Chapter 558 Killing Many Birds with One Stone

The donation of supplies was not simply because of Gavin's wealth, but because the stall their caravan set up on the Dragon Coast was too big. In a short period of time, a large amount of supplies were traded back. When they set off on the road again, some parts had to be streamlined. It can definitely be used as a gift.

Although Gavin rejected Ms. Strategy's title of elector, the two parties became more and more closely tied. Catherine, Zalanda, and Veranika, the top three followers of Ms. Strategy, all gathered together.

What Gavin values ​​the most is the potential of the Yinhong War College, which will be an important production site for mid- and low-level officers in Faerun. He must first put his own stamp on it, especially those civilian students who receive his own funding. He is naturally full of goodwill, which is conducive to recruiting him to his subordinates.

"What are the conditions? Let me tell you." There was a trace of joy that could not be concealed in Catherine's eyes. The Yinhong War College has not been established for a long time. There is another factor that cannot be ignored. Her financial resources are stretched thin.

The Land of Death, where the Strategic Battle Fortress is located, is not a blessed place. It is also an area with frequent wars. The Land of Death, Troll Claws and Troll Mountain are currently dominated by various monster tribes. They All that can be protected is the twenty kilometers of land surrounding the strategic battle fortress.

Not to mention that they are on the only path that the monster tribe in the High Wasteland must pass on their way south.

Just maintaining the army is a huge expense, and the strategic battle fortress was completely destroyed before it was taken back by him, and it has not been completely repaired until now. The preparation of an academy that is completely non-productive is like a bottomless pit. , the initial investment is huge, but the return is extremely slow.

Ms. Strategy's faith has just begun to expand, and there are really few people who can provide them with financial assistance.

The only thing closely related is the church and temple of Tempus, but the God of War is not the God of Wealth. Accumulating wealth has never been their specialty, and the donations of three melons and two dates are only a drop in the bucket.

As for Ms. Strategy, again, gods are not omnipotent. They also have to follow the most basic law of conservation of matter. The various material creations they create require the consumption of divine power, and her followers are Those, the divine power provided to her was only a little, and she planned to use it every day, so she had no energy to support Catherine.

Doing so will also violate the laws of belief of the gods. No matter how many temples you build for yourself, it will be useless, because it will not play the role of gathering faith at all - if you build enough temples, your own divine power will change. More powerful than Vol'jin, the goddess of wealth.

She has not yet fallen to the point where her whereabouts are unknown, and the priesthood of wealth is temporarily under the control of the goddess of joy.

Building a temple is a process of proving one's faith. Overcoming various difficulties is a process of honing and gathering faith. Only this kind of temple has meaning and can it become a tool for gods to gather power. The same is true for Yinhong Zhan Academy.

Before that, Catherine had heard from Veranika about Gavin's current wealth, but she didn't expect that he would be so generous. He spent three million in one move, not to mention the follow-up investment. This was no longer a simple matter. The problem with the establishment of the Yinhong Zhan College was to make it twice as large as he originally planned. The number of the first batch of students increased from the original five hundred to one thousand.

"First of all, I hope that Ms. Catherine can put aside secular ideas and accept some more alternative students to study in the academy." Gavin made his first condition. After all, he plans to take the multi-racial integration route in the future. There will be more and more races of all kinds.

Catherine said thoughtfully: "You are not referring to the hobgoblin, are you?"

Now everyone knows that Blood Gap City was given a hobgoblin knight by Gavin. Relying on the Giant Plains, the rise of a hobgoblin force and city is inevitable.

"Yes, it's the hobgoblin." Gavin nodded and said, "I want at least 300 students in the first batch of students, but don't worry, their study fees do not need to be reduced. They will study at their own expense."

After pondering for a while, Catherine replied: "Even if I agree to let them join the academy, due to their origins, it will be difficult for them to integrate into other intelligent races. If they simply learn strategies and tactics, there is no need to go to the academy specifically. We can definitely select some instructors from the academy and send them to Blood Gap City to teach those hobgoblins military strategy and tactics. I guarantee that what they learn from them is exactly the same as what they learned in the academy.

In this way, you can save academy resources and you can train more hobgoblin officers at one time. "

As the first choice of Ms. Strategist, Catherine naturally has no shortage of ways to adapt. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Since the other party spends such a large amount of money to support her, she should get something in return.

This is true even if they believe in the same god. Even gods pay attention to courtesy.

Gavin thought that this was indeed the case. To form a friendship with classmates, it was enough to have those dispatched students of normal races. There was no need to involve the hobgoblins. It could also ensure the purity of the hobgoblin army and not be easily invaded by external forces. Infected, he changed his mind and said: "Originally, I wanted to mention it in the second condition. In this case, I will add it to the first condition. I hope to open a branch of Yinhong Zhanzhan Academy with the lady. I will provide the manpower and material resources. I am responsible for recruiting students. Madam only needs to send instructors. There will be one in Blood Gorge City and one in Battle Valley."

"This is something that I have been longing for." For Catherine, this is not a condition, but a benefit that comes to her door.

The main purpose of her opening the Crimson War Academy is to spread the faith of Lady Strategy. The larger the scale, the better. As for teaching humans or other intelligent races, it is irrelevant to Lady Strategy.

Her priesthood is not limited to humans, but all matters related to what happens in Faerun, including the strategic planning used in the wars of those monsters. It is just limited by knowledge, so this situation rarely happens. It is more of a barbaric war represented by Uthgar.

It's just that Catherine was born an orthodox human, and her moral nature of human beings prevails. She hopes to use the ability of Lady Strategy to protect humans and other kind and intelligent races.

Gavin turned his eyes to Aidan, the leader of the Sword Monastery, and said: "Master, I hope to set up the War Academy in Battle Valley in the Sword Monastery. The restoration and construction of this monastery will be entirely my responsibility."

This move is the most typical one-stone-and-many-birds move.

There are not just one but several portals under the Sword Monastery, which are important gateways to and from the Battle Valley.

Even if it does not involve the future war layout, if you simply want to grow and develop in the Battle Valley, you must control this place in your own hands. Since you have chosen the Battle Valley as your starting point, he is not going to let the Sword Monastery be destroyed by the drow elves in a surprise attack.

The fundamental reason why the Sword Monastery was almost destroyed was not just because it was unexpected, but mainly because of its relatively weak strength. At its peak, the Sword Monastery had only two or three hundred Tempus war priests and war knights, and the number of drow elves' vanguards was several times theirs, not to mention the affiliated monster corps and summoned demons.

But if you want to get involved in a temple of the god of war, if you don't have a reasonable excuse, it will be purely to make yourself uncomfortable.

Now is the best opportunity to deliver it to your door, perfect and impeccable.

"This... this... is not appropriate?" Eldan didn't expect that such a good thing would fall on his head.

The dilemma he faced was the same as Catherine's. In terms of swordsmanship, he was not the best in the world, but he was also a top expert. However, in terms of making money and managing money, he was not even as good as an ordinary businessman. Their wealth mainly came from donations from ordinary people.

But the problem was that the Battle Valley was sparsely populated, and the Sword Monastery was previously a lost land, which was similar to the Three Rivers Land.

Except for the dozens of Tempus believers in the Sword Monastery, there was no one in the area of ​​dozens of kilometers, so where did the donations come from? They were now completely relying on their own hands, building brick by brick, and the progress was not generally slow - they held swords with both hands, and they were not much faster than those farmers in building.

If they could get help from Gavin and others, they could just drag a few hundred people over, and the construction speed would be increased with a whoosh, and the scale would be formed in the near future.

Gavin asked knowingly, "Why? Master Eldan is worried that building a war academy for Lady Strategy on the holy land of the Lord of War will blaspheme him?"

"How is that possible?" Eldan shook his head repeatedly, "The father-daughter relationship between my Lord and Lady Strategy is well known to the world. All war temples must add a shrine for the lady to enjoy the worship together with him. It is our greatest honor to be able to build a war academy for the lady in our monastery. However, our monastery is in the initial stage of construction, and most areas are still ruins. By then, the investment will be quite large, and we have nothing to repay the lord."

Gavin couldn't help laughing and said, "Master, you are wrong to think so. Wrong, what you are building now is not a personal residence, but the Temple of the Lord of War. It is my greatest honor to build a temple for him. What does it matter if I spend some worldly money?

And the master has underestimated the value of the Holy Land of God's Descent, right? If I am right, practicing martial arts in your Sword Monastery will increase the speed, and there may even be an epiphany, or the opportunity to open the grace of the God of War, right? "

"Yes." Eldan admitted generously, "The Sword Monastery is indeed overflowing with a lot of war power now, and has this ability. "

This is not only the case with the God's Descent of Tempus, but also the first descending places of other gods.

Because they did not descend normally at that time, but were beaten down directly from the Kingdom of God by the God of God, and forcibly transformed into the state of saints, causing a large amount of divine power to dissipate into the material plane, forming some special domains exclusive to them, and the effects they have are closely related to their priesthood. The Lord of War is of course related to war.

"I would also like to ask the master to serve as the chief combat instructor of this academy, responsible for teaching the students combat skills." Gavin took the opportunity to put forward new conditions.

Tempus was able to become the god of war in Faerun, relying not only on opportunism, but also on the world's unrivaled military force.

Fighting alone, if he is second, no one in the whole of Faerun dares to claim first place.

Every one of his devout believers is a warrior who has experienced hundreds of battles and has rich combat skills, including those exclusive priests, who are more inclined to warriors than priests.

Eldan is naturally one of the best among them, especially in sword skills, which is absolutely outstanding, as can be seen from his title of Sword Master.

There is no shortcut to getting this title in the Church of Tempus. You must use the sword in your hand to prove that you are worthy of this title, be recognized by at least three sword masters, and defeat or tie one of them to be eligible. get.

"This is my honor." Erdan said without hesitation.

The war priests of the War Temple act as martial arts instructors or militia trainers in many cities. Their mission is to actively urge people to prepare for war, whether to resist invasion or prepare for invasion.

Being unprepared is the dereliction of duty of the God of War and the dereliction of duty of the war priests.

Now it is time to further upgrade the specifications and influence an army by teaching a group of middle and low-level commanders. This is a shortcut to expand the influence of the God of War.

"If possible, I would like to send some instructors to your Sword Monastery to learn combat skills." Catherine took advantage of the opportunity and was greatly impressed. No wonder Ms. Strategy placed a heavy bet on this young man. This man's mind turned too fast. In just a short time, Within a short period of time, he adjusted his plan, brought a group of Tempus believers in, and tied them to his chariot.

According to the other party's development speed, once the conqueror's army successfully arrives in the Battle Valley, the establishment speed and scale of their branch may even surpass the main hospital she built in the Land of Death. After all, their manpower and material resources are there.

Before Eldan could answer, Gavin couldn't help but smile and said: "The lady's request is a bit out of line. The God of Strategy and the Lady of Strategy are not separated. When the time comes, the instructors you send to the branch will They will have the dual identities of instructors and students. After they achieve success, they can rotate to other branches or the main hospital, and even allow them to engage in small-scale actual combat, whether it is the place of death where the lady is, or the giant where the Blood Gorge City is. The plains are great places to go.”

"I've overthought this matter." Catherine thought about it, and said, "This matter is settled for the time being. The first condition has been fulfilled. What about the second condition?"

Now she is full of expectations for Gavin's so-called conditions, because the starting points are different, resulting in interests between the two. In many cases, not only do they not conflict, but they are complementary. The first condition just now, except for the matter of the hobgoblin , in addition to some psychological resistance, for her, it is actually beneficial, allowing their Yinhong Zhan Academy to increase from one point to three, and the two new additions are purely free.

"The second condition is an extension of the first condition. Please leave 300 places for me in the main academy. I will send 300 students there. For students who have graduated from the main academy, I hope to get priority in recruitment. Gavin said unceremoniously.

Now that there is a branch in the Battle Valley, he still chooses to send students to the main campus. The main purpose is to use these students to interact with other students and create a friendship with each other.

It is convenient for you to recruit later. Even if you cannot recruit, many variables will arise in future encounters on the battlefield.

Gavin believed that the future direction of the war in Faerûn would be guided by the officers trained by the Yinhong War College, an officer school, whether it was with the monster race or the intelligent race itself.

Tempus vigorously cultivates strategic women, which is to feel the war situation in Faerûn and reach the intermediate point of transformation from barbaric war to strategic war.

This is the general trend when intelligent life develops to a certain extent.

Tempus has been able to occupy the position of the God of War for so many years. He is definitely not a brainless fool. He was treated like a brainless fool. His divine body had already entered the starry sky and turned into a divine corpse.

"As long as you use normal recruitment methods, I have no objection." Although Catherine hopes that the students trained by the academy will be distributed as widely as possible, because this can influence more people and forces, and better spread the influence of Ms. Strategy.

But she borrowed too much from Gavin, and it was impossible without giving some benefits.

If he becomes loyal to his subordinates, it can be considered that the wealth has not gone to outsiders. If he can maintain the current development speed and form an invincible army with the students trained by their academy to conquer cities and territories, it will be a great honor for Ms. Strategy.

Just look at their current army of conquerors and you will know that a war of this magnitude is rare even in Faerûn.

"The third condition is that I hope that Madam can equip us with instructors now. I want the middle and low-level officers in the army of conquerors to learn and use them as we go. I believe that when we reach the valley, we will be branched out. The airs have basically been raised. Isn’t the military camp the best academy?” Gavin felt that the biggest problem for the middle and low-level officers in his hands was the lack of unified education, which caused many problems for them to cooperate and connect.

In a small-scale army, this kind of problem is not obvious yet, but when it comes to their size, it is an out-and-out big problem.

In order to mobilize them, dozens of messengers were deployed, shouting hoarsely every day, and the operation was still not as good as Gavin wanted.

This is true for simple migration, but in wars, especially large-scale mobile wars that require close cooperation, big problems can easily occur.

This is also the significance of establishing the Yinhong War College, to unify some knowledge of forming and commanding the army. Even if an army or an organization is defeated or dispersed, multiple organizations can be mixed together to quickly form a war-ready army. , even though many of them have never lived their lives.