Art arranged the Valley Wood Fort’s key tasks for the near future, then turned to Odo and the others.
“Odo, tell us about the Soldiers’ situation.” Art’s voice was noticeably no longer as relaxed as before.
Odo was still feeling guilty about the Ambush of the Soldier in Wincheston Manor, “My Lord, Ambo’s death was all my fault, I don’t deserve to be this Deputy Captain~”
“Odo, let bygones be bygones. You can blame yourself, but don’t dwell on it. Remember this lesson.”
“Keep going.”
Odo adjusted his emotions, perked up, and said, “Yes! My Lord. In this battle at Wincheston Manor, we had one casualty, one severely wounded, and three lightly wounded. Bass’s leg was also injured, totaling six casualties. Almost everyone on the team was injured, but our results were also good. Facing several times our number, we killed four enemies on the spot and knocked down eight. Among them, the First Squad’s Second Combat Squad performed excellently, and Ron was also very brave. Currently, there are eleven Soldiers who can still fight, and the two more seriously injured should be able to rejoin the team after a period of treatment. In terms of spoils of war, in Wincheston, we captured a set of iron-plated leather armor, a greatsword, two iron chain shackles, a lance, two armed swords, two longbows, two kite shields, three short spears, and three short swords, as well as a black warhorse. I tallied it up, and currently, all our weapons and military supplies can barely equip eighteen light infantry, two light cavalry, and four archers. However, after this battle, we are no longer suitable for going out to Suppression mountain bandits and vagrants before we replenish our troops and intensify training. My Lord, I have finished my report.”
After Odo finished speaking about the Patrol Team, Art added, “Regarding finances, I’ll add that we received over four thousand fenny from Tinietz City twice, and we captured about seventy-five hundred fenny in Wincheston, plus a small amount of silver. Including what we had before, we now have nearly fourteen thousand fenny. This money can support our Valley Wood Fort and the Patrol Team for a year, and after the autumn harvest, the Fort residents can support themselves, so our money can last for nearly two years.”
“My Lord, making money through battle is fast. If we could encounter a few more Winchestons, we could support even more Soldiers.” Bass, after hearing Art’s words, swept away his gloom and stood up excitedly, saying.
“Bass, it’s best if we don’t encounter incidents like Wincheston Manor again. This time we took the money, grain, and supplies from the Manor. I don’t know if the Lord Deputy of the Court’s wrath will fall upon us. Although I have asked Bishop Olov to help us, disaster might be approaching. But since we’ve done it, don’t be afraid. We’ll do what we need to do.”
After Art finished speaking, he saw Kazak, who was sitting in the corner, somewhat silent, so he asked, “Kazak, do you have anything to add?”
Kazak, changing his usual carefree demeanor, raised his head and answered heavily, “My Lord, in this battle, my squad suffered the heaviest casualties. One leader was severely wounded, basically crippled, and one assistant was also killed. I now deeply regret not training them as fiercely as Odo and Bass. Therefore, I think our future training should be even harsher, letting everyone endure more blows during peacetime, which is always better than enduring knife wounds on the battlefield.”
Art nodded heavily and said, “Yes, these are lessons learned with blood. You all should go down and summarize experiences and lessons with the Soldiers, especially the problems that arose during this sudden battle. For example, our three-man battle formation has obvious flaws. In a three-man battle formation, three people can only attack one target simultaneously, lacking effective offensive power. Moreover, as the main attacker of the three-man battle formation, their stamina is limited. Once the battle reaches a stalemate and the main attacker runs out of stamina, the three-man battle formation loses its attacking power. Furthermore, from a defensive standpoint, a three-man battle formation is exposed on three sides. If any defensive side is compromised, the remaining people will be exposed to the enemy’s swords, axes, and spears. This time, Simon of the Fourth Combat Squad was cut off at the arm by the enemy taking advantage of their weakness because his left-wing assistant was injured and lost protection during a fierce battle, and no timely replacement was provided.”
Facing the current flaws in the Patrol Team’s military formations and training, Art was temporarily unable to come up with a perfect solution. He originally thought that the three-man battle formation he had devised by drawing on later generations would play a huge role, but in an era where “stamina is combat power,” this kind of military formation was clearly somewhat ill-suited. Art had already noticed its flaws in offense and defense during his time as an official in the Tinietz martial Arts competition, but he didn’t expect the flaws to be so significant. However, with too few Soldiers under his command, even the best formation couldn’t be assembled, so besides using the common spear-and-shield line formation of this era, he couldn’t think of a better formation for the time being.
“The dispersed three-man battle formation will only serve as our auxiliary military formation in the future, only conducted in new recruit training, and primarily used in combat for chasing remnants and scattered engagements. However, the Combat Squad’s prepared by will remain temporarily, but Combat Squads generally will not operate independently. We will use a six-person squad composed of two Combat Squads as the basic combat unit. In the future, our military formation training will focus on the dense spear-and-shield line formation (referred to as the shield formation). However, our shield formation also has a flaw, which is that the thickness of the shield formation is not enough. Relying on only one row of shield-bearing Soldiers can easily lead to exhaustion, and there is no reinforcing support behind them. The solution to this problem will have to wait until we have enough Soldiers in the future, then we can increase the number of shield formation rows, as well as formation changes and front-to-back rotation and replenishment…”
“Everyone, there are certainly many such flaws in our training and military formations. These all need to be improved through our daily training and combat. I will personally undertake the task of improving the battle formation training this time. You all should also think more about it after you leave.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Bass, do you have anything else to add?”
“My Lord, the weather is about to turn warm. Not only do we need to start patrolling for security, but we also have to go to Andermatt Fortress to assist in the suppression, and from the performance in this battle, our Soldiers’ manpower and combat power are probably still insufficient~” Bass raised the issue of the Patrol Team’s insufficient manpower and low combat power.
“Hmm, the problem Bass raised is also the current problem of our Patrol Team. How about this, tomorrow you go and ask the three young men who came back with us last time if they are willing to join our Patrol Team. If they are, incorporate them. In addition, I will also go out to recruit Soldiers.”
Art paused, then continued, “Everyone performed generally well in the Wincheston Manor battle. You are with me, so I cannot let you shed blood and sweat in vain. This time, we gained some spoils of war in Wincheston, and I want to distribute military rewards to everyone. Ordinary Soldiers will receive thirty fenny each, Combat Squad Leaders fifty fenny, and officers above Squad Leader sixty fenny; besides these, the wounded will receive an additional twenty fenny. Soldiers who kill one enemy will be rewarded fifty fenny, and officers who kill one enemy will be rewarded thirty fenny. Odo, you will handle this matter. In the future, military rewards will be based on this standard, according to the amount of spoils captured.”
Odo accepted the order.
“Now I order that the Patrol Team rest for one month in Valley Wood Fort. During this month, you all must train the Soldiers fiercely for me, because we are about to face stronger and fiercer enemies.”
“Bass, tomorrow you and Ron will accompany me to the southern border again to recruit displaced people and Patrol Team Soldiers.”
“Odo and Kazak will train the Soldiers in the Wood Fort.”
“Lawrence, you must also participate in the basic training of the Patrol Team during this idle time before sowing begins, and then train the Fort Guard farmer-Soldiers during the agricultural off-season.”
The few people stood up and assented.
…………
Art led Bass and Ron to encamp on the north-south trade route west of the Giant Stone Pile for two days. From the displaced people fleeing north, he selected six households totaling seventeen displaced people and five somewhat robust single men. These single men were weaker than the new recruits recruited in Kitzby City last time, as those young and strong men could always find a way to survive, and would not choose to flee north to a foreign land unless absolutely necessary.
Valley Wood Fort welcomed another group of new residents.
Art handed the displaced people over to Cooper for settlement, and after registering the newly recruited men along with the three strong men brought back last time, he formed a New Recruit Squad. Odo personally took charge of their training for six days, then, according to their training performance, mixed them with the previous Soldiers and re-formed six Combat Squads and three Squads.
Art’s wooden house, which had become the Fort’s council hall. A long wooden table occupied most of the room, with seven or eight wooden stools around it. A high-backed chair was placed at the head of the table, facing the door.
Art, seated in the high-backed chair, announced the grouping and assignment of all Soldiers in the Patrol Team: Squad Leader Bass for the First Squad, Squad Leader Kazak for the Second Squad, and Deputy Captain Odo concurrently serving as Squad Leader for the Third Squad.
“Everyone, the distribution of Soldiers is as such. The one extra Soldier will temporarily be assigned to Ron, to serve as my personal guard.”
Art then said to Odo, who was sitting to his right at the head of the table, “Odo, you are now the Deputy Captain of the Patrol Team and concurrently the Squad Leader of the Third Squad. You must not only manage military pay and weapon supplies and enforce military discipline, but also diligently train the Third Squad.”
Odo was very happy. Originally, as Deputy Captain, he had many duties and a relatively high status, but he didn’t have any actual Soldiers under his command. Now, his appointment as Squad Leader of the newly formed Third Squad fulfilled his wish.
Ron, who was sitting near the entrance of the wooden table, was somewhat silent. He had always thought he would become a Squad Leader this time, but he missed out last time, and this time he missed the opportunity again. Although Art had spoken to him about it beforehand, he still couldn’t help but look disheartened.
Noticing Ron’s mood, Art spoke to comfort him, “Ron, you don’t need to be discouraged. Think about how few people we had when you first came to the Wood Fort? And how many do we have now? You have to admit the gap between you and Odo and the others. You should strive to catch up to them now, instead of pouting like a woman.”
Art had too few reliable people around him, but Ron was still young and not strong in combat, making it difficult for him to gain respect. So, Art had no choice but to keep him by his side for continued training and development.
In the following period, the sounds of Soldier training shouts and the dull thuds of sticks hitting flesh echoed daily in the Wood Fort.