Chapter 329: Volume 5: Lord’s Path - 14: Insights
Entering the Caucasus Territory, the climate gradually warmed up, which made Komer even more nostalgic for life in the Caucasus. Although he hadn’t spent a long time in the Caucasus, Komer found that deep in his heart, he had unconsciously come to regard the remote and desolate town of Ugru as his home, a place where his roots lay. Whether in Jazair or Versailles, whether on the road or waking from a dream, Komer often found himself subconsciously imagining what the Caucasus might look like now, what Puber, Ilot, Hesse, and Baoling were doing, and whether there had been any new changes in the Caucasus Territory during his absence. He found this change in his mentality peculiar.
As a shooting star streaked across the darkened sky, Komer lay on his back next to the campfire, gazing blankly at the heavens. The flickering light of the fire cast a faint rosy hue upon Komer’s pale face. Although Darman Pass now had a dozen or so households, Komer preferred not to stay with any of the farmers; he liked to linger in the wilderness like this, savoring the essence of his territory, which allowed him to calm his mind and reminisce about many things.
Ilot, following the army’s marching traditions, assigned guard duty to groups of three soldiers each, forming small squads. From a distance, the vague silhouettes of Half-beast soldiers could be seen lurking in the bushes. The triangular defensive system, designed by Ilot and Baoling, was perfectly suited for a small troop’s marching rest. In fact, Half-beasts were not suited for guard duty; although their night vision was even better than that of Mortals, their thick nerves made it easy for them to overlook signs of an enemy attack. However, among the new batch of more than a hundred soldiers, the ranks were almost entirely comprised of Half-beasts, and training them to become scouts and archers was proving to be a highly challenging task.
To make up for the shortage of archers, Baoling and Ilot also came up with an alternative plan, which was to select a group of Half-beast warriors with good arm strength to act as throwers, taking the place of archers. This was an inspiration that struck Baoling after noticing the exceptional physical qualities of the Half-beasts and recalling the spontaneous bursts of strength exhibited by Beastman armies he had directly engaged with before. Equipped with ten short javelins of only one and a half meters in length and five small throwing axes, the newly-formed Half-beast throwers could launch an attack before the enemy infantry attacked their own sword-and-shield men and long spear wielders. While not having the range of archers, the sheer attack power of these throwers even surpassed that of archers. Both heavily armored infantry and cavalry would find it difficult to avoid casualties under their assault, but of course, this required the throwers to undergo extensive training to reach that level of proficiency.
Komer was fully informed about the various changes in the territory through Ilot. The enthusiastic work of Puber and Neptune, as well as the training efforts of Hesse’s Old Chen, deeply impressed Komer. It appeared that as long as you chose the right people and understood their thoughts and temperaments, many seemingly unremarkable individuals could often exhibit unexpected capabilities.
The large-scale formation of the Guard also eased Komer’s mind, as this had always been one of his concerns. The influx of more than a hundred thousand people would inevitably lead to many unforeseen conflicts. Some of these conflicts, if they escalated to a point where they could not be resolved by other means, would necessitate a display of martial power. Especially in such a border wilderness, where one cannot rely on others, establishing an absolutely loyal armed force was naturally a top priority.
It seemed that Puber had also recognized this need, but a hundred or more people were far from enough. According to Komer’s thinking, the Guard should be expanded to around five hundred people before the arrival of the immigrants. Although the current group of Half-beast warriors might not yet be noteworthy in terms of actual combat ability, to the incoming immigrants, the formidable physique and fearsome appearance of the Half-beasts would be enough to instill fear. Fear, after all, is often one of the best psychological foundations for establishing authority. Komer had already made up his mind that upon his return, he would immediately recruit another batch of Half-beast soldiers, so the immigrants would witness the impressive martial power of the Caucasus upon their arrival, leaving an intimidating and shocking impression, which would greatly benefit the implementation of his policies in the future.