Arthas stopped talking. He understood Yun Zhe's meaning and couldn't help but think more highly of Yun Zhe, and his desire to have Yun Zhe stand on his side became even stronger.
Soon after, in a makeshift tent at the border camp, Yun Zhe formally accepted Locke's apology. Locke felt as if he had been granted a pardon. An apology? What was the big deal? He still had soldiers, he still had command, so that was naturally the best outcome.
In truth, Yun Zhe no longer valued his hundred soldiers, and managing Luke's men would be extremely troublesome. At this moment, Yun Zhe already had two hundred followers, along with Gao, their leader. During the three days he had returned with the refugees, he hadn't been idle, successfully persuading thirty refugees to join his army. These thirty-odd men were truly devoted to Yun Zhe. His words, "Arm yourselves and fight your way back home!" were especially inspiring.
Therefore, Yun Zhe insisted on bringing those two hundred-plus people under his command. This battle had given Yun Zhe a lot of insights, the biggest of which was that if an army cannot be commanded effectively, then even the best tactics will not be executed well, and may even bring about bad results.
For the sake of those thousand gold coins, and also to prove himself, Yun Zhe felt it was necessary to build his own army.
These two hundred-plus people were Yun Zhe's first army in this other world.
Given Yun Zhe's performance in the battle and his magnanimity upon his return, although everyone was somewhat uncomfortable with his demand for command of the troops, they had no open reason to object. Serena ultimately agreed to Yun Zhe's request. However, she emphasized two points: first, this army would primarily be responsible for transporting provisions; second, Yun Zhe would be responsible for procuring the army's equipment.
Serena wasn't unwilling to help Yun Zhe, but even she knew what kind of people Yun Zhe's two hundred-plus men were. Apart from the dozen or so leading the group, they were all hastily assembled idlers and farmers, poorly trained novices. Add to that the refugees, and they had absolutely no combat experience. Sending them to the battlefield would only boost the enemy's morale. Besides, armor and equipment were limited; naturally, they should be reserved for truly well-trained soldiers.
Serena was worried that Yun Zhe might harbor resentment and was about to explain when Yun Zhe nodded. He then asked Arthas whether such an army should have a name or something.
Arthas was pleased that Yun Zhe had asked him this question. "You can come up with one yourself; it's all a combination of name and unit type. For example, the famous Pass Pikemen of the Pass family, the invincible cavalry of the Ars family, and the heavy armored guards of the Tra family."
Yun Zhe nodded. "I haven't decided on my troop type yet, so I'll call mine the Yun Battalion for now."
Arthas's eyes lit up. "That's a good name, very original!"
They talked as if no one else was around, making everyone else look bad.
Serena coughed lightly. "Now that we've resolved Yun Zhe's issue, let's get down to business for today's meeting."
"What should we do next? Where should our army go?" Arthas first raised the most pressing question.
“The number of migrants is increasing, and managing them is a difficult problem,” Andrew said, focusing more on the migrant issue.
A siege battle completely exposed the previously ambiguous relationship between the two sides.
“Arthas and Trath have clearly wanted to divide up the Donic family’s assets. Although it’s unclear how the Lunlang family behind them will profit, it’s obvious that our current enemies are the Arthas and Trath families,” Arthas continued.
“Ars is right in the middle of us, so why don’t we wipe out the Ars family first?” Nuremt suggested.
"Um, I have a question," Yun Zhe raised his hand, "With all this commotion here, isn't anyone going to step in and do something about it, or uphold justice?"
Yun Zhe's question silenced the entire tent.
Serena blushed, Andrew coughed awkwardly, and the others looked away, avoiding eye contact with Yun Zhe.
Yun Zhe felt uneasy. Their reaction seemed to tell him that he had made an extremely basic mistake, clearly exposing his ignorance, and might even have unintentionally offended some people.
"I still lack knowledge about this era. Without a systematic education, I always feel like something is missing. Fortunately, I have the identity of an Aluru as a cover, otherwise I would be suspected again." Yun Zhe was good at comforting himself.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Yun Zhe stopped asking questions.
"There are two reasons. First, a plague has broken out in our city of Donic, a terrible plague unlike any we've ever seen before. We've been regarded as an unlucky family and completely abandoned. Second, our Donic family started as merchants, so we've never been well-liked by them." Serena felt she had to say this herself, and finished speaking through gritted teeth, her face flushed.
Yun Zhe opened his mouth, but seeing Serena's expression, he swallowed his question.
"So it turns out that he was born into a bad family and was completely abandoned because of illness and superstition."
Yun Zhe scratched his head and suddenly felt that this was not a bad situation in some ways.
After all, it's better to develop stealthily when no one can see you.
I will work hard quietly, and then amaze everyone. Isn't this a common plot in novels from Yun Zhe's world?
Serena looked at Yun Zhe with a puzzled expression, then smiled with satisfaction. "What's he so happy about? It doesn't seem like gloating, but rather like he's struck gold, grinning like an idiot." Serena shook her head and continued looking at Andrew, "Are we going to declare war on the Ars family now?"
“If we’re going to go to war, let’s wait until autumn. It’s not a good time to fight now,” Yun Zhe suddenly said.
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