Chapter 203: Producing Soldiers Like an Assembly Line

Early the next morning, Horn led a group of child soldiers and guards on horseback and headed towards the south of the island. Jeshka and Hakuto followed him.

With the end of the bloody battle of Jeanne d'Arc, although Hakuto still claimed that he was a prisoner, he had actually started working for Horn a long time ago.

Before, Jeshka said that Hakuto was the best person he had ever seen at training soldiers, and it was true. In just one day, those bishops seemed to have become much more obedient.

Horn brought them on this trip, firstly to discuss issues of training and selection, and secondly to conduct an on-site inspection of the situation in the Eyre military camp.

Horn understood that as a commander, the first thing he had to do was to be diligent. He had to personally review and do things that he should do himself.

Even though it's drizzling today, we still have to go.

The sound of horse hooves fluttered, scaring away several nests of birds. After climbing over the mound, a dozen riders trotted forward on the muddy ground after the rain.

The rain today was much lighter than yesterday, but the chilly wind still seeped in through the gaps in the cloaks, causing many of the Guards' cavalry to sneeze.

Seeing this, thinking that they were not far from the military camp, Horn simply slowed down his horse and brought his horse level with Hakuto and Jeshka.

"What do you think about the selection of soldiers?" Horn actually had a general idea in his mind, but he wanted to ask Jessica and Hakuto for their opinions first.

"The so-called selection is actually divided into two parts." Putting a handkerchief into his nostrils like a nose ring to block his snot, Hakuto said in a muffled voice, "One is the selection of people, and the other is the appointment."

Horn asked in a guiding manner: "Tell me in detail?"

"The meaning of selecting people is to know who to select and who not to select." Hakuto still spoke with a nasal voice, and he tried to suppress his discomfort and said, "For example, people with lame legs, broken arms, and hunchbacks cannot be selected, people with poor eyesight should not be selected, people with poor hearing or collapsed noses should not be selected, and people with stuttering or inability to speak should not be selected.

Before selecting soldiers, it is best to send someone to check them out. If they have lung disease, leprosy, or smallpox, they cannot be selected."

"Why is this again?"

"I understand lame legs, broken arms, hunchbacks, eyes and ears, but why can't I choose a flat nose?"

"People with collapsed noses usually have syphilis, which is the kind that is incurable and is congenital." Hakuto shrugged. "I know there may be accidental injuries, but we can't afford the cost of infecting the entire army."

"So what should I choose?"

"The first choice is a strong and fierce person. The second choice is an older person who is calm and strong. The third choice is a courageous and agile person. The height should not be less than 4 feet 2 inches (1.5 meters)."

Hakuto turned his head to avoid a large puddle of rain falling from the leaves, "But you are different. Don't focus on choosing people. You don't have many people to choose from. You just need to consider who not to choose."

They had walked onto a path in a small woods. There were ruins of a sawmill on the side of the road. A few gray rabbits poked their heads out of their holes, looking curiously at Horn and the others.

After listening to Hakuto's statement, Horn nodded silently: "What about the ordination?"

"When a new soldier joins the army, an old captain like Hakuto will come to observe him," Jessica explained with a smile, "He will assign you corresponding weapons and functions based on your body shape, personality and characteristics. My old captain was Hakuto."

Hakuto obviously still hadn't forgiven Jeshka, he just snorted and continued: "For example, those who are strong and fierce can be sword and shield soldiers, those who are older but calm and strong can be large shield soldiers, those who are brave and agile can be vaulters, and the rest can be spearmen.

But since you only have two types of soldiers, the Pikemen and the Holy Gunners, you don't need to think too much about it. Just come in if you meet the requirements.

Those who are favored by the Saint will become Saint musketeers, and those who are not favored by the Saint will become spearmen... If you think about it this way, it is really possible for you to build an army in three months.

Many issues that a normal army has to consider, such as pure team formation, such as the training and organization of different weapons, are basically not considered here."

At this point, Jeshka slowly figured out what was going on. He looked at Horn as if he had suddenly realized something. "Then, if your Galar formation can be successful, as long as the logistics can keep up, we can quickly expand our forces in a short period of time."

With an army established every three months, as long as there is a stable rear and the economy can keep up, rapid expansion of the army will not be a problem at all.

Prince Maurice of Nassau did not actually win many battles against the Spanish phalanx. His greatest creativity lay in this standard training system.

Including the military academy built by his cousin John and the original version of the drill manual he compiled, after unifying the training and instructions, all the soldiers seemed to be cast in the same mold. "Your Majesty, we are here."

Just as Horn was about to explain to them, he heard the child soldier beside him pointing forward and shouting.

Looking around, there was a circle of undulating walls standing on an open space, with scattered bricks and stones on the ground and weeds growing in the cracks.

A light rain fell from the sky, hitting the weeds and making them nod continuously.

Hidden in the curtain formed by rain is a stretch of broken walls and ruins. Nearly a hundred roofless brick and stone houses are arranged in the shape of a Chinese character “王” within the wall.

Not far outside the wall, Horn could clearly see that there was an empty area, and the green carpet of weeds ended abruptly at the edge of that area.

"Come on, let's go in and take a look, and talk while we look."

Under the guidance of the children's army, Horn and others came to the gate of the El military camp. It still had the familiar Elnia gateposts, with golden ratio spiral patterns and long vertical pits.

"Can I ask how you usually learn to fight?" Horn walked straight ahead on the large square tiles cracked by weeds.

Hakuto and Jeshka half-looked at each other, and Jeshka spoke first, "My father taught me when I was a kid, but most of the time, it was the old captain who taught me, and then I learned on the battlefield."

"Uncle Hakuto, what about you?"

Hakuto raised his head slightly, as if recalling something, and after a while he sighed and said, "My hometown is not peaceful, and there are fights between villages all the time. I have followed my parents in fights since I was a child.

But the real means of going to the battlefield were learned when I was thirteen years old and worked as a errand boy for a mercenary. As long as the old captain guides you once or twice, and then kills someone with your own hands, you are basically a master. The rest you have to figure out on your own."

"Have you ever thought about writing these techniques in a book, so that all of our soldiers can learn warfare from this manual even if there is no 'old captain' around?"

Hakuto waved his hand and said, "Haha, I'm not being modest. I'm illiterate. I can't write anything except my own name."

Jieshka explained with a wry smile: "There are some things that I can't write even if I know them. The old captains taught me by example."

Seeing that they still didn't understand what he meant, Horn chuckled and said, "Well, I'll find an artist and ask you to perform the most common spearmanship movements and defensive postures on the battlefield, but my requirement is that you can only do one movement at a time.

In this way, during training, they can follow the officers' slogans and synchronize their movements at the same time, so that they can move in unison on the battlefield."

After explaining it in detail to Jeshka and Hakuto, Horn walked to a broken wall amid their confusion and doubts, and said to himself, "You will see it when the time comes."

He reached out and slapped the wall hard, and the whole wall made a dull thud.

Squatting down, Horn lifted up a stone slab and checked the connection between the wall and the ground: "Not bad. Although the house has collapsed, the foundation is good. How many people do you think can live here?"

After listening to Horn's words, Jessica climbed up a broken wall and stood up as if walking on a tightrope. He looked around and said, "I estimate that there are more than 2,000 people living in these houses."

"Then will 4,000 people be enough to fit in there?"

"If they were all allowed to sleep on a large bunk bed, it would be enough."

"Okay, that's settled." Horn brushed 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 wisps of smoke rose up, connecting the sky and the earth.

"There are probably about 5,000 refugees on the island now?" Horn fell into deep thought. It seemed necessary to conduct a census.

Horn wrote a note on a piece of white paper and handed it to a child soldier: "Give this to Busak and ask him if it is feasible. Tell me before dinner."

(End of this chapter)