Mounted on his steed, the young officer watched as his troops marched down the muddy road, his heart swelling with pride and his bearing striking and dashing.
The man in even more lavish military attire, with a patterned steel helmet on his head that looked somewhat out of place, was none other than His Majesty, the King of Dorne.
At the moment, he was inspecting his advancing troops alongside his most trusted confidant, who had just been promoted to the Army's total commander in charge of 20,000 troops for the counter-offensive against the Xilun Kingdom.
The continuous line of troops progressed along the road, with horses dragging cannons, pulling carts laden with ammunition, and being led by soldiers marching tirelessly on the highway.
Because so many troops had passed through, the road was utterly crushed and everywhere was muddy and pitted, resulting in a not-so-fast march.
However, this was already the ultimate speed a contemporary troop could advance; normally, a troop's daily marching speed in a purely marching state without encountering enemies was about 40 kilometers per day.
Yes, that slow...
But there wasn't a hint of dissatisfaction on the face of the Dorne King because his troops were advancing into enemy territories with practically no resistance from any hostile armies.
After all, the 50,000-strong military of the Xilun Kingdom had already become prisoners of war and were now being held, ready to be dealt as slaves to the Great Tang Group, which was in dire need of human resources.
The young general mounted on his horse was a rising star within the Dorne military, with his renown spreading far and wide over time, Bolton.
This man, not yet thirty, now commanded over 20,000 of Dorne's elite troops and was also His Majesty's most favored close official.
Mounted on his horse, he watched the troops pass by, their rifles slung over their shoulders in an orderly array, and began to explain to the King at his side, "According to the standards of the Great Tang Military Academy, ranks within the whole military should be separate from duties, which can, to some extent, distinguish the individual contributions within the military hierarchy."
He explained slowly and clearly, for such a rank system had been tested and was a convenient military reform: "For instance, the captain responsible for protecting the King was previously essentially a battalion commander by old standards but was most often referred to as Guard Commander, which simply doesn't reflect the rank he should truly hold.
Thus, everyone can only vaguely respect this officer without immediately grasping the importance of this military person for the nation."
"I'm still a bit confused," admitted the King of Dorne, who lacked experience in this area and was somewhat perplexed.
Bolton decided to strike while the iron was hot, seeing as he was the real favorite now, with the Dorne King even treating him like a son: "Let me tell you about the provincial and county system used by the students of the Great Tang Military Academy."
This wasn't just a feeling of self-importance; he was almost literally the King's son at this point, as the King of Dorne had two daughters and had told Bolton explicitly that he planned to choose one of them to marry him.
The other daughter would marry Strauss... For the King of Dorne, this was a way to make the best use of his non-typical daughters.
The King of Dorne smiled and found a point of interest to break into the conversation, remarking thoughtfully, "It's quite interesting that your school has generals, and even divides them into three ranks."
"Our academy currently has a teacher with the rank of general; his name is Luff, he is the Chief of Staff for the Great Tang Group," Bolton did not intend to conceal this, assuming that anyone determined would investigate and find out. He introduced his teacher, or rather, the teacher of the military command subject.
"Luff..." The King of Dorne keenly noted the name, feeling that if any interaction occurred in the future, it would be good to forge a strong relationship with this heavyweight.
On the other hand, Bolton continued to introduce other commanders, "Additionally, the Great Tang Group has three commanders with the rank of Brigadier General, namely Tagg, Bernard, and Redman."
"Tagg... Redman... Bernard..." Similarly, the King of Dorne silently noted these names, feeling he should take the time to study these as yet uncelebrated figures.
After glancing at the King of Dorne, Bolton thought he shouldn't trip up his future father-in-law on such a minor issue, so he added, "Bernard is the Navy Brigadier General who commanded the fleet to the great victory at Hotwind Port."
"Oh... no wonder." The King of Dorne was taken aback and immediately classified the naval commander named Bernard at the "extremely formidable and dangerous" level.
Just then, Bolton followed up with, "General Redman has already crossed the border a few days ago, leading his troops on a counterattack, entering the territory of the Kingdom of Gemalin."
"Indeed impressive." The King of Dorne was startled once again, reinforcing his memory of the name Redman.
The next moment, he realized, if Luff and Tagg could be on par with Bernard and Redman as Brigadier Generals of the Great Tang Group... how could these two possibly be ordinary individuals?
Therefore, as the King of Dorne, for the first time, he recognized that the Great Tang Group had become an existence to be feared in terms of talent reserves.
After a few seconds of silence, analyzing an array of details in his mind, the King of Dorne turned to his future son-in-law and asked, "So, may I ask you?"
"Me?" Bolton was taken aback, then remembered how his "youthful ignorance" had led him to challenge the top student in his grade.
Being utterly outplayed in physical education, pummeled in combat class, still losing by one ring in shooting class, and eventually beaten by seven points in the final exam results... truly... embarrassing.
The current top student of the second term, as he heard, was in Suthers... also the esteemed Prime Minister's rapid-rising son-in-law, while simultaneously managing the entire financial tax system of the Suthers Kingdom...
"Yes, you!" the King of Dorne curiously looked at Bolton, asking.
"What's there to say about me, just an unknown," Bolton modestly brushed it off, a bit embarrassed.
After all, before this war, he indeed was not well known... even compared to the third in the grade, Strauss, he didn't have much to boast about.
Better not to brag too much and risk being exposed for exaggerating, right? That would be humiliating.