The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military
chapter-235

Chapter 235: Dark Clouds Looming Over the North (2)

TL: Pai_

Everyone nearby was astonished by the massive storm that had formed in the heart of the great forest.

However, when the reorganization plan was announced and they learned it was for Iron to train Ariel, everyone nodded slightly in understanding.

Currently, the person closest to reaching the Master Level in the Mobile Field Army was Ariel.

If she could overcome this barrier, the Mobile Field Army would be able to execute even more flawless strategies in the battles to come.

“Looking at this now, we’ve become strong enough to compete with the Northeast, haven’t we?”

Karl, who had come to see Cardro off, spoke as he looked at the Mobile Field Army.

When they had first left the Northeast to form the Mobile Field Army, he had wondered if a day like this would ever come.

He had thought that it would take at least until he was in his thirties for this to be possible.

Contrary to Karl’s expectations, which he thought were optimistic, the Mobile Field Army had grown stronger at an incredible pace.

Now, most of the top commanders in the Mobile Field Army had reached the 6th Stage.

Moreover, with the overwhelming rewards they had gained from numerous battles and the new fleet of airships, they had grown strong enough to be comparable not only to the Northeastern Army but even to the Northern Army as a whole.

‘If Ariel becomes a Master, it really might become a reality.’

With Iron, the strongest on the continent, and a Master-level Ariel, even the combined might of two Imperial Armies might not be able to contain them.

“…We’ve grown a lot.”

Cardro, feeling nostalgic, looked at the Mobile Field Army with a faint smile.

“Even with this much growth, we’re still only holding back the Commander….”

“We need to get even stronger.”

Karl replied firmly to Cardro’s remark.

He thought that perhaps, after this battle in the Northeast was over, they might become a force that could provide meaningful support, rather than just holding Iron back.

“I’ll go on ahead.”

“Alright.”

Cardro’s 22nd Corps, the first to move, boarded the airships to leave the great forest and head for the North.

As the 22nd Corps, which boasted the Empire’s strongest air force, moved swiftly, Karl also headed towards the southeastern part of the Empire to organize supplies.

Since they were not yet ready to relocate the command to the Southern Confederation, Karl had to personally move as far as the Southeast.

With Karl’s departure, the remaining corps and the direct units quickly began their preparations.

For the 21st Corps, which was being refined into an elite force, many troops had to be moved to the 23rd Corps, and only elite personnel in each field were dispatched from the direct units to transform the 21st Corps into the most elite of forces.

Meanwhile, Saeriden, who had taken on many troops, also started reorganizing the 23rd Corps.

As soon as these two corps completed the minimum reorganization work, they immediately began moving toward the North.

“We’ll complete the reorganization during the journey.”

Gaon gave the order in a monotone voice, and everyone nodded without a word of dissent.

This was the same for Saeriden’s 23rd Corps as well.

Having gone through this kind of experience countless times while stationed in the Southeast, they were now capable of handling it.

As expected of the Mobile Field Army, they had become proficient at training and carrying out all tasks even while on the move.

While the corps reorganized during their march, the direct units stayed behind in the great forest to complete their restructuring.

The Knights picked out members suited for the assault team, and the assault team selected personnel to send to the Knights.

The same applied to the Magic Unit and the Spirit Unit.

In the past, anyone who could handle spirit magic was simply assigned to the Spirit Unit. However, with the significant increase in the number of spirit mages, those with a talent for magic were sent to the Magic Unit, and the Spirit Unit was extensively reorganized.

Despite all this, the great forest was still packed with people contracted with spirit beasts and spirits, filling every available position.

Even after carefully selecting and recruiting the most talented among the soldiers, there were still plenty of candidates left.

The Rangers, too, began preparations to transform into a unit focused purely on reconnaissance.

During this time, while almost every direct unit was undergoing changes according to Iron’s orders, there were exactly three divisions in the Mobile Field Army that continued their operations without major changes.

They were the Logistics and Support Unit under Karl, the Intelligence Unit led by Faulden, and the Artillery Unit commanded by Dominic Stone.

The reason why these units, unlike the other corps, were able to stay in the great forest and slowly reorganize their forces was only one:

They were small enough in number to use the Warp Gate.

Because of this, the direct units that had completed most of their reorganization in the great forest began to cross over to the Northeast one by one.

“I’m heading out first.”

“Alright.”

The Assault Commander, Ludem, who had finished his reorganization, bid farewell to his twin brother as he departed for the Northeast.

The direct units, whose numbers were small enough to use the Warp Gate, started to leave for the Northeast one by one.

The Assault Unit was the first to leave, followed closely by the Magic Unit.

Allan, who had gathered a large number of mages from the Spirit Unit, taught them a few essential magic formations and then immediately left for the Northeast.

Following these two units, the Rangers, Artillery, and finally the Spirit Unit and Intelligence Unit all left for the Northeast in rapid succession, leaving only a portion of the Mobile Field Army, including the Knights, to guard the great forest.

“Everyone, keep strict watch so that no riffraff can get near where the Commander is.”

“Yes, sir!”

At Rodem’s command, all the knights answered in unison and dispersed.

The knights who had transferred from the Assault Unit and the newly recruited knights had to undergo training, so only the remaining knights were left to guard the area where Iron and Ariel were training. As a result, they were more vigilant than usual, keeping a tense watch over their surroundings.

It was a crucial moment to determine whether the first Deputy Commander of the Mobile Field Army would be born, so the knights monitored the area with more intensity than ever before, their expressions serious.

While Iron and Ariel continued their training under the Knights’ guard, the Mobile Field Army units that had gone to the Northeast were moving busily.

“It’s empty.”

This was the first thing Folden said after arriving at the Northeastern Command Center.

The sight of the empty command center was almost unsettling.

It was understandable for the Northeastern Army, but he had expected at least some of the Northern Army to be here, only to find that the absolute minimum number of troops and supplies had been left behind, with the rest having gone to the mountains.

Honestly, he had thought that there would at least be members from the Lion Family or other noble families of the North.

But even they had all been conscripted for defense duties in the mountains as soon as they arrived.

The Central Army, parts of the Southern Army, and even the Eastern Army, who had arrived earlier, had all been deployed to the front lines to stop the Frost Giants.

“It’s worse than I thought.”

Faulden had thought things sounded bad from Raven’s reports, but seeing it in person, it was incomparable to what he had been told.

“And the other direct units?”

“They’re still at the command center. They plan to move out together when the 22nd Corps arrives.”

The 22nd Corps, which had departed first, had not yet arrived, and the 21st and 23rd Corps, which had left later, still had quite a distance to cover.

So, the plan was to move to the vanguard’s location as soon as the 22nd Corps arrived.

“Raven should move with them too. For now, let’s handle the intelligence work here with just the Intelligence Unit.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Deputy Commander of the Raven Unit, who had been handling affairs in the Northeast in place of Gaon, bowed his head.

Despite any potential resentment he might have felt towards Faulden, the new head of the Ravens, he accepted his orders without any complaints, bowing his head and departing to carry them out.

The other members of the Ravens were no different.

At least in the realm of intelligence, Faulden was the best in the Mobile Field Army, and his combat ability was respectable enough, befitting someone from the Lion Family, so everyone acknowledged his leadership.

With the Ravens also now set to move out first, the remaining direct units focused on wrapping up their reorganization while waiting for the 22nd Corps.

And finally, when only a few hours remained before the long-awaited arrival of the 22nd Corps…

“They… they’ve broken through!”

“What?”

Faulden, who had been reviewing reports, stood up abruptly at the intelligence officer’s urgent report.

“Th… the vanguard’s front line has been breached by the Frost Giants!”

At the repeated report from the officer, Faulden gritted his teeth and went to find the communications officer.

-Crackle! This is the Vanguard Corps.

“I heard the front line has been breached.”

-Part of the eastern front has been broken through. Numerous Frost Giants are expected to cross over there.

“What are the other units doing?!”

-We have no spare capacity. Full-scale battle with the Frost Giants has begun. It is presumed that the King of the Frost Giants has awakened.

At the communications officer’s report, Faulden’s eyes widened.

“This is crazy!”

Faulden cursed under his breath and immediately summoned the Mobile Field Army’s direct unit commanders.

“The front line’s been breached.”

“What?”

Ludem responded with a look of shock at Faulden’s words.

“Full-scale war has begun. As soon as the 22nd Corps arrives, we’ll need to board the airships and head east to provide support.”

“Ha… crazy.”

“We have to block the eastern front before more Frost Giants cross over.”

At Faulden’s words, the direct unit commander nodded in agreement.

“I’ll inform Cardro.”

“…Alright. We’ll prepare to move immediately.”

At Ludem’s response, the other direct unit commanders also hurried into action.

They needed to have all preparations completed before Cardro’s 22nd Corps arrived.

They had to move quickly because they needed to prepare not just for mobilization but for immediate deployment into war.

In the meantime, Faulden contacted Cardro.

-This is crazy. Got it.

Cardro, upon hearing Faulden’s words, ran his hand roughly through his hair and acknowledged the situation, pushing the speed of his airships to the maximum.

Despite the urgency, and even with the 22nd Corps arriving sooner than expected, all of the direct unit members boarded the airships with all preparations complete.

Since Cardro had brought every single one of the direct unit’s airships, everyone boarded without any issues and immediately headed toward the northeastern front line where the Vanguard Corps was stationed.

As the massive fleet of airships moved in unison toward the Vanguard Corps, many in the rear were taken aback, but that wasn’t the end of it.

“Tell the 21st and 23rd Corps to come as quickly as possible. I’ll report directly to the Commander.”

“Yes, sir.”

At Faulden’s order, the intelligence officer moved swiftly.

-Faulden? Is it urgent?

As Rodem appeared on the communication screen, Faulden gave a small nod.

“The Frost Giants have started full-scale war.”

-…Already?

“Yes. The eastern front has already been breached. Fortunately, the 22nd Corps arrived in time, so we might be able to hold them off… but that’s not the real issue.”

At Faulden’s words, Rodem tilted his head in confusion.

What could be more important than a full-scale battle with the Frost Giants?

Seeing the questioning look on his face, Faulden bit his lip and spoke.

“It’s suspected that the King of the Frost Giants has awakened.”

-What? Are you certain?

“Have you forgotten who’s at the front line?”

At Faulden’s words, Rodem’s expression hardened.

At the front line was the Family Head of the Lion Family, one of the strongest on the continent, his own father.

And also, the head of the Godly Sword Family was there.

If those two sensed something…

“Is the Commander far off?”

-Sigh… still far. Damn it.

Rodem looked like he was about to lose his mind, unable to decide what to do next.

Rodem suddenly froze.

“Rodem? What are you doing?”

Faulden asked, seeing Rodem standing there, seemingly in a daze.

-We’ll head over there ourselves, so get a large Warp Gate set up.

“What? And the Commander?”

When Faulden responded with a look of disbelief, Rodem replied.

-This is an order from the Commander.

“Ah…”

Hearing Rodem’s words, Faulden finally understood that the reason Rodem had just been standing there in a daze was because he had been listening to a direct order from the Commander.

-Deputy Commander will break through soon, so the Commander will be coming over right away.

“…Alright.”

After ending the call with Rodem, Faulden immediately ordered the Northeastern Command Center to connect all the Warp Gates to the South.

After preparing for the knights to cross over swiftly, he continued to gather and compile information coming from the front lines, reporting updates as they came in.

Because this might require the presence of every commander in the Empire.

“We might even need the Western Commander here as well.”

Faulden muttered to himself as he rapidly scrawled out a report.

At this point, all the commanders except for those from the Mobile Field Army and the Western Army were already gathered in the Northeast, and even Iron, who had collapsed, was set to join them soon.

Yet, despite all this, the situation was so dire that even the Western Commander might need to come to the Northeast.

As one of the ancient races that had shone in the mythical times, the Frost Giants were incredibly powerful, and this was shaping up to be a war that even the combined might of the Empire’s strongest forces could barely handle.

Proving just how severe things were, Crimson, who was commanding troops on the front lines, wore a grim expression.

“Is this… destruction?”

Crimson looked at the massive giants swarming over the mountains.

They were beings for whom the word ‘destruction’ was all too fitting.