CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 49 MILITARY TRAINING (CONTINUED)

Amid the soldiers’ sighs, Maximus chuckled inwardly. Flanitnus had once detailed the military training plan to him, and he knew this was just the beginning. Later, the height of the wooden poles would increase, and the soldiers would even need to leap over them with short swords and shields. According to Flanitnus, those who excelled in the agility training of Rome’s new recruits were key candidates for the cavalry.

By noon, each battalion would send personnel to wait at the farmhouse entrance, then drive back to their training grounds with carts full of food prepared by the Supply Camp, allowing soldiers to line up in long queues to receive their meals one by one.

This was a suggestion made by Maximus to the Military Commander Conference, where each battalion would collect and distribute the food from the Supply Camp, avoiding chaos and instilling discipline in the soldiers, thus gaining approval. Of course, for Maximus, his main goal was to save manpower in the Supply Camp.

Just after lunch, Fesaros approached, "Captain, when are you going to increase the manpower for our Guard?"

"Wasn’t your Guard just fully staffed?" Maximus feigned surprise.

"That’s the number our Guard originally had, but you said before that you would increase our Guard’s manpower!" Fesaros reminded him.

"I did say that." Maximus nodded in acknowledgment and explained seriously, "But now that our Supply Camp has established a Medical Team, an armory, a construction team... all of which are urgently lacking manpower, and several leaders are focused on these areas. New recruits, of course, need to first satisfy these teams’ needs so that they can operate normally. Otherwise, if the Supply Camp’s original duties are neglected, and we rush to increase your Guard’s manpower, what would the leaders think?"

Fesaros said nothing further.

"Don’t worry." Maximus patted his sweaty shoulder, encouragingly saying, "Now we have so many people joining our ranks every day, the manpower distributed to our Supply Camp has increased several times over. The Guard will soon be expanded. My only worry now is, as the number of soldiers increases, will we be able to train them well and command them effectively in battle?"

Fesaros wanted to answer but hesitated. In the past, he would have blurted out, "Yes," but after experiencing Flanitnus’s strict military training and evening lectures over the past few days, he realized that war was not just about brawling but required a lot of knowledge to win.

As they talked, Flanitnus’s voice came from a distance, "Soldiers, assemble! Form a phalanx!"

Maximus and Fesaros immediately picked up their swords and shields and joined the group.

The soldiers gathered, shouting and jostling, all trying to find their positions in the formation as quickly as possible. Some soldiers flailed around like headless chickens, drawing a flurry of curses from the instructors of the military advisory group, making the whole scene appear chaotic.

Standing at the front of the rank, Maximus was unfazed by this. In his previous life, primary school students could easily form phalanxes because they had been educated in this manner since childhood. In contrast, these slaves, numb and ignorant from noble oppression, could hardly achieve such a feat after just two or three days of training. After all, a tightly-knit phalanx of ten rows and ten columns was far more challenging than a simple two-column formation.

After much effort, they finally managed to form the formation. Flanitnus shouted loudly, "A little faster than yesterday’s formation, but still not enough! I hope you use your brains and remember who is to your left and right. Next time you disrupt the formation because you can’t find your position, your entire row will be punished!"

The phalanx buzzed with unrest, and even those who were previously gloating felt a twinge of nervousness at that last sentence.

Flanitnus said no more, shouting loudly, "Listen carefully, move forward!"

This was merely a command for the soldiers to move forward at a normal pace, but executing it well was no easy feat. The soldiers, clad in armor and holding swords and shields, moved forward in a relatively tight formation. Not only did each have a different stride length, but their forward directions varied, resulting in lateral jostling and front-to-back collisions after just a few steps. The military advisory group’s instructors shouted from the sidelines, "Slow down a bit!... Look at your teammate on the left and try to maintain the same formation!... Increase the distance from the row in front, don’t get too close!... Pull your short sword back to avoid injuring the teammate in front!"

In just a short while, the instructors stopped shouting because the formation had already fallen apart. Some soldiers complained to each other, while a few fell to the ground, crying in pain.

Maximus watched this, lamenting internally that training soldiers was truly no easy task! Just forming ranks and marching were so difficult!

Flanitnus did not rave nor scold but yelled loudly, "Reform ranks!... March!"

More than 100 soldiers of the Guard practiced formation drills repeatedly.

On this training ground, it wasn’t just the Guard being drilled. Personnel from the kitchen, transport team, warehouse, Medical Team, and others belonging to the Supply Camp took time out, led by their leaders and guided by the military advisory group, to perform simple exercises in formation and marching.

This was at Maximus’s insistence, aiming for everyone in the Supply Camp to undergo militarized management, become accustomed to following orders, and obey commands to facilitate future operations.

As a result, this training ground in the Supply Camp was different from the rest; it had a few more women and an added vibrant scene, but no soldiers slacked off because of it. Instead, they trained even harder.

Finally, Flanitnus issued the command to rest, and the fatigued soldiers sat directly on the ground.

"Thank you all for your hard work, have some water to quench your thirst!" Acronis led her team, pushing a cart filled with jars of cool water, and rushed over. Such was the benefit of being in the Supply Camp.

"Captain, for you." Acronis handed Maximus a pottery jar first.

"Give it to the instructors and brothers first!" Maximus licked his lips and shouted loudly.

No matter what Acronis said, only after seeing that everyone else had a water jar in hand did he reach out to take one.

Just after taking a sip, a rider came galloping, "Captain Maximus, Leader Spartacus summons you to a meeting!"

"Understood, I’ll head over immediately." Maximus took two more gulps of water before standing up and walking over to Flanitnus. He tapped his right fist against his left chest, "Reporting to instructor, I request temporary leave!"

Flanitnus was momentarily stunned, then nodded and said, "Approved."

Watching Maximus’s departing figure, Flanitnus’s evaluation of him rose a notch in his heart. As the Supply Camp’s captain, Maximus accepting training like an ordinary soldier was already beyond his expectations. But he did not expect this young man to fully adhere to his regulations. Even needing to attend a meeting, he reported first, signaling that no soldier would dare to disobey orders!

............

"You all know that quite a few people have joined our ranks in the past few days, but this morning, over seven hundred people came at once. They are either laborers or sailors from various ports of Napolet, led by someone named Attutmus. He led these people away from Napolet to join us. However, he had others wait west of our camp and came to meet me alone. He hopes that after these port laborers and sailors join our ranks, they won’t be broken up, and they can lead their team themselves—" Spartacus looked seriously at the four, saying, "That’s why I’ve gathered you all here, to discuss whether to agree to their request and let them join our ranks?"

Antonix frowned and spoke first, "After these past few days of reorganization, we’ve finally achieved some order in our ranks. Now, with so many people wanting to join without being under our control, if they mess around, it might affect the other soldiers, and all our efforts over the past few days will be for nothing."

"Port laborers and sailors are not like ordinary slaves. They have courage and strength and, with a little training, can become good soldiers!" Enomai reminded excitedly.