"Should we report this to the higher-ups, my lord?" Kyle asked.
Velin shook his head. "No need. Even if we report it now, that fellow won't receive any serious punishment."
"He's a marquis of the kingdom. If we don't beat the lesson into him this time, he won't remember it."
"Select five thousand soldiers and assign them to the Holy War Army 31st Army. Also, send people to keep Wind Lex under close watch. If he makes any unusual moves, let him..." Velin looked up at the sky before continuing, "The sunlight is rather glaring and obstructs one's vision. In weather like this, someone might accidentally fall while walking and end up dead or crippled."
"I understand, my lord."
Half a month later, Velin inspected the Holy War Army 31st Army and reluctantly acknowledged Wind Lex's ability, sparing him from an unexpected death.
In early November, Velin reorganized the Blackrock Army as the Thirty-Second Army and the Thousand Forts Army as the Thirty-Third Army. Externally, they used their official designations, while internally, they still went by the Blackrock Army and Thousand Forts Army.
As time passed, the German Kingdom stationed a million troops along the border, extensively built fortresses, burned crops, felled trees, dug deep pits, relocated the population inland, planted thorns across vast areas, and implemented a scorched-earth policy.
Along the former eastern border of the Ansa Kingdom, now the Rhine Mountain defensive line in the western Anasta Duchy, two hundred thousand Expeditionary Army soldiers, three hundred thousand Holy Crusaders, and five hundred thousand Auxiliary Army troops—a total of one million soldiers—built twenty-four main camps in an offensive formation, awaiting the order to attack from the Expeditionary Army Command.
In the central border region of Gorfito Province in the Stovia District stood two main camps. One was Darnes Main