Chapter 403: Chapter 385: One Practice a Day, One Day a Practice
"You really put me in a tough spot." Bernardo’s first words upon seeing Domenico were full of resentment.
Domenico curiously retorted, "How did I harm you?"
Bernardo replied weakly, "My background is already sensitive, and I’ve been carefully maintaining my cover. With your question, I estimate I’ll have to undergo a Cheka investigation when I return today."
"What’s there to be afraid of?" Domenico patted his chest, "At worst, I’ll take you back. The old lady still misses you."
Bernardo sighed speechlessly, said nothing, and led Domenico towards the army camp.
Domenico looked up on his own. There was no sun today, yet a few intense rays of sunlight still penetrated through the cracks in the thick clouds.
Under the sunlight in the cracks, the army camp was located below Black Mountain Castle in the distance.
The neat barracks were laid along the road, with both temporary fire ponds and dedicated latrines and mess halls.
Unlike the colorful and varied battle flags of the Imperial Army, the Salvation Army’s camp only had three kinds of flags: the sun gear flag representing the Pope, the Holy Grail flag representing the Saintess, and the black and red bicolor banner representing the Salvation Army.
Under these fluttering flags, dust spread like mist, even covering the moist flowers with a powdery coat.
Following behind Bernardo, Domenico and his group arrived at the edge of a training ground.
"Hold the spear upright!" a Long Spear Cultivator Brigade Commander shouted loudly.
"Hold the spear upright!" the fifty War Monks beside him shouted in unison.
They uniformly lifted their spears from the ground and positioned them in front of their bodies, holding the spears at their waist with their left hands.
"Prepare to shoulder it!"
"Prepare to shoulder it!" the War Monks chanted as they lifted the spears with their left hands to eye level, supporting the lower end with their right hands.
"Are they practicing marksmanship?" Watching the monks performing puppet-like movements at each shout, Domenico found it increasingly uncomfortable. "Why aren’t they doing continuous motions? It’s not difficult."
"For uniformity and to dispel fear." Bent over, Bernardo lay on the fence. "You know, most soldiers go blank in the mind when they hit the battlefield.
The purpose of this is to make them mechanically repeat the actions so that even when they’re blank, they can perform at the expected combat level."
Domenico stood frozen for a few seconds before clicking his tongue and stepping forward. "Take me to see those Holy Gunmen."
"Look, they’re right across."
Following the direction Bernardo pointed, Domenico and his companions gazed intently.
On the other side of the training field, over a hundred Holy Gunmen were dressed in black uniforms made of linen blend fabric, wearing short boots, and having blue-black belts cinched tightly around their waists to secure their outfits.
Their footsteps echoed with precision, each step exactly two-thirds of a meter, and the officers wielded command epés, sometimes striking the root against someone’s buttocks or heels.
Issuing brief and powerful commands while marching the team forward.
The soldiers followed the commands: first marching in place, then uniformly stepping forward. The sound of their footsteps was orderly and rhythmic, resonating with authority.
"What is that epé used for?" asked a familiar attendant of Bernardo, pointing at the command spears in the officers’ hands.
Resting his forearm on the fence, Bernardo pointed at the epé and said, "That is called an epé used by officers for command. It can be used for close combat charges and, if necessary, also serve as a gun rack.
During turns, one Brigade Commander positions the epé horizontally on the chests of the front-row soldiers, while another positions it horizontally on their backs.
This controls their turning and marching speed, keeping them in line with the main force."
Even though the Salvation Army had trained sufficiently, some maneuvers and formations like turns would still revert to common steps, controlled by the Brigade Commanders.
While Bernardo explained, the Brigade Commander had already ordered the Holy Gunmen to halt.
A hair-raising sound of gears turning reached them, instantly causing the Baron who had participated in the previous Black Mountain battle to squat down sharply.
Several nearby soldiers watching the scene stifled low chuckles.
Domenico, nearly squatting down as well, felt embarrassed and cursed Baron Christopher in a low voice, "Christopher! Where’s your courage? It’s simply disgraceful for us..."
"Bang!"
All except Bernardo squatted down, wishing they could bury their heads between their legs.
The previous battle had evidently left too much psychological shadow on them.
With his face turning crimson, Domenico stood up, coughed twice, pretending nothing had happened.
He then looked over at the training field, filled with people running, practicing marching stances, breathing techniques, and stabbing techniques, more numerous than he had imagined.
He had to admit, the tenacity of these people was far greater than that of their own Guards; if the Guard were subjected to such training intensity, they would likely have been clamoring for drinks and rewards long ago.
"How long do they train each day?" Domenico pointed to the War Monks endlessly practicing formations and steps and asked.
"Every day requires training."
"Every day requires training? No, do you mean they need to train for a whole day?" Domenico even wondered if Bernardo was fooling him, "Don’t you rest?"
Mind you, only the Armored Soldiers train every day, unless they are newly promoted soldiers; otherwise, most train for only half a day before finishing.
As for the Night Guard, they train once a week, and only in the morning; some places even train once a month, and some people even find substitutes to train for them.
Training every day for a whole day, what kind of ridiculous training frequency and duration is this?
"This talk, of course resting is necessary..."
Domenico finally relaxed his astonished mind a bit.
"... Rest one day a week, with an additional day off each month, plus fifteen days of annual leave and fifteen days of family visit leave each year."
"Then, then the rest of the time..."
"It’s training." Bernardo explained while leading Domenico across the trenches and checkpoints, deeper into the area, "They receive wages every day, wouldn’t they suffer losses if they didn’t train?"
"Receiving wages every day, what does it mean?" Peering at the guards standing like statues beside the watchtower, Domenico hurriedly stepped forward to ask Bernardo.
Bernardo took out a small booklet and ledger from his pocket, and shook them towards Domenico: "It’s literal meaning, part of my work is distributing wages, during peacetime, 1 Dinar daily for new recruits, 2 Dinars for veterans, with wages doubled during wartime."
"Double? 4 Dinars a day, which means 1 gold pound a month..." The Armored Soldier following Domenico was nearly screaming, "12 gold pounds a year, oh my, that’s twice my annual income!"
Another accompanying Baron Christopher beat his chest in pain: "All those shining Dinars given to the hardened soldiers, it’s a sin."
His manor had been completely pillaged by the Salvation Army, his estate bundled and sold off; he currently had only the dwelling in Ibe Village and three or four hundred gold pounds of floating wealth left.
At the thought of all his money turning into wages for the soldiers, he wished he could bite a few pieces of flesh off these soldiers.
Domenico didn’t say much, but he somewhat understood why the Salvation Army could defeat them.
It’s as if Horn’s side has thousands of half-salary Extraordinary Foot Combat Knights, and even Wizards and the peculiar Devil’s Wind; quality-wise, his own side falls far short.
Seeing this, Domenico knew there was no need to look further.
Those knightly nobles could not possibly give their shiny Dinars to ordinary people, nor had the patience and energy to soak in the training grounds day in, day out.
The success of the Salvation Army, they couldn’t replicate it.
"Let’s go back." Domenico said, disinterested.
"Is that it, going back now?" Baron Christopher glanced at the sky above, "We’ve only been out for half the morning."
"Let’s go back, there’s nothing worth seeing." Despite Domenico’s efforts to disguise it, the sour and bleak tone couldn’t help but seep out.
Bernardo stifled a laugh: "Alright, I’ll take you back then."
"Are you going back as well?"
"Of course, without me, you can’t even pass the checkpoints."
"No, I didn’t mean that." Domenico looked into Bernardo’s eyes, "Aren’t you going to be investigated by Cheka? Are you going back?"
"Me?" Bernardo was stunned for a few seconds, then glanced down at his black Salvation Army uniform and slowly shook his head, "I’ll wait until my annual leave, remember to send my regards to the old lady."
Domenico nodded silently, after a while murmuring: "It’s for the best, for the best."
Unlike their chatter upon arrival, on their return journey, Domenico and his company were all silent.
Now they believed, given time, this army might make even the Empire and the Church suffer unprecedented defeat.
Walking on the dirt road, pondering the future’s path, Domenico suddenly felt vibrations underfoot.
As he looked up, he saw a swift horse speeding from the checkpoint edge, nearly colliding with him.
The horse rushed through the camp without regard for the soldiers walking and patrolling.
"Didn’t you say it’s prohibited to gallop in the military camp?" Baron Christopher grasped the opportunity, "What’s going on here?"
Bernardo ignored him and hurried towards the checkpoint.
Sure enough, a cavalry courier was sitting on the hot steps, gulping down mint water.
Beside him, a swift horse lay sideways on the ground, its tongue a mix of pink and black, gasping as if to expel its very heart and lungs.
"What’s the matter?" Bernardo, always well-connected, knew the courier, so he approached and whispered.
The courier saw no need for secrecy, as it couldn’t remain secret at all.
"Rapids City reinforcements were completely wiped out, a great fire engulfed the city, casualties heavy, emergency, origin! Xiaochi City attacked by Noble Alliance Army, emergency, request for aid!"