Chapter 133: Knight Apprentice, An Invitation

After the Battle of the Lonely Mountain, Allen had ordered one thousand sets of plate armor suitable for humans, as well as one thousand sets of horse armor for heavy cavalry, from Thorin II, who had just reclaimed the Lonely Mountain, to serve as supplies for his preparations for a heavy cavalry unit.

Originally, this shipment of armor should have been delivered before the new year; after all, Thorin had personally promised Allen that fifty sets could be completed each year, so it was already a bit late.

Gloin, who led the team, told Allen that because of the Easterlings, the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain had been exceptionally busy last year, and due to preparations against the Easterlings' attacks, the Lonely Mountain, which was not particularly rich in iron ore, truly could not smelt enough raw materials to complete Allen's order.

It was only in the latter half of last year, 2942, that Rhovanion entered a relatively stable state, and the Dwarves only then began to continue forging armor for Allen, which was why it was a bit late.

However, Gloin stated that the fifty sets of armor for this year would definitely be completed within the stipulated time.

Regarding Gloin's explanation, Allen expressed his understanding; after all, the Easterlings' attacks had also disrupted many of his own plans, and given the excellent relationship between the two sides, this minor matter was nothing at all.

Allen warmly urged Gloin and his companions to stay, and after treating them well in Wilderness Town for two days, he finally let the Dwarves return to the Lonely Mountain.

Subsequently, Allen looked at the plate armor forged by the Dwarves and felt a bit worried.

It was not that the quality failed to meet Allen's expectations; even with his perspective, which surpassed this era, these suits of armor were enough to be called excellent.

It was just that, in Allen's view, these suits of armor with their strong Dwarven style might be a bit too cumbersome for his subordinates.

One could tell without detailed measurement that the armor, crafted from large, thick sheets of pure steel, far exceeded the thickness Allen could comprehend. Places like the armpits or the joints, besides being protected by steel plates, were covered on the inside with double-layered, fine metal mesh, which protected the wearer without hindering their performance in battle.

Moreover, this set of plate armor included a breastplate, pauldrons, greaves, leg guards, and a battle skirt made of overlapping steel plates, topped off with a great helm with wings on both sides and a face mask.

If one had to describe it, this armor was truly like the set Thorin II wore during the Battle of the Lonely Mountain, only the proportions had been scaled up significantly, and the design had been adjusted to be more suitable for cavalry—for instance, the steel battle skirt could be freely detached and assembled by the wearer, making it convenient to protect both sides of the thighs while on horseback, and the overall design of the armor could also better accommodate the adjustable steel-plated horse armor.

It was truly good; Thorin absolutely did not cut corners on this batch of armor, and in Allen's view, any set taken at random from these was far superior to the one on King Harlaus, and could even rival some of the plate armor in Pendor; likewise, the requirements for physical fitness were also much higher.

Of course, Allen did not think Thorin had specifically used thicker steel plates to forge this batch of armor because of their friendship; this clearly did not fit the requirements for use, as thicker meant heavier, and it would be no good if one couldn't move after putting it on.

Since it wasn't intentional on Thorin's part, this situation could only point to one fact: on this land of Middle-earth, the high-level human soldiers who were native to the region had physical fitness far better than Allen had imagined, and they surely had enough strength to wear this extremely heavy plate armor and dominate the battlefield.

However, his own cavalry were not natives of Middle-earth, and in Allen's view, they likely lacked the strength to comfortably wear this heavy plate armor.

The knights from the Kingdom of Swadia might be a bit better off, as they originally wore chainmail plate armor, which was already quite heavy, and they might have adapted after wearing it for a period of time.

But those Khergit Lancer, their strength was about one-fifth weaker than the Swadian Knight, and they had previously worn only simple scale armor; it was estimated that it would be difficult for them to utilize this heavier plate armor in a short time, and they made up the vast majority of Allen's cavalry, with even more being Khergit Rider who had never even worn scale armor before.

However, while this problem could not be solved in the short term, it would slowly change as time passed.

Because Allen had brought the training methods of the Griffin Knight Order out of the Pendor continent and handed them to the Knight Commander directly under his command, having them drill according to the Griffin Knight training methods.

Allen had never expected his own cavalry to gain the powerful combat effectiveness of the Griffin Knight in a short time; it was not that he doubted the Griffin Knight training methods, as the Griffin Knight Order was, after all, the royal guard of the Pendor monarchy in the past, and their strength was well-verified.

It was just that they were all cultivated from childhood, trained until adulthood and passing assessments before they were considered official members of the Knight Order, with very high requirements, and the combat effectiveness of official knights was relatively much more stable. Allen's subordinates were already adults, and starting training now was actually a bit late; Allen felt it would be enough if they could increase their physical fitness even a little.

Moreover, with the start of training, Allen also needed to purchase a large amount of auxiliary supplies in the Pendor continent. Some meat could be substituted, as the animal husbandry in Horse Pasture Village and the farming in Wilderness Town already had a certain scale, and providing some meat was feasible, but other supplies required Allen to spend Dinar to purchase them specifically in the Simulator, such as a special medicinal herb used for bathing.

According to his subordinate, in the Pendor continent, every renowned Knight Order had its own method of tempering physical fitness, even the Ebony Knight, who were not favored by most people, were no exception, and the training grounds that cultivated national fighting machines also had a set of effective methods, though they were cheaper and less effective.

Although the details of each family's methods differed, the basic principles were similar: using food to supplement nutrition, special training methods to absorb nutrition and increase strength, and then using medicine to treat hidden injuries caused by training, thereby continuously improving physical fitness. Of course, combat techniques still had to be improved through constant sparring and fighting.

Not all training methods were without side effects. In his subordinate's emphasis, Allen learned that in the Empire, there was a type of soldier called the Imperial Gladiator; their training method focused on improving the warrior's explosive power, but it greatly reduced their stamina recovery speed and lifespan, making these Imperial Two-Handed Swordsman, known as "mad dogs," able to wear only very light leather armor to fight on the battlefield, and some even did not wear helmets to avoid wasting their stamina; it could be said to be a very extreme and powerful type of soldier.

The Griffin Knight training method was very balanced and had no side effects, but it required strict adherence to the requirements, and not a single Dinar that shouldn't be saved could be saved. However, the benefit was that once a knight was formed, the cost was not as high as during training; later on, to maintain powerful combat effectiveness, their expenses were only slightly higher than those of a Swadian Knight.

In addition to having the existing cavalry train in the direction of the Griffin Knight, Allen also issued a decree to recruit Knight Apprentice, and any youth between the ages of eight and fifteen could sign up, regardless of gender.

Recruiting young girls was not because Allen felt that in this era and environment of Middle-earth, women could hold up half the sky; Allen still preferred to let men face the cruel front-line battlefield.

It was just that in Middle-earth, the physical fitness of humans was indeed much better than that of people in his hometown, and women could also exert extremely high combat effectiveness after receiving some military training; the Easterlings provided a very good example for Allen in this regard.

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Moreover, Allen recruiting young girls was not to have them serve as shock cavalry or infantry holding the line. After all, besides the Griffin Knight training methods, he also had Ranger like the Holimion who focused on mounted archery. It was not that the Twilight Knight could not be used as shock cavalry; their physical fitness, which far exceeded that of ordinary people, and their powerful combat effectiveness, combined with the Elf Horse that were born with armor, meant they were not at all sloppy when charging infantry formations, and they could cause massive casualties to the enemy in a very short time.

It was just that they, who had fought against the Gatu for years, preferred to rely on exquisite horsemanship and precise archery skills to deal fatal blows to the enemy. The few Elves were actually unwilling to choose to confront the enemy head-on most of the time, especially the Gatu who were keen on "pig-rush" tactics.

In this regard, Allen felt it was very suitable for girls. The simplified training method of the Holimion could not bring about too much improvement in physical fitness because these Noldor Elves were naturally very powerful, and with different bloodlines and increasing age, their strength would become stronger and stronger.

If one were to use data to represent physical fitness, an average Swadian Knight would be around twenty, while a formed Griffin Knight could reach forty to fifty, which also depended on individual talent.

And an Elf Noble like Risadilan could reach at least sixty, an average Twilight Knight could easily exceed eighty, and an elite like Holimion definitely had a score exceeding one hundred.

Even so, Holimion was not the ceiling of combat power in the Pendor continent. Elven leaders like Aldaria and Isilindil, as well as the Slayer Wolfbird, whom Allen had personally faced and who was known as "Uncle Wolf," had physical fitness of at least one hundred and fifty or more; their combat effectiveness had reached the level of a Demigod.

As for Allen himself, after multiple enhancements, he could at most fight to a draw with an average Twilight Knight. This was only in terms of physical fitness; in terms of combat skills, even after receiving special training in Elacrai for a period of time, Allen was not as powerful as his own personal guards.

Therefore, the meditation methods summarized by the naturally powerful Elves over a long period of time focused more on improving horse-riding skills and shooting accuracy, which was very suitable for Ranger who spent most of their time performing reconnaissance or harassment.

Girls who already had decent physical fitness could fully qualify for this work after training, and Wilderness Town already had a successful precedent. Allen's maid, Alice, after a year of training, was already quite capable on horseback, and her combat effectiveness was not at all inferior to a Khuzaid Horse Archer, though she could not pull a heavy hard bow, so Allen needed to prepare relatively shorter soft bows for them.

Allen's original plan was to directly equip them with the Ebony Sniper; this weapon, which could fire seven crossbow bolts in one reload, seemed more suitable for these women. However, to equip these repeating crossbows from the Pendor continent on a large scale now required a large amount of Mithril, which Allen did not have.

And Ebony, which was also an extremely precious material in the Pendor continent, was something Allen could not purchase through the Simulator for the time being. He estimated that he would need to wait until he became a lord and established relevant Knight Order chapels; for example, the standard equipment for a Griffin Knight included melee weapons like the Ebony Longsword.

Of course, Allen could also contact the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain to recover Moria, which was still occupied by Orcish, and obtain a large amount of Mithril from there, but that was a bit unrealistic at the moment. If it were just Orcish, it would be fine; they were like grasshoppers after the frost and couldn't stir up much trouble. But the Balrog still entrenched there was something Allen had no good way to deal with; he couldn't force Gandalf to level up right now.

Not to mention that Allen could not make such a request to his friend at all, the possibility of Gandalf agreeing was also extremely small. After all, this Grey Wizard had a clear understanding of his own combat effectiveness; unless forced, he would not let himself be in that kind of irredeemable situation. After seeing the Balrog, running was the first choice for this Maia.

Therefore, Allen felt it was better to plan for the long term regarding these missing things for now; this matter, however, did not hinder him from striving in a better direction.

Regarding his own cavalry, Allen's current idea was very simple: male shock cavalry trained like Griffin Knight would serve as the trump card to settle the outcome on the front-line battlefield, while female light cavalry trained according to the simplified version of the Twilight Knight would complete most of the reconnaissance and harassment work.

The order of recruitment was Kujit, Swadians, and Rodok first, with the natives of Middle-earth second. Currently, the only soldiers the Simulator could acknowledge were the fiefdom residents who were summoned. Allen could spend a certain amount of reputation to recruit them as soldiers, so the Simulator would have a certain constraint on these people; correspondingly, they would also receive the bonus of James's super-high medical skills, making it easier for them to survive after being injured on the battlefield.

The fiefdom residents of Middle-earth could not receive this bonus, so for the more dangerous shock cavalry, Allen preferred to recruit the descendants of those who were summoned. However, in the decree issued by Allen, he proposed the idea of voluntariness; there must absolutely be no forced behavior.

It was just that in order to form this cavalry unit, Allen was prepared to enfeoff large tracts of land in eastern Rhovanion. As long as these cavalry were formed and made contributions on the battlefield, they would immediately become the first batch of Manor Lord under Allen's command. After all, separated by a large dark forest, Allen could not effectively control that area, so enfeoffing it was a very reasonable approach, and it was inevitable that higher-ranking nobles would emerge from these cavalry to manage the vast land and large population there for Allen.

Such a reward was simply too tempting for young people who wanted to make a name for themselves. Many active soldiers entrusted others to ask Allen if they were willing to let them try the possibility of joining the cavalry. Allen did not refuse this; the wider the group the upward channel faced, the better it was for his own rule, and he could also find more talent.

Just like that, the selection work for the cavalry members unfolded vigorously. Many soldiers stationed in Long Lake Town and Heidelberg returned to Wilderness Town to participate in this activity. Anyway, Allen only wanted the best, and the age must not exceed twenty-five; if they were too old, the training results would be greatly reduced, and on the other hand, after they were trained, they would be old, and the service time would be a bit too short for Allen's investment.

Originally, Allen thought he could preside over this matter smoothly and watch the birth of one thousand reserve cavalry with his own eyes, but a team of Elves from Lothlorien very politely brought a message from Lady Galadriel to Allen.

This most powerful Elf in Middle-earth hoped that Allen could take the spoils of war from Long Lake Town and head to Lothlorien as soon as possible to attend this meeting convened by the White Council, and indicated that Allen's good friend, Gandalf, was already waiting for Allen's arrival in Caras Galadhon.

This invitation directly disrupted Allen's plans; after all, he was not yet ready to face Saruman.