Duke: "I order a two-day rest, for bathing!"
A loud order was given by the fat guy suddenly left in charge by the ex-Lord Commander Alexei.
The men standing there, even Alexei himself actually, suddenly felt the need to sniff themselves due to the absurd and slightly offending decree made by their new commander.
[[[A-Are you sure this is the guy you chose to lead us???]]] Everyone stared at Alexei as if begging him for answers. The old man simply looked away from their gazes, as if saying: [Not my problem... anymore]
But maybe because of their respect towards Alexei and his new chosen commander, and maybe because even Alexei himself said nothing of the new command (as he was too busy wondering if he should sniff himself when no one's looking...)
[Did I really stank that much?] Old Alexei wondered to himself.
Nobody found it in themselves to question Duke, and instead sat there listening to his orders and preparation plans on how to carry out this mass army bathing that he had ordered.
After receiving their orders, the men began to prepare camp beside the nearest river available to them.
As the men were preparing, Alexei and the other veterans approached Duke and asked him: "Are you sure we should force our men to take a bath right now?... In the middle of Northern winter?" Alexei said with a grave voice.
Although there still wasn't any snowing, as it was still early winter, the cold they've felt was nevertheless no different from mid-winter. So to Alexei and the other commanders, forcing the men to take a bath in this cold could present some major health risks.
After listening to their concerns Duke just stared at them as he answered back with a confident smile along with Galleo by his side: "Don't worry! We got that covered, don't we Galleo?" giving them one of his weird thumbs-ups.
Though that weird gesture only made them worry even more...
Duke ordered the fast construction of a huge fire pit dug deep underground, covered with metal rods holding a layer of rocks from above to prevent the long leather tent it was placed inside of from catching fire.
The long leather tent was made by connecting a few of the tents they had brought with them. As leather was somewhat resistant to fire, it wouldn't catch fire as easily as the other tents would.
Additionally, a layer of fur was added to the tent, covering it from the outside to prevent the heat coming from the fire pit inside the tent to escape.
This design was promptly put together by Galleo and Duke on the spot. Nevertheless, thanks to Galleo's engineering genius, the design and final results were satisfactory.
Duke then ordered his men to boil some water, just hot enough that it wouldn't scald their skins. And some good edible food to eat after they've bathed.
During those two days, half a day was spent preparing the camp, whilst the rest of the remaining time was spent bathing everyone there.
Duke ordered that the men take baths in batches. The first batch will jump and quickly clean themselves in the cold numbing water, sharpening their senses and waking them up from the fatigue they've experienced during the long march.
After that, they were then ordered to shake themselves of the water clinging to their bodies, after which they were given some cloth or fur to remove the remaining wetness. Finally, a second batch of towels was given to the men to finalize the drying of their bodies.
The first batch of towels was there so the second batch won't be too wet as the cloth and fur they had couldn't fit everyone. Instead they were used in batches, and when the towels became too wet, they were dried next to the firepit to quicken the process.
After drying themselves, the first batch of soldiers was then allowed to warm themselves inside the hot long tent, and eat or drink to their heart's desire.
This was repeated for the next batch of men until all the soldiers there had a chance to wash up. When the long tent became too crowded, the first batches would then be ordered to leave and continue their feasting outside. Although cold, it didn't bother them much anymore as they were already warmed and dried.
Refreshed and warm, despite the cold winter, the soldiers there began to understand why Duke had forced them to undergo such a weird and oddly systematic process of bathing in the middle of winter.
The freezing-cold water, although extremely harmful when left to dry on the body, was actually quite beneficial if quickly dried off.
It relieved them of the mounting stress they had experienced during the march. That along with the wastefully large amounts of food given to them, all the men there had their morale back to 110%! From the almost 0% after the enemy ambush.
To be honest, at first, most of the men there sincerely wished to never see another Northman again after the devastating ambush inflicted on them.
The fear and weariness they had of the enemy was almost insurmountable, and if they were indeed to meet the enemy on the battlefield once more, most of the people here felt they would surely inevitably lose.
But after the cold almost life-renewing (chilling) bath they had experienced, and the warm food that came after, most of the soldiers there felt as if they might just have a chance against those Northern barbarians. Some of the more blood-lustful men there even wanted a rematch against the Northerners. A far cry from their initial loser mindset.
Even the veteran commanders were impressed with the results a simple bath like that could give.
And they all knew who it was that suggested all this.
It was all thanks to that fat villainous-looking Count, merrily munching and laughing alongside his men (Byran and the crew).
this surprisingly perceptive fat Lord Commander made the men feel as if: [Maybe this guy might just lead us to victory, eh?] Most of the men there thought as they stole glances at the fat Count.
Feeling the high morale surrounding him, Duke thought this would be a good time to address the men once more since their two-day rest was coming to an end.
As Duke began walking in the middle of the camp, everyone watched in anticipation to see what his next move was.
Duke stood in the middle, adjusting his belt as he stared at everyone there who was staring back at him as he shouted in a loud encouraging voice:
"Is everyone refreshed yet?!"
"""AYE!""" The men all shouted with their spirits full and ready.
"That's good! Because our next target will be an enemy supply caravan. I expect everybody well-rested and ready to go by sunrise! Does everybody hear me?!" Duke ordered.
"""Yes, Lord Commander!""" All the men there, although some were a bit tipsy, shouted in unison.
"GOOD!!!" Duke shouted back in zeal... followed by a slightly quieter: "Cause all our food have been used up... *cough* *cough* that is all, everybody dismissed!"
"""EH?!~""" All the men there were dumbfounded as they finally realized that they had actually eaten all the food during the feast.
"So if everyone doesn't want to die of hunger tomorrow, we better catch tomorrow's target... haha... fighting everyone?" Duke added in a more unsure voice...
All their beliefs and high spirits towards Duke quickly returned to gound 0, replacing it, however, was the men's sudden and desperate survival instinct for food.
[Ho ho ho... What a sly boy this kid turned out to be] Alexei laughed in his mind. Knowing full well that Duke knew they were about to consume all their food in this feast.
Duke simply used the carrot and the stick. The carrot was the two-day bath to refresh and revitalize his men.
Now it was the stick's turn (their fear of running out of supplies in the middle of winter) to whip the men up into shape.
Tomorrow's enemy caravan now had to suddenly face a group of refreshed, well-fed men, who were desperate to restock their food supply...
Suffice to say, Duke had won this round.