I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 95 Simple Training

Winter is coming.

Apart from occasionally collecting food, the progress of the entire forest immediately slowed down.

Old Eike did propose to Luc a series of buildings that needed to be built in the future, but none of them were urgent needs like mills and bread ovens, so they would be put aside for next year.

The most important thing right now is still food and clothing. Everyone understands that winter is coming soon. As the temperature gets lower and lower, everyone's pace becomes faster. Some are picking reed flowers, some are sewing clothes, some are moving food into the cellar, some are cleaning the livestock area, some are checking the conditions of the fields, and some are chopping wood and making charcoal. In short, no one has a chance to rest during this period. In order to better survive the winter, they are even busier than during the autumn plowing season.

Amy and the other peasant women arranged the reed flowers they had collected and prepared the linen cloth that Luc had given them as a reward. They already had a piece of tattered linen cloth themselves, so they were naturally very happy to get a new one.

The new linen was sewn together with the old clothes. The needle was a bone needle that Luc ordered to be polished, and the thread was rattan thread that was peeled and spun and then glued together. He sewed it patiently, leaving a small opening in the middle, and then slowly stuffed the reed fluff into it.

Stuff in a little bit at a time to prevent the cattail fluff from piling up and affecting the warming effect. You need to keep patting and kneading it, and finally sew the small opening again.

As each reed-linen garment was sewn, the cellar gradually filled with food, and the charcoal piled up in the woodshed, everyone finally felt relieved. Finally, in early December, the Burgundy forest welcomed the second snowfall Luc had ever seen.
……

The fireplace in the wooden house crackled, and the fire surrounded by red bricks reflected a unique beauty.

There were a lot of neatly stacked charcoal in the grooves on both sides, and an iron shovel was stuck aside.

The smoke drifted away from above, discharged out of the house along the curved chimney, and merged into the sky, without any choking smoke remaining in the house.

The bricks and stones inside the wood were slowly heated by the smoke, and the double wooden walls absorbed the heat very well, making the whole cabin toasty warm.

The long wooden table in the middle was filled with a variety of food and a cup of heated apple cider. Deer antlers, bows and arrows, long swords, and kite-shaped shields were hung around, forming a rough interior.

Ryan leaned back on the thick thatched mat, munching on a chicken breast. The white cat by the fireplace stretched lazily.

Lying on the sheepskin bed and covered with a quilt made of deerskin and linen, Luc felt everything around him and could not help but recall the scene last winter when he and Ryan huddled in the dark, leaky cellar.
A year passed quickly, and I could barely make ends meet.
Ryan added more charcoal to the fireplace, and when he saw Luke wake up, he took out a pot of boiled hot water from the fireplace. With the well behind the mountain, there was no need to break the ice to get water this winter. After following Luke for a long time, Ryan was used to drinking hot water. However, this pot of water was not for drinking, but for pouring into a wooden basin for washing. Fearing that the water temperature was too hot, Ryan went out and scooped a spoonful of cold water, mixed it and felt it was okay, then handed it to Luke to wash his face.

Luc enjoyed the service of others without blushing or getting nervous. He washed up and the food was already prepared.

"Lian, I'm going to the monastery in the next few days. You and Hans should come with me."

After drinking the stomach-warming soup, Luc raised his head and told Ryan his plan.

The connection with the monastery has never been broken. The last time I met Brother Pierre, he hinted that he must go to the monastery again before Christmas.

Since it was just the first snow and there was still some time before the real snow, Luc planned to go and see what Pierre was doing.

Ryan nodded seriously. As Luc's earliest follower, Ryan was the person who knew Luc best.

Ryan knew exactly who Luc's stag emblem belonged to, but he kept silent. It was no exaggeration to say that he was Luc's loyal confidant.

But Luc didn't plan to leave just yet. He pushed open the wooden door, looked at the thin white snow outside, and told Ryan to call Hans, Jill, and George out. Looking at the men of different heights standing in front of him, Luc decided to give them the simplest training first.

Among the four men, even the horse thief George has decent fighting skills. If a horse thief who travels all over the country can't even beat ordinary people, there is no need for him to hang around.

So the four of them will be the best part-time soldiers in Luc's mind.

After distributing the shields that had been made before, Luc thought about it and adjusted the positions. He put the big guy Hans holding a Viking shield and an armed axe in the front. Ryan held another kite-shaped shield, a dagger on his waist, and stood on the right with a javelin in his hand. The one-eyed Gil, who had only a long-handled blade and no shield, was half a step behind the two of them. George moved around with a small round shield and a dagger.

This was the crude formation Luc could come up with for now, combining projectiles, shield defense, long weapon attacks, and melee combat. It looked quite effective, but in the real fight, Luc suspected it would degenerate into a melee. After all, there were only four of them, and fighting with fewer people would depend on who had the strongest armor and the sharpest sword, and who was more burly and brave.

Only when the number of people continues to increase, formation and discipline become the key factors in determining victory or defeat.

Of course, there is also enough food and sufficient military pay.

After all, he had followed his lord in his campaigns before, and he didn't remember what tactics the enemy had. He just let his cannon fodder fight for a while, and then relied on his own and his knights' horses, armor and spears to make a fearless charge.

Luke couldn't think that far for the time being. Right now, he let a few people get familiar with the formation, which was more about cultivating the tacit understanding of mutual cooperation and the discipline of being able to quickly form a formation when he gave orders.

No matter whether it was useful or not, after training for a whole morning, as soon as Luc opened his mouth again, the four of them gathered together reflexively, their weapons drawn, and pointed them forward.

Among the four people, Luc paid special attention to George.

Ryan is his confidant, Hans is a fool and a daredevil, Gil is a ruthless man who dares to go to the bandit's lair alone to seek revenge, but George is the only one, maybe because of his profession or personality, not very brave. Luke even doubts that if he really meets the enemy, he will run away faster than anyone else.

After lunch, the four of them did some physical training in the afternoon. Luc planned to let the four of them out for training as long as the weather was slightly mild in the coming winter.

Correspondingly, there will be more meat to eat after training.

After two days of training, on the morning of the third day, seeing that the first snow had almost melted, Luc told old Eike at home to look after the house well. He put on chain mail, brought a bow and knight's sword, a deerskin coat, and deerskin boots. Ryan wore a wool sweater and leather armor, and was equipped with a javelin, a dagger, a butcher knife, and a small leather round shield. Hans barely put on his cotton armor, held a Viking round shield in one hand and an armed axe in the other. In addition, the strong man also carried the rations for the group.

Because of the cold weather, Luc brought a sheepskin sleeping blanket, a kite-shaped shield with a stag painted on it, and the family crest.

Five days later, in the monastery.

Pierre stared at Luc in precious fur with a little surprise. The last few times he came here were in summer, and Luc was only wearing linen, and he didn't look very noble. Now with the deerskin coat underneath, he looked a little like a nobleman.

After a moment, Pierre withdrew his gaze, and instead held the cross on his chest, smiling meaningfully at Luc:
"Mr. Luc, you are so lucky."

"Although your Duchy of Upper Lorraine no longer exists, are you interested in becoming a noble of Burgundy?"

(End of this chapter)