I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 482 Training
In the shadows on the other side of the platform, Ambassador Alvarez, the special envoy of the Macon Union, watched with a cold eye.

He was dressed in a well-tailored dark diplomatic uniform, a nearly burnt-out cigarette between his fingers, and his face showed undisguised disappointment and contempt.

When he saw those "mercenaries" dressed in shabby linen robes, pale and thin, who could barely stand when they got off the vehicle, being herded like sheep, he almost sneered.

Is this the "experienced replacement soldiers" that Bagnia promised?
They're practically a bunch of beggars and thugs just dragged out of the slums!
Is this the kind of rubbish the alliance got in return for its huge upfront payments?
He was already drafting a report in his mind on how to report back home, severely criticizing Bagnia for its serious breach of contract and perfunctory handling of the matter.

However, when the sudden riot broke out, Alvarez's fingers, which were holding a cigarette, paused.

He watched as the group of "sheep" who had been listless moments before instantly transformed into a pack of mad wolves. Although they were completely disorganized, the mad fury that blazed in their eyes as they pounced on the military police, their ruthless ferocity, and their bloodthirstiness in daring to throw punches even against opponents who were clearly stronger than themselves, made him raise an eyebrow slightly.

In particular, he noticed that although the military police were well-trained, coordinated, and highly efficient at taking down mercenaries, as soon as one fell, another would rush up to him with a howl.

They lack skill, yet possess a chilling, almost primal, savage vitality.

Someone had their nose smashed and their face covered in blood, but they wiped their face and roared as they charged forward again.

Some people dislocated their arms and banged their heads against the wall or bit their necks. Despite being at a complete disadvantage, they relied on their reckless and crazy spirit to cause even the elite military police to suffer brief embarrassment and injuries.

The disdain in Alvarez's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a sharp, reassessing gaze. He slowly took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled a thin wisp of smoke.

"interesting……"

He muttered to himself, a barely perceptible smile even curving his lips.

The disappointment vanished instantly.

Yes, it's obvious from their appearance that these Bagnya "mercenaries" are a bunch of lawless, audacious madmen and villains.

They lack discipline, yes, but they certainly don't lack the ferocity and fighting spirit that erupts in dire situations.

The people the Macon Alliance hired to fight were precisely the savage, ferocious, and even more bizarre snake people on Casarina Island.

When dealing with that kind of enemy, sometimes textbook tactics and strict discipline may be far less effective than a fearless, crazy spirit and a life-or-death ferocity.

The riot was quickly suppressed, and order was restored on the platform, leaving only painful groans and the cold rebukes of the military police.

But Alvarez's views have completely changed.

He stubbed out his cigarette and whispered to his deputy beside him.

"Send a message back home: the first batch of soldiers sent by Bagnia are of exceptional quality. Although they lack training, their fighting spirit is quite strong."

I believe they may be better suited to the island's environment than we initially thought.

He looked at the mercenaries, bruised and battered but with defiant eyes, who had been regrouped, and it was as if he saw not a mob, but a group of untamed but sharp-fanged beasts.

"Just give them weapons and throw them in front of the snake people..."

A cold, expectant glint flashed in Alvarez's eyes.

"I believe they will surprise us."

……

When he woke up from his unpleasant waking-up, he opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.

It wasn't the dirty roof of the station, nor the greasy metal walls of the train carriages, but a relatively smooth wooden roof painted with white lime.

The air was filled with a mixture of leather, sweat, gunpowder, and a faint smell of disinfectant, but the nauseating stench of overcrowding was gone.

He lay on a hard wooden bed, covered with a rough but clean thin blanket.

Looking around, he saw a spacious barracks with two rows of similar makeshift beds. Many convicts, dressed in linen robes like him, were sitting up blankly or looking around curiously.

The barracks were brand new, the log walls still exuding the scent of wood, and the large windows letting in bright sunlight.

"They're all awake?"

"Get out of here right now and collect your gear, then assemble on the playground... Don't dawdle!"

A loud and rough voice rang out at the door. It belonged to a player wearing the standard green uniform of the Bagnia Legion and with scars on his face. Clearly, he was one of the instructors here.

No one dared to be negligent.

After the initial "baptism of fire" on the platform, most players, though still verbally defiant, became much more subdued. Those who were unhappy refused to play and joined the crowd, leaving the barracks.

Over the next few days, they felt as if they had been thrown into a high-speed military machine.

The first thing distributed was equipment. No longer were they wearing simple linen robes, but rather a sturdy green cotton military uniform, a pair of heavy leather boots, and a crucial set of life-saving gear... a lightweight breastplate and a tall steel helmet.

Then came endless training, with flintlock training taking up most of the time.

Players need to repeat extremely tedious actions over and over again on a wide shooting range: stand, load, raise the gun, aim, and fire.

The crisp "click" of flint being fired, the deafening roar of a successful launch, and the pungent smell of gunpowder became their most familiar background music. Everyone could have a great time until their shoulders ached.

The Tiger Crouching Cannon is a skill that only a select few with the best shooting skills can use; if you don't like it, you can't play it.

On the artillery range, he saw other players gathered around the dark, short, and stubby cannon, learning to clean the breech, load shot, and estimate the firing angle... It looked tedious, but most of them enjoyed it immensely.

The battlefield first aid course was conducted in a tent filled with the smell of medicine.

A serious-looking medic, holding unsettling charts and realistic wound models, teaches them how to distinguish between gunshot wounds and lacerations from knives and swords.

"If a bullet gets into your body, it might stay inside. Applying pressure to stop the bleeding is the first priority. Don't be stupid and try to dig it out!"

"You got slashed by the snake-men's knife? If you don't have disinfectant, rinse it with plenty of clean water first, then bandage it. Who knows what kind of filthy stuff those green-skinned bastards put on their knives!"

They learned how to use bandages and tourniquets, how to easily immobilize broken bones, and most importantly... how to drag the wounded away from the front lines as quickly as possible.

Cold weapon training took place in another location.

Players are required to choose a secondary weapon: a spear, a longsword, or a half-sword with a round shield.

Some people felt that having only these three types of cold weapons to choose from was a bit unsatisfying. They suggested adding battlefield weapons such as long-handled battle axes, horse-slaying sabers, or halberds so that they could try them out.

And then it was rejected.

"Don't be so unrealistic..."

The experienced players in charge of teaching gave them earnest advice.

"In my experience on the battlefield, the spear is the most lethal weapon, followed by the sword and shield. Using them can buy time for our comrades who are using flintlock muskets."

As for other weapons like the Mo Dao, Zhanma Jian, Fu Qiang, or Da Qiang, those are weapons only for experts. You can try them out once your reputation is high enough and your body is strong enough...

Now?

I don't recommend it to you, because these types of weapons are extremely lethal to other players.

The others protested that the instructor looked down on them, but after hesitating for a moment, he chose to listen to advice and picked up a rather conventional-looking hand and a half sword.

Then came the aesthetically unappealing training of chopping, hacking, and blocking, repeatedly swinging and hacking at the straw man target until the arms could no longer be raised and blisters formed on the tiger's mouth.

The instructors moved among them, correcting their postures.

"When you exert force, your waist leads your arms. Don't just swing your hands. The force starts from your feet, then travels through your waist to your shoulders, and finally swings out through your arms. This is how you swing your sword with power... Don't talk about saving your strength. Using seven-tenths and saving three-tenths is a dueling technique."

You are going to the battlefield, and you are not strong enough. When you encounter snake people, you will have to use all your strength to kill these bastards with your swords.

In addition to training in secondary weapons, wearing armor has become a daily necessity.

Trainees must put on and secure the leather armor on their own within one minute, and then run around the training ground with the weight on.

Wearing armor requires skill and skill; if you go into battle wearing armor without training and adaptation, it's better not to wear it at all.

The training was arduous and even brutal; the instructors' scolding and corporal punishment were commonplace.

However, within this training camp, the new players' combat skills and physical abilities also improved by leaps and bounds, progressing exceptionally quickly.

So much so that when many new players complained on offline forums, they were instead highlighted by veteran players who said that if they had received such training, they wouldn't have needed to learn everything on the battlefield, which led to them being beaten like dogs by the enemy.

Even so, many new players are impatient and choose to give up during the training process, delete their accounts and quit, giving up their spots to allow more new players to join.

Thanks to the complaints and lessons learned from experienced players online, as well as the increasing proportion of hardcore gamers, these new players are more disciplined and there aren't as many reckless individuals.

This has led to a steady decline in the number of new Bagnian mercenary recruits, with no upward trend.

Chris didn't care about that. If there weren't enough people, veteran players would fill in. There were quite a few veteran players who were addicted to snake hunting who were eager to try their hand at mercenaries and were waiting for the recruitment window to open.

Once they sign up, they won't enter as convicts or exiles, but as veterans or officers who can command others in battle.

Being a military officer not only brings a higher salary, but also greater freedom of action; you can decide where to fight and what missions to undertake.

(End of this chapter)