Art and his group of five rode for less than a day and a half before arriving at the Giant Stone Pile in the wilderness. The journey was certainly not peaceful, but a knight in heavy armor with a greatsword and four fully armed light cavalrymen were a force to be reckoned with.
While the bandits and brigands along the way, who had been eyeing them covetously, were still hesitating whether to risk an attack, Art and his companions had already ridden away.
Therefore, they did not encounter any harassment on their return journey.
At the Giant Stone Pile, Ron took a piece of roasted bacon handed to him by Jason and bit off a large chunk, his mouth dripping with grease as he excitedly mumbled, "My Lord, if our Patrol Team were all cavalry, we would never fear those mountain bandits and brigands again.
We'd just gallop past, and those Bastards wouldn't even touch our shadows, haha."
"Ron, do you think cavalry are so easy to obtain? You saw it this time, compared to Dean and his men, our warhorses can at best be considered marching horses or travel horses.
The remaining horses in the Wood Fort are even difficult to use for marching.
This is just for warhorses; there are also cavalry weapons, armor, long spears, horse armor, and the large amounts of fodder and grain consumed daily by warhorses.
The amount of fodder and grain consumed daily by the military horses and mules in the Wood Fort is too immense.
I even had to have the Valley Land organize farmers to harvest pasture grass, and all the black beans we bought from outside were used to feed the horses.
Before the Wood Fort and Valley Land have stable grain income, it will be difficult for us to increase the number of cavalry.
For now, you should focus on training the existing cavalry to be more skilled."
Ron's enthusiasm was dampened.
"However, our team will definitely become larger and larger," Art felt he shouldn't dampen Ron's passion and confidence.
"Ron, I'm returning to Valley Wood Fort this afternoon.
You take Leide and deliver this private letter to Sap Fort.
In the letter, I informed Baron Galvin of my promotion to apprentice knight and reaffirmed my engagement to Miss Lottie.
Additionally, I requested to borrow a batch of weapons, armor, and a few Medical Officers and craftsmen from Baron Galvin.
I guess Baron Galvin won't refuse me, so this time, you two must safely bring these supplies and personnel back to the valley.
Hurry back, we don't have time to delay."
Ron took the order and went to prepare, and soon after, he led Leide on horseback, galloping west...
That evening, Art, accompanied by Jason and the remaining Sentry Cavalry, rushed back to Valley Wood Fort.
Everyone was naturally overjoyed for Art, who had just been promoted to apprentice knight, and spontaneously organized a small dinner to celebrate Knight Art.
Compared to the banquet in Tinietz City, the celebratory dinner at Valley Wood Fort was much more modest—half a roasted wild boar, a large pot of thick meat soup with spices and wild vegetables, a dozen golden-brown roasted rye bread, and a large barrel of homemade wild fruit wine bought from Emma.
All the officers and Soldiers of the Patrol Team and several Wood Fort stewards celebrated through the night...
In the Unnamed Valley, a new round of high-intensity training began.
Since learning that they would participate in the border war between Burgundy County and Swabia Grand Duchy in the eastern region, the Combat Squad Leaders of the Patrol Team had been desperately training their respective squads of Soldiers.
Odo had completely adapted to the role change from laborer to army Commander in the half-year since leaving Lucerne and heading south.
Perhaps it was the habit of commanding and managing developed over many years among his fellow laborers, but his army command and management skills improved by leaps and bounds under Art's guidance.
For years, he had led his fellow laborers from Lucerne in seizing territory and engaging in group brawls; he understood the importance of battle formations and coordination in combat better than most.
Especially after being exposed to Art's military training, he gradually began to realize the methods for forging a powerful army.
Since Art appointed him as the Deputy Captain of the Patrol Team and made him responsible for their daily training, he urged the various Squad Leaders and Combat Squad Leaders to train diligently every day.
He also constantly used examples of his time as a laborer in Lucerne and his battles (brawls) over the past six months to tell the Soldiers the importance of individual combat skills and battle formation training.
"...The principle is that simple: when fighting, if you have even a little more strength in your arm than your enemy, your broadsword can slice into his head.
Conversely, if your arm strength is inferior to your enemy's, you'll have to watch helplessly as his spear pierces your belly.
So, how can you increase arm strength? Besides our daily sparring, the main method is the weight training taught to us by the Lord.
Lift heavy wooden logs two hundred times each morning, noon, and night.
Over time, your arm strength will naturally increase..."
Art wore a light linen tunic and cowhide short boots, with a knight's sword strapped to his waist.
He stood with his arms crossed a short distance away, watching Odo explain the purpose of the training exercises to the Soldiers during a break.
Since returning from his enfeoffment in Tinietz City, Art had temporarily set aside all the trivial matters in the valley, focusing on supervising and guiding the Soldiers' training, enhancing coordination with the Commanders and Soldiers.
Additionally, he personally trained the four Squad Leaders and the four cavalrymen of the Sentry Cavalry.
Besides training individual combat skills and battle formation coordination, the main focus was teaching the Commanders techniques for wartime marching, setting up camp, constructing defensive facilities against enemy attacks, day and night sentry duty, communicating orders in emergencies, sequential withdrawal from battle zones, and identifying enemy situations and analyzing battle conditions.
However, Art also knew that these knowledge exclusive to military nobles could not be fully learned by his Commanders in a short time, so Art could only force them to remember some of the most common and basic things, and then apply and comprehend them through actual combat.
During the intensive training at Valley Wood Fort, Ron and Leide arrived at Valley Wood Fort with two iron-studded leather armors, two broadswords, three battle axes, two chain maces, ten short spears, two hundred arrows, two hundred pounds of refined iron, a Medical Officer, and two blacksmiths temporarily lent by Baron Galvin of Sap Fort.
Additionally, to congratulate Art on his promotion to apprentice knight, Baron Galvin also presented Art with a special set of armor.
The main body of this armor was a full-body chainmail with a hood, gorget, and kneepads.
Many plate armor iron pieces were inlaid on the outside of the chainmail, with large pieces of plate armor protecting the chest, abdomen, and back.
Furthermore, there were armors at the shoulders, knees, and elbows.
This plate-chain composite armor was exquisitely crafted; the riveted chainmail rings were dense and secure, and the plate armor, forged from solid steel, was also very heavy.
Paired with a nasal helmet lined with chainmail padding, this set of armor was much sturdier than Art's own full-body chainmail.
Of course, the price was certainly much higher, and Baron Galvin would probably feel the pinch for a long time after such generosity.
What Art didn't know was that Baron Galvin initially only intended to give Art, his future son-in-law, a high-quality riding horse.
This set of plate-chain composite armor was only given up reluctantly after Miss Lottie's repeated pleas.
Back at the training ground outside the Wood Fort, the Soldiers of the Patrol Team began their individual combat skills training again.
Bas's first squad and Kazak's second squad were practicing combat with two-foot long oak sticks and round wooden shields, with the winner's reward being the loser's portion of roasted bacon at dinner.
Odo was leading his third squad in wrestling.
Tuba, who had recently become a Squad Leader, was driving his fourth squad of Soldiers to run continuously along the edge of the open ground with a stick, and any Soldier he caught would surely receive a hard whack...
On the carriage road leading from the Wood Fort to the edge of the northern dense forest, Art was leading Ron's Sentry Cavalry in practicing mounted combat on the carriage road.
Twelve straw-woven dummies were placed in a long, uneven row along the carriage road.
Art rode on his black warhorse, holding a broadsword in his right hand, his eyes fixed on the long line of straw dummies fifty paces away.
He gently squeezed the horse's flanks, slowly starting forward, his right hand slowly raising the broadsword.
Then, he lightly kicked the horse's flanks with his spurs, and the warhorse beneath him immediately galloped forward at full speed.
The fifty paces were covered in the blink of an eye.
Art's body on horseback leaned slightly to the right, his broadsword rising and falling with his right hand.
The "heads" of the straw dummies were successively cut off.
Art rode for another twenty paces or so before stopping his warhorse.
He looked back and saw that a total of six straw dummies had been "beheaded."
For a well-trained knight, this kill score was not excellent, but for these Sentry Cavalry who had just learned to draw and swing a sword on horseback, five or six out of ten was an insurmountable combat skill.
"When charging the enemy on horseback, you must coordinate your warhorse and your body.
Especially the warhorse beneath you, you must ensure it charges forward along your intended path.
So, when your body is tilted to the side, you must learn to control the warhorse with the hand holding the reins..." Art explained to the Sentry Cavalry beside him, while demonstrating how to swing a sword on horseback by leaning his body to the right and controlling the reins with his left hand.
"Alright, that's it.
Ron, lead everyone to start training."
Everyone began to form a column on the carriage road and slowly charged towards the straw dummies under Ron's leadership...
........
In the evening, Art's voice echoed in the Wood Fort courtyard.
He was teaching combat matters to the Commanders above the Combat Squad Leader rank in his small room.
"...This time, the place we are going to is the eastern defensive region of Burgundy County.
At that time, I will try my best to secure a position on the southeastern border, because it is close to Andermatt Fortress, and we are relatively more familiar with the surroundings.
Coupled with Baron Antayas's care, it will be more favorable for us."
"You must remember, we will be facing well-trained and well-equipped Swabia armies, not bandits or brigands.
We must be fully prepared.
According to what Lord Pierre said, our first task is to defend the eastern front.
Therefore, starting the day after tomorrow, we must incorporate city defense and siege training.
Ron has already found a low cliff in the Valley Land that can serve as a castle defense.
At that time, one of the four squads will defend while the other three attack.
Those who hold the defense will be rewarded, and those who capture it will also be rewarded.
Those who fail to hold or capture will be punished.
Odo, go and prepare for this with everyone, especially the construction of siege ladders."
"Next, I will talk about military order transmission.
First, I want to tell you about the bugle call..."
In the corner of the small room, Tuba, the fourth Squad Leader, listened intently to every word and every combat-related technique Art imparted.
Such military strategy would probably be inaccessible to Tuba his entire life if not personally taught by a Commander with extensive military training like Art.
Moreover, as the weakest in terms of strength and experience among the five Squad Leader-level officers, he cherished every opportunity for progress and improvement.
In the Wood Fort's storeroom, Spencer, the "Kitchen Steward," recently acquired a new task—learning wound treatment techniques from the old Medical Officer Thomas, sent by Lord Galvin.
The old Medical Officer Thomas was an unpopular white-bearded old man.
When he was young, he studied medicine under a quack.
After seven or eight years as an apprentice, he finally became a "barber."
But since a serious illness, Thomas seemed to have changed into a different person.
He began to question traditional medical practices for treating wounds and even started treating patients with strange methods, like those "shamans" in the jungle.
Although he saved many people, he also caused the deaths of many, so gradually, people became unwilling to accept his treatment and threatened to hand him over to the Church Inquisition if he dared to use those evil medicines to treat people again.
Fortunately, Thomas had once saved Baron Galvin's life, and Baron Galvin, compelled by his debt of gratitude, secretly and openly provided protection.
Therefore, when Art proposed to temporarily borrow a Medical Officer from Baron Galvin, Baron Galvin immediately thought of kicking this "menace" out of Sap Fort.
When Thomas arrived at Valley Wood Fort and accidentally discovered Cooper, the Wood Fort steward, secretly grinding forest herbs to treat wounded Soldiers, the gloom in his heart was swept away...
At this moment, he was leading Spencer in sorting out leaves and roots gathered from the forest, sealing the medicinal herbs that could treat illnesses and wounds for future use.
Outside the storeroom, the blacksmith's shop, built using the kitchen's wooden shed, was clanging away.
The blacksmith, who came from Sap to Valley Wood Fort, was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, having just finished his apprenticeship.
His eyebrows and hair were always singed from his constant dealings with charcoal fire and hot iron.
The blacksmith picked up a severely chipped broadsword that could no longer be used, placed it in the furnace to be forged and melted down into single-edged swords, short swords, and iron spears for the fort's peasant-Soldiers.
Although he was not a specialized weapons craftsman, Art still paid him and his apprentice six fenny a day, which was why he was willing to work day and night to forge and repair weapons.