Routed Soldiers

Outpost No. 3 on the grasslands.

"Idiot, you can't pack salt and sugar together!"

"Fool!"

"That's for saving lives at a critical moment. Nobody told you to eat it now!"

As soon as the military meeting ended, the officers and soldiers got busy.

Even from a great distance, Victor could hear the generals shouting reprimands.

Abandoning the baggage meant leaving behind only the supplies they didn't need. All important strategic supplies still had to be taken along.

"Commander, the supplies have been distributed, but there's still a lot left in the storerooms. Should we burn it all?"

Preston stepped forward to ask.

The Holy Glory Empire and the Tuwu People had fought for over a hundred years, and the hatred between them ran deep.

If they couldn't take something with them, they couldn't leave it for the enemy either. That belief had long been ingrained in everyone.

"We can't burn it!"

"If we set fire to that much, black smoke will rise straight into the sky. It'll be visible for dozens of miles around.

If the enemy has scouts nearby, our position will be exposed ahead of time."

"Add water and horse piss to the grain, cut the cloth into scraps, or just throw it into the latrine. I don't care how you do it.

In short, destroy everything you can!"

Victor hurriedly stopped him.

They weren't afraid of the enemy's countless schemes; they were afraid of a teammate getting a sudden bright idea.

A strategic withdrawal was, at its heart, a quiet escape.

Once the enemy discovered them, it would turn into a head-on battle.

"Yes, sir!"

The little incident didn't delay the army's departure. Knowing that the enemy could attack at any moment, the soldiers were even more eager to flee than Victor.

Clearly, everyone valued their lives.

Even the generals who had objected earlier were very active during the withdrawal.

The only disappointment was that forming the crossbow and archer battalion wasn't going quite so smoothly.

Plenty of men could draw a bow and shoot an arrow, but their accuracy was another matter entirely.

Time was too short. Once the men had been selected, there was no time at all for systematic training.

By comparison, forming the heavy infantry company went much more smoothly.

The soldiers all came from hard backgrounds, and their endurance had long been built up in daily life.

The three hundred elites selected from the entire army were all strong and sturdy, able to move freely even in armor.

Of course, they were still a long way from being true elites.

The column advanced slowly, and in the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

They hadn't encountered the enemy's main force, or even seen a single person along the way. Instead, they had run into a wolf pack once.

As expected, the wolves had turned tail and fled at the sight of the army.

The grasslands were vast and sparsely populated, and it was normal to go days without seeing anyone. Even so, the quiet felt oppressive.

"Commander, the scouts have brought back a group of routed soldiers. They're said to be from the Northern Frontier Corps."

Howard gave his report, looking a little excited.

The appearance of routed soldiers proved that their earlier judgment had been correct. The front line had indeed suffered a crushing defeat.

"Oh? How many are there?"

"Who's leading them?"

Victor asked.

Including the time they had spent in camp, five days had passed since Viscount Sutton fled. The defeat at the front could only have happened even earlier.

After so many days on the run, the routed soldiers could have turned up anywhere within a thousand miles.

To have only run into them now-their luck was really something.

"Thirty-eight in total. They were very arrogant and didn't provide any more information."

Howard explained with an embarrassed expression.

He had been so focused on coming to report that he hadn't even verified their identities.

Fortunately, the Tuwu People and the people of the Holy Glory Empire looked distinctly different, so it was unlikely that they were enemies in disguise.

"Arrange to verify their identities, and bring their leader to see me!"

Victor ordered at once.

It was normal for the details of the work to be lacking. He couldn't expect too much from a rabble like the reinforcement army.

Managing an orderly withdrawal during a strategic retreat was already an exceptional performance.

In the past, units had often become scattered on the march, and every time they made camp, the generals had to go looking for their own soldiers.

To keep the units intact, Viscount Sutton had made it mandatory during his tenure for squads to maintain thirty-meter intervals while marching.

Even so, whenever tasks were assigned along the way, trouble was still unavoidable.

"Heh heh..."

"Commander, I already brought him. He's that charcoal boy outside."

"Charcoal boy, get over here and report to the commander!"

Howard raised his voice and shouted.

"Shut up!"

"I'm not charcoal boy!"

The newcomer glared at Howard and spoke furiously.

If the occasion hadn't been inappropriate, he probably would have challenged him to a duel.

"Captain Felix, squad leader of the fifth squad, first company, second battalion, Fourth Army, reporting to you, sir!"

As he spoke, Captain Felix gave Victor a textbook military salute.

His serious manner immediately made the atmosphere in the command tent awkward.

Howard's expression was the most complicated of all. He simply couldn't associate the beggar-like charcoal boy before him with an imperial captain.

(Note: The imperial military ranks are private, second lieutenant, first lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, major general, lieutenant general, general, and marshal.)

In the Holy Glory Empire, military appointments and ranks existed alongside each other, which was especially unfavorable to unofficial formations like the reinforcement army.

In the main army, even an ordinary squad leader was a captain, while in the reinforcement army, a general had to reach the level of battalion commander to obtain that rank.

And the two were not even close in standing.

For a squad leader in the main army, transferring to the garrison as a company commander or to the reinforcement army as a battalion commander was very simple. All he needed to do was submit a request.

For a battalion commander in the reinforcement army, transferring to the garrison as a company commander or to the main army as a squad leader was not so easy.

Submitting an application wasn't enough; he also needed military merit.

The relative value of the positions was hard to pin down, but their pay made it clear.

Though both were captains, a captain in the main army took home thirty percent more each month than one in the reinforcement army.

The authority to grant ranks lay with the Army Ministry. Even though Howard had been appointed battalion commander, he was still only a first lieutenant.

"Captain Felix, tell me what happened at the front."

After shooting Howard a hard glare, Victor asked his question.

He looked after his own subordinates.

The military hierarchy was strict, and a subordinate provoking a superior was a serious offense.

Fortunately, Captain Felix didn't know. Otherwise, if he demanded that military discipline be enforced, Howard would be in trouble.

"Sir, I don't know much. Seven days ago, the marshal ordered us to surround and wipe out the undead. The battle had barely ended when the enemy's main force attacked.

Because we had just been through a major battle, the officers and soldiers were exhausted, and we quickly fell into a disadvantage in the fighting.

Meanwhile, more and more enemy troops gathered. After several hours of bloody fighting, Marshal Alvin ordered us to break through.

After another bloody battle, only seven men of the fifth squad were left when we broke out of the encirclement.

Later, as we fled, some other routed soldiers joined us..."