Throne of the North.

Chapter 804 The Initial Establishment of the Knight Academy (Part 7)
Within the first hour of meeting, the students from the two knight academies developed a strong aversion to each other.

This matter was naturally put on hold.

"According to the rules in our Northern Territory, soldiers' weapons cannot be easily shown to others, so as to avoid being targeted or affected by the battle."

"The noblewoman's status is naturally noble, but that's just a difference brought about by custom, it's not a big deal. The only one is that guy named Zack, he's a commoner?"

Brand had offered an explanation, but upon hearing this, he became somewhat displeased, frowning. Kaz, standing next to him, laughed.

"What did I just hear? Someone insulting the honor of the Northern noble bloodline?"

"That must be a misunderstanding."

"Indeed, as a knight, Joni's appearance as a knight inevitably involves touching, since she has not committed any serious offense."

The matter ended there, but it also seemed to mark the beginning for both sides.

“Well then, let’s see when we can have an ‘exchange’. I’m also very curious about what kind of knight students the nobles of the North are trained to be.”

Adebayor smiled and said, "Let's move on," but no one could answer his question.

The exchange between the Imperial Knight Academy and the Northern Knight Academy was no longer something they could decide on their own once this topic came up.

Those true noble lords were preparing to use this incident as a pretext for political struggle, including the families behind those present. Many of the trainees had also received orders from their bloodline nobles, and some had different motives.

So when it starts, it's no longer up to them to decide.

"You just need to decide on the time as soon as possible, but Lord Ryan has given instructions on how to communicate."

Brand said that.

"How to communicate?"

Even the aloof Heather looked over.

Brand then took out a scroll woven from fine cloth, unrolled it, and said to it:

"First and foremost, the basic requirement for knight cadets to become reserve officers is a strong physique."

"An excellent officer cannot be outrun or outfight the enemy's lowest-ranking soldiers on the battlefield."

"Therefore, the individual combat strength of a knight on the battlefield is the foundation for fighting against the enemy and commanding soldiers. The first thing we will do when we arrive is to discuss one-on-one duels between knights, as well as multi-on-multi combined battle formations."

"Secondly, Lord Ryan mentioned that as future reserve officers of the Empire, the knights of the Knight Academy should not just be knights. They must know what to do in various terrains, and even when waiting for orders from the legion level, they should take into account the uncertainties brought about by the battlefield geography."

"Therefore, it is also necessary to communicate the adaptability of both sides to different geographical environments. If the officers cannot adapt, how can they know whether the soldiers below can adapt?"

"If you can't adapt to extreme terrain and climate, you can't maintain your combat effectiveness on the battlefield."

"The emergence of the First Legion of the Empire means that the Empire no longer needs slave cannon fodder to enter the battlefield. Therefore, every soldier is an elite, and every knight legion is the elite of the elite. They are no longer just officers, but also warriors."

"At the same time, this is also a source of morale."

"The third point is the strategic assessment and exchange among the students of the Knight Academy."

"No commander can be certain what might happen in any inconspicuous corner of the battlefield, especially in small-scale skirmishes."

"Therefore, on their respective battlefields, officers at the lower levels must be tested on their control over the soldiers' combat effectiveness, as well as the gap in combat effectiveness between their own legion and the enemy, and what kind of combat methods should be used to reduce casualties and increase combat merits."

"Therefore, officers must possess the knowledge and rationality that belong to officers. What His Majesty Emperor Flor needs are knights with brains, not barbarians who only know how to swing their longswords and slash forward on the battlefield. What is the point of the Imperial Legion if that is the case? It would be better to have more slaves and orcs charging forward mindlessly."

"Victory in war depends on the commander's decisions and also on the passion of every soldier on the battlefield."

"Fourthly, Lord Ryan asked whether the officers of the Imperial Knight Academy truly understood what a battlefield was."

That is, absolute obedience to military orders.

"Orders from the war commander must be obeyed absolutely. No one may leave their post without orders from a higher-level commander, even if the order contains the terror of certain death."

"Therefore, whether the knights of the Knight Academy possess the glorious tenets of loyalty, courage, integrity, and steadfastness must be witnessed and tested by blood and fire."

"A legion with chaotic orders will never be powerful; on the contrary, an elite legion will always have strict rules that ensure orders are obeyed without question."

"Anyone who violates the rules of the battlefield should be punished by the Legion, unless the rules of war allow for the destruction of nobles."

"The fifth point concerns the knight officer himself."

"On the battlefield, no one is alone. Even the most powerful legends are part of a whole with all the soldiers on the battlefield. They share a common name: the Legion."

"Never abandon, never give up" is the supreme will that every officer should and must convey to the soldiers.

"Otherwise, if everyone on the battlefield is afraid of death and no one wants to be injured, how can the Empire's army have the courage to face the dragon?"

"In the empire's many wars, it has long been proven that we are no match for the dragons. The courage to move forward comes from the loyalty of our comrades behind us. Only when the soldiers at the front know that the soldiers behind them will not run away can the soldiers at the front avoid being defeated."

"Only such a legion can be called elite, and can still not be defeated and flee on the battlefield even after 10%, 20%, 30%, or even 50% of its troops have been killed."

"This is especially challenging for officers who give and receive orders."

"And if an army can achieve a 90% kill rate and still not retreat, then we have every reason to believe that such an army, even on the battlefield of the divine kingdom, can make the great beings taste... the word called defeat."

Those who die in battle are called "familiars," and under the will of the gods, those familiar monsters have no concept of death.

They are monsters because they lack intelligence; intelligent and rational beings could do that...

That could also be called an absolute monster.

Upon hearing Brand's words, the room fell silent; you could hear a pin drop. Everyone stared in disbelief at the scroll in Brand's hand—a so-called 'exchange' from the Knight Academy, written by the legendary Baron of the North, the undefeated military genius.

In their understanding, the exchange between the two sides involved a political struggle, specifically manifested in the knights' public battles and confrontations.

In other words, apart from the first point, there were so many unexpected and bizarre things that left them speechless.

"So... according to you, Baron Ryan really came here for academic exchange?"

Adebayor asked after remaining silent.

They didn't consider this a serious exchange, not only because it involved the attitudes and interests of too many nobles, but also because of their disdain for the Northern Knights Academy.

They had never heard of the Northern Knights Academy, which had been built less than two months ago.

The nobles believed that antiquity was the glory and power of the past, and the new generation, wanting to prove themselves, needed to transcend time.

Now, the way Ryan is communicating seems to have transcended time, allowing them to see a distant future—a human army that is fearless, shouting battle cries and charging towards the gods.

What a terrifying army that was!

They couldn't understand, so they remained silent. Only the older Lady Heather reached out and took the exquisite scroll from Brand's hand, frowning as she looked at the less-than-perfect handwriting belonging to Ryan.

"Where do his ideas come from? Did he come up with them all himself?"

"Incomplete".

Brand replied that these methods were merely summaries by Lord Ryan, some of which originated from the ancient wizarding traditions of Mikragard, where wizards attempted to cultivate human soldiers into intelligent servants to aid in divine warfare. Moreover, to be specific, there were far too many to list, involving people, resources, money, and beliefs—all of which could be broken down into details.

But undeniably, this is the army every battlefield commander dreams of.

"Has anyone ever said that Ryan is like a demon from the abyss, trying to devour all life?"

Heather spoke with a mixture of amazement and rejection in her eyes, and Brand, of course, had only one response.

"That's definitely not the case."

"Lord Ryan is loved by all in the land of the North, and his kindness can be described by anyone."

"Life is precious."

"The lives lost in a war are more precious, and the death toll caused by weakness is much greater."

Brand doesn't need to respond according to anyone's will; he has his own opinions.

From a post-apocalyptic world, where the world is frozen, where the surviving humans can only scavenge for food in the snow, where the end of despair is the end of the world, then life and death are meaningless.

The strength of the Ryan Frozen Territory largely depends on this.

Why are people from different dimensions able to coexist peacefully in the Frozen Territory? Because they have all witnessed despair beyond death, endured the horrors brought by a hopeless sky and earth, and experienced a rebirth in the Frozen Territory.

Those who emerge from the apocalypse cherish this new life all the more, and having experienced fear beyond death, they will also possess the courage to face death without fear.

Lord Ryan hasn't increased the number of knights and squires in the Bucks Legion for a long time, not because of insufficient population, and it's no longer because of insufficient resources and wealth to support them.

It's because too many people can become servants of the stag, bringing about a war that transcends death.

Lord Ryan's power allows him to easily create such powerful soldiers, instead of a bunch of useless cannon fodder.

It can be said that if needed, a large number of trainee knight soldiers can appear in the Frozen Territory at any time.

That's what Brand thinks.

They didn't consider Ryan's spiritual balance at all.

"madman."

Heather commented, and the others around her nodded silently in agreement. Yes, that baron from the North was indeed a military madman.

"What you've said... needs to be known to His Majesty and the Grand Dukes."

Brand handed over the scroll, which was originally written by Ryan for the great nobles.

If you want others to agree with your ideas, you have to tell them first, right?

In the imperial capital, inside the emperor's palace.

"Such methods are too extreme. They don't care about the lives of nobles at all. Ryan Clayton, what exactly is this Clayton family brat trying to do?"

The nobles would also quarrel, and their quarrels would be so fierce that their anger could spread for miles. If the empire didn't need to recuperate, they might send troops to ask the baron in the north if he was indeed a devil from the abyss.

"The emergence of the First Legion of the Empire is indeed different from the previous war armies; otherwise, what difference would there be between it and the previous practice of nobles assembling and commanding their armies in a unified manner?"

“What Baron Ryan said makes some sense, but it is indeed a bit extreme.”

"If you want a powerful empire's army, this is also a good way."

"How ridiculous! Is this how the nobles of the empire die? Can't you see how many of our bloodlines will die on the cruel battlefield if we do this? They are all our children."

"Children? I never expected you to say that. With so many people in your family, if you really treated them as children, you wouldn't have sent them to the Imperial Knight Academy to let them forge their own path to extraordinaryness."

"Can't all of us here afford to provide that many knight life potions?"

"The production of the Flower of Life has decreased in Neiqiu Province, so we have to consider the future."

"What's this talk about the future? The Dawn Church has been quite restless lately. We underestimated Solarion. A pope who dared to kill the emperor of the empire—I even doubt his devotion to the Dawn Church."

"What are you trying to say? Is the Province of Carlos facing danger once again? For decades to come, even without His Highness Freud, the Dawn Church would never dare to invade the Empire's lands."

"Damn..."

The topic gradually veered off course, which was normal, as several grand dukes and many nobles were present, and anything could be brought up to the political conflicts between the two sides.

For example, Grand Duke Freming, being the leader, couldn't be absent. His presence here was also intended to use the Imperial Knight Academy incident to work with the Emperor to deal with the many nobles in the North. And if he could reduce His Majesty's gains in this political struggle, that would be even better.

They need time to reclaim those benefits through continuous political struggles, and then they can hand them over to the emperor.

That is also their goal.

This is a very simple principle. They cannot really oppose His Majesty the Emperor. However, there are two different things between handing something over to the Emperor today and handing it over to the Emperor this year. There are also two different things between handing it over to the Emperor this year and handing it over to the Emperor ten or fifty years later.

However, Baron Ryan's proposal for a 'knightly academic exchange' interrupted the process, leaving the nobles shocked and caught off guard.

That little guy, he really came here for academic exchange?
“A baron is not qualified to get the capital city to agree to his ideas.”

The one who spoke was an earl. His relationship with Ryan was such that... they didn't know each other, except for their names and honor.

Such nobles were not few in number, and were as numerous as hairs on a cow, but...

Even the nobleman who spoke up didn't expect that after he said those words, few other nobles would agree with him.

Is it because Ryan is actually no less than a high-ranking noble?
This was just a very small idea, one that would absolutely not exist if one didn't want to cooperate with Ryan.

If they wanted to refuse Ryan, they could use the title of Baron a hundred times, ten thousand times.

But they didn't.

The high-ranking nobleman who had spoken looked in shock at the other people present, who had been extremely noisy but had suddenly fallen silent, including the four grand dukes, members of the royal family, and His Majesty the Emperor.

Finally, it was Grand Duke Meyers, who was now closest to His Majesty the Emperor, who spoke from silence. The grand duke, who had a great conflict with Baron Ryan, spoke slowly.

His voice was very soft, but no one could miss it.

"In recent years, the number of nobles in the empire has indeed increased."

Ryan's suggestion gave them a sense of sudden enlightenment. It not only allowed them to give an explanation to the lower and middle nobles, but also to their own bloodline members who yearned for merit.

Everything is justified, with irrefutable reasons.

The ancestors of nobles all attained their noble lineage through blood and fire.

"That damned devil Ryan!"

Some people gritted their teeth, but stopped arguing and making noise.

(End of this chapter)