By the time they reached the Giant Stone Pile, it was already completely dark. The sentries stationed at the Giant Stone Pile spotted several dark figures approaching them. Since they hadn't received prior notice that Art would be coming to inspect the outpost, the Patrol Team members felt a great deal of tension. With their combined combat strength, if a group of mounted bandits were truly to attack, their fate would be easily imaginable.
Upon learning that a large group of unidentified cavalry was approaching, Obert, the new Patrol Team Captain, quickly exited his tent. He led out the fast horse assigned to the Patrol Team, instructed a Soldier who could ride to mount it and be ready to gallop to the Valley to deliver a message, and then put on his armor, grabbed his weapon, and stood on the highest and largest stone in the Giant Stone Pile, preparing to face the enemy.
Obert drew the broadsword from his waist and said to Benson, who was standing close beside him: “Benson, you’ve come to the wrong place. You thought it was safe here, but the first enemies we encountered were a troop of cavalry. If we survive this, you should still return to the legion.”
Hearing this, Benson stopped his slight trembling and forced himself to reply: “Alright, I’m already here, what’s the point of saying all this? This is all God’s arrangement. I should have died back at Sap…”
“Everyone, prepare to face the enemy! The Lord and the legion will avenge us!”
Benson and another Patrol Team Soldier gripped their short spears and wooden shields, their eyes fixed on the approaching cavalry shadows…
From over a hundred paces away, Lawrence, who was leading the charge, shouted a few times towards the Giant Stone Pile.
“It’s not the enemy! It’s the Lord! We don’t have to die!” Benson exclaimed, his voice filled with the excitement of having narrowly escaped death…
The Giant Stone Pile had undergone some changes. The Giant Stone Pile was not large; two military tents were set up on the open ground next to the central giant stone, and a deep copper pot hung over a bonfire. The numerous small stones previously scattered within the Giant Stone Pile had been cleared out by Obert and his men and piled around the camp, forming a stone wall about two feet high. Inside the stone wall were several large stacks of timber.
“Lord, this timber was brought from the Valley. There are no forests nearby, so we can only rely on collecting dead branches and leaves washed down from upstream in the small stream about a mile east to make fires for cooking. When the next merchant caravan returns to the Valley, they will help us transport another batch of timber. At that time, we will build a fence and a small watchtower at the outpost. Lord, from now on, the Valley must not only regularly transport food and supplies for us, but even firewood must be supplied by the Valley.”
Art walked to the bonfire, picked up a wooden spoon, and scooped a spoonful of food from the copper pot to taste. He said, “The taste is not bad. It’s indeed hard for you to guard this wasteland. I’ve already told Cooper that your supplies will be prioritized. When merchant caravans travel back and forth through here, they will also leave some supplies for you. I’ve also considered it during this time; it’s truly too difficult for just four of you to guard such a large area. Therefore, after the next batch of new recruits finishes training, I will assign a few more Soldiers to you.”
“Thank you, Lord…”
…………
Early the next morning, Art left the Giant Stone Pile and returned to the Valley.
After returning to Valley Knight Territory, Art was busy with two things every day—training the army and developing the territory.
Currently, army training was primarily led by Odo and Angus, along with three Squadron Leaders. However, Art was also responsible for training Odo, Lawrence, and several other Squadron Leaders. During this period, Art held several army meetings, and after discussion, they determined that the army's main training programs for the foreseeable future would be individual combat skills training, battle formation coordination training, and combat tactics training.
Individual combat skills training primarily followed the Soldier individual training programs from the Patrol Team period, including Soldier physical training, sword, spear, saber, axe, shield, and hammer training, and optional training in horsemanship, archery, and so on. On training days, Soldiers were required to run five miles, lift weights three hundred times, and wrestle once each morning, noon, and evening to enhance their individual physique; training with sabers, swords, spears, and axes was primarily conducted under the guidance of several Squadron Leaders, as well as Odo, Angus, Lusignan, Klaus, and other officers with outstanding skills in saber, sword, spear, axe, and shield. After the instructors' guidance, Soldiers would pair up for sparring; horsemanship and archery training were not available to every Soldier. Only those Soldiers with certain talents could be selected for horsemanship and archery training. Of course, these selected Soldiers would also enjoy priority in future promotions.
Battle formation coordination training was slightly adjusted from previous training. The three-person battle formation would not play a significant role in grand-scale confrontations, but it held certain advantages when dealing with bandits and small-scale dispersed operations. Therefore, although the three-person battle formation was no longer the primary focus of army training, Art retained it as content for squad training. At the same time, shield formation training became a major part of army training. In head-on confrontations, infantry who could skillfully wield their shields and cooperate to form a solid shield formation could effectively resist enemy arrow volleys and Soldier charges. After practical drills and military discussions, the army's battle formation coordination training improved upon the previous shield formation's single-layered combat effectiveness. The new shield formation added heavy breakthrough infantry. They not only wore heavier armor than ordinary Soldiers (iron, cotton, or leather armor), but their weapons, such as pole hammers, heavy axes, and chain hammers, in addition to swords and spears, also had greater armor-piercing and formation-breaking capabilities than ordinary Soldier weapons. In confrontations, these heavy infantry would serve as the main force for breaking through enemy lines under the cover of the ordinary Soldier shield formation. When a stalemate occurred, they would act as suicide troops, fighting desperately to break through the enemy formation and lead the ordinary Soldiers around them in a charge.
Combat tactics training was a recently established training program, primarily including three aspects:
Military law study, military knowledge study, and casualty treatment study. Military law study informed Soldiers what they could and could not do in the army, establishing over ten offenses that would be severely punished, such as evading battle, disobeying military orders, deserting in battle, privately hoarding spoils of war, causing trouble in the army, and oppressing the innocent. It also announced over ten actions that would be rewarded by the army, such as slaying enemy Soldiers, breaking through enemy lines, capturing enemy Soldiers, surrendering spoils of war, and outstanding performance in training. All of the above constituted military law study. These military laws, after discussion and agreement by several army Commanders, were personally written by Art into a military law manual. Literate officers would lecture Soldiers daily, ensuring that every Soldier understood military law and respected military discipline.
The military knowledge study for ordinary Soldiers was very simple, primarily taught by Odo, Angus, Lusignan, and Klaus. It focused on ensuring Soldiers understood the meaning of some military commands, mastered bugle calls, and understood simple tactics such as surprise attacks, night raids, defense, marching, flank cover, and frontal assault. Of course, it also included learning some of the simplest common texts closely related to marching and warfare.
However, the military knowledge study for officers above the squad leader level was much more in-depth. Military knowledge for officers was personally taught by Art and Angus. They not only had to learn how to train Soldiers and lead charges, but also had to master numerous matters such as how to march, set up camp, establish defensive lines, arrange sentry posts, analyze military intelligence, and ensure army supply. These things were difficult for the officers to accept at once; they didn't think that commanding thirty Soldiers in combat required learning so many complex things. However, Art insisted repeatedly, so everyone had no choice but to sit stiffly around Art, listening and taking notes.
Casualty treatment study was the most actively pursued by Soldiers and officers because their status meant that each of them could be injured in the next battle. How to self-rescue or treat comrades around them and reduce casualties was everyone's greatest concern, as everyone valued their lives. Physician Thomas taught army officers and Soldiers how to identify medicinal herbs that could treat injuries, such as calendula, thistle, nettle, and mugwort, and poisonous and harmful plants like poppy, belladonna, and fly agaric. He taught Soldiers and officers how to treat wounds with fresh honey and how to bandage wounds with linen so that the injured could hold on until a Medical Officer or Medical Officer arrived to treat them. Ordinary Soldiers only needed to learn the most basic first aid, while the Medical Officers of each squadron and the Medical Officers of the Quartermaster Corps, along with all Medical Officers, had to skillfully master casualty treatment techniques under Physician Thomas's guidance.
Another point worth mentioning is the Parish School. The Parish School trained the majority of orphans recruited by the thirteen merchant caravans. Later, Lynn and Lawrence also sent their sons to the school for training. The school fell under the jurisdiction of Civil Affairs officials, but it primarily served as a reserve force for the army.
Similar to the Wood Fort chapel, while Cooper was rushing to build the Lord's Mansion, the construction of the church and school did not stop. Cooper dispatched almost all idle farmers and prisoner laborers from Valley Land to the Wood Fort for construction. When the Lord's Mansion had just completed its foundations, a delicate small church and a spacious school were already largely completed. The small church had three parts—the sanctuary hall used for mass, sermons, prayers, and other rituals; the inner chamber, which also served as a confessional, for believers to confess; and the living quarters and office for the priest. As there was only one clergyman, Hamish, in the entire church, the church was very small. Except for the sanctuary, which was slightly larger and more elaborately decorated, everything else was kept simple.
In contrast to the church, the school was much more spacious. The main body of the school consisted of three parts: in the front was the study hall, which contained a dozen long tables and wooden benches, and a wooden board hung at the front for writing. Each long table had several pieces of birch bark and several charcoal sticks. At the back of the school was a large dormitory for the school apprentices to sleep, which contained about twenty ground beds covered with thick hay, animal skin bedding, and a few tables and chairs for eating. To keep the dormitory warm, a fireplace was built at the far end. Next to the dormitory was a slightly smaller room for the school clerks.
On the day the school was officially established, Art brought the army Commanders and Civil Affairs managers to the school to celebrate with the dozen or so school apprentices. Art told these orphan apprentices that from then on, this Valley Knight Territory would be their new home, and he encouraged the apprentices to study hard and quickly become pillars of the army and Civil Affairs…
In addition to being busy with army training, Art made time every day to visit the Lord's Mansion construction site.
Soon after, Felix, the only son of Baron Sap Galvin, rode his warhorse, accompanied by two chosen personal attendants and a dozen craftsmen recruited from various places, and arrived at Valley Knight Territory…