The day after obtaining the Drums of War, Galen summoned the few squad leaders under his command.
He planned to hold a grand military funeral for the soldiers who had died in the previous days.
On the training ground, the soldiers stood in rows, white strips of cloth tied around their foreheads, solemnly watching the open space in front of them.
There, nearly two hundred pyres were laid out, with one hundred and eighty-two soldiers from the base, and eight members of Varokal's cavalry team lying on them.
Four priests from the Church of the Holy Light were praying for the soldiers on the pyres, wishing them to return to the embrace of the Holy Light.
The four priests were contacted by Galen from the church in Tirisfall, and Gandalf teleported them over to preside over today's funeral.
Galen stood on the drill platform, looking at the soldiers below, standing and lying down, a different kind of emotion in his heart.
"Warriors of the Scarlet Flame, do you still remember the oath we took when we formed the army?"
Without waiting for the soldiers to respond, Galen roared out a passage of the oath with all his strength.
"The two hundred brothers lying in front of us, they died in the troll invasion, they once swore with us, they are the strong shield of the kingdom, sacrificing to protect the kingdom. Facing the trolls, they undertook the most dangerous mission without taking a step back. They died gloriously, they died nobly!"
"We will always remember them, their names will be permanently engraved in our hearts!"
After Galen finished speaking, under Gandalf's command, two huge water elementals slowly walked into the arena carrying a long stone tablet, and placed the stone tablet on the side of the drill platform.
This was a stone tablet that had been polished into the shape of a sharp sword, the tip of the sword pointing straight to the sky, and the words "Scarlet Flame Heroes, Forever in Our Hearts" were engraved on the body of the sword.
On the side of the sword, the names of the soldiers who died in this battle were engraved.
Below the stage, the soldiers clenched their fists, and Omar took the lead and shouted:
"Scarlet Flame Heroes, Forever in Our Hearts!"
"Scarlet Flame Heroes, Forever in Our Hearts!"
The soldiers followed closely and let out a deafening roar.
"Let us send our brothers on their final journey!"
After saying these words, Galen walked towards the pyre with a torch in his hand. Omar, Varokal, and Fadir also followed Galen with torches in their hands.
Special fuel was sprinkled on the pyre, and after it was lit, a soaring flame burned fiercely, and the fallen Scarlet Flame warriors were quickly swallowed by the flames.
Soon, all the pyres were lit, and thick black smoke gathered together, forming a huge smoke column that shot straight into the sky.
Two hundred pyres emitted dazzling light, and although it was still daytime, it illuminated all the Scarlet Flame Legion members present.
"Burn my remains, roaring Scarlet flames, the will of the Scarlet Flame, forge ahead bravely, burn all enemies!"
"Forge ahead bravely, burn all enemies!"
The warriors of the Scarlet Flame once again let out a huge roar, using this method to vent their inner emotions and send away their fallen brothers in arms.
After the funeral, Galen summoned the squad leaders of the Scarlet Flame Legion.
Galen's expression was still a little lonely, he looked at the three squad leaders in front of him, and said in a low voice: "We defeated the trolls, but they still live in the Arathi Highlands, harming the people of the Highlands."
Galen clenched his fists and increased his tone.
"Our next military plan is to erase the Witherbark Village from the map!"
"Your Highness, tell us, what should we do next?" Varokal said excitedly, taking the lead. As soon as he heard that there was a battle to fight, he fell into inexplicable excitement.
Galen looked around, taking in the expressions of Omar and Fadir, both of whom also had eager expressions.
"You all performed well in this battle, especially Omar, who was particularly outstanding in this battle, blocking the trolls at the canyon entrance and fighting to the death without retreating. Fadir, the battle on the city wall was well commanded, effectively killing the trolls who climbed the city wall. Varokal, your cavalry team is like a sharp knife, inserted into the heart of the trolls. You have made military achievements and should be rewarded. I will apply to the kingdom for your promotion."
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
The three of them looked happy, and the corners of Varokal's mouth were about to reach the roots of his ears.
Galen glanced at Varokal with disgust. This guy was not reserved at all, unlike Omar's restraint and Fadir's aristocratic demeanor.
"Promotion is a reward from the kingdom. Now I will promote you to the captain of the Scarlet Flame Legion's thousand-man team. All the outstanding members of your team will be promoted by one level."
"Take the squad members under your command as the backbone, and go to various parts of the kingdom to recruit soldiers on your own. Gather at Stromgarde in a month."
"You can apply to Harmon for all the necessary expenses and equipment. Okay, dismiss, go and do your own things."
After the battle a few days ago, Harmon · Calvin was left by Galen to serve as the chief of his logistics department, responsible for the logistics operation of the Scarlet Flame Legion, and the caravan was handed over to the original caravan deputy.
After staying in the garrison for more than half a month, Galen stayed in the garrison during the day to train with the soldiers, and at night he teleported back to his branch mine with the Archmage to deal with some documents in the Town Hall.
For his own sentiment, Galen officially named the branch mine: Minas Tirith.
At the same time, the name Minas Tirith was engraved in human characters on the towering city wall, located above the main gate.
One day, under Galen's efforts, this city will be famous in Azeroth and become the City of Kings in his mind.
Galen also renamed the initial base, called the Origin Land, meaning the heart of origin, the initial land, the location of Galen's first building.
During this period, Galen recharged another 30,000 gold coins for the northern mining area's contract payment, and left 20,000 gold coins to Harmon as military expenses for recruiting soldiers.
With the recharge of 30,000 gold coins, the base's gold reserves increased by 60,000 units of gold.
Galen built another Town Hall. Currently, in the most core location, which is the first ring area in the plan, there are now three Town Halls side by side.
Adding the first Town Hall converted from the Heart of Origin, there are currently four Town Halls working, constantly training peasants.
Nearly two thousand peasants are working in the mining area, more than a thousand are currently in the logging team, and the most peasants are working on the farm. In order to be able to break ten thousand population under his base as soon as possible, Galen has built more than two thousand farms.
The southern part of the second ring area is the military area. Using the recharged gold, two new barracks were deployed. Adding the previously built ones, Minas Tirith now has four barracks, and the Origin Land has double barracks.
The six barracks are exploding with soldiers together, making the number of newly trained soldiers nearly one hundred every day.
Galen silently counted the population in his hands. There were about five thousand peasants, the number of soldiers was two thousand three hundred and twenty before the troll invasion, one hundred and eighty died, and one thousand four hundred and forty were newly added in half a month. The current combat personnel are three thousand five hundred and seventy-eight.
If Omar and their recruitment work goes smoothly, adding their three thousand-man teams, the Scarlet Flame Legion's combat force will be as high as six thousand five hundred people.
The time is ripe.
It's time to go back to Stromgarde.