Chapter 31: The Madness of Reality

“Send the young and strong to be cannon fodder and have them attack the Emerald Sea. This would solve all our problems,” Hui replied quickly.

Lun shook his head, “The werewolves are not that foolish to engage in a clearly suicidal mission.” To be honest, Count Esca’s performance far exceeded the expectations of the Darkflame members. A wise and powerful adherent with naturally opposing force attributes was hard to say whether it was for good or bad.

“Casualties are inevitable in war. By the time they realize, it would already be too late. With careful planning, we can at least ensure forty percent of the werewolf warriors die on the battlefield. Then, even if they figure it out, what good will it do? We’ll weaken the werewolves of the Grand Corridor and the Emerald Sea without much effort. In fact, it might be better if they figure it out later and rebel, as we can just extinguish them then,” Hui plotted ruthlessly.

Qian Ye pondered, his expression unreadable.

But Lun knew Qian Ye’s character well, “That’s not right, Your Excellency has promised them basic survival rights.”

“Why show mercy to the werewolves?”

“Breaking promises is never good.”

“Isn’t breaking trust part of their nature? When have they ever truly submitted to us humans? Expecting the dark races not to rebel is like expecting men not to desire women; it’s impossible,” Hui spoke rapidly, cutting off Lun’s rebuttals.

Lun took a step back, no longer arguing. His position in the clan was far lower than Hui’s, and the hierarchical concepts within aristocratic families were still quite strict. It was already pushing the limits to challenge her, and after all, the treatment of the werewolves had nothing to do with him.

Finally, Qian Ye spoke, “The werewolf warriors will indeed participate in the battle, but not as cannon fodder. I promised them that they would have at least a place and the opportunity to advance. For now, I see no need to break my word. Let’s reorganize the new army, with human officers as the core, mixing werewolves and new soldiers, fighting together. Additionally, create two units with a high proportion of werewolves, train them for a month, and then send them to the battlefield.”

Jingxuan remained silent during the previous argument, but now that Qian Ye had made a decision, he agreed, though with a difficult expression, “How do we equip so many werewolves? Most adult werewolves are qualified fighters, and the tribes that have already submitted can provide an army of seventy to eighty thousand.”

Hui snorted, “What do they need for equipment? A leather skirt should suffice. Are their claws and teeth just for decoration?”

Jingxuan forced a smile, then looked at Qian Ye.

Even natural warrior werewolves, with or without weapons, with or without armor, made a huge difference in combat power. Not to mention the werewolves’ strength; as long as their original force meets the minimum standard, they can use hand cannons without any other restrictions. If fully equipped, they would be walking artillery. However, the werewolf tribes in the Grand Corridor were primitive, using wooden spears and arrows with animal teeth instead of metal tips.

Equipping nearly a hundred thousand werewolf troops was a headache-inducing thought.

The metallurgy level of the werewolves in the Grand Corridor was low, and the Emerald Sea was no better. Most of their steel was requisitioned for the construction and maintenance of two forts and to equip frontline soldiers. Even this relatively well-equipped werewolf unit, when faced with Qian Ye’s fleet and mercenaries, was quickly defeated, and the two forts could not last even a day.

Logistics were not Qian Ye’s forte, and Jingxuan was only familiar with the outdated system of Zheng. Therefore, everyone’s eyes turned to Hui, who had once filled an entire wall with numbers and formulas, which was truly shocking.

Hui huffed, somewhat reluctant, “It’s impossible to fully equip them, but giving each one a weapon and a piece of iron isn’t too difficult.”

Jingxuan, who had more experience with the werewolves, said, “Having proper weapons is enough. As long as the hardness and sharpness meet the standards, steel or iron armor can wait. Many werewolves are not used to wearing armor anyway.”

After transforming into battle form, werewolves’ bodies would noticeably enlarge, and human-style armor would be constrictive for them. Their natural fur was already excellent armor. The upper-class nobles, however, had specially crafted segmented battle suits and various frenzy secrets to reduce the troubles of their bloodlust-driven state, but most werewolves in Yungland did not have such conditions.

Hui added sarcastically, “I’m just making suggestions. Whether you use them or not is up to you.”

Jingxuan immediately fell silent.

Qian Ye said, “Every werewolf must have armor, at least a piece to protect their back.”

Werewolves excelled in frontal assaults, but their backs were vulnerable. On a large battlefield, surrounded by enemies, this weakness would be exposed, and a little protection could greatly reduce casualties.

Seeing Qian Ye’s insistence, Hui begrudgingly said, “There’s no time to mine and smelt now. There’s no steel inventory in the Grand Corridor or Zheng. But isn’t there enough inventory here?”

Jingxuan was puzzled, “The warehouse only has food and ammunition, where’s the steel? Do you mean remolding the ammunition?”

The cost of main cannon ammunition was insane, and remolding it was madness. But Hui shook her head, “Isn’t the warehouse itself a steel reserve?”

Everyone suddenly understood.

Hui continued, “Not just the warehouse, but many steel components of these two forts can be dismantled and remolded. For example, the four fort gates alone could arm tens of thousands of werewolves. And the iron plating on the city walls can also be removed.”

“But without the gates, how do we defend the fort?” Jingxuan found it unbelievable, tearing down the hard-won fort himself?

Hui rolled her eyes, “Who are the enemies in the Grand Corridor? What use are these two forts, and who are they supposed to defend against?”

Jingxuan realized that the werewolves in the Grand Corridor were all showing signs of submission, and the two forts were indeed useless. The potential enemy was actually behind them, Zheng, and the defenses of Tower City and Liao City needed attention.

Qian Ye nodded inwardly at Hui’s idea. The method of dismantling the forts to arm the troops was reminiscent of Zhang Boqian’s mobile defense. The King of Qingyang never liked defensive tactics, famously saying that eliminating the enemy is the best defense.

With steel secured, training and reorganization proceeded smoothly. Esca gathered the elite warriors from the submitted tribes, mixed them with Jingxuan’s new soldiers, and used his trusted tribal members as the core, forming dozens of small units.

Before the campaign, Esca specially made several hundred badges, engraved with the Darkflame symbol, and asked Qian Ye to imbue them with dark gold blood essence, supposedly as the emblem for this new mixed unit. Then, he led his newly formed troops deep into the Grand Corridor.

While infusing the badges with his essence, Qian Ye suddenly thought of a suitable name for the Darkflame elite: Blazing Flame.

At this moment, the true army was still training in Wolffang Fortress, with Jingxuan’s new soldiers and the subsequent arrival of Darkflame mercenaries garrisoned to prevent any rebellion by the submitted werewolves. Although Qian Ye felt that the werewolves were unlikely to cause trouble under the current circumstances, having tens of thousands of werewolves as neighbors still put enormous psychological pressure on ordinary human soldiers.

As for Esca, in Jingxuan’s eyes, his dozens of small units could barely be considered reconnaissance teams. Each had at most a hundred or so, with some as few as ten, and what could they do in the vast Grand Corridor?

However, three days later, a massive werewolf army appeared before the fortress.

The gates and iron-clad walls of Wolffang Fortress had been dismantled, leaving it almost defenseless. The sudden appearance of the reorganized werewolf army caused a minor stir among the training new recruits. But the elite Blazing Flame of Darkflame quickly appeared, occupying key positions in the fortress, and the floating warships took up positions, stabilizing the unrest. Just Blazing Flame and the floating warships were enough to annihilate the tens of thousands of werewolf troops across the field.

A frigate flew over the werewolf army, circling once before sending a safe signal. The guards then noticed that the werewolf army had a long convoy, with the warriors in front only wearing armor but holding no weapons, which were all in the rear trucks.

When the first-class viscount leading the army was seen, Jingxuan realized that this was a mixed unit assembled by Esca after subduing several dozen tribes, meant to escort a batch of captured supplies and undergo reorganization and training.

As soon as the werewolf viscount completed the handover, he eagerly asked, “Where is Lord Qian Ye? Please allow us to present our eternal loyalty to him in person!”

Jingxuan could hardly believe his eyes. The werewolves’ behavior was almost fanatical, and he wondered how Esca had brainwashed them. At this rate, could Esca really unify the entire Grand Corridor with just those few small units?

He shook his head, feeling his own thoughts were a bit crazy. The werewolves had always adhered to a tribal system, with each tribe fiercely protecting their territory and traditions. How could they submit so easily?

Just half a month later, Esca’s seemingly crazy idea became reality. When he returned to Wolffang Fortress, he brought a new map of the Grand Corridor.

The map was meticulously corrected and annotated with missing information, but what caught everyone’s eye were the dense Darkflame emblems, signifying the werewolf tribes that had submitted to Qian Ye, scattered throughout the Grand Corridor. The two largest tribes on the outer edge were already outside the Grand Corridor, within the Emerald Sea.

This map left all the mercenary generals, including Jingxuan and Hui, speechless. It wasn’t that it was bad, but it was too good. The werewolves of the Grand Corridor, who had once pushed Zheng to the brink, had simply surrendered?

Hui gave Esca a skeptical look, feeling there was some conspiracy. The other mercenary generals shared similar thoughts.

Esca knelt before Qian Ye, “Your Excellency, there are now eleven first-class tribes, ninety-seven second-class tribes, and over four hundred third-class tribes in the Grand Corridor under your glory. I roughly counted, and your subjects in the Grand Corridor exceed five million, with fifty thousand ready-to-fight warriors and over ten thousand excellent hunters. Once trained, they will be your most elite warriors.”

Everyone exchanged glances. They were familiar with the werewolf tribal system on Yungland. A second-class tribe needed at least one noble-level strongman, and a first-class tribe needed a count. This meant that overnight, Qian Ye had gained over a hundred warlords or near-warlord strongmen. Though most tribal leaders wouldn’t leave their territories, they would join campaigns when necessary.

The number far exceeded their expectations, causing unease even among the mercenary generals accustomed to intermingled races.

Esca seemed to understand their concerns, “Lord Qian Ye, if you’re interested, you can tour the tribes under your rule. You’ll understand the reason after seeing it.”

“Alright,” Qian Ye nodded.

An unreasonable phenomenon always has a reasonable explanation, otherwise, it’s just an illusion.