The ride home was smooth. Marc and the soldiers collected the less bloody bodies and went down the mountain. Spending the night in the forest. It rained a little, but they had good quality tents.
The next day was less peaceful, the ground was wet and the mosses slippery but they still arrived in Newpath safely. The city celebrated the death of the monsters, thanked the soldiers, and paid respect to the family that left.
Quarantine and death made everyone tense, but the lord's quick response raised people's spirits. But not Marc's.
He joined other secretaries and Alderman's at his home.
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i kiss my baby brothers goodbye. After they enter school I run to the camp.
"Hey Ju, how was it?" Ju had a meeting with the captain's daughter. Lucky bastard.
He smiles "Parrot, things from the heart I better save to tell her." But he gets serious afterward "I saw fatty going home yesterday. He looked better ..." Both are silent, everyone in the city was shocked by the deaths, but fatty was especially saddened, his girlfriend was gone.
"That's why we have to fight, man. I have an idea, we've been with the supply boys for almost a year. I've already learned the alphabet and even some syllables the lord has to let us enter the army. " Parrot tries to change the subject
"The point, parrot, is not just to teach you how to write. It is expecting you to be at least 18 years old." Marc says from behind them. "But tell me, what is your idea?"
"Sir i- err i- well, I was thinking of joining the supply boys permanently. But be part of the army. It's not easy, you know? We need to coordinate, to know when to pick up things, to move without disturbing the soldiers while they fight. We are basically soldiers, we just don't know how to fight, but is an important job you know".... So he says softly "And people make fun of us".
Marc stops. "Yes, supply boys are very important ... maybe it's time to create the supply unit. Taking care of armory, battle supplies, food, and more. I'm going to talk to the army's superiors, but that makes sense, parrot.
However, it does not change the fact that you are still a minor and need to go to school in the afternoon."
He's stealing my idea, and he's not going to let me participate.
"Sir, NO! This is so unfair! I serve with the boys, and all of us think it is our time to join the army. You are accepting several men, I counted. More than 100. Why can't I participate?" As soon as Parrot finishes speaking, he sees Jun standing there with a surprised face, and he realizes that he just yelled at the Lord of the city. The Lord who saved him and command the army he wants to join.
"You are participating, Parrot. If it weren't for you and the other boys, the recruits would have to do the tasks you do. The time that they should be training. But one day you will be old enough to enter the army, and you will have much more experience in the military than any recruit." The lord thinks and then say "But you are right, Supply boys deserve more ... I will think of something. But keep up the good service! And don't hide your good ideas." and then he is gone.
Pain arises in the parrot's arm, Jun punched him, hard! "Are you crazy? I want to join the army but no one will contradict the lord, look around our life is much better, everyone is eating well, and happy! Don't get me in your mess, man"
"I'm sorry Jun ... I don't know what I was thinking ... do you think the lord got mad?"
"I don't know ... we weren't in a formal conversation ... sigh ... Come on, he said we have work to do, let's help the recruits."
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Since Marc came back from the forest he started great recruitment. Now thirty veterans have adopted five recruits each and are training them. Marc made sure all the archers got recruits.
Now the army is composed of:
35 veterans and 150 recruits.
In this way:
30 archers.
48 spearmen.
12 Light spearmen. (they carry a spear and 3 javelins)
30 infantry. (ax and shield).
30 light infantry. (Ax and tomahawks)
30 supply units. (he will add today)
The positions and numbers of people within the army are:
150 cadets< 30 third sergeants, < 3 second sergeants, < 1 first sergeants, <1 captain.
In the future, the captains will have up to 3 first Sergeants under them. Soldiers are also broken into 1°, 2°, and 3° cadet, but now everyone is 3° cadet. The cadets of all ranks have the same responsibilities, just the salary that changes.
A team consists of 6 men and a squad of 10 teams. 3 squads form a Section. 3 Sections form 1 platoon.
Marc needs to form a second part of the army, the administrative part. The supply unit is a combat version present in the field, but it is not enough to suppress the army's bureaucratic needs.
Marc will have to educate administrators for this unit and create a ranking system for them. But for now, this responsibility is under the shoulders of the city.
Supply boys will undergo a change as well. Since there is a unit doing what they used to do, Marc intends to turn the club into something in the Boy Scout line. A militarized and generalist club for boys. As he told Parrot, the club aims to bring better recruits to the army, but they are not part of the army and will not fight wars.
Marc organized the army, but that is still not enough.
There are still 3 more aspects that he has to deal with. Equipment for all these soldiers, defending the city and for last Cultivation.
The first to resolve is cultivation, Marc needs to find some books to give to the soldiers. He has 37 points to spend.
Marc puts Cultivation techniques for soldiers as an object of interest, without limitations or defects.
Billions of results ... he thinks better ... Altiorem has regenerative abilities, stronger bones and muscles. A normal citizen has the same level of strength as a rank 1 cultivator. Soldiers are in 2nd rank easily. Marc, a 3 rank. And that with natural forces and training. (Marc took a dose of genetic improvement.).
So for the first three levels what is that the soldiers need to focus on cultivation? Feel qi ... they already have strength, reflexes ... maybe something to train the mind and spiritual senses?
Marc reopens the shopping menu. The first technique he buys is one for strengthening the mind: [Dao of the tranquil lake and the rising mind] 7 points.
[Reflections from a hermit: for serene minds] 3 points
[Dao of nothing] 1 point
The three books are very similar and bring cultivation techniques that do not demand much from the environment or limit the individual in the future. The difference in price is the speed to see the results. The more expensive ones give results more quickly but are a little worse than the others.
The dao's of minds are very powerful but slow to cultivate. Usually, the first rank is achieved in 2 to 3 years of meditation on the fastest of them.
The second batch of books:
[Eyes closed, extended vision] 3 points.
[Blind monk] 1 point.
[Chosen child spirit-technic] 4 points.
All three books are good, and have reflections that help you understand qi.
Finally, Marc buys 5 generalist books that bring insights for soldiers to cultivate in groups or during battle. Bring the total cost 24 points. Except for [Chosen child spirit-technic], all books are opened and build foundations that can be modified later without changing the subject's cultivation. Technics are more guided and less flexible, but they are not bad, just different. But Marc don't know shit for Cultivation, maybe they are bad.
Now, all soldiers have a mandatory 1 hour of meditation or reading. Will this make any difference to the upcoming battles? None, but it is important to start the process.
To get the defense and materials ready, Marc buys 10 points worth of giant clay bricks. The bricks have the following dimensions: 5.3 meters high, 9 meters wide, and 19 meters long.
Tomorrow we start a wall.
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For now, Newpath is divided into 3 areas, the docks, the center, and the farms. Marc estimates that all 3 areas should be around 6km².
The town has a big river in the west, a forest around it, Marc intends to put a good part of the forest inside the walls. It is difficult to say the length of the wall, but Marc only needs to buy more material in his menu if it is missing.
And then the long process of removing trees and building the wall began. Every day 40 soldiers trained in the dungeon. 12 were on patrol, and everyone else was building the wall. Marc uses 3 bricks per section of the wall. Two stacked and one on the side, there is a difference in size, but Marc has to use his molding powers to create maticulations and parapets so that the difference in height shaves off. Every 75 bricks (every kilometer and a half) he created a ladder. But still, the most consuming and challenging part for him was where the wall meets the river, Marc wanted to encapsulate the city and leave only the docks exposed. But he decided against it for now, and built a great tower, guarding the river and the walls.
Another challenge, but this one that involved more people, was about the number of gates, the military wing, wants only one gate, but all the other ministers want at least 5 gates. The captains and sergeants are a bit of a hardhead and want to transform the whole city into a castle, which is not going to happen. Marc decided on 3 gates, at last, he doesn't like either side, but he makes it clear that the city is not a castle. Two months cutting trees, laying giant bricks, and carving a wall.
Finally, the whole city is protected. And with the excess of wood, we will start creating boats ...
Marc selected 4 carpenters and gave history and engineering books explaining how to build Junks, Knarrs, Triremes, and quinqueremes.
The Greco-Roman ships are the easiest to build, but they do not compare with the speed and ease of handling of Chinese ships and Vikings. The discussion was between creating a trireme and placing all 150 soldiers inside or dividing the army into several boats.
The discussion was between creating a trireme and placing all 150 soldiers inside or dividing the army into several small boats.
In the end, the 4 carpenters sat together and developed a ship that responded to our needs. Naupathian ships. It was the name chosen for this style of construction. They are 25 meters long, which can be sailed and pushed by oars. It carries 60 men plus cargo, the military version has more space for oars. The merchant version is more dependent on the wind and carries more cargo. It is possible to see the 3 natural origins in the development of the ship.
Marc ordered 4 ships to build. The first for testing purpose, Marc go help with the build every other day, so the construction is faster.
One more month and they are ready to invade.