Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

//Just to make it simpler:

Read the latest on empire

Darda - Basic unit of the patriarchate army, something like a reinforced platoon, 60 soldiers and 1 field officer)

Carda - A basic battle unit of the patriarchate army, consists of five Bardas and an officer ( 306 men in total, 340 when including support staff)

Darda - A basic tactical unit of the patriarchate army, consists of five Cardas and a commanding officer (1531 soldiers in total, 1750 men in total)

Army - A basic strategic level unit of the patriarchate army, consists of five Dardas, equivalent to half-legion of the empire, commanded by a field general, hosts 7656 frontline troops, with support, logistics, backline, and HQ - 9000 men)//

"All rise!"

A set of new orders came right as Sateo was organizing his Barda to rejoin the queue for the fight.

After roughly two hours of rest, all of his soldiers had their wounds bandaged while those with heavier injuries moved from his Barda to stay at the main dressing station set up in the heart of the fortress.

From the total of sixty men that he commanded before the siege, Sateo's Barda was now reduced to exactly half its regulatory strength.

In other words, they could only operate at half of their possible potential, and upon losing a further half of the unit, the entire Barda would have to be dismissed with the people used to reinforce other Bardas or outright form new ones with others coming from similar situations.

It was a natural process in an army… but a process that hurt nonetheless. Reforming the unit meant that all the friendships, battle synchronization, and cooperation would be gone and would have to be formed again, from scratch.

"By the order of General Banjay, you are to join the fourth Carda of the second Darda," the messenger relayed the orders without any emotion, even though he had to know the weight of his own words.

Still, for someone who had to go around the whole army and pass that kind of order over and over again, growing numb was the only possible way to deal with the mental burden.

"Wasn't the second Darda dismantled after the Polonean massacre?"

"Well shit, we are fucking dead."

"It's been nice knowing you, guys."

Several whispers ran through Sateo's Darda.

Pretty much everyone in the patriarchate's army, from foot soldiers through battle officers to army commanders, knew of the fate of the second Darda. The once-prided unit of over fifteen hundred elites fell prey to a clever trick that allowed an entire Imperial Legion to trap and then fully decimate them.

It was a one-of-a-kind disaster in the history of the Patriarchate's military, given the total lack of survivors to tell the tale of the disaster and with all the news about what actually had happened extracted from the bits and pieces of Imperial propaganda.

Still…

"I've heard the order and I shall follow it." Uttering the official formula, Sateo dismissed the messenger before standing up and looking at his soldiers.

They were all gathered in the designated resting spot for their Darda, with some tents, several blankets serving as beddings, and a lone fireplace to warm them up throughout the late evening.

"You've heard the man, boys," Sateo sighed. "Our patriarch calls, so it's up to us to heed his order."

Sparing no further words on the unfortunate assignment, Sateo picked up his now cleaned-up short spear before making sure all pieces of his gear were nicely fixed in place.

'Waterskin, check. Light armor, check. Dagger, check.'n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Quickly running down the mental list, Sateo tapped his body all over before allowing his hands to fall freely down his sides as he waited for his soldiers to do the same.

"Barda ready!" A moment later, a former second-class footsoldier who has now reached the rank of footsoldier first class with the death of his late superior, reported the readiness of Sateo's unit.

"Move out."

At this point, Sateo didn't bother shouting. Even though the battle continued to rage just a few tens of meters away from them, the terrace below which they took a rest served as a great barrier to the noise, allowing Sateo's normal voice to reach his men without issue.

From the moment the name of the second Darda was invoked, everyone knew what fate had in store for them. After all, no sane officer within the headquarters would bother using that infamous name just for the sake of forming a new unit.

If that wasn't the case, then the seventh, eighth, and eleventh Darda that, along with the first and fifteenth dardas, made up the whole of the first patriarchate army would be renamed to second, third, and fourth some years ago.

Moving down the massive ramp of the lowest level of the fortress, Sateo didn't bother to utter a single word.

He didn't know what Salicious… or, judging by the naming sense, Banjay had in store for him. If there was any benefit to giving out the information about the purpose of reforming the second Darda and throwing it at the enemy, the officers of the Cadra they were joining would surely pass the information on.

And if they were to just go out and fight like usual, then what would be the difference of whether or not they would know the purpose of the fight?

In the grand scheme of things, they were all still within besieged forces and no tactic, clever trick, or awful naming sense would change it.

'Does it even matter where or under what banner we are fighting?' Sateo asked himself as he struggled to get over the unlucky omen of their assignment. 'As long as we get to kill some more imperials…'

It didn't take long for Sateo's unit to arrive at the predestined forming station for his unit's new Cadra. Yet, the moment he did, Sateo also realized the obvious consequence of his unit's reassignment.

'Our former Cadra was likely dismantled. Now, all I can do is hope it was just our Cadra rather than our entire Dadra…'

In the end, despite hurrying up to the rally point as soon as he heard the order, Sateo wasn't the first to arrive. In fact, his unit was one of the last few to arrive at the scene, earning them some bored and empty stares from their brothers and sisters-in-arms who already found their spot and awaited further orders.

"Gentlemen, I'm going to be quick and honest," the commanding officer of the second Darda spoke out as soon as Sateo arrived at the specific spot where all the officers of each Dadra gathered. "The naming of our unit is unlucky, but so is our fate being born during the age of Imperial rush to the south."

A low growl came out from several throats as the officers silently agreed.

For how else if not ill fate could a man call their life when they could either toil away back in the capital, serve as poor serfs in the sparse fields still within patriarchate's control, or give their life as the soldiers in a desperate attempt to stop the empire from rolling over them?

"I'm not going to hide it. Our orders are just as unfortunate as the name of our Darda," the commanding officer continued the mellow, nearly apologetic look on his face contrasting with his stern, serious voice. "We are going to sortie and rush along the first wall to put an end to the first charge of the imperials.

Once we are done, we are going to rush back, hoping to reach the gate before the imperials can reinforce."

'So, a suicide mission,' Sateo thought, quite certain he wasn't alone.

"So, what do you say, men?" the commanding officer forced a small smile on his lips. "Are we to die like cowards, trying to push them off the walls to no avail, or are we going to prove our courage and determination, bring some relief to our brothers on the walls, and kick the imperials right in their balls?!"

The orders were clear. The rules of the game were known to everyone, regardless of which side of the wall they were currently in. Patriarchate or imperial soldier, all knew what was at stake and what would it take to achieve their predetermined purpose.

"Ayo!"

Without a single whine of protest or cry of fear, all the officers shouted.

"Back to your Dardas, then!" The commanding officer cried out while pulling out his sword and pointing it at the wall. "And let's go kick some imperial ass!"