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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Bobto
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“The foundation of all weapons is the spear.
Therefore, today we will start with how to handle a spear.
With your right hand, grab the part of the spear furthest from the spearhead, and with your left hand, grab the part about the width of your torso from there!”
Upon hearing those words, the peasants grabbed the spears placed in front of them in an awkward posture.
At first, I thought the peasants would drop the spears or struggle because they were heavy, but surprisingly, not a single one got tired just from holding a spear.
After confirming that all the peasants were holding the spears, Helmut pointed to the mercenary in front of him and said,
“Good, now follow Mark over there.
Don’t hold it flat like now, tilt it like that guy.
Then, when I say one, thrust, and when I say two, pull out the spear.
And be careful not to stab the guy in front of you!”
Upon hearing those words, the peasants holding the spears tilted them about 15 degrees.
Seeing that, the mercenary named Mark, while holding the spear, pulled his right arm outward with a large motion and twisted his waist to the right.
Then, he swung his right arm while turning to the left with a whoosh.
The spear, which was over 4 meters long, moved swiftly with a whoosh as if a bird was flying.
Even the peasants with unenthusiastic expressions seemed to think this was cool, and a few exclaimed “ooh” in admiration.
“Now, try to follow along. Ready, one!”
Upon hearing those words, the peasants greatly twisted their waists like Mark, who had skillfully handled the spear a moment ago.
Next, they should now turn their arms to the right to prepare, but…
A few twisted their waists too much and ended up falling over, and the rest were floundering to avoid falling.
For a moment, that sight was so ridiculous that I almost laughed, but I barely suppressed the laughter that was about to come out.
Helmut looked at the soldiers who showed such absurd appearances and spoke again with a solemn expression.
“Again, back to the original posture!”
Upon hearing those words, the peasants returned to their original posture of holding the spears.
“Your enthusiasm to do it like Mark is good, but you are still just chicks! Don’t try to fly.
Just slowly match the movements, even if they are a bit large.
Watch carefully what I do!”
Next, Helmut snatched the long spear from one of the peasants at the very front and took a ready stance.
Then, slowly pulling his right arm outward while twisting his waist, he thrusted slowly.
Maintaining exactly 15 degrees and assuming there was an enemy, the movement was cool even to me who knew nothing about spears.
After finishing the thrusting motion, Helmut placed the end of the spear handle on the ground and said,
“Try it slowly at this speed. Ready, one!”
In time with those words, the peasants twisted their waists to take a stance for thrusting.
This time, without any peasants falling over, everyone aimed their spearheads at an imaginary enemy.
“Two! Thrust!”
The peasants, who now thought they were plunging the aimed spearheads into the enemy, extended their spearheads toward the invisible enemy.
Although there was no sound of the wind being cut and the trajectory of the spears was very messy, everyone still succeeded in thrusting the spears safely.
The peasants, who succeeded in safely thrusting the spears at the enemy, albeit sloppily, looked a bit admirable.
“Varso, what do you think?
Doesn’t this seem quite good?”
“Yes, it’s quite good.
It’s nice to see them show the quick thrusting motion first and then practice slowly.
Because it’s a bit advantageous for them to realize what they’re doing wrong while thrusting if you show them that they can do this when they become proficient.”
“I see.
Then how long do you think it will take to make them usable in war?”
Upon hearing those words, Varso spoke with a pondering expression.
“To do it like those mercenaries over there, they would have to do it every day for at least 1-2 years, and to make them not a waste of bread on the battlefield, they would have to do it once a week for about 4 months. Otherwise, even if you equip them with good gear, they won’t be able to use it.”
Upon hearing that, a question came to mind.
No matter how unskilled the soldiers are, from what I’ve heard in history books like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms or the Joseon Dynasty, if you roughly hand weapons and armor to soldiers, it’s much better than not having them.
Especially in battles like the Japanese invasions of Korea, even militia who hadn’t received any training repelled the Japanese army.
However, Varso, who had experience participating in wars, would know much better than me.
So, to learn about the hidden side of war that I didn’t know, I asked Varso.
“Why is that? Wouldn’t it be more advantageous to have a larger number of soldiers?
Even if they are elite soldiers, they would lose if they fight against 10 peasants, right?”
“As you said, if 10 peasants fight against elite soldiers, the peasants should be able to win i.
But… it would be better to show you this directly.”
Then Varso went to Helmut and talked, and Helmut stopped the soldiers’ training and said,
“Everyone, rest!”
The peasants, who had only swung spears for a few dozen minutes, no, about an hour, put down their spears with expressions as if they were about to die of exhaustion and sat down.
“Ugh, I’m going to die.”
“Yeah… Oh my…
What kind of fate is this, they said we have to do this for a few more hours.”
“Still, they give us food on the days we do this.
The young master said he would give us something delicious…”
“Then what will come out, bread?”
“Isn’t it meat?
The young master always gave us good food when we did what he ordered.”
After giving the soldiers about 10 minutes to chat and rest, Helmut ordered the soldiers to gather again.
Perhaps not wanting to be scolded, the peasants ran to the place Helmut called at a very fast speed and lined up.
As the peasants lined up, Helmut ordered again.
“Attention, grab your spears and prepare for training again!”
As the peasants grabbed their spears with annoyed expressions and took their stances, Helmut suddenly smiled and said,
“I was going to do something else, but I changed my mind!
Therefore, this week’s training will end after a mock battle!”
The peasants’ expressions brightened at the words that the training was ending.
“You seem to hate training, good!
If you win against me and 2 mercenaries in a fight with 30 of you, I will end today’s training here!
But if you lose here, I will add 2 more hours of training from now on, what will you do?”
“We’ll do it!!”
Upon hearing those words, Helmut smiled meaningfully and said,
“Good, from the front, up to the 3rd row, forward!!”
**
A little later, a match between 30 peasants and 3 mercenaries including Helmut was prepared.
The 2 mercenaries and Helmut held short wooden swords and shields, and the peasants held long spears for 20 and wooden swords and shields for 10.
Both sides seemed to have the confidence of ‘how could I possibly lose to the opponent?’
As the two sides roughly formed their formations, Varso, who was next to me, raised the flag he was holding to signal the start.
After a brief confrontation, the peasants slowly advanced with their spears, as if to push with their numbers.
Although only 30 people were advancing sloppily, from afar, it gave the illusion of a wall made of spears advancing.
Then, Helmut and the mercenaries stuck together as much as possible and extended their shields forward.
“Mark, Smith!!
Lower your shields slightly and sweep away their spears first and strike with wooden swords!!
Forget everything else and beat up 3 guys first!
Don’t hit them in the face!!”
“Yes, Captain!”
“I told you to call me Sir Helmut!”
Then, as the distance got closer to some extent, the peasants gradually narrowed the distance.
10 steps, 5 steps, 3 steps from the tip of the spear…
As they got closer and closer, at some point, Helmut covered his body with a shield, knocked away the spear tip, and charged.
The peasants were startled to see the mercenaries suddenly entering the spears, and the peasants holding swords and shields were also startled and couldn’t move, not knowing what to do.
Taking advantage of that gap, Helmut strongly struck a peasant wearing a cloth armor with a wooden sword.
Then, the mercenaries next to him began to randomly strike the peasants who couldn’t keep up, using their hands, feet, swords, and even shields.
After educating the peasants in a sweeping manner for about 5 minutes so that they couldn’t come to their senses, the 30 peasants completely lost their will to fight and surrendered.
The other peasants who watched the scene just blankly stared at Helmut and the other mercenaries.
Even though it was a confrontation between trained people and ordinary peasants, I never thought they could win this easily when there was a 10-fold difference…
While lost in such doubts, Helmut had already looked at the other peasants and spoke with a solemn expression.
“How was it?”
No one could answer, perhaps because they were angry that they lost even though there was a 10-fold difference, no matter how much the mercenaries who faced them were professionals of war.
Then Helmut smiled and said,
“It must be absurd.
However, if this were a battlefield, you would have all died here.
Isn’t that right?”
Upon hearing those words, the peasants reluctantly nodded.
“That’s why you need to train.
Otherwise, you will die.
Then you can ask me.
No, you can even ask the young master.
Why do we have to train to this extent?”
Helmut asked and answered himself.
“To protect this territory and your families.
You are already eating better than the citizens of the city and enjoying a prosperous life.
The term ‘barley hill’ has already disappeared from the memories of young children to that extent.
And everyone around you covets and wants to plunder this abundance.
That’s why. Nevertheless, if anyone has complaints, come forward.”
And even after some time passed, no one expressed any complaints.
Just as Helmut was about to continue speaking, this time I intervened and continued the conversation.
“Helmut told those with complaints to come forward, but honestly, who would come out after hearing that?
Isn’t that right?
Even if I have complaints when Your Grace Duke Nantes asks like this, I can’t say I have them.
Aren’t you the same?”
As I finished speaking, everyone nodded as if agreeing.
“However, endure it a little.
For you to protect your property and families and return alive from the battlefield even by one person, you need to receive this training well and be able to endure on the battlefield.
If you can’t endure on the battlefield, your wives and children will be plundered.”
At those words, the atmosphere became solemn, and a little will began to form in the eyes of the peasants.
After confirming that the desired reaction was elicited, I smiled and said to the peasants,
“It’s good to see you working hard to protect your property like this.
This is also loyalty to me, so as a sign of gratitude, I prepared delicious food for today’s meal.
And in the future, when you train, I will at least take care of the food, so even if you have complaints, I hope you follow along diligently.”
And I passed by where the peasants were standing and returned to where Varso was standing.
Then, not long after, a cart full of dinner for the peasants arrived.
Inside the cart were cheap beer for the peasants to drink as a side dish with their meal.
The peasants enjoyed the food and beer and complained about the training, but fortunately, perhaps because my persuasion was effective, they did not resent ‘me.’
It’s fortunate that persuading the peasants to go to war went better than I thought.
**
The next day, shocking news was delivered from the Kreutel Marquisate.
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Spearmen and swordsmen in conjunction. Good combo since they complement each other