On the last day of June, the weather is already a bit unbearably hot.
Standing on the gentle slope between the valleys, the view is all attractive green and yellow, and the hot afternoon wind blows towards my face with the fragrance of wheat seedlings.
The spring wheat on more than 120 acres of newly cultivated land in the intervalley is almost ready for harvest. According to Cooper and some experienced farmers’ estimates, these 120 acres of cultivated land that have been carefully cared for by farmers can produce Nearly 80,000 pounds of wheat can produce more than 70,000 pounds of grain after shelling. Excluding the wheat seeds that are returned to the wooden castle and reserved for next spring plowing, farmers can still keep nearly 30,000 pounds of grain. Since grain taxes were not paid in the first year, this grain is enough to supply the residents of the castle for a year.
Att, accompanied by Scott and Linn, the new steward of the valley (lower than the steward of the castle) and deputy captain of the defense team, patrolled the valley.
All farmers in the valley are responsible for cultivating the land assigned to each family during busy farming periods. During slack periods, several stewards will coordinate the work tasks. The spring wheat harvest season has not yet arrived, and the farmers are relatively free, so except for a small number of people who are sent to the wooden castle to help with the work and do chores, most of them are continuing to cultivate new wasteland. The wasteland that had been reclaimed earlier and had not had time to sow spring wheat was planted with "cheap wheat" such as oats and rye, or vegetable crops such as peas, beans, cabbage, etc. If there was really no food and vegetable sowing on the newly reclaimed land, it was simply allowed to grow some high-quality pastures such as sweet-scented osmanthus and alfalfa to feed horses and livestock.
Matt came to the wheat field down the gentle slope. He picked up a handful of wheat ears and rubbed open the wheat husks to reveal the white wheat kernels with a slight greenish yellow color inside. He took out the wheat kernels and put them into his mouth to chew carefully. The incompletely ripe wheat kernels were still covered with a layer of slightly sweet syrup.
"Scott, the army is about to go out to fight. During this expedition, I not only took away all the troops in the valley, but also took away the old housekeeper and Lawrence, so you will be able to manage everything in the valley at home. This expedition can be as short as two or three months, or as long as one and a half years, so I need you to take on the heavy responsibility of the valley."
Matt paused, glanced at the harvest-filled valley, and continued: "Scott, you are also a wanderer in a foreign country, and you know very well that the land is extremely important to farmers. Both the wooden castle and this valley were created by so many of us with a drop of blood and sweat. No matter where our army goes, this is our foundation. I now hand over the foundation to You, don't let my soldiers worry about the unstable foundation of the rear while fighting on the battlefield." Scott's expression was serious. His transformation from a refugee who fled with his wife and children to a highly regarded civil officer was all given by the man in front of him and the land in front of him. His love for this land is unquestionable, and his loyalty to Art is also firm. Moreover, his son Ron is also with Art every day. "
“Master, don’t worry, I won’t let you down. I dare not say anything else. When you return in triumph, I will definitely return the valley to your hands intact, even better than now.”
Matt nodded and continued to Scott and the new steward Linn: "While I am leading the army, you two must grasp the two most important things. The first is to organize the grain harvest and land reclamation and cultivation in the valley. You are all experienced in this matter, so I won't say more. The second is to maintain the stability of the valley. The carriage road on the edge of the dense forest in the north will not be repaired for the time being. Pass, use dense forests to shield the outside world, and no one should leave the valley easily. As for the surrounding area of the valley, I have organized soldiers to conduct a thorough inspection within a day's journey of the valley. No signs of human habitation or banditry were found. There should be no hidden dangers in the surrounding area. Except for the peasant soldiers I transferred, you can recruit a few more farmers to come in and the patrol team will be affected. The injured soldiers will be temporarily arranged to join the fort defense team. Together with the two of you, we will make up ten fort protection team peasant soldiers. I will ask Odo to allocate a batch of weapons that have been eliminated by the army. These fort protection team peasant soldiers will definitely be enough for you to maintain the safety of the valley. In addition, I will keep the honest and reliable prisoners of war in the valley for your use. The remaining prisoners of war can give them some freedom. But don’t let them have access to weapons and important supplies for the time being. You can take care of this yourself. In short, if there is a major crisis, you can go to the outpost on the southern border to ask Simon for support. If it still can’t be solved, go to Sapp Castle and ask Baron Galvin for help as a last resort. Of course, I don’t think such a thing will happen..."
Att spent a long time talking to the two of them in the valley. It wasn't until the farmers finished their work and started to go back to the gentle slope village in the valley for lunch that Art stopped talking to the two of them. In the valley, he had a sumptuous lunch cooked by Lawrence's wife alone with the peasants and soldiers of the fort defense team.
In the afternoon, I took Scott and Lynn back to the wooden castle to attend the wooden castle banquet before the expedition...
The soldiers who had been training in the wooden fort in the valley for a whole month were not able to rest. The captains of each squad are leading the soldiers to receive the weapons and equipment of the squad soldiers in the wooden castle arsenal, including six new sets of robes and cloaks, six oak bucklers with iron bars, six seven-foot beech wood short spears, two broad swords, four short swords, two sets of leather armor and iron helmets, six short swords and daggers, and two Tomahawks (or chain hammers, page hammers), six pairs of short boots, and six sets of marching rucksacks for carrying personal items such as felt blankets, whetstones, wooden bowls, water bladders, dry food, etc. In addition, each soldier also needed to carry two rye loaves, five pounds of hulled wheat, a half-pound loaf of bacon, and a small bag of coarse salt. These are items that each soldier needs to carry separately. In addition, each team also has a separate military tent, several felt blankets and camping tools such as shovels, hand axes and wood saws.
The Sentinel Cavalry is also very busy. All Sentinel Cavalry not only need to receive the weapons and equipment of the cavalry, but also need to maintain their own horses before going on an expedition.
As the captain of the sentry team, Ron has been able to skillfully replace the shoes of the war horses, trim the horseshoes, and clean the fur. After a month of careful fattening, the horses of the sentinel team have become strong and strong. The standard weapons and equipment of the sentries are different from those of ordinary soldiers. In addition to the common robes, cloaks, belts, short boots, backpacks, short knives and cutlery, each sentry is equipped with a riding sword (or a heavy weapon such as a long-handled hammer), a ten-foot spear with spear wings, a riding bow (hunting bow), fifty quivers, a leather armor and an iron helmet. In addition to the weapons and equipment provided by individual soldiers, each war horse is also equipped with a full set of saddles, a set of homemade black horse robes, horse feeding bags and small wooden barrels. The horse mattress also carries fifty pounds of black beans and concentrated feed. In addition, the sentry team is also equipped with a large donkey specially designed to carry black beans, wheat bran and refined grains.
In the cargo warehouse, Cooper, Lawrence, and Salt were organizing seven or eight prisoners of war to move the selected goods to the edge of the dense forest in the north of the wooden castle. All the vehicles in the wooden castle were hidden at the edge of the northern dense forest, and all the goods would be loaded there for transportation.
This valley is becoming increasingly prosperous. Two years ago there was only a hunter's thatched hut, but now it is full of people and livestock, and the warehouses are full.
Adding up all the previous seizures and commissions, as well as the money earned from selling southern goods at Sarp Castle, Art already has nearly 35,000 pfennigs. At the moment, Art does not have enough carriages and soldiers to escort the caravan, so he only plans to hand over 10,000 pfennigs to Cooper and Salt. In addition, the funds from the sale of the goods brought out of the wooden castle this time will be the starting funds for Art's business trip. Three thousand pfennigs were given to Scott to maintain the normal operation of the valley and border checkpoints, and the remaining twenty-two thousand pfennigs would be used as Art's expenses for this outing.
· Needless to say, land and food, the valley has always relied on purchasing large amounts of food materials from outside to survive. The surplus grain in the barn can only sustain the consumption of the valley for less than a month after meeting the basic rations carried by the expedition armies and caravans. Fortunately, the wheat in the valley is about to be harvested, so there is no need to worry.
Animal equipment has also been greatly supplemented. Ater has eight military horses (mostly riding horses and draft horses), four working oxen, one draft horse, four mules, two donkeys, two pigs, twelve sheep; six four-wheeled carriages, four two-wheeled pack carts, ten heavy plows, fifty sets of iron farm tools and a large number of iron tools.
There are 85 fort residents from 25 households in the valley (including the fort guard team, doctors, and blacksmiths), 32 army soldiers (including two wounded soldiers), six outpost guards, and 20 prisoners of war who have not been declared free.
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According to the plan, tomorrow is the time for the army to go out. The night before the expedition, in order to boost morale, the wooden castle held a banquet.
When the soldiers learned that they were about to go to the battlefield, they were nervous and somewhat expectant, especially the veterans who had participated in the battle. They had begun to like the thrill of fighting and controlling life and death on the battlefield, and only by fighting could they obtain battle rewards and military rewards.
The officers are also looking forward to the war. Although Art has not yet clearly proposed military promotion, they already know that Art will continue to expand the army in the long term. Only in battle can they gain higher qualifications and prestige, and their status can be naturally improved.
Yate also knew that this expedition was different from previous campaigns to suppress bandits and transport food. This time he was fighting against the well-armed and well-trained Swabian army, and many of them might be buried in a foreign land. For ordinary soldiers, preaching and admiration alone would not be enough to boost their morale, so he announced at the banquet the salaries of the combat troops during their expeditions - 20 pfennigs per week for ordinary soldiers, 25 pfennigs for combat team leaders, 30 pfennigs for squad leaders, and 40 pfennigs for deputy captains. Other personnel who enjoy related benefits will be paid accordingly. The salary of an ordinary soldier is higher than that of an ordinary craftsman in the city, and all food and lodging are provided by the army. Of course, morale is high.
After the dinner, Art convened all the commanders above the squad leader, the fort steward, and the captain of the fort defense team to hold a military meeting in his cabin. As more and more people attended the meeting, Art's cabin became a little crowded.
Att moved the armchair to the wooden bed and sat down, looking around at the people in the room. They were military or civil affairs commanders and managers, and they were also the backbone and hope of Ate's growth.
With the long table in the room as the boundary, everyone sat on the left side of the door, Odo, Ron, Bass, Kazak, and Tuba, and on the right side sat Cooper, Scott, Lawrence, Salter, and Linn. This seating arrangement was not intentional by Art. It was just because Art used to have Cooper and Odo sit on opposite sides to facilitate questioning, so everyone gradually formed the custom of military and civilian officials sitting on opposite sides, which was convenient.
Att coughed several times and cleared his throat. Seeing that everyone was quiet, he said: "Everyone, today, except Brother Simon at the border post, all the military and civil affairs officers of our valley wooden castle and patrol team have gathered together. We will not have such an opportunity to gather together quietly for a long time in the future. There are many military expeditions and caravans accompanying the army. We have discussed the matter many times, so I won’t go into details. Today I want to boost everyone’s morale. Everyone in the room was a little surprised. In the past meetings held in the wooden house, Art was straight to the point, listening to the managers report on their respective matters or arranging military and civilian affairs. Today, Art did not arrange any affairs.
Matt raised his hand, stared at the crowd and said, "Don't be surprised, I have told some of you some things, and some of you can guess what I want to say."
Matt paused and said: "I am a descendant of a declining noble, with the important task of revitalizing my family and clearing the shame. In the early winter of last year, I learned that Lombardy and Provence were at war in the south, and I felt that the opportunity had come. So for more than a year, I have been recruiting farmers and soldiers, and I have been running around to fight, in order to struggle to find a way out of the troubled times..."
"Now, I have been entrusted by the court to be canonized as a trainee knight by Viscount Pierre. Although I do not have a title or fief yet, nor can I change your civilian status, but if I can achieve military exploits during this expedition, I may be officially canonized as a knight and enjoy the title and fief. When the time comes, everyone who follows me and bleeds desperately will be honored with me..."
"Everyone, the wind is rising in the valley, winter is coming, come with me to fight out the red dawn!"
shall shall I serve you! should shall be required to serve the Lord .