"You've done well. You've exceeded all of our expectations."
Ranger's line commander, General Michelic, welcomed Claude with a group of high-ranking officers. "In view of your contributions to the kingdom, as the highest officer in charge of Ranger, I hereby promote you to the rank of colonel.
Congratulations, Colonel Claude. From this moment onwards, you're the youngest colonel in the kingdom's history. "
Everyone applauded. None of them doubted Claude's promotion.
Tribe 131's performance in Balingana and Robisto had long been astonishing. The 15,000 Shiksan captives working hard at Claude's defense line were proof enough.
One had to know that Tribe 131 only had a total of 1,800 men, and they'd captured almost ten times that number.
General Michelic immediately changed Claude's epaulette to a colonel with three silver moons and told him a few pieces of good news.
The first was about Tribe 131. All the soldiers were promoted a rank.
The second was that Tribe 131 would be expanded into a regiment and become an independent field regiment, officially known as Line 131.
The last piece of good news had to do with Claude himself. Due to the outstanding results of Tribe 131, Michaelic had personally requested the royal family to bestow Claude with a noble title.
If nothing unexpected happened, Claude would be given the title of baron.
Naturally, it wasn't a hereditary title and only belonged to Claude himself.
There were three types of noble titles in Aueras. The first was a hereditary title that could be passed down for generations and was the most difficult to obtain.
The royal family would also bestow manors according to the size of the title and the output of the manors wouldn't have to pay taxes to the kingdom.
The second type was a hereditary title that could be passed down for three generations and the title would decrease with each generation until there was nothing left.
For example, if your grandfather was given the title of count, it would be three generations and your father would only be able to become a viscount. By the time it was passed down to you, it would be a baron.
In your son's generation, the title of nobility is gone, and he only has the status of a citizen. Your grandson is the most miserable. He is a commoner, and if he wants to climb up, he has to rely on his own efforts.
Generally speaking, the recipient of a third-generation noble title would be granted a manor by the kingdom. However, this manor was the same as the title, and within three generations, there was no need to pay taxes to the kingdom.
But after three generations, all the output of the manor had to be taxed.
However, there was another option. He could sell the manor back to the Stellin royal family and earn a large sum of money for his family.
The last type of title was also known as an honorary title. It belonged to an individual, just like the viscount title that General Michaelqi had obtained for his military exploits during the five-year war in the eastern part of the continent. It could not be passed on to his descendants.
When the person was alive, the title was there. When the person was gone, the title was gone.
The benefit he brought to his family was a rise in status, allowing his son to obtain citizenship without any effort.
Honorary titles didn't come with manors, but they did come with a sizable annuity.
For example, if Claude were to become a baron, he would receive an annuity of close to 100 crowns every year until his death.
Apart from that, his wife, Kefnie, would be given the title of baroness and the properties under his name would also receive tax benefits and exemptions.
Apart from the founding of Aueras and Stellin IX's revival of the kingdom, the Stellin royal family rarely bestowed these two types of titles to anyone who contributed to the kingdom.
At the founding of the kingdom, the nobles who were bestowed hereditary titles also had to be given their own territories, which eventually became a huge problem for the kingdom.
Stellin IX's war to revive the kingdom wiped out a large number of nobles and strengthened the kingdom's centralization of power. At the same time, he reformed the system of bestowal titles.
Stellin IX bestowed hereditary titles and third-generation noble titles to his subordinates. It was mainly to set an example for the reform of the system of bestowal titles. Instead of fiefs, they were given manors.
When it came to Stellin X, the number of people who could be bestowed hereditary titles and third-generation noble titles were few and far between.
Claude's late father, Morssen, and his friends had planned to set up a new trade route with the hopes of being bestowed a noble title for their contributions and turn House Ferd into a member of the nobility of the three southwestern prefectures.
Unfortunately, they made the wrong move and ended up in tragedy.
But now, Claude was able to apply for a noble title. He was already a knight and a lord. If nothing went wrong, he was almost certain to become a baron.
After Michelic promoted Claude to colonel, he immediately called for a military council.
Ranger had already arrived at Anfiston. As the first batch of reinforcements, they had all completed their missions well.
Claude's tribe 131's performance and contributions didn't need much to be said. Sevict's line 034 had also completed most of Claude's defensive line construction and reorganized the local garrison forces in Anfiston.
As for Bolonik's line 033, they had already reorganized nine local garrison lines in Tyrrsim, Mormaly and Arturas and brought them to Anfiston. Coupled with the two local garrison lines in Anfiston, they had enough manpower to form a garrison corps.
During the meeting, Michelc decided to use the local garrison lines to form the first field corps of the colony and transferred a large number of officers from Ranger over. It was decided that the corps would be a subsidiary corps of Ranger to carry out the counterattack against the invading Shiksan colonial forces.
Ranger now had two targets in front of them. One was Pancry in Robisto and the other was Krado in Balingana.
The strategists in command had a heated debate about which corps should be Ranger's first target. In the end, it was Michelic who made the final decision to target Pancry.
He didn't quite understand. In terms of power, Pancry was a notch stronger than Krado. Even the supplies sent by the Shiksan transport fleet after the rainy season in March went to Pancry's advantage.
They replenished a division of troops, one of which was a light cavalry regiment.
Krado, on the other hand, only replenished two infantry lines. They didn't have any light cavalry that could be used as scouts.
Claude believed that they should attack Krado first before launching a counterattack against Pancry.
But Michelic clearly didn't think so. He explained that they wanted to wipe out Pancry first to buy time and strengthen the defences of Port Patres.
The 12 heavy field cannons that came with Ranger to Anfiston were meant to be used as city defence cannons in Port Patres.
With the twelve heavy cannons, Port Patres would be able to seal off the estuary and waterway of Dorinibla River. The Shiksan convoys would no longer be able to transport supplies to Krado through Dorinibla River.
Even if Krado found out that Pancry was wiped out, they wouldn't be able to cross the river and escape.
On the contrary, if they wiped out Krado first, Pancry would be on guard. When they noticed Ranger's attack, they might inform the transport fleet to help them retreat.
If they couldn't wipe out Pancry, it would affect Michelic's plan to cross the river and reclaim the rest of the lost territory.
Before attacking Pancry, Tribe 131 had to enter Robisto to carry out Operation Camouflage, which was to set up a barricade to prevent Pancry's scouts from noticing Ranger and the subsidiary corps' approach. That way, they could pull back their forces and prepare to defend. That would hinder Ranger's attack and increase the risk of casualties.
That was a rather easy task for Claude. Even with Pancry's light cavalry line as reinforcements, Tribe 131's light cavalry had always been able to suppress the scouts.
The scouts sent out by the enemy never returned, and the light cavalry sent out by the main force were often lured into ambushes by Tribe 131. In the end, they still suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat pathetically.
Now, Pancry's light cavalry could still move within a 15-kilometer radius. Outside that range, they would encounter Tribe 131's light cavalry at any time.
Within that 15-kilometer radius, Pancry's scouts had a 50% chance of escaping back to their camp if they encountered Tribe 131's light cavalry.
If they went beyond the thirty kilometer range, they would really be sending themselves to death.
What Claude had to do was simple. He had to increase the pressure on Pancry's scouts and shrink the 15-kilometer radius to just five. That way, he could effectively cover for Ranger's main force to approach the enemy's camp and launch a surprise attack.
When Pancry, who was busy attacking Port Patres, discovered that they were ambushed by Ranger, it was inevitable that they would be wiped out.
However, there were still three days before Ranger's departure. Claude had to return to Tribe 131's camp first to tell everyone about their promotion and expansion.
Their camp was set up in Lanu and Claude quickly returned to camp.
What he didn't expect was to see two of his relatives at camp headquarters: Angelina and Bloweyk.
"Why are you here? Did something happen at home?" Claude asked, surprised and curious.
He hugged his brother, who had grown up, and stroked his sister's hair.
Angelina pouted. "Brother, did you forget Booke's age? He's 20 this year and has to serve in the army.
Mother and sister-in-law said that it's best for him to join the army. That way, you can take care of him. "
Claude slapped his forehead. He had really forgotten about that.
He was eight years older than Bloweyk. He turned 28 on the new year and Bloweyk had unknowingly turned 20.
Bloweyk had reached the age to serve in the army when he graduated from middle school at 18. However, the five-year war had just ended and the kingdom didn't need to urgently recruit soldiers for the time being, so it could be delayed for a year or two.
But when he turned 20, he would have to serve. So, Angelina brought him to Claude.
"Myjack, take Bloweyk to get the paperwork done," Claude said.
Claude just so happened to receive the order to expand his forces.
Soon, Bloweyk became a member of Tribe 131. He was Claude's orderly and was ranked as a private. He usually stayed by Claude's side.
It was an unspoken rule of the kingdom's high-ranking officers to arrange for their enlistees and guards to take care of them.
Claude didn't have to act all high and mighty.
Additionally, he had been separated from Bloweyk for quite some time now. He needed to stay by his brother's side to get to know him better and see how he could develop.
He instructed Myjack to find a place for Angelina to stay in Lanu. Women weren't allowed to stay in the camp.
After that, Claude told his men about the promotion and expansion. Tribe 131 cheered immediately. Apart from Bloweyk, who had just joined the army and didn't know what to do, everyone else in the tribe cheered excitedly.
Even though the promotion and expansion were good news, Tribe 131 still had to maintain its battalion structure and participate in the two major battles before Pancry and Krado were eradicated.
Even though the promotion and expansion were good news, Tribe 131 had to stay in their original positions until they had time to rest and reorganize.
That night, Claude had a good chat with Bloweyk. Soon, he understood that his brother was a troublesome fellow.
Bloweyk was similar to Claude in that he graduated first in physical studies in Whitestag middle school. He wasn't at the same level as Welikro.
Bloweyk was invincible in middle school and was the undisputed first in physical studies.
Apart from that, Bloweyk didn't have much to be proud of. His academic grades were a complete mess. Instructor Wickham had lectured him about how Bloweyk was the top student in the physical subjects and the top ten in his academic grades. Why was his younger brother always at the bottom of the class when it came to academics? Couldn't he work harder?
Apart from that, Bloweyk was rather solitary in middle school. Unlike Claude, he at least had Welikro and Borkal as his best friends. Eriksson, who had a falling out with him, was also his best friend. The four of them grew up together and went on adventures together.
Bloweyk, on the other hand, was the little tyrant of middle school. He didn't have any close friends, but he had a bunch of lackeys.
Apart from that, Claude always went on adventures with his best friends.
Bloweyk, on the other hand, ventured into the mountains and forests alone. Nobody knew where he got the guts to make his mother worry about him day and night.
Angelina, on the other hand, knew that Bloweyk, like Claude, started learning magic at the age of 16 and only became a first-rank rune magus at 18.
Bloweyk chose Magus' Hands, Fine Control, Appraisal Eye, Decomposition and Fusion, which he didn't learn because he didn't like experimenting with alchemical magic.
As for the remaining four basic spells, he engraved Magic Missile and Mental Shock, as well as the Vine Entanglement spell he got from Sheila and Thorn Wreath, a tier-0 spell that Angelina got from the magic accessory he bought for her.
The spells Bloweyk chose were all combat spells, which was why he dared to roam the mountains and forests alone.
He said that he was quite famous in Whitestag and was known as the Hunter King because he had once gone to Swamp Kemda alone and killed three niros crocodiles, one of which was even bigger than the one Claude killed back then.
He heard from Angelina that the skin of a niros crocodile could be used to make magic scrolls and tomes. He wanted a tome of his own, so he went hunting them.