The greatest effect of blood wine is that, while preserving a person's consciousness, it damages the pain nerves in the human body. Once a person's pain nerves are damaged, they can no longer feel pain, which is why they can be fearless on the battlefield. In the era of cold weapons, warriors were often not killed directly by the enemy, but after being wounded, the pain from their injuries would trigger all kinds of fear and negative emotions like sadness. This made treatment much less effective. Once wounded, a soldier's combat effectiveness on the battlefield would be greatly reduced, or even completely lost. For example, if someone had an arm chopped off by the enemy on the battlefield, that person would basically faint from the pain. On the battlefield, it is hard for anyone to notice someone who has lost consciousness, and most people died this way. But when the pain nerves are gone, even if they lose an arm, they can still continue fighting as if nothing happened. Enhanced combat effectiveness is just one aspect; more importantly, such actions inflict tremendous psychological pressure on the enemy, often causing their entire line to collapse.

However, behind such powerful effects lies an irreparable flaw: flexibility. All those who have drunk blood wine, although their consciousness and memory remain unchanged, are extremely lacking in flexibility and initiative. Unless given orders, they basically do nothing if they are not harmed. Of the more than a hundred survivors who came, after Henry Sutton gave a single order, indeed, no one left the courtyard. To outsiders, this seemed like Henry Sutton ran a strict army, but he knew the truth: these people had simply lost interest in everything, and only after receiving orders could they become powerful war machines.

Most soldiers serve for a certain number of years and retire when their time is up, but those who have drunk blood wine can forget about such treatment. Their personalities are not so conspicuous in the army, but once they return to civilian life, they are bound to attract attention. So Henry Sutton had to give up on demobilized and new soldiers, and instead specifically selected slave soldiers. Slave soldiers have no status or standing; if they die, no one cares, let alone stands up for them. And as they struggle bitterly in the slave camp, their ultimate fate is death. In fact, entering the slave camp is basically a death sentence. There is a saying: "You don't leave the camp unless you die," referring to the slave camp—once you enter, fewer than one in a hundred make it out alive. Rather than living such a humiliating life, it is better to join Henry Sutton's army; at least there is good food and drink at every meal, and even if you die, you can die with some satisfaction.

"Reporting to the general, General Blake requests an audience."

The 123 people who followed Henry Sutton were formed by him into a personal guard. According to what he learned yesterday, Henry Sutton sent them out to reorganize the troops. These slave soldiers needed a few days to recuperate, otherwise they could not be trained at all. Fortunately, since he had given the order, he was sent only young and healthy slaves. If it had been a bunch of old, weak, sick, or disabled people, Henry Sutton wouldn't have needed to train them—he could have just resigned and gone home. The person who just came to report was one of the personal guard.

"Please invite him in—no, I'll go myself." Henry Sutton hurried to the main hall, and sure enough, saw Stephen Blake sitting upright in a chair, waiting for him to appear.

"Greetings, General Blake." Henry Sutton cupped his hands in salute. At this moment, he also held the rank of deputy general, so he no longer needed to salute as a subordinate.

"Congratulations to General Sutton on your promotion." When Stephen Blake saw the man himself arrive, he quickly stood up and returned the salute.

"It's nothing, just a stroke of luck, not worth mentioning."

"General Sutton is young and promising; your future achievements are limitless. I, an old man, look forward to seeing it," Stephen Blake said with a laugh.

"You're too kind..." Henry Sutton saw that he made no mention of the matter he had entrusted to him, and couldn't help but show a look of anxiety, though it wasn't appropriate to ask directly.

It turned out that after returning to the courtyard yesterday, Henry Sutton had found Stephen Blake, taken out the ten thousand tael silver note he had just obtained, and asked him to help purchase one hundred jars of Drunken Moon Wine. This matter was of great importance to him and could not tolerate the slightest negligence, so naturally he was concerned.

Since Henry Sutton had not mentioned his promotion during their conversation yesterday, Stephen Blake only learned today from the command camp's announcement that this young man, with only half a year of military service, had suddenly been promoted to the same rank as himself in a single day. He hurriedly took care of the matter he had been asked to handle and rushed over without delay.

Now, seeing Henry Sutton looking like he wanted to speak but hesitated, restless and uneasy, Stephen Blake couldn't help but find it amusing. The matter of Henry Sutton requesting fine wine from the logistics department had already spread throughout the camp in just half a day. As one of the senior officers in the logistics department, there was no way he wouldn't know. Thinking back to how Henry Sutton had asked him to buy wine as soon as he received his reward silver yesterday, and recalling his astonishing drinking capacity at Drunken Moon Tower last time, Stephen Blake became even more convinced that Henry Sutton was a man who loved wine as much as his life.

"Mr. Brooks has already replied. Because the production of Drunken Moon Wine is low, he simply can't provide a hundred jars at once," Stephen Blake said unhurriedly.

"Is that so? It's fine if he can't provide them all at once. I just want to know how many he is willing to sell me," Henry Sutton frowned again. Without this wine, his next plan would be impossible to carry out, and all his hopes would be nothing but an illusion.