Chapter 263 - 32: The Birth of the Army’s Soul
Chapter 263: Chapter 32: The Birth of the Army’s Soul
As the orders were issued one after another, all of Fengman City began to stir.
The three thousand Soldiers Robson had brought back from the Western Front were, needless to say, the cream of the crop—the core of the main force on the entire eastern front.
Once the order was given, they assembled and reached the North City gate in less than an hour.
What surprised Robson was that while it was expected for his old guard to be this fast, the newly incorporated troops were only an hour behind them.
Robson currently commanded around seven thousand men. Over three thousand were his veterans from the Western Front, another thousand were acquired through a deal with Count Sriphine, and the remaining three thousand were Soldiers he was supposed to train for Earl Kifri.
Robson had been preoccupied with Fengman City’s affairs with Valentino and hadn’t managed the army much. He hadn’t paid it much mind, but one look now was all it took to shock him.
The latter four thousand troops were all fully composed of Tier Two soldiers, and their Tier Three ratio was even around thirty percent.
That meant three hundred Tier Three Soldiers for every thousand men! In particular, the thousand men Count Sriphine had handed over had a Tier Three ratio as high as forty percent!
One shouldn’t assume that just any legion under Robson could be entirely composed of Tier Three soldiers, or that such a legion was commonplace.
Based on Robson’s previous research in the Royal Capital, even on the central front—the kingdom’s meat grinder—the legions normally used to hold the line were merely at or approaching a full Tier Two composition. Units like Robson’s were reserved for storming strongholds.
However, after flipping through the logs on his Mount & Blade panel, Robson began to understand.
Robson didn’t know if it was because his Mount & Blade panel had upgraded when he reached the Golden Tier, or if his own training skills had improved after commanding troops for so long.
The experience his Soldiers now gained from daily training far exceeded what they used to get back when he was training troops at Sunset Fortress. The rate had increased by at least two or three times.
Moreover, the Soldiers Earl Kifri had given Robson were for his own future use, so of course they wouldn’t be subpar. As for Count Sriphine, he had practically begged Robson to accept the troops so that the Fengman Clan would begin their transactions.
...
When Robson arrived at the North City gate, the Soldiers had already formed up in ranks outside the city.
Surprisingly, a large number of citizens were following behind them.
"What’s all this?" Robson frowned, puzzled by the crowd of citizens trailing the army.
"They’ve come to show their gratitude, I hear?" Ais replied, mounted on his horse behind Robson.
"I sent someone to ask. Our Soldiers helped the citizens with many things in the city, so they’ve come of their own accord to see us off," Ais explained.
’See us off on their own accord?’ Robson raised an eyebrow. That was something he hadn’t expected.
Ever since Robson had entered the city, the City Defense Army had been in a state of semi-paralysis. It seemed someone had orchestrated this, wanting to show their resistance to Valentino.
The only reason law and order hadn’t collapsed during this time was that Robson had used his army to handle security for all of Fengman City.
Robson had originally been a little worried that using his army to police the city would cause public outrage. After all, the Fengman Clan was a fallback for him, Lord Robson. If he couldn’t make it on the frontier in the future, returning to be the young master-in-law wasn’t a bad option.
But unexpectedly, instead of outrage, he had earned the citizens’ gratitude.
Looking at the citizens holding out food, Robson couldn’t help but inwardly mock them. ’Just how atrocious must the Fengman City Defense Army be for even me, Lord Robson, to win the people’s hearts?’
What Robson didn’t know was that the Fengman City Guard was typical of most armies in this world. As the saying goes, "an army passing through is like a fine-toothed comb." For an army with such high morale as Robson’s to be so disciplined, refraining from looting and pillaging, placed them at the pinnacle of morality in the Human World.
It could only be said that Robson, being from that other world, had subtly and invisibly influenced his Soldiers and Officers, especially the commoner Non-commissioned Officers he had promoted.
Still, this was a good thing.
Robson looked at his troops and their solemn expressions. If it weren’t for the morale rapidly climbing on the Mount & Blade panel, he might have actually believed his men didn’t care about such things.
As had been said before, many armies are elevated by certain unique circumstances, which then gives rise to a "military soul."
’This is good, too. It can raise the Soldiers’ moral standards.’ In Robson’s eyes, the real difference between a modern army and an ancient one lay in their cultural and educational level, which in turn influenced an individual’s morals and, within a group, could give rise to faith.
The instinct for survival makes a soldier feel fear. But a steadfast faith can make a man leap fearlessly into a raging fire.
"It’s fine. Have the citizens return home. Later, report this matter to Count Valentino," Robson said, confident that Valentino would make the right decision.
"Viscount Robertson, you’ve arrived."
Knight Commander Elon, having assembled the Fengman Knight Order, rode his Magical Beast Horse over to Robson’s side and placed a hand on his chest.
The benefits of Robson helping Valentino govern Fengman City were now beginning to show. The members of the Fengman Clan, or rather, Valentino’s core subordinates, were now starting to genuinely respect Robson.
Knight Commander Elon was the best example of this.
In the past, while Knight Commander Elon would show respect on the surface, he had still felt uncomfortable about it inwardly. Now, however, he saw Robson as Valentino’s equal. Just like now—even though Valentino was not the commander-in-chief, Knight Commander Elon was still able to obey Robson’s orders.
"Knight Commander Elon, it’s only been a month, and I have to trouble you again," Robson said with a chuckle. Although Elon was showing him respect, he, Lord Robson, was not yet the master of the Fengman household.
"My Lord Viscount, you’re too kind... I wonder, My Lord Viscount, do you have a plan to defeat the enemy?" Knight Commander Elon asked.
Although he respected Robson, the news of Earl Uman’s... operation... had already spread, leaving Elon with a sense of dread. It was better to ask about these things in advance to avoid being utterly baffled by orders on the battlefield.
Hearing Knight Commander Elon’s question, the other nobles also turned their gazes toward Robson.
This wasn’t entirely because of Earl Uman’s situation. Under Valentino and Robson’s deliberate control, the matter concerning Earl Uman was only circulating among the upper echelons of the Fengman Clan.
Of course, this wasn’t because Robson wanted to help Earl Uman; it was mainly to stabilize the army’s morale. Besides, this was an important card to play in the future—a card to keep Earl Uman in line.
Viscount Jeffrey and the other nobles were simply curious.
Robson nodded.
"The situation is urgent. Since you’ve asked, let’s assign the tasks right here.
"Bo Yang, go get Claude," Robson ordered.
Bo Yang accepted the order. Robson had his Personal Guards spread out a map.
The map was one Robson had obtained from the Fengman Clan. It was a bit old, but it was serviceable.
"Originally, according to Earl Uman’s plan, he wanted to take this path to strike directly at Bai Ma Ferry, thereby splitting the Beastman Army in two. Then, they could defeat each part individually.
"However, this plan has now run into a few... minor problems," Robson said.
Robson chose his words carefully, saying there were only "minor problems." What exactly those problems were, and who was at fault, would depend on how Earl Uman conducted himself later.
"So? What should we do now?" Knight Commander Elon asked, looking at Robson curiously.
"Although some issues have arisen, Earl Uman’s overall strategy wasn’t fundamentally flawed.
"Therefore, I intend to follow through with his general idea.
"According to previous reconnaissance, the enemy is mainly distributed to the north and south of Ehrlichland. The main body of the Beastmen south of Ehrlichland must have gone to besiege Earl Uman.
"Based on intelligence gathered from the front, although the enemy’s northern forces are rushing to Bai Ma Ferry, moving a large army will certainly take time."
"In other words, the enemy’s defensive forces along the Ancient Trade Route are definitely insufficient right now.
"The Ancient Trade Route may be old, but it’s still good enough for ordinary carriages and large-scale cavalry to pass through. It might damage the road, but we can’t worry about that now.
"So, I will need the Fengman Knight Order, along with my Cavalry Team, to act as the vanguard and scatter all enemy forces along this ancient road in one go," Robson explained, pointing at the map.
"I’ve done the math. The enemy has over ten thousand troops, but let’s round that up to twenty thousand to be safe.
"The Beastmen are currently stretched thin on all fronts; they can’t afford to waste troops on this insignificant little place. Earl Uman has at least twenty to thirty thousand men. To trap a force that size, the enemy would have to commit nearly ten thousand troops, and elite ones at that.
"Therefore, the enemy forces on the ancient road must be spread thin."
Knight Commander Elon stared at the map, lost in thought.
"And after we break through the ancient road? Where do we go then?" Knight Commander Elon looked at Robson and asked.
"It depends," Robson said, using a rather vague phrase.
Knight Commander Elon frowned.
"’It depends?’ Specifically?"
On this matter, Knight Commander Elon dared not be careless. With armies, it was a matter of life and death.
"It depends on the enemy’s movements. If they move quickly and transfer their main force south of Bai Ma Ferry after we clear the ancient road, then we’ll launch a surprise attack on Ror Town to force the Beastmen there to give up Wisley Path.
"If the Beastmen aren’t that fast, then we’ll charge directly for Bai Ma Ferry..."
"Of course, there’s another possibility: the Beastmen move too quickly, or the ones remaining south of Ehrlichland are all elites, and we fail to break through the Ancient Trade Route.
"If that happens, we’ll rally our forces and go rescue Earl Uman. We’ll wait for Count Sriphine to join us and then reassess the situation," Robson said.
"It seems, my Lord Viscount, you already had a firm plan. I was worrying for nothing," Knight Commander Elon said with a laugh.
Robson’s plan had basically accounted for every conceivable scenario. At the very least, Knight Commander Elon himself couldn’t think of any better alternatives.
Robson nodded, had someone roll up the map, and looked to the north, letting out a long sigh.
’In the end, it all comes down to speed.’
’What a pity. If Earl Uman had managed to get himself into trouble a little later, the batch of carriages I commissioned would be completely finished by now.’
’I can get horses from the Fengman Clan. Although they are politically aligned with the southern faction, they are a standard northern-style clan in practice.’
’The current carriages can only accommodate three of my legions, and I can’t possibly use all of them just to transport men. After all, warfare is a battle of logistics.’
Robson thought it all through and confirmed there were no oversights.
"In that case, let’s begin the advance. Force march to Feiying Pass. As of today, we are returning to a wartime footing."
"Yes, my lord!"