Chapter 412 - 160: Battle Preparations

Chapter 412: Chapter 160: Battle Preparations

On the eastern front, the border between the Frank Kingdom and the Beastman Empire was not clearly defined.

It was originally demarcated by the topographical differences between the plateaus and the river valleys, but because it was too difficult to defend, coupled with a major defeat during the reign of Louis II, the river valley region was ultimately seized by the Beastmen.

Now, the only things separating the Beastman Empire and the Frank Kingdom were one or two insignificant streams and a few earthen mounds.

Vio Town, originally the territory of Count Sriphine, was now one of the borderlands.

Count Sriphine later ceded it to Robson.

At this moment, Vio Town had become the gathering point for the armies of nearly all the nobles, large and small, on the eastern front.

Robson’s forces numbered around ten thousand, and with the other nobles’ troops, the total surpassed twenty thousand.

Outside the town, several hundred-man units were arriving from the east. They were the last soldiers of the First Regiment.

At the entrance to Vio Town, Captain Jack, who had been waiting for some time, spotted his old friend approaching and rushed forward excitedly to greet him.

"Ha! Hans! You old dog! Heard you made Vice-Captain?" Jack laughed.

As the saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

When Jack and Hans were together, they argued constantly. Now that they were apart, they had no desire to bicker, and instead, they had nothing but praise for each other upon meeting again.

"Just a lucky break."

Seeing his old friend put Hans in high spirits as well.

Vice-Captain was the title for a Captain’s adjutant.

This was related to the adjutant system Robson had implemented in the army. A regiment was composed of ten companies, which meant there were ten Vice-Captains.

Jack clapped Hans on the shoulder, his eyes filled with envy.

Though he’d made it to Captain, he was in the Second Regiment.

Everyone in all of Affleck knew that the First Regiment had the best treatment and enjoyed the most resources.

For example, when they went to attack the routed Beastmen forces in the south, the First Regiment went first, while the other regiments could only stand by and watch.

In Affleck, military merit was everything. The opportunity to fight was the best treatment of all.

"You guys must be the last ones to arrive, right?

I wonder when the Lord will launch the attack?" Jack sighed.

When they first received the Recruitment Order, everyone in the domain, from top to bottom, was so excited they were just short of throwing a banquet to celebrate.

For no other reason than military merit.

One could earn merit through other deeds, but nothing came faster or was more impactful than military merit.

However, ever since they arrived, there had been no news from above.

The Lord had been busy training new recruits and had even assigned them to act as instructors.

Those new troops...

Jack had to admit, the new troops were progressing at a divine speed.

"Who knows?"

"But I trust the Lord’s decisions. In so many wars past, the Lord has always been able to resolve things with his wisdom. Why would now be any different?"

As he spoke, a look of admiration appeared in Hans’s eyes, his mind already recalling the short stories from the handbook.

"That’s true."

...

News of the last soldiers’ arrival had already spread throughout Vio Town.

Before long, Earl Uman went to find Robson.

At that moment, Robson was practicing his Swordsmanship with Valentino, while Baron Feodor and Baron Ed were reporting on their work off to the side.

That’s right, these two were now Barons.

Feodor was Robson’s older brother, so that went without saying. Baron Ed, on the other hand, was the first friend Robson made after arriving in this world. He had received no small amount of help from him back at Sunset Fortress, and now that Lord Robson had made it big, he certainly couldn’t just cast aside an old friend who had outlived his usefulness.

"Robson, that’s about the gist of it.

The soldiers are now ready for a fight," Feodor said.

Robson nodded after hearing his report.

He wasn’t sure if it was because his own experience in training troops had increased, or if it was due to having generals with skills like Ais, Fioro, and Bo Yang.

The rate at which the entire army was gaining experience was now astonishingly fast.

After just a few weeks in command, the proportion of Tier 3 troops in the army had already reached fifty percent.

Even in the Cavalry Team, which had high experience requirements, the five hundred newly trained cavalrymen had now reached Tier 2. After just one battle, Tier 3 would be within reach.

Just as Robson was listening to everyone’s reports, Earl Uman approached from a distance.

"General Robson, I came to ask, when exactly are we setting out?"

Earl Uman got straight to the point.

He had grown weary of being pestered by the other nobles asking when the war would start.

They didn’t dare question Robson’s decisions, so they could only come to Earl Uman for news.

"Earl Uman, are the carts and horses I requested ready yet?" Robson asked.

Back in the Royal Capital, Robson had already made arrangements with Earl Harold.

Earl Harold had been more than obliging, directly emptying his clan’s remaining stock—a full five hundred right-hand warhorses and nearly two thousand other assorted warhorses.

These were not inferior horses; they were all elite warhorses.

Of course, Robson could not have afforded so many on his own. This was a massive deal worth nearly one hundred thousand.

It was only thanks to the gifts from various important figures in the Royal Capital and a discount from Earl Harold that Robson was barely able to seal the deal.

Even so, Valentino still footed the largest part of the bill.

It couldn’t be helped. With his domain newly established, he, Lord Robson, needed money for everything.

With this new batch of warhorses, Robson immediately began expanding his cavalry force, increasing its size from five hundred to one thousand men.

He could still manage to find five hundred peasants who knew how to ride.

Besides the warhorses, the most important thing was, of course, the carriages.

The upcoming battles would all be fought on plains. Although there were no roads, the good thing was that Robson had the Gauss Clan’s Magic Carriages.

With some modifications from Falan, as long as they found a suitable path, the carriages could travel across the grasslands.

This was crucial. The fundamental reason humans had been unable to destroy the Beastman Empire was their inability to extend their supply lines deep into enemy territory.

If these carriages could be widely adopted, then future campaigns would be a different story.

Earl Uman nodded.

"I’ve confirmed there are no issues.

Lord, when do we go to war?"

Just as Earl Uman asked his question, another person approached from a distance.

It was Knight Boyang and Knight Ace.

"Are you two also here to ask when we’re going to fight?" Robson asked with a smile.

Knight Ace looked surprised but didn’t hide his intentions.

"That’s right. The soldiers of the First Regiment have all arrived today, and the assignments for the new non-commissioned officers have been preliminarily arranged.

Everyone is asking now, when exactly do we go to war?" Ais said.

The assignment of new non-commissioned officers naturally involved having veterans lead the new recruits.

The major races of this world all spoke the same language, and there were no accents to speak of. Everyone adhered to the standards of Magic; mispronounce a spell, and it wouldn’t cast.

Having veterans serve as non-commissioned officers was certainly more reliable. Of course, many of them didn’t actually have enough military merit to qualify, so they could only be considered temporary NCOs.

"It seems the army’s morale is high.

Everyone, prepare yourselves. We set out tomorrow," Robson declared.