The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

The knight and the veteran frantically pulled the triggers, emptying their magazines before retreating back behind the corner.

Are there any bullets left?

The knight roared madly.

"Not much left, but the other side doesn't have much magic power either!"

After reloading his bullets, the veteran seized the opportunity and lunged forward, shooting the spellcaster in the head.

"Aren't you a knight? Why aren't you that hard?"

The panting veteran kicked the spellcaster's corpse and looked at the knights who had followed behind him.

"Not all knights are Lars's creations, okay?"

The knight calmly loaded the ammunition into his musket.

The Pétain Line is now in chaos, with the lowest-ranking soldiers following junior officers in a mutiny, which has quickly spread throughout the entire line.

Even with weapons, ordinary soldiers would find it difficult to fight against professionals without protection.

Originally, muskets could cause significant damage to spellcasters, but as the war in the North progressed, spellcasters in the North, in addition to knights, gradually developed barrier shields specifically to prevent damage from muskets, especially spellcasters in the Pétain Line.

After all, the development of magic is dynamic, and professionals cannot simply stand still and passively take hits.

Even under these circumstances, muskets narrowed the gap between the two sides. Even the lowest-ranking soldiers could use their weapons to fight against these professionals in the familiar fortresses, taking advantage of the terrain.

In the past, let alone facing off against each other, even a glance from an ordinary soldier was considered disrespectful to a professional.

"It's fortunate that it's indoors."

The veteran gave himself a simple bandage.

"These professionals are usually too lazy to even leave their homes, so they're completely unfamiliar with the situation inside the defense line. We can still manage to deal with them."

Looking at the billowing smoke outside the corridor window, the knight sighed, "Perhaps professionals will still be important on future battlefields, but not as important as they are now."

The fortress at the front has been captured, but the fortresses where the officers are located still stand there, and soldiers and professionals continue to emerge from those fortresses to suppress the rebellious soldiers.

The knight inspected his weapon and was about to go down to help the soldiers, but was stopped by the veteran.

“We’ve already done a great job. We could have just lay down on the ground after setting the fire, and the adults in the gray-collar jobs would have taken care of the rest. Why risk our lives?”

The veteran was right. There were quite a few informants or white-collar workers who had been mixed in with the soldiers from the beginning, and they had already started to command on the battlefield. On the other side, a group of cavalry waving the North Wind Bear banner could be seen approaching the Pétain Line.

The knight has now exceeded expectations and no longer needs to exert himself.

"I want a promotion."

The knight walked towards the battlefield outside the fortress without looking back.

“I asked around, and the soldiers on the gray-collar and white-collar side are treated very well. If they are killed in action, they receive compensation, and they are actually commended.”

The veteran habitually followed behind the knight, listening as the knight continued, "Old man, wait until I get promoted, then come play football with me."

The veteran listened, and for some reason, his nose tingled slightly. He picked up his gun and prepared to join the knight in the battle.

"Oh right, after the promotion, I can openly marry the aunt next door. But it seems that white-collar workers can't forcibly take women away. Oh well, I've never met her husband anyway."

"..."

The whole thing collapsed, the veteran thought to himself, and withdrew a feeling of being moved.

However, the two had not been on the battlefield for long when the Gray Collar army had already reached the defensive line.

Just as a fireball was about to hit the veteran, a molten ray ignited it. At the same time, a knight in white military uniform galloped over the veteran, wielding a spear that glowed with orange-red light, piercing the veteran's shield and sending him flying.

"The Hammond troops of the First Army are here. Surrender and you will not be killed!"

Hammond's booming voice echoed across the battlefield, while the plate-armored knights behind him continued their charge, forming a desperate iron wall that blocked all the incoming magic.

Looking at the pure white plate armor gleaming with enchanted light, the veteran suddenly had a strange feeling that the old Lars army had returned.

The professionals who were still putting up a last-ditch resistance now understood how ordinary soldiers had felt when they faced them.

These knights of Lars were ridiculously tough, with astonishing defensive capabilities, and were fully enchanted with plate armor.

Not to mention the spears with their heat-melting and cutting effects, the sheer force of this cavalry charge alone could turn over 80% of the enemy into mincemeat with just a wooden stick.

The most desperate thing is that the Knight of Lars is no longer a stupid fool who can only stare blankly at the enemy on the other side of the river. When he sees someone running away, he immediately takes out his ray gun and performs a new concept of mounted archery.

Lars Knight has always been criticized for lacking ranged combat capabilities, but now even that has been resolved.

The Pétain Line was extremely long, and Hammond led his knights to capture one fortress after another with overwhelming force. At one point, some professionals banded together in an attempt to stop Hammond's attack, even resorting to magical catapults.

However, it can't be said that it had no effect, but we still need to work on it. The explosions didn't cause any damage to Hammond's troops, and even if the knights stood still, the catapults couldn't hit them. Instead, they accidentally damaged many of the nearby fortresses and strongholds.

The fortresses thought it was the artillery of the gray-collar workers that had come to attack. The fortresses that were originally able to control their internal situation and keep their gates tightly closed to prevent mutiny opened their gates and surrendered one after another. It wasn't that they were incapable of resistance, but that their morale had long since collapsed.

Later, Laurie arrived with reinforcements, but those troops were mainly there to take over the battlefield, treat the wounded, and handle the aftermath.

Hammond's advance was accelerating, with more and more fortresses surrendering by raising white flags. Some fortresses even somehow acquired, or rather, immediately embroidered, the banner of the North Wind Bear and hung it on their walls as a sign of surrender.

This was the first time Hammond had experienced the feeling of surrendering at the mere sight of a soldier; there really weren't any of them who could withstand a beating.

Along the way, Hammond even ignored the undefended fortresses and rushed directly towards the location of the commander-in-chief of the Pétain Line, which was said to be the largest fortress that would never fall.

When Hammond arrived, he found his deputy holding a human head, wearing the North Wind Bear's cloak, and surrendering immediately.

When the deputy commander saw Hammond, his expression was somewhat complicated, but he quickly relaxed and even became more at ease.

The deputy commander led a group of people to kneel on the ground, presenting the commander-in-chief's head and saying, "The leader of the puppet army has been executed. Please inspect it, General."

Hammond was about to dismount, but hesitated for a moment and said, "Wait until the generals arrive before you offer your head to the army."

While waiting, Hammond whispered, "When did you betray us?"

The deputy commander, holding the severed head, replied firmly, "I have never betrayed you; my loyalty has always been to the North."