Game of Thrones: From a deserter to a high-ranking official

Chapter 52 Tiberius's "Training"

On the training field, the air seemed to freeze because of Tiberius's roar.

"Stop! Who gave you permission to lie down?!" Tiberius's voice was sharp like a whip whistle as he pointed at the soldiers who had just finished a round of running with heavy loads and were instinctively lying down on the sand.

"Discipline! How many times have I told you?! Without my permission, you must even control your breathing! Stand up! Line up!"

No one dared to disobey Tiberius. Upon hearing their commander's order, they quickly stood up and automatically began to form neat ranks.

Through unified training and the "moving a tree to establish trust" incident, they have ingrained "absolute obedience" into their very bones.

Tiberius's discipline was extremely strict: they had to stand like statues, sit like rocks, and move like one. Any team of ten that failed to meet the standards would be severely punished, usually with extra training, rations cut, or public humiliation.

He repeatedly instilled in them the idea that: "Here, you have only one head! That is me, Tiberius Mode! Forget your former masters, forget your former identities, you now have only one name—soldier of the 'Lightning Legion'!"

In short: Tiberius broke them apart and then bound them back together with steel and discipline.

Then came lunchtime.

Several long tables were set up in the restaurant, each with a dish of food in front of everyone, but no one dared to touch it. Even though the aroma had already wafted into their nostrils, whetting their appetites.

They need food after a morning of intense training!

"Are you hungry?" Tiberius asked, sitting at a long wooden table with a bowl of brown rice, some fish, and some vegetables in front of him.

"We're hungry!" everyone shouted.

"Excellent! Then keep starving! No one is to move without my order!" Tiberius's face revealed a cruel smile. "Without my order, even if the food is right in front of you, even if I throw it to feed the dogs, you can only watch, do you understand?"

"We heard that!" everyone shouted.

"Great, let's eat!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone began to eat.

This is the second difference between Tiberius and ordinary officers:

Tiberius never had special meals. He ate from the same wooden bowls as the soldiers, along with brown rice, fish soup, and cheese from the large pot; and occasionally beer or wine. In this respect, everyone was equal.

As the leader, Tiberius had only one privilege: he could replace the provided beer and wine with milk with honey.

However, this made Vito and the other veterans somewhat dissatisfied.

"Hey Tiberius, we're officers! How can we eat the same food as them?" Vito complained, pointing to the mess hall during a training break. "How can we eat the same food as these...these guys every day? What kind of nonsense is this!"

Tiberius didn't try to fool them with some concept of "officers and soldiers as one," but instead simply threw out a bag of gold coins.

"First of all, you have no right to contradict me," Tiberius said, holding his wooden bowl and his eyes sharp. "I am the leader of the Lightning Legion, and none of you are! If I hear you complain again, you can go back to the White Legion, and I'll have my uncle replace you with a new group!"

"Second... Vito! Every Sunday, take them to the surrounding towns for the best meal, all the fancy dishes and fine wines, don't worry about wasting them! Then, go to the bars and brothels and find the hottest girls to relieve their pent-up desires. You can hire as many as you can handle, I'll pay for it. But you still have to be on duty on time the next day..." Before Vito and the others could cheer, Tiberius's voice turned cold and hard.

"I heard my uncle executed a knight who was late because he was having an affair with his mistress. I don't want you to follow in his footsteps. Don't be late for training tomorrow, and don't become a bunch of spineless cowards! I don't want my officers to be a bunch of wimps drained of their vitality by women!"

However, Tiberius was not entirely tough; he turned to the veteran soldiers and said...

"Listen, in the White Legion, you're just a ten-man commander, or a small leader in charge of twenty or thirty men; there are only a few positions at the top of the legion, one for each person! Uncle Jules hasn't treated you unfairly, but you also know that if you want to move up, you either have to work hard for another three or four years, or you have to make a great contribution! But here, you don't need to do anything; you'll be promoted directly to the position of a proper leader of a fifty-man square!"

"Besides, we have young master Lisang Luo Luojia behind us. The Luojia family is one of the wealthiest families in all of Ries! Follow me, as long as you train your troops well and fight well, do you think you'll lack gold, status, and women?"

He turned his gaze to several seasoned soldiers who weren't yet high-ranking officers, but merely instructors, and said in a seductive tone, "Brothers who haven't yet become commanders of fifty-man formations shouldn't be disappointed. The Lightning Regiment won't stay at its current size; I'll definitely be expanding in the future! Cavalry captain, crossbowman captain, spearman captain, centurion, standard bearer… for these vacant positions, I'll naturally give them to 'my' trusted men!" He emphasized the word "my." "As for who my men are…"

Tiberius remained silent, letting them figure it out themselves.

Vito did not immediately accept Tiberius's "recruitment," but instead weighed his money pouch and immediately smiled.

"Alright, kid! Don't worry, we know the rules. We'll play when it's time to have fun, and when it's time to fight tooth and nail, the brothers will definitely not shirk their responsibilities!"

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Saturday is a very special day for these soldiers.

On this day, they would receive food rations from the quartermaster according to the number of people in their families: half a bag of polished rice and half a bag of wheat for each person; a barrel of olive oil, some bacon and salted fish, a bottle of wine, and most precious of all, some copper coins.

Then, after training ends that morning and they collect their food, they can go home to reunite with their families and return on Monday.

"Take these and give them to your families!" Tiberius stood on the platform with a cold expression, watching the soldiers below who were happily receiving food and money.

He wouldn't stop until he made sure the food actually reached the soldiers.

"Listen, you're training in the barracks, you're not doing any work, so naturally you're not eating, but I won't let your families go hungry: this food is your reward."

"And, come back on time," Tiberius said calmly, but his eyes were sharp as knives.

"Remember, the safety of your families depends on your performance in the military. If you fail to return on time..." He didn't finish his sentence, but that meaningful pause was more powerful than any threat.

After all, their families were now on Tiberius's "roster," and Tiberius knew exactly how many people they were, how many acres of land they owned, and where they lived!

Trying to run? No way!

Sometimes, he would even personally lead a small squad of cavalry to escort these soldiers to the edge of the settlement, and then personally pick them up at the agreed time. This was ostensibly to "ensure safety," but in reality, it was also a form of invisible surveillance and control.