Chapter 681: Officer Training

Henwell finally turns his gaze to Hank. "Having strategic vision is good, but don't keep your eyes fixed only on the military."Hank is somewhat puzzled. "My lord, when you taught us before, you said soldiers should be pure and not meddle in politics."

Henwell shakes his head. "I did say that. But none of you are pure soldiers."

"I am not saying you aren't professional enough."

"What I mean is that I never intended to train you as pure soldiers."

"Peace Haven will only grow larger in the future, and one person's energy has limits."

"I need you to help me manage all of Peace Haven's territory. Some of you will become military commanders, and some of you may become military governors."

"As military commanders guarding a region, you can't have only military thinking."

"Likewise, you must have political instinct and a basic grasp of the overall situation."

"Many times, you won't be able to wait for my orders. You will have to make timely decisions."

"By then, what will be tested is your strategic vision and your insight into the political situation."

Henwell isn't merely painting a rosy picture for them. As Peace Haven's territory expands in the future, it will definitely have to send out large numbers of military-civil governors.

A civil governor who understands nothing about military affairs can ruin things.

If a military commander has no sense of the bigger picture and no individual initiative, he will miss excellent strategic opportunities.

Henwell can only do his best to train them now and help them grow as quickly as possible.

As for the possibility that a feudal dynasty might one day produce warlord separatism and factional clan struggles, Henwell doesn't need to think that far ahead yet.

First, he has to drag this continent out of its current feudal serfdom cesspit.

Food has to be eaten one bite at a time, and a road has to be walked one step at a time.

If the stride is too large...

Crack!

Divine punishment may come knocking.

Social progress isn't something one or two people can accomplish. It needs a driving force for progress, and it also needs a foundation for progress.

Henwell can provide the direction of progress, but what is the driving force?

The driving force is people's desire to gain a better life.

In this damned age, the people's only goal is to stay alive. Being alive is enough.

And what is the foundation of progress?

It is the personal awareness of the people. It is an awakening of thought.

And now?

Just look at the sorry state of every country. They have not even awakened any national consciousness, so what other ideological awakening can there be?

In the end, it is still the same sentence.

Eat first. Only after people have food and warmth will they have the energy to use their brains and think about anything else.

As everyone records his words, Henwell continues, "Now, do you understand?"

"Some things aren't true just because you see them with your eyes or hear them with your ears."

"You must learn to see through to the essence of things. Everything has advantages and disadvantages."

"If something brings you only benefits and no downside at all, then you need to be careful."

"You may already have fallen into a trap."

One officer raises his hand. "My lord, for example?"

Henwell smiles. "For example? For example, love. You see only benefits and not the slightest downside."

"Then you happily go and get married."

"And then you discover that your wife may not be quite as wonderful as you imagined back then."

Everyone bursts into laughter, and many married people express their agreement.

Henwell gives a light cough. "However, I am a lucky man."

"In my eyes, my wife is wonderful both before and after marriage."

"My marriage has only benefits and no harm."

Everyone laughs again.

Then Henwell continues speaking to them. "One more thing. From different positions, you will see different results."

"Tonight, you learned that Duke Reyes still holds goodwill toward Peace Haven."

"But before I explained the reason, you would only think that Duke Reyes was about to become our enemy."

"The two sides would have no possibility of cooperation and could only resort to war."

"I have taught you that war is only a form of violent coercion that appears when political compromise breaks down."

"In the end, war must end, and everything must return to political negotiation."

"As soldiers, we can't fear war, but we also can't yearn for war."

"We must know why we fight, and we must know where the war's purpose and endpoint lie."

"Otherwise, war will become like a beast out of control, breaking free of the chains of reason and rushing toward an uncertain future."

At this point, Henwell looks around at everyone. "You can't speak of tonight's matter."

"Then you will discover that the soldiers under your command hold great hostility toward the Iris City faction."

"But for the sake of continued cooperation between Peace Haven and Iris City in the future, you can't explain the reason to your subordinates."

Cumberland, Hank, Wizet, and the others all grow thoughtful.

Henwell's expression turns serious. "Likewise, there are reasons why I insist on saving Arius, and I can't explain those reasons to you."

"I only want you to believe that I am not doing this for personal feelings. I have my own plan."

"In my plan, Arius alive is far more valuable to Peace Haven than Arius dead."

Wizet rises and salutes. "My lord, where your will points, my blade follows!"

"Where your will points, my blade follows!"

Everyone rises together and swears to Henwell with a salute.

Henwell rises and returns the salute. "What I desire shall be your glory."

Henwell has to guide his subordinates through this.

What comes next will be a hard fight.

Many people will die, and some of them may be among those present.

Henwell can't tell them why he is doing this, but at the very least, he won't let them die with confusion and doubt in their hearts.

Until the final moment of their lives, they will know that they are fighting for Peace Haven.

They aren't fighting for Henwell's personal feelings.

This is the only comfort Henwell can give them.

Three days later, the Lord's Knight Order engages one of the kingdom's garrison forces.

That kingdom garrison warband can't withstand even a single charge from the Lord's Knight Order.

Henwell has no desire to kill anyone either. Driving them off is enough.

Moreover, the routed soldiers from this army will make the surrounding armies calm down a bit.

Henwell originally doesn't want to kill Vorry's internal armies, but who told this warband to guard a bridge?

Henwell needs this bridge to cross the Yundu River and reach the northern bank.

This bridge has a very long history, stretching back more than a thousand years.

Judging from the bridge's structure and the several-hundred-meter width of the Yundu River, this bridge was once built through extraordinary means as well.

It is simply too old. It has already lost all extraordinary traces and become a fixed stone bridge.

For bridges like this, every loss is permanent. The countries today have neither the ability nor the money to build such a grand structure again.

So no matter who it is, even foreign invaders won't destroy a bridge like this.

Henwell naturally won't destroy it either. These things are very important strategic resources.

Now, Henwell personally leads half of the Lord's Knight Order across the bridge to establish a bridgehead.

For the main army behind them to cross completely will require an entire day.

Henwell must be careful that someone doesn't strike while they are halfway across and cause him heavy losses.