At noon, the Soldiers, having finished lunch, returned to the large Wood Fort to rest and conserve energy for the rigorous individual combat skills training in the afternoon.

Back in the Wood Fort, two newly arrived laborers collapsed onto the straw-covered floor. A large-nosed fellow rubbed his shoulder, which was swollen from a wooden stick, and grumbled in a low voice, “The Red-head Ghost is a liar. He only talked about being well-fed, well-clothed, and having generous pay, but he never mentioned such strenuous training. We train every day; even the Marquis’s Court guards don’t train this hard.”

Seeing no response from the person next to him, the large-nosed man continued to complain, “Officer Odo too, he said he would take good care of us, but I didn’t expect his ‘care’ to mean grabbing our tails and not letting go. Look how he beat me!”

“Big Nose, I told you not to call him Officer Odo, but Officer Odo. Why don’t you ever learn?” A short-haired, broad-faced laborer next to him glanced at the other Soldiers in the Wood Fort and whispered to the large-nosed man, “We’re already doing pretty well. Look at how the Patrol Officer beats those veterans; that’s what you call ruthless. Do you see any veteran complaining? Besides, the Patrol Officer said that it’s better to get beaten more often in peacetime than to get cut by a knife in battle. I saw the scars on those veterans yesterday; they were terrifying.”

“Weiz, I’m not complaining, I just worry I won’t be able to handle such daily training in the future,” the large-nosed man said with a conciliatory smile.

“Can’t handle it? How do those miner brothers handle it? Who was it that shamelessly begged Kazak to intercede with the Patrol Officer? Since you’re already here, don’t embarrass us labor brothers. The Patrol Officer said early on to follow the rules, and if you want to escape, don’t drag me into it. There’s still a slacker tied up at the fort gate.”

…

While the Soldiers rested in the Wood Fort, a council meeting was being held in the small courtyard room of the Wood Fort.

Art sat at the head, fiddling with a quill pen. Cooper, in coarse cloth and short tunic, held a piece of birch bark in his mud-stained hands, reporting on the conditions in the Wood Fort.

“My Lord, since we have obtained enough wheat seeds, the more than one hundred acres of cultivated land and twenty acres of military land have all been sown. We have sown over eighteen thousand pounds of wheat seeds, and we estimate to harvest fifty to sixty thousand pounds of wheat this autumn. After reserving next year’s wheat seeds, we will still have nearly forty thousand pounds of grain left. According to your previous arrangements, there will be no tax collected in the first year; we can only reclaim the borrowed wheat seeds from the farmers. The wheat seeds we reclaim from the farmers will also be enough to support fifty people for a year. The farmers’ own remaining grain will also be enough to last a whole year, and the grain seeds for the first batch of farmers’ winter wheat this year will need to be exchanged with the grain they hold. All these things can only be confirmed in the autumn. Additionally, the seventeen vagrants you recruited last time have not yet been allocated land; these people are temporarily cultivating the military land.”

“Currently, the grain reserves in the Wood Fort are not optimistic. After the spring planting, we only have over eight thousand pounds of grain left, and we are still more than five months away from the autumn harvest. We already have sixty-five fort residents and thirty-one members in the Patrol Team, including two wounded Soldiers. We consume at least one hundred forty pounds of grain daily, so our existing reserves are only enough for two months.”

After hearing Cooper’s report on land and grain, Art said to him, “Now that we have a bit more money, we can continue to purchase grain from outside. You must ensure that the Wood Fort has at least three months of grain reserves.”

“Yes, My Lord, I will also continue to organize people to purchase from outside.”

“Hmm, if you need to go out to purchase goods, you must tell me in advance, and I will send people to escort you. Continue.”

“Regarding finances, our current funds are sufficient to support at least one year of military expenses and grain consumption.” Finances were personally managed by Art, so Cooper did not elaborate.

“Regarding livestock, through various captures and purchases, the Wood Fort now has four warhorses, four draft oxen, one old horse, three mules, one large donkey, four pigs, and eight sheep.”

“Regarding farm tools and supplies, we have five four-wheeled carriages, four two-wheeled carts, eight heavy plows, fifty sets of iron farm tools, a large number of iron tools, as well as daily necessities like salt and cloth.”

“All the farm tools and livestock belong to the Wood Fort and are temporarily under my responsibility to lend to the farmers. Later, when the farmers harvest grain, they can rent farm tools, livestock, and supplies with grain.”

“Regarding construction, another livestock shed has been built in the Wood Fort, and I have moved the crude stone mill into the small mill. In the Valley Land, there are now two large sheds and three or four small sheds built by farmers themselves. I had them enclose that gentle slope with thorns and brushwood to prevent wild animal attacks.”

“Regarding prisoners of war, the captives brought back from Ars堡 are held in a shed outside the fort. Odo sends two Soldiers to guard the shed in shifts every day. They know their lives are safe and are relatively well-behaved.”

“This is the general situation in the Wood Fort, My Lord.” Cooper put away the birch bark and nodded to Art.

“Cooper, I am very relieved with you in charge of all matters in the Wood Fort. Spring planting has ended, and now there are three relatively important matters for the Wood Fort: one is to continue reclaiming wasteland, aiming to reclaim another one hundred acres of wasteland before the autumn harvest; the second is to clear the road from the Wood Fort to the edge of the northern dense forest. Our carriages have been parked there, and supplies have to be carried into the Wood Fort by hand, which is very inconvenient. The laborers for building the carriage road will be those fifteen prisoners of war. Although these prisoners have not committed many serious crimes and there is hope for them to return to being good citizens, they must still be strictly supervised. They should not be fed until full on weekdays, and their treatment will be reconsidered after a month based on their performance. Lawrence can assist you with the management of the prisoners of war; four of the prisoners were originally villagers of Ars堡, so Lawrence should be familiar with them, which will make management easier; the third is to continuously organize people to go out and purchase grain. You arrange these three matters yourself. If there are not enough hands, I can ask Officer Odo to arrange some Soldiers to help you.”

“Lawrence, briefly talk about the Fort Guard’s situation.”

Lawrence, sitting with Scott at the end of the left table, was rubbing the mud from his feet. He didn’t expect Art to ask him about the Fort Guard next. He nervously stood up and bowed to Art, “My… My Lord, you want me to speak?”

“Lawrence, don’t be nervous, speak.”

Lawrence quietly took a breath and composed himself, saying, “Yes, My Lord, according to your orders, besides Scott, I also selected five relatively strong men from the farmers to join the Fort Guard. The Fort Guard has a total of seven people, two short swords, and seven short spears. We trained intensively for three days before the spring plowing and sowing, but it has been too busy lately, so I can only take the team members for some simple training during rainy days and at night. I’m also not very good at training, so the Fort Guard can only drive away wild beasts and prevent wild animal attacks.”

“Hmm, it’s fine. The initial purpose of establishing the Fort Guard was mainly to protect everyone from wild animal attacks, but I will give you another task—to assist the Old Butler in maintaining public order among the fort residents. There will continue to be vagrants coming here, and some of them will certainly be unruly. You must assist the Old Butler in dealing with these troublemakers. Furthermore, you can organize the young and strong among the fort residents for some training during the slack farming season. This is not mandatory for now; you and the Old Butler can discuss and decide. Also, make Scott the Deputy Leader of the Fort Guard. The two of you will mainly assist the Old Butler in managing the Wood Fort and leading the fort residents in their work. The training of the Fort Guard also needs to be strengthened, as you will need to protect the safety of everyone in the Valley when the Patrol Team leaves. Your salaries will be raised by one level, issued according to the Combat Squad Leader of the Patrol Team.”

“Thank you, My Lord (My Lord),” Lawrence and Scott said in unison.

After arranging the various miscellaneous affairs of the Wood Fort, Art picked up the wooden cup filled with clear water on the table and took a sip, then turned the conversation to the Patrol Team Commanders sitting on the right side. “Officer Odo, you are the Patrol Team’s Deputy, please briefly explain the situation.”

Officer Odo wasn’t like Cooper, who could record everything on birch bark, so he carefully recalled for a moment before saying, “My Lord, when the Patrol Team set out for Ars堡, including you, there were twenty-one people. In the battle to reclaim Ars堡, we lost three Soldiers: two from the First Squad, two heavily wounded from the Second Squad, and one from the Third Squad. Of the two heavily wounded Soldiers, one has recovered and returned to duty, while the other suffered a facial injury that caused blindness in his left eye and cannot return to duty. Of the original Patrol Team Soldiers, there are still four officers and twelve Soldiers remaining, plus two wounded Soldiers. Several of our squads are short of personnel. The twelve newly recruited laborers and miners have started basic training these past two days; they are easier to train than the new recruits originally recruited from vagrants, and I think they can all be incorporated into the Patrol Team.”

“Regarding weapons, our weapons suffered significant wear and tear in the battle to reclaim Ars堡, especially wooden shields and swords. The disadvantage of our shields was evident in this battle; after inventory, thirteen wooden shields were damaged, four armed swords were unusable, five short spears were broken, and two sets of leather armor and ten sets of cloaks were damaged. We do not have a blacksmith, so damaged iron weapons cannot be repaired. However, we also supplemented from Ars堡 with two sets of damaged leather armor, seven short spears, four short swords, two chain hammers, one cotton armor, and a batch of uniforms, military boots, belts, and a batch of severely damaged weapons picked up on the battlefield. After some repairs, our current weapons, leather (cotton) armor, and cloaks can barely equip twenty-five Soldiers. The Old Carpenter is also rushing to make wooden shields and spear shafts~”

“Regarding military supplies, we currently have four warhorses, two young mules, and one iron-reinforced four-wheeled carriage, as well as three military tents and some miscellaneous items allocated to the Soldiers, such as belts, water skins, military boots, whetstones, and eating utensils.”

“Regarding military pay, since we started issuing salaries over two months ago, we have already issued nearly two thousand fenny in pay.”

Officer Odo didn’t have much more to say and concluded his report after briefly summarizing the army’s situation.

Art then listened to the reports from Bard and Kazak, who summarized the lessons learned from the Ars堡 battle, recent training conditions, and the state of the Soldiers, and proposed increasing Soldiers’ pay appropriately.

“Alright, the reason I called you for a meeting today is because I have decided to go out tomorrow to recruit vagrants and Soldiers for Baron Antayas. I also need to survey the situation for setting up outposts on the border, and also go out to investigate the situation of bandits and mountain brigands. I have already arranged the matters in the Wood Fort; now I will arrange the army’s affairs.”

“First, the military rewards from the Ars堡 battle must be distributed, doubled compared to the rewards from the Wincheston Manor battle. Second, arrange the army’s training; starting tomorrow, the army will intensify training, focusing on battle formation training and individual combat skills training. After two weeks of new recruit training, Officer Odo will be responsible for temporarily assigning them to various squads. The final personnel assignments will be made after I return from outside. During this time, you must train them rigorously and also maintain good military discipline. I have already discussed the specific training programs and schedule with Officer Odo this morning. Finally, there will be a military merit banquet tonight, attended by all Soldiers who participated in the Ars堡 reclamation battle, as well as Cooper, Lawrence, Scott, Bard, and the two wounded Soldiers. The newly arrived laborers and miners will not participate, but they should also be given some meat. I have already arranged this with Emma.”

“That’s all. You may each return to your duties.”

…