311: Chapter 153: The second time building an army, the team is in its initial stage 311: Chapter 153: The second time building an army, the team is in its initial stage Leon tallied the funds at his disposal.
He currently had approximately 5,077 gold crowns, but for the moment, there were only 177 in Selva’s small treasury.
Certainly, this wasn’t the Sealing Lord reneging on a debt—it was just that Baron Eriv had come and gone in haste, definitely not carrying so much money with him, so he had first given him a hundred Orland gold coins, with the remaining 4,900 gold crowns to be sent from Archers Castle later, escorted by knights to be handed over to him.
However, it would be in the form of Kantadar gold coins.
Evidently, the Thorny Flower Family had spent a vast amount of their held Orland gold crowns on the war before it began; hence, most of their cash on hand must be funds plundered from this bold gamble.
One wonders how many pearls the former Lord of Archers Castle, likely deployed on the Mamor Front, would shed upon learning the dire news of his home being stealthily plundered.
Leon also sincerely took this vivid example as a cautionary tale.
As the saying goes, “When my neighbor stocks grain, I stock guns; my neighbor is my granary.”
He did not want to throw all of his wealth into a treasury to gather dust and repeat the tragedy of tailoring a wedding dress for someone else; Leon wouldn’t hesitate to spend money on creating armed forces to protect the family, partners, and homeland he now had.
The armory in the barracks had enough armor and weapons to fully equip over fifty professional warriors with iron helmets, chain mail shirts, arm guards, shin armor, spears, and various types of shields.
Sourcing soldiers was simple: he could recruit directly from those who had fought in the Lunca Battle across three territories based on merit.
Adequately equipped and having undergone a bloodied trial, these young men now only lacked a period of more specialized, focused training.
He wasn’t worried about not being able to recruit enough soldiers; as long as payments were timely, a professional soldier’s annual salary of 11 gold crowns was enough to change one’s income and status, compelling enough to cause a rush for the opportunity.
However, during the calculation of rewards for killing enemies, soldiers who performed exceptionally well in the Lunca Battle had already been preliminarily recorded, and Leon planned to recruit from among these brave men based on merit.
As such, after calculation by all, the maintenance cost for over fifty full-time chain armor infantry, including military pay, provisions, and other expenses, amounted to roughly 680 gold crowns per year.
Besides the main infantry force, the severely reduced archer unit also needed a reinforcement of manpower.
The battle of Lunca had highlighted just how remarkable the damage caused by ranged weapons against targets without armor was under the appropriate conditions.
However, compared to infantry, recruitment of longbowmen proved much more difficult; there were few who knew archery to begin with, and to train non-archery civilians into qualified archers from scratch would take at least two to three years…
The period between investment and return was just too long, making Leon understand why mercenaries were so prevalent on this continent.
Often, facing imminent war, it was impractical for Lords to train a skilled force from scratch.
It was more efficient to hire existing professional mercenaries to fight the war, similar to the support that Sir Redo’s forces provided during the Lunca Battle.
“Lord, since we are currently well-funded and you are not planning to hire mercenaries, I suggest sending someone to River Valley County to order a batch of light crossbows from the ‘Silver Mountain City’ Craftsmen Guild,” Mr.
confidently proposed.
“Our barracks’ training and archery ranges are already usable, and in just three months, I can train a group of qualified crossbowmen for you.”
He remembered that crossbows could also be purchased from the merchant guilds in Farolis City, and wondered why they would choose a farther county, increasing the transportation costs significantly.
“The craftsmanship of Silver Mountain City’s Craftsmen Guild has been passed down from the last ‘Dwarf’ craftsman master in the history of the Kingdom; their crossbows and other such equipment, though pricey, are of much higher quality than those made by regular artisans,” Mr.
“A Dwarf craftsman master?” Leon’s interest was piqued, but noticing the mention of price by Brian, he asked, “How expensive will it be?”
“The ‘Mechanical Crossbows’ famous in Silver Mountain City are extravagantly priced, but extravagant weapons are unnecessary for Selva.
However, the ordinary light crossbows, while still costing far more than regular crossbows, are needed in limited quantities; hence, assuming the cost is worthwhile for the combat efficiency they bring.
After all, the expense of training another group of archers is likely far greater than buying light crossbows…
that is, assuming their market price hasn’t changed much from the past,” Brian replied thoughtfully, recollecting the memory.
“I estimate that a light crossbow from Silver Mountain City would cost around twenty gold crowns today.”
Leon’s eyebrows twitched in surprise.
In the market, a complete set of chain armor infantry equipment, complete with a helmet, arm guards, and shin armor, cost only five gold crowns, while a Silver Mountain-produced light crossbow was enough to fully arm four armored infantry.
According to Brian, to equip a force with thirty Silver Mountain light crossbows, it’d be best to also provide tower shields, light armor, and personal swords and knives for the crossbowmen.
Personal weapons were plentiful in the arsenal, but the shield and light armor for the shooters had to be purchased separately.
This armament would make the cost of these crossbowmen soar to twenty-five gold crowns per person.
Thus, another 750 gold coins would be spent like water.
This was just the one-time expenses of forming an army, and mixed with the scarce archers, the maintenance cost for this crossbowmen unit of approximately forty-five men would exceed 600 gold coins a year.