"This is the person you recruited?" Roland looked at the group of ragged civilians in front of him, and the urge to turn around and leave appeared in his heart.
"His Royal Highness, this is selected according to your requirements," Carter said with his fingers crossed. "Male, non-criminal, over 18 years old, under 40 years old, with no physical disability... I have checked it carefully."
Well, he knew he couldn't expect too much. After all, the productivity of this world is so low, it is difficult to eat enough, and it is more normal to dress almost. The treatment as a prince made him ignore this point. As long as he walked out of the castle, he could see refugees everywhere who were naked and depended on begging for a living. In fact, even in the capital of the kingdom, Graycastle, there are corpse collectors. What they do is to drag and cremate the dead on the street every day.
So what's the battle pattern like in this world? Roland closed his eyes and thought about it carefully, um... It's probably a little more advanced than hooligan fights. Generally speaking, when a lord decides to start a war (or a fight—Roland doesn’t think this kind of battle can be related to war at all), he will call up the enfeoffed nobles in his territory, and the enfeoffed nobles will then convene their respective territories. The lower-level sub-nobles, for example, the duke summons the earl, the earl summons the viscount, the baron, and so on.
Most of these nobles have a group of knights and mercenaries as their personal strength. They are the main force in battle, with complete basic armor and excellent weapons. At the same time, they will also recruit civilians and farmers on the territory to work together - in fact, to deliver food and grass to the troops, and rush to the front line when they need cannon fodder to fill the pit. It was these cannon fodders that suffered the most casualties in the battle. In battles between nobles, as long as they didn't die on the battlefield, they would usually be taken back and treated for ransom.
Roland naturally wouldn't expect the nobles from Border Town to help him fight. In fact, they had nothing to do with Border Town. Most of them were barons entrusted by the lord of Changsong Fortress, and their territories were also in the area under the jurisdiction of the fortress.
An army composed entirely of civilians is a very imaginative thing in this day and age. They are stupid and ignorant, can't read documents, can't understand orders, and haven't received professional combat training, how can they compare to knights who have been practicing swords since they were ten years old
Carter approached Roland and persuaded in a low voice, "Your Highness, this is not feasible in the first place. Look at them, which one can hold a sword? When encountering an evil beast, I am afraid that they will be scattered in a hurry, and then it will affect the stability of the defense line. I suggest hiring professional mercenaries from Liuye Town or other places to guard the city walls, and these people will be kept for chores."
"No, I'll use them," Roland refused. He doesn't have any affection for those mercenaries who do things for money, and besides, he's not only building an army to deal with evil beasts - throughout history, a strong and vibrant team must have members from the people, whether it's a feudal army , the modern army or the modern army, have verified this law countless times.
"Well, you have the final say," the knight shrugged, "then I'll start training them tomorrow on how to hold the sword? It's probably not very useful though..."
"Using a sword? No, you take them to line up and run first—" Roland suddenly thought that the chief knight himself had never experienced these training contents, so he changed his mouth and said, "You call the hunter you found last time, let's go together first. See how I do it."
*****************
Vanner is probably going through more incredible things today than in the previous two decades combined.
He actually saw the fourth prince of the kingdom - His Royal Highness Roland Wimbledon at close range. He walked past him and smiled at himself, God, is the prince drunk
Three days ago, when the Fourth Prince gave a speech in the square, he knew that this winter would be different from the past. They would not go to Longsong Fortress, but would spend the long winter here. Most of the truths the prince said, he did not understand, but for this decision, he agreed with the bottom of his heart. Fanner's younger brother died in the slum of the fort two years ago. There was no food supply for a whole month. He relied on the few copper coins he earned from unloading goods at the dock to buy some brown bread to share with his younger brother. But that winter was too cold, and the shacks in the slums were leaking with wind. It was impossible to even maintain the body temperature with this little food. After my brother fell ill and fell into a coma, he never woke up.
In Border Town, he has at least one house made of adobe, so he doesn't need to be afraid of heavy snowfall for several days. He also saw that the wharf was full of wheat brought in from elsewhere and was being moved into the castle in batches. Therefore, when Fanner heard the news that the Fourth Prince was recruiting militiamen, he rushed over immediately.
Of course, the reason that tempted him to give up the gravel work and rush to apply for the job immediately, and the salary that was as high as 10 silver wolves that month. This is comparable to a skilled clay artisan! He is not too young, and by the spring of next year, he plans to marry the tavern maid Cheryl as his wife, so what if he doesn't save some money now.
As for what the militia said on the notice, he paid no attention at all. Anyway, it's not to carry things for those noble masters, or to help the patrolmen, and they will never let them climb the city wall and fight against the crazy evil beasts.
The screening process was quite strict, and the eyes of the knight in shining armor made Vanner a little scared. Fortunately, his relatively strong body passed the examination, and many skinny guys were taken out of the team by the Knights. In the end, only a hundred or so people remained.
But Vanna never expected that the one who trained them was actually His Royal Highness the Prince himself!
The passers-by were all taken to the grass in the west of Border Town. Behind them was the city wall being built, and in front of them was the endless hidden forest.
The prince ordered everyone to stand in line and went to the side to rest. It had just rained a few days ago, and the ground was still wet with mud. The water seeped into the soles of his feet along the seams of his shoes, making him feel uncomfortable all over. Not to mention that the standing posture required by the prince is not ordinary. The hands must be placed vertically on both sides of the thighs, and the back must be straight.
Fanner felt exhausted after standing for a quarter of an hour, which was even harder than breaking stones with a sledgehammer. But he gritted his teeth and tried to persevere. Because His Highness said before, whoever moves will have one less egg for lunch. Gosh, it's been a long time since he tasted eggs. Apparently the people around felt the same way, and despite the wobbles, most of them persevered.
It was not until the prince announced to rest on the spot that Fanner realized that he had sweated a lot, and the whole standing time was not long, at most two quarters of an hour. Those who didn't persist until the end were annoyed, as if they saw the round eggs were leaving them.
It's just that Fanner doesn't quite understand. What's the use of them practicing this? Can I carry a few more bags of dry food just by standing
If it wasn't for the respected Prince's Highness training them, he would have been yelling.
Unexpectedly, after a short rest, the second order announced by His Highness was even more bizarre. He asked everyone to continue standing in line, this time, if no one moved, add an egg to lunch. As long as one person gives up, everyone loses the opportunity to add eggs.
Fanner heard a snort of saliva.
Hell, is this a popular trick among the kingdom's aristocracy? Juggling everyone around with a carrot boom, he's not a stupid donkey!
... But in case, in case everyone can do it, wouldn't there be two eggs to eat later
It was the temptation of the devil. Fanner wiped the drool that overflowed from the corner of his mouth. He fought for the eggs!