Because of the wedding and the construction of the territory, Art diverted too much energy to the general affairs of the territory during this time. After the wedding, he spent a week of tired but happy time with his new wife Lottie at the Valley Wood Castle Mansion, and Art returned to his usual busy schedule.
In the official room on the first floor of the newly built knight's residence, Art took a letter sent from the city of Tyniec and said to Angus and Odo: "Viscount Pierre rejected my proposal to appoint you as a trainee knight."
After hearing Art's words, Odo and Angus did not feel too much loss.
Att also guessed this result when he submitted the letter requesting to be canonized as a trainee knight to Tyniec County. In this era, it is not that easy for civilians without a prominent background or noble birth to obtain a trainee knight title without a lord or land. Art was lucky enough to obtain the title of trainee knight only because he was the son of a baron, with so-called aristocratic blood, and he caught up with the opportunity of the county's urgent need for combat troops.
Although Odo and Angus also achieved military exploits in the war between the East and Swabia, it is obvious that these military exploits have not yet met the conditions for them to break through the "noble barrier".
After all, Angus has rich experience and he understands the psychology of the great nobles relatively well. "My lord, the palace has become more and more strict on the canonization of knights. You are only a newly knighted knight. If you are eager to canonize knights to expand your power, I am afraid that even the palace will It will not be allowed, and the surrounding lords will not tolerate the emergence of more and more powerful forces around them..."?
At also felt that his reckless move of rushing to ask for "acknowledgement" for his subordinates without careful consideration was a bit inappropriate. But at present, he needs his people to work hard for him. If he cannot let them see a real way to be promoted, I am afraid that over time, his people will have grudges.
"I was too impatient and thought poorly. I just wanted to find a ladder for you to get promoted, but now it seems that this ladder is not as easy to climb as imagined." Art shook his head with a wry smile and put down the letter in his hand.
"Sir, thank you for always thinking of us. Being able to follow a lord like you is the greatest honor in our lives."? Odo said excitedly.
Matt looked at Odo and said with a smile: "Odo, when did you learn to say these nice words? The glory can't be given to you for the time being, but the bleeding and desperate things are waiting for you to follow me."
The two knew that Art was about to start making big moves again, so they sat up straight and waited for Art's order.
“Last month, the caravan encountered a lot of troubles when it went out to purchase wedding materials. The most serious problem was the rampant banditry. Since the outbreak of war in the east last year, bandits in Tyniec have become more and more rampant. Now the number of bandits with more than 20 people in the county has increased to more than ten groups, and there are even more sporadic bandits. The caravan is carrying goods On the way back, we were attacked by two waves of bandits. One of the caravan guards was killed and two were seriously injured. The caravan guards were a little shaken. Two timid guys asked Salt to be transferred from the caravan. Some time ago, I was busy with the wedding and had no energy to pay attention to these wild dogs and wolves. Now that the wedding is over, it is time for our army to go out and exercise."
Angus said angrily: "That is, last week I took the sentry team to escort the guests back to Sap. On the way back, I encountered a lot of sporadic bandits and bandits. When the sentry team was camping, they were almost attacked by a group of bandits. If Lusignan hadn't discovered it early, If there is an abnormality, the sentry team may suffer casualties. There are many mountains and dense valleys in Tyniec County, and it is the main road between the north and the south. If these entrenched bandits are not eliminated as soon as possible, I am afraid that the palace will have to blame you. After all, you still have the position of patrol officer. "
Odo nodded in agreement and added: "The day before yesterday, the patrol team stationed in Boulder Town sent a quick horse report. When they patrolled the trade road, they often saw groups of bandits roaming around the road. Recently, a team of unknown origin has frequently appeared around the Boulder Town station, with an unknown number of people."
After hearing this, Art frowned and asked: "Why wasn't this reported to me?"
Otto quickly explained: "Sir, the patrol team only reported the situation on a routine basis, and the Boulder Town garrison was not attacked. You said that there is no need to report to you the daily affairs of the army during your wedding break. . After the sergeant major and I discussed together, we dispatched a small team of soldiers to the Boulder Town station and patrolled the surrounding areas. "
"Well, I did feel a little lax some time ago." Art was indeed newly married and spent every day with his lovely wife, so he didn't pay much attention to military affairs.
"Sergeant Major, today you will take the cavalry of the Sentinel Team to clean and patrol the area around the Jushi Town station. It is best to kill the group of people peeking into Jushi Town, or at least drive them away. Then in the next time, you will lead the Sentinel Team to explore the traces of bandits and bandits throughout the county, and let me know the situation of bandits in the county."
"Odo, starting from tomorrow, all legion soldiers will be transferred back to the wooden castle to strengthen training. Now our soldiers are training very intensively every day. You have to ask the baggage team soldiers to provide sufficient food for the training soldiers. Add some meat and fresh vegetables to the daily food. I don't want our soldiers to be unable to withstand heavy training because they don't eat well."
"Sir, the food for the soldiers is already abundant. If we add meat, fruits and vegetables, the military consumption will be too huge. Now the army's monthly salary and material consumption has exceeded 6,000 pfennigs, not counting the configuration of weapons and armor..."
Thinking of the huge daily consumption, Art's brain ached. The army is a gold-swallowing beast, and civil administration also consumes a lot of money. Ate has only one source of money. In addition to the meager territorial taxes, the caravan can earn some money. Ate can only rely on the seizures from expeditions and Lottie's dowry to maintain operations. The coins in hand can only be used for less than two years, and that's on the premise that they don't continue to expand their power.
“I and the civil affairs will take into account the matter of money consumption. The army only needs to think about how to increase its combat effectiveness. During this period, I have ordered the wooden castle workshop to repair the battle-damaged weapons and armor, and trial-produced a batch of long-handled chain hammers and new weapons. In addition, I We also asked the caravan to purchase some weapons and armor. We will continue to improve the training and battle formations of the army. In May, the army will go to various parts of the county to eliminate bandits! "
"Yes, sir." Odo and Angus stood up and responded loudly.
….
In the craftsman's workshop of the wooden castle, several craftsmen captured from the battlefields in the East were trial-making a long-handled weapon called a halberd under the guidance of two Swabian craftsmen. This weapon is about ten feet long and looks like a spear, except that a heavy battle ax is added to one side of the spear head, and a sharp sickle hook is added to the other side. The spear head can be used for assassination, the ax can be used for chopping, and the hook is used to hook the legs of disabled cavalry and armored infantry.
The Swabian craftsman responsible for making this new type of long-handled weapon lifted a shaped halberd with both hands and said to Art: "Sir, according to your request, the tip of the halberd has been changed from a flat blade to a diamond tip. Tests have shown that this diamond-shaped spear tip has a strong armor-piercing power. In addition, there is a convex wedge on the handle. Soldiers can easily judge the position of the ax and hook according to the convex wedge. There is also a one-and-a-half-foot-long section of iron under the hook ax spear tip, which is difficult for the enemy to cut. "
Att took the halberd from the craftsman's hand and held it in his hand, then turned around and waved it a few times. Feeling that it was a little too heavy, he put down the halberd and asked the craftsman in some broken Swabian: "Dim, can the weight of the front end of the halberd be reduced more? The soldiers with such a heavy front section lose their flexibility when using it."
This Swabian craftsman was nearly forty years old and was originally a blacksmith in the city of Tebrunn in the Principality of Swabia. A few months ago, Baron Jeffrey of Bültenberg was invited with a high salary and another carpenter named Luca to go to Bürtenberg to make large siege equipment for the attack on Talburg. However, as soon as the two of them completed the large trebuchet, they were captured by Art's night attack. The two of them were not worried about their lives. After all, they were the rarest talents no matter where they were. So they followed Art to the valley soon. With Art's courtesy and the promise of letting the two return home after a year, the two craftsmen quickly stepped into their roles. Not only did they repair many battle-damaged weapons for Art, they also remade a batch of severely damaged weapons that had been eliminated by the army for use by the peasants and soldiers of the Valley Guard.
This weapon called a halberd was made by two craftsmen and a few craftsmen based on Art's design sketch. This thing is not the first of its kind, because the mountain army in the southeastern mountainous area uses similar weapons, but the mountain army is very poor. The weapons in their hands are only a hand ax for logging, a short sickle for cutting wheat, and a crude spear shaft.
The craftsman Dim picked up the halberd and weighed it, and said: "Sir, we have already reduced the weight of the ax head. If we reduce the weight any further, the halberd will lose its power when cutting."
Att scratched his head, looked at the nearly ten-foot long handle, and asked: "Since the weight of the halberd head cannot be reduced, let's shorten the handle slightly. Make two handles in this style and give them to the army for trial use, and then make modifications based on the army's opinions."
Dim nodded in agreement.
Matt picked up a heavy hammer flail (long-handled chain hammer) again, holding the five-foot-long wooden handle with both hands, and came to the open space of the workshop and aimed at a broken shield used to test weapons. He raised the flail wooden handle and spun it around in the air a few times, then slammed it towards the shield. The iron hoop spiked with a heavy ball connected to the top of the wooden handle directly smashed a big hole in the shield.
"This guy is powerful enough! Make four more long-handled chain hammers and give them to the army for trial and feedback."
"How are you preparing the extra-long iron spears that you have prepared?"
"Sir, we are rushing to make spear shafts."
"Okay, there is no need to rush this."
Matt returned to the workshop shed with a heavy hammer and flail, and praised the craftsmen: "Thank you for your hard work. I asked the kitchen to prepare a sumptuous dinner for you tonight. The two craftsmen Dim and Luca will each be rewarded with twenty pfennigs, and the other craftsmen will each be rewarded with ten pfennigs. Bud, you can go to the old butler to collect the money later." Art rewarded the craftsmen and won their hearts.
Everyone in the workshop is grateful to Art in every possible way.
…..
Time soon came to mid-April, and the weather in the valley was still cool.
At the training ground outside the wooden castle, several commanders of the legion sat around Art, who was squatting for demonstration, and listened carefully to Art's detailed explanation of the new battle formation: "The roles of the six-man formation are divided into four for defense and two for attack. The four gun and shield soldiers responsible for defense are equipped with short spears, The shield is also equipped with short weapons such as daggers, hand axes, and hammers; a halberd soldier and a hammer soldier (long-handled chain hammer) serve as the main attack force. The spear shield soldier forms the shield wall, and the halberd soldier serves as the deputy attacker and is responsible for directing the movement and challenge of the squad. Choose the target to attack, and the Hammer Soldier will be the main attacker responsible for the fatal blow. When fighting against the shield wall, the Lancer and Shield Soldier will use a ten-foot short spear to maintain the denial range without squeezing. The Halberdier Soldier will wait for the opportunity to directly kill the enemy and also use the hook and sickle to hook the enemy. Human shields, armor, or war horses pull the enemy out of the formation, and the hammer soldiers or spear and shield soldiers directly assassinate them. When the shield formation is squeezed, the spear and shield soldiers abandon their short spears and use short soldiers to press forward, and the two attackers use long weapons to directly attack the opponent. "
In order to allow the officers to intuitively understand the new battle formation, Yat also used different stones to represent different arms to demonstrate on the ground.
"Of course there are still some problems with this kind of battle formation. One is whether the shield formation composed of four spear and shield soldiers is enough to maintain the stability of the battle line; the second is that the halberd and long-handled chain hammer cannot be made too long due to weight reasons. When the shield formation becomes thicker, the people behind will not be able to fight across our own shield formation."
"At present, I still have this kind of battle formation. After thinking about it, I think that the final battle method should be to form a solid shield formation of a certain scale, with legion soldiers as the backbone, and peasant soldiers equipped with spears arranged behind the backbone to increase the thickness of the formation. The entire battle formation is held down by bows, crossbows, and catapults at the rear. The light cavalry is responsible for flank harassment. The assault force composed of elite heavy infantry breaks through from one wing and then attacks the central army to resolve the battle..."