A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor-Chapter 1107 The Hammer and the Chain - Part 1
1107: The Hammer and the Chain – Part 1
1107: The Hammer and the Chain – Part 1
“Then don’t you have the beginnings of problems to be solved?” Oliver said.
“You at least know what you are working to fix now.
If you can find a way past their heavy shield walls, or find a way of dealing with their chariots, or with their shield walls and their momentum attacks, you can find yourself in a place of useful – and you’ll put yourself closer to that Second Boundary.”
Unlike with Kaya, Oliver didn’t think he had the answer straight away for Karesh.
Karesh was the same sort of strength driven soldier that many of his men were, though, of course, his strength and his training exceeded many of them.
Given that he was not a piece as strange as Kaya, his way forward was more nuanced.
It didn’t seem like a place that Oliver could guide him to.
Not yet.
“I see…” Karesh said thoughtfully.
He was not normally such a thoughtful person, but now his hand went to his chin, where the first few hairs of a black beard were beginning to punch through.
“Solve those problems…”
“The battlefield is a series of small battles, after all,” Oliver said.
“You must see that already, when you fight man to man.
If you’re able to overcome your own battles with greater ease, then you’ll be a stronger soldier for it, and more useful to me and the rest of the men.”
“There’s something in that, Captain… I can feel it.
I’ll give good thought, I will.
And I won’t let Kaya surpass me – not yet!
Thank you, Ser,” he said, saluting.
“Make no mention of it,” Oliver replied.
“Your strength shall be my strength.
It is only natural that I would assist its development in whatever ways that I can… And there, finally, it seems we have discovered the man that we came here for.
Good morning, Commander Jorah.”
“Good morning, Captain,” Jorah said, putting down a large bundle of supplies, and the crisply saluting.
“You were looking for me?”
“Indeed,” Oliver said.
“The men are to begin their training today.
I have similar words for you as I have already delivered to Karesh here.”
“Oh?” Jorah said, affording Karesh a quizzical glance.
“Unlike Karesh, as a Commander, your battle is larger scale,” Oliver said.
“You too must have seen the problems that you face with these new Verna tactics and strategies, and you might already have seen a way past many of them.
The purpose of this training – at least where it concerns the officers – shall be to make lighter work of the problems that the enemy has presented us with.
They have not shown all that they can do yet – if we are to develop any leeway for when their true heavy hitters come out, it ought to be now.”
Jorah nodded his understanding.
“Group training then, Captain.
Will the Blackthorn men be joining us?
I assume that Commander Yorick will be taking part as well?”
“He will be,” Oliver said.
“And the Blackthorn men shall be as well.
For now, we will start with individual training, but when the time comes, I would have you and Verdant overseeing the group endeavours.
The likes of their heavy shield wall, in particular, should not cause us the problems that it once did.
I would have you run all the simulations that you can manage.”
“Very well, Captain,” Jorah said.
It wasn’t at all a thing that the men were unused to, especially not the men that had been with him a while.
After all, it was a plan that had managed to save them when they’d encountered Talon.
If not for the improvements of their men that they’d fought for in those gruelling training sessions in the forest, it would be no exaggeration to say that they would have lost that battle.
If they were to be trapped on this Lonely Mountain, with nothing else to do aside from the mundane duties delivered to them by Karstly, then there seemed to be no better use of their time than training.
Once again, Oliver saw that his army was far from unified.
It was nothing like the dense accumulation of men that he’d forged throughout three years of fighting.
It was still a ragtag group that needed whipping into shape.
Chapter 5 – The Hammer and the Chain
Oliver sat inside a tent that was not his own, a frown on his face, as he was subjected to a procedure that he would have rather avoided.
There gathered was Blackthorn bearing witness, and Verdant trying to keep the look of amusement off his face, as well as Blackthorn’s two ever loyal attendants.
“The training has begun, Lady Blackthorn,” Oliver said.
“You ought to be directing your men.”
“I ought to be,” Lasha said.
“Thus, Captain, I would ask that you agree with my request without further delay.
We are losing precious time.”
“…I think we could save that precious time if you took my word for it,” Oliver said.
“Your word is an impossibility, Captain, with all due respect,” Lasha said.
“I saw with my own eyes what happened to your hand.
That it could be healed to the point that you can use it in a matter of days… That is impossible.”
“It is impossible,” Amelia seconded, nodding like a seasoned nurse.
“I studied Field Medicine at the Academy, I’ll have you know.”
“As did I,” Oliver said, immediately bursting her bubble.
“W-what?
Well!
Then you should know how ridiculous it is to say what you’re saying,” Amelia said.
“My Lady is wise to call you out on your foolishness, Captain Patrick.
You could lose the use of your hand permanently if you don’t pay it better attention.”
“Do you believe that I would allow my Lord to wander into such a reckless future?” Verdant said, chipping in for the first time in a while, a dangerous look on his face.
“N-not at all…” Amelia said, trailing off, as unable to stand up to Verdant as ever.
