Cohen of the Rebellion-Volume 7 Chapter 2

Translated by Tianic

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I did not expect the quartering of a legion will generate such turmoil in a town of several hundred populations, even during the night.

I stood on a hill while watching the lights of the small town from a distance. Standing behind me were three hundred wordless Dark City's finest.

"Sir, it's midnight." Wilder whispered, "Are we ready to go?"

"You are!" I said, "Have you kept in mind what I taught you?"

"Sir, we have!" Wilder said, "Attention all, let's move out!"

Wilder led the men to ride into the town. I also urged my horse to follow slowly with a few staff officers and IGTs.

As far as I've observed recently, it was a waste for Wilder to serve in the army. He should join a gang. Compared to his gang-like behavior, he was such an obedient boy when he was young.

The three hundred officers that I asked Wilder to bring were in a superior(Wilder being their commander) to subordinate relationship, which made them a family of living junior gangsters. As Wilder urged, they disregarded their officer's uniform, put on their fierce looks and forced into residents' doors. Those Holy Temple assigned military officers who reside in the inhabitants' houses were all but thrown on the streets.

These so-called distinguished men were just young nobility generation who haven't grow their first trace of facial hair, and due to it was the middle of the night, how could they compete with my bunch of beast-like, well-trained officers? Moreover, my men will yell 'Get up, bastards!' while dragging them out of their warm bed. Many unfortunate men heard only the words 'We're the Protoss Knight's justice men!'.

Thus all of them were compelled to line along the street, shivering down in the cold wind, half-naked.

Those who were caught by gambling desks had cards in their hands, found in the tavern with bottles in their hands; trapped in the whorehouse with a terrible-looking woman besides. Some bastards tried to tell their nobility title, and they mostly ended up countless whip slashes.

I rode along to the hotel/whore-house in the town, and there a middle-aged man was dragged out by a few orc officers. He was punched several good times due to his constant struggling.

"Leave me, you swines!" He yelled, "I'm a noble Brigadier! Guards! Guards!

An orc was too impatient to bear any more of his abusive words. Thus he kicked his ass to let him reach the street before time, though face downwards.

"You, you'll all be hanged!" He raised his body and said, "I swear, I will hang you all!"

"You'll never have that chance." I didn't even bother to dismount, and I looked down at him, "What position did you say you are in?"

"Brigadier! I'm a Brigadier!"

"Right." I pointed my rank on my shoulder with the horse whip, "You'd better take a look at mine!"

"Major?" He gazed at my shoulder, "Even if you're a major, you've no right to treat me like this! I'm the deputy commander of the Ninth Legion!"

"I forgot to tell you, I am the Ninth Legion's new supreme commander." I said, "And a Knight of Protoss."

The Brigadier was stunned without any sub-actions.

"S… sir, forgive me. My impertinent…" He jabbered, "The order says you'll be here in a few more days…"

"Unfortunately for you, I arrived today." I said expressionlessly, "You told me you were a deputy commander, where's your uniform?"

"Uniform? Forgive me, my lord. I… I left it in the room, I suppose it should be there somewhere. I… I… I'll fetch it right away…"

"There's no need, you might as well return the camp like this." I told one of my staff officers, "Tell Wilder, take all man caught back to the camp!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" The staff officer repeated my words, "Take all men caught back to the camp!"

Thus we sent these Temple assigned officers under guard back to the camp. But as I passed the camp gate, I did not find anybody hanged on it.

Thousands of magic torches lit the camp as white as day. And several thousand slave soldiers have been gathered. My officers were pacing between rows. There were no signs of mutiny!

So then, what stopped Jack from carrying out my order?

"What is it?" I asked a wingman officer, "Where is Jack? Why hasn't he execute my order?"

I was a little pissed because it was crucial to get such matters done quickly in the army, or there will be more follow-up trouble.

"Sir!" The wingman officer replied, "Commander Jack is quarreling with a priest!"

"A priest? I have a priest in my army?" I was surprised, "Where're they?"

"Sir, they're on the training ground, sir!"

I hurried to the training ground and heard from a distance that Jack was quarreling loudly on a stand with a white-robed priest. It was an intense fight.

The priest was blue in the face, wand waving, spit splashing on the standing. Jack, on the other hand, was in anger. He was holding back because he did not know if offending a priest will cause me trouble.

Several thousand slave soldiers stood by the position, they all gazed upon the situation indifferently. It was not strange because only veteran soldiers were allowed to stand around this place. Such fight-for-power affair was so common in the army, they must've seen a lot to know that remaining silent was currently the best way.

I advanced to the stand and kicked the priest down for good.

"Okay, now do you work." I told Jack gently, "Leave here to me!"

"Yes, sir!" Jack roared then he was about to get off the stand.

"You can't do it! They're all senior officers!" The white priest crawled to his feet, "I know you're an honored Protoss Knight! But you don't have the right! They're all temple assigned, and I am the chief clerk of the Ninth Legion ordered by the Holy Temple! You should know my range of authorities!"

Having heard those words, I came to understand as to why the white priests have to be deployed to study in the seminary. I dared to say that they had an 'Introduction to Threat and Provocation' course.

What he said had a clear intention to warn me that I had to know my lawful status, and he was not afraid of me, he will put me to more trouble in the future.

I gazed at him, and he gazed back without fear. If he kept on living and not be eradicated, the Ninth Legion authority will be split up indefinitely. And I as well as my men will be restless ever since.

"I understand your rights, and my orders are irreversible! However, you've earned yourself a chance to fight for it." I laughed, "It took me a day and night from the HQ to here. Now I'll give you three days! Within three days, you're free to find anyone you think who are able to stop me. And I will show you!"

The white priest asked excitedly, "Ser, you promise you won't kill them within three days?"

"Believe it or not, but you'd better hurry. My patience might last for only two and half days." I turned back and got off the stand. I will not choose to declare silly things such as "In the name of a Protoss Knight…". Only fools will seal themselves with oaths. Who knew what will happen the next day?

The white priest knew the seriousness of this matter. He at once rode for the PUF headquarter without even fetching a guard.

I watched as he was out of the camp then found Jack and told him, "Put a notice in town, say the Ninth Legion has a new commander. He was wise and righteous. Any residents who have been bullied by the former Ninth Legion officers are free to drop by the camp. As long as they were able to identify the criminal and provide proof. I will give them a judgment of justice.

"But, boss, how do you define bully?"

"Any small matters as small as owing money, to things as big as killing and arson." I said, "Those are all the bullying sort."

"Yes, boss!" Jack laughed, "Are you trying to collect the evidence?"

"My Jack! Why on earth haven't you understand?" I stroke his head, "The officer's proof of crime are sure to be collected, we also need to gather the evidence of the regular soldiers."

"Why, boss?" Moya asked, "They don't have evidence, slave soldiers.

"Those temple officers are not fools. They must have promoted some slave soldiers to shore up their status." I said with a smile, "We're not only taking down those bastard officers but also uprooting the slaves close to them. Only in this way will we have total authority over the army.

"Understood!" Moya answered.

"Learn, my brothers. Management is a profound subject." I said, "I'll give you the chances. Jack, you're in charge of this matter. Moya, you and Wilder as well as you men, quiet down the soldiers. Don't be too confident in yourself, ask me questions if you have one."

I reentered the newly built commander's pavilion and get some men to fetch me a pile of legion files.

I took a moment to have my guys to classify and lock the temple-ordered personnel, then cost nearly the entire latter half of the night reviewing the relevant files of the Ninth Legion. By noon the next day, I have had a pretty clear understanding of the Legion's current establishment.

The extent of the Legion was as large to rank as the top five Legion amongst all Legions in the Protoss United Force. Aside from a few empire elite armies, the Ninth Legion had the greatest number of soldiers as many as 740, 000!

Apart from the people who served in the management institution and logistics, common soldiers were numbered as many as 710, 000, they were all infantries. Due to the lack of administration, the establishment and management of the army were extremely messy. I had to start from zero. However, the most crucial thing was to refine the current condition before any commanding mechanism to take effect.

I partitioned the 700, 000 soldiers on the register into three corps which totaled 30 regiments. Each regiment had 2, 500 soldiers; each 10 regiments made a division.

The first division was under my direct command. It had ten regiments including five IGT squadrons, a law enforcement, a logistics team, a unit of armored force, a recon team and a training squadron. Besides which, the commanding units had some assorted establishments under its direct for me to entirely ignore. The designation of the regiments under the first battalion was from Regiment No. 1 to No. 10.

Wilder was in command of the second division. Likewise, ten field regiments designated from No. 11 to No. 20 were under his leadership. Moya was the commander of the third division of ten field regiments designated from No. 21 to No. 30.

Each regiment had a designated commander who had once served in my Dark Army and had outperformed during the past missions. I had also assigned some of the reserved talent officers who were transferred to me by the King as the regiment commanders' deputy. I hoped for the best result out of such arrangements, because those officers the King gave me were familiar with army rules, well-experienced and disciplined, they also knew how to deal with the Corps.; as for the Dark City young officers, they were energetic and bold.

The original establishment of the Ninth Legion was abandoned. I have assigned all of the military personnel I brought here to each and every post.

I rubbed my slightly sleepy head then summoned people ranked deputy commanders and up to my tent for lunch. On the dining table, I declared their appointments.

"I know you've never assumed such crucial positions, neither have I." I made sounds with my fork and knife, "There will be more 'firsts' in your lives. Don't hold back, let's do this!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Dozens of military officers replied together, "Let's do this!"

"But I have to inform you about one thing." My men's attitude had satisfied me, "You know, for me, soldiers are soldiers. I don't believe such thing as slave soldiers. And the soldier is a legit career. Their characters are not that different from officers."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"You'll take up your post after lunch!" I smiled and nodded, "All training and admin rituals will be carried out according to the plan I told you earlier. Each captain of the team will nominate outperformed soldiers in the shortest time possible! Regiment commanders of the second and third division, ask your question to your division commanders instead of coming for me!"

"Hehhe…" The officers laughed, which embarrassed Wilder and Moya.

I asked Jack and Carlos to stay after the lunch.

"As for you, Carlos, your known title will my Chief of Staff. You and Jack will be in charge of the first division administration." I told Carlos, "No later than this evening, I want to see an operational General Staff!"

"Sir," Carlos saluted and replied, "I'm on it, sir!"

I started talking with Jack after Carlos had left.

"Jack, do you know why I let you out of the first division commander?"

"I don't know, boss." Jack shook his head, "Is it because of my incompetence?"

"Don't underestimate yourself, Jack. You stayed the longest amongst all my brothers. And you're the smartest one, how could you be incompetent?" I explained gently, "Each of you has different capabilities. Like your brother and Wilder, they're very suited to lead a division of soldiers. Because they're calm and mature. If it were you, can you face thousands of men with calm?"

Jack, with depression and said, "I can't yet…"

"In this case, I can't just throw you an army." I said with a laugh, "But still you can affect all of them from other aspects!"

"I don't understand." Jack looked at me and said, "Boss, what're you talking about?"

"Jack, have you noticed?" I said, "There's a law enforcement regiment in division No. 1, what's your take about this regiment?"

"To enforce the law, of course!"

"You're quite right. I want you to be the Ninth Legion's Lord Justice. The law enforcement regiment will be under your command. If necessary, you might need to do herald duty." I said, "This way, you can stay with me all the time, good?"

"OK!" Jack bounced and hugged me, "Sure good!"

"Wait a minute! Hold on!" I told Jack, "I will give you several men. You need to make arrangements for them right now. The Judge Advocate Department must be established immediately!"

"No problem, sir! It'll be right up." Jack unhugged me and dashed out, "Give me 2 hours, I'll be back!"

I watched as Jack darted away then exhaled heavily. I had finally convinced him. No matter what, I cannot let Jack risk his life in the frontline.

I exited my pavilion and patrolled between tents on my horse.

The camp was overwhelmed with all kinds of commands. Teams of soldiers were gathered to meet their new commander. Soldiers, for the first time in their lives, had the chance to sit around their commander and listen to what they had to say. To them, such a new method was a stranger.

An officer will first introduce his name, rank, and race to his subordinates. Then he will declare some temporary rules which mostly consisted of such things as 'No stealing, no bullying, no peeking women' and stuff. The following thing was the soldier’s' self-introduction in order to make them familiar with each other.

Jack did pretty well on dealing with the details. The LAD(Law Advocate Department) and law enforcement regiment under his command were the first to operate properly.

He set up a large tent with the help of a few soldiers, then stick a board of sign beside. Thus the LAD of the Ninth Legion was given birth to. When I was about to tell him there was a typo on the board, he has already run to the chaotic logistics regiment.

As the first visitor of the logistics regiment, Jack 'borrowed' a few pieces of red cloth from them. Within an hour, all officers from the LAD and law regiment had a piece of red cloth tied to their arms. I could laugh at him.

His personality was so much like me!

A ranked second lieutenant came by me with a dozen red-cloth soldiers carrying chairs and tables.

"Lieutenant," I stopped him, "where're you going?"

"Sir," The lieutenant straightened and said, "Lord Justice has ordered us to the gate to admit residents who were bullied by former Legion officers, sir!"

"And?"

"And… I think we're supposed to take them to Lord Justice himself." The lieutenant pondered, "Commander Jack said none!"

"You wanna exhaust him," I said, "by taking everyone to him?"

"Lieutenant, remember, you're both an officer and a judge. You're supposed to record the residents' appeal, and evidence then led the inhabitants to the criminals." I said, "When you have the right criminal, you have to investigate then judge the matter according to the evidence. Only at last should you report the case and your processing advice to Lord Justice and finally Lord Justice will make the ultimate judgment, do you understand?"

"Sir, thank you!" The lieutenant roared, "Understood, sir!"

"Yes? Get off!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

A few hours after lunch, one after another, the town residents came. They stood scattered outside the gate whispering to each other, and eventually, someone came inside. The LAD had its first business.

An innkeeper anxiously came to the LAD officer's desk and expressed his intention to get back the money which the former officers owed him.

"It happened half a month ago." The innkeeper said, "They left after drinking without paying, none of them mentioned about paying…"

The officer in charge of recording raised his head and asked, "Can you still recognize them?"

"Yes, mister, I think I can."

"Good, follow that soldier. He will find you those guys!"

The innkeeper took a tour in the prison tent to spot the former officers who owe him money. These unlucky bastards were immediately dragged out of the tent by the law enforcement members. They were delivered to the LAD along with the evidence.

With sufficient evidence, these temple-assigned officers confessed. But they were not afraid because no matter what, such small case was not worth mentioning to them.

When the law enforcement members came to ask for their commander, I was there too.

"Are there a lot of people come to appeal?" I was reading several documents as I said without raising my eyes.

The law guy told me, "Sir, yes, sir. The number is accumulating."

"Orders!" I ripped a piece of paper then started drawing, "Go to the logistics regiment, tell them to make 200 wood racks according to this paper. Finish them before dark."

Then I told the law guy, "Search those former officers’ luggage. Pay that innkeeper with any items of the equal value! Your commander will deal with the criminals before dust!"

Next chapter: Lord Justice's First Job