Bear School Astartes

Shared understanding is a precious thing.

It’s like before the collapse of some empires, it seems like no one has much military power. But once the empire truly collapses, the land will be teeming with all sorts of warlords, both known and unknown, who can easily gather a large number of people.

It seems as if these armies grow right out of the ground.

And Meno Kuhorn smirked coldly at this notion.

”Ha, look at your self-righteous appearance, Sean. Anyone would think you had nothing to do with the Merchant Association, and that you didn’t capture tens of thousands of civilians in Sintra to serve as a source of slavery.”

”You could just say it directly.” Sir Sean squinted slightly, showing no emotion.

”I am indeed the dog raised by the Merchant Association, and thanks to their support, I was able to attend the military academy and climb to this position through military merits, fortunate to be by your side. But this doesn’t contradict my loyalty to the Empire.”

”Therefore, even if you slander the association behind me, I won’t abandon what I need to do.”

Sir Sean seemed to be preparing to take on an extremely stressful task; he took a deep breath and said, ”I now apply to strip Marshal Meno Kuhorn of his command in this war, citing fear of the enemy and adopting a passive strategy in the battle.”

These words brought about a deadly silence, and even the continual movement, which had not ceased even during the quarrel, came to a stop.

Is he out of his mind? Undermining the superior on the battlefield?

Even if Marshal Meno Kuhorn’s command post had been taken, and the battle irreversibly sliding towards ’failure’... do you think you can impeach him based on your prestige?

Besides Meno Kuhorn himself, all the staff officers, commanders, including Furinjira Veges, all looked at Sean as if they had seen a ghost.

But Sean himself remained very calm because he dared to impeach the Marshal at this critical juncture not relying on his prestige in the army... but on practical interests.

”Everyone, let me put it plainly.”

Sean’s fierce gaze, like that of a wolf on its last legs, swept across his colleagues one by one.

”The status of an army is determined by its deterrence and combat power. And we all know the value of our undefeated reputation.”

”I know, everyone has someone behind them, whether it’s a family or various industrial associations like mine. There’s no shame in it; I was brought up by the Slave Merchant Association. I suppose some of you here were even brought up by the Merchant Association’s general assembly, right?”

”And we also all know: the identity of the Empire’s officers gives us a high social status, but the tangible money and enjoyment are prepared by the people behind us.”

”The better we perform and the more ambitious we are, the higher we climb in the army, thus making the army more powerful, and the Empire pays more attention, and the people behind us will thus give us more benefits. Because our ’price’ rises with the army’s status.”

”There’s nothing to be ashamed of admitting it! This is why the great Empire’s army is invincible!”

Sean spread his arms and loudly addressed all his colleagues.

”But what if! What if our army is defeated? Our importance and attention are severely diminished?”

By this point, Sean’s tone had grown somber, even vicious.

”I believe that in the eyes of the people behind us, we aren’t irreplaceable, right? They have allies in business, allies in politics, all requiring their long-term ’investment,’ and their resources are not infinite.”

”With ’investment,’ there will always be preferences and choices. Who deserves more? Who deserves less?”

”I think all of us have, at some point, sabotaged others being ’invested’ by the same group in order to gain more ’investment.’ So now, think... if the army is defeated, will others come to kick us when we’re down or extend a helping hand?”

Following Sean’s words, many of the staff officers and commanders, who weren’t paying attention to his proposal, began to show peculiar looks in their eyes.

Furinjira, who had been silently standing at the edge, couldn’t help turning pale when Sean’s gaze swept over her.

She seemed to understand what this group of people meant.

These high-ranking Niflgaard officers didn’t want to give up their social status and luxurious lives brought about by the ’undefeated army.’

Therefore, they must fight, and they must win!

And who would bear the cost for this?

Nobody seemed concerned about that.

”But we cannot win.” Finally speaking out in response to this insubordination, Meno Kuhorn said tiredly.

He stared intently into Sean’s eyes.

”The command system is already a mess, and before its collapse, the formations laid out over tens of square kilometers were thoroughly disrupted by that Demon Hunter! What happens when a disorganized army fights a well-ordered one? Can you tell me?”

”After I’ve completed your impeachment, I will issue this order alone, and bear the consequences myself,” said Sir Sean.

”Besides, it’s not necessarily unwinnable. In the initial commanding advantage, the Northern Army was utterly defeated by us, and it’s hard to say what shape their front lines have restored to now, but as long as we launch a counter-charge, everything will be fine! The Niflgaard Army is invincible!”

This proclamation seemed to reassure everyone present, for after all, the consequences of failure would fall on someone else. What reason was there to hesitate?

In the ensuing silence, arms were raised one after the other, and voices consecutively affirmed ’agree.’

Thus, command authority was rationally and legally transferred.

Sean’s first order was for Furinjira to transmit the order for the counter-charge one last time and then for the Female Warlock to leave immediately.

This group of elite soldiers quickly deduced the Warlock’s suspicious role from the tactical logic of being fooled by Lann.

Not that the Imperial Mage would alert the enemy, but that the Warlock might serve as the Demon Hunter’s beacon.

Furinjira’s face had long gone pale; she wanted to escape as quickly as possible. A covert power struggle and insubordination within the army... this was a different kind of horror compared to facing a direct pursuit by a Demon Hunter!

Thus, lowering her head and without a word, she accepted the order.

Mental communication carried the message out, and she forced herself to open a short-lived portal to leave, suppressing the nausea from frequent spell-casting.

Meno Kuhorn’s back seemed to instantly hunch over; the Commander who had maintained his composure even amid Lann’s fierce assault was now sapped of vitality.

He simply glared bloodshot eyes at Sean.

”Without pre-established arrays or wartime command, only counter-charges issued by a single command... you’re sending fifty thousand soldiers to their deaths! These are the fifty thousand regular troops of the Niflgaard Empire! The Niflgaard people!”

”For honor, and the dignity of the Empire.”

Sean’s tone was almost sacred and tragic, as if he were a patriot resolved to sacrifice everything for his country.

”We must maintain the North’s and the world’s fear!”