landbeastnovel #203 - Producing soldiers like an assembly line
#203 - Producing soldiers like an assembly line
The next morning, Horn led a group of child soldiers and guards on horseback towards the south of the island, accompanied by Jeshka and Hakuto.
With the end of the Battle of Jeanne d'Arc Fortress, Hakuto, despite still claiming to be a prisoner, had actually started working for Horn.
Jeshka had said before that Hakuto was the most knowledgeable person he had ever seen in training soldiers, and it was true; in just one day, the bishops seemed to have become much more obedient.
Horn brought them along this time to discuss training and selection issues, and also to conduct a field investigation of the Ayr military camp.
Horn understood that to be a commander, one must first be diligent; things that one should do oneself must be personally reviewed and done.
Despite the light rain, he still had to go.
Hooves galloped, startling several nests of birds, and after crossing the hills, a dozen riders trotted forward on the muddy ground after the rain.
The rain today was much lighter than yesterday, but the cold wind still seeped in through the gaps in the cloaks, causing many guards to sneeze.
Seeing this, and thinking that the military camp was not far away, Horn simply slowed down his horse, aligning it with Hakuto and Jeshka.
"What do you think about the selection of soldiers?" Horn actually had a rough idea in his mind, but he wanted to ask Jeshka and Hakuto for their opinions first.
"The so-called selection is actually divided into two parts," Hakuto said in a muffled voice, stuffing a handkerchief into his nostrils like a bull's nose ring to block his snot, "one is selecting people, and the other is assigning positions."
Horn asked in a guiding manner, "Tell me more?"
"Selecting people means knowing who to choose and who not to choose," Hakuto still spoke with a nasal tone, enduring his discomfort, "For example, those who are lame, missing limbs, or hunchbacked should not be chosen; those who cannot see clearly should not be chosen; those who cannot hear or have a collapsed nose should not be chosen; those who stutter or cannot speak should not be chosen.
Before selecting soldiers, it is best to have someone check them; those with lung disease, leprosy, or smallpox should also not be chosen."
"Why is that?"
"I understand the lame, missing limbs, hunchbacked, and those with eye and ear problems, but why can't those with a collapsed nose be chosen?"
"A collapsed nose is basically a sign of syphilis, and it's the kind that's congenital and incurable," Hakuto shrugged his shoulders, "I know it might hurt innocent people, but we can't afford the cost of infecting the entire army."
"Then what should we choose?"
"The first choice is those who are strong and fierce. The second choice is those who are older but steady and powerful. The third choice is those who are brave and agile. The height should preferably not be less than four feet two inches (one meter five)."
Hakuto tilted his head to avoid a large puddle of rainwater falling from the leaves, "But you are different, don't focus on selecting people, you don't have many people to choose from, just consider who cannot be chosen."
They had already advanced to a small path in a small forest, and there was a sawmill ruin by the roadside. Several gray rabbits poked their heads out of their burrows, curiously watching Horn and the others.
After listening to Hakuto's explanation, Horn nodded silently: "What about assigning positions then?"
"When a new recruit joins the legion, there will be an old captain like Hakuto to observe," Jeshka explained with a smile, "He will assign you the corresponding weapons and functions based on your body type, personality, and characteristics. Hakuto was my old captain back then."
Hakuto had obviously not forgiven Jeshka, he just snorted coldly and continued: "For example, those who are strong and fierce can be sword and shield soldiers, those who are older but steady and powerful can be great shield soldiers, those who are brave and agile can be skirmishers, and the rest can be spearmen.
But since you only have spearmen and holy gunners, you don't need to consider so much, just come in if you meet the conditions.
Those favored by the Holy See can be holy gunners, and those not favored by the Holy See can be spearmen... Thinking about it this way, it's really possible for you to create an army in three months.
Many problems that normal armies have to consider, such as pure female squads, such as the training and organization of different weapons, basically don't exist for you."
Speaking of this, Jeshka slowly smacked his lips, and he looked at Horn as if he had suddenly realized something: "Then if your Galarr transverse formation is successful, as long as the logistics can keep up, we can completely expand our forces quickly and massively in the short term."
An army in three months, as long as there is a stable rear and the economy can keep up, then rapid expansion is completely possible.
Prince Maurice of Nassau actually did not win many times when facing the Spanish Tercios. His greatest creativity lies in this standard training system.
Including the military academy built by his cousin John and the earliest version of the manual he wrote himself, after unifying training and instructions, all the soldiers seemed to be carved out of the same mold.
"Your Majesty, we've arrived."
Just as he was about to explain to them, Horn heard the child soldier beside him shout, pointing forward.
Looking out, on a clearing, stood a circle of undulating walls, scattered bricks fell on the ground, and weeds grew in the gaps.
The light rain fell from the sky, causing the weeds to nod constantly.
In the curtain formed by the rain, a ruin was hidden. Nearly a hundred brick houses without roofs were arranged in a "king" shape within the walls.
Not far outside the walls, Horn could clearly see that there was an empty area, and the green carpet composed of weeds stopped abruptly at the edge of that area.
"Let's go in and take a look, and talk as we go."
Under the guidance of the child soldiers, Horn and the others arrived at the gate of the Ayr military camp. It was still the familiar Elnian pillars, with golden ratio spiral patterns and straight, vertical long trenches.
"Can I ask how you usually learn to fight?" Walking on the large square bricks that had been cracked by weeds, Horn walked straight ahead.
Hakuto and Jeshka exchanged glances, and Jeshka took the lead and said: "My father taught me when I was a child, but most of the time, the old captain taught me, and then I learned on the battlefield."
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"Uncle Hakuto, what about you?"
Hakuto raised his head slightly, as if recalling, and sighed after a long while: "My hometown is not peaceful, and villages often fight each other. I followed my parents in fights since I was a child.
But the real battlefield skills were learned when I was thirteen years old when I went to work as a servant for a mercenary. As long as the old captain takes you once or twice, and then you kill someone with your own hands, you basically graduate, and the rest you have to understand on your own."
"Have you ever thought about writing these skills down in a book, so that all our soldiers, even if they don't have an 'old captain' by their side, can learn war from this manual?"
Hakuto waved his hand: "Haha, I'm not being humble, I'm illiterate, I can't write anything except my own name."
Jeshka explained with a bitter smile: "Some things, even if I know them, I can't write them down. The old captains taught us orally back then."
Seeing that they still didn't understand what he meant, Horn chuckled: "Like this, I'll find a painter, and you can show me all the most common gun fighting moves and defensive postures on the battlefield, but my requirement is that there can only be one movement at a time.
In this way, during training, with the officer's slogans, the time for each movement is consistent, and when they are connected, they will be uniform on the battlefield."
After explaining to Jeshka and Hakuto in detail, Horn walked to a broken wall in their confused and doubtful expressions, and said to himself: "You will see it then."
Reaching out and forcefully patting the wall, the entire wall made a muffled thud.
Squatting down, Horn lifted a stone slab and checked the connection between the wall and the ground: "Not bad, although the houses have collapsed, the foundation is good. How many people do you think this can accommodate?"
After listening to Horn's words, Jeshka climbed onto a broken wall, stood up as if walking on a tightrope, and looked around: "I estimate these houses can accommodate more than two thousand people."
"Is it enough to stuff four thousand people inside?"
"If they all sleep on large communal beds, it is indeed enough."
"Okay, that's settled then." Horn patted the dust off his hands, stood up, but suddenly raised his head and looked in the direction he came from.
There, under the gray sky, more than a dozen columns of smoke connecting the sky and the earth rose.
"There are probably five thousand refugees on the island now, right?" Horn fell into deep thought, it seems necessary to conduct a population census.
Casually tearing off a piece of white paper, Horn wrote a note and handed it to a child soldier: "Give this to Bussac and ask him if it's feasible, and tell me before dinner."