"These are the men you recruited my lord?" One of the middle-aged knights asked looking at the crowd of peasants and serfs standing haphazardly across the cleared-out field, barely managing to restrain an outburst.
"Hmm..." Levi hummed in agreement looking at the fifty-odd men standing idly in front. The men's ages ranged roughly between 16 to 30, were of passable physical condition, and with no tangible criminal records.
Because of the lack of a substantial military force under his command, Levi had Sir Justin release a notice of employment in the town. After a brief screening process, the men who were selected reported here to be trained to replace the knights that left previously. So in essence, an improvised Bootcamp to train Greenfield's future soldiers.
To his right, Levi could feel Lancelot wanted to say something but was hesitating for some reason. Not knowing what was on is mind he got curious and asked.
"Any opinions Sir Lancelot?"
Lancelot hesitated briefly before whispering. "Young Lord, This method... might not work. Look at them, Which one of them can hold a sword? I'm afraid that in front of a proper Knightage they wouldn't be able to stand a chance. "
"Gods help us if they don't shit themselves and disperse when they have to face a proper charge, or even worse freeze up in fear while the enemy hacks them up. I suggest that we should recruit professional mercenaries from Gena town or somewhere else in Quilton to defend Greenfields until you can get reals knights under your banner."
Levi had considered Lancelot's proposal beforehand but eventually, he decided not to go with that plan. Mercenaries fought for money and are never genuinely loyal, they could easily be bought over by a richer opponent and can easily turn on their employers for benefit.
Also in the face of true danger, they would never risk their lives for someone else's cause and they are very hard to manage given their stereotypical arrogant and unruly attitudes.
Given all their traits they can only be useful for small scale operations like being merchant escorts or raiding bandits nests, but for major operations like replacing a real army it would be a fool's errand to depend on them, so Levi just shook my head and replied without explaining.
"No, I'll use them."
"Okay, we'll do as you say." Said the viscount with a shrug. "You called me to train them in combat, so should I start archery or swordplay? Though it may not be of much use..."
"Archery? Swordplay? No. I want you to train them on basic formations, a little bit of defensive close combat, and to supervise their physical training exercises..." Levi began saying but when he saw the look of confusion on Lancelot's face he sighed and spoke.
"You know what, just pay attention to what I am about to show you. After this, I will put you in charge of supervising the training regime."
Even before the end of the cold war on earth, it was impossible to train deadly military units in just three to four months and Levi never assumed he could either. He didn't need the powerful warriors that were strong enough to break a man in half with their bare hands but rather a group of disciplined cohesive units that would follow and execute every of his order without fail.
The battle effectiveness of a cohesive unit is usually much higher than an individual fighter's strength regardless of how strong that fighter is. Levi's goal was to form this clumsy rabble of peasants into a unified and responsive group in the shortest timeframe possible so that his plan for retaining Greenfields and Redwater without losing his life can become something more than just a pipe dream.
On earth, in most developed countries he was well aware that it only took about half a month to integrate students from all over the country into cohesive units and the effects of such programs were very obvious in society regardless of the process or motive.
Only when he could make this group of people understand the importance of discipline, could Levi implement the next step of his plan. If not he had better start packing his bags.
. . . . .
"Young lord, what is the meaning of this?" The middle-aged knight named Carter asked in a baffled tone. At first, he thought Levi was being arbitrary, but now it seems to him that all the pressure has made the young master divorce from reality. He was almost starting to regret his decision to stay behind when the other's left.
With regard to how to train soldiers, the veteran knight assumed no one would be able to do it better than them, the senior knights who decided to stay behind. Although his family was not recognized as an aristocratic one, he still a minor noble who had a complete training method that could be used to train even knights to perfection.
With his method, even a young boy still wet behind the ears could be trained as a soldier, would master the usage of all sorts of weapons, horse riding, and military formations in just five to seven years.
If a soldier was further trained for five years, he would be able to qualify to be a member of the calvary, and as for being a knight all that is left is to be knighted by a noble family and to understand all the rituals of the higher society-- just like he did.
"Look at these idiots, fumbling to hold even a simple short spear upright, how can they qualify to become soldiers in just under three months," Carter said casting a disdainful stare at the peasants standing in a clumsy formation in front of him.
Noticing the older knight's displeasure Levi smiled softly and said casually. "Just remember that for the next few days they have to strictly follow this training regime. Of course, I drop by to check on them and make some slight changes in time to the training for you to make adjustments.
The older knight felt indignant because of Levi's obvious nonchalance and grumbled in his mind.
'What's the use of all this if they can't even hold a sword properly?' The old knight thought to himself but he decided to restrain himself from asking.
He remembered that recently despite how ridiculous some of the young master's recent ideas have been they always seemed to unexpectedly turn out well. As this thought crossed his mind he suddenly became curious about how the young master's idea would turn out.