Knight

The baronial territory that Chen Mo took over was less than 10,000 acres in size, with a radius of only six or seven kilometers. The population was about three or four thousand, and it could only support a few hundred soldiers at most without affecting the normal operation of the territory.

Medieval Europe was plagued by poverty and material scarcity, making the burden of supporting the army very heavy. Noble Lord usually only kept a small standing army and would temporarily conscript civilians when war was needed.

Wars in this era relied primarily on Knight, and the number of Knight Lord commanded determined his military strength.

Knight equipped with warhorses, heavy armor, and longswords have an overwhelming advantage in battles against infantry.

However, well-equipped Knight also require a lot of money from the Lord to support them. Although the Knight are equipped with all their own gear, the cost of maintaining a Knight's daily expenses is extremely high. Even noble Lord with large tracts of land and serfs cannot afford to support too many Knights.

Well-equipped and powerful Knight were the strongest fighting force on the battlefields of medieval Europe, and also the most valuable asset of noble Lord.

The wealthier a nobleman is, the more Knight he can support, and the stronger he becomes.

Many minor nobles had limited financial resources and were simply unable to afford the enormous expenses of supporting Knight. They could only fight with infantry. Once they encountered an attack from noble troops with Knight, they could only retreat and defend. Pure infantry fighting head-on with Knight troops usually resulted in a crushing defeat.

The baronial territory occupied by Chen Mo originally had eight Knights, which was considered quite powerful among the Lord in the area. However, they all perished in the battle against the invading werewolf pack.

The most powerful Count Valen in this region commands as many as fifty Knight, along with nearly a hundred Knight and thousands of elite infantry, enough to handle a werewolf invasion of average size.

Knight were second only to nobles in status, and to some extent, they could be considered the lowest level of the noble class. As full-time soldiers, they fought for the Lord they were loyal to.

Some Knight made outstanding contributions would be granted land by their Lord and become minor Lord with fiefdoms.

This was also the only way for ordinary people to become nobles.

However, becoming Knight was not an easy thing. All the equipment Knight had to provide, including his warhorse, armor, sword, shield and spear, had to be provided by himself. In medieval Europe, an era with extremely low productivity, the value of this equipment was extremely high. A single warhorse cost as much as twelve gold coins, which was equivalent to the value of six strong bulls.

Ironware was also very expensive; a longsword was worth seven gold coins, while a full set of armor, including a helmet, breastplate, and leg guards, was worth as much as twenty-four gold coins, equivalent to two warhorses.

Adding in other equipment, the cost of arming a Knight is close to fifty gold coins, enough to buy more than twenty bulls.

This is an astronomical figure for ordinary Europe families. Many farmers can't even afford a cow, and this amount of money is equivalent to several decades of their income.

Such a huge expense is unaffordable not only for commoners, but even for many minor nobles.

Therefore, the number of Knight is actually not large. Ordinary commoners rarely have the opportunity to become Knight. The vast majority of Knight are born into Knight families or are noble children without inheritance rights. They receive Knight training from a young age, and their families provide them with all the necessary equipment after they come of age.

Wealthy noble families were fine, but ordinary Knight families usually only had one set of ancestral equipment, passed down from father to son. If two sons were born and the family did not have enough money to purchase another set of equipment, then the younger son would not be able to become Knight.

Andrew, whom Chen Mo rescued, came from such an ordinary Knight family.

As the youngest son, Andrew received Knight training from his father from a young age, but because his family could no longer afford to buy him an expensive set of Knight gear, he could only join the Lord's army as an ordinary soldier, hoping to make military achievements through battle, receive the baron's reward, and one day become a true Knight.

Unfortunately, more than a decade has passed. Although he has killed countless enemies on the battlefield and even personally killed more than one werewolf, he is still just an ordinary soldier, unchanged except for the countless scars on his body and the increasingly weathered wrinkles on his face.

Powerful Knight, extraordinary lives, and beautiful noble ladies—they were all so far removed from him.

Disheartened, Andrew left his hometown and the army he had fought for for many years and came to this village.

He decided to succumb to fate, abandon his long-held ideals, and simply live a quiet and ordinary life as a commoner.

Now, he, who had given up, seems to see hope in Chen Mo for realizing his ideals.

He had witnessed Chen Mo's power firsthand, and now that Chen Mo had become their new Lord and entrusted him with important responsibilities, he was incredibly excited. He also secretly vowed to be loyal to Chen Mo to the death, not only to repay Chen Mo for saving his life and recognizing his talent, but also to realize his long-held dream of becoming a powerful Knight.

His dream was soon half realized.

All eight Knights who originally lived in the territory died in the previous werewolf invasion. Together with the baron who also died, a total of nine sets of somewhat damaged Knight armor and weapons were left behind.

Chen Mo completely disregarded the valuable Knight equipment and bestowed it directly upon Andrew and the other nine people he had rescued.

They were rescued from the jaws of wolves by Chen Mo in Extremis. As their savior and new Lord, their loyalty to Chen Mo was beyond question.

Of course, they can't be considered Knight yet. Apart from Andre, who possesses the powerful martial arts required of Knight, the others, while not lacking in courage to fight werewolves, are still far inferior in strength.

It's important to understand that true Knight undergo systematic Knight training from a young age, including physical fitness, horsemanship, swordsmanship, and hand-to-hand combat. A qualified Knight can kill a wild boar with his bare hands without wearing any armor. Not just anyone can become Knight simply by putting on Knight gear.

Of course, the other eight people besides Andrew were not entirely useless. When the werewolves invaded the village, most of them were panicked and even cried in despair, without any will to resist.

However, they dared to face the werewolves head-on and fight back bravely. Under Andrew's command, they used their rudimentary weapons and the advantage of the terrain to block the werewolves' attack. From this point of view, they still have the potential to become Knight, which is exactly what Chen Mo values.

Based on Chen Mo's observation, these people were extremely loyal to him and had a certain amount of combat talent, which was enough for Chen Mo. As for their strength, he could cultivate it slowly.

Moreover, Chen Mo still has many good things in his space that he hasn't taken out yet.