The Choice of Troop Upgrades

To be honest, Shen Mu was genuinely happy.

After all, 30 Swadian Footmen, 50 Swadian Peasants, and 25 Swadian Robbers, a total of 105 people, had joined.

Adding his current 45 members, Shen Mu's subordinates had directly reached the significant milestone of 150 people!

This increase in strength made Shen Mu truly delighted.

"First, let our friends who have traveled a long way eat their fill, and then get a good night's rest. Starting tomorrow morning, they will be put to work in the busy tasks of our stronghold."

Shen Mu made the arrangements.

He had the Footmen, who were also Swadians, first welcome these deserters, refugees, and robbers into the room where the Wheat Field was located.

After all, the rules of the Mount & Blade world were present there, not the rules of the Undead World, making it very suitable for rest.

"We... are grateful for your acceptance, Lord Shen Mu!"

The refugees and robbers were all deeply moved. They bowed respectfully to Shen Mu one by one at the long table before entering the Wheat Field room.

Especially the 30 Swadian Footmen who were still standing in a line. After being defeated on the front lines, they had no choice but to become deserters. Due to shame, they didn't want to and didn't dare to return to the new capital, Praven. That's why they came to join Shen Mu, hoping to shed their identity as deserters and have a fresh start.

Upon arriving here, Lord Shen Mu indeed did not pursue their current status and still treated them as the Swadian Footmen they once were.

How could this not make these Footmen, who had experienced being deserters, feel grateful and extremely moved?

Therefore, after the 30 Swadian Footmen thumped their chests, they turned and entered the room where the Wheat Field was located. Their faces were solemn, and their eyes were red, clearly indicating that their loyalty to Shen Mu had reached its maximum!

Or rather, soldiers who came to this different world were generally trustworthy in terms of loyalty.

But sometimes, extremely high loyalty meant being willing to fight to the death for a name, a slogan, or an order.

As these newly joined Swadian Footmen entered the Wheat Field room, the kitchen in the Stronghold Main House became busy again.

That was the Mercenary Sentinel helping out.

Fresh Wheat Porridge, crispy baked Bread chunks, and Blue Star native syrup simmering in small pots.

There were also chopped vegetables of various kinds and various types of beans that had been found.

As well as frozen meat and canned goods, etc.

All of these were mixed together and added to the large pot, making the boiling Wheat Porridge even more flavorful.

For Shen Mu, this kind of stew didn't taste as good as his own canned food.

But for the Mount & Blade Soldiers who came from impoverished backgrounds and a backward era, these foods, especially those with various seasonings that, while not having nourishing effects, still provided sweetness and saltiness, were nothing short of delicacies!

"Phew... it's really delicious! It's too good!"

"Even the landlords in our place can't eat this!"

"Delicious! Wheat Porridge with salt!"

"And Bread smeared with sugar! It's sweeter than honey!"

"It's the same as what the manor lords in our place eat!"

So, in the Wheat Field, the newly joined Swadian Footmen, the arriving Swadian Refugees, and the Robbers all held wooden bowls and ate the still-hot food in large mouthfuls.

They ate ravenously, even sucking on their fingers, which were dirty from traveling and hadn't been washed, if there were food scraps on them.

Their faces were filled with expressions of intoxication.

Seeing this, the Mercenary Sentinel who had carried over the large pot, small pots, and baked Bread, had a somewhat strange expression.

Of course, these were the Mount & Blade Soldiers' own matters.

Shen Mu, on the other hand, was still busy with his own affairs.

"It's almost dawn in about 3 hours..."

Shen Mu estimated the time. This was a skill that every Blue Star person who had entered the terrifying era of Necromantic Rules now possessed.

So he reached out and gently twisted the silver ring on his left index finger, the Low-level Supply Ring from the Empire of Einfast.

"Use!" Shen Mu communicated with the system.

The system then communicated with the Low-Tier Battlefield Magic infused within the ring.

Buzz—

A very special fluctuation instantly began to emerge from Shen Mu's brow and then acted on the silver ring on his finger.

Then, in an instant, it erupted, mixed with countless tiny data streams, and suddenly landed on many Mount & Blade Soldiers in the Stronghold Main House.

So, in the Quivers that the Mercenary Sentinel had taken off, which were originally shriveled and only had two or three Crossbow Bolts left or none at all, tiny data streams were rapidly materializing the phantoms of Crossbow Bolts.

When the white light formed by the data streams dissipated, the originally shriveled Quivers now contained neatly arranged Crossbow Bolts with fletching, straight shafts, and iron arrowheads!

This scene also appeared in the backpacks of the Lake Rats Recruits, those fishing darts that had been thrown out.

On the roof of the second floor of the stronghold, in the wine barrel next to the ballista, those javelins that had been shot out.

At this moment, all these basic consumable weapons were replenished.

"Is this Battlefield Replenishment Magic? It's quite interesting..."

Shen Mu raised his eyebrows slightly at this moment, glancing at the mercenary sentinel's quiver placed in the corner, which had become full again, and was also a little surprised.

But the fine products from Mount & Blade were indeed surprising and delightful at the same time.

This time, he was just trying out this so-called battlefield magic.

The effect was unexpectedly good.

It was perfect.

Shen Mu was very satisfied.

"Of course." Shen Mu's thoughts communicated with the system again, and on his retina, the dialogue box refreshed again: "There are also more important troop upgrades."

[Ding! You have soldiers that can be upgraded!]
[Lake Rats Recruit × 10 people, can be upgraded to: Lake Rats Veteran Thug (Heavy Throwing Infantry)]
[Upgrading to Lake Rats Veteran Thug (Tier 3) requires 50 Denars per person.]
[Swadian Footman × 25 people, can be upgraded to: ① Swadian Footman (Heavy Melee Infantry) / ② Swadian Heavy Cavalry (Heavy Cavalry)]
[Upgrading to Swadian Footman (Tier 4) requires 100 Denars / Swadian Heavy Cavalry (Tier 4) 100 Denars per person.]
[Please make your choice.]

"It's finally here."

Shen Mu didn't care about the Denar issue.

Instead, he seriously looked at the troop upgrades in the dialogue box, especially the upgrades for the Kingdom of Swadia troops.

The upgrades for the Lake Rats troops were all heavy throwing infantry, with no branches, just climbing the upgrade tree.

But the upgrade for the Swadian Footman was different.

As a Tier 3 troop of the Kingdom of Swadia, the most important transition branch point, there were two options for upgrading to Tier 4 troops.

One was the upgraded version of the footman, the Swadian Footman.

Equipped with better coat of plates heavy chainmail, iron composite helmets, heavy fan shields, hand-and-a-half swords, and spears, they possessed standard line-holding capabilities.

They were considered qualified heavy infantry for holding the line.

But the second type was the essence of the Kingdom of Swadia.

It was also why the Kingdom of Swadia was known as invincible on the plains, capable of sweeping away all enemies, and why Harlaus could still suppress the other four kingdoms in the wild despite being so reckless –

Cavalry troops!

Among the four kingdoms that had cavalry, it was the only one that, at the Tier 4 cavalry stage, had both the cavalry and the warhorses fully armored, used lances, and were well-trained to form a cavalry wall for charging heavy cavalry!

That's right, the cavalry upgrade for the Swadian Footman was the Swadian Heavy Cavalry!

Equipped with cavalry lances over 4 meters long, heavy hand-and-a-half swords, cavalry fan shields, and combat hoes for armor penetration.

They wore coat of plates heavy chainmail, flat-topped helmets, and even had chainmail leggings on their legs.

And most importantly,

The Swadian warhorses were also covered in coat of plates chainmail.

These Swadian warhorses, bred in the Kingdom of Swadia, which focused on manor and territory economies, and trained in racecourses, were considered the best in terms of physique, speed, and strength, serving as mounts for the Swadian Heavy Cavalry.

This also created the formidable reputation of the Swadian Heavy Cavalry!

Sometimes on the battlefield.

With the Swadian Knights, who had stronger impact, leading the charge, followed by these Swadian Heavy Cavalry.

Compared to other countries, even with all Tier 5 knights, they would likely be intimidated!

Swadian Heavy Cavalry could even be classified as Tier 4.7 troops!

In the wild.

Even when encountering Tier 6 Nord Huscarls, as long as the terrain was suitable and the number of heavy cavalry was sufficient, it was really hard to say who would win!

This was the confidence of heavy cavalry!

"But how should I choose?"

Shen Mu was unable to decide for this reason.

Swadian Heavy Cavalry were really good, their combat power was strong, and their mobility and impact were invincible in confined spaces.

But it was precisely because Shen Mu considered the current confined environment.

It was still the seventh floor of the apartment.

The narrow corridor.

This directly nullifies the most cost-effective aspect of the Swadian Heavy Cavalry – their incredible mobility and excellent tactical movement on plains or in the wilderness!

And look at this 1.5-meter corridor width.

Charging in is easy.

Turning around is difficult.

"I can't possibly treat these Swadian Heavy Cavalry as single-use troops, can I?"

Shen Mu sighed, "That would be too extravagant."

It would also be too foolish.

This is truly a difficult decision.