177: Legion Base

In addition to preparing the three major special legions, Renn also formed four ordinary legions, namely the First to the Fourth Legion.

Each legion was organized with five thousand men, including one thousand cavalry and four thousand infantry; the four legions combined totaled twenty thousand men.

The military strength of the Red River Territory was composed of four ordinary legions, three titled legions, and a large number of Guard Teams and Militia.

Most of the officers in the four ordinary legions were promoted from the original Red River Territory Guard Army, some were selected from the White Wolf Tribe's army, and a very small portion came from the other two tribes and officers born on the Holy Mountain.

With the population of the Red River Territory now exceeding seven hundred thousand, recruiting twenty thousand men to expand the army was not particularly difficult.

Ross had been extremely busy lately; large-scale military expansion was no small matter, and many things required his supervision and execution.

Though busy and exhausted, Ross was happily tired and stayed in a state of excitement; he wasn't the only one, as Wayne, Alger, Eric, and the others felt the same.

Everyone knew that after the large-scale expansion of the army, veterans like them who enjoyed Renn's trust would certainly be promoted and given important responsibilities.

Ross reported to Renn excitedly:

"Lord, the First, Second, and Third Legions have been fully recruited. According to current progress, the Fourth Legion will be fully recruited in three days. By then, all twenty thousand warriors of the four major legions will be in place."

Compared to the excitement and agitation of Ross and the others, Renn appeared much calmer.

"Recruiting the people isn't hard; the key lies in the subsequent training, the provision of weapons and equipment, and the logistics of food, clothing, and other supplies. Those are the difficult parts."

Renn poured a bucket of cold water on Ross and the others.

"Although the Forge Workshop gained many craftsmen from the Sub-plane this time, compared to the needs after this expansion, the workshop's output is far from enough to satisfy the current army's demands."

"As you know, I plan to establish three major titled legions. In the future, all the finest weapons and equipment produced, such as Enchanted Equipment, will be prioritized for the titled legions. In the ordinary legions, except for high-ranking officers, ordinary soldiers will no longer be equipped with enchanted weapons."

"Furthermore, the same applies to transcendent resources like magical beast meat and magic potions, so you should be prepared for this."

Ross and the others naturally understood this and all expressed their understanding.

Regarding the shortage of weapons and equipment, Ross already had a countermeasure.

"Lord, for weapons and equipment, we can temporarily use the batch obtained from the Sub-plane. Although the quality of these items is flawed, having something is better than nothing."

"For current training and low-intensity combat, there's no problem using this equipment. Once the Forge Workshop produces enough equipment later on, they can be replaced gradually."

Renn had obtained a lot of weapons and equipment from the Sub-plane, but because the Sub-plane itself was short on resources, the quality of these manufactured weapons and equipment was generally mediocre.

Protective gear like armor, in particular, suffered from a severe lack of materials; compared to the armor produced in the Red River Territory, the quality was much worse.

However, Ross had a point, so Renn agreed to his proposal; Renn had originally intended to melt those inferior items down for reconstruction.

"Fine, we'll do as you say."

"How is your progress with the Breathing Techniques, secret arts, and battle techniques I gave you? How are the soldiers reacting?"

Renn had harvested many secret arts, battle techniques, and Breathing Techniques this time. He basically had no use for them himself, but they could all be used to enhance the strength of the Red River Territory's Professionals.

After all, the Wild Wolf Breathing Technique wasn't suitable for everyone; perhaps switching to a different Breathing Technique would yield better results for some.

This kind of luxurious choice only existed within top-tier factions, and now the Professionals of the Red River Territory could enjoy such treatment.

"The results are excellent, the brothers are very excited. Some have found Breathing Techniques that suit them, and their strength has improved significantly. Those battle techniques have also greatly enriched everyone's methods of dealing with enemies."

"I've also learned two new battle techniques myself, and they are extremely powerful."

Eric excitedly described the effects of his newly learned battle techniques to Renn.

Renn was very satisfied with Eric's ambition; talented and eager to learn, he was a capable subordinate.

Renn also placed the portions of the newly comprehended Azure Wolf Breathing Technique below the Gold Rank in the military camp, dividing them into three levels—Iron, Bronze Rank, and Silver Rank—as before, for eligible Professionals to practice.

As for the full version of the Azure Wolf Breathing Technique, Renn did not intend to teach it. That was a technique he had comprehended in a special state and was the foundation of his future; it wouldn't be good for outsiders to know its details.

Moreover, the Azure Wolf Breathing Technique was most suitable for his own cultivation and wasn't appropriate for others, especially most ordinary Warrior Class members. Their talent wasn't high; they couldn't even understand high-level Breathing Techniques and secret arts, let alone practice them.

Thus, for Professionals with average natural talent, Bronze Rank or at most Silver Rank Breathing Techniques were most suitable for them; learning a top-tier Breathing Technique like the Gold Rank would actually harm them.

However, Renn treated Ross differently. Although Renn didn't teach the full version of the Azure Wolf Breathing Technique to Ross, he taught him the higher-level Sacred Heart Breathing Technique.

In the entire Red River Territory, Ross had the highest talent among the Warrior Class after Renn, and only Ross was qualified to practice a Legendary-level Breathing Technique.

Renn trusted Ross, and since Ross didn't have a core Breathing Technique of his own, switching to the Sacred Heart Breathing Technique now wouldn't have any negative impact.

Renn himself could have specialized in the Sacred Heart Breathing Technique, but after that moment of insight, Renn felt that the current Azure Wolf Breathing Technique suited him better.

Switching to the Sacred Heart Breathing Technique might not yield better results, so Renn currently only used it as a reference and did not switch over.

Renn had a premonition that his Azure Wolf Breathing Technique breaking through to the Legendary level might be the opportunity for him personally to break through to Legendary rank.

"Ross, regarding the stations for the four major legions, except for the First Legion which is in Red River City, the stations for the remaining three legions are all to the north."

"Since you've nearly finished selecting the men, each legion should move to its respective station for training; they cannot all be gathered in Red River City."

Renn had set the stations for the other three legions: the Second Legion would be stationed in Moon City, responsible for guarding the Rock Crystal Mine and monitoring the defenses of the Black Mountain Range to the north.

As the northernmost city in the Red River Valley, Moon City, facing the Black Mountain Range directly, would see its defensive military strength continuously increase, and in the future, Moon City would be built into a fortress-type city to deal with threats from the north.

The Third Legion would be stationed in Black Iron City, responsible for guarding the Black Iron Mine and the forging factories in Black Iron City.

The Fourth Legion would be stationed in the central part of the Red River Valley, responsible for guarding Redwood City and Rye City, and could also support Moon City in the north at any time. The Fourth Legion was also the only one whose station was not inside a city but in a military camp built in the wilderness.

The four new cities Renn built all retained their previous names. Each of the four new cities was planned to house forty to fifty thousand people, and they were all currently in the construction phase.

After several major upheavals in the Red River Valley, the number of foreign races in the wilderness was scarce. The Dragon Calamity had also caused the number of magical beasts and foreign races in the Black Mountain Range to plummet, so very few foreign races came out to cause trouble, which saved a lot of trouble for the construction work of the entire Red River Territory.

Renn discussed things with Ross and the others until dark before ending the meeting. After staying at the Red River Fortress for dinner, Ross and the others left happily.