Chapter 22
A week passed by like this, every day we stand in formation for twelve hours with little breaks in between each half hour at the least. We also learned different formations that could be used while in a shield wall.
For the entire week we repeated the same thing and since the mechanics of a shield wall are basically see the gap and stab then pull back, it didn't take long for us to be proficient enough that we would not die after the first clash. However, the entire time we were fighting against straw scarecrows, so although we felt good about our improvements, we didn't know how much we actually improved or if we would even be able to survive in a real battle.
As the drill sergeants could not kill us in training to train the reserve troops and the rest of us how to act when one of the people closest to us dies, they improvised. They gave each of us a number from one to a thousand, and at random times without rhyme or reason they would call a number and that person is effectively considered dead. So, there role became to fall on the ground immediately and not move so that the others could adapt, and what we were told to do is, to drag the body to the back of the lines and temporary close the gap until one of the reserve troops came to take their place be they polearm users or shield bearers.
This day the first day of the second week, when we arrived at the plain, we used for training we didn't find the scarecrows, instead we found another group coming as well. It was at this moment that our exhausted minds remembered that today marks the second phase of training, the part where we would fight against other groups.
When everyone arrived the drill sergeant stepped in between the two lines and spoke with a voice that allowed everyone to hear, "today marks the beginning of the second part of your training. For nine days each group will fight one different group each day, until every group in the camp fought each other. Now for the first round both groups will face each other with minimal to no commands given from us. Both groups will fight with the standard formations in the first round, in the others we will be commanding you in which formation you should fight as if we are in a real battle."
Everyone was both excited and nervous about the prospect of finally putting everything we learned to use even if only in mock battle, we wanted to see how much we had grown and changed.
As if reading our thoughts the drill sergeant continued, "remember this is not a competition this is an exercise that is being monitored by twenty drill and assistant drill sergeants, so do not think you can cheat by ignoring being hit by the other side since you all have wooden weapons, and they will hurt like hell when swung with enough force. Anyone that ignores the rules will be punished severely by taking the blow that they ignored from a real weapon wielded by one of us, so if you shake of a lethal hit as if you hadn't been hit prepare to die. IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?"
"Yes, Sir," two thousand voices shouted at once afraid of the consequences of not answering even more now that they could possibly die if they did anything to anger him.
Looking at the fear in our eyes he nodded his head satisfied while he murmured under his breath "good." Then he continued his explanation, "now for the rules, you will fight a normal battle, but since you are using wooden weapons and can not kill each other I will tell you when you are considered dead. If you are hit on the chest or head, you are considered dead, however if you are hit in the chest away from you heart you can continue fighting for a minute before you are considered dead. Never assume your enemy is dead because once you have fatally injured them, they become a cornered animal with nothing to lose, so never underestimate a dying enemy as they will be the ones fighting the hardest. The next way you can dies is if you are hit three times in any limb, it could be a combination of limbs or all on the same one such as an arm. When you die by this method you will have five minutes left, but for every hit you take after a minute is removed."
Seeing that everyone heard and was understood what he said he continued, now get ready to start I will give you five minutes to get in the right head space as well as the right positions, then I will count down."
Each side got into formation and locked shields, the tension and nervousness was so palpable that we could have cut it with a knife, but hidden behind it was terror. Everyone was afraid because even though this time around no one will die, the next time in the near future when we lock shields we will be fighting for our lives. The five minutes wait was torture, and since everyone was so caught up in the tension they began to sweat even before we began, and so the stench of a thousand people crammed tightly began to invade our noses making us even more aware of what is to come.
Finally, after what felt like years the five minutes were finally up, and the countdown began. Everyone became even more focused and single minded to such a degree that the countdown barely registered in our minds, we just somehow knew that it was over. At that moment we heard the voice of the assistant drill sergeant commanding us to advance.
Like we were trained we advanced one foot in front of the other, and we started banging on our shields, to intimidate our opponents to even the smallest degree possible to gain the slightest advantage.
When we got in range of each other the reserves began throwing the javelins they had, so we raised our shields above our heads to block the upcoming projectiles. I felt them thump against my shield sending shocks down my arm making it go slightly numb. But we were not able to block everything as shouts began to rise from those around and behind me, as some javelins managed to pass between our shields, these javelins that passed killed and injured between ten to forty people that we stepped over, as we knew that we couldn't stop now or we would lose in this mock battle, or die if it was a real battle, then we got close enough together that we stopped throwing to prepare for the clash.
When we were twenty steps away from them, the assistant drill sergeant commanded us to charge and so we charged. We ran as fast as we can without breaking formations and just when we were a single step from each other we leapt with all of our body at the other side.
It was clash of wood and metal as the shield hit each other, some managed to push back out opponents and others were pushed back while my opponent was equal to my strength and we stayed standing in the same spot not budging a single inch, and since Pera was the person behind me she was not able to lend me enough strength to break the stalemate.
A shock much greater than when the javelins hit me was sent down my arm that I almost lost feeling in it and almost dropped my shield, but at the last moment I managed to tighten my hold on it and refused to drop it. Ten seconds we stayed locked in like that until both sides stabilized and then the real battle started as those from the second line began to strike.
With each strike my arm grew number, but I forced myself to ignore it and focus on the person in front of me hiding behind his shield and find an opportunity to "kill" him. The opportunity suddenly revealed itself when Pera from behind me managed to strike the shoulder of his shield wielding hand so he dropped his guard a bit at that allowed me to strike.
I opened my shield just enough to allow my hand to slip through, and using my hand axe I buried it in the top of his shield and I jerked it down with as much force as I could muster, as he has just been injured, he wasn't able to keep it up and it fell from his hand. Taking advantage of this this I used the same hand axe that I just freed from his shield and buried it with as much force as I previously used in his gut. But since we were using wooden axes instead of breaking his armor, I caused him to fall in the ground and vomit whatever he had eaten for breakfast.
The reaction of our opponents was instantaneous as the two people beside him closed the gap, and the person originally behind him pulled him by his legs until the reserves took over and threw him completely out of the shield wall and one of them managed to take his place in front of me.
We continued like this for some where between thirty minutes and an hour, everyone was fatigued but continued swinging through sheer will power alone, and that is when it happened. That is when the person in front of me has just fallen down, and since everyone was fatigued the two beside him failed to notice immediately as they had been engaged with their opponent and unable to lend a helping hand, or even close the gap.
I saw the look of terror in the Polearm user that was being protected by him when he saw that they had failed to block the gap, and the panicking reserves as they tried to hurry and block the gap before I used it.
A single second passed while all of this happened, and then I decide to advance, and those beside me seeing what has happened joined me. I was the first through the enemy lines and the others followed me, our shields still locked together but with more gaps between us as we charged into the opponent's formation.
When five of us had passed through we started killing the other shield bearers beside us and allowing more of our own group to pass through, and that is how they broke.
Once they realized that we had broken through their shield wall they started panicking and running. The first thing they did was to drop their shields as they were so tired that they wouldn't have been able to run if they still held them.
When our side was relishing in our victory, we heard the voice of the assistant drill sergeant telling us to pursue, and even though we knew it was not a real battle we did.
The final count was between twenty to forty percent of our troops being killed or injured, while the "enemy" side that lost had between fifty to seventy percent dead or injured with the majority being dead.
After the battle finished, we all fell on the ground exhausted wanting to rest. When the voice of the drill sergeant resonated in all of our ears saying, "you did well for your first battle, and you lasted far longer than I thought you would, so I congratulate you. So, rest for now and when you are all well rested, we will continue with another battle."
It was at that moment we realized that we would have to do it again countless times today. We would have cursed all the drill sergeants if we had the energy to speak but we didn't. However, one person proved to be the exception and shouted, "by the Holy Father is this not enough, do you want to kill us before we see real war. Why not just invite the Banished and allow him take us directly to his side, maybe he would take pity on us and take you down with us."
We all grunted agreement unconsciously and then the color paled from our faces in anticipation of the punishment that we would receive, but to our great shock the drill sergeants did nothing but laugh at us and said nothing more.
That day when we returned to our tents with bruised bone no one was in the mood to eat so everyone fell asleep as if they had really died in the training.