Chapter 165: Being Prepared Pays Off

George felt overwhelmed by Ahuatan Knight’s unscrupulous performance, so he immediately changed the subject: “The troops of House Cranston might not be great, but they certainly aren’t the worst in the Duchy of Nohan! So how could such a thing happen in the section of the defense line they were guarding?”

“House Cranston is undergoing a complete overhaul of its army this year,” Ahuatan Knight sighed briefly and gave a concise explanation.

The so-called army overhaul means that when a large number of soldiers are in the same age group, and these battle-hardened veterans have reached the point where their physical abilities have seriously declined and they can no longer perform effectively on the battlefield, they must leave the army. At this critical time when new blood is needed, the Lords are forced to recruit a large number of new recruits to fill the massive gaps in personnel. It is like a medical method of replacing human blood to treat certain diseases.

As mentioned before, in such situations, the actual combat power of the army shows a wave-like change. At the same time, the gap between the peaks and valleys becomes particularly large. After all, you cannot expect those new recruits who have just put down their pitchforks to have the same combat power as the elite veterans.

Just like this time, it is said that less than 30% of the veterans remained in House Cranston’s army. Moreover, some elite troops also needed to be left behind in the territory just in case. As a result, the troops sent out to Brandenburg were mostly new recruits who had received no more than three months of training and had basically never seen blood. You might think three months of basic training seems like a long time. In reality, it can at most transform ordinary people used to daily life into quasi-soldiers. It allows them to understand commands, learn the basic use of weapons, build friendships with future comrades, and most importantly, get used to the future military life.

Some people might say that the new recruit training of the PLA also lasts three months and that these three months are enough to form a quite powerful combat force. But in fact, new recruit life is not that hard. Nowadays, the main goal of new recruit training is to cultivate military habits, so the training volume is not very large. If there is any training with the greatest intensity, it should be the final assessment at the end of the new recruit period—both mental and physical stress are the hardest times for new recruits. However, compared to the training after being assigned to grassroots companies, that is truly child’s play.

Of course, if this were wartime, there might be significant changes. But if they are dragged onto the battlefield after just three months, they can only be called qualified cannon fodder. This also requires sufficient nutrition to guarantee the training intensity. As the saying goes, raising soldiers is harder than training them! And House Cranston’s territory, whether in terms of the systematic nature of training or the army’s rations, cannot be compared to the PLA from before the transmigration. The only advantage it has is that the humans in this world are naturally stronger physically.

Normally, Brandenburg has always been a large-scale training ground. Because of the huge gap in strength, the barbarian invasions in autumn and winter every year have become a practical combat drill for the defending troops. Under this general premise, these new recruits can shoot arrows, throw stones, fire pots, and lime on the city walls during their first year. Then, in the second year, with the help of strong armies from other territories or the presence of a knight personally, they can engage in hand-to-hand combat with a portion of the barbarians. Once they pass this hurdle, those original new recruits can become relatively qualified warriors.

Don’t think this approach seems to take a long time; in this world, it is already considered a method with a very high cost-performance ratio. If you want that kind of farmer-soldier who can only charge when the battle is going in their favor, of course, there are simpler and cheaper methods available.

If a large-scale battle were to occur right at the critical moment of the army overhaul, the combat power of the troops would be really hard to guarantee. So, it can be said that House Cranston’s luck was just too bad. They actually encountered an unprecedented major situation in Brandenburg at the exact time when the veterans were retiring and the new recruits had not yet formed a combat force. In this life-or-death fierce battle, the leaders of these new recruits were a young girl with no authority who could not give her subordinates a sense of security. The fact that the enemy did not completely collapse even after the barbarians climbed the city walls and our side saw blood shows that the enemy still put in a lot of effort during the new recruits’ training.

Suddenly, George realized something seemed wrong. He leaned against the crenelation and asked with a question: “By the way, didn’t they have a knight leading this time?”

If a knight had been leading the troops, such a situation where they were being pushed back by the barbarians would never have happened! Ben Andrews Markin’s strength was only comparable to George’s, far from that of a formal knight. Even he could play ‘Musou’ among those barbarians, so a leading knight solving this problem would only take a few minutes. No, it should be said that unless they were actively allowed up, the barbarians wouldn’t even be able to reach the city wall.

“Sir Chrispus Feld was on the tower at that time, busy dealing with that giant who kept roaring. So that little girl was left alone on the city wall,” Ahuatan Knight quickly defended Sir Feld. As a knight himself, he did not want rumors to arise about the other party.

“So Sir Chrispus Feld is actually from House Cranston?” George was stunned for a moment before immediately understanding what was going on. “Then his achievements today far outweigh the mistakes he made.”

“Sir Feld is indeed not very sensitive,” Ahuatan Knight gave his own evaluation of Sir Feld’s actions.

What Ahuatan Knight said was not wrong. Sir Feld, in such a special time, still used the old methods to handle such matters, which indeed seemed a bit slow. Clearly knowing that the combat power of his troops had seriously declined and the intensity of the battle had increased significantly compared to usual, he failed to make the correct changes in his orders, which made him seem somewhat negligent. Knights like him, as mentioned before, are fine as a screw in the army. But leading an army independently to fight is too difficult for them.

“If you put it that way, of course, you’re right! The most correct thing Sir Feld should have done was to ask other knights to take care of his batch of new recruits before leaving his own group,” George said, shaking his head lightly. “In fact, even excluding our Bolerum Territory, there are other knights in Brandenburg who are in a reserve state, right! Of course, you were also a ready-made good choice at that time when you went to find Sir Feld.”

George also knew that Ahuatan Knight was intentionally trying to shift the blame for Sir Feld just now. This was not only because the two of them had similar positions, but also because, in Ahuatan Knight’s view, the reason Sir Feld left his original post was because of George’s invitation. If George had not gone to find Sir Feld to help solve the problem of the siege tower, this series of events later would not have happened.

Of course, determining responsibility in this aspect was not something George could interfere with. But by clearing the air beforehand here, when someone really had nothing better to do and came to ask for an opinion, he could handle it more calmly.

Of course, George was absolutely going to give Ahuatan Knight the face he deserved. Although George did not think that compared to participating in destroying six siege towers that posed a serious threat and repelling what looked like a major general of the enemy, this matter would have much negative impact on Sir Feld.

In fact, except for special circumstances, knights in Brandenburg are required to stay at the defensive positions belonging to their own territory when defending the city. This is to ensure the stability of the position and prevent situations like the one that happened with House Cranston before. However, after so many years, the overly weak performance of the barbarians has made the adherence to this rule in Brandenburg not very good.

Of course, if there are two or more squires in the defense line, then the formal knight leading the team temporarily leaving becomes no big deal. Just like Ben did before, even if one of the squires cannot reach his level, two of them together can achieve a similar effect.

“But overall, this kind of thing is not a big problem! So, what is the overall casualty situation?” George was most concerned about personnel losses! Although the soldiers of House Cranston seemed to have nothing to do with George, having an extra helper in this environment meant a higher chance of victory. Even if the combat power of those soldiers from House Cranston was really disappointing to the audience, using them as auxiliary troops was still much better than ordinary young men.

“About 20 soldiers from House Cranston died, and another 35 were injured. Fortunately, Miss Cecilia Pasqual Cranston, although she was shocked, was not seriously hurt,” Ahuatan Knight informed the general situation very clearly. “In fact, if she hadn’t timely used the collision ring on her body, those soldiers probably wouldn’t have lasted until Ben arrived to provide support.”

It was clear that Ahuatan Knight’s impression of Miss Cecilia Pasqual Cranston was not bad.

“It seems that although the tomboy has a bit less strength and doesn’t look very brave, her brain should still be working fine,” George gave this evaluation, clearly telling Ahuatan Knight that he had no interest in the young lady and hoping he wouldn’t try to set them up.

Since the other party was a woman, George began to understand Ben’s feelings. At the same time, he continued to imagine what happened at that time: ‘At that time, the soldiers of House Cranston must have performed terribly on the battlefield. After dealing with the threat of those barbarians, Ben’s tone when speaking to Miss Cecilia Pasqual Cranston, whose true identity he didn’t know at the time, might have been a bit harsh. Of course, his evaluation of those soldiers was definitely not good.’

One can imagine that this naturally angered the young lady from House Cranston, who had just been shocked and was emotionally excited. This naturally led to a heated argument. As for whether any further conflict occurred, since Ahuatan Knight did not say anything, George naturally would not ask.

Because he believed that even if there was any conflict, judging from the performance of the House Cranston side, Ben was unlikely to suffer any loss. Judging from his performance just now as he passed in front of George, there was absolutely no problem in this regard.

On the other hand, even if they had started fighting, based on George’s understanding of Ben, he would have had some sense of proportion when dealing with the other party. If it had really escalated, Ahuatan Knight would not be talking to George in such a relaxed tone as he is now.

“Alright! Alright! This matter is of course up to you, George. But I think if you make a hasty conclusion without meeting her first, it is not only unfair to the other party, but more importantly, it is also inappropriate in terms of etiquette. I think Lord Viscount would also agree with my point of view,” Ahuatan Knight spoke out what was on his mind.

His worry was reasonable; who wouldn’t have such thoughts in this situation? Although this world did not have the saying “war makes women stay away,” it was inevitable for women in the barracks to be viewed with colored eyes by others.

Of course, professions like Mages and Priests were better off, because they often had their own separate spaces and did not have to mix with soldiers for long periods. But female warriors and knights were different. Being in close contact with soldiers for long periods, they really could not let their husbands feel at ease.

Although Miss Cranston’s situation was better as a Noble, her reputation might still be somewhat affected. However, using this as a reason to reject the blind date was not entirely convincing. After all, this was just a blind date, not a requirement for George to definitely marry her. Just treat it as considering House Cranston’s face, meet once, and then become strangers.

However, George felt that the issue in this aspect needed to be thought over carefully after the fact before he could give a response. He changed the subject: “I think since House Cranston has suffered such losses, maybe we should let them temporarily retreat to the rear for rest and repair. Although we cannot replenish troops now, it might be better to wait until those wounded recover before sending them to the front line.”

Knowing that George did not want to talk about this topic anymore, Ahuatan Knight did not want to dwell on this matter too much: “Although your proposal might be a proper way to handle things, neither Miss Cranston nor Sir Feld would agree to do this. Because this concerns the honor of House Cranston. You also know that the soldiers of House Cranston made such a big mistake, and the strength they showed is hard to make people feel confident. If they really went to rest as you suggested at this time, it would confirm the current declining trend of House Cranston. This is something they absolutely cannot accept.”

‘Right! In their view, the lives of soldiers are not as important as the glory of the Nobles. At times like this, they would rather pretend to be strong than retreat. If something like this happened in our Bolerum Territory, as long as there was even a glimmer of hope, the knights would not have followed my proposal just now. This is really somewhat similar to Tianchao! Wasn’t that how the “fighting planes” and “fighting cars” were created back then? But sometimes, this kind of adherence to honor can make people feel especially cute,’ George immediately fell into deep thought.

“If you are worried that they cannot hold the line with their current strength, then you are worrying for nothing. In fact, Sir Feld has already prepared to stay permanently on the crenelation. So you don’t need to worry too much about this,” Ahuatan Knight misinterpreted the reason for George’s silence and gave this explanation to George.

The so-called staying permanently on the crenelation means moving the resting place from the stone houses in the rock wall to the towers on the city wall. But in case of an emergency, they can rush to the scene in time. The soldiers on the city wall were also given special instructions: if any dangerous signs appeared, they could quickly report to him. This practice uses a small number of high-end combat power to make up for the problems caused by low-quality personnel. It seems that so far, only the Knight Nation of Nohan can afford this luxurious practice.

‘I hope those soldiers from House Cranston do not become startled birds because of today’s events. Otherwise, maybe during the day it’s fine, but when they rest at night, Sir Feld shouldn’t be woken up several times in a row only to find out nothing major happened,’ George naturally began to worry.

However, he did not want to drag this out with Ahuatan Knight any longer. He stood up straight, stretched, and said: “So, the previous system of unorganized recruitment and retirement is very unreasonable. You see, with a little carelessness and a bit of bad luck, situations like the one in House Cranston can happen.”

“George, the set of plans you created is indeed much stronger in terms of effect compared to the previous system,” Ahuatan Knight said, looking a bit uncomfortable. “But, but the cost is also not small! If it were a slightly richer territory, it would be okay, but for a poor and barren one, it would definitely be an unbearable burden.”

Ahuatan Knight’s meaning was very clear: George’s method was good, but its universality was too poor. Of course, although this kind of words could not be said to be slapping George’s face, it was still picking faults on his achieved results. That was why, as a knight under his command, he showed an uncomfortable expression towards George, the future Lord.

However, George would not have any bad thoughts about this. Instead, he said with a proud expression: “Of course! I specially designed it to be the mode that best fits the conditions of our Bolerum Territory! It’s not that easy for others to imitate.”

In this world where no real technical barrier had been formed yet, the more universal a technology or system is, the easier it is for others to imitate. Take George’s previous industries as an example! The distilled liquor sector had imitators in less than three years, just because the conditions required were relatively few. And for condiments like soy sauce, because they were restricted by raw materials such as salt and soybeans, the difficulty of imitation would be much greater.