"Attention!"

While it bothered me to no end to use the modern forms of salute that were clearly imported from the western armies of the future, I just couldn't help it. With how the military developed around the world, as Poland lacked over one hundred years of its national and cultural development of the military tradition due to being torn apart and occupied by its neighbours, the picture of the advanced military in my head was clearly stolen from the movies and stories I read. 

And it went without saying that those, in turn, were inspired by the western world!

"Present arms!"

With the command of the mayor, the highest officer commanding the entire small army, all men lined up in front of me raised their rifles to their shoulders in an orderly manner.

"Fire!"

All at once, every single rifle carried by my newly formed troop screamed in its loud yet beautiful voice, sending several gold coins worth of ammunition flying. 

"Double fire!"

Boom, boom!

Contrary to what other rifles of the age could do, rather than reloading in order to fulfil the uncommon order, all the weapons spoke again, spewing bits of metal enveloped by fire into the air, before silencing back to their usual state all at once.

"Hold!"

With the salvo already done, my men lowered their weapons back to their hips, still standing at attention and looking a little to the side, awaiting next order.

"That will be enough. Let them have some rest."

Calmly relaying my order to the officer, I turned around and looked at the governor.

"What do you think about them? Quite impressive, don't you think?"

With how most of the troops of the current age had to either be trained extensively for a prolonged period of time to achieve even such simplistic result as firing at command and orderly following other simple orders, it was already quite an achievement to have them act so disciplined within just a short week of training.

Obviously, as this showcase was happening during peace, it couldn't be compared to what would happen in the heat of the battle. Without the bullets whizzing near their heads and melee troops advancing just a few hundreds of steps away from them, even a simple villager could produce such results given enough time. Yet with how current Commonwealth was devolving into a state of chaos already, adding just the slight variable of the Ostros interfering in my business, it was only a matter of time before I could turn those more or less disciplined recruits into a true, battle-hardened troop of veterans!

"Well, I didn't expect anything less of you… I think I'm already past the point when you can surprise me with anything, as I stopped making any guesses as to what other miracles will you come up with… But looking at them, I can't help but wonder, can you really pay for all of their equipment?"

Taking a look back at my troops, I could see where this question was coming from. Outside of the stuff that was provided directly by my own production like rifles, ammunition or personal, cold weapon, every single man in this unit was uniformly dressed. But so far, I have yet to dabble my fingers in this kind of industry!

In fact, getting those dresses done all in similar fas.h.i.+on was the greatest expense for this unit outside of their wages that still would have to stack up for several months to reach the cost that I had to pay for those uniforms!

"Come on, just look around! Do you really think the cost of training, equipping or maintaining them is of any concern for me?"

Spreading my arms as wide as I did my lips, I gestured at all the buildings going at their full throttle to produce more cement, more iron, more steel than the rest of the country would produce in a year. 

Yet even without knowing those kinds of details, something that I was sure that Governor did, just by looking at how busy those nearby sites were one could gauge the economical prowess of the single owner of it all. 

"Well, that was an unfortunate question indeed."

Showing a rare, honest smile on his face, Jan turned his eyes to the horizon before suddenly staring back at me.

"But while they are great and all, I just can't help but think… Why do you suddenly are in such a rush to raise an army? I remember asking how many troops did you want to recruit just a few days ago, and I can already see the first batch of them ready for the field training! With how deep in the hinterlands of the Commonwealth we are, what kind of enemy do you want to put those men against? After all, I can't see any fortification that you would use those men to fill up!"

Hearing this point, I couldn't help but smile despite quite a huge amount of aggressiveness in Jan's words. It didn't take a genius to realise that my sudden move on increasing my military strength didn't sit well with him, be it due to his fear of losing his protection leverage over me or simply because he didn't want me to stir up any mess in those chaotic times. Yet the point that he brought was simply too great for me to hold myself back!

"You see, I honestly believe the age of the huge fortifications, castles and all… Is over. Like, in most of the sieges, right now the invading army either will attempt to starve the defenders or destroy a part of their embankments as to open a way for the a.s.sault to go through… But you already saw what the reaper guns are capable of! Even though the improvements we made to their new version are rather minor, what do you think would happen if a huge army suddenly attacked a breach in the walls, where defenders would mount two or three reaper guns?"

In fact, what I told was also a valid reason to actually build said fortifications! By s.h.i.+fting my focus to more modern warfare based on trenches and fire stations, I would force any enemy to adapt to this way of fighting. But as long as I could leverage my own advantages in a cla.s.sical siege scenario…

Shaking my head, I pushed the thought of the rows of enemies lining up only to get shot by a lazy series from a set of reaper guns. While I would love to bring such point in this discussion, doing so would clearly give out my reasons for forming my own, potent military, potentially alerting Jan to my real, devious plans.

"You see, rather than building castles, bastions and fortresses… I want to go with a simpler route. Make every soldier used to carry a big bag filled with sand or earth, load a bunch of short, iron pikes on the supply wagon, and when there will be a time when someone will dare to launch an attack against such force… In less than what it takes for a proper cavalry charge to form, my soldiers will move those items to the front of the potential battlefield, stalling the enemy for long enough to make a short work of them with those weapons of theirs."

Taking a deep breath, I could already imagine how future battles would look for a short period of time. 

Countless rows of cavalry and infantry running at my army, only to stop for just a briefest of moments at this makes.h.i.+ft obstacle. Yet with the introduction of the repet.i.tive guns, this small window was more than enough to deal just as much damage to the enemy as necessary to break their spirit and force them to a retreat!

It wasn't about making a perfectly secure and intimidating defensive position. In fact, if an enemy would be determined enough, circ.u.mventing or just ignoring it at large would always be an option! 

But what if said enemy saw a small unit of barely three hundred people with nothing but funny rifles and a few carriages filled with what would look like pikes?

Only a dumb general would let such a great opportunity go to waste!

A dumb general… Or one with enough gut feeling to tell him that what appeared as a joke of a fortification was enough to turn the one-sided attack into a devastating defeat!