Weeds were once again cautiously poking their heads out on the training ground, but they were quickly trampled to pieces by the hooves of passing warhorses.
Compared to the training ground that previously looked like a wasteland, it was now much more orderly.
Distance markers were drawn on the training ground with white lime, and the human-shaped targets had all been completely repaired.
Relying on the white lime scales on the ground, the soldiers controlled the distance between themselves and the targets.
“Hah!”
Roget fiercely thrust the long spear in his hand forward, precisely knocking down the target in front of him.
He looked around; these cavalrymen, who originally resembled mere grooms and handymen, had taken on a completely new mental outlook after more than half a month of training.
They no longer needed to hustle through several jobs day after day to make a living, and only needed to focus on training according to Aegon’s arrangements.
Regular meals, reasonable training, and most importantly, no longer having to rush around daily for debts meant their psychological pressure was much smaller, and some people even had fewer white hairs on their heads.
Roget looked towards Aegon not far away, who was drilling alongside the others.
It could be said that all the changes in this cavalry force were brought by Aegon.
At first, many people felt that this wealthy young man Aegon was merely acting on a momentary surge of hot-blooded impulse and would give up before long, but unexpectedly, over so many days, he not only trained with them, but the intensity was only higher, not lower.
This also gave rise to a sense of admiration in their hearts.
“All right, let’s stop here for today.”
Although these soldiers were still far from the standard of qualified elite troops in Aegon’s heart, compared to when they first assembled, there had been a tremendous improvement; at least standing together, they finally looked like a proper army.
Aegon opened the system panel, and the progress value of the army building side quest had changed.
[Quest Progress (100 / 23)]
Additionally, the training during this period had also greatly improved his Riding, reaching level three, which could already be called proficient.
Aegon knew clearly in his heart that if he wanted to continue rapidly improving the army’s rating, the next step would be to start from both equipment and manpower sources.
He gathered all the soldiers to one place and announced, “Everyone will rest tomorrow, but I have a task to hand over to you.”
Hearing that the commander was going to assign a task, everyone perked up their ears.
This young commander had always been generous with his money, not only paying out of his own pocket to help everyone repay a portion of their debts, but also spending money to improve the camp meals.
Each person could receive a sufficient amount of eggs and fish daily to replenish their physical strength, along with unlimited coarse grains like potatoes and corn. This story is hosted at novelping . com.
It couldn’t be considered lavish, but in this era, being able to eat one’s fill every meal and have balanced nutrition was already an extremely rare treatment.
“The rated establishment of our cavalry is three hundred and thirty people, but currently the registered number is less than one hundred and twenty.
I hope that after you go back, you will look for more people with a Riding foundation and honest character to join the army, with the same treatment as you.”
“For every person successfully recommended, I will issue a silver coin as a reward.”
Hearing the generous recommendation reward, someone immediately spoke up to ask, “My Lord, as long as we bring in one person, can we receive a silver coin?”
“That’s right, as long as it’s someone recommended by you, upon passing my examination, you can claim a silver coin.
But there is a hard requirement: they must be honest and well-behaved, have horse-Riding experience, and must know how to ride a warhorse.
You are not only the recommenders, but also the guarantors.
If the other party commits a serious mistake such as disobeying commands during wartime, then the person who recommended them to join the army will be held responsible!”
“Besides this, if anyone can recommend five qualified soldiers, I will raise their military pay and treatment; if they can recommend ten, they will be directly promoted to squad leader, and their military pay will be adjusted upward accordingly.”
Someone curiously pursued the question, “My Lord, what if I can recruit twenty people?”
“Then you should pack your bags and leave early; I detest good-for-nothings who only know how to pad numbers and fill positions by pretending to have talent.”
Aegon made a joke with everyone, and the atmosphere on the training ground instantly became lively, filled with cheerful laughter.
“We will only recruit one hundred people for the first batch.
That’s all, dismissed.”
After finishing his command, Aegon turned and left the training ground.
Watching his departing back, the soldiers gathered in twos and threes to whisper and discuss, all calculating where to find personnel that met the requirements.
“What do you guys say, why is the Lord in such a rush to expand recruitment?
Where does he get so much money?
Could it be that he’s subsidizing it all out of his own pocket?”
“It must be the Lord paying out of his own pocket.
Weren’t the debts we owed previously also settled with money from the Lord?”
“Then we must properly butter up this Lord.”
A sly voice suddenly sounded.
“We must absolutely not let him run away.”
These words immediately received the echo of the people around, and even a burst of snickering was emitted, the thoughts within being self-evident. This chapter was taken from novelping dot com without permission.
A commander like Aegon who was willing to pay out of his own pocket to treat his soldiers well was truly rare.
Past successive commanders only thought about squeezing grease from the bottom-tier soldiers, but Aegon alone single-mindedly poured money and supplies into the military camp.
Roget’s heart was likewise filled with doubts; he couldn’t guess what Aegon was plotting by paying such a price, could it just be that he was young and simply wanted to experience the novelty of leading troops?
But as the most senior person among the cavalry, he sincerely hoped that such stable days could last a little longer.
At least after Aegon’s arrival, the warhorses would never starve again, and the soldiers finally had something to look forward to, no longer like the millstones in the mill, toiling endlessly day after day.
“Then you all better train properly; whoever falls behind in training, watch out for being driven away by the Lord!”
Roget stood up and said to the crowd.
Hearing his warning, the soldiers who had been laughing and joking just moments ago immediately turned serious.
Everyone realized that this was entirely possible!
However, as far as the current strength of this troop was concerned, if they were dragged onto the battlefield to fight, they were still far from ready.
Aegon could roughly guess the various thoughts in the soldiers’ hearts.
In the king-making project, the sources of the player’s subordinate army were divided into many types: inherited, independently recruited and formed, or locally incorporated and reorganized.
With different sources, the demands in the soldiers’ hearts were also worlds apart.
Mercenaries only single-mindedly wanted to earn more pay; forcibly incorporated troops worried all day long that they would be pushed out to act as cannon fodder; inherited old armies would secretly judge whether the new commander had the ability to lead them to victory.
As for the troop under his command now, deep down they didn’t consider themselves soldiers at all, but merely a group of ordinary people who only sought to live in peace and muddle through their days.
But no matter what an army’s background was, what could truly shape their identity and unite military morale was always victory after solid victory.
Right now, their flattery towards him was greater than approval and respect; the latter could only be won through victory.
Aegon’s plan was very clear: first complete the army building side quest and obtain the army rating given by the system.
Afterwards, as long as he personally led them to win several battles in succession, the sense of belonging in the soldiers’ hearts would naturally completely transform.
And he, who led them to continuous victories, would also become as trustworthy and reliable as a paternal figure in everyone’s hearts.
Out of the money previously obtained from Illyrio, Aegon reserved enough funds to support the operation of the military camp for half a year, leaving over two thousand Pentos gold coins remaining.
He intended to begin initiating another territory-related side quest.