Chapter Sixty: Promotion

  When this detachment of scouts returned to the 13th Cavalry Regiment's base, everyone's face finally showed a hint of relaxation.

  The military information brought back was naturally presented by the vanguard captain according to the military system, while Xia Ya was taken back to the Imperial Guard by Kevin.

  Watching those scout cavalrymen who had fought side by side quietly leave and return to camp, Xia Ya suddenly felt a bit suffocated in her heart - these two days of rushing back on the road, everyone almost didn't speak along the way, an invisible fire burning fiercely in Xia Ya's heart, and it was getting more and more intense.

  Looking at the departing reconnaissance cavalrymen, Xia Ya gazed at the back of that captain...

  He suddenly felt very lucky.

  At least the old man died in bed, and they could bury him with their own hands. And this captain's son - they didn't even have time to cover up the body as they rushed back on the road!

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  Xia Ya and Kevin didn't even have time to rest, they had just returned to their tent after reporting back to the Imperial Guard, and before they could even untie the armor straps on their bodies, someone came to deliver a message: The General wants to see them, now.

  The second time Shaya came to General Adrick's tent, he immediately felt a different atmosphere. The number of guards at the entrance of the tent had doubled, and everyone's face was filled with pre-war tension.

  While waiting for the report, Xia Ya and Kevin stood outside the big account, far away from hearing the angry shouts and screams coming from inside the tent, followed by a fierce quarrel.

  After a moment, several generals came out of the large tent. Xia Ya recognized one of them as the silver-haired middle-aged man he had met before - Bator, the flag bearer of the third battalion of the Thirteenth Cavalry Regiment. The others were probably also leaders of various battalions under the Thirteenth Cavalry Regiment.

  Seven or eight people walked out in big strides, with different expressions on their faces. Some were full of worry, some didn't care, and others had eyes blazing with anger. As they approached, Kevin immediately pulled Xia Ya aside, the two stepped back, and saluted with a fist bump to the chest.

  After those people left, looking at Xia Ya's puzzled face, Kevin said: "It must be the pre-war meeting, and the next few flag teams are competing for who will take the lead - this is a common thing. Looking at Butler's flag officer's expression, it seems that this time the vanguard opportunity fell into his hands."

  The map on the wall of the big account has been painted in five colors, and some dense military symbols are marked in various regions, and these symbols have also been smeared into different colors.

  Xia Ya suddenly froze when she saw this map that seemed to have changed beyond recognition, and subconsciously took a few more glances...

  This... seems to be a symbol from a military map? I remember the old man's collection had a book that specifically talked about these things, Xia Ya used to think it was fun and even copied a map of Ye Huo Yuan once.

  The block symbol represents our own garrison, the circular symbol represents logistics facilities, and the dotted line represents logistics transportation lines.

  All the triangles represent the height of each hill, and the oval shapes represent low-lying areas. In some areas on the map, a green flag symbol with a tick is drawn to indicate searched safe zones.

  And some places with small crosses indicate small-scale skirmishes with enemies.

  Xia Ya couldn't help but be distracted, until Kevin pulled him back to reality. Xia Ya looked up and saw General Adrick above him, sizing him up with a gaze full of interest.

  The arrogant general had a red glow all over his face, with a slight oil sweat on his forehead. He held a small dagger with a golden hilt in his hand, casually cutting a thick sheet of paper into piece after piece.

  He gazed at Xia Ya, his hands not stopping their movements, scrutinizing him for a long time, making Xia Ya feel a chill run down his spine. Only then did General Adrick withdraw his piercing gaze.

  "Do you understand these military symbols on the map?" Adrick caught Shaya's expression as soon as she walked in and looked at the map.

  Xia Ya hesitated for a moment: "I know some." Kevin, who was beside him, became curious and turned his head to look at Xia Ya. Xia Ya took a deep breath: "I've seen these things in some books I've read."

  "Alright." Adrick nodded and picked up a charcoal pencil in front of him, tossing it to Xia Ya: "Mark the place where you encountered the Odin people on the map for me to see."

  Xia Ya took the charcoal pen, without hesitation, walked to the map and accurately found the location, then drew a small cross symbol on it. After thinking for a moment, she also marked a ring-shaped circle symbol next to it... The last move made Adelric's eyes immediately reveal a hint of satisfaction.

  The last symbol on the Xia Ya painting, in Byzantine military symbols represents the vanguard of the enemy's search troops.

  "It seems you really understand this stuff." Adrick smiled, withdrawing his gaze and pinning the dagger on the table with a serious expression: "I know the results of your actions this time. Not bad..."

  His eyes stared at Xia Ya: "You alone killed six Odin's Icefield Hunters?"

  "...there were five." Xia Ya thought for a moment, his tone very calm: "I killed five, and one was injured by me, and was finished off by Kevin."

  The general nodded, stood up and walked around the table to stand in front of Xia Ya. The robust physique of this proud general made Xia Ya feel that he was not facing a person, but a lion - the king of lions!

  Adrick's eyes gleamed as he stared at Xia Ya: "Lift your head and stand up straight!"

  Then the general put his rough big hand on Xia Ya's shoulder and pinned a badge to Xia Ya's chest: "This is your military rank."

  His tone was serious: "Originally, you should be a private soldier, but in view of your outstanding performance in this mission, killing five Odin people, according to the Imperial Military Law, I promote you to soldier."

  This badge was just a piece of polished, slightly convex black iron plate. Xia Ya didn't care much about it at first, but as soon as he saw the black iron plate, he suddenly thought of that scout captain - his deceased son, who seemed to be wearing this kind of badge.

  "I hope you understand that here, this badge represents glory, blood, sacrifice..." Adrick's voice was stern: "Also, you killed five enemies, according to the Imperial Military Law, you can get a Black Iron Medal of Bravery, the military law department will report it up and it will be sent to your hands soon."

  "By the way, Kevin, how long did it take you to get your first Medal of Valor after enlistment?"

  Kevin seemed a bit embarrassed, scratching his head before sighing and saying: "I don't really remember, but it should be about a year later..."

  "Ha! Looks like this new kid is better than you!"

  Adrick said, walking back to the table: "Kevin, take this kid to get the new warhorse, and from today on, the Imperial Guard will be equipped with cavalry equipment!"

  Kevin's eyes lit up at once: "General, are we going on the offensive?"

  Adrick glanced at Kevin, his eyes seeming to smile but not quite smiling. Kevin immediately understood and excitedly pounded his chest, pulling Xia Ya who was still in a daze and ran away.

  As soon as they were out of the tent, Xia Ya suddenly remembered to ask Kevin what was going on with that medal of courage.

  According to Kevin's explanation, ordinary soldiers in the Imperial Army can obtain a Medal of Courage if they kill more than five enemies on the battlefield. This medal will also become the capital for future promotions.

  The Iron Cross of Valor was awarded only to ordinary soldiers without military rank. Once promoted to officer, it could no longer be awarded.

  In addition to this, the Iron Cross of Valor also has a special benefit: all veterans who receive this medal are exempt from paying any imperial taxes for life after they retire.

  Xia Ya listened and was quite displeased in his heart - he originally lived in Wildfire Town and wasn't a Byzantine Empire person, he had never paid taxes to the Byzantine Empire.

  Kevin dragged Xia Ya back to the tent, this bald man looked very excited, his reason for excitement was simple:

  "Guards units are usually lightly equipped with cavalry gear. Since the general has given this order, it's clear... we're going to have a big battle!"

  He paused for a moment and smiled: "Alright, now I'll take you to get your war horse. Finally, I won't have to let you torture my spare horse anymore."

  After going through a battle together, Kevin's attitude towards Xia Ya became much warmer, and it was clear that he had begun to accept Xia Ya as his comrade.

  "You've become a soldier, and that means you're a 'regular' now! Generally speaking, in the army, privates can only serve as auxiliary soldiers, while only regulars can serve as real combat soldiers. We are a cavalry unit here, and the requirements for becoming a regular are much stricter than those of infantry units. You can now receive two warhorses, these two warhorses are your mounts, and you also have your cavalry equipment, armor, shield, long spear..."

  As he said this, Kevin suddenly stopped in his tracks and slapped his forehead: "Ah! I almost forgot something important."

  "What?" Xia Ya was somewhat perplexed.

  "Your groom!" Kevin smiled: "You are now a formal cavalry, and every formal cavalry is equipped with a groom. As the personal guard of the general, we have special treatment, we can be equipped with one groom for each person. If it's in the flag group below, several cavalries share a groom."

  "What's a vanguard? What does that even do?" Xia Ya clearly didn't know much about the details of this army.

  Kevin frowned: "You can even understand military maps, but you don't know this?"

  "Look at me, I'm a cavalry commander now. I have three war horses, two sets of regular equipment, weapons, shields, uniforms... Someone has to take care of my war horses, feed them, groom them, and polish the armor and weapons... These trivial matters need someone to do them, don't they? Of course, it's not possible for me to do these things myself. If I had to take care of three war horses alone, I wouldn't have time for anything else."

  He smiled and said, "The attendants are your followers. You're in charge of fighting... all other things will be handed over to the attendants. Even if you get injured, the attendants will take care of you."

  As he spoke, he patted Shaya on the back and then walked forward, saying loudly as he went: "Come on, I'll first take you to the infantry camp to pick out a suitable candidate - let me make one thing clear, in accordance with our Byzantine army's tradition, the expenses for a cavalryman's attendant are something that you yourself have to pay privately! In any case, your military pay isn't low, and you can completely afford to hire an attendant."

  It wasn't until then that Xia Ya suddenly remembered something important, he quickly caught up to Kevin: "Hey! How much is my military pay now - uh, where do I collect it?"

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  In reality, there was no military rank system during the Byzantine period. In the army, there were only military posts, but no ranks. The rank system did not take shape until after the 15th century.

  The story is fabricated for entertainment purposes, hoping to bring a smile to readers' faces.

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