Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 679: Chapter 388: Red Tide’s Blade (Part 2)

The Red Tide headquarters has 3,650 troops, all of whom are absolutely loyal and currently outfitted with the latest equipment.

Duke Edmund’s old troops, including the Broken Blade, Cold Iron, and Silver Tooth brigades, have been restructured into a 5,000-strong unit.

In these recent years, they have fought together and shared salaries and land, especially the Cold Iron group. They no longer just recognize Edmond’s banner; they now recognize the orders of the Red Tide."

"The numbers are sufficient," Louis nodded, "but still not enough."

The words seemed contradictory, but Lambert understood what he meant.

In the old days, military strength was only judged by numbers, but after the battle at the Nest, no one dared to rely on numbers alone.

Louis extended his finger and began listing: "There are a few things you need to watch closely next."

"First, coordinated operations must be streamlined. Put away that Knights’ pride and get used to charging under the cover of steam war vehicles, and working alongside Magic Burst grenadiers.

When we go to war in the future, it will no longer be knights in front and infantry behind; the whole line will advance together."

Second, specialized expansion. Double the White Bear Heavy Cavalry, specifically to breach through defense lines.

Deploy more flamethrower teams and demolition teams; whether facing monster hordes or urban street fights, these two groups are needed."

Lambert nodded slightly.

Then Louis put down his wine glass, leaned forward slightly, and said solemnly, "But Lambert, what I’m going to say next is more important than that steam war vehicle. I want to set a new rule for this army."

Lambert immediately sat up straight: "Please go ahead."

"It’s quite simple." Louis raised a finger, "From today on, no Red Tide knight, whether on bandit suppression or patrol, is allowed to take even a piece of dry bread from civilians.

No riding into villages wrecking havoc; what is borrowed should be returned. If anyone dares to behave as before, thinking it’s justified since they risk their lives for protection, and sees nothing wrong with taking someone’s chicken, strip his medal off and kick him out of the team."

Lambert hesitated for a moment, his brows slightly furrowed: "Sir... that might be difficult."

This commander spoke frankly: "If your demands are this strict, I’m afraid the brothers below might have complaints, thinking we’re too... too nitpicky."

"Complaints?" Louis chuckled, with a hint of deep meaning in his smile, "Lambert, what do you think is our greatest fear if we expand out of Red Tide Territory and start taking over other lands?"

"The greatest fear is a counterattack from enemy knights or an ambush by enemies," Lambert answered from a military perspective.

"No." Louis shook his head, "The greatest fear is leaving half of our forces behind to guard against uprisings in the cities we’ve conquered."

Louis stood up and walked over to the gigantic Northern Territory map, tracing his finger over lands not belonging to the Red Tide.

"Lambert, if we, like other lords, swept through with our army like locusts, seizing money, grain, and women, how would civilians view us?

They would see us as another group of bandits. They would hide their grain, alert our enemies..."

Louis turned, looking at Lambert, his tone becoming exceedingly plain: "But what if we are different?"

"Imagine, if our soldiers enter a village without disturbing the people, pay for goods, even help repair roads, what would we be to those peasants who’ve faced enough exploitation?"

Lambert instinctively replied, "A... friend?"

"A savior." Louis corrected, "People they’d eagerly open their gates for."

Louis returned to the couch, picked up his wine glass again, his tone relaxed yet filled with cold calculation:

"This is the public support I want. It’s not to be a moral saint, but to save money and soldiers.

If our reputation spreads, when the army moves south in the future, civilians in other territories, hearing that the Red Tide Army is coming, their first reaction won’t be to flee, but to breathe a sigh of relief.

At that time, to seize a city, all we need is to send a tax officer to plant a flag, with no need to leave soldiers garrisoned."

Lambert listened in astonishment. He had fought battles all his life, always thinking of ways to kill the enemy, never imagining that non-interference with civilians could be a more sophisticated siege tactic.

"This is attacking the heart." Louis pointed to his chest, "I want the words Red Tide to hold more sway in civilians’ hearts than the Emperor’s."

"So Lambert, even if it’s a pretense, have them behave like gentlemen."

Louis’s voice lowered, carrying an indisputable command: "Tell the men below, anyone who dares to tarnish the Red Tide’s name is as good as smashing everyone’s rice bowl.

Win the war, spoils are shared publicly, and I’ll reward them handsomely with the treasury money. But anyone who privately reaches into the civilians’ pockets, I’ll cut off their hand.

Knights aren’t street thugs. They should be like torchbearers walking a night road; too rough and they’ll drop sparks and burn the house down, too weak and they won’t light the way. You need to teach them this balance."

Lambert took a deep breath, the confusion in his eyes replaced entirely with a profound awe.

He had initially thought this was some kind of cleanliness fetish of the young lord, never expecting it to conceal an ambition to engulf the world.

"I understand, sir."

Lambert stood up, and this time, his salute was more solemn than ever. "This army will not only be your sword, but also the cleanest banner of the Red Tide."

Louis nodded in satisfaction: "Go, sharpen this blade a bit more, for soon we will use it to cut open this rotting empire’s veins.

Once the empire’s civil war starts, the blood of this old beast will flow in every direction.