I'm not a lord

Chapter 287 Why don't I just become king too?

While Otto was busily assembling his new army, Lynn was inspecting his new forces in River Marsh County.

On an open space in the military camp, Karula, the war goddess of the former Rift Valley tribe, was instructing a group of new recruits of the Wasteland in close combat.

Despite the harsh winter, the new recruits' training never stopped.

Every three days, they need to participate in a large-scale drill involving two thousand people to familiarize themselves with changes in military formations and corps coordination. The rest of the time, they need to practice various techniques under the guidance of instructors, especially close combat.

On average, a soldier undergoes about five hours of high-intensity training every day.

Lynn has recruited a total of four thousand barbarian soldiers, and it is impossible for all of them to become longbowmen.

According to his plan, the two thousand men under the command of Sovard Jr. would specialize in archery, while the two thousand men under the command of Hafdan Jr. would be trained entirely as infantry, so that they could coordinate with the two thousand longbowmen in the future.

Even longbowmen cannot neglect their close-combat training.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that soldiers who could serve as longbowmen were already among the best in the army in terms of physical fitness.

Most of them have above-average height and arm strength, and it is precisely because of their outstanding physical qualities that they are selected as archers.

When forced into close combat, these archers can simply put down their longbows, draw their melee weapons, and still deliver a devastating blow to the enemy.

Currently, the blacksmith workshops in Chixi County and Sanhe City are operating at full capacity, with large quantities of chainmail and a small amount of plate armor being delivered to the military supply depot every week.

By next spring, Lynn's soldiers will all be equipped with at least one piece of chainmail, giving them the ability to engage in close combat on the battlefield.

Lynn's task for Carula was to oversee the close combat training of four thousand new recruits from the wastelands, with her personally in charge of the combat lessons for two thousand longbowmen.

These barbarian soldiers have now completed their basic training and have the physical foundation built from hunting, so their physical fitness is not a problem.

Therefore, their training today consisted of two-person sparring sessions, with all members wearing chainmail and armed with simple wooden swords and small one-handed round shields.

Replacing the wooden sword with an iron sword creates the standard melee set that Lynn provides for his archers.

Karula, dressed in a gray-white animal skin coat and holding a long stick, moved continuously through the crowd, occasionally striking down with the stick to correct the soldiers' incorrect movements and footwork.

"Move, move! How many times have I told you? Watch your step! Watch your step! What a bunch of idiots!"

Karula has an A-level strength rating, and her martial arts experience is basically at the top of the Northern Territory.

In her eyes, these soldiers, who had only undergone two months of training, were like slow-motion action movies, full of flaws.

It was one thing to have flaws, but most of these soldiers didn't pay attention to footwork, thinking that fighting only depended on upper body weapons and strength, and they couldn't learn no matter how they were taught, which really infuriated Karula.

It's a bit much to ask a martial arts master to instruct a novice.

But this was the most suitable position Lynn could arrange for her.

In terms of close combat ability alone, Karula is undoubtedly the number one expert in the White River Territory. She can almost take on a fully armed elite guard squad by herself.

However, her identity is mysterious, her origin is unknown, and even the identity of her parents is uncertain. It is also unclear whether she is human.

For security reasons, Lynn could not possibly recruit her into his personal guard.

Carla is a heavy drinker, consuming large amounts of beer and mead every day, and Lynn can't possibly support her for nothing.

After all, Baihe Territory doesn't support idlers; even a true war god descending to earth would have to obediently work.

After much deliberation, Lynn simply made her the head instructor of the four thousand barbarian militia.

The job was relatively simple, offered high social status, and the salary was enough to barely satisfy her drinking needs.

Although Karula appears to be a woman, her false identity as a war goddess still has considerable deterrent power over the wasteland people.

Under her strict discipline, the four thousand barbarian soldiers trained diligently every day without daring to utter a single complaint.

Of course, this was also thanks to the continuous supply of military supplies from Lynn.

As we all know, machines don't consume much energy when they're not running, but they require a continuous energy input once they're running.

The same principle applies to humans. When we move, we burn a huge amount of calories, while lying down can barely sustain our bodily functions with just one meal a day. In winter, farmers in Baihe Territory mostly stay at home, staring at the firelight in the fireplace all day long, all to save food.

What enabled nearly ten thousand soldiers to maintain their daily training was not willpower or morale, but the massive amounts of food and meat that Lynn poured in.

In winter, a soldier's food consumption is more than three times that of an ordinary farmer.

Based on Baihe Territory's grain production and tax revenue this year, 10,000 soldiers are already Lynn's limit. He really can't afford to support any more than that. He also needs to raise money and supplies to prepare for the series of battles next year.

After an hour or so of drills, the new recruits all returned to their tents to rest for half an hour, as they couldn't be exposed to the outdoors for too long in the dead of winter.

Inside the tent, Karula unceremoniously picked up a whole bottle of mead and gulped down most of it.

"This mead is good. I'd better follow you; there'll be an endless supply of delicious wine every day."

Karula is quite satisfied with her current life as an instructor.

Since leaving the tribe, this period has been the most enjoyable time for her. Drinking and cursing people, how delightful!
Lynn simply picked up his glass, took a small sip, and asked with a slight smile, "Kalura, would you like to have a game with my personal guards?"

"You mean you want me to duel with them?" Karula put down her wine bottle and looked at the two rows of guards behind Lynn with a puzzled expression.

Lynn brought two small teams of twenty guards with him on this inspection of the military camp.

Karula then shook her head. "If I don't wear armor, even if they all come at me together, they're no match for me. This kind of duel is meaningless. But if I wear armor, they're too slow and can't keep up with my speed."

For a master like Karula, as long as she doesn't think about attacking, these guards pose no threat to her.

While armor can increase defense, it also reduces speed. Karula pursues the ultimate speed, so she doesn't like the burden of wearing armor.

"They all want your guidance. It's just ordinary combat training. Use unsharpened longswords. You attack, and they defend."

After saying that, Lynn turned to his guards and instructed them, "Put on your plate armor and let Karula see its defensive capabilities."

Before long, on an open space next to the camp, Karula and twenty guards took their positions.

Karula was still not wearing armor, her long blue hair tied in a ponytail, and she moved among the guards' formation, holding an unsharpened longsword.

She moved with light steps, leaping several meters with a light touch of her toes, often escaping the encirclement before her guards could surround her, like a nimble gray-blue lightning bolt.

When launching an attack, the longsword in her hand seemed to possess immense power, easily repelling a guard with a single strike against plate armor.

Because it was an unsharpened sword, and because Carula intentionally controlled her strength, the guard who was hit was not seriously injured.

After several rounds of combat, these young guards gradually gained experience and were occasionally able to dodge Carula's attacks.

Lynn stood on the sidelines watching, secretly marveling: This Karula is different from me. She doesn't like wearing armor and is not suitable for large-scale battles. Instead, she is more suitable for small-scale skirmishes or assassinations.

Given Karula's combat prowess, she would inevitably be injured on a battlefield with thousands of soldiers if she didn't wear armor.

It's just that there are few guards. If the number were doubled, Karula wouldn't be able to use her dragon-like abilities anymore. If she didn't want to be hit by the sword, she would have no choice but to obediently flee.

Lynn rarely takes action nowadays, and by observing this training session, he can roughly estimate his own combat level.

After having lunch with the soldiers in the barracks, Lynn returned to the castle with his personal guards.

The official document from Three Rivers City also arrived at the castle, bringing with it the news of Otto's formal coronation as king.

Scribe Victor suggested, “My lord, Otto has already donned the Northern Crown at Amber Harbor Cathedral, and it is said that Earl of Mirror Iron in the south is preparing to declare himself duke. With your current strength, I think you should also declare yourself duke as soon as possible.”

The duke's territory could actually be called a 'duchy', which was a relatively independent power.

Earl Mirror Iron declared himself Duke, naturally to legally oppose Otto, the current King in the North.

Incidentally, Otto was known as Otto III in the Kingdom of Rui, but as Otto II in the North.

He was the second king in the history of the North to bear the name 'Otto,' the first being the First King of the North. (To avoid ambiguity, we will refer to him as Otto III from now on.)

Lynn listened to Victor's suggestion but shook his head with a smile: "Duke? There's no need for that. I will directly declare myself king this year."

(End of this chapter)