Chapter 173: Arrangements Before Heading South (Part 2)

Taking a large-scale cavalry force on a long journey is not actually something that can be done just by saying so, because not having infantry and wagons to transport large quantities of supplies is a very inconvenient matter.

Replacing this with spare horses for transport can increase the marching speed, but the carrying capacity is very small.

As a Kujit who has lived on horseback for years, Tuoju offered a suggestion to Allen when delivering horses to Wilderness Town: bring more mares and consume dried meat, which has a very long storage life and is filling.

However, most of the dried meat stored in Horse Pasture Village has not undergone much preparation, so it tastes terrible, and untreated mare's milk has a very strong gamey smell; after drinking it for a long time, one's whole body reeks of that gamey odor.

If Allen and his party arrived at Minas Tirith smelling of gamey odor, they might be mocked by some dim-witted Gondor nobles, and Allen did not want to stage a scene of "acting tough and getting slapped in the face" in Minas Tirith.

For this reason, he did not adopt this suggestion, as there were better options: emergency rations from the Dúnedain, Cram commonly used by Northern Men, and Honey Cake from the Beornings.

Not to mention these things that need preparation, the market in Wilderness Town currently has some flavored sausages and the like, which are very suitable foods for marching.

It is just that the dry rations needed for this southward journey are quite numerous; in addition to over a thousand Humans, there are over four hundred Dwarves with enormous appetites.

This will require the residents of Wilderness Town to toil for several days.

As for drinks, Allen will lead the southward-bound team downstream along the Anduin River, so there will definitely be no shortage of water sources.

However, before setting off, Allen met with most of his subordinates one by one.

Because he might be away for a relatively long time this trip—given the transportation methods and combat habits of this era, being away for a year or two or even longer is quite normal—he needed to arrange the kingdom's next steps properly.

The first person Allen summoned was Alayen, because he did not intend to take this old subordinate, who had been a lord for several years and was already a father, to Gondor.

The country has a more important task to entrust to this lord of Heidelberg: after the snow melts, he must constantly monitor the movements of the Easterlings; for this, Allen will dispatch several "Animal Friends" to assist Alayen.

If the enemy shows signs of making a comeback, then Alayen and Fatis must still be prepared to guard the Anduin Valley, and they must never allow the Easterlings to cross the Running River and threaten the residents of the Anduin Valley.

Although Alayen very much wanted to follow Allen to Gondor to participate in the next war, out of reverence, he did not show the slightest hesitation toward the King's order, and soon returned to his territory with the corresponding rewards and the Heidelberg troops.

As for Fatis, Allen did not intend to take him either; there is still a lot of work to be completed in Long Lake Town, and the reconstruction work there, according to Allen's plan, has only completed the construction of the city walls.

The houses, markets, defensive facilities, and the port used to build the navy within the city are still only in their embryonic form, and Fatis still needs to manage all of this there for Allen.

Moreover, the Shipbuilding Master who arrived from Lindon has already started working there, and he needs someone with good ability and high prestige to cooperate with him; Fatis is very suitable.

As for after Long Lake Town is completed, Allen has better arrangements for Fatis, but this will have to wait until the time is ripe.

In short, this Military Minister, who is already over thirty and has no intention of marrying, set off on the road back to Long Lake Town after Allen's entrustment, continuing to perform his duties as Governor.

After finishing the discussion with Fatis, Allen took out an appointment letter and summoned Bandak; he needed this Housecarl of his to begin preparing an army, an army that would serve the Allen family, which is the so-called Imperial Guard.

Different from the personal guards Allen leads on the battlefield, this is an infantry army used to guard the palace and protect the members of the royal family—yes, Allen's palace has finally been built.

The number Allen gave is not large, capped at three hundred, but the requirements are very high; they can only be recruited from the Rhodok clansmen, because Allen will use the reputation he has accumulated to recruit them as soldiers recognized by the Simulator.

In this way, it can ensure that these soldiers have higher loyalty and stronger combat effectiveness.

As for weapons and equipment, Allen only set a general direction, choosing Repeating Crossbows, large shields, halberds, and maces as weapons, while for equipment, he chose Plate Armor produced in Pendor, such as the Heavy Plate Armor or Plate-Chain Armor of the Ebony Gauntlet, as well as masterpieces from Mettenheim—these are all good choices.

However, to wear this heavy armor, they must certainly undergo arduous training, and this is Bandak's next task.

This Rhodok Sergeant, already over forty, knelt before Allen in excitement upon receiving this appointment, expressing that he would definitely complete the task with all his might; Allen replied that there was still plenty of time, so he should go and slowly select the men.

Subsequently, Bandak left Allen's study with an excited look on his face.

And at the end of this day, the person Allen met was Yamila, and the two shared dinner together.

For Yamila, the most important thing is still developing the population; following the implementation of previous policies, the results have been very obvious. In the past few years, the number of infant births in the country has been increasing, and the hospital in Wilderness Town is even becoming a bit overwhelmed.

What needs to be done next is to maintain this upward trend, and the key to this lies in two points: one is to allow the residents to obtain more food, giving them the spare capacity to raise their children.

In this regard, Allen decided to make good use of those Easterling captives, using their surplus output to support those children; if some families have too many children and the burden is too heavy, food can be distributed to them, or their three meals a day can be covered.

However, Allen also urged Yamila to pay attention to the scale, to take steps forward bit by bit, and if any unexpected situation arises, it must be adjusted in time; this allows for no mistakes.

Allen hopes that in the Kingdom of Rhovanion, there must never be any behavior of abandoning infants because they cannot be fed; this is a grave crime, punishable by confiscation of property and exile.

And the other point is to ensure that infants can grow up healthily and receive a certain level of education; at the very least, they must recognize commonly used characters and understand basic arithmetic, and of course, have some ideological understanding of loyalty to the monarch, patriotism, and resisting darkness.

This is mandatory; if the people have resistance, then one must consider using the carrot and stick policy.

As for education, it is not very difficult for Yamila; after so many years of effort, the literacy rate of the residents of Wilderness Town has reached a certain level, and as long as the Cabinet issues the corresponding decrees, they should be able to recruit some people willing to become teachers.

At that time, some schools can be built outside the city for the children of the surrounding farms to attend.

As for the doctors, there are actually some problems; although James has taught many disciples, and his disciples have also begun to teach apprentices, compared to the territory with a rapidly growing population, the number is still somewhat stretched, and for this, Yamila can only express that she will try her best to tilt resources toward them.

When all matters were communicated, it was already late at night; Allen gently urged Yamila that she should go back to sleep, as staying up late is extremely bad for a woman's body.

However, Yamila did not leave, but stood where she was, looking at Allen with some shyness.

And Allen, sensing that the person had not left, looked over with some curiosity, and then saw a beautiful scene.

In recent years, Yamila has been responsible for government affairs and has almost never participated in any wars; although she usually takes a little time to exercise, with the increase in age, her figure has inevitably become more and more plump.

And the royal blue tight-fitting dress she was wearing displayed this beautiful figure to the fullest.

At this moment, under the illumination of the lamp, a flush of red appeared on Yamila's fair face, and her eyes, full of mist, looked steadily at Allen; besides shyness, they were filled with overflowing love.

Yamila hoped that Allen could understand her meaning; the behavior she was showing at this moment was already the limit of what her heart could accept.

From the white teeth biting her cherry-red lips and her hands constantly twisting the corners of her dress, one could see that the heart of this beautiful woman must be very nervous and apprehensive.

Allen, holding a document, was stunned looking at the bright and moving Yamila under the light, but this was not because he was bewitched by her beauty, but because he understood Yamila's meaning in an instant, yet he was slightly hesitant.

A few seconds later, Allen gave a silent, light laugh, raised his hand to press out the glass oil lamp in front of him, and after taking a few steps after rising, he arrived in front of Yamila, who was somewhat panicked in the darkness, and swept this beautiful body up into his arms.

A crisp exclamation sounded in the study, followed by the firm sound of leather boots stepping on the floor, and with a "Bang," the wooden door of the bedroom closed.

The next morning, Yamila woke up early, and after preparing a sumptuous breakfast for Allen, she left; as Allen's Prime Minister, she was very busy, and at this time it was nearing the end of the year, with a large amount of work requiring her to make decisions.

Of course, Allen was also very busy; he still had to plan the southward journey, but Desaiwei, whom he had originally prepared to take along, said with extreme hesitation that she was not very suitable for this task, and instead recommended another person: Malherbe, who manages Ioviah.

Desaiwei is currently mainly responsible for training those female Knight apprentices, and when she is free, she assists Yamila in handling some miscellaneous Cabinet affairs; her life is very affluent, and most importantly, very stable, which is what Desaiwei has always pursued.

Allen could understand this idea of Desaiwei's; in fact, his intention to take Desaiwei south to Gondor this time was not because there was any important task for her to be responsible for, but because he hoped she could go out more and see the customs and cultures of Middle-earth.

After all, since coming here, except for a trip to Eriador, Desaiwei has spent most of her time guarding at home; Allen intended to take her out for a tour, which could also count as a form of compensation, but Desaiwei refused, so that was that.

After all, this girl just likes this kind of stable life, and having stayed in the city for a long time these years, her life has improved, and even her skin is not as dark as before, having recovered the fair complexion of the Nords.

As for Malherbe, Allen did not delve into why Desaiwei would recommend this Northman, because there was no great necessity; perhaps because the two of them had become friends, or perhaps Malherbe had asked Desaiwei for help—this actually did not matter.

Allen was not the type to overthink things just because of a recommendation, but in Allen's impression, Malherbe's martial arts skills were very poor; he was going to war on this trip, and Malherbe was considered a management talent—what was he going to do by following along?

Desaiwei told Allen that Malherbe's family has the royal noble bloodline of the North Kingdom; although the North Kingdom has been destroyed for hundreds of years, Malherbe's family has always relied on merchant caravans or sending messengers to maintain contact with certain generals of the Kingdom of Rohan and some Gondor nobles of Anorien, because tracing back many years, they were all one family with blood ties.

Given this layer of connection, Allen agreed to Desaiwei's request and allowed Malherbe to follow him south; after all, realistically speaking, whether it was Gondor or Rohan, both were unfamiliar environments to Allen.

If he could find some acquaintances, whether it was for gathering information or handling certain matters, it would always be faster than in ordinary circumstances; no matter which world it is, human favors and connections are very important.

As for Ioviah, Yamila dispatched an official from the Cabinet to manage her temporarily.

Very quickly, two days passed, and Allen had already arranged most matters properly, while the southward-bound team had recovered from the previous war and was prepared for the long journey.

Besides Malherbe, those accompanying Allen to the south included Cress and Grim; the two of them had previously traveled to Gondor as messengers, so they could be considered familiar with the path.

However, Allen left behind the Twilight Knights who had been following him, because during his conversation with Lindir, he had learned of the changes in the Misty Mountains, where it was very likely that a Nazgul had already taken up residence.

Therefore, he had no choice but to leave behind the Twilight Knights who could resist the fear of the Ringwraiths, and Holimion, who possessed the Sapphire Rune Bow, had seen his strength rise to another level, so he would not be without the power to resist when facing a Ringwraith riding a Fell Beast.

As for the other personal guards, Allen left behind the Noldor Female Knights and took with him the rangers, the Griffin Knights, and the Mertheim Deathsworn; originally, Allen had wanted to let these Mertheim "old folks" stay behind, hoping they would teach the knowledge of forging Plate Armor to the blacksmiths living near the Old Ferry.

However, not one of these ten men was willing to stay; it was not that they were unwilling to pass on the craft of forging armor, but rather that they were unwilling to forgo participating in war to stay in the rear and retire, which left Allen very helpless, so he could only take them along once again.

Finally, on a clear but bitingly cold morning, a massive Cavalry force began to depart from Wilderness Town, traveling along the roads that had been repaired in recent years toward the direction of Lothlorien.

There, Cirdan and Lady Galadriel, having received the news, were waiting for them.