Guilt by Association and the Upright Soldier Hudson

If looks could kill, Hudson would have already torn the old man in front of him to shreds. They were like uncle and nephew just this morning, and now he'd sold him out so quickly.

"Whoever proposes the plan is responsible for its execution. If it succeeds, the credit belongs to everyone; if it fails, the responsibility falls solely on the proposer."

Hudson was in tears, unable to believe he'd fallen for such a simple workplace rule even after transmigrating.

Heaven and earth knew he'd been careful. Was it really worth going to such lengths just to make a little money?

The damn plan was his proposal, but he'd only hinted at it; he never once uttered the word "robbery."

During the specific planning process, Hudson, believing that too much talk leads to mistakes, had only agreed from beginning to end.

He'd wanted to be a quiet spectator, but in the end, the show had turned on him. As soon as that old fossil Mecher proposed it, everyone enthusiastically responded.

The flattering words made Hudson feel utterly ashamed. As a novice Knight, he'd somehow bypassed the rising stars and been promoted to "highly respected."

Hudson could only express his admiration for such shameless maneuvering with a capital "F."

The hat was placed high, and no matter how much Hudson tried to refuse, he couldn't stop the nobles from pushing it onto him.

It truly made Hudson understand the saying: "When a tree grows taller than the forest, the wind will destroy it."

The root of everything was that he had performed too well previously. Even though Hudson had tried his best to hide his abilities, he still stood out against the backdrop of his incompetent teammates.

His act of "scaring the pigs by pretending to be a tiger" had been too successful, leading everyone to mistakenly believe that "Hudson's troops are always abundant."

Otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to entrust him with this "important task." After all, if there were problems with the provisions, everyone would share the blame.

Even if Hudson were willing to take the fall, his small frame couldn't bear it. Even borrowing someone's head wouldn't help; it would only bring misfortune to Knight Chels, as he was the legion commander.

With everyone's words, Hudson could only passively accept the responsibility. He had initially wanted to drag a few unlucky souls down with him but eventually gave up.

If the main force of the rebels were to intercept the supplies, the entire Fifth Army would struggle. Leaving a few unlucky Knights would be of no help, so he decided not to attract any more hatred.

Hudson felt immense pressure taking command of all the serf soldiers.

Fortunately, the Aslant Continent had a strict hierarchy, and the troublemakers had already been dealt with by the noble lords, so no one dared to cause trouble.

After democratically electing a group of decurions through voluntary nomination, Hudson also appointed his trusted confidantes as centurions, barely establishing a command system.

Looking at the earthworm-like formations below, Hudson took a deep breath and reminded himself: these weren't his own soldiers, so he didn't need to demand too much.

"From now on, the entire army must move in unison. Whether it's eating, sleeping, or defecating, all actions must be collective and within the designated time.

Keep your eyes wide open and supervise each other. If anyone violates the rules, and no one reports them, but they are caught.

Then, one person's violation means the entire squad goes hungry; one squad's violation means the entire camp goes hungry.

Under my command, you must abide by my rules. Don't take this lightly; anyone who violates military orders will be hanged.

It doesn't matter if you're caught or not; your families can take the blame. If you don't want to implicate your wives, children, and elders, then behave yourselves.

Follow the formation closely. If you go missing and no body is found, you will be considered a deserter. Your entire family, young and old, will be taken to the gallows at the village entrance..."

Hudson reprimanded them in plain language. In summary, it all boiled down to three words: Guilt by Association.

He had initially wanted to say that if one person violated a military order, the entire squad would lose their heads. However, remembering that they were a ragtag bunch, he feared there would be no one left if he executed too many, so Hudson had to change it to "going hungry."

For the lower-class serfs, starvation was also a severe punishment. Before enlisting, it was estimated that they wouldn't eat a full meal a year.

It was only now, with Count Pierce managing their meals, that they could eat their fill. Having finally eaten a few satisfying meals, naturally, no one wanted to go hungry again.

Frankly speaking, the current method of transporting supplies was not scientific. If they sent everything in one go, and the war dragged on too long, they would have to make return trips.

Despite knowing this, Hudson didn't speak out of turn. As a junior officer, his duty was to obey orders.

Moreover, this was merely quelling a rebellion, not a national war. Discussing the duration of the war could easily lead to ridicule.

In fact, on the Aslant Continent, even when kingdoms went to war, the duration of the conflict usually wasn't very long.

The reason was simple: war was too expensive in terms of money and food. In a feudal era with backward productivity, prolonged warfare was unsustainable for anyone.

With the strong pressure of "Guilt by Association," and after executing a few unlucky individuals who violated military orders, the supply convoy finally stabilized.

It was uncertain whether they could be relied upon on the battlefield, but at least no one was getting lost during the logistics of food transportation.

Of course, another important reason was that everyone's food ration had been improved. Not only was there enough black bread, but they also received a bowl of salty minced meat soup.

Just for that bowl of salty minced meat soup, Hudson's image among the serf soldiers transformed from a fierce noble lord to a "generous" noble lord.

Without any surprise, the extra salted minced meat soup was the Fifth Army nobles' quota.

Hudson had originally intended to pocket it himself, but with no merchants traveling along the way, there was nowhere to fence it.

Provisions were bulk commodities; there was nowhere to hide them. Hudson wasn't foolish enough to try and meet up with the main force while carrying embezzled provisions.

He severely scorned those short-sighted merchants for not seizing such a good opportunity to make money.

Without a place to sell stolen goods, there was no possibility of laundering supplies. Faced with harsh reality, Hudson could only be an upright soldier. He generously decided to improve the soldiers' rations, as if he were being magnanimous to his allies.

After self-reflection, Hudson attributed the failure of his embezzlement to a lack of extensive connections.

Merchants were driven by profit, but their fists weren't strong enough, and they were often cheated by unscrupulous nobles, suffering great losses.

Even though they knew the Fifth Army was responsible for escorting the provisions, no one dared to do business with them. The main reason was that there were too many nobles in the Fifth Army, making it impossible to bribe everyone.

If even one step of the process wasn't handled properly, someone could easily double-cross them. For such shady dealings, even if they were robbed, they wouldn't dare to report it.

With the risk and reward not proportional, naturally, no one came. After all, who would have thought that the nobles of the Fifth Army would pull such a stunt, collectively going out to rob, leaving Hudson alone to guard the fort?

With his dreams of getting rich shattered, Hudson could only launder some disposable military supplies like arrows to soothe his wounded heart.