Chương 298: 298：Knowledge Shifts the Battlefield

Soren softened his footsteps as he entered the room. On the simple wooden bed, the young mother, her face still pale from exhaustion, weakly but protectively cradled a newborn baby in her arms. In truth, Soren had been ruling Greywater Village for barely three months. This woman had already been heavily pregnant back when she was imprisoned in the dark, damp dungeons of Reed Bay. Watching this scene, Soren felt a profound stir in his heart. He couldn't help but marvel.

"To survive that hellish environment... abused by the orcs, freezing, starving, hanging by a thread... it's an absolute miracle this fragile child didn't miscarry."

"It is entirely thanks to her arriving in Greywater Village," Chief Mage Victor murmured softly from the side. He had just finished using healing magic to soothe the exhausted mother's body, his voice filled with emotion.

"My Lord, this is the result of the massive improvements in the territory's living conditions. Not only was she provided with a dry, insulated stilted longhouse, but she was also given a daily ration of nutrient-rich meat broth. Only through such meticulous care was this fragile little life able to be born safely." Seeing Soren enter, the mother struggled to sit up and offer a salute, but Soren immediately stepped forward, gently pressing a hand to her shoulder to stop her.

"There is no need for formalities. You have done a great service to Greywater Village." Soren looked down at the infant, whose eyes were squeezed shut as it stubbornly waved its tiny fists in the air. The usually stern, battle-hardened lines of Soren's face softened completely. He extended a single finger and gently brushed the baby's tender cheek.

'Hope.' Soren silently mouthed the word in his heart. He knew full well that no matter how many formidable wandering knights or elite veteran stragglers Greywater Village recruited, they were ultimately just temporary injections of military strength. These newborns—brought into the world under the stable, prosperous conditions of Greywater Village—were the true future of this territory!

Growing up under equitable military laws, nourished by the grain grown from this very earth, their absolute loyalty to this land would far surpass that of any outsider. They were the unshakable foundation for the territory's future population and elite military reserves! Just as Soren was gazing at the infant, his mind mapping out the grand, century-long blueprint for Greywater Village's foundation... Ding! A crisp electronic chime suddenly echoed deep within his mind.

[System Quest: The territory has welcomed new life. Population is the cornerstone of war, but education is its most powerful engine. Will the Host establish an educational system within the territory?] [Quest Reward: If the Host chooses to establish a school, you will immediately receive five Mid-Tier Magical Items: [Pyroblast Wands], along with the required casting materials.] Seeing the reward pop up on the system panel, Soren's breath hitched. Pyroblast Wands! And five of them, no less!

Mid-tier magical items that completely bypassed the need for tedious incantations! However, the flash of joy in Soren's eyes quickly settled into cold, strategic rationality.

"Truth be told, even without the lure of five Pyroblast Wands, establishing a school was already on my immediate agenda." Without a second's hesitation, Soren mentally clicked [Accept Quest]. He understood the transformative power of education far too well. When modern warfare dragged on to its bitter end, it wasn't just a contest of brute strength—it was a battle of troop quality, discipline, and intellect. He spun around and issued a sharp command to his guards.

"Go! Ring the assembly bell immediately! Summon all high-ranking officers, as well as Scholar Horace. Everyone is to report to the command post for an emergency meeting!" Half an hour later, the Lord's command post was packed with the core leadership of Greywater Village. Talon, commander of the phalanx; Ein, the master marksman; Ilya, the Half-Elf commander; and Felix, the recently defected knight—all wore expressions of deep confusion and solemnity.

With a terrifying enemy army marching on their doorstep, to be summoned so urgently... was the Lord about to issue the order to break out and retreat? Soren stood at the head of the room, his authoritative gaze sweeping over his subordinates.

"I haven't called you all here today to discuss how we are going to deal with those thirty thousand orcs." With his very first sentence, Soren dropped a bombshell that left everyone completely stunned: "I have decided that, starting tomorrow, Greywater Village will establish a school system!"

"E-establish a school?!" Talon's eyes went as wide as saucers, completely unable to hold his tongue.

"My Lord! A massive enemy army is bearing down on us! The cheval-de-frise at the frontline still need reinforcing, and the men are drilling day and night! To expend manpower and resources to build a school now... isn't that a bit too reckless?" The other rough-hewn commanders didn't dare voice direct opposition, but their faces clearly echoed Talon's sentiment. It seemed entirely out of touch with reality. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

In their traditional, deeply entrenched military mindset, fighting a war meant building muscle and sharpening steel. Reading and writing? That was idle nonsense reserved for the bloated, overfed nobles back in the royal capital! Faced with the overwhelming doubts of his officers, Soren didn't grow angry. Instead, he looked at them with a calm, profoundly forward-thinking gaze.

"Talon. Why do you think the orcs can only ever rely on sheer numbers and brute strength to fight their wars?" Soren didn't wait for an answer. He raised his voice, his words echoing powerfully through the hall.

"Because they are ignorant! Because they have absolutely no concept of true, systematic coordination, nor do they understand the science of warfare! If we humans abandon education, what difference is there between us and those barbaric greenskin monsters?" Soren then delivered a statement—a truth so absolute it felt like a clarion call awakening them from a dark age.

"If our youth are strong, the human faction is strong!"

"Do you honestly think I want to build a school just to teach children how to read? Wrong!" Soren swept his hand through the air, forcefully linking the concept of education directly to Greywater Village's military survival.

"This is a long-term grand strategy that will dictate whether or not we can utterly crush the Orc Alliance! I have decided to simultaneously establish two schools in Greywater Village, each with an entirely different purpose!" Awed by Soren's domineering aura, the commanders held their breath, listening intently.

"The first will be a Foundation School!" Soren raised a single finger.

"It will be open to every single school-aged child currently in Greywater Village! They will no longer spend their days rolling in the mud, nor will they have to live in terror, watching their parents march off to battle."

"They will enter classrooms. They will learn arithmetic, literacy, history, and the foundational basics of magical runes!"

"This is not just an orthodox education system. This is an investment! In ten years, these children will provide a relentless, continuous stream of high-quality, homegrown talent to man our arsenals, manage our logistics, and assist in Victor's magical laboratories!" The moment he said this, Fina and Kyle, the ones in charge of the territory's finances and logistics, lit up with sheer excitement.

They knew better than anyone how agonizingly difficult it was to find anyone in the territory who even knew how to do basic addition. If, in ten years, an entire generation of mathematically literate children came of age... the logistical operational capacity of Greywater Village would be absolutely staggering!

"The second will be a Military Academy!" Soren raised a second finger. And his next words completely shattered the worldview of every military officer present.

"This academy is not for children. It is designed specifically for the continuing education of Greywater Village's active-duty soldiers!"

"And not just the soldiers! Even the ordinary women handling the laundry and cooking in the rear—as long as they are willing, they too can attend the Military Academy!" Knight Felix sucked in a sharp breath, completely unable to hold himself back as he stepped forward.

"My Lord, teaching women and roughnecks how to read? How... how in the world does that improve an army's combat strength?!"

"Improve it? It will improve it exponentially!" Soren let out a cold laugh, bluntly piercing the fundamental flaw of every cold-weapon era army on the continent.

"Felix. When you command a cavalry charge, don't you rely entirely on waving a flag or screaming at the top of your lungs? The moment the battlefield descends into chaos, or a blizzard strikes, the soldiers in the rear can't see or hear your orders. The entire formation breaks apart and devolves into a disorganized brawl!"

"In my army, that is absolutely unacceptable!" Soren marched right up to Felix. Syllable by syllable, he began to hammer the core logic of modern special operations into the minds of his commanders.

"If my soldiers are all illiterate, they are only fit to be cannon fodder, blindly rushing forward in a chaotic swarm! But if I put them in an academy? If they learn how to read, how to properly orient a map, and master basic geometry and tactical theory...?"

"Then, when we deploy our three-dimensional, overlapping crossfire matrix on the battlefield, every single squad leader and unit captain will be able to accurately read and execute my written combat directives!"

"Even if they are cut off from central command, they will be able to use map coordinates to autonomously break down into smaller fireteams. They will execute flanking maneuvers, set up ambushes, and form pocket-traps on their own initiative!"

"And those women who attend the academy? Once they learn arithmetic, they can accurately calculate and distribute crossbow bolt rations to the frontlines! Once they learn basic medical knowledge, they will become qualified combat medics, drastically reducing our casualty rates!" Soren's eyes burned with unwavering conviction as he swept his gaze across the silent, awestruck room.

"Education is the crucible! It is the only way to smelt a ragtag mob of refugees into a highly disciplined, flawlessly organized modern army!"