"These are the people you recruited?" Roland looked at the group of ragged civilians in front of him, his heart filled with the impulse to turn around and leave.
"Your Highness, they were selected according to your requirements," Carter said while counting with his fingers, "Male, non-criminal, over 18 years old, under 40 years old, no physical disabilities … I carefully checked them."
Well, he knew he shouldn't have too many expectations. After all, the productivity of this world was so low that it was difficult to even eat, so it was normal to be poorly dressed. As a prince, the treatment he received made him ignore this point, as long as he walked out of the castle, he could see homeless people begging for a living everywhere. In fact, even in the capital of the kingdom, Graycastle, there would be people who collected corpses – what they did was to drag the bodies of starving people to be cremated every day.
So in the end, what was the fighting mode of this world? Roland closed his eyes and carefully thought about it, hmm … it was probably a little more advanced than a hooligan fight. Generally speaking, when the lord decided to start a war (or a fight – Roland didn't think that this kind of fight could be linked to the word war), he would summon the nobles in his territory, and the nobles would then summon the nobles of the lower level in their territory. For example, the Duke would summon the Count, the Count would summon the Viscount, and the Baron, and so on.
Most of these nobles had a group of Knight and mercenaries as their own personal strength, they were the main force of the battle, basically equipped with full armor and excellent weapons. At the same time, they would also recruit the civilians and farmers in their territory to fight – in fact, it was to deliver food to the army, and when needed, they would rush to the front line as cannon fodder. In the battle, the most casualties were these cannon fodder. In the battle between nobles, as long as they didn't die on the battlefield, they would generally be taken back and exchanged for ransom.
Roland naturally didn't expect the nobles of Border Town to help him fight, in fact, they had nothing to do with Border Town, most of them were Baron enfeoffed by the Lord of Longsong Stronghold, and their territory was also under the jurisdiction of the stronghold.
An army composed entirely of civilians, in this era, was a very imaginative thing. They were stupid and ignorant. They could not understand the documents, could not understand the orders, and had never gone through professional combat training. How could they compare to the Knight who had been practicing swordsmanship since he was ten?
Carter approached Roland and advised in a low voice, "Your Highness, this matter was never feasible. Look at them, which one of them can hold a sword? When they encountered demonic beasts, they would probably scatter in confusion, which would affect the stability of the defensive line. I suggest that we hire professional mercenaries from Willow Town or other places to guard the city walls. These people should be left to do some chores. "
"No, I'll use them," Roland refused. He did not have a good impression of those mercenaries who worked for money. Besides, he did not build the army just to deal with demonic beasts. Throughout history, the members of a strong and vigorous army must come from the people. Whether it was the feudal army, the modern army, or the modern army, they had all proved this rule countless times.
"Alright, whatever you say." The Knight shrugged. "Then I'll start training them how to hold the sword tomorrow. Even though it might not be of much use … "
"Use the sword? No, you first take them to line up and run — "Roland suddenly thought that the Chief Knight might not have experienced this training himself, so he had to change his mind." You call the hunter you found last time, you first watch how I do it. "
*****
Van 'er experienced more incredible things today than he had in the previous twenty years.
He actually saw the 4th Prince of the Kingdom, His Highness Roland Wimbledon, at a close distance. He walked in front of him and smiled at him. My God, is the Prince drunk?
Three days ago, when the 4th Prince gave a speech in the square, he knew that this winter would be different from the past. They would not go to Longsong Stronghold, but would spend the long winter here. He did not understand most of the reasons the Prince had said, but he agreed with this decision from the bottom of his heart. Van 'er's brother had died in the slums of Longsong Stronghold two years ago. There was no food for a whole month. He relied on the few copper coins he earned from unloading goods at the dock to buy some black bread to share with his brother. But it was too cold that winter, and the shacks in the slums were filled with air. This little bit of food couldn't even keep his body warm. After his brother fell ill and fell into a coma, he never woke up.
In Border Town, at least he had a house made of mud bricks, so he didn't have to worry about the heavy snowfall for several days. He also saw that the dock was full of wheat from other places, which was being moved into the castle in batches. Therefore, when Van 'er heard the news that the 4th Prince was recruiting militia, he immediately rushed over.
Of course, the reason that tempted him to give up his gravel work and immediately come to apply for the job was the monthly salary of 10 silver royals. This was already comparable to a skilled clay craftsman! He was not young anymore. Next spring, he planned to marry the tavern maid Sheryl, so he had to save more money.
As for what the militia was supposed to do, he didn't pay attention to it at all. Anyway, they were either carrying things for the nobles or helping the patrols. They would not climb up the wall to fight against the crazy demonic beasts.
The screening process was quite strict, and the eyes of the shining armor Knight made Van 'er feel a little scared. Fortunately, his sturdy physique passed the inspection. Many other scrawny fellows were dragged out of the team by the knights. In the end, there were only a hundred people who came to apply for the job.
But Van 'er never expected that the one who would train them would be His Royal Highness himself!
Those who passed were taken to the grassland in the west of Border Town. Behind them was the city wall that was being built, and in front of them was the endless Concealing Forest.
The prince ordered everyone to stand in line, and then went to the side to rest. It had just rained a few days ago, so the ground was still wet with mud. The water seeped into the soles of his feet through the seams of his shoes, which made him feel uncomfortable. Not to mention that the prince had asked them to stand in an unusual way. Their hands had to be vertically attached to the sides of their thighs, and their backs had to be straight.
Van 'er only stood for a quarter of an hour before he felt exhausted. This was even harder than using a sledgehammer to break stones. But he gritted his teeth and tried to hold on. Because His Royal Highness had said that whoever moved would lose an egg for lunch. My God, he hadn't tasted an egg for a long time. Apparently, the people around him also thought the same. Although they staggered, most of them persisted.
Until the prince announced that they would rest on the spot, Van 'er found that his back was full of sweat, and the whole time he stood was not long, at most half an hour. Those who didn't persist until the end were annoyed, as if they could see the round eggs getting away from them.
But Van 'er didn't quite understand, what was the use of them practicing this? Could they carry more bags of dry food just by standing?
If it weren't for His Royal Highness who was training them, he would have already shouted.
He didn't expect that after a short rest, His Royal Highness would announce a second order that was even stranger. He asked everyone to continue to stand in line, and this time, if no one moved, they would all have an extra egg for lunch. As long as one person gave up, everyone would lose the opportunity to have an extra egg.
Van 'er heard the sound of people swallowing their saliva.
Hell, is this a popular trick among the nobles of the kingdom? Using a carrot to make everyone run around in circles, he's not a stupid donkey!
… But in case, in case everyone could do it, wouldn't they have two eggs to eat?
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