Chapter 126: Recruits and Training (I)
The instructor told Arsinis that the battle in a war is very short, and the time is more spent on marching and camping. Therefore, to become a well-trained citizen soldier of Amendolara, they should first adapt to and learn how to march.
Arsinis trusted his instructor because he was said to be a well-known warrior in the whole army. He controlled his pace and adjusted his breathing according to the method of his instructor, so as to save his stamina. (T/N: wonder who he is)
During their march, he also saw a group of Lucanian slaves passing them with their newly cut trees. In the past, he would have express his anger by insulting and throwing stones at them, but now, he will not. On one hand, he has adapted to their existence, who are the property of the city-state and are creating wealth for the city-state, and injuring them means that they will get punished. On the other hand, their instructor had told them that such a practice is the performance of the weak, and the truly strong one should defeat their enemies in the battlefield. Arsinis wants to be a strong man!
The five kilometer march ended, but the training is not over at all. After taking a break, the recruits began their charge training, a training program that slightly excite Arsinis. The heavily armed recruits will from a dense phalanx, and with the beating of the drums, they will start moving. The sound of the drum went from slow to fast, and the speed of the recruits changed from fast walking to jogging, and then to running. Across a narrow, trench, over a ridge, and so from time to time, the recruits fell, and the most difficult part of the charge training is to maintain the formation while running. Everyone should not charge ahead or fall behind, so that the phalanx formation can rush to the target as a whole. The recruits tends to often lose sight of one another, and so the instructor on the side kept on scolding them…
After the charge training, all the recruits were numbed, and so they threw their spears, shields and helmets aside, and they all fell directly on the ground gasping for breath. But the training was not over, the instructor kicked and pulled them, and drove the recruits to the river.
The next training program is swimming, which is the favorite sports of the recruits of Amendolara like Arsinis. Although Amendolara is a mountain city, there are still many rivers in its territory, so the citizens can go and swim. Arsinis, and the others cheered and quickly took of their gear, and with a “plop” they plunge into the water and the cool river water had immediately taken away the dry heat brought by their training, and wash away all the sweat and dust on their body, and eliminate their fatigue…after swimming in the water for a while, Arsinis and the others went ashore, because the recruits had a show to watch…which is, the veterans who usually look at them from above and contempt were clumsily swimming in the river. It is a fact that the Greeks are maritime nation and most of them can swim, but some of the city-states are located in mountainous and inland areas with few rivers, so they did not have a chance to learn how to swim from childhood, such as Thessaly.
Although these veterans swam awkwardly and repeatedly drunk water, they still persisted in continuing their practice…
Arsinis grinned, but then stopped laughing. He remembered that his instructor had said about the importance of swimming. When they were in Persia, and were marching hard and fighting the Persians, and during their journey, they had to go through many mountains and rivers. Some of his comrades, who were unable to swim, brave the arrows of the enemies and was forced to cross the river, and so they slipped and fell into the river and drowned in vain. Therefore, in the war, the soldiers will encounter all kinds of unexpected situations, and so it is better for them to learn all kinds of combat skills, in order for them to save themselves and kill the enemy.
At this time, a huge cheering from the front had awakened Arsinis from his thoughts.
“What happened?” Arsinis asked his teammate who was looking at the river.
“The archon is swimming with everyone.” The one who answered him is Melisander. His father died in the war, and his mother who was in her thirties has just married Philesius, a new elder of the council. Melisander is only 16 years old and has not yet reached the age of service. However, he insisted on participating in the training, and his reason is the same as that of Arsinis, and his stepfather, Philesius, was entangled about this and so, he had to go and ask Davos. Then Davos approved of his participation in the training. However, he is not allowed to go to the battlefield until he becomes an adult. Because Arsinis was close to his age, and is the youngest in the military camp, they soon became good friend.
“The archon also came to swim as well?!” Arsinis was astonished.
“Lord Davos will always do it himself first before asking others to do it. You usually don’t see it, but the archon and the veterans usually trains together.” The voice of their instructor rang in their ears.
Arsinis nodded and ran down the river excitedly.
“Wait for me!” Shouted Melisander.
They had squeeze into the crowd, and they then saw that there were five people in the river swimming hard at the beat of the drums. One of them swum in the water, and his body kept leaning to the left and then to right, it is a swimming movement that they had never seen before, and he quickly moved forward like a big fish and had long left the others behind…
When the drums stopped, the man stood up. The river’s water at most reach his waist, he is the archon Davos, whom Arsinis had met before at the ecclesia.
At this time, Davos said with a smile, “Who else would like to come down and compete with me?”
The soldiers who were cheering loudly before had immediately went quiet.
Seeing that there is no response, Davos turned around and hugged the people who had competed with him, and was ready to go ashore.
Melisander then gave Arsinis a big push, and so Arsinis rushed out of the crowd. Facing the gaze of everyone, he hurriedly shouted, “I…I wanna do it!”
The soldiers were in an uproar, “It’s just a youngster!” There is regret in their words.
“What’s the matter with him being young! Lord Davos is only a few years older than us!” Retorted Melisander, and the crowd soon became speechless.
“Well said, Melisander! A man must not depend on the number of their age!” Said Davos to Melisander with a smile. He recognized this young man because of Philesius, and then he focused his gaze on Arsinis, “It’s always the young people that have the courage to challenge things!”
Arsinis walk nervously to Davos. The Greeks of this era view strong body as a beauty, and swimming naturally trains the whole body. Davos was of medium height and his body is well-proportioned, and his gaze were particularly sharp, but the sharpness of his gaze was covered by his smile.
Davos was also looking at Arsinis, and said with a smile, “I don’t think that I have seen you before, are you a new recruit?”
“Yes, lord Archon. My name is Arsinis, the son of Aligoras.” Said Arsinis nervously, “I…I may not be able to swim as fast as you, but I am willing to compete with you.”
Davos praised him, “As a soldier, you must have the courage to dare face challenges! We, the soldiers of Amendolara, should have and must have such fighting spirit!”
As soon as Davos finished saying it, the soldiers on the shore shouted at the same time, “Banzai! Banzai!! Banzai!!!…” (T/N: omae wa mou shindeiru )
In such a mood, Arsinis suddenly relaxed and was filled with strength. The result of the competition: He, of course, lost.
Davos patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him, “Train hard and you will definitely become a brave warrior!”
Arsinis nodded his head. It was strange since Davos is only two years older than him, but he felt like a respected elder talking to him.
“Who is your instructor?” Asked Davos.
“Matonis.”
“Oh, that guy.” Davos had a smile on his face, “If you train under his guidance, then you will definitely feel happy because he is very protective. But also painful, because he is very demanding, specially to you.”
His last sentence made Arsinis puzzled.
Davos raished his head and called to the soldiers around him, “Brothers, is my swimming fast?”
“Fast!!!”
“Do you want to learn it?”
“YES!!!”
“I will write down the main point of my swimming skill and add it to the training item in the 《Military Book》, and you, yourselves will practice it according to this in the future. I hope that you can learn it as soon as possible!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
After their swimming, the sun has already risen in the middle of the sky, and it’s finally time for them to eat. Traditionally, the Greeks only eat twice a day, but Davos believes that the soldiers who trained hard, needs to consume too much, and so they must eat lunch in order for them to complete their day’s training.
The soldiers took out bread and cheese they brought from their home, while Philesius, the military officer, provided each soldiers with a bowl of mutton soup together with his subordinates and slaves. The money for the mutton soup is from the disabled soldier’s fund in the weapon shop. In the future, the money from selling other goods in addition to the weapons will be included in the military, so that the cost of training can be covered.
Arsinis ate his bread and drunk his steaming mutton soup, and felt his whole body regain strength, “Melisander, I heard the old man say that the ‘Archon is too strong, and he by himself had decided all the laws and proposal, and he doesn’t give the others a chance to discuss it and he wants to be a dictator.’ However, today, the archon seems to be easy to get along!”
Melisander, who was next to him, then said, “Don’t listen to those old men, they are just jealous! Because, lord Davos, as soon as they have become a citizens of Amendolara, they then became the archon and elders, and they themselves have the ability. Otherwise, do you think Thurii will ask us to sign an equal alliance agreement with them? I also hope that lord Davos will have more power, and not like before where it took the elders for a long time to discussed a matter and couldn’t even resolve it! Look, Amendolara has change so much now!”
“You are right!” Arsinis took a gulp of mutton soup and looked at Melisander, “It seems that you and your stepfather get along well.”
Melisander was taken aback and then took a few bites of the bread before he vaguely said, “He isn’t bad…he is very kind to my mother…so he is okay for me, but it would be better if he could be as brave as our instructor…”