With our small numbers, mandatory conscription was the only sensible way to effectively defend the people, and the Council readily agreed to it.
I began training every able-bodied man from the age of sixteen to forty five in the use of the spear. I had no training in using it myself, beyond watching movies, but Jack did, and his body still remembered the movements. I practiced in private and just let my body take charge. Within hours, it began moving with such precision and ferocity that I was just as awed as the students.
I had chosen the spear over the sword as the weapon of choice for a reason: not only was it cheaper to build than a sword, it required much less training to get reasonably good at.
Lothar picked it up so quickly one would think he had prior training, which I suspected he did. I made him an instructor alongside me and we began whipping the rest of the recruits into shape.
The motivated men began turning into passable soldiers within a few weeks. I had fully recovered by that time and the one thing I realized during the training was that I was strong, unbelievably so. Thanks asshole God!
"Good day, Sir!" I exclaimed, as I tested the weapon I had commissioned for our soldiers: the Goedendag. A short spear that also doubles as a sturdy club. It would keep them effective without hampering mobility.
"That... is certainly an effective weapon, but isn't it a little crude?" Lothar complained.
"It is, but we don't have much time and steel to make fancy weapons." I replied.
The Goedendag was a very effective weapon, as demonstrated by a bunch of Flemish peasants who managed to defeat mounted knights. I actually wanted to equip my men with poleaxes, which are three in one weapons that can stab, smash and cut, but the necessary steel was being used to craft their primary weapon, crossbows.
Given our small numbers, we would never win a large field battle, so the primary weapon was always going to be a bow, essential for guerrilla warfare. The hunters trained the men in the use of bows, while we waited for the craftsmen to finish building the steel crossbows.
Aramid, Kovar and their new apprentices worked day and night and presented us with their results.
"The crossbows are ready, milord," Aramid said excitedly, while cradling one like a child holding his favorite toy.
"Nice! How many?"
"Ten. All tested with twenty firings each. Very accurate and powerful."
"Good. Keep making more. We need at least fifty." I smiled, releasing a breath I didn't know I had been holding. A large weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Finally, we could, at least from behind the palisade, defend ourselves effectively.
"Within a year or so, we will have enough to train every able bodied man and woman."
"Women?" asked the Steward incredulously.
"Yes. Or do you think the enemy will spare them if they ever win? No, their fate will be even worse than ours in some ways. At least we will die with our dignity intact. So yes, they will learn how to defend their home."
"How will they use this weapon, Sire? Reloading it doesn't look easy."
"Goat's foot lever. It trades force for distance." I demonstrated loading the crossbow with one. "Most young women should be able to use it. Those who can't can handle other duties. It's not as if we have shortage of work to be done."
I wanted soldiers to train with the Goat's foot lever, as it would be the only way to load the really powerful bows I wanted next. I imagined the foolish enemy commander staring in shock as the bolt from a six hundred pound crossbow ignores whatever armor he has, except high quality plate, and penetrates deep inside.
"Ha ha ha, let me show you it's features." I pathetically tried to imitate a great man as I shot the crossbow, burying the bolt in a tree.
Theo snorted derisively. "It's powerful my lord, I'll admit, but it's range is pitiful, and it's slow. I can shoot ten times as fast with a bow, and much farther."
"I'm sure you can, but tell me Theo, how many years it took for you to get that good? Don't say you were born that way." I stared at him, signaling this was a serious matter.
"Ten years." He replied tentatively.
"Yes, well I can't wait ten years for only some people to get really good. I want all of our people to be good enough at hitting their targets from defensive positions. Hence, crossbows. It's not as if we're eliminating bows, as I still need a core of expert bowmen to pluck the really juicy hard to reach targets." That seemed to mollify the young man.
During the training, some men showed real potential as soldiers and few even as officers. So I worked with a craftsman, who had been a jeweler, to create insignia for various ranks. In a fit of vanity, I made the most ostentatious one for myself. Hey, as the Supreme Commander of the military forces, I had to look good.
Soldiers who were the best shots were given the crossbows, but not before I had them recite the crossbowman's creed:
"This is my bow.
There are many like it but this one's mine.
My bow is my best friend.
It is my life.
I must master it as I must master my life.
Without me, my bow is useless.
Without my bow, I am useless.
I must fire my bow true.
I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me.
I must shoot him before he shoots me.
I will! Before God, I swear this creed.
My bow and myself are defenders of my country.
We are the masters of our enemy.
We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until there is no enemy, but peace."
The men stood straight and proud as they spoke it out loud with booming voices, while I barely managed to suppress a laughing fit.
After weeks of training, eighty nine men were officially inducted into the new military, along with the existing hunters, increasing our military's size to one hundred, even though we could barely outfit thirty at the moment. Rest of the men who weren't half bad were designated as reservists. We made Hunter an official title, to be given only to the worthy.
While most of the soldiers were sent off to their duty stations, the dozen officer candidates among them had more studying to do. I compiled everything I remembered about the principles of war on a page. I smirked as I realized this was one aspect of military training where I was far better than the old Jack. He, raised by feudal nobility, believed in the code of chivalry, the gentleman's way of warfare or whatever you would like to call it. I would call it foolish and unpragmatic.
I drilled the general principles of war into the cadets, until they could repeat them under pressure.
They were:
War is total commitment to a clear and unambiguous goal, achieved by any means and sacrifices deemed necessary. Be ready to pay the price in blood and always expect to be surprised. It's three steps are:
Planning
State a clear strategy: what is to be accomplished and how is it to be achieved.
Constantly look for advantages over the enemy, be it through better intelligence, superior numbers, minds or weapons.
Planning is essential, even though no plan survives first contact. Plans are mere guides built upon gathered information, and must be changed whenever new information renders them useless. Always take the enemy's strength and ability to ruin your plan into account.
Gather as much information about the enemy and battlefields as you can. The more accurate your information, the better your plans will be. In absence of accurate information, it is better to overestimate the enemy than underestimate them.
Develop proper tactics, i.e. how to use men, equipment, terrain etc. to win a battle.
Preparation
Develop proper logistics, i.e. keep generous stores of provisions and extra men necessary to fight every likely scenario and build means to make them available at the right place, at the right time.
Keep the soldiers healthy, well trained, well equipped and highly motivated.
Select capable men as officers, so that their judgement prevails when plans fail. No amount of pedigree, sense of righteousness and good looks will kill the enemy.
Make sure discipline has been instilled in every member of the military, as it is essential to every step, from preparation to fighting.
The harder the training, the easier the battle.
Maintain security. Make sure your knowledge, items and people are safe from the enemy's grasp. Obscure your actions and intent from potential enemies. What is not known cannot be easily countered. Keep them guessing.
Foster a sense of comaraderie. Every soldier and officer should believe they are risking their lives along with their brothers in arms for a greater cause.
Unity among various parts of the military is essential. Infighting will render the rest of preparation useless.
Fighting
Prioritize out-thinking the enemy over outfighting them whenever you can, as fighting will always cost lives. Your priority should be never to die for your lord or country, but to make the enemy die for his.
Always keep the initiative. You should be the one deciding when and where the battle takes place.
Obscure your actions as much as possible. Give as little information to the enemy as possible.
Freedom of action:
Be mobile, so you have many courses of action available, but try to limit the enemy's, e.g. by building strong fortifications and destroying their supplies and communication channels.
Make the enemy dance to your tune, by limiting his freedom and making every other choice highly unpleasant.
Never put yourself in a position where there is only one course of action left.
Similarly, don't push the enemy into a corner where their only course of action is a suicidal charge, as a desperate force can change the tides of battle, unless you're prepared to completely wipe them out.
Never break your force into chunks so small that they can be easily defeated.
A good defense can save you from defeat, but complete victory will usually require you to commit to offense.
Effective Offense:
If you don't have absolute superiority, find decisive points where you can have it and concentrate your attack there, but be careful that you don't weaken your force too much in the process.
If you have overwhelming advantage over the enemy, attack or try to force surrender.
If your strength is equal, hold and look for an opportunity, such as the enemy making a mistake.
If you are weaker, evade and look for opportunities to do damage.
If you are much weaker, retreat to a defensive position.
Qualities of a good leader:
Does not commit to a fight without knowing all likely consequences.
Is not a coward or a slave to emotions. Always makes decisions with a cool head.
Leads by example, to gain his men's trust.
Does not put honor above victory. Honor in defeat is a poor solace. Conversely, he should also not engage in unnecessary cruelty.
Isn't too attached to his soldiers. Sometimes the few must be sacrificed to save the many, and attachment can be an impediment to that.
Another important aspect is the mentality to have before and after a war:
In War: Resolution
In Defeat: Defiance
In Victory: Magnanimity
In Peace: Good Will
"This.. is quite something. Some of it would be considered dishonorable and even downright despicable by the chivalry." Lothar said.
"Good." I said, smiling. "That means we will win battles while they can die with their honor intact. Trust me, this document is worth more than a billion times it's weight in gold. It's the key to winning any battle and war, if only one applies it properly. How do you know about the knight's code anyway? I thought the Cha weren't allowed to join the military in any capacity."
"We're not. I... have a complicated past. Maybe I'll tell you someday. That bit about attachment; is that why you don't spend much time with the soldiers when you're in the settlement?" He asked.
I nodded in response. "If you had to order a soldier to hold a choke point to let others escape, knowing he would die, could you make it with the same speed if that soldier was your brother, instead of some random guy?"
"No." He said, with understanding dawning.
After weeks of theory and mock battles, the course was finished and most of the class passed. I had knives made for each officer and pinned an insignia on their chest at the graduation ceremony.
Even Lothar, who I had become close friends with, looked proud and stood straight as an arrow when I pinned the insignia of General on his shirt. Seeing the formidable military and how close they were to me, the Elders finally confirmed my position as the Supreme Leader of Chadom for life.