Hunting

Two days had passed since the victory celebration. Victor now personally oversaw the military camp every day, handling all matters related to the army's reorganization.

Officers above the company level were easy enough to arrange. They were either experienced squad leaders or detachment commanders serving concurrently. However, choosing squad leaders could sometimes be troublesome. The auxiliary forces had yet to be assembled; of the planned two hundred barbarian herdsmen, only a little over a hundred had been recruited. Even if auxiliary squad leaders were appointed, they would only be leading empty units.

As for ten-man leaders, that was simpler. Each ten-man unit would basically elect its own leader, who would only be formally appointed after a period of assessment. After all, some soldiers could win others' support through strength or personality, yet still lack the ability to manage a ten-man unit well.

The other logistics detachments were likewise only being given a basic framework. Normally, only one-tenth of their personnel would be on duty, with vacancies filled through recruitment once war came.

The combat forces had now largely completed their reorganization. Deputy squad leaders had been temporarily assigned to every squad, with the intention of having them directly serve as auxiliary squad leaders in wartime.

This also created a practical problem. Such an organizational structure required the auxiliary forces to possess basic combat capabilities. Victor's solution was to select auxiliary soldiers from the construction teams for training after winter arrived and construction work stopped. To that end, he ordered Powell to find people to make a batch of warm clothing suitable for winter travel. The Gorn Trading Company had conveniently delivered plenty of cloth and fur last time.

Before that, he had to ensure the troops could adapt to the new organization. He planned to organize a large-scale hunting operation once the standard-bearers completed the first stage of their flag-signal training. The territory's patrol cavalry had discovered a massive herd of several thousand Mongolian gazelles on the north bank of the Great Fish River.

He had already assigned the Calculation Module a task: produce a hunting plan as quickly as possible, using the operation to train the newly reorganized troops to the greatest extent possible and accelerate their adaptation to and coordination within the new structure.

Thus, while busily reorganizing the army and adjusting the hunting plan, Victor also transferred more than a hundred people from the territory's construction teams to replenish the logistics detachments. This at least ensured that the supply convoy and construction teams were at half strength, enough to meet some of their needs.

In the blink of an eye, October 15 arrived. Victor decided to launch the hunting operation that day. He had not informed anyone of the exact time beforehand, but he had already given the hunting plan to the detachment and company commanders. Victor intended to use this hunt not only to help the troops adapt to the new organization, but also to improve their responsiveness in emergencies.

According to the hunting plan, the operation would be divided into four forces:

The First Cavalry Detachment would serve as the vanguard, responsible for scouting and driving; the First Infantry Detachment would serve as the central force, responsible for encirclement and hunting; the Second Cavalry Detachment would serve on the flank, responsible for mobile support; and the Second Infantry Detachment would serve as the rearguard, responsible for vigilance and reserves.

This division of roles was drawn from Victor's memories of Jurchen tribal hunting expeditions in his previous life. Such hunts were essentially live combat exercises that could effectively improve an army's organization, coordination, and fighting strength.

Victor ordered all troops to cross the river as quickly as possible and reach the gazelle herd's location at full strength and in full gear, then begin the hunt according to their assigned duties.

Ron's First Cavalry Detachment had already driven into the grasslands like a wedge. "Spread out! Twenty men per scout unit, report every five li!" He raised his riding whip, and the cavalry swiftly split into more than a dozen small groups, skimming northeast along the rolling grass. Their task was scouting and driving—locating the herd's flanks, then using arrows and horns to force it toward the encirclement.

But the problem quickly revealed itself: the small units repeatedly collided with one another as they advanced. "Damn it, slow down on the left!" Ron roared, veins bulging at his temples. One warhorse stepped into a marmot hole amid the confusion and tumbled to the ground with its rider. Ron had no choice but to send off a squad to tend to the wounded, and the vanguard formation immediately became as thin as a torn net.

Meanwhile, Santos's First Infantry Detachment was deploying in the middle of the grasslands. Fifty-man squads formed square formations, layer upon layer joining into an arc. "Raise your spears! Leave an opening during the encirclement—don't let the herd panic and charge the formation!" His voice rolled like muffled thunder. The soldiers silently carried out the order, but Santos noticed that the gaps between several formations were too wide. Their flag-signal training was still inadequate, and some were still using their old hand signals to pass instructions.

The gazelle herd surged into the encirclement like a brown flood. They were far more agile than Victor had anticipated. The vanguard cavalry failed to completely seal the eastern gap, and several hundred gazelles darted through the openings in Ron's detachment, charging straight toward the Second Cavalry Detachment led by James. The blond young knight immediately grew excited. "Flank charge! Cut them off!" His two hundred light cavalry thundered out, but because they charged too quickly, they nearly collided with Foss's Second Infantry Detachment. The latter should have been maintaining vigilance in the rear, but the herd had forced them to move forward in haste.

Ron's vanguard cavalry was scattered by the gazelle herd due to its loose formation. Although Santos's central infantry squares barely completed the encirclement, the soldiers on the western side failed to understand the new flag signals and held their spears level in a chevaux-de-frise formation instead. This only forced the herd to turn and slam into the vanguard's ranks. Victor watched everything coldly, allowing the messengers to anxiously ask whether he should intervene.

"Only after they bleed will they learn how to stop bleeding."

When the setting sun dyed the sea of grass blood-red, a turning point finally appeared.

Santos suddenly changed tactics. He ordered the soldiers to strike their weapons against one another in place of the obscure flag signals. Amid deafening metallic thunder, the infantry squares began to contract to the rhythm of drumbeats. Startled by the waves of sound, the gazelles crowded together and crashed straight into the ambush laid by James's cavalry detachment. The reckless knight displayed astonishing adaptability at that moment. He gave up pursuing the scattered gazelles and instead split his cavalry into three groups, combing the herd into a narrow column and guiding it toward Santos's spear formations.

Ron's vanguard cavalry finally found its rhythm as well. He abandoned a frontal interception and personally led thirty elite riders around behind the herd, using oil-soaked fire arrows to ignite the grass. As black smoke rose, the terrified gazelles were forced to turn, merging with the herd James had driven over and leaving them no space to flee. Foss's rearguard infantry then silently delivered the fatal blow. When the last few hundred gazelles attempted to break out to the south, Foss had the soldiers suddenly pull aside the shield wall, revealing horse traps dug in advance behind it. The bleating herd plunged into the pits, their throats precisely pierced by spearmen.

The campfire crackled loudly, and the fragrance of roasting mutton fat drifted through the camp. The four captains sat around Victor, their armor still stained with blood and bits of grass.

Victor looked into the distance. The soldiers were sitting together around the campfires. Cavalrymen showed infantrymen the improved buckles on their stirrups, while infantrymen taught cavalrymen how to use weapons to deflect stray arrows. The morning's awkwardness had been replaced by a rough sort of tacit understanding—just as when a blacksmith quenched iron, blue smoke always rose carrying sparks with it.