The Lord Of Blood Hill

Chapter 534: Factions

This time, Henwell mobilizes a large number of people, almost all of the Lord Iron Guards, along with part of the Iron Guard Training Camp taking this mission as an assessment.That alone forms an elite force of more than five hundred people, including several Grand Knights and dozens of Battle Knights.

The other former young gladiators have also brought their own elite confidant guards.

Each of them has brought several dozen people. Elite knight rank is only the threshold, and most are Battle Knights.

Today, all the young gladiators who went to Peace Haven back then have become Grand Knights.

Led by Henwell, an Iron Knight, this powerful team contains more than twenty Grand Knights, over a hundred Battle Knights, and nearly a thousand elite knights.

If they fight without holding back, they are only stronger than the Western Federation team from the previous Battle of Sunflower Fortress, not weaker.

This is already more than half of Peace Haven's advanced combat strength.

At present, the eyes of every country are on Divine Revelation City, and no one has the mind to provoke Henwell, who stands at the center of the storm.

Therefore, Peace Haven's safety is not a concern.

In front of a huge sand table, Henwell leads the former young gladiators in studying the attack plan.

"I have already scouted ahead. This place is one of the Veil's four largest training camps in Billie."

"They still do not know they have been exposed, but because of the change at Sunflower Fortress, there are already signs that they are preparing to withdraw."

"Our action must be fast. Everyone rests for one day, and we set out tomorrow morning."

"There is an Iron Knight here. I will deal with him. As for the remaining Grand Knights, handle them according to the situation."

"Forge Furnace has fewer than one thousand guards. After our raid begins, Billie will mobilize a legion nearby to support us."

"The difficulty of the operation lies in speed and secrecy. We must not let them activate their destruction measures. This place contains a great deal of intelligence worth tracing."

Victor frowns. "Billie has been infiltrated like a sieve. Is their legion reliable?"

"That is a legion that has sided with Catherine. It should not pose a threat to us. In addition, we are carrying out the church's order this time."

"No one dares jump out and cause trouble at a time like this. The nobles and powerful families of every side cannot hide fast enough right now."

"Most importantly, apart from Billie's knight order, no legion can stop us from breaking out."

Chick adds, "Also, I suggest capturing as many of the youths in the training camp as possible."

"The youths here have undergone a certain amount of training, and all of them are promising candidates carefully selected by the Veil."

"There are at least two thousand young trainees in the camp. Even if we only take half of them, that will be a fortune for Peace Haven."

As the head of Peace Haven's Military Intelligence Office, Chick greatly covets these youths who were strictly selected and trained through hell.

If all of these youths can be taken away and kept in Peace Haven, the development of the intelligence office will be greatly strengthened.

At this moment, Ruper cuts in. "Would that not leave Peace Haven with Veil plants?"

"You know the Veil has plenty of brainwashing methods. Some trainees who are about to graduate are already highly loyal to the Veil."

Chick has long considered this. "Of course there will be plants! But even if we do not take these youths in, the Veil will continue planting people in Peace Haven every year."

"We are already against the Veil. Rather than defend passively, we may as well attack actively. At least these youths will be easier to monitor and easier to trace."

"Compared with these drawbacks, the benefits we gain will be greater. For a long time to come, there will not be any major war."

"Our main battlefields will be politics, development, and commerce. Those areas have a very strong need for intelligence."

Chick's idea is good, but it is not the only idea.

Now, as Peace Haven develops, Pi's power is steadily being diluted.

When competing with Peace Haven's local faction for internal and outside talent, Pi has an inherent disadvantage.

Chick wants to use this opportunity to increase Pi's strength.

Everyone admits that the youths from Forge Furnace Training Camp are excellent seedlings.

And those youths will naturally feel some gratitude toward the people who save them from hell.

More importantly, the ones saving them are their seniors, the leading figures who resisted the Veil.

This will create a model effect, even an idol effect.

It will make those youths naturally favorable toward Peace Haven's Pi.

No one here is a fool. Naturally, they understand Chick's final goal.

Of course, none of them treats Henwell as a fool either. They all look toward Henwell, waiting for his decision.

Ruper's concern just now actually gives Henwell an excuse to oppose the proposal.

It also gives everyone a way to step back, so that the scene will not turn ugly.

Ruper has worked in official positions all these years, dealing with conspiracies and schemes, as well as all kinds of high officials and nobles.

He knows very well that, as a leader, Henwell will not want his subordinates to make decisions for him.

He is worried that Henwell will feel these brothers have overstepped the rules and acted recklessly.

After thinking for a while, Henwell nods lightly. "All right. We will gather these youths as much as possible."

"After we return, place them beside the Iron Guard Camp. I will personally lead the training, and each side can come pick people when the time comes."

"If you cannot get any, that will be because you were not competitive enough. Do not come begging me for mercy."

Everyone laughs.

They know Henwell still wants to use Pi to restrain Peace Haven's local faction.

In the near future, they will also obtain a batch of outstanding usable talent.

After all, Henwell will personally supervise their training. They will certainly be excellent.

At present, several factions are faintly taking shape inside Peace Haven.

In the broadest sense, there are the local faction and Pi.

On a smaller scale, there are many more: commerce, industry, agriculture, education...

There are also some external neutral factions that are loyal only to Henwell and do not involve themselves too deeply with any side.

And among the neutral factions, some are loyal only to their own interests.

At the same time, Henwell has begun assigning out the Lord Iron Guards he personally trained, forming an apprentice faction of his own.

The existence of factions is not frightening. What is frightening is when factional struggle warps so badly that it harms Peace Haven's interests.

As long as Henwell is present, forget fighting until things break; it cannot even be called a true struggle. It is only competition.

At least so far, this competition remains benign for Peace Haven.

The main reason is that Henwell will not enfeoff any nobles. He only grants power and status.

These cannot be inherited, and they are tied to ability. Once someone makes a mistake or proves unqualified, he will lose them.

A political system of office and authority will inevitably form clear factions, and it will inevitably produce various problems.

But as the saying goes, compared with enfeoffed nobles and powerful hereditary families, this is still progress.

A meal has to be eaten one mouthful at a time. Eat too fiercely, and you will choke.

A road has to be walked step by step. Take too large a step, and you will pull something.

Building a political system is also something that comes slowly. It cannot be completed in one step. Otherwise, people will die.