More than ten years ago, in order to expand his influence and develop his roots in the north, Chen Heng had established policies fostering friendly relations with the northern n.o.bles.
The northern n.o.ble families had large numbers, and essentially in every family, apart from the heir—the eldest son—they also had many other family members.
As younger sons or people from branch families, those people did not have the right of succession, and they could only inherit small a.s.sets or receive help in other ways.
With this age"s rules, if they wanted to live lives like their fathers, it would be very difficult.
However, Chen Heng had resolved their issues to a degree.
Different from other rulers, Chen Heng"s territory had a complete bureaucratic system, which naturally needed a large number of enforcement officials.
The younger sons of n.o.ble families and people from branch families were welcomed with open arms by Chen Heng.
While most commoners were illiterate, because these people were born in n.o.ble families, they could all read and write, and some had particular skills in various areas. They were the best and only source of officials in this era.
As such, over the past ten years, as Chen Heng had developed, his territory had taken in a large number of people from n.o.ble families.
At this point, naturally many people were loyal to him.
However, among them, rulers like Krudo were quite rare.
Of those who followed him, most did not have their own territory and wanted to obtain territory through Chen Heng.
"Queen Olivia has given me the order to gather my army and engage the rebel army," sitting in the hall, Chen Heng"s expression was calm as he looked at Krudo and spoke.
"Engage the rebelling army?" Hearing this, everyone"s expressions changed.
Leaving one"s territory and going to an unfamiliar place to fight with the rebel army was no simple matter, and it concerned many things.
There was the issue of food and crops, as well as logistics, such as where he would draw his forces from, whether or not this would leave his territory too vulnerable, and so on.
Just on paper, there were already many issues.
When going out to fight, there would be even more issues.
This was especially so given the circ.u.mstances—did they even want to support Olivia and fight the rebel army?
Thinking to there, everyone"s expressions fell and looked at Chen Heng.
Right now, in the entirety of Sordar, only Chen Heng could make this decision.
His decision was the most important factor.
Sensing everyone"s gazes, Chen Heng looked up and asked, "If we really did fight, how many soldiers can I send?"
"Without affecting our defences, we can send out around 5,000 people," someone thought for a moment before saying.
"5,000 people." Chen Heng nodded.
These 5,000 people were the reserves that he had saved up over the past ten or so years.
Even though it looked decent, compared to the armies of 100,000 people, it was not much.
In the end, Sordar"s foundation was too lacking; back then, it had just been empty land.
Even though Chen Heng had done his best to develop it over the past ten or so years, attracting people and buying slaves, Sordar"s population was only in the hundreds of thousands presently.
Maintaining an army of 10,000 people with a population like this was already quite decent.
Moreover, they could only spare 5,000 soldiers to send out.
Of course, even though this figure did not seem like much to Chen Heng, to most other rulers, it was an extremely great figure.
Most rulers in this age were not very well off, and apart from some of the large families, most small n.o.ble families only had a few hundred warriors.
For example, Chen Heng"s father Baron Kaisen only had around 300 to 400 guards.
The southern side"s rebel army was a great threat, but its core force had only around 10,000 people, and they were split under the command of multiple rulers. There were very few armies that were united like Chen Heng"s.
From how Krudo and the others saw it, the power that Chen Heng wielded was very strong, and it was the greatest in the northern side.
However, from how Chen Heng saw it, these soldiers were not enough.
It was not that their battle power was insufficient.
In actuality, in order to develop his army"s battle power, Chen Heng had spent much effort and resources.
His army fought Outlanders every day, and they were given excellent training and food.
If their training standards were used in any other ruler"s army, there would immediately be an uprising.
Training, logistics, equipment, and experience: They lacked nothing.
Such an army would not be lacking in battle power.
Over the past few years, apart from fighting Outlanders, Chen Heng"s army had also fought with other northern rulers" armies.
Even the most elite armies, when facing Chen Heng"s army, would be easily defeated when fighting with similar numbers.
The northern rulers" armies were constantly fighting all year round, so their battle power was naturally stronger than those of the southern armies.
It was just that despite having enough battle power, it might not be enough to accomplish such a grand goal.
If they wanted to just defeat the southern army, Chen Heng"s 5,000 people would be enough.
However, if they were to control those vast territories and achieve the effect that Chen Heng wanted, they were a bit lacking.
Thinking to there, Chen Heng looked at Krudo and asked, "If I ask the northern rulers to support me, how many people would they send?" Chen Heng calmly asked.
Looking at Chen Heng, Krudo stared for a moment.
However, he quickly came to his senses and said seriously, "The Orla family is willing to send 500 people."
"The Kaiso family is willing to send 300 people."
"The Solin family is willing to send 400 people."
"The Wydo family is willing to send 300 people…"
Voices continuously sounded out.
Apart from Krudo, there were a few other rulers present, who also expressed their loyalty to Chen Heng.
In total, they were able to send 1,500 people.
"Send news to the other families, telling them that I want to invite them to a banquet in Sordar."
Hearing Krudo and the other"s words, Chen Heng smiled and said, "Also, ask them to send some soldiers to support me."