Chapter 207: Chapter 175: Bloody Battle at Thermopylae (6)
As for financial resources, while the lion’s share of the rewards everyone received now came from Prince Noah, that was a matter for the higher-ups and had nothing to do with soldiers like them.
The leadership had not let any of this information slip, so naturally, those in the lower ranks had no way of knowing.
They had no way of knowing, but the money was real and in their hands. The credit, therefore, could only go to the great Lord Robson. Surely, Lord Robson had distributed his personal fortune.
Facing Beastmen who stood several heads taller than them, the soldiers demonstrated the peak of what Mortal Soldiers could achieve.
All the Soldiers fought in squads of three, coordinating their attacks against the Extraordinary Soldiers.
Wood watched all of this with a grim expression. Some of the Bronze-rank Extraordinary Beastmen were actually being held up!
’A bunch of Mortal Soldiers not running away at the sight of Extraordinary Soldiers was already strange enough. Daring to resist was commendable. But to actually be trading blows with them? Wasn’t that just absurd?’
In truth, it wasn’t really a back-and-forth fight. Human Soldiers were dying with every passing moment, and the Beastmen continued their advance.
But it was far too slow! This was completely different from what Wood had imagined.
’He felt they should have shattered this wave of enemy troops in the first clash. Only then could they have fully capitalized on their surprise attack!’
’But now, they were bogged down!’
’The humans have Extraordinary fighters too, after all.’ Wood was very clear about his objective: he was to break open the front, creating a sufficient foothold for the Mortal Beastmen behind them. Then, they would use their numerical superiority to wear down and annihilate the enemy.
’In this situation, by the time the enemy’s Extraordinary fighters arrived, his forces might be driven right back off the wall!’
Anxious at the thought, Wood immediately activated his martial technique, preparing to carve a bloody path through the human ranks.
Martial techniques consumed a great deal of a Warrior’s Combat Aura, which Wood had originally intended to conserve for when the humans’ Extraordinary fighters arrived.
The effect of Wood’s martial technique was immediate. Under his lead, the Human Soldiers, who had seemed capable of holding their own, were forced to clear a path.
Those who failed to get out of the way were cut down by Wood’s blade.
The Beastmen’s front immediately broke open. More Extraordinary Beastman Warriors began to surge onto the wall, and for a moment, it truly seemed the defenses were about to be breached.
"Hurry! Reinforce them now!"
"Break formation! Break formation!"
"Fifth Battalion, fall back!"
Wood hadn’t expected this. Before the human Extraordinary fighters could arrive, the first to charge in were the Human Corps guarding the adjacent sections of the wall.
’Are they really so brave?’
’Seeing an unbeatable enemy nearby, simply not turning tail and running should have been the greatest display of loyalty to their lord.’
’Is a noble commanding them?’ Wood scanned his surroundings. If that was the case, he could save himself a lot of trouble by simply killing the enemy Commander.
But unfortunately, he saw no Knight Lords wearing special insignia and directing the troops.
’In other words, these Soldiers who charged forward were doing so voluntarily, organizing themselves spontaneously.’
’How is that possible? And their movements are so uniform... Someone is clearly commanding them.’
Wood couldn’t understand. He couldn’t understand why this army had no nobles, why they would charge forward of their own accord, or why their movements were so swift and efficient.
On this continent, thanks to Combat Aura and Magic, the rule of the nobility was incredibly secure.
The system of nobility originated with the elves. No one knew how the elven nobility came to be; as far as history recorded, the elves had always been ruled by nobles, and so it remained to this day.
The current elven nobles—the royal families and highest-ranking aristocrats of the three great elven kingdoms—were the very same ones from several thousand years ago.
As a result, it was hard to say that any true professional armies existed in the world. The Frankish Royal Family’s Standing Army was a Standing Army in name only; in reality, its low-level Officers were still selected from the kingdom’s lowest-ranking nobles.
If Robson’s father had allowed Robson to take his army and join the Kingdom Government, his forces would have become part of the Kingdom’s Standing Army.
The military discipline of the Kingdom’s Standing Army was much stricter, but it was still essentially a Noble Alliance Army.
Essentially, many kingdoms’ standing armies were a means for the King to alleviate conflicts among the lower-ranking nobles. The Frank Kingdom was a special case; its management of the Standing Army made it at least look like a proper fighting force.
In reality, in the south, many kingdoms’ standing armies were nothing but dumping grounds for incompetents. Their main fighting force was still the Noble Alliance Army.
As for the Beastmen, their great armies were also a confederation of Chieftains, not so different from the human system of nobility. The only difference was that human nobles received a careful education, whereas the Beastmen had no such concept.
Promoting Officers from the lower ranks? No one had ever considered such a thing.
This was why Wood could not comprehend the current situation.
This was the difference between the professional army Robson had successfully established through his reforms and a Noble Alliance Army.
This army needed only one man and one command. There was no bickering, no negotiation. From top to bottom, the entire army spoke with a single voice.
The men below followed their orders. The command passed down from above was simple: Hold the wall to the death!
Therefore, to these Soldiers, defending this place was their greatest duty, and Lord Robson’s generosity made them willing to lay down their lives for it.
Although a steady stream of Human Corps arrived from both sides to reinforce the line, the number of Extraordinary Beastmen who had made it onto the wall had also grown to a considerable size.
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