Delivered Military Authority

After leaving Beda City, Hudson was followed by a convoy of vehicles, which he had hired to transport dried fish.

Just because there's stock at the port doesn't mean you can't buy it in Beda City. Going to the port like that would be foolish.

Let's not even talk about the price. It's definitely not going to be cheap, but it's not outrageously expensive either.

With grain prices remaining high, Hudson could accept a slightly higher price for meat products, especially since they were salted.

As for the taste, Beldens looked disgusted, and Hudson was even less likely to be the "dried fish warrior".

Point Guard Here

However, this also serves as a reminder that it is necessary to stockpile a batch of dried meat as military rations in advance.

In the event of an emergency, these highly nutritious foods can help the army sustain itself for a longer period of time.

Hudson didn't think relying entirely on the kingdom's supplies was a reliable idea.

It's not that I'm worried about the bureaucrats causing trouble, but the battlefield is unpredictable and many unexpected events can happen in an instant.

A routine military mobilization could easily cause troops and supply convoys to miss each other. When they will meet again depends on whether the Lord of Dawn will protect them.

We can plan ahead; there's still time. The real challenge is organizing a nationwide military training program.

Unlike the other prefects, who simply organized a meeting, did some ideological work, and issued orders, he was different.

Hudson, the newly appointed military commissioner of Laite County, was nominally subject to the control of the county governor.

While they could ignore Viscount Ciss, their authority was ultimately illegitimate. If things escalated, it would be a real problem.

After hesitating for a moment, Hudson glanced towards the Northern Frontier and said:

"Tom, in the name of the county military officer, send out invitations to all nobles in the Laite County to attend the 'Comprehensive Crackdown on the Skull and Bones Skull Society Security and Rectification Conference' in three days."

An excuse is always necessary. The news of full-scale preparations for war cannot be leaked, so the Skull Society has to bear the brunt of it all.

As Heretical Cult, taking the blame is their job. Any problem they can't solve can be shifted onto them.

The results were consistently good, and it gradually became a routine.

That's the nature of politics. Even if they know that the nationwide war effort is aimed at the Beastfolk, the Alpha Kingdom still can't admit it.

The responsibility for starting the war rests solely with the Beastfolk. Although it may seem to have little practical effect, they must still occupy the moral high ground.

"After all this time, haven't they found a single useful piece of information?"

The masked man's question made Carlis very embarrassed.

Back when he was in the Church, he was an elite figure, and he was very efficient and decisive in handling matters.

Things changed after joining the anti- Church organization disguised as the Skull Society and Bones Society. From the moment he took on the mission to find the "Blood Moon Horn," everything went wrong.

"Reporting to the Holy Lord, I have investigated all the nobles who were most likely to have come into contact with the Blood Moon Horn that day."

Now only the last one remains, and he is also the most suspicious one..."

Before Carlis could finish speaking, the masked man waved his hand and said, "Now that we've locked onto the target, what are we hesitating for? Let's go investigate!"

Just as he finished speaking, the masked man suddenly realized something was wrong and added:

"The Fifth Army was closest to the site of Yinman's death. The suspect you're referring to, isn't that bastard Hudson?"

Carlis nodded without hesitation.

It wasn't that he wasn't trying his best, it was just that the Mountain Territory were too unfriendly to these unfamiliar visitors.

The deep-rooted Baojia System made it impossible for him to keep his whereabouts a secret.

Not only did hotels require registration and reporting, but even visits to serfs' homes were recorded.

Several attempts to penetrate deeper were met with questioning from patrolling soldiers. After experiencing this repeatedly, Carlis realized that someone was tipping him off.

In order not to alert the enemy, Carlis was forced to pretend to be a merchant who went to purchase a lot of miscellaneous Ironware products.

Even so, he could only operate on the outskirts. There was absolutely no possibility of getting close to the lord's manor.

Secret infiltration was out of the question; Carlis didn't believe his stealth skills were good enough to fool the Earth Bear.

If you're unlucky and get slapped to death by a bear cub as soon as you get there, that would be a huge loss.

Upon receiving this definitive news, the masked man also felt a headache coming on. He had previously been unable to withstand even a fully grown Earth Bear.

Besides, that's their territory. If their identities are exposed, they'll immediately be surrounded and killed by the army.

"Hold off the operation. That bastard Hudson is too mysterious. He might be the reincarnation of some fallen Evil God. It's not wise to confront him head-on."

Although the masked man spoke very carefully, there was always a sense of incongruity in his words.

It's somewhat ridiculous that Heretical Cult leader would suspect his enemies are Evil God.

But there was nothing he could do; that was truly what the masked man thought. Others might not know what the Earth Bear was all about, but he knew perfectly well.

Growing a young Earth Bear prematurely without causing any side effects or a rebellious reaction is no easy feat.

Even the Church, with its profound history and traditions, could not achieve this.

Within his understanding, only the power of gods could have accomplished this.

Based on his granddaughter's words that day, the masked man quickly connected Hudson with the gods.

Only the energy carried by a reincarnated deity could pose a threat to a top powerhouse like him on the continent.

The older you get in the world of martial arts, the more timid you become.

The masked man really didn't want to mess with someone who seemed to be a reincarnation of a god.

"Then shall we not search for the Blood Moon Horn?"

"Carlis asked, puzzled."

The Skull Society spared no expense for this "evil artifact." Suddenly relinquishing it is completely out of character for Heretical Cult.

"What's the rush? We're not the only ones searching for the Blood Moon Horn."

"Spread the word that the Blood Moon Horn is in the Mountain Territory, and those guys from the Church will naturally go scout ahead for us."

The masked man said with a sneer.

The enemy is always the one who knows you best, especially an enemy composed of internal traitors.

Without a doubt, the masked men who had worked within the Church were very familiar with Church ways of doing things.

Even though it no longer possesses the power of its peak, it still retains that innate arrogance.

Their style of doing things is basically as domineering as possible.

The Mountain Territory are not enough to make the Church wary; once they receive the news, they will surely come knocking on their door.

"Your Majesty, if the Church intervenes, won't we have no chance?"

The Frankish Kingdom had an agreement; without receiving the goods, it might be difficult to hand them over..."

"Carlis said with considerable apprehension."

Engaging in anti- Church activities is already fraught with danger; if they offend other powerful forces, their lives will become even more difficult.

"Don't worry, this is the Alpha Kingdom. At most, the Church will secretly send a few experts to investigate. Once their true identities are revealed, their treatment won't be much better than ours."

You've experienced firsthand how tight the defenses are in the Mountain Territory; stealing the Blood Moon Horn from here won't be easy.

If we try to forcibly seize it, even if they manage to get the Blood Moon Horn, they won't be able to take it out safely.

The Frankish Kingdom's main objective was to create trouble for the Church. The Blood Moon Horn was merely a medium through which this occurred.

Essentially, this thing doesn't mean much to them.

"That's what the masked man said mockingly."

As the leading religion in mainland China, the Dawn Holy See should be respected by the world, but one day it has fallen to the point of being treated like Heretical Cult, enjoying the same treatment as everyone who hates it.

It has to be said that this is a great irony.

If their identities were exposed, the Alpha Kingdom would probably be even more enthusiastic about hunting down members of the Church than about hunting down the Skull Society.

Not only the Alpha Kingdom, but many countries on the Aslant Continent are unfriendly to the Church, which loves to cause trouble.

With the execution of Caesar III's secret orders, the war machine of the Alpha Kingdom quickly sprang into action.

Driven by all sorts of bizarre reasons, large-scale military training exercises have been launched across the country. Lacking sufficient weapons, even those wielding wooden sticks are expected to practice a few moves.

However, training troops is also a skill. Some nobles train their troops in a very professional manner, but most nobles' training is more like a farce.

The quality of the lower-class nobles is truly questionable. Not every family has a deep-rooted heritage, and only a minority ultimately pass down their military knowledge.

Hudson was furious as he led his personal guards to inspect the training progress of the nobles in the county.

I often see a few people holding knives, guns, and clubs, practicing and gesturing, while the rest of the people clap and cheer.

Is this considered training?

The thought of leading such an army into battle reminded Hudson of the ragtag coalition that had quelled the Skull Society rebellion.

The problem is that this time the enemy is a ferocious Beastfolk, unlike last time when it was just a matter of who was worse.

Compared to the Orc Empire, the Alpha Kingdom was the weaker party, and Hudson did not have the same mentality as before, waiting to coast along and wait for victory.

When the nest is overturned, how can any egg remain intact?

Hudson now has a family and a career; he's no longer the penniless young knight he once was.

Beastfolk invade, a penniless knight can slip away on a whim, but a noble lord has no way out.

Since his own interests were at stake, Hudson had no choice but to worry about these "allies."

It's not that there aren't outstanding students; for example, those guys from the North, the soldiers they trained were quite impressive.

However, those guys had too many powerful and complex backgrounds, and had offended too many people. Hudson didn't want to get too close to them and cause trouble for himself.

Otherwise, he would have already gone to undermine the Ciss. The so-called Northern Alliance couldn't stop his hoe.

The same applies to this training exercise; he merely gave those guys a shout, not bothering to tell them whether they should carry it out or not.

The guy who was left to his own devices ended up exceeding expectations by pulling all the able-bodied men out for training.

The local nobles, whom Hudson valued highly, kept causing trouble. It wasn't that they were uncooperative, but rather that they genuinely lacked the ability to cooperate.

If you don't know, you don't know. In the inheritance of most noble families, the focus is on how to train a small number of elite guards.

Although the Alpha Kingdom was forced to mobilize all its forces during the last total war, Hudson knew from the few words in history books that the outcome was not optimistic.

Considering the devastation of the last war, most of the nobles who participated never returned.

With everyone gone, the experience gained on the battlefield is, needless to say, forever buried underground.

"Uncle Chers, is this how you train your troops?"

Hudson said irritably.

I thought that Baron Chers, who had been on the battlefield and commanded the Fifth Army, must have learned a lot.

As it turned out, Hudson was simply overthinking things. The guy in front of him was training his soldiers by instructing them in Battle Qi techniques.

If you have meat at every meal, and occasionally add some high-energy monster meat, this training method isn't too bad.

The problem was that the serfs were eating cheap, black bread that was hard and could be used as a stick to hit people, and they had to eat wild vegetable soup with it to barely fill their stomachs.

This is a privilege only available during military training or the busy farming season.

In normal times, being able to eat until you're seven or eight tenths full is a testament to the lord's good conscience.

If the nutrition is inadequate, then teaching cultivation methods is simply harming lives.

Of course, the noble lords also valued talent. As long as someone made a name for themselves in their craft, their treatment would immediately improve.

While monster meat is out of the question, having enough to eat is certainly achievable. We can have a little meat every day, and a meat meal every few days.

Unfortunately, only a minority of people are truly talented, especially when they lack any cultivation resources. Even fewer of them can achieve great things through cultivation.

In this vast Mountain Territory, there are only a few hundred people who have cultivated Battle Qi, many of whom are members of powerful families.

Previously, he was unable to follow the path of a knight due to the lack of Life Essence, and was forced to switch to Battle Qi, which was easy to harm his body.

However, the younger generation has now returned to the path of knightly training. They all look expectantly at Hudson, hoping he will solve this problem.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

I did exactly as you said, to train as many elite soldiers as possible in the shortest amount of time.

Baron Chers said matter-of-factly.

An army composed of cultivators is absolutely the elite of the elite.

Because of the small number of people, they spend every day together and develop a tacit understanding that makes them the best teamwork.

When forces are roughly equal, the combat effectiveness of such small escort units clearly surpasses that of ordinary elite troops.

The problem is that the number of people is too small to achieve economies of scale.

Perhaps a high-ranking noble like Dalton could assemble an army of several thousand pure cultivators, but the lower-ranking nobles below him could never do that.

This is a huge problem!

What we need is a force that can be quickly trained into an army and has a certain combat capability; most importantly, it must be of a certain size.

Just like the unit I trained during the last major war.

Uncle Chers, it seems you took quite a few veterans with you last time. Could they have all been wiped out so quickly?

After hearing Hudson's words, Chers looked embarrassed.

He originally thought that by gaining a group of veterans, he could replicate Hudson's training methods, but he found that the group of single-minded serfs had only learned two words - obedience.

He completely ignored the intermittent oral accounts of the training process.

"It's all the fault of those Northern Nobles. When they first arrived two years ago and a conflict broke out, I led some men to help my friend..."

Looking at the indignant Baron Chers, Hudson felt a toothache.

Now I suddenly understand why the local nobles and the Northern Aristocrats were once evenly matched; it turns out that those veterans who had seen blood were also sent to the battlefield.

Fortunately, I reacted quickly back then and decisively rejected all the invitations, otherwise I don't know what would have happened.

Soldiers who undergo rigorous training and achieve consecutive victories on the battlefield can quickly become elite, or at least they will consider themselves elite.

If a major defeat is suffered and the commander fails to reassure the troops in time, that morale will quickly dissipate.

Without sheer willpower, they're just seasoned veterans. They're worth two men in a winning battle, but if the front lines fall, they're the first to flee.

They were not even as good as the serfs who had just put down their hoes, who could fight alongside the noble lords for as long.

Of course, it's also possible that the serfs wanted to escape but didn't know how.

After all, without enough experience, one might accidentally follow the nobleman to the front, only to find that there are people blocking the way behind when trying to run away.

"Hudson, tell me the truth. Why are you in such a hurry to train the troops? Has something happened on the Northern Frontier front?"

Baron Chers asked with concern.

The nobles weren't fools either. At first, everyone suspected that Hudson was planning something and taking the opportunity to oust the Sheriff of the Ciss County.

However, as the news spread and similar orders were issued in all the nearby counties, people began to speculate that something had happened on the Northern Frontier.

It was precisely because of this alarming speculation that everyone actively organized the training of serfs. Otherwise, the orders of the county military officers would have little effect in front of the noble lords.

"Uncle Chers, don't ask me about this. If you do, it's because the Skull Society is causing trouble."

As for the rest, you can guess for yourself; I certainly won't admit it.

I'm guessing you've already heard that since the meeting held at the Governor's Mansion, the entire Southeast Province has been mobilized.

Not just the Southeast Province, but the entire Alpha Kingdom is in the same boat. The kingdom is going all out this time to combat the Heretical Cult.

Hudson said meaningfully.

The contents of the meeting cannot be disclosed, but that does not mean that the facts cannot be stated.

The Alpha Kingdom has indeed mobilized, but as for which Heretical Cult it is targeting, that's for Chers to figure out himself.

Upon receiving a definitive answer, Baron Chers's face immediately darkened. His last illusions were shattered, and disaster was imminent.

After a slight hesitation, Baron Chers spoke again, "Things have come to this point, it seems there's really no way to avoid it."

In every major war, the units were mainly mixed based on region, but we also had a strong degree of autonomy.

With the war breaking out in the Northern Frontier, the Laite County will surely send troops. It is likely that most of the local nobles will choose to join your ranks and fight alongside you.

Since we're all going to the battlefield together soon, why don't you take the trouble to gather everyone's troops together for training?

If we let everyone do whatever they want, and end up with a bunch of rabble on the battlefield, I'm afraid...