In Tinietz, the armies that were conscripted to assemble in Besançon to the north arrived one after another.
The Patrol Team, whose station was the furthest, had already been camped in the temporary military camp outside Tinietz for a day, but the merchant's son named Dean had not arrived.
It wasn't because he himself was unwilling to go on the expedition, but because many of the temporarily recruited vagrants and serfs had scattered.
It turned out that a month ago, in order to bring enough troops to Tinietz to be enfeoffed as a Squire, Dean had tricked a group of vagrants and serfs into following him to Tinietz.
However, later, a few vagrants learned that they would have to follow Dean north to serve or even fight, and out of fear of war, they incited other serfs and vagrants to flee...
At this moment, Dean was frantically recruiting vagrants and farmers everywhere, and even many of his family's merchant caravan guards had been pulled into the expeditionary force.
After camping for a day in Tinietz with several other armies, the Patrol Team's Soldiers truly felt the strength of their own military discipline and combat power.
There was no need to mention Viscount Pierre's County City Garrison Army; they were Tinietz County's standing professional corps Soldiers, supported by the Court and the entire Tinietz County's supplies and money, and received strict daily training, so their combat power would naturally not be weak.
However, this standing army, which numbered only about a hundred, was Tinietz County's last line of defense; unless the enemy invaded on a large scale, they would not easily leave Tinietz County City to fight.
The armies conscripted by the other three Squires were vastly different.
Squires inherently had no territory or people, and no one to serve in their military, so Squires had to recruit everywhere.
These temporarily recruited Soldiers were mostly vagrants fleeing disaster, local bankrupt farmers, or even forcibly conscripted serfs.
They were physically weak and shabbily dressed.
Except for a few Squires' attendants who were barely equipped with spears, short swords, and leather armor and iron helmets, most of the temporarily conscripted Soldiers' weapons were short iron spears, wooden spears, or even wooden flails, wooden forks, and machetes and clubs.
Their camps were also in a mess.
Squires and their attendants brought their own military tents, but no one cared for the temporarily conscripted Soldiers.
Aside from receiving a few bowls of life-sustaining wheat paste from their superiors twice a day, they were left to fend for themselves.
During each meal, the aroma of wheat and meat wafting from Art's Patrol Team would attract a large number of drooling temporarily conscripted Soldiers to watch, but the fully armed sentries around the Patrol Team's camp made these poor fellows only able to look on and retreat.
On the first Sunday of July, Dean's army finally arrived in Tinietz.
Dean's army was much stronger compared to the armies of the other three Squires.
Firstly, because the weak and timid vagrants and serfs had all fled, leaving only the slightly stronger Soldiers.
Secondly, to make up the numbers, he had drawn seven or eight guards from his own merchant caravan into the northern expeditionary force.
Lastly, because Dean was quite wealthy, his conscripted army had a small amount of pay and ample food supplies.
After the conscripted armies had all arrived, Viscount Pierre appeared.
He brought Tinietz's scribe to register each conscripted army one by one.
The conscripted army this time consisted of over a hundred Soldiers and forty-odd military porters brought by five Squires.
This troop quota was quite a bit more than the number of troops the Court requested Squires in Tinietz County to provide, so Viscount Pierre was very satisfied.
The result of Viscount Pierre's satisfaction was that the armies stationed outside the city each received half a pig from the city and two barrels of inferior fruit wine, which was the only material supply the conscripted armies received from Tinietz County.
On the military service roster document, Art brought five cavalrymen and an accompanying merchant caravan.
There were many armies that brought Quartermasters and porters, but it was rare to see one specifically bringing an accompanying merchant caravan on an expedition.
However, Viscount Pierre did not make things difficult for Art on this issue and readily issued a certificate for the military supply convoy.
With this certificate, the accompanying merchant caravan could pay less or even be exempt from various business taxes within Burgundy County.
“Art, your army clearly has twenty-five heavy infantrymen and ten military porters, so why did you only report five cavalrymen?”
Viscount Pierre did not understand why Art underreported the numbers, because the Court determined the rations for each army based on the reported numbers of each army.
Many Commanders falsely reported their troop strength to embezzle rations, but Art underreported his troop strength.
Art pointed to the Soldiers who had not been registered and said, “My Lord, the Court has already stated that this expedition requires self-funded military pay.
I cannot receive a salary from the Court, nor do I expect the meager food and fodder provided by the Court.
I have now gathered five armed cavalrymen; the rest are all troops I hired in my personal capacity.
This way, the Court can only command my five cavalrymen.
I don't need to give the Court another batch of heavy infantrymen that can be conscripted, lest my infantry be used as cannon fodder by those Commanders.
Moreover, among the heavy infantry, there are merchant caravan guards, and among the remaining heavy infantry, eleven were entrusted to me by Baron Galvin of Sap Fort to be assembled in the County.
They are not my Soldiers.
Furthermore, a Squire having too many troops can easily cause misunderstandings; I don't want people to be suspicious of me.”
Viscount Pierre glanced at those Soldiers, who were clearly Soldiers of Art's Patrol Team.
He scorned in his heart and said, “Galvin, that coward.
I thought this time he would at least bring a few Soldiers to Tinietz to put on a show and deal with it, but I didn't expect him to still be a softy.”
Art wanted to explain that Galvin also had to deal with his liege's military service and therefore could not personally come to the County to serve, but Viscount Pierre clearly did not want to discuss it further.
Viscount Pierre glanced at Art and chuckled, “Are you acting as a wandering knight now?
Hiring yourself out as a mercenary everywhere?
You took Galvin's money for suppressing bandits in southern Sap last time, didn't you?”
Art did not deny it.
He did not feel ashamed of taking money to do work.
“Viscount, as you can see, my Patrol Team has strong and excellent Soldiers, excellent weapons and equipment, and ample material supplies.
The Court and the County have not paid me much in terms of money, grain, or supplies.
These things all need to be resolved by myself.
Moreover, I actually do the work when I take the money!”
Viscount Pierre did not really mean to blame Art.
He patted Art's shoulder and said, “Art, I am just reminding you that you are a Knight, even if you are a Squire, you should cherish the honor of a Knight.”
“Thank you for the reminder, My Lord.
However, since we are on the subject, I still need to tell you that you once promised me money and weapons and supplies in exchange for mountain bandits and vagrants.
I haven't forgotten about that...”
On Monday, the conscripted armies departed from Tinietz.
Viscount Pierre personally led a force of over one hundred and fifty people from Tinietz's North Gate towards the Besançon Court.
For Burgundy County, which had not experienced war for many years, an army of over one hundred and fifty people was already considered a considerable size.
Along the way, many villages and villagers left their thatched huts to gather on both sides of the road to watch.
Some astute small vendors seized the business opportunity, carrying baskets and pushing carts, following behind the northbound army, hawking fruits, vegetables, chickens, ducks, fish, geese, smoked meat, fresh eggs, and other goods they had purchased from the countryside.
Art's army brought a lot of grain, smoked meat, and Quartermasters, but for fruits, fresh vegetables, fresh eggs, chickens, and ducks, Art still ordered some to be purchased.
When they camped at night, several scantily clad professional women, drawn by the scent of silver coins, followed the army.
They lingered around the camp, waiting to do some business with Soldiers who secretly snuck out of the camp.
Spencer, who had been officially promoted to Quartermaster of the Patrol Team, had been very busy lately.
He was not only responsible for the daily meals of the army's thirty to forty Soldiers and laborers, setting up camp, assisting the Medical Officer in treating the wounded, tallying and distributing military pay, and many other miscellaneous tasks, but also had to manage the two accompanying prisoner laborers assigned to him.
In addition, before the accompanying merchant caravan separated from the army, he also had to be responsible for the caravan's food, drink, and lodging.
Spencer, who originally could not stand the hardships of training and the slaughter of the battlefield, was now even more tired.
However, perhaps because he had been a merchant apprentice, he was quite adept at these trivial chores in the army and did them with some semblance of professionalism, so Art made him the Quartermaster, a position on par with a combat leader.
At this moment, Quartermaster Spencer was directing two prisoner laborers to cook for the Soldiers and the merchant caravan.
He held half a carrot he had swiped from a small vendor, crunching it loudly in his mouth, and haughtily said to the laborers busy by the bonfire, “You two scoundrels listen up.
Following me is God's favor upon you.
Look how hard and tired those laborers sent to cut trees, dig ditches, and build the camp are.
You two only need to pick firewood, make fires, cook, and lend a hand here, and you'll even have the chance to eat a couple more bites of hot food.
If you perform meritorious service, I will even go to the Lord and ask for your freedom to be restored.
Where else can you find a superior like me?”
The two prisoner laborers were, of course, extremely grateful to Spencer.
Spencer picked out food scraps from his mouth with his thumb, no longer paying attention to the two fellows by the bonfire, and turned to look at the busy Soldiers and eight prisoner laborers around the camp, muttering, “There are no enemies around, so why bother building a camp?”
...
Around the Patrol Team's camp, a pit was dug every foot, and sharpened wooden stakes four feet long were inserted into each pit, one after another.
The wooden stakes surrounded the entire camp, leaving only a six-foot-wide camp gate.
Art checked whether the wooden stakes were firm while saying to the Commanders beside him, “Don't question me for making you practice building camps.
Even when we suppress bandits on a daily basis, our camps have been attacked by bandits and vagrants, and this expedition faces an enemy army.
If you don't practice more now, you won't know how to set up camp on the battlefield.”
Art touched a sharpened wooden stake made of rotten wood, turned his head, and asked, “Who found the wood for this section of the fence?”
Kazak, blushing, stepped forward and replied, “My Lord, our squad found it.
I thought there was no enemy situation around and no one would attack the camp, so I didn't choose carefully.”
“Take your men and find ten sturdy pieces of wood in the forest and bring them back.
The second squad is not allowed to drink meat broth for dinner.”
Art kicked the wooden stake, breaking it, and walked directly towards his military tent.
Kazak, full of shame, waited until Art left, then roared at the Soldiers in his squad, “Didn't you hear?
All of you, go cut trees!”
...
Internal Affairs Knight Jerry, standing at the entrance of a military tent not far from the Patrol Team's camp, said to Viscount Pierre, “My Lord, what do you think this Art is trying to do?
He keeps tormenting his Soldiers all day long, and those fellows still listen to him.”
Pierre smiled and replied, “I've already found out.
Even his ordinary Soldiers receive twenty fenny in weekly pay, and Commanders receive even more.
If you can offer such high military pay, people will listen to you too.”
The Internal Affairs Knight asked incredulously, “Such high military pay?
And he supplies weapons, equipment, food, and supplies!
Where does this guy get so much money and supplies from???”
Viscount Pierre shrugged and turned to enter the military tent.