20 Chapter 20 No Preparation

Hax finished his meal. He didn't take his time to enjoy the delicacy but he ate it like it was just ordinary food. Time was scarce. Every hour he didn't spend on improving his strength was a significant increase in mortality rate. Who knew what the cultivators were currently planning. Maybe they would assassinate him, ending the norms revolution once and for all.

He looked at Ratha. She still tried to understand the knowledge he wrote on the parchment. It was about energy, motion, and force. She made significant progress in her study. Hax asked her a bunch of questions and her answers impressed him.

The mechanical arm blueprint laid on the table was incomplete. Hax wanted to add some progress into this blueprint, but he worried about the sect's retaliation. He needed to attack them again.

Knock! Knock!

"Sir, this is Nesterin. We would like to discuss with you about the recruitment and the auxiliary branch of our army."

Perfect!

"Come in."

Nesterin and Balmar entered the workshop. They raised an eyebrow when they saw Ratha having a meal inside.

"What do you have for me?" Hax asked.

The both of them turned their attention to him.

Nesterin said: "Sir, the both of us have procured around one thousand men into our ranks."

"And the auxiliary branch?" Hax asked.

This time, Balmar took the turn to reply. "We have recruited some people for our supplies, medical, communication, and scouting."

"Good. I believe you are ready to attack?"

That silent them for a second.

"Sir, I don't think we are ready to attack. Our trainees are still a newbie," Nesterin said.

"I agree, sir. Our troops are not yet coordinated with each other. We need a few weeks of training and preparation at minimum before we plan our next attack."

Hax crossed his arms. "Nesterin. A few days ago, you rushed to the Boiling Volcano killed more than a dozen cultivators. And Nesterin, you reinforced the Black Wolves in the nick of time. Saving them from assured death."

"Yes, sir." The both of them nodded, though they didn't know what Hax imply.

"Do you understand why I mention this?"

"No, sir."

"The both of you made a significant result with minimal preparation. The Black Wolves didn't even make any preparation except some last-hour shooting practice. And the Man Hunter only prepared some supplies in less than an hour before you reinforce the Black Wolves."

Hax leaned on his metal chair. "Tell me. Do we need weeks of preparation to attack?"

It actually took a lot of time and preparation to attack. The amount of planning needed to reduce casualties while getting the most effective result was immense. But Hax did not want to reduce casualties. He didn't want to achieve the most effective result. Instead, he simply wanted the most damage in the least amount of time and to train the trainee straight in the field.

The Hax Battalion was an elite army. He wanted to give them a clear message that joining this organization was not for the weak.

Nesterin and Balmar look at each other for a split second.

"I will lead the attack on the Boiling Volcano, sir," Balmar said. "We have mapped the whole geography, and know where every bug put their blanket."

"The Black Wolves will intercept the cultivators traveling on the trade route, sir. We might not be proficient in jungle warfare, but ambushing caravan and carriage were some of our specialties."

"What a heroic specialties," Hax smiled.

Nesterin wanted to scratch his head in embarrassment, but he kept a stern face.

"Tell me about the Nefarious Sword. How many men do they have? What is the level of their combatants?"

"They have around 24 temples built around the volcano, sir. But we don't know how many, or what stage they have."

"You don't know?" Hax frowned. He had hoped that they would already make some progress in information gathering.

"Unfortunately no, sir."

"Then why don't you find out?" Hax said. "The most important thing in battle is not our numbers and weapons. It's information. If we know everything about our enemy, even if we are ants, we still have a chance to defeat them. The unknown is undefeatable. Carve that inside your head."

"Yes, sir!"

"After the attack. I want you to set up a spy branch and start gathering information about our foes."

"After the attack. Sir?" Balmar said. "Are we really going to attack without preparation?"

"The men you have recruited is enough preparation. I want you to attack by tomorrow morning. Use the time you have left to prepare your troops. Oh, and try to stay alive."

Balmar bitterly smiled. Try to stay alive? The Black Wolves attacked with sixty men and they returned with less than ten. The casualty rate was almost ninety percent.

Balmar let out a breath. "I will do my best, sir."

Hax turned his eyes to Nesterin.

"I will also do my best, sir."

Hax nodded. "Then the two of you may leave. Go to Bodin. He has two cultivators as a bodyguard. Tell him that I suggest for the two cultivators turned to be a spy."

"Yes, sir."

Both of them left the workshop. Nesterin closed the door and walked through the busy pistol maker along with Nesterin.

Nesterin looked around. "It's too quiet for a forge hall."

Balmar nodded. "Hax told them to work as quietly as possible. I thought that was for his own convenience, but in fact, the pistol they make is much better. But let's not talk about that. We need to discuss how are we going to recruit spies. Do you have any idea?"

"I do. I have some experience in the information gathering field."

"You do?"

"Of course, in my line of work, knowing distant enemies keep nearby lovers at bay."

"Why is that?"

"Because if you don't know who to rob, your lovers would leave, hahaha!"

"Enough joking. Just tell me your plan."

"My plan is simple. I will train some people. Send them to various places and let them gather information. The sect movement is not just in Ashbourne. Some of my men even found that a lot of Nefarious Sword's members are returning to the sect."

"What does this mean?" Balmar asked.

"This means that they are preparing for war. They are gathering their forces. If we let their numbers accumulate, our casualties would be high. In fact, we could lose the war."

"Hmm. There are creatures that would gather their friend first before fighting another group of their kind."

"We are not fighting animals here. Remember our enemy. They are cultivators. Fighting is in their blood."

"We still have a chance with a thousand gunner."

"You're right," Nesterin replied. With Hax and his Black Wolves' reputation, a lot of strong men had joined his group. Before this, Black Wolves was just a small group. Now, they had a whole battalion. Of course, unlike Hax Battalion who were supposed to have a thousand corps in the future, the Black Wolves didn't plant expand more than fifty thousand troops.

Fifty thousand troops at his beck and call! Nesterin wondered if he could reach such height in the future.

"Come on, let's return to our barracks. We need to prepare as much as we can," Balmar said.

The both of them returned to their barracks. The barrack was a simple housing with half circular shape designed to accommodate soldiers. These green, half-circular shape buildings were lined right next to each with only a few meters of space left for carriage to pass through. Dozens of men fired their pistols at the practice range nearby. Nesterin had requested the practice field to be built near the barrack to wake up any lazy soldiers. Of course, they would be kicked out of the army for that.

The barrack in front of Nesterin had an image of a man with three stripes on his cheek. This was the symbol of the Man Hunter. Nesterin finally knew why they let painters join the rebellion. Their painting was really nice, and the Man Hunters were proud of their symbols.

The Black Wolves also had their symbols. The symbol was a pack of black wolves baring their fang. It symbolized unity, bravery, and might. He didn't know what the symbol of the Man Hunter meant.

The Barrack for the Man Hunter and the Black Wolves were built close by. They could see each other the moment they get out of bed.

"You go prepare the spies," Balmar said. "I'm going to prepare my army and scouts. I also can tell some of my scouts to help you in ambushing the cultivators in the trade route."

"No need. Your scouts are the best in the jungle. Leave the trade route to us. Maybe the cultivators will help the returning sect member. I want you to disrupt them if that happens."

The both of them split up. Nesterin walked to an expansive shooting field where all of his men were practicing.

Jharteel noticed him and told his men to continue their training before running towards him. "Nesterin. How it goes?"

"We have bad news and good news."

"What's the good news?"

"The good news is we will fight against the cultivators."

"And the bad news?"

"The bad news is we have to fight them tomorrow morning."

"We will attack the sect in the morning?" Jharteel asked, shocked.

"No, we won't be attacking the sect. We are just ambushing them on the trade route."

Jharteel seemed troubled. "But our men are not properly trained. Their aim is terrible. None of their bullets hit the target."

"When we attack the sect a few days ago, we only did some last-hour training. But our results are significant. We killed dozens of cultivators, don't we? Have some confidence."

Jharteel frowned. "I don't like the sound of this. Why are we in a haste? If we have time to train, our casualties will be much smaller. I can't have another comrade dying on me."

"Do you forget about what I taught you, Jharteel? We are the Black Wolves. We don't let the death of our friends burden us. Don't you remember our saying? For one wolf died, ten cubs would rise."

Jharteel sighed. "I know. It's jus—"

"Don't let me down on this, Jharteel. Hax, the norms, and the pack expected us to do our best. If you can't do it for me or anyone else, then I hope you would do it for the pack."

"Alright, I will do it."

Nesterin patted him on the shoulder. "That's my boy. We have a lot of men to take care of. I can't coordinate them by myself. We need a lot of leading figures to lead the team."

"What about letting the survivor lead them?"

Nesterin had been waiting for that. He slapped Jharteel's back. "What a genius. You're right. Go call them here."