I touched the oversized scar with my fingers, only to see that it looked like it was overgrown.

"Don't touch it, it's made up of the contents of the phantom beast's egg. We also tried a lot of ways, but we couldn't take it. It's like they're growing together. ”

"Really?" I regretted, "I want to see what my phantom beast looks like." ”

"There's also a Roaring Elf. Marfa shook the white bow in his hand, "He's with a bow!"

"I haven't heard of this elf," said Uncle Wilber, "and dark dwarves are just as rare. Generally speaking, they don't come to the side of God's kingdom. ”

I turned my head to the side and looked at Kumon's father, "By the way, Dad, what do they mean by racial division?"

"Like us humans," my father put down the official letter, "some are loyal to God, some are loyal to demons." ”

"So?" I didn't expect it to be so simple, so I asked Marfa, "What happened to your Ice Arrow that day?"

"I ...... Hey...... I practiced it secretly. Marfa clutched the white bow and said, "Boss, this bow ......"

"Do you like it?" I said, "yours! But you'd better dye it somehow." ”

"Got it! got it!"

"Boss, our army is training. Moya walked into the room and said, "Are you going to check it out?"

"Go. Of course go!" I stood up.

........................

More than a month has passed, and the progress of the construction of Dark City has not been affected by my injury. The tall outer walls have been closed, and a higher inner wall is being built. Construction has begun on the city's buildings, and the drainage system has been laid. The road is also seventy-seven-eighty-eight. In the heart of the city. A city hall is taking shape.

The first time I walked on the wide outer walls. I believe that no one will not be surprised.

The walls are twenty meters high, twenty meters wide at the bottom, and fifteen meters wide at the top. From the bottom to the top, it is made of sturdy giant stone bars that are all staggered and stacked. There is an arrow stack every three steps, and there is an arrow tower five meters high at every fifty meters back, and every three hundred meters there is a sub-wall that protrudes fifteen meters forward and is twenty meters wide. In the case of such a wall, there are suitable troops and plenty of food and grass. It's definitely not a problem to keep it.

"Your Excellency," Kennan told me from the side, "it was all done according to your original drawings. ”

"I'm satisfied, but," I pointed to myself, "it's important to understand my design ideas, so that there are a lot of things you can adapt to the situation." ”

"Huh?"

"Look at this, then. "I walked to the wall," I just thought. ”

"The siege is definitely infantry, climbing the wall is to use ladders, and erecting ladders is the first step. ”

"Yes. It's commonplace. Uncle Mai Ze said.

"We'll just give a small gift when the enemy is erecting the ladder. I smiled, "Kennan. I want you to make a stone fence next to the wall, as high as the wall. Kindness...... It doesn't need to be too wide, it's good to not be able to step it in one step, and besides...... And people can't stand on it. ”

"No problem, it's not a hassle. Kennan said to me, "But does that work?"

"I think that whether it is useful or not can be verified by the facts. I said to everyone, "Kennan, you build a mile and a half first, and tomorrow this time we will bring people over for a siege exercise." ”

"Okay. ”

I set my sights on the troops training outside the city walls, watching the cavalry train to sprint, and the infantry to train hand-to-hand combat. I felt that although they were training hard, they were missing something.

"Cohen, what's wrong?" Martin Luther, the lieutenant commander of the Dark Army and a long-time general, could certainly see something strange in my eyes.

"Actual combat atmosphere! Yes, there is a lack of actual combat atmosphere!" "The right fist hit the city wall hard, and I finally understood!

"Grandpa Martin, I think it's time for us to expand our army. I said, "Let us increase our warriors to 10,000 men, divide them into four parts, and select 1,000 men from among them to form the personal guard, and the other three parts with 3,000 men each." The usual garrison only went to 3,000 people at a time, and the remaining 6,000 people were trained for confrontation. I'm going to train an iron army that will terrify the entire continent!"

"Confrontation training?" Not only Martin Luther, but everyone was taken aback, "what do you mean?"

"It's actual combat training!" I said, "bows and arrows fly in the sky, and sharp stakes are buried in the ground." Cavalry charged, infantry defended. Real knives and real guns. ”

"What a gun!" Helt was frightened, "that's going to die!"

"If not, they will die on battle! Think about how many of us died under the hooves of our own men in our last battle!" I said quietly, "I decided, that's all." ”

"But Boss......" Hailt's words were interrupted by my eyes.

"Let's go back, I'll have to check how much money we have." I walked to the stairs by the wall.

In a makeshift tent next to the town hall, I listened to Felin's financial report while scribbling down the army's training plan on a piece of paper.

"We're only a third of the way through the city," Filine complained to me with a large account book in her hand, "but half of the 500,000 is already halfway through!"

"We're going until we run out of money," I nodded to Fischett as I walked in, "how long can we keep going?"

"It lasts for three and a half months at most. ”

"Hey," Fischette sat down beside me, "is it necessary to expand our army to ten thousand?"

Before I could speak, Philin had already shouted, "Ten thousand troops! ”

"It's not too bad," I nodded, "and give me five thousand gold coins, I'll use them." ”

"Cohen, you're not a person who doesn't know what to do......" Philin looked embarrassed, "You know, at this time, a copper coin is very precious......"

"My dear, only if you give me five thousand gold coins first," I said, "I can give you more gold coins." ”

Hearing me say this, Fichette's eyes lit up, and he grabbed my hand and asked, "You want to go out?"

I nodded.

"Take me!"

I blinked. Didn't speak.

"Okay. Fichette sighed. "I'll listen to your ...... on the way"

"Well, you go and tell the Master," I patted Fichette on the shoulder, "we need to dress up as two apprentice magicians and have the Master prepare a few things to handy." ”

"No problem!" said Fischette, happily.

I finished writing the additions to the training plan and beckoned Marfa to send it to Martin Luther.

"Training starts today. I said to him.

"Yes!"

"Wait a minute, tell Grandpa Martin to pick out a hundred of the best people in this battle.

I worked. "Yes!"

At this time, Fischette came back with a smile on his face. Before he could sit down, he asked me, "What are we going to do?"

"What's the hurry?" I replied, "we need to give some homework to those who are left!" I went into the tent and sat down in the innermost place. The people in the tent immediately fell silent, and it was the first regular meeting of the Dark Town Hall that I had since recovered.

Sitting beside me were only my three wives and Fischet, and when I saw my brothers sitting in their respective seats across from me, I felt a sense of unfamiliarity for no reason.

"Okay, let's get started. "I tapped my hand on the table, and there was a ring on the little finger of my right hand, and the Ice Tearstone that Winsley had given me had been set into the ring.

"Kennan returns!" said the earnest-minded vampire as he stood up. "At your request, the governor, a mile-long stone fence of the city wall has been built. ”

"Good. I nodded in satisfaction, "I'll go and see." ”

"Helt returns!" said Helter, who was sitting in the front row, as he stood up, "the conscription order has been received by our Military Affairs Division, and the plan is already being worked out, and you can see it as soon as tomorrow morning, Governor." ”

"Be detailed. "I wasn't very optimistic about their first recruitment plan because it was a very new thing to them. But after all, they're doing it seriously, and that makes me happy. I have a way to make up for a mistake in the plan, and if someone makes a mistake, I can't do anything.

The Military Affairs Department is also a management structure added to the city hall according to my Jianyì, and is in charge of the affairs of the Dark One Qiē Army. Ostensibly Hellt and Moya were in charge, while Martin Luther was behind the scenes. I didn't want to make the building of the dark army very noticeable, so I didn't create an independent military department.

"Moya returns!" Moya stood up, and there was some indomitable momentum in his tone, which surprised me a little.

"Regarding the Governor's confrontation training," Moya's eyes looked at the table in front of me, "and our Military Affairs Division has some disagreement. ”

I paused for a moment, "Go on." ”

"That's right," Mo Ya said for a moment, "Our soldiers did have a lot of problems in the last battle, and of course the Military Affairs Department is trying to make up for it. But is it really necessary to train at the cost of soldiers' lives, as the Governor said?"

"In battle, the casualties of recruits and veterans are not the same! Basically, there are five casualties of recruits at the same time as one veteran," I'm sure this is not Moya's idea, at least not Moya's idea alone, "This is because the recruits have not received enough training and don't know how to protect themselves in the chaotic battle! And our confrontation training can make the recruits really feel the atmosphere of actual combat and become experienced fighters in the shortest possible time! It is worth paying some price!"

"Governor, the sacrifice of soldiers on the battlefield, neither the soldiers themselves nor the military affairs department have nothing to say......," Moya's bull temper came up, and he didn't know how to back down, "but dying at the hands of his own people during training is a bit unreasonable in any case." ”

"It's acceptable to pay a very small number of training casualties in exchange for victory in the next war!" I stood up, "Do you think this kind of training is cruel?"

"It's not cruel...... Governor," Moa paused, "cruelty, so to speak. ”

I almost didn't recognize this friend in front of me...... His stubborn language, stubborn expression, there is still a little shadow of Moya in the past. At that moment, I understood...... This is not a dispute between individuals, but a clash of two ways of thinking.

The room was full of people watching our arguments silently, and Heert beside Moya looked like it was none of my business, but I knew that most of Moya's words were taught by him.

"I think you can talk about it, there's no need to be so strict. "At this time. Fichette, behind him, spoke. "Everybody has their own point. And the purpose is the same. ”

It is impossible for me, both in public and privately, not to listen to Fischette's advice in public.

"Before the confrontation training, the soldiers had ample time for general training. "I believe that if the soldiers had trained seriously during this time, there would have been no tragedy in the confrontation training." ”

"But ......"

"The purpose of confrontation training is not only to let the soldiers feel the atmosphere of actual combat, but also to test the effectiveness of the soldiers' training in peacetime," I raised my hand to stop Moya, who was still trying to say something. Continuing to explain, "We can break down the entire confrontation training into individual tactical subjects for the soldiers to gradually become familiar with. ”

"Our usual training is like a soldier holding a spear and stabbing without a target. He didn't know what his goal was, there. Not to mention the strengths and weaknesses of the target. We can imagine what happens to a soldier under such training when he goes to the battlefield, and he will find that the enemy is so strange that he can be said to know nothing about the enemy! What should he do? How should he face the enemy under the chaos of arrows in the sky? Will the shield in his hand be on his head or in front of his chest? How can he survive under the enemy's iron hooves when the enemy's cavalry rushes in? If he is scattered by the enemy, how can he survive on the battlefield alone if he is separated from his comrades? My tone was flat, but I knew that my words would have a strong impact on everyone. "I don't want my soldiers to be trained like that. I value their lives as precious as my own! It is in the hope that they will have a chance to survive the war that I will come up with this plan. ”

"We're ......," Moya licked her chapped lips. Anyone who is talking to a expressionless me has a lot of pressure.

"I know it's a little hard for you to stand in the position of a responsible officer. I smiled at him, "On the other hand, it's a sign of your devotion to your duties. I am glad that as an officer you have taken the first steps towards success. It is a wise and courageous act to dare to express your disagreement with your superiors. In addition, we can make adequate preparations for confrontation training to minimize the occurrence of accidents. ”

This sentence seems to be a compliment to Moya, but it is more a tactful criticism of Hailt.

"That's ......" Mo Ya, who was praised by me, smiled embarrassedly, "We thought you had changed ......"

"Don't doubt your boss!" I said, "or you'll be repaired......"

In the laughter of everyone, the atmosphere of the venue became relaxed, and the other topics were smoothed out. At the same time, the duties of the three governor's wives were determined, and Filine was in charge of finances, and she became my advocate in my absence. Kelly is in charge of general duties, and as for culture, that is naturally Winsley's concern. All three are called municipal overseers, and if necessary, they may interfere in general affairs, except in military affairs.

It should be said that the greatest benefit of this regular meeting is not this, but the most gratifying thing is that after this regular meeting, not only the city hall, but also all the management systems in the dark have formed a good atmosphere. Let me, so that all officials have such an opportunity, such a channel to listen to the different opinions of their subordinates. In such an environment, various policies and decrees to be promulgated are constantly revised and improved to minimize the resistance to implementation. For me personally, each meeting became my biggest headache, and I had to answer all kinds of questions from the growing junior officials at the regular meetings.

For they will all rightly shout at me, "Your Excellency, my dear friend, if you cannot convince me. Then how can you unreasonably ask me to convince my subordinates?"

........................

From the next day, all the soldiers who had served in the early days of the Dark City began to eat a big meal, and they ate it every day.

Two hours before dawn, they were woken up from their beds by "wolf-like" officers with horsewhips. Amid the shouts and scolding of the officers, they dressed up and lined up neatly. Under the starry sky, in the still somewhat cold morning breeze, run a full lap around the training ground outside the dark city to welcome the rising sun, and the team breakfast at the end of the run is halved. The officer called it "an appetizer before breakfast."

After a real breakfast, the soldiers officially began their day of training.

Spearmen practice a thousand assassination combinations, a hundred assaults, and a hundred covers...... The archers practiced drawing the bow 500 times, running 100 times, and disassembling the bowstring 50 times...... The cavalrymen now had no horses to ride, and under the surprised gaze of the infantry, they all sat on clay horses one by one and practiced their fighting movements over and over again...... Don't look at them now, the phrase "born on a mud horse" will often be proudly on their lips in the future. But now, they often complain that their clothes are never clean. The unlucky ones who are caught lazy will have a special reward of ten whips in addition to having their lunch halved.

After lunch, the soldiers had an hour to listen to the officers explain the tactics and at the same time recuperate. In this way, the large and small scenes experienced by the commanders are engraved in the minds of the soldiers day after day. They also complained that this arrangement had taken up time for them to pray, but it was not long before they learned that it was useless to complain and that it was better to ask some questions to make things difficult for the sir.

Because the Governor said, "Whoever beats someone because he can't answer the questions of his subordinates, I will personally give him a good look." "Don't be afraid of any trick in the hands of an officer, for the Governor has said, "An officer can beat someone, but he must do it reasonably." In addition, we have to be careful when fighting, we need to give him a breath to fight next time. ”

Therefore, the soldiers have reason to think that it is safe to ask questions of this way of embarrassing the commander.

In the beginning, questions like this will often arise, "Sir, what you just said is true, but what should we do if the enemy is coming from behind?"

At this time, the chief would smile slightly, the horsewhip in his hand "snapped" in the air, and then said gently, "To be honest, I have never encountered this situation you said. But I thought we could give it a try. Your squad...... Let's just be the ambush unit......"

A scuffle begins...... Dinner is halved for those who lose.

One of the soldiers looked at the halved meal in their hands, and suddenly it occurred to them that one of the guys in the cavalry squad had borrowed their own money and had not yet paid it back, which was a good way to retaliate, and the timing was good, because the cavalry had no horses now.

So, for a while, it was popular to ask this kind of targeted question, "Sir, if the two sides meet suddenly, and the other side has cavalry. What are we going to do?"

"You're really studious!Okay, let's have a friendly match with the cavalry squad......"

A group of "cavalrymen" in heavy armor and a group of light infantry met. Thinking that the "cavalry" had no horses, the "cavalry" looked sad and indignant, and the infantry snickered. A "cavalryman" without a horse is like a small loaf of bread in his hand. There are already infantry predicting the outcome in their minds.

Result 1: The infantry wins, and the "cavalry" dinner is halved.

Result 2: The infantry won a big victory, and the "cavalry" had all their dinners, (if the subordinates were too embarrassed, the commander would lose his mind) the infantry had dinner and vegetables. (Commanders always get good things when their subordinates give them long faces)

However, there will always be a certain gap between imagination and reality.

Because he was accidentally seen by a passing senior commander, the senior commander accidentally said, "How can the cavalry be without horses, your squad will make a cameo appearance and ride the cavalry as a horse......

So, the end result was: the cavalry squad that 'rode' the light infantry lost to another infantry squad. The cavalry's dinner was halved, the light infantry's dinner was reduced at all, and each person was given a special reward of three whips...... (Caused by the Chief's loss of mind)

After dinner, the officers would go to the Military Affairs Division for one to two hours. This is the happiest time of the day for the soldiers, who can lie on the fence of the training ground and howl loudly at the sun, moon and stars...... It is possible to bathe in the creek in the training ground...... You can also fight with the archers of the neighboring team...... However, this qiē had to be finished before the officers returned. No one can say what the mood of the officers when they came back from the Military Affairs Division, but there was once a squad of soldiers who thought they had won the fight and were rewarded with a sausage for each person, the kind of real sausage with the fragrance of wax, spices and black pepper added to it, and it tasted so good that it could make people maddened...... However, there were times when entire teams were rewarded for running three laps of the training ground bare-bottomed because they went to the river to take a collective bath without getting dressed before the commander returned......

........................ (To be continued......)