The sky was still raining, with moisture and heat surging together.
The entire Pentos and its surrounding areas seemed shrouded inside a giant steamer.
The poor at the bottom had no choice and had to come out to work no matter when.
But today, those wealthy people did not hide at home either; instead, they ran outside the city to join in the excitement.
It was only because Aegon had announced in advance that his troops were going to hold a drill.
In this era lacking entertainment, even the rich had no good ways to amuse themselves.
Hearing that there was something new to see, they all crowded over one by one.
“Look at how skinny these poor ghosts’ horses are; they aren’t even as energetic as my hunting dogs.”
“Did anyone collect money when you came in?
Where do you pay?”
“However, this bunch of people still has decent spirit.”
A group of idle noble young masters made a series of comments towards this troop of soldiers clad in black clothes and black armor.
As more and more onlookers gathered around to watch the excitement, the soldiers preparing for the exercise also developed a strange feeling in their hearts.
When had they ever experienced such a thing?
They had always worked with their heads lowered and trained with their heads lowered, then cringed and bowed before employers or commanders to beg back their own pitifully meager pay.
When had they ever been watched by so many people?
Quite a few people felt very unaccustomed to this, even whispering and murmuring to one another.
“Who is talking?
Have you forgotten the training regulations?” Aegon stood in the middle of the soldiers divided into two groups and scolded loudly, “For this drill, the winning side gets an extra bowl of meat when returning tonight, and the losing side will stay behind to clean up the grounds for me!
Do you understand?”
“Understood clearly!”
“Understood clearly, My Lord!”
“At your command, My Lord!”
The soldiers’ answers were somewhat scattered.
Aegon reprimanded them again with dissatisfaction: “Speak louder!
I can’t hear you!
I completely can’t hear you!”
“Understood, My Lord.”
This time the answer was finally a bit more uniform, but Aegon was still unsatisfied.
“Louder, I still can’t hear you.
“Understood, My Lord.”
This time the soldiers’ response was not only uniform, but also powerful.
The roars of more than three hundred people merged together and traveled far away, as if even the mugginess wrapped around everyone was blown away quite a bit.
And this uniform response made those onlookers in the distance perk up.
“Very good, very spirited.”
Right now, the progress of the side quest for military construction pushed forward by Aegon had already reached ninety-five percent.
It could be said that it was just a final push away from success.
Aegon intended to complete this final step through a drill.
He divided the cavalry of more than three hundred people into two teams: one led by Roget and the other led by Mago.
This was mainly considering that if he himself participated in one side, it would cause the other side to hold back, thereby greatly discounting the effectiveness of the drill.
Although he himself did not participate in the drill, he could observe from the side, find out the problems exposed during the drill process, and leave them to be improved afterward.
Seeing that the preparations were almost done, Aegon stepped back to the side.
Aegon nodded to Belwas who was carrying the flag beside him.
Belwas fiercely waved the yellow and blue flag in his hand and roared loudly: “Begin the charge!”
“Charge!”
Roget raised the wooden lance stained with white ash in his hand and shouted to the soldiers around him.
The soldiers who received the command responded one after another, squeezed their warhorses with both legs, and charged toward the portion of cavalry led by Mago.
Looking at Roget and his party charging toward him, Mago did not shout to boost morale, but simply pulled out his wooden dual blades and charged out at the very front.
However, his behavior of not giving orders in advance caused the team to be pulled somewhat loose, which would inevitably greatly discount the overall impact force.
Sure enough, as soon as the drill began, Roget relied on proper command to tightly suppress Mago’s team from the front.
Although both sides had simulated casualties during the combat drill, the ‘casualties’ on Mago’s side were obviously larger, and the white ash stained on the soldiers’ bodies was also much more.
Roget, who gained the upper hand, was extremely excited, feeling as if something inside his body had been ignited.
“Charge!
Surround him!
Capture Mago alive!” he shouted excitedly.
Aegon observed quietly from the side.
Roget’s command talent was considered pretty good; the only problem was that his actions were not seasoned enough.
At this moment, he had already withstood Mago’s charge from the front.
Next, he should command the team to outflank from the left and right; as long as he cut off Mago’s troop formation, victory would be secured. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
But at this moment, being overly eager for success and thinking solely of capturing Mago alive, he vainly missed a great military opportunity.
Looking back at Mago’s side, Mago, being a Dothraki, was quite skilled in horsemanship.
Some frail soldiers were defeated by him in a single encounter, and it often required three to five soldiers joining forces to entangle him.
Moreover, Mago’s own valor also played a huge motivating role, keeping the soldiers around him from routing all along.
This resilience gathered by the commander leading by example soon ushered in a turning point for them.
Two soldiers under Roget’s command accidentally fell off their horses one after another, and the team’s morale began to waver.
Mago seized this opportunity and, bringing the remaining twenty-odd cavalrymen around him, forcefully broke apart Roget’s military array.
After the formation was broken, Roget could no longer organize any effective counterattacks, and the situation of the entire drill was already clear.
Such fierce combat also made the idlers and noble youths who came to watch the excitement shout in satisfaction.
“Really not bad, such a scene can actually be seen without spending money.”
“These poor ghosts really have a few tricks up their sleeves.”
“Who is their commander?”
“I heard it’s Illyrio’s son.”
“Illyrio?
That fat man?”
After witnessing the performance of this army, everyone naturally became curious about the commander of this troop.
However, Aegon didn’t care about this at all, nor did he take it to heart.
Although the fight just now was only a drill, it stirred up quite a wave in the soldiers’ hearts.
Their inner combative nature as men and their desire for victory were thoroughly stimulated.
Starting from now, they could truly be considered a real army!
Just as Aegon was feeling emotional, his exclusive golden finger prompt message arrived right on time:
[Quest – Military Construction Completed: Current Military Evaluation E+]
[You obtained Reward 1: Level 1 Skill Card * 2; Level 2 Skill Card * 1]
[You obtained Reward 2: Token of Leadership (Effect: This is an army built by your own hands.
When you appear before this army, morale is significantly boosted)]
[You obtained Reward 3: Hearts Bound as One (Effect: When you are together with this army, you can know the army’s fate one day in advance)]
[You obtained Reward 4: Skin — ‘Charging Ahead’]