From soldier to king

Chapter 4The Front Line

On the third day of training, two of Grand Duke Green's personal guards arrived at Klaus’s camp. Their badge was a top-tier silver knight with a lion's mouth and five sharp teeth. They delivered the following orders: “In the name of the Grand Duke, Team Leader Klaus is hereby promoted to the 15th Temporary Legion of Siliri Province. The entire army is to advance to the boundary of Qingfeng Plain and Siliri Province. Along with twenty other temporary legions, we are to intercept the Smart Empire's forces and absolutely prevent them from advancing any further.”

Klaus, still not quite recovered from the joy of his sudden promotion, was stunned by the subsequent orders. He pointed with a look of disdain at the new recruits—consisting mostly of commoners—who were weakly thrusting sharpened wooden sticks at scarecrows, and incredulously asked, “Sir, you want me to lead these people to intercept the Smart Empire’s army? Are you not aware that even the most basic magic attack would scare them senseless?”

The guards, showing a bit of sympathy, glanced at the new recruits with the same dismissive expression, and said helplessly, “Klaus, this is the Grand Duke’s order. The ‘Greenfield Legion’ encountered a bit of trouble on their way. They tried to cover their marching direction by advancing through the Koslo Mountains but were delayed by a landslide. To protect our territory, we must…”

Klaus sighed, patting his longsword helplessly, and muttered, “We must send these guys into battle… Well, I will follow the order, but these sharpened wooden sticks can’t kill anyone. They can barely pierce the thinnest leather armor.”

The guards smiled with relief, their faces lightening, and said, “Don’t worry. The Grand Duke has ordered all the blacksmiths in the province to work overnight. They have already produced enough iron spearheads. Once they are sharpened and attached to the wooden sticks, they will become long spears. With fifty thousand spear-wielding soldiers, we should be able to inflict significant damage on the enemy, right?” They tossed a sample to Klaus.

Klaus stared at the conical spearhead in disbelief. It was essentially just a piece of iron rolled into a cone with the seam roughly sealed with iron paste. Klaus sighed and looked at the guards, saying, “Well, this is at least more effective than wooden sticks. But I still have a question.”

The guards looked at Klaus with a hint of discomfort and said quietly, “This is the fastest and most effective solution we could find for the shortage of military equipment. We know that armor is scarce, and weapons are insufficient, so we’ve had them extend the wooden sticks into extra-long spears to deal with the enemy. Unfortunately, none of the other lords have sent their private armies to the border of Siliri Province, and we are left to handle it ourselves.”

Klaus sighed heavily and shook his head, “I’m not talking about the weapons issue. Regardless of our numbers, the Smart Empire will consider the risk of attacking us. It’s not cost-effective to trade their elite troops for our new recruits. What I’m saying is: we don’t have high-level knights. We only have silver-ranked knights among the three divisions, and their skills are inferior to yours, and they are the only silver knights we have. Even a bronze top-tier knight like me is rare. If they challenge us to a duel, can we refuse?”

The guards laughed and seemed much more relaxed. They nodded and said, “The Grand Duke has anticipated this problem. Our leader, the powerful Kello, a Gold Knight, will lead several high-level knights to the front. If the Smart Empire demands a public duel, let their soft-footed knights experience the prowess of our Vantorian warriors.”

Klaus also smiled, “Then there’s nothing to worry about. Although I’m just a bronze knight, I should be able to handle their mid-tier silver knights. Taking down one of their regiment leaders could be quite lucrative for me.”

The three laughed heartily, their words filled with disdain for the Smart Empire's knights.

Klaus was smiling, but he was filled with doubt: “Strange, whenever the Grand Duke goes anywhere, Kello always follows him. But this time, Kello is leading men to the front. Doesn’t the Grand Duke worry about his safety?” Little did Klaus know, Grand Duke Green, after receiving reports from the front, had already moved his family and all his possessions to the imperial capital. If he couldn’t be a formidable lord locally, it was better to be a noble in the capital than to be captured and killed by the enemy.

Thus, as the lord had fled, most of the high-ranking knights had been destroyed with the 'Greenfield Legion,' and the other lords' private armies were still not arriving, the reinforcements from the capital were unknown, and Lei and his fellow recruits advanced toward the front line.

Fortunately, Klaus was a pragmatic team leader. He integrated the young men from Kary Village into his veteran squads. Along the way, he relentlessly intensified the training of other new recruits, making them practice thrusting with their long spears until their arms could barely lift them before allowing them to rest.

A small business owner recruited from the city suddenly broke down in tears during training and was immediately executed by Klaus’s aura from a meter away, setting an example of military law. This incident spurred the new recruits' enthusiasm for training.

However, Klaus’s camp was so close to the border of Siliri Province that even with their slow pace, they reached the assembly point within three days. Three temporary legions had already arrived, and the camp was set up. From a distance, the large expanse of gray and black tents was quite impressive.

Klaus ordered the soldiers to set up the camp and went with a few of his personal guards to meet the other team leaders—now the temporary legion commanders.

Upon entering the central command tent, he heard a roar: “Alright, our task is to defend our province. Holding the front line for three hundred miles is enough. Set up your camps in a straight line, with twenty thousand men in each camp. We need twenty-five camps in total to guard the central two hundred miles. Don’t worry about the flanks. If the Smart Empire advances from the wings, they will inevitably alert those damned lords’ armies. Let them handle it.”

Klaus entered carefully and saw Kello, clad in purple armor with his family’s dragon emblem, issuing orders. Though Kello did not have the right to inherit his family’s title, he was authorized to use the family crest on his armor, with a golden dragon, mouth open with four sharp teeth, engraved on his weapon.

Seeing Klaus enter, Kello merely nodded and continued issuing orders: “For safety, we need to position the camps even closer together. Understand? Don’t give the enemy any chance to attack us. Hmph, if my subordinates were as elite as the Greenfield Legion, I wouldn’t need to be so cautious. But…” He muttered quietly, “A bunch of trash, can they even fight?”

After a moment of silence in the tent, Kello took a sip of water and was about to continue when Lei burst in, shouting, “Klaus, it’s terrible! Our men are fighting with the Seventh Temporary Legion. One of our guys and one from their side have a personal feud, and they started fighting as soon as they met. Of course, we helped them, and they helped their own. Now over two thousand people are fighting.”

Kello was about to reprimand Lei for barging into the command tent but, upon hearing that over two thousand new recruits were brawling, lost interest in scolding Lei. He angrily slammed his hand on the table and shouted, “Go, let’s see. Where’s the military police? Execute the leaders of the fight… D*mn it, how did I forget? With such trash troops, we don’t even have military police.” He stormed out of the tent, muttering, “No wonder a single soldier can run in here. The guards are new recruits? Can’t you even assign competent people to guard duty?”

Klaus and the other commanders exchanged glances, speechless. The veterans had all been assigned to supervise the new recruits, leaving no one to guard. If the new recruits weren’t supervised, they would have been in disarray long ago.

Kello, accompanied by five gold knights and twelve silver knights, arrived at the brawling scene. At this moment, over five thousand men were wildly fighting, while nearby on a small hill, about ten thousand people were cheering and shouting, “Fight! Fight! Kill those bastards, go, hahaha, this is so exciting, so this is what war is like!”

Kello was so furious he trembled. He drew his longsword, channeling his aura, and shouted at the soldiers on the hill, “Quiet.” A ripple of air swept out, and the soldiers at the front felt a heaviness in their chests, seeing stars, and collapsed to the ground. The immense sound also silenced the spectators on the hill.

With Kello leading, eighteen high-level knights charged into the fray, striking ruthlessly. These esteemed knights showed no regard for the lives of these common soldiers. In the eyes of Klaus and the others, about two hundred heads fell instantly, with blood splattering and causing screams from the brawling soldiers who scrambled and shivered in place.

The orderly steps of soldiers came, and the four teams from the Empire began to beat and expel the fighters using whips, ropes, and wooden sticks. These elite soldiers, strong and skilled, inflicted severe punishment, causing the fighters to writhe in pain, their thin clothes shredded, and bloodied.