly armored Wood Elf Warriors, and then in the Castle District, they were shot dead in the outer and inner courtyards by our archers and Crossbowman."
After all, Knight Fatis had already experienced that fierce battle last night.
And it was an extremely fierce battle for those Wood Elf.
But for the Mount & Blade Soldiers.
Last night.
The battle they faced was a resounding victory!
They suffered very few casualties, or rather, no one died in battle; there were only minor injuries, serious injuries, or slight injuries.
With the help of the Eden Guard Believers.
Everyone easily regained their health.
However, the number of Wood Elf bodies that died in the castle was truly too many.
Just as Knight Fatis followed Shen Mu out of Deherim, in the Castle District, many Swadian Light Infantry and Swadian Militia were busy carrying out the corpses, intending to bury them directly in the wheat fields to become excellent organic fertilizer.
Of course, the weapons in the hands of these Wood Elf, their clothing, including various small ornaments.
Will all be collected.
These are all spoils of war.
One must know that anything from the elf race carries a nice artistic style, looking quite exquisite. At least in terms of texture and detail, they are more exquisite than most items on Calradia.
Therefore, as long as the smugglers from the Swadian Kingdom arrive, they can transport these spoils of war to Calradia.
This way, they can be sold at a very good price there.
It's easy to understand.
Although these Wood Elf weapons were just ordinary standard weapons, they were meticulously crafted by Wood Elf blacksmiths.
In terms of craftsmanship, they were definitely superior to those blacksmiths on Calradia.
In that case, whether it's the texture, forging level, or artistic appreciation style.
They are much stronger than Calradia.
The dinar sold.
Of course, there's a lot!
However, just as Knight Fatis's face showed the great victory of last night and his underestimation of the Wood Elf's close-combat abilities.
Shen Mu spoke: "Last night was a special situation; we absolutely cannot underestimate the close-combat abilities of those Wood Elf. Moreover, those Wood Elf were all wielding melee weapons and did not use bows and arrows. They must have intended to carry out a direct melee decapitation operation, and had no intention of engaging us in a war of attrition, or guerrilla warfare."
"I understand, Lord Shen Mu." Knight Fatis, seeing Shen Mu reminding him not to underestimate the Wood Elf, respectfully bowed his head and placed his hand on his chest in salute.
To express his humility.
Knight Fatis also spoke again: "However, in the future, when scouting the Green Leaf Group, which is the Wood Elf Village, I will also properly arrange for those Kujit nomads to thoroughly investigate any special features of the Wood Elf Village, to facilitate the final attack."
"Hmm, I'm glad you think that way, Fatis. Don't let the string of victories we've encountered blind you." Shen Mu nodded.
At this moment, he unconsciously looked towards the west.
According to the memories of his previous self.
That Wood Elf Village truly had some hidden depths.
He had even heard rumors that the wooden walls on the outskirts of the Wood Elf Village were made of a special type of living tree.
If the Wood Elf themselves didn't open the city gates, one wouldn't even know where the Wood Elf Village's gates were located.
Even in the Elder Treehouse at the very center of the village, if the Wood Elf began to use their special Wood Elf heritage, they could transform into a towering treant seven or eight meters tall.
Of course, these were all circulating rumors.
It was unknown whether they were true or false.
However, Shen Mu felt it was better to be cautious and investigate thoroughly first. (End of chapter)
