Chapter Seventy-six Various Discussions

  Boot camp.

  "On the walls of the council chamber in the palace, two giant swords were hung, one belonging to Odin and the other to the founding king." Johnny was telling his new recruits in the squad of ten what he had learned about the kingdom from Stefan.

  Jonny was tired of the earth stories he had made up. Since there were a group of young people who had never seen the world in front of him, he would rather talk about something real.

  "That's not right, Jony," William began to pick at it. "Oden's sword shouldn't be kept by the temple?"

  The people around nodded and curiously looked at their squad leader.

  "This one," Jony thought for a moment, "the one in the temple was used by Odin before he became a god, and the one in the palace was used when he and his friends first came out to make a name for themselves."

  "Oh..." William responded with a sound, and another question was thrown out, "Why did he change his weapon, and the previous thing is still left?"

  "This...," Joni didn't know either, "His first batch of followers must have kept it for him."

  Everyone has no opinion anymore.

  "On either side of the giant sword are the weapons of those who founded the country, including long swords, giant axes, and longbows..."

  Ossetian Palace, Council Chamber.

  A long table, the king sat at the head. Behind him, two ancient giant swords were crossed and hung. On both sides of the giant sword, there were also long swords, battle axes, long bows, etc. as accompaniments.

  Now, the brains of the kingdom are discussing Field Marshal Friedrich's plan.

  "Your Majesty, I think this is unwise." A young man who looked under thirty spoke out in opposition.

  "Oh? Tell me your thoughts, Little Wen."

  The young man known as Little Vinnie blushed slightly before regaining his composure: "If we indeed recruit some barbarians, how will they be arranged? For hundreds of years, the Osdin people and the barbarians have been irreconcilable! How will the local people treat these barbarians? Even if they are recognized as Osdin people by us, those villagers won't easily wipe out their prejudices."

  He paused for a moment and then said: "Please note, Your Majesty, I am no longer that little kid from back then."

  "Haha......" A burst of kind laughter. Among a table of elderly people, Vinnie was indeed the young and conspicuous one.

  "Alright, I apologize to you, Marquis Villier de l'Isle," the king said with a smile, "Time has passed too quickly."

  "As for your question, Marquis de Losa," said Pope Allen in the king's stead, "perhaps we can find some wasteland to let them cultivate, so as to avoid conflicts between the barbarians who have surrendered and the native Osedin people."

  "How can we guarantee that these barbarians will not strike again?" Villier Llosa asked, "What if they take up their axes once more and strike at our people?"

  "We can restrict their possession of weapons." A middle-aged man chimed in, "Or dispatch troops to guard them."

  Villier shook his head: "That's not much different from slavery. The Velsans treated us the same way at first."

  The house fell silent.

  After a while, Field Marshal Friedrich, who made the suggestion, broke the awkward silence: "Or, as I said, push the border line northward, not all the way, but protrude outward and disperse those barbarian tribes willing to surrender to Odin in new lands. This can also make them help build city walls. City walls are for their safety, so it's not slavery."

  Some nodded, some frowned and others shook their heads.

  "Respected General." Viller shook his head, "There's a crucial problem with your plan: can grain be grown on the frozen wasteland?"

  The marshal's face turned red for a moment.

  "It should be possible." The Minister of Agriculture, an old man with white hair and beard, stepped forward to relieve the siege, "According to the records, when the Wersa people first came to this land, it was also a wasteland. Moreover, there were residents farming on the northern border, and the environment inside and outside the border should be roughly the same. If those seeds are brought to the outside of the border, maybe we can try."

  The marshal nodded, looked at the Minister of Agriculture with gratitude. Villier also nodded in understanding.

  "Your Excellency, what about the chieftains of those scattered tribes?" asked the Minister of Civil Affairs.

  "Grant him a viscountcy and have him stay in the capital." The marshal replied.

  "Viscount?" A commotion arose, "Granting a viscount title to a savage?"

  "Unacceptable," Varys said. "The ranks of the kingdom are precious, and some warriors fight their whole lives to be a lord. And those savages who have been hostile to us for so many years, surrender one day and become two grades higher than those brave warriors who fought for the country? This won't do."

  "How...are they going to be enlisted in the army?"

  "This is worth trying."

  After a lively discussion for a long time, the final plan of the kingdom was finally formed.

  A new city is to be built in front of the burnt-out Sakena outpost, its name pending; accept barbarians willing to convert to Odinism, annihilate all tribes that maintain a hostile attitude; Barbarians will be used first for building, food and pay will be issued according to the standards of Osadin civilians.

  The general direction is set, and the rest depends on the random response of the frontline commander.

  New recruit camp, the day before departure, inside Johnny's tent.

  "...so I say, the sword and shield phalanx is more suitable for the battlefield!" Jony said resolutely. He had just transitioned from talking about the long swords hanging in the council chamber to the sword and shield infantry, then to the "Roman Empire"'s infantry phalanx, and finally arrived at this conclusion that has been tested by history.

  "No, no, you don't understand," William shook his head. "The sword and shield are indeed good, but what if the phalanx is broken? What if we're fighting one on one?"

  "Can't Sword and Shield fight alone?" Johnny retorted.

  "Of course I can," William said with no pressure at all. "But the problem isn't whether Sword Shield can solo or not."

  He turned to the eight people around him who were closing their mouths and listening to the two of them arguing: "Ask them, if they are given a sword and a shield, who can they beat?"

  Does that need to be asked? Joanie snorted, "Of course they can't - I'm not saying you guys really can't - they've been practicing with giant swords since they were young, and suddenly you ask them to use long swords, how are they supposed to do it?"

  He remembered the days when he used to wield a long sword as a warrior's knife. Of course, a long sword could be used that way, and Johnny had already verified it. But even if he swung a long sword with both hands, it wasn't as chaotic as his slashing - others were art, the art of war.

  "That's it then." William said with some satisfaction, "You're having the army retrain a batch of people who are used to using greatswords to use sword and shield?"

  Johnny looked at him strangely: "What's wrong?"

  "What's wrong? How long did it take you to get your giant sword skills to this level?"

  "I..."

  "Halt! I won't ask you, you're not a reference point." William stopped Johnny, recalling that the guy had been in contact with the giant sword for less than a year. "Ace, how long did it take you to practice the giant sword?"

  "I started learning from the villagers when I was seven years old, it's been over a decade now."

  "Look," William said with a wave of his hand, "it takes over ten years! Mastering a weapon takes over ten years! Do you think everyone is a martial arts genius like you?"

  "Hey, what's with that remark? I clearly relied on my own hard work, didn't I?" Johnny was getting a bit unhappy. "If I were really a genius, would I have struggled so miserably for the past decade or so?"

  "I was wrong, I was wrong. Please calm down," William said with a chuckle. "Others might get excited when they hear the word 'genius', but you're really strange."

  Everyone around nodded. They couldn't get a word in edgewise, but they had no objections either - this was far more interesting than just listening to a story, even if it wasn't easy to understand.

  In the eyes of those rural village kids who spend their days farming and practicing sword dances, Joni, trained by the legendary hero Mr. Stefan Heinrich, and Wilhelm, raised in a blacksmith's shop in town, are both very strong people.

  "What about the long spearman?" Joanie thought for a moment and found a counterpoint, "Isn't there a long spearman formation in the Western army? Why can't there be a sword shield too?"

  "Long spearman? So what skill does a root stick need." William was somewhat disdainful, "Stand in line, advance and retreat together, that's all it takes to practice. My neighbor has an old soldier who retired from the war a few years ago, he is a long spearman. Holding a gun facing the enemy, maintaining formation when the formation is still there, abandoning the gun and drawing a long sword for self-defense when the formation is scattered, slowly retreating - scattered soldiers fighting still rely on giant swordsmen!"

  Jony was taken aback: "Isn't a short-range weapon more convenient?"

  "That's all he can do, my captain!" William sighed, with an expressionless face. "My neighbor, the long spearman, told me that he could only manage to hold a sword without hurting himself. A giant sword that he's been practicing with since childhood, and suddenly he picks up such a light short sword - not even a long sword! How can he possibly get used to it?!"

  "But... " Jony stirred, then slumped back down, muttering to himself, "Sword and shield are indeed more suitable for the battlefield."

  "Don't worry about it." William leaned in, patting Johnny on the shoulder. "When you become a high-ranking officer, a centurion or something, then you can think about this kind of thing again. To take a step back, since you think sword and shield are better, let you use them, will you?"

  Jony thought for a moment and shook his head.

  "That's settled then." William returned to his original position. "So, tell us a good story and boost our morale, it's one of your responsibilities as a Decurion."

  Joni looked at William and sighed.

  "This guy is really good at talking," he thought, "I've wasted over twenty years of my life."

  "How did you think of so many?" Johnny asked his final question.

  "Use your brain, boss."

  This is thoroughly despised now.

  The new recruits of the male battalion are making their final preparations before departure, which includes sorting out equipment, diligent training and idle chatter... On the other hand, or in a certain corner, the female battalion is much more lively. They have not received the order to set off for the front line, which is why the camp is so lively.

  Following the last anti-discrimination against women protest, a new round of "riot" has begun.

  "Why don't we go to the front line?"

  "What is the point of our training these days?"

  "Do you look down on women? Annie is a woman too!"

  Of course, not everyone has the leisure to go out and shout randomly.

  "Annie is a woman of course, Annie is Odin's lover, are you?" Lancelot listened to the commotion outside and curled his lip.

  "That's not right," Daphne said with a smile covering her mouth. "Your grandmother wasn't also a female warrior?"

  "It's also." Lancelot shook his head, watching Daphne's elegant movements. If an unrelated person saw this scene, they would absolutely not think that the gentle and refined beautiful woman in front of them was a formidable warrior.

  Fierce attack, false slash and real stab. If it can't be done, deceive the body forward, turn the sword handle upside down and strike the opponent's jaw.

  All of this, as if it were just an instant.

  Then Daphne handed the giant sword to Lancelot, drew a long sword from her waist, and picked up a round shield from the nearby weapon rack, facing the next opponent.

  The opponent's giant sword slashed horizontally, Daphne took a few quick steps forward, blocking the place near the sword tip, and then stabbed straight with her right hand.

  An ordinary sparring session allowed everyone to witness her heroic bearing. The key was that agile figure, fluttering and beautiful.

  Added to this was the unchanging elegance and courtesy of Lancelot, against which he had no defense.

  "It's completely meaningless for them to be doing this." Daphne said somewhat gloomily, "The top will absolutely not let us go to the front line."

  "Why?" Lanslot asked in some surprise, still immersed in memories of her grandmother's bravery.

  Daphne sighed: "In any country, women are a very important resource - don't get angry, I'm just borrowing this phrase. It's said that barbarians when attacking other tribes will definitely take their women back to their own tribe and let them have children for themselves. The more people there are, the stronger the tribe will be."

  "How disgusting." Lancelot said with a frown.

  "It's true, though." Daphne smiled wryly. "While Ossetin doesn't have this problem, women are just as important. You're from the south, where things might be better. In the west, many villages' lands lie unplanted - there simply aren't enough hands to go around. Many villagers have even given up practicing martial skills, focusing on tending their own fields, yet still can't cultivate such a large area of land."

  "So in the end, after practicing martial arts for a lifetime like us, what we have to do is still give birth to children for men?" Lanslot was somewhat dissatisfied, "I don't want to!"

  "Silly goose." Daphne ruffled Lancelot's hair, as if teasing her own little sister. "How old are you, anyway? You're not going to be a monk all your life. Someday, you'll find someone to marry."

  "I don't want to," Lancelot said with a pout, but an image had already appeared in his mind.

  Speaking of which, that young man also has a long sword hanging from his waist, I wonder if he will use it?

  It's probably not possible, I heard Ais Wallenstein say that he wields two long swords with both hands. Lancelot thought out loud, without even noticing Daphne looking at her and smiling quietly.