250: Chapter 143, The Handed-Over Military Power_3 250: Chapter 143, The Handed-Over Military Power_3 I thought that Baron Charles, who has been on the battlefield and even commanded the Fifth Army, should have learned some lessons.
Turns out I was simply expecting too much from Hudson.
His current method of training soldiers is to teach them the Fighting Qi Methodology.
If they had meat with every meal, occasionally supplemented with high-energy Magical Beast meat, this training method wouldn’t be such a problem.
But the issue lies with the fact that these serfs have to make do with hard, black bread that can be used as a club, together with wild vegetable soup.
It’s a struggle for them to even get enough to drink.
Such treatment is only seen during military training or busy farming seasons.
Normally, they would consider themselves fortunate if they were seven or eight parts full.
That would suggest some conscience on the part of the Lord.
If nutrition is inadequate, imparting cultivation methods is simply hazardous.
Of course, the Noble Lords do cherish talent.
As long as one makes progress in cultivation, their living conditions would improve immediately.
They may not be able to rely on Magical Beast meat, but having enough food is guaranteed.
They could taste some meat everyday, and even have a proper meat meal every few days.
The regrettable fact, however, is that the talented are always in the minority.
Especially without any cultivation resources to help, even fewer would make any significant progress in cultivation.
In such a vast Mountain Domain, up to this day, there are only a few hundred people who have cultivated Fighting Qi.
Many of them are the offspring of clans.
Earlier on, they were forced to cultivate Fighting Qi, which could easily harm their bodies, because they didn’t have Life Essence to become Knights.
But the younger generation has now returned to the path of Knight cultivation.
They are all looking eagerly at Hudson in hopes that he can solve the problem.
“So, is there a problem?
I’ve been doing exactly as you suggested, trying to train as many elites as possible in the shortest time.”
Baron Charles reasoned naturally.
An army made up of cultivators is obviously an elite of the elites.
Since there aren’t that many of them to begin with, they spend all their time together, fostering the best possible synergy.
In situations where the numbers of soldiers are equal, this small guard team outperforms normal elites.
However, the problem is that their numbers are too low to form a significant impact.
Maybe a Major Noble like Dalton could form an army of a few thousand pure cultivators, but the minor nobles below him definitely can’t do that.
“We’ve got a big problem!
What we need are troops that can be trained to fight quickly with a certain level of combat power, and most importantly, in large numbers.
Just like the troops I trained during the last major war.
Uncle Charles, you took quite a few veterans with you last time, didn’t you?
Have you worn them out so soon?”
Upon hearing Hudson’s words, Charles’s face turned awkward.
Initially, he thought that by recruiting a bunch of veterans, he could replicate Hudson’s training methods.
However, he discovered that the simple-minded serfs only learned two words—obey.
They completely ignored the intermittent instructions on military training.
“It was all because of those damn Nobles of the North.
When they first arrived and caused conflicts, I took some men to help a friend…”
Seeing an indignant Baron Charles, Hudson only felt a toothache.
Now he suddenly understood why the native nobles kept going back and forth with battles against the northern aristocracy.
The veteran soldiers who had seen blood were also sent onto the battlefield.
Thankfully, he reacted swiftly at the time and rejected all invitations.
Otherwise he had no idea what might have happened.
Soldiers who have gone through strict training and have consistently won on the battlefield can quickly become elites.
They at least believe they are elites.
In the event of a major defeat, if the commander doesn’t pacify the army in time, their morale can deflate quickly.
Without morale, they are just old soldiers.
They fight twice as hard when the battle is going well, but when the frontline falters, they are the fastest to flee.
They are even worse than new recruits fresh off the farm who can fight alongside their Noble Lords for longer.
Of course, it’s also possible that the serfs want to run, but don’t know how.
After all, without enough experience, they may inadvertently end up at the front with their Noble Lord.
When they want to turn and run, the road is blocked by others.
“Hudson, tell me the truth.
Are you demanding everyone to train their troops urgently because something happened on the Northern Front Line?”
Nobles aren’t fools.
At first, everyone doubted that Hudson was preparing for a coup to squeeze out the Governor of West.
But when orders similar to Hudson’s were issued throughout the nearby provinces, everyone speculated that something had gone wrong at the Northern Front Line.
It was because of this terrifying speculation that everyone organized their serfs for training.
Otherwise, the order from the Military Officer in the county wouldn’t have been that effective in front of all the Noble Lords.
“Uncle Charles, don’t ask me.
If you ask me, it’s because the Skeleton Society is rebelling.
As for other matters, you can guess for yourself.
Anyway, I won’t admit anything.
You probably already heard that after the meeting at the Governor’s Mansion, the entire Southeastern Province started taking action.
Not just the Southeastern Province, but the entire Alpha Kingdom is doing the same.
To fight against the Cult organization, the Kingdom has put in all their effort.”
Hudson hinted meaningfully.
The content of the meeting could not be leaked, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t interpret the facts.
The Alpha Kingdom was indeed mobilizing now.
As for which Cult organization they were going to fight, Charles would have to comprehend that himself.
Once he received a confirmative answer, Baron Charles’ face immediately turned pale.
With his last hope shattered, disaster was imminent.
After a slight hesitation, Baron Charles opened his mouth again, “Now that we have come this far, it seems that we can’t avoid it anymore.
In all the past wars, troops were mixed together based on their regions, but we also had a strong autonomy.
When the war in the Northern Border starts, Layton County will certainly send troops.
I presume a majority of the native nobles will choose to join you in the expedition.
Since we will be hitting the battlefield together soon, you should just take the trouble to consolidate everyone’s troops for training.
If we let everyone do their own thing, we will end up bringing a motley crew to the battlefield.
I’m afraid…”