Heavenly Wolf Canyon

At dawn, just as the first streak of red appeared on the horizon, Victor had already finished his morning training.

Perseverance was essential to a knight's training. He had never missed a day since transmigrating.

Perhaps because of his cheat, he trained far faster than the original owner of his body had.

He sensed the cyclone inside him and found that it had grown considerably stronger.

If he kept training, he reckoned it wouldn't be long before he could actually project battle qi outside his body.

By Pannosia's standards, he had been a third-tier knight a little over two months ago. Now, he reckoned he was approaching the standard of a fifth-tier knight.

With every step a knight took forward, the difficulty of training increased severalfold.

Limited by their aptitude and willpower, most lesser nobles remained in the first three tiers their entire lives.

Great nobles were an exception. By pouring resources into their training, they could reach the fifth or sixth tier.

Of course, it was hard to say how much of that was inflated.

The standards for assessing knights appeared uniform, but in practice, there was plenty of room for maneuver.

Victor's talent was fairly good. He had been a third-tier knight in his early twenties, which was one reason he had been able to become a battalion commander.

In the Holy Glory Empire, the first requirement for promotion was one's background, the second was military merit, and the third was personal strength.

Those with powerful backgrounds rose through the ranks fastest, without a doubt, but the latter two were what most people worked toward.

Generally speaking, a knight could receive the rank of second lieutenant upon enlistment, and a third-tier knight could attain the rank of captain after putting in two years.

In a main-force legion, that amounted to an insignificant squad leader, but in a supplementary army, it was enough to command a battalion.

After all, a third-tier knight could overpower eight armored soldiers, making one ideal "suicide squad material" on the battlefield.

Promotion to higher military posts was much harder, with essentially only one person for each position, but an officer's rank could rise ahead of his post.

After putting in a few years, fourth-tier knights could generally receive a major's pay and benefits.

Fifth-tier knights who stayed in the army a few more years could even receive a lieutenant colonel's pay and benefits.

At that level of strength, they had essentially surpassed ordinary people.

Against an unarmored rabble, it was nothing unusual for one to kill a hundred men.

That was also the limit of what an exceptionally gifted person could achieve through physical training alone.

Of course, relying on physical training was a choice forced on ordinary commoners or serfs who joined the army without a battle qi manual.

Anyone with even a little wealth would seek out a battle qi manual early and diligently train both body and battle qi.

After all, as their strength increased, earning military merit became easier.

By killing enemy officers and soldiers on the battlefield, someone with good luck could earn the title of knight in a single battle and step across the threshold into the quasi-nobility.

After fighting a few more battles, as long as they didn't die on the battlefield, they had a chance to become a baron.

Advancing beyond that depended on luck. It wasn't that they couldn't achieve great merit; the problem was that others would take a share of the credit.

No matter how great the achievement, how much credit actually fell to them depended entirely on their superiors' consciences.

Generally speaking, the weaker a person was, the more easily their military merit could be withheld.

Superiors, on the other hand, didn't dare go too far with those who were personally powerful.

The greater the noble, the better they knew the lessons of history.

History had seen countless cases of "an ordinary man's anger spilling blood within five paces."

"Commander, the enemy keeps bringing in reinforcements. The surrounding tribes have all mobilized.

"Why don't you let our cavalry battalion strike out and raid the home bases of one or two tribes? We'll show them what we can do!"

Maddox eagerly made his suggestion.

As commander of one of the army's main battalions, he was desperate for military merit.

He lacked the strength to confront the enemy's main force head-on, but bullying the old and weak was his specialty.

"No!"

"The risk of taking the initiative and attacking at a time like this is too high."

"With us here, which of our good neighbors would dare let down their guard?"

"The enemy will be prepared. Even if their main force has left, they won't be so easy to take down.

"If we can't finish the fight quickly and enemy reinforcements arrive, we'll be in serious trouble.

"The cavalry battalion wasn't easy to put together. We can't risk it lightly!"

Victor immediately rejected the proposal.

Raiding the Tuwu People's tribes to force the enemy to split their forces for a rescue was a good tactic in itself, but their own cavalry had only just been formed.

Their only actual combat experience had been surrounding and wiping out a group of defeated stragglers who had gone hungry for two or three days.

If they really encountered the enemy's main force on the battlefield, losing men and officers would be a good outcome. They might even be wiped out to a man!

The loss of troops was secondary. The Third Supplementary Army's true strength would also be exposed.

After that, there would be no way to continue the campaign.

"Commander, if the cavalry doesn't strike, we can only wait for the enemy to assemble.

"Compared with three days ago, the enemy's total strength has doubled, and it's still growing at an accelerating rate.

"If this continues, the enemy could gather thirty to fifty thousand men. The pressure on our army will be too great!"

Felix couldn't help warning him.

The Third Supplementary Army had fewer than seven thousand men and would already struggle against ten thousand enemy main-force troops.

If they really encountered thirty to fifty thousand enemies, he had no idea how they could fight.

"What are you panicking for?"

"How many times have I told you? The more critical the situation, the more important it is to stay calm.

"There are only a few tens of thousands of enemies. What's there to fear?"

"If the enemy wants to assemble its forces, let them.

"As their numbers continue to increase, the marginal gains in the army's combat strength will continue to diminish.

"The difficulty of commanding ten thousand troops and commanding thirty to fifty thousand isn't even in the same league.

"Besides, the enemy comes from multiple tribes, and neighboring tribes have deep conflicts with one another.

"It'll be hard for the tribes to coordinate without problems.

"What we need to do next is advance steadily according to our previous plan.

"Then we just wait for the enemy to make a mistake!"

Victor scolded him irritably.

With a massive enemy army bearing down on them, who wouldn't be worried?

He said he wasn't panicking, but inside, he was just as frantic.

The enemy was gathering tens of thousands of troops. Even if the Third Supplementary Army were replaced by the regular Third Army, this battle would still be difficult.

But no matter how anxious he was, he couldn't show it.

If he lost his composure, the soldiers below him would be even less confident.

Fundamentally, the prestige he held in the army had all been earned on the battlefield.

Once he suffered a defeat on the battlefield, the prestige he had built up would vanish in an instant.

"Felix, it seems you haven't mastered what you learned!"

"The enemy hasn't even attacked yet, and you're already scared stiff.

"If they really came at you, wouldn't your legs give out?

"You should learn a thing or two from me!"

"Commander, I found a hidden canyon fifty li away. There are several wolf packs inside, and the wolf kings are at least third-tier magical beasts.

"If we lure the enemy there, it'll certainly cause them a fair bit of trouble!"

Howard took up the conversation with a smile.

He seemed to be mocking Felix, but he was actually giving him a way to save face.

None of the others present had panicked, yet the man who prided himself on having the most combat experience had been the first to lose his composure.

Victor wasn't surprised by this.

The more someone fought the Tuwu People, the more they understood how formidable the enemy was, and naturally learned to respect them.

Those who had rarely fought the Tuwu People, by contrast, still based their impression of the enemy on the last major battle.

They had won so easily that, in everyone's eyes, the Tuwu People were nothing special.