It was early March, and the weather had already begun to warm up.
By the stream in front of Valley Wood Fort, Tuba, accompanied by two Soldiers, trudged over. He bent down and buried his head in the stream, desperately drawing the cool water into his parched mouth until his belly was full. Only then did he slowly raise his head and collapse onto the grass beside the stream. The two Soldiers beside Tuba were already too exhausted to even crawl to the stream for a drink.
Not long after, a few more figures stumbled along the stream bank towards Tuba and his companions.
"Tu-ba," said the red-faced man who had been drinking fruit wine at the Tinietz Free Market, spitting out a bloody phlegm. "Why does our Lord torment us so much? I've run until I'm spitting blood! I should have gone to Officer Ron to be a cavalryman." He tried to crawl towards the stream.
Tuba gasped, "Colin, didn't you hear Lord Odo? Last year, they were chased by a group of bandits in the forest for an entire afternoon. The more we run now, the more likely we'll be able to escape if we can't win in the future. Besides, haven't you seen how harshly Officer Ron trains that fellow Jason?"
"Yeah, Officer Ron is even harder on himself."
Art and Odo followed behind the desperately fleeing group, each carrying a large wooden club. Any Soldier they caught up to was immediately struck with a club.
Odo and the others were also on the verge of collapsing. Since after lunch today, until the sun began to set in the west, they had chased the Soldiers back and forth between the Wood Fort and the edge of the northern dense forest. Several weaker Soldiers had already collapsed on the way, and a night of hunger without food awaited them.
Odo slowed his pace of chasing and hitting the Soldiers, coming to Art's side and panting, "Lord, I'm afraid our Soldiers can't take this kind of training. Besides, will we still be chased for an entire afternoon now?"
Since the heavy casualties suffered by the Soldiers in the last engagement at Wincheston Manor, Art had been exploring better battle formations. In the end, Art still hadn't found a formation suitable for the current Patrol Team. However, Art was certain that this was an era where combat relied on physical strength. The reason they ultimately won the last battle was largely because his Soldiers were all hardworking, long-suffering men who were accustomed to hardship. Their combat skills were not good, but their physical strength was far superior to their opponents'.
"Odo, do you think I'm really training the Soldiers to escape? I'm using this method to train their physical strength and endurance. We can only use stronger physical strength to compensate for the Soldiers' individual combat skill deficiencies. Besides, we only have this kind of training once every three days. I've already instructed Emma to add more meat to dinner so everyone can eat well."
On the timber pile in the open space of the Wood Fort, seven or eight black-painted oak round shields were neatly laid out, waiting to dry. Old Carpenter Bard and Old Butler Cooper were making the round shields together. They used hand axes, wood saws, chisels, and planes to fashion dried oak, elm, and other high-quality timbers into planks about one and a half inches thick and of varying lengths. These planks were then joined to two crossbeams with several rivets. Their edges were trimmed and polished into a two-foot diameter circle, then painted black. Finally, a wooden grip and an adjustable leather strap were added between the two crossbeams.
This new batch of wooden round shields was sturdier and more durable than the hastily made ones. However, due to the scarcity of carpenters, the two old men could only produce one such wooden round shield at most per day. This speed was still only possible because a lot of timber had been left over from previous road construction, saving the step of collecting wood.
Bard, while chiseling holes in a crossbeam, asked Cooper, who was trimming the edges of a round shield beside him, "Old Butler, why do you think the Lord doesn't make square shields? Those are much faster to make and can cover the entire body."
Cooper put down his plane, picked up a half-finished wooden shield, felt its rough edge, and looked up to answer, "The Lord said that square shields are too clumsy and their four corners would hinder the thrusting of weapons. This kind of round shield, however, doesn't have that problem. If these round shields, firmly fixed together with rivets, were also inlaid with an iron boss in the center, had their edges wrapped with iron strips, and their surfaces covered with leather, they would be even sturdier. But we don't have the capability for that right now, so we can only join them with rivets and wooden beams for now."
Inside Cooper's small wooden house in the Wood Fort courtyard.
The sounds of hammering, chopping, sawing, and planing from outside woke Simon, who was lying on the wooden bed. He struggled to sit up and leaned against the wooden wall, his right hand clutching his empty left sleeve. Simon, who had been lying on this bed for over twenty days, was utterly disheartened. For years, he had survived solely on his strength and his fearless, aggressive nature in combat. He had followed this Patrol Officer north, partly to escape disaster and partly hoping to forge a future with him. But now, all that was gone. Without an arm, Simon felt like a useless person. He couldn't farm or trade, and he felt that expulsion and wandering awaited him...
Camille, Officer Ron's younger sister, ran from the Wood Fort's private courtyard to the open space in front of the large wooden house, holding a handful of hay for the goats. "Grandpa Butler, Uncle Simon is out of bed again."
"That troublesome fellow!" Cooper threw down his work and followed Camille into the small courtyard. Seeing Simon, whose injuries had just begun to heal, out of bed again and risking his health, he quickly went to help the one-armed man. "Simon, why are you out of bed again? Your wound has just scabbed over with great difficulty; if you move like this, it will crack open again."
"Old Butler, I really can't stand this kind of life anymore. What's the difference between lying in bed all day and being a dead man?"
"Old Butler, please let me go," Simon pleaded with Cooper, his voice choked with tears. "Rather than staying here like a beggar waiting for charity, I'd rather go out and be eaten by wild wolves."
Cooper's face grew darker and darker, and he reprimanded loudly, "Are you still a man? Flaunting yourself like a hussy all day long. What's wrong with no arm? Are you starving or freezing to death because you have no arm? It's not hard to die; living is what's difficult. You coward, and to think my Lord still plans to reuse you!"
"Reuse me?" Simon, who had been listening with his head bowed, thought he had misheard.
...
"Yes, reuse you." Art sat on the wooden stool in front of the bed, speaking to Simon, who was lying in bed.
"I'm sure Old Butler has already told you, I plan to station some Soldiers and set up a sentry post in the border area from Tinietz to Provence. Firstly, it will be convenient for us to control law and order in the border region. Secondly, it's also to collect entry taxes from passing merchant caravans and peddlers, and to obtain inexpensive goods from them. Furthermore, traveling merchants and travelers are the most well-informed, and we can collect news from various places, north and south, through this sentry post. However, this matter is not urgent. Now, with war in the south and rampant bandits in the north, no merchant caravans or peddlers are willing to trade in the north. Plus, your injury hasn't fully healed, and my team also lacks Soldiers, so we'll have to wait a while longer."
"During this time, you should rest and recover in the Wood Fort. Once you're healed, help Old Butler with some tasks. When the time is right, I'll arrange this matter."
"Additionally, I will retain your Combat Squad Leader salary and benefits."
The worried expression on Simon's face finally relaxed. He choked up and struggled to get out of bed. "Lord~"
Art stopped Simon, who was about to kneel in gratitude, and said, "Simon, I told you I wouldn't mistreat anyone who has shed blood for me..."
While the two inside were talking, in the large open area outside the Wood Fort, Odo was holding a wooden club, supervising the Patrol Soldiers as they conducted their improved battle formation training. He took a few strides to stand in front of a fellow who had advanced ahead of the line formation, and then unleashed a flurry of blows with his club.
"Cooperate, cooperate, cooperate! You're in a battle formation, who the hell told you to run so fast? Are you in a hurry to die? Get back and do it again!"
The beaten Soldier quickly got up, rubbed the spot where he was hit, and returned to the shield formation.
"Retreat formation."
"Roar!"
All Soldiers lowered their round shields, stood their short spears in front of them, and closed ranks into a single line.
"Turn around."
"Roar! Roar!"
They all turned around in unison.
"Form ranks."
"Roar!"
"Advance."
"Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!"
This time, the spear-and-shield line formation's advance was finally more orderly and compact. Odo corrected a few obvious errors in the formation, explained the key points of the movements, and then let each small squad train on their own. "Alright, each small squad, disperse and train the spear-and-shield line formation and individual combat skills."
"First (Second) Squad, follow me." Bass and Kazak stepped out of the ranks and each led their Soldiers to the left and right sides of the open ground.
Lawrence, having completed his basic training, had to rush back to Valley Land to continue organizing the farmers to plough the land. Officer Ron also left with his only Soldier to train separately.
Seeing that the training ground exclusive to the Third Squad was clear, Odo took off the round shield hanging on his back, stepped into the ranks, and approached two Soldiers.
"Spear-and-shield line formation, form ranks."
"Roar!" The six Soldiers of the Third Squad's two Combat Squads stood in a line, two fists apart from each other.
"Defensive charge!"
"Roar!" The six Soldiers raised their round shields to their chests, leaned forward, took a half-step back with their right leg to brace against the ground, and rested their short spears on the upper right edge of their round shields.
"Attack!"
"Roar! Roar! Roar!" The six Soldiers continuously thrust their short spears forward.
"Retreat formation."
"Roar!" The six Soldiers retracted their spears, lowered their shields, and returned to a standing posture.
"Defend against arrows!"
"Roar!" The six Soldiers split into two tightly packed Combat Squads. The Combat Squad Leader half-crouched to protect his chest, while the other two stood and crouched respectively to protect the upper and lower front. From the front, this formation looked like two rows of shield formations, with three shields in each column.
"End defense, prepare to meet the enemy!"
"Roar!" The two Combat Squads in defensive posture reverted to a single line formation, adopting the defensive charge stance.
"Fill the gap!" Odo stepped out of the formation, pretending to be dead and creating a gap in the tight battle formation.
"Roar~" As soon as Odo stepped out, the Soldiers on both the left and right sides moved towards the empty space, filling the gap.
Odo walked through the ranks, came to stand opposite everyone, and nodded with satisfaction, saying, "After more than twenty days of training, you Bastards finally look somewhat presentable. Alright, next we'll do individual combat skills training. Today, I'll teach you how to cut an enemy in half with a battle axe~"
From both sides of the open ground, the sounds of the First and Second Squads' battle formation training could also be heard.
On the unfinished carriage road half a mile north of the Wood Fort, Officer Ron was using dry horse manure to smoke and cure the horn composite bow in his hand, under Jason's guidance.
Officer Ron's eyes were stinging from the thick smoke of the horse manure. "Cough, cough, Jason, will this method work?"
"Officer Ron, these two captured composite bows haven't been used for who knows how many years. The bowstrings and bow limbs have become a bit soft. They must be smoked with horse manure to restore their elasticity." Jason rotated the unstrung bow limbs in his hand, ensuring even smoking.
"I didn't expect you to be so poor at cavalry formations but so familiar with bows and arrows. The Lord said that from now on, you'll serve as our archer, and the Lord will also personally train you and me when he has time."
Jason was the Soldier who had been kicked out by the three small squads. He had fortunately managed to stab an enemy in the encounter at Wincheston Manor, but in the subsequent confrontation, he panicked and forgot the coordination learned during battle formation training. Because he failed to keep up and cover the main attacker in time, the main attacker, Bass, had his right leg punctured by a serf holding a wooden pitchfork. Afterwards, at Bass's strong insistence, Jason was replaced during the new round of Soldier assignments. The other officers, having witnessed Jason's poor performance in training and combat, were unwilling to take in this "troublemaker." However, Art remembered that this young man was a hunter's son and should have some basic archery skills. So, after a big circle, Jason returned to Officer Ron's side to become Art's guard and to be trained as an archer.
Ever since he missed out on becoming a squad leader for the Third Squad, Officer Ron had been pushing himself hard. Every day, he desperately trained his individual combat skills and horsemanship. Since he was Art's direct guard, and Art not only had to supervise and guide Soldier training but also handle affairs in the Wood Fort, Officer Ron could only find time to ask Art to teach him archery, horsemanship, swordsmanship, and shield skills during breaks from concentrated training, and then practice diligently on his own. The military horses in the Wood Fort were needed for training the Soldiers' basic horsemanship, and the donkeys and mules were all taken for plowing the land. So, Officer Ron had to use a large shaggy donkey he had begged for to conduct his individual horsemanship training.
Thus, every day, everyone could see Officer Ron and Jason, having completed their basic training, riding donkeys on this carriage road, wielding long swords and short spears to hack and thrust at the straw figures set up along the road. And the slow-witted Jason would fall off the donkey's back again and again, only to climb back on repeatedly amidst Officer Ron's curses.
The warm spring of the valley quietly arrived amidst the diligent cultivation and arduous training of the Wood Fort residents.