Due to the large number of rebels, it is impossible to reorganize them all. Perhaps most of the gladiators will obey the management, but the other rabble must have their own ideas.
If the rebel army had been under the control of Brutus, it might not have been so troublesome. Brutus had been both an officer in the regular army and a local lord. Under his command, the rebel army was actually in order.
But in just a few days after Castro took control of this army, this ragtag group changed from an orderly armed force to a rogue bandit, and expanded its scale without restriction.
Perhaps Castro was also fighting for freedom, but most of the slaves he recruited probably didn't know why they were fighting - no matter what age or where, the vast majority of people actually just followed the crowd.
Moreover, the quality of these slaves varies greatly, and they have never been trained. They may not even be able to understand military orders. Not everyone is suitable to become a soldier.
Li Ang is unlikely to lead nearly 10,000 slaves with inadequate weapons and equipment to fight. An undisciplined and poorly equipped army can easily fall into chaos, and can easily backfire on its leader.
This is the main reason why Li Ang must occupy Calundru Castle - he wants to give most of the rebels a place to live and select the available manpower among them. Otherwise, this huge army will be just a group of bandits, and it will not be sustainable no matter how large it is.
'Capture Calundru Castle', the lord who relies on the Lionheart Kingdom is of course the best person to follow for this rebel army.
Calundru Castle is now an empty ghost town. Placing most of them there will not have to send them far away from their homeland to Lion Territory, but it will also prevent some low-quality guys from harming the people.
After Calundru Castle has gone through a period of management and training and completed the transition, these people can truly become soldiers or citizens.
Moreover, Calundru Castle is now the only place in the surrounding area where it is certain that there is no Red Death.
One day later, this huge rebel army was reunited. After two wars, it still had a strength of 8,000 people.
Sigismund and Brutus together selected two thousand qualified warriors, gathered a mess of trophies and armed them on the spot.
In fact, most of these two thousand people are gladiators or reserve soldiers, which is what the original Alina plan looked like.
That is to say, they are the real troops that Brutus has been managing when executing the plan. They are all soldiers who have been trained to obey military orders.
This unit has a new designation-Pande Free Legion.
In fact, this legion name is also what Emperor Marius and Alina envisioned.
The remaining slaves followed Jocelyn to Calundru Castle, and these people can reconsider the future.
If they want to join the army, they will receive training from Jocelyn and supplement Free Legion's military strength after completing the training.
If you don't want to fight and just want to live a good life, there is also a large amount of unowned farmland around Calundru Castle. There are even enough houses in Seren Village. You can live in it as long as the roofs, doors and windows are repaired.
Now that Li Ang has become the owner of Calundru Castle, Seren Village is no longer the frontline of the war between the two countries.
The newly established Free Legion still has some appearance. The gladiators will undergo long-term training in the training camp, and their obedience is actually good.
But this unit still lacks something very important.
For the lords, what they lack is actually the most important necessity for an army - faith.
Because they have now lost their sense of purpose.
The gladiators led the rebels to rebel for freedom, which was a strong goal driving force. In the vision of Emperor Marius and Alina, this army needed to kill Shira Yuzas's rebels after being organized into a legion.
Their sense of goal against slavery drove them to eliminate rebellion, and then used the merit of eliminating rebellion to absolve them of the crime of rebellion and allow them to be free.
If everything goes according to plan, it will indeed seem fair and reasonable.
However, this legion lost control midway, inflicting heavy casualties on Justus's Imperial First Legion, and killing at least half of Erudition City's nobles. Although this may be a situation that Emperor Marius and Justus like to see, they can no longer get any pardon, so they successfully loyal to Li Ang.
But in this way, they have obtained the status of free citizens under the lord. Although this makes them feel that following Count Li Ang is correct, it also makes them lose their original beliefs.
Pande Continent's strong armies all have their own beliefs.
The Noldor want to bring the elves to glory again, and they follow Li Ang to fight for the continuation of the race;
The Griffin Clawss of Amy are following in the footsteps of their predecessors, and their goal of becoming female knights will drive them to unite around Amy;
Shadow Legion is dedicated to safeguarding the interests of the old Baxian, and can even go against the emperor for this purpose;
Radiant Cross Knights is committed to treating diseases and saving people and bringing hope to the mainland;
Horn Summon Ranger Corps can face any enemy to defend his homeland;
Decades ago, Lion Knight Order was a chivalrous person who helped the country and the people in need. Today, Lion Knight Order wants to maintain the honor and status of the Royal Knights;
Even Ebony Gauntlet Knights has faith, perhaps because he really has hatred for the Noldor, or perhaps because of the benefits he can gain from capturing the Noldor;
The non-commissioned officers directly under Li Ang also have a natural sense of mission - for the good life brought to them by the lord.
An army without a sense of purpose cannot be led against a strong enemy. People's will comes from the mission and belief in their hearts. An army without firm belief can only fight with the wind.
But now this newly established Free Legion has no faith.
But Li Ang still needs to take them to solve the threat of Snake Worship Cult...
However, it seems that the lord is not the only one who considers this.
After two thousand people Free Legion formed a formation, Sigismund made an unexpected declaration to these people...
"Brothers, Lord Li Ang is the legendary Child of Prophecy... He is the hero who can save the continent as predicted by Madigan! He will lead us to fight for the civilians who suffer injustice and suffering like us, and to fight for freedom and a stable life! We will follow the true king of Pendor!"
"Child of Prophecy! The new king of Pendor! Huha!!"
Let Sigismund organize the troops. This was originally because Brutus was injured and was inconvenient, and Sigismund was more familiar with this troop.
But no one, including Li Ang, expected him to make such a speech!
But perhaps this statement is indeed very effective. Of course the gladiators yearned for freedom and stability, and it did allow the gladiators to find the reason to fight in their confusion-for the people who have experienced injustice like them.
Under the Free Legion's tsunami-like shouts of 'Child of Prophecy', Sigismund knelt down in front of Li Ang: "Lord Li Ang, I'm sorry, I took it upon myself... I promised the brothers that I would lead them to find Child of Prophecy so that there would be no more slaves and tyranny on this continent..."
Li Ang looked around, and saw the gladiators raising their swords and shouting "Child of Prophecy, King of Pendor"...
"Fight for freedom!"
This situation could only be guided but not stopped. The lord had no choice but to raise his sword, put on a smile and shouted slogans.
Wendilf behind him was very smart, and immediately led Noldo Guard to shout "Fight for freedom!"
The uniform slogans barely covered up the chaotic voices shouting "King of Pendor".
Then, everyone began to chant "Fight for Freedom" in unison.
The Lord Lord let out a long breath, but still raised his sword and did not dare to shrink the smile on his face.
"You don't trust me... Do you want to force me to become an enemy of all kingdoms in this way?"
Li Ang looked at the troops, but he spoke to Sigismund who was kneeling in front of him, "Do you know how much trouble these words will cause?"
"I admit that this is a form of coercion, but I finally see the hope of changing the future of the entire continent..."
Sigismund was still kneeling on the ground and lowered his head. "Moreover, when you control such a civilian army, you will inevitably face the hostility of all kingdoms, Lord Li Ang. No matter how good your relationship with other nobles was, from today on, you can only be Child of Prophecy..."
"Perhaps you are right, but you shouldn't speak on your own initiative! I have my own way of doing things... Sigismund, you are making decisions for me!"
The Lord Lord glanced at Sigismund, his eyes were quite unkind.
"Lord Li Ang, I know that Child of Prophecy may be just a legend, and I also know that this name will bring many consequences... but I just want to make sure that you will do what you said... save civilians and bring a peaceful life to the Pande Continent."
Sigismund raised his head and looked up into the lord's eyes. "I am willing to pay everything for this, and most gladiators are the same as me..."
"But have you ever thought... what if Child of Prophecy is not a legend, what if I really am Child of Prophecy?"
The Lord Lord sighed, "And... what's more important is your last sentence! The real king of Pendor? I'm not planning to become the king yet!"
"Sir, my personal experience tells me that no matter what your plans are now, as long as you have a large civilian army, if you don't become king... then some noble will use your head to become king!"
Sigismund's eyes became firm. "Moreover, people need heroes... Regardless of whether he has anything to do with the legendary Child of Prophecy, as long as he fights for civilians, he will be regarded as Child of Prophecy by everyone!"
Maybe Sigismund is right.
Pande Continent is always corrupted by all kinds of evil...
Bandits are rampant and cults are rampant. Most of the lords will not protect the civilians. Instead, constant fighting continues to aggravate people's suffering.
Food is always scarce and life is always full of uncertainty.
As early as decades ago, people were constantly mentioning Madigan's Prophecy. They really needed a hero to save people in distress.
Twenty years ago, in Weizan Village of Raven Territory, a young man and his stubborn wife once again lost everything they had worked hard to build.
Their homeland was completely destroyed by the war between the two Raven Lords.
I don't know how many times this has happened, but things like this happen all the time. In wars and disputes between nobles, the people who get hurt are always the civilians.
After much thought, the couple decided that they would no longer tolerate the attacks of Vanskery pirates and Misty Mountains barbarians, and they would no longer plant crops on the cultivated land burned by the Crow Army.
They decided to gather anyone who was willing to fight against all threats and protect those who could not defend themselves.
With some talent and luck, the couple and the small group of volunteers they recruited were able to score many victories against raiders around their village.
Soon after, the number of their teams began to grow rapidly.
People from all over the country joined these two men in their fight for civilians, and quickly formed a large alliance.
Pirates and bandits began to fear this civilian armed force, and the nobles also began to fear them, because they would kill anyone who caused massacres in their territory, whether they were plunderers or noble troops.
Wearing white clothes, they called themselves "Commoner Knights" and established Pande Continent's first completely civilian force.
The young couple who established this force gradually became known as the 'heroes of the prophecy of Madigan' and were called Child of Prophecy.
But the young pair's victory didn't last forever.
The name of that stubborn woman is Claire, but this name has been forgotten by most people.
People only know that she was killed by a Vanskery leader in a battle. The pirate leader's name was Vidis.
And that man was also defeated on the battlefield by the combined forces of the Lion, Raven, and Fieltzwe.
The power established by the couple was once again reduced to scorched earth, and almost all the 'Commoner Knights' died on that land.
In fact, this 'Commoner Knights' never intended to attack any country, they just wanted to live a peaceful life.
But when they reach a certain scale, all noble lords regard them as targets that must be eliminated - even those lords who are considered gentle and kind-hearted.
The fact that the original Fieltzway Alliance was recognized by both the Lion and the Raven, and transformed from an alliance of warlords into a kingdom, had something to do with this matter.
The commander of the coalition forces that destroyed this 'Commoner Knights' was King Vidis of Fieltzwe - at that time, this king was only known as the 'Vidis leader', but after he killed the Commoner Knights leader who was known as 'Child of Prophecy', he was promoted to the throne by the nobles.
However, the man did not die on the battlefield.
Good luck seems to have always been with him, and he was lucky enough to survive many situations where death was inevitable.
But it wasn't until his wife died in battle and his army was wiped out that he realized that he was not fighting for civilians in the first half of his life.
He is just fighting for a peaceful life.
His name 'Sigismund' does indeed mean 'protect with victory', but he has never done it, even though he has achieved countless victories.
Because war only brings death...