After reviewing the strength of the two armies, Armstrong formalized the chain of command. The army was divided into four bodies. The central army, right-wing, left-wing, and reserve force. The central, left, and right consisted of 30,000 native troops. The reserve force was the 30,000 outworlders.
Armstrong commanded the central army, which consisted of 12,000 troops. Army supplies were carried within this central army. The right-wing was commanded by Ahab with 10,000 troops. While the remaining 8,000 troops of the left-wing were led by Duke Alfredo. Jack's regiment, which numbered 3,000 troops, was considered part of Duke Alfredo's left-wing army.
Hearing the arrangement, Jack offered his regiment to act as a vanguard troop.
Since they had used it before during the expedition, Duke Alfredo was not alien to the concept. He helped Jack to explain that the vanguard troop could help clear out obstacles that might slow their advances. Ahab was not fond of sending a small part of the army forward. What if they got ambushed by Prince Therribus' army? They would lose a portion of the army unnecessarily.
Jack assured Ahab that he would also send scouts ahead to check for any potential ambush. In this way, it would protect the main army from an ambush as well. With small-sized troops, he would be able to escape even if there was an ambush. He summoned his Runestone of Marching and showed it to the officers here. With this runestone, his troops would be able to move fast if enemies appeared.
Jack had fused with this runestone the night before inside the Time Chamber. This runestone was of the wind element. He had to suffer the agony of having his body shredded inside a tornado of sharp winds.
Seeing the runestone as well as Duke Alfredo's support, Lord Commander Armstrong agreed to the arrangement.
When it came to the outworlder army, it was a bit more complicated. Their thought at first was to divide the outworlders and integrated them into the army. However, no one was sure if the outworlders would listen to commands. Everyone was worried that their unruly nature would instead disrupt the orderly formation of the army. Hence, this idea was scrapped. They were kept as a separate body that would be sent to battle if needed.
Considering this player army was formed by various guilds and also independent players, Jack thought that the decision was correct. It would be a headache to organize these ragtag groups.
"The outworlder force will follow at the back of the army. For their detailed arrangements, I will leave them to you," Armstrong said while looking at Jack.
"Eh? Me?" Jack pointed to himself.
"You are the only outworlder in this command center. Of course, the responsibility of organizing your kind is left to you," Ahab said.
'It seems that… the headache is mine,' Jack sighed within, but he thought their reasoning made sense, so he agreed to it.
"Any order for the outworlder reserve force, I will send them through you," Amstrong said to Jack.
"Understood. I will take care of them," Jack said.
"Good. We will depart an hour from now. You are all dismissed!" Amstrong uttered.
Jack first followed Duke Alfredo to the left-wing army and met the regiment he was entrusted to. These soldiers had been told that Jack would be their leader. They gave him an official salute when he arrived.
Jack felt weird seeing so many soldiers saluting him. He felt… empowered. He could send these people to their deaths with his command. This responsibility was both unnerving as it was stimulating.
He drove the nervous feeling away. With a firm voice, he addressed the troops, "Everyone! My name is Storm Wind. I am an outworlder, but believe me that I don't consider myself any different from you. We are here for one sole reason. To rescue Prince Alonzo! For that cause, I will willingly sacrifice myself, and I expect you to do the same! None of us will return home until Prince Alonzo was rescued. We march in the name of honor…!!!"
Jack lifted his sword high as he uttered his battle cry. Bailey and Miller that were behind followed suit. The soldiers before him all did the same. The surrounding army all turned to them. Wondering what was the ruckus? The actual fight was still a lot of days ahead.
Jack was glad these soldiers jumped on the bandwagon. Otherwise, it would be truly awkward if he was the only one uttering the battle cry. He guessed he watched too many of those war movies in the past. He was getting too excited by the idea of having so many soldiers under his command.
He then divided the regiment into three battalions, 1,000 soldiers each. He led the first battalion while Bailey and Miller led the other two. After settling the arrangement. He asked Bailey to keep the soldiers at the ready while he instructed Miller to follow him to where the outworlder reserve force was situated.
Jack sent a message to Bowler, asking him for his whereabouts. The area occupied by 30,000 people was no joke. He would spend a long time if he was to look for a particular person in this sea of people. Bowler confirmed that most of the guild leaders were still there with him. Jack asked him to spread the word to have all the remaining guild leaders gather, as well as any influential players from the guildless players.
When Jack arrived, all the guild leaders were there. Even though the players were a mess, the player's messaging system allowed for fast communication. Red Death was also there, along with Blackjack.
"Eh? You are here as well? I thought you will be helping Death Associates?" Jack asked Blackjack.
"Hmph! I am helping them because of Red. Now that Red has left them, why should I still help them?" Blackjack replied.
"I'm not leaving them. It's just temporary until I find Black Death," Red Death said.
"Well, anyway, thanks for the help," Jack said to Blackjack.
"I ain't doing it for you as well," Blackjack said.
"I still would like to thank you anyway," Jack said, to which Blackjack just grunted for a reply.
Jack then turned to the guild leaders. Since there was no table nor rock he could stand on, he cast the Float spell and hovered himself higher, so that everyone could see him. Magic class players who had not yet gotten the Float spell were impressed by the spell, while some thought him a show-off.
"Friends! Spare me your attention for a minute please!" Jack uttered. "I think most everyone here knows who I am, right? I've been appointed the liaison between our player force and the native command center. In other words, yes, I am your commander! If anyone has a problem with that, say it now! Don't make me kill you in the middle of the battle because you don't follow my commands."
The players were taken aback. The heck kind of speech was this? This was basically a threat.
"And don't think I'm just spouting bullshit. I have a regiment of native army under my command. This here is Miller, my second-in-command," Jack pointed to Miller. Many players used Inspect on him. Many couldn't inspect him, so they knew Miller was very high level. They also could see that he was a legitimate army official.
"Tell them, Miller. Are you under my command?" Jack asked.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Miller uttered.
"Tell them how many soldiers are under my command," Jack asked again.
"Three thousand strong, sir!" Miller replied.
Jack then looked at the crowd again and said, "Are you people listening? Don't think that because I am one person, I can't keep an eye on you all. I can have my regiment take care of you in my stead."
Jack paused for a bit to let the information seep in. He then continued, "Now, I understand some of you joined this war because you understand that we can't have Prince Therribus become the king. Every player will be in trouble if so. But many of you also join for the rewards. Whatever your reasons, our objective is the same. Defeat Prince Therribus and rescue Prince Alonzo! For that, we need to act as one. We need a clear chain of command. We can't have everyone do their own things. We need to be of one voice and one act. Does everyone understand this and accept me as the commander? Say so now if you have objection!"
It was silent for a while until one guild leader, who Jack didn't recognize, asked, "What if we don't accept? You will chase us away?"
"No. Both the natives and I will just ignore you then. You can do your own thing, but do you think you can achieve anything that way? The rewards you get in this war are based on your war contribution. The war contribution is mostly gained from accomplishing tasks that are given to you, which in this case, will come from me. Other than that, you can only kill enemy soldiers for war contribution points. How many points do you think you can kill without coordinating with the native army? So, I ask again, are you willing to submit to my command?"
"I… I submit," The guild leaders said.
"I have no problem following your orders," Silverwing expressed his willingness.
"All right," Kill Order said.
"Just for this war," Prideful Josh joined.
"Awaiting your order, chief!" David uttered. Jack gave him a side-eye. The dude was repeating the words he said before the bonus match against Mihos.
After everyone expressed their agreement. Jack formed a party with the guild leaders. He would send his command to these guild leaders who would then relay their orders to their members. In this way, everyone could get instructions fast. Jack told them that the army would depart soon. They were to march at the back of the army and not wander around without instruction. He then returned to his regiment just as an order to march resounded.
Everyone summoned their steeds. Jack summoned Pandora and took her to the front of his regiment. The reinforcement army then started their march.
