Recaps

Victor received reinforcements from Edelweiss Territory and prepared to lead an expedition against the Green Grass Tribe. After organizing the troops and supplies, he visited the wounded soldiers and wrote to his family before the army’s departure.

• Victor and his officers debated the risks of attacking the Green Grass Tribe, including how to transport captives and livestock with too few soldiers.
• James suggested giving horses to the infantry, and Victor learned from a messenger that two hundred Light Cavalry from Edelweiss Territory were arriving.
• Jackson Edelweiss arrived at Wood Fort Town, handed Victor the symbol of military command, and agreed to follow his battle plan.
• Victor divided the Light Cavalry between Jackson and Ron, arranged horses and carriages for the infantry, and set the army’s departure for the next morning.
• Victor visited the wounded soldiers, then wrote a letter home about the territory, supplies, and how much he missed his family.

Victor committed to prioritizing military expansion and led his army across the river toward the Green Grass Tribe. He prepared his officers to crush the hostile tribe, capture its herdsmen, and use them to secure Barbarian Cavalry for his territory.

• Victor revised his plans to focus on military expansion, and Number 1 calculated that his territory could eventually field a full-time force of 5,000 men.
• After the army crossed the river, Victor ordered Jack to take 100 Cavalry and scouts ahead to reconnoiter and harass the Green Grass Tribe.
• Victor's main force advanced with its supplies and established a disciplined camp about halfway to the tribe's destination.
• At a meeting with his officers, Victor ordered them to root out the hostile Green Grass Tribe and intimidate its people.
• Victor planned to capture the tribe's herdsmen so he could gain leverage over its Barbarian soldiers and recruit 800 to 1,000 Barbarian Cavalry.
• Victor ordered Number 1 to remind him daily not to hold useless meetings.

Victor learned that a coup had weakened the Green Grass Tribe and sent Ron and Jackson to reinforce Jack, whose cavalry attacked the tribe’s camp and set it ablaze. Victor then led his main force to capture the camp, securing its remaining herders and livestock.

• Jack interrogated Green Grass Tribe herders and learned that the former chief had taken 500 cavalry away while his younger brother seized power and expelled the former chief’s supporters.
• Victor sent Ron and Jackson with 150 men to reinforce Jack, while Michael stayed behind with 50 men and scouts to gather displaced herders.
• Jack, Ron, and Jackson’s cavalry surprised the Green Grass Tribe’s camp, started a fire, and drove back the new chief’s attempted escape.
• Victor persuaded displaced herders to follow his force with promises of food, and more joined as he approached the camp.
• Victor met Ron, Jack, and Jackson outside the camp, then ordered his main force to attack and capture it.

Victor fed and secured the captured Green Grass Tribe herders while hearing Paru explain why he had tried to lead his people north and escape tribal conflict. Paru refused Victor’s offer to serve him and was executed according to Barbarian custom, after which Knight Jack reported the captives and livestock seized.

• Victor gave the captured herders a hot meal, extra soup for the elderly and children, and sent some able-bodied adults to recover livestock.
• Victor questioned Paru, who recounted his years as a slave in Count Colt’s territory and his decision to free the Green Grass Tribe from abuse and conflict.
• Paru explained that he had planned to take control of the tribe and lead it north, but Victor’s forces arrived before he could escape.
• Victor offered Paru work managing his tribe, but Paru refused and asked for an honorable death.
• Victor had Cavalry trample Paru after he was wrapped in a carpet, following a method compatible with Barbarian beliefs.
• Knight Jack reported that the operation captured 3,100 herders and seized cattle, horses, and sheep, and Victor ordered the spoils sent back to his territory.

Victor brought the Green Grass Tribe’s surviving herdsmen and prisoners to the Great Fish River and planned a basic education system to strengthen his territory. He decided to recruit educated Freemen as teachers and educate war orphans and soldiers’ children, while recognizing that his long-term plans depended on continued growth and avoiding major crises.

• Victor rejected a proposal to kill elderly captives and children, deciding his territory could support them and that the young had greater potential.
• Victor asked Number 1 about the teaching materials and learned that version 1.0 was complete while version 2.0 was still being prepared.
• Victor set out a thirty-year education plan, progressing from basic schooling to specialized training and research institutions.
• Victor decided to ask his father to send twenty educated Freemen and to make barbarian war orphans and serf soldiers’ children the first students.
• After three days, Victor’s main force and prisoners reached the Great Fish River, where the soldiers cheered at the sight of the fleet and the herdsmen looked hopefully toward the opposite bank.

Victor managed Wood Fort Town’s food shortage and horse arrangements, then encountered Paru, a young captive who repeatedly tried to escape with his little sister. He hired Paru to accompany him on patrols and arranged for someone to care for Little Mouse.

• Powell warned Victor that the territory’s food would run out in twenty days, so Victor arranged to borrow provisions from James until the next fleet returned.
• Victor ordered five hundred horses sent to Bole County and asked Ron to select five hundred capable captives to care for them during the voyage.
• Victor found Michael and another Cavalryman stopping Paru, who had tried to escape for the third time while carrying his little sister, Little Mouse.
• Paru explained that Paru of the Green Grass Tribe had named him and taught him to seek freedom, and that he had named and cared for Little Mouse.
• Victor offered to hire Paru to travel around the territory with him and arranged for a Barbarian woman to care for Little Mouse.

Victor arranged for the fleet to depart and invited Captain Jack to help establish a naval fleet in Golden Sunflower Territory. He then received Markut Blackpine, whose territory began delivering light teak by raft, and agreed to support the workers transporting it.

• Victor told Powell to let Captain Jack's fleet depart and said he could provide enough fodder for the livestock through winter.
• Captain Jack reported that a transport ship needed proper repairs, and Victor entrusted him with the fleet and asked him to recruit old friends to help build a navy.
• Victor greeted Markut Blackpine, who arrived from Black Pine Territory to fulfill their lumber contract and reported that log rafting was going smoothly.
• Markut told Victor that the first delivery contained four thousand light teak logs and that more would arrive every two days.
• Victor and Markut arranged for horses to carry rafting workers back to Black Pine Territory, with Victor covering their feed, food, and lodging, and Markut returned home.

Victor inspected the brickworks in Two Rivers Territory and found that its new ring kiln could produce bricks faster than the territory could supply charcoal. Number 1 identified Black Oil Pine and Golden Sunflower as promising fuels, and Victor planned to seek fuel timber from Markut’s Black Pine Territory while the territory’s labor shortage continued.

• Victor questioned Jimmy about the ring kiln’s output and learned that charcoal shortages would soon halt brick production.
• Victor recognized that manpower was stretched across construction and resource production, despite the Calculation Module’s improvements to tools and techniques.
• Number 1 reported that Black Oil Pine could provide high-calorific fuel and Golden Sunflower oil could serve as fuel for internal combustion engines.
• Number 1 suggested that Black Pine Territory might contain Black Oil Pine, so Victor decided to contact Markut and buy fuel timber.
• Victor told Jimmy to slow production and optimize the process, then warned the logging and charcoal teams not to risk workers by rushing.
• Victor returned to Wood Fort Town with a raft team carrying bricks and stone, still hoping the fleet would bring more laborers.

Victor oversaw construction and surveyed his territory, discovering a vast low-grade iron deposit and learning that Iron Bean could grow there and improve its iron yield. He then organized the construction and filling of ten silage pits, sealing them before winter and leaving their success to fermentation.

• Victor ordered wooden shacks built and used the first bricks and stone to renovate the docks and construct more than ten watchtowers along the Great Fish River.
• Victor, Michael, and Little Paru discovered a large hematite deposit, and Number 1 told Victor that Iron Bean might grow as a perennial and improve the land’s iron yield.
• Number 1 explained that the world’s resources and miraculous plants suggested it had been prepared to help a newborn civilization develop, and Victor resolved to use his authority and knowledge to transform it.
• Victor planned ten silage pits, used tung oil to waterproof them, and sent herders to gather forage for winter livestock feed.
• After ten days of work, Victor’s crews sealed all ten pits, and Victor waited to see whether fermentation would succeed.

Victor trained with the guards, inspected several industrial sites, and traveled to Sea Song Town to await the fleet returning from Bole County. He arrived just as the fleet of more than twenty ships docked at the town’s pier.

• Victor sparred with ten guards without using the auxiliary combat system, then praised them and gave them an extra meal and the afternoon off.
• Victor urged Powell and the other stewards to accelerate winter housing construction before the first snowfall.
• Victor rode toward Sea Song Town, inspecting the brickworks, charcoal plant, and logging camp along the way.
• Victor ordered the charcoal plant to produce and store Black Oil Pine charcoal for future iron and steel smelting.
• Victor reached Sea Song Town around four in the afternoon and saw the fleet returning from Bole County docking at the pier.

Victor met Chairman Vitri, who had arrived with extra ships and a large shipment of construction supplies and weapons. Vitri revealed that the weapons had been approved by the Raine Royal House and Iron Birch Family, and implied that the Raine Kingdom intended to influence the Grand Duchy of Vera while the Silver Maple Ducal House remained in power.

• Victor went to the docks, where he greeted Captain Jack and learned that Chairman Vitri had arrived with the fleet.
• Victor assigned Captain Jack and Vincent to handle the cargo and invited Vitri to tour Sea Song Town and dine with him.
• Vitri described his shipment of Iron Birch Wood, iron, cloth, furs, crossbows, arrows, swords, and Iron Knight Armor.
• Victor objected that the weapons could endanger him, but Vitri assured him the Raine Royal House and Iron Birch Family had approved them.
• Vitri told Victor he had sensed Victor's wariness from their first meeting and said they would not be enemies before the Silver Maple Ducal House fell.

Victor learned why the Raine Kingdom was stirring up trouble in the Grand Duchy of Vera: it wanted the Iron Birch Family to gain forces that could support its northern advance. The chapter left Victor wondering whether the Raine Kingdom had discovered a safe route across Tears of God.

• Vitri asked Victor to explain why the Grand Duchy of Vera had become independent from the East Sea Alliance.
• Victor recounted how the East Sea Alliance's expansion northward led to disputes between its nobles and the Silver Maple Family.
• Victor described the Silver Maple Family and more than fifty noble houses breaking away, followed by a war that forced the East Sea Alliance to recognize Vera's independence.
• Vitri explained that neither the Raine Kingdom nor the Iron Birch Family wanted the Iron Birch Family to rule Vera; they wanted it to gain more forces for a northern advance.
• Victor asked whether the Raine Kingdom had found a safe route across Tears of God.

Vitri revealed that he was a Raine Kingdom spy and recruited Victor to support the kingdom’s plans in the Grand Duchy of Vera. Victor agreed only after bargaining for extensive support for the Two Rivers Territory, and the two signed a secret agreement.

• Vitri explained that the Raine Kingdom had discovered a fast sea route and intended to establish a foothold in the Grand Duchy of Vera to counter future influence from the eastern shore.
• Vitri identified himself as a Nightingale spy and offered Victor the prospect of noble titles in exchange for supporting the Raine Kingdom.
• Victor agreed to negotiate but demanded more support, citing the allies and relatives he would need to bring into the arrangement.
• Victor and Vitri negotiated for five hours and signed a secret agreement covering loans, ships, serfs, trade, and possible military aid.
• Victor promised to help Vitri become an independent noble if Victor later rose to the rank of count or higher.

Vitri explained why the Raine Kingdom’s Nightingale had chosen the Golden Sunflower Territory and how it had exploited the civil war to weaken Marquis Mora. Victor agreed to cooperate while negotiating for wealth and influence, and learned that Alex was the Nightingale’s recognized partner while Count Colt dealt directly with the kingdom.

• Vitri told Victor that the Nightingale had selected his family because it wanted a viscount title, had influence in the eastern commanderies, and could not obtain favor from Marquis Mora.
• Vitri said the Nightingale had not caused the civil war but had intensified it, while Count Colt had independently sent troops to weaken the Ducal House and deepen divisions among the nobles.
• Victor and Vitri discussed Mora’s weakened forces, lack of officers, and difficulty rebuilding, and Victor questioned why the Raine Kingdom needed local allies instead of sending its own legions.
• Victor promised to cooperate, even potentially leading troops into Capital City, while Vitri said this year’s promised serfs and supplies would arrive after spring.
• Vitri gave Victor two cargo ships and said he would return to Northwind City to report to Alex, the Nightingale’s recognized partner.
• Vitri explained that Count Colt’s direct partners came from the Kingdom Military Department, and Victor envied Colt’s ability to bargain with the kingdom as a powerful noble.

Victor returned to Wood Fort Town, reviewed the territory’s finances and resources, and reorganized the distribution of newly arrived weapons and armor. He then worked with the Weaponry Workshop craftsmen to build and install the territory’s first dock crane.

• Victor checked the updated Two Rivers Territory panel and noted that the territory still had expenses but no income.
• Victor arrived at Wood Fort Town with 1,000 serfs, winter supplies, and Weaponry Workshop equipment and craftsmen.
• Victor assigned fifty sets of Iron Knight Armor to Knight Jack’s new heavy knight unit, reserved the other fifty, and equipped the crossbow unit with Armor-Piercing Crossbows.
• Victor told his officers he would reorganize the troops over winter and test their units in spring before deciding who would receive the remaining armor.
• Victor found that the docks relied on inefficient manual labor and, with the master craftsmen, built a wooden crane that was installed at the docks before nightfall.

Victor prepared the territory for winter and approved a military reorganization that established the Two Rivers Territory First Regiment. He scheduled a victory celebration and the public announcement of the new structure for October 9.

• Victor ordered the Weaponry Workshop to improve dock cranes, make iron arrowheads and upgrade equipment, then arranged for Captain Jack and James to transport cargo, supplies and serfs to Blue Rose Territory.
• Victor convened the military commanders, approved a signal-flag manual and unanimously passed a frontier war reward plan centered on land grants for soldiers.
• Victor appointed himself regimental commander, Ron as deputy commander, and assigned commanders and units for the cavalry, infantry and logistics detachments.
• Victor incorporated his Guard Squad into the regimental headquarters and set October 9 for the victory celebration and announcement of the reorganization.

Victor held a celebration assembly to reward soldiers, officials, and workers who had contributed to the territory’s battles and development. After distributing rewards across the territory, he visited Sea Song Town, rewarded its soldiers and Vincent, and stayed overnight at the temporary office.

• Victor opened the assembly and named Jack’s advance squad the Vanguard of Two Rivers, granting its members medals, money, and land exchange rights.
• Victor distributed medals, money, and land rewards to other military units, commanders, soldiers, and civil officials, then held a parade for outstanding recipients.
• Victor promised money, land, and release from serf status to territory workers and their families, and warned officials against withholding rewards.
• After the banquet, Victor visited the northern-bank watchtower troops and toured project sites to encourage workers and promise help with problems.
• Victor arrived at Sea Song Town, rewarded its fifty soldiers, and met Vincent, presenting his reward and confirming him as Town Mayor.
• Victor stayed overnight at Sea Song Town’s temporary office after his busy day.

Victor organized a large-scale gazelle hunt as a live exercise to test the army’s new structure and improve coordination. After the troops struggled with signals and formations, the captains adapted their tactics and brought the hunt to a successful close, leaving the soldiers learning from one another around the campfires.

• Victor reorganized the army, prepared to train auxiliary soldiers after winter arrived, and assigned the Calculation Module to plan a hunt for a herd of Mongolian gazelles.
• On October 15, Victor ordered the four detachments to cross the river and hunt according to their roles, but Ron’s cavalry, Santos’s infantry, James’s cavalry, and Foss’s rearguard struggled to coordinate.
• Victor refused to intervene as the confused formations let gazelles break through and nearly caused the cavalry and infantry to collide.
• Santos replaced the misunderstood flag signals with weapon strikes and drumbeats, while James redirected the herd and Ron used fire arrows to close off its escape.
• Foss exposed horse traps behind the shield wall, and the rearguard killed the gazelles that plunged into them.
• After the hunt, the soldiers gathered around campfires and shared practical lessons, showing a growing understanding between the detachments.

Victor reviewed the hunt’s military performance at the Main Camp, addressing command failures and proposals for improving the reorganized troops. He left plans for officer training and language classes in motion, while defending the untested medical teams as something whose value would become clear over time.

• Victor told Ron that unclear orders and heavy-risk tactics had caused confusion, and urged him to protect scarce troops in future battles.
• Santos praised the reorganized squads’ speed and flag signals but reported that some ten-man leaders had abandoned their units during the hunt.
• Victor proposed a training course in which experienced commanders would teach junior officers their duties and contribute to teaching materials.
• Jackson recommended promoting Barbarians to ten-man leaders, and Victor agreed to try it and add language classes for both soldiers and Barbarian officers.
• A commander questioned the need for specialized medical teams, and Victor said their benefits would take time to prove.

Victor explored the grasslands’ medicinal plants and other resources while developing Little Paru as an attendant and student. On October 18, Knight Jack reported a wealthy Barbarian Tribe outpost advancing toward the north bank of the Great Fish River, and Victor put his forces on alert.

• Victor collected medicinal plants, including Boiling Blood Grass and Bone Marrow Fruit, and identified a local reed as a possible source of inexpensive paper.
• Victor brought Little Mouse into his tent, arranged care for her, and continued teaching Little Paru, who had learned to write in the Common Tongue.
• Victor selected grassland for large-scale cultivation of two varieties of alfalfa to supply forage for Muyuan Town.
• Knight Jack reported that scouts had found a roughly three-hundred-person Barbarian Tribe outpost with large herds and many horses, moving toward the Great Fish River.
• Victor ordered Jack to track the outpost and locate the tribe’s main force, then canceled leave and ordered all units to muster and prepare for deployment.

Victor identified the outpost as a tribe likely controlled by the Iron Birch Family and sent reinforcements to contain it while his forces crossed the river. By the end of the chapter, all deployed troops had reached the north bank and were preparing to march against the tribe.

• Jack reported that the tribal outpost repeatedly intercepted his scouts while avoiding injuries, and Little Paru identified them as a tribe raised by Baron Colt.
• Victor learned from Little Paru that Iron Birch-controlled tribes guarded the borders, fought other tribes, and sold captives into slavery.
• Victor ordered Ron to lead the First Cavalry Detachment to contain the outpost so Jack's scouts could gather intelligence.
• Victor directed the remaining detachments to cross the river, leaving the Second Infantry Detachment behind to defend Wood Fort Town.
• Ron crossed with his personal company to support Jack, while Jackson took command of the cavalry and troops still awaiting transport.
• By one in the morning on the nineteenth, all deployed troops had crossed; Victor ordered stronger outpost defenses, night patrols, and an eight o'clock departure.

Victor led the main cavalry force north after assigning Santos to guard the supplies, while Ron and Jack subdued a Horseshoe Tribe outpost and uncovered its ties to Iron Birch Territory. After Jack located the tribe's camp, Victor gathered his commanders and prepared to attack it the next day.

• Victor set out with six hundred cavalrymen while Santos took command of the infantry and logistics detachments following behind.
• Ron and Jack surrounded and subdued the Barbarian outpost, captured its warriors, and gathered its livestock.
• Ron learned that the outpost belonged to the Horseshoe Tribe, which Viscount John had ordered to interfere with Two Rivers Territory's development.
• Victor hurried to rendezvous with Ron, while Jack found the Horseshoe Tribe's well-guarded camp and stayed nearby to watch it.
• Victor met Ron's force, rested with his men, and later marked the tribe's camp on a map after Jack's messenger reported back.
• Victor told his commanders to attack the Horseshoe Tribe the next day if it resisted.

Victor led Two Rivers Territory’s army toward the Horseshoe Tribe’s Main Camp, using scouts and signal stations to keep intelligence flowing. Near the battlefield, James proposed armoring the Iron Knights to intimidate the enemy, and Victor watched the fifty-man unit equip itself before returning to the main formation.

• Victor dispatched a squadron to support Jack’s reconnaissance force and arranged for the rest of the army to advance while guarding the prisoners and awaiting Santos’s rear guard.
• Victor ordered Jack to retaliate if the Horseshoe Tribe pursued him, but to withdraw if the enemy was too strong.
• James left his unit to suggest that the Iron Knights wear their armor to intimidate the Horseshoe Tribe and the vassal tribes of Iron Birch Territory.
• Victor agreed to James’s proposal and accompanied him to watch the Iron Knights put on their armor.
• The fifty Iron Knights finished equipping themselves in under ten minutes, and Victor returned to the marching army as it neared the battlefield.

Centurion Jell worried about his missing brother Jian and joined forces with Luda to search for the Cavalry unit near the Horseshoe Tribe. They found Jack’s abandoned camp and realized the Iron Birch Territory force there was stronger than expected.

• Jell sent two night-vision warriors to check on Jian’s outpost, but the men vanished and their horses returned to camp.
• Jell persuaded the greedy Luda to leave early by offering him a hundred sheep, then grew more determined to oppose Chief Anlie’s rule.
• Jell and Luda led their two hundred-man units out of camp to hunt for the Cavalry unit.
• Jack spotted the troops approaching, led his force south, and regretted that his captured warriors had provided little intelligence.
• Jell examined Jack’s recently abandoned camp and recognized its layout as that of the duchy’s standing army, suggesting an elite force was present.

Jack used a bait force to lure Luda’s warriors into an ambush, where Victor’s cavalry surrounded them and captured Luda. Jell then approached Jack, blamed Chief Anlie for the conflict, and joined the journey to meet Victor’s arriving main force.

• After finding two tortured warriors, Luda led his men west to pursue Jack while Jell secretly fell behind and used Luda as bait.
• Jack positioned most of his troops in ambush on the hills beside a dry riverbed and sent a small squad to lure Luda’s force in.
• Luda’s men charged over the pebbles, losing horses, and Jack signaled the ambushers to attack.
• Victor’s cavalry charged down both hills, defeated Luda’s unit, and Jack captured Luda while Jell watched.
• Jell dismounted with his men, apologized to Jack, and blamed Anlie and John for the tribe’s actions.
• Jack brought Jell, his men, and the prisoners to a rendezvous point, where Victor’s main force arrived.