The war began suddenly, and Ackley was soon thrown into his first battle as a soldier.
He and his fellow guardsmen guarded a small town near Suero. A week later, the kingdom's army raided here, and they paid a heavy price to defend the town.
On the battlefield, he truly regarded himself as a Chinese soldier participating in the battle. The commando team he belonged to went out of the city many times to perform harassment missions, and several times penetrated into the enemy's flank and rear, causing considerable losses to the invading enemy. Finally, when the enemy suffered too much loss in the siege and had to withdraw, he led the masters of the commando team to ambush the enemy and killed the baron who led the team.
Ackley participated in battles again and again, adding various military exploits to his resume, and his rank and position continued to rise. Half a year into the war, he was already a battalion commander in a small city, with a guard army composed of local people under him.
At this time, he faced his first crucial test. This strategic city was surrounded by the enemy because the main force nearby attacked.
The enemy commander secretly sent a viscount who was an old friend of Ackley's family to contact Ackley. The viscount brought a letter of appointment written by Queen Laura, promising that if Ackley was willing to return to the kingdom, he would be granted the title of earl and the corresponding fiefdom.
The viscount said, "What happened before happened when the king was still in office. Her Majesty can forgive the past. As long as you can take the right position in this war and help the kingdom's army win a victory on this battlefield, you will become someone that Her Majesty values very much. You should know that Her Majesty still needs to cultivate her own confidants among the nobles. This is such a good opportunity."
But Ackley's response was to hang the viscount who had sneaked into the city as a contact person in public in the city, and tore up the Queen's letter of appointment in front of everyone.
Before the Viscount was hanged, he shouted in front of the gallows: "You are betraying all the nobles. These Chinese never act according to our traditions. All the nobles are not in their eyes. They want to help those commoners climb over my head. You betrayed the group you belong to!"
Ackley made no reply to his shouting, except to say, "Hang him!"
After that, the enemy outside the city launched a fierce attack. Ackley, who was outnumbered, led the way and blocked the entrance to the city, which was most likely to fall. He was wounded several times and more than half of his troops were injured, but he finally blocked the enemy outside the city and held out until the main force came back to support.
This time, it took Ackley two months just to recover from his injuries, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. When his injuries healed, he successfully broke through to the advanced level.
After several more months of fighting, he was transferred to become the leader of the newly formed Independent Blade Regiment of the Guard, a powerful team composed of a high proportion of fighting spirit warriors.
The independent regiment was finally given the task of attacking the main city of the Duke of Greenwood City. After months of fighting, the army of Greenwood City had been almost wiped out by the main force of the guards. Under the cover of the pneumatic cannon, Ackley led the team and rushed to the city wall first, and then was the first to attack the Duke's Mansion.
The Duke of Greenwood City pleaded with Ackley who walked into his bedroom alone: "Just let me go, and I can give you the hidden treasure. There is a secret passage in the Duke's Mansion that allows me to escape, and you don't even have to do anything extra. As long as you take me there, I will open the door of the treasury. You can use the storage ring to take away what you want."
Ackley agreed to the Duke's request, but when the Duke opened the treasury and prepared to escape through the secret passage, he was knocked down by him. Ackley captured the Count alive and handed over all his property.
His independent regiment had no time to rest and recuperate before it received a new mission. The town of Alano where Chen Hansheng was located was besieged by the enemy's main force, and the enemy's strength far exceeded the local garrison. According to the notification of the intelligence team, the independent regiment must arrive within a day and a half, otherwise the town of Alano is likely to fall. However, if it continues to travel at this speed, the combat effectiveness of the independent regiment will be greatly reduced, and it will be in great danger if it encounters an enemy that is several times larger than itself.
At the combat meeting, several combat staff officers opposed the forced march, and only the Chinese political commissar expressed limited support.
A staff officer said: "Captain, we have been fighting for a week. The losses of the troops are not small. If we continue to march quickly, it will have a great impact on the combat effectiveness of the troops and morale will definitely be very low.
If you are worried that someone will gossip about you if you don't march quickly because Chen Hansheng is there, I think it's totally unnecessary. We are considering this issue purely from a military perspective."
The final choice fell on Ackley. He closed his eyes and thought for ten minutes, and made a decision that surprised everyone. He pulled out the most elite soldiers of the entire independent regiment to form a battalion of soldiers, carrying only close combat weapons, and went lightly to rescue Arano.
This battle was the most difficult and dangerous one for Ackley after he joined the Guards. Although he chose to raid the army besieging the city at night and the enemy was confused by his attack, the huge difference in numbers still made him almost annihilated in this battle. Fortunately, at the most critical moment, Chen Hansheng led his troops to break out of the city, putting an important weight on the scale of victory.
Afterwards, Chen Hansheng and Ackley, who were also seriously injured, were recuperating in the same ward. Chen Hansheng asked him, "What did you think when you paid such a high price to save me, the man who killed your father?"
"In fact, I wavered, although only for a moment: when they said it was okay not to save you, I thought about following everyone's decision. But I know very well that sometimes people's behavior can be explained in this way or that way, but what you can't deceive is your own explanation to yourself. I know that if I save you, there is still a chance of success. So if I don't save you, it means that I haven't really let go of the past. In that case, all my previous efforts will be in vain."
Chen Hansheng nodded and said, "It seems that you are really sure of your path."
"Yes. Over the past few months, I've figured out a lot of things. But when I needed to hesitate or waver, I persisted." Ackley said firmly.
"Excellent! Congratulations, Mr. Ackley, you have passed the loyalty test."