Buxiao had no idea how he had agreed to Lydia's request, and it was probably the most troubled day of his life. He forced himself to be still and think, to retrace his thoughts little by little, like a mountaineer looking back at the road he had come.

The original plan to save Lydia was just a momentary instinct for him.

He never thought of himself as a noble person, and he once suspected that he had saved this princess just to establish some kind connection with the high-ranking officials of the Shendu: if this princess could say a few kind words in front of the priests of the Shendu, maybe the Red Pavilion would be able to find a place to escape from the world in a certain village in the Shendu.

But when he knew that this so-called "princess" was actually just an ordinary commoner, and he couldn't talk to the nobles on an equal footing, he didn't feel any loss in his heart. On the contrary, there was a hint of happiness and joy.

Why is that?

Now, under the crisis, not only did she not leave, but she also dragged Cruise and Damm siblings to discuss the recruitment of soldiers. Bu smiled and couldn't help but secretly ask himself, what kind of monster he saved thousands of miles away.

Lydia tried to be as amiable as she could, but the Dam siblings just didn't smile, sitting squarely on two stakes and looking at her.

"When you fought against the monster just now, you two were very brave." Lydia complimented the two of them before asking, "Have you fought before?" ”

The brother and sister didn't say a word, just shook their heads.

Lydia asked, "I see that you use weapons in a very special way, what did you do before?" ”

"Farming." The brother and sister burst out with only one word.

Such a concise answer made Lydia a little embarrassed, I thought that it was already concise to speak without laughing, but I didn't expect that there were people who were more precious words, and for a while I didn't know from which angle to continue the topic.

"Princess, they are the farmers of Sino Fortress." Cruise, who still had bandages on his forehead, stepped forward and put his broad hands on their shoulders, and their expressions suddenly softened, "The cultivated land of the Sino Fortress is small, and the taxes are heavy. The land around the fortress was occupied by the nobles, so many clansmen had to go deep into the mountains to reclaim wasteland. ”

Speaking of which, Lydia probably got it.

According to the so-called doctrine, untouchables are not allowed to use weapons. And the mountains and forests are full of dangers, whether it is wild beasts, monsters or even robbers, they are mortal threats. The sadness in the eyes of the Damm siblings seemed to tell the story of that unbearable past. They must have witnessed the suffering of many people, perhaps including their loved ones.

She didn't know what to say, so she sighed and turned to Cruise: "Big man, how are your injuries?" ”

"Don't worry, princess, as a shield guard, this little injury is nothing." Cruise patted his chest, "I'll be the princess's shield!"

Shield ...... Lydia fell silent again.

After years of fighting, she certainly knew the tragic fate of the shields: it was a class with more than half of the mortality rate, and only the untouchables could serve.

They stood at the front of the battlefield with large shields on their shoulders, defending against the opponent's slings, bows and crossbows, and even cavalry assaults. But as untouchables, not only do they have no weapons, they often don't even have armor except a shield. Once the line of defense is breached, they become cannon fodder for slaughter, a group of walking shields!

Lydia was silent for a long time.

What did the world do to the subhumans?

Exploit?

Squeeze?

Knock on the bone and suck the marrow?

They are pressed to the bottom of society like domestic animals, and they are eaten by men. Just because they are religiously identified as "untouchables" by the Kerbal gods?

"No, you're not supposed to be someone's shield." Lydia patted Cruise on the shoulder, then looked at the Damm siblings, "You should be your own shield, the shield of your family." ”

Cruise and Dahm listened intently.

"We're going to build an army today. Not for the sake of royalty fighting for territory, nor for the nobles to plunder property. This new army is going to fight for itself, for those who are weak, for the homeland. Lydia's eyes were filled with a glint of hope, "Cruise, we're going to recruit some soldiers now; Dam, help me find some weapons and armor. ”

With the fame of the princess of guns, a group of young men and women soon came to apply. Lydia selected thirty muscular, sharp-eyed soldiers, and led them to carry their armor and weapons to practice in the clearing.

Hiding in the ruins from afar to observe, Finks looked nervous beside him, and even picked up an arrow and aimed it at Lydia: "Do you believe this woman?" Don't forget that she's a time-traveler, what if they mutini and attack us? ”

"No, it won't." Bu smiled and waved her to lower her bow.

Finks stumbled and withdrew his crossbow arrows, muttering, "Without three years of training, they won't be able to beat even a wild boar." ”

He didn't laugh and ignored it, and continued to observe silently. After looking at it for a while, he seemed to be interested, and even took out a carbon rod and a parchment book and pulled it up.

"I don't think this person is normal." Finks continued to complain, "It's just a waste of time. ”

He shook his head without smiling, and suddenly nodded again.

"You're not stupid, are you?" Finks curiously brought his face to the tip of his nose that didn't smile, "I think you're a little out of tune." ”

Don't smile and frown slightly.

Although Finks is an excellent scout, his ability to read words and emotions is negligible enough. She still didn't realize that she had exhausted his patience by interrupting his train of thought three times and twice.

Without smiling, he stared at Lydia's dispatch, and suddenly said, "There is a secret mission, only you can go." ”

With Finks's simple mind, when he heard that only he could do it, he was simply proud, and patted his chest and agreed.

"Spy on the movements of the barbarians."

The barbarians were able to plunder this village, and there must have been traces around it. And investigating this kind of thing is exactly what Finks likes and does best, not to mention the task of "you can only go" in Buxiao's mouth.

She excitedly picked up her crossbow arrows, ran like a happy squirrel into the jungle, and slipped up the tree, and disappeared immediately.

Finally the annoying sparrow was swept away, and he struggled to get a moment of peace without smiling. He carefully recorded Lydia's arrangement, and the more he looked at it, the more subtle it became:

Lydia is set up as a basic combat group of ten people, named "Squad". The brother and sister each held spears with pennants and commanded a squad.

At the front of each squad stand two "shield hands", with a shield in the left hand and a short knife in the right hand, mainly to defend against the enemy's melee attacks. There was one person standing on each side of the front, and the main weapon was a straw rake with an extended handle. The strange thing is that although there is a shortage of materials at present, there have been several battles recently and more than a hundred spears have been captured, why do you use farm tools instead?

In the second row of each squad were three spearmen.

It takes a long time to fully master the spear, but Lydia only teaches them three moves: stabbing upwards, stabbing underfoot, and stabbing from the sides of teammates in the front row. Although the action is simple, it is precisely because of the simplicity that the technique is sharp.

In the middle of the third row was the squad leader, and a crossbowman. There are also two people on the left and right who use two-toothed hoes, and their movements are much simpler: smash the enemy from the top down, and if they hit, they are dragged back into formation.

Those young men and women could have been regarded as a rabble, many of whom had never used weapons before, and if they were alone, they would not even be cannon fodder. But after Lydia's combination, the whole formation was both offensive and defensive, advancing and retreating freely, not only making up for each other's weaknesses, but also hiding several powerful changes.

A thought flashed in Buxiao's heart, and he suddenly closed his notebook, turned around and walked into the jungle.