42 Training Begins

Mia woke up in the morning, and immediately went over to the Sun Knights' training grounds, which was an open field just outside the city walls, where the rest of the Sun Knights, as well as five new faces had already gathered.

The five newcomers introduced themselves and all had letters signed by the King announcing that they were appointed to the Sun Knights.

[It makes sense. We were understaffed after the battle with the Red Dragon of Calamity, and we will need to be at our full strength for what we will need to do in the war. The King usually sends over knights of good conduct to us, but all the same, I would like to explain what will be expected of them, and what will not be tolerated.]

The five newcomers were all of noble birth, and were all from families who were members of the Royalist Faction. It seemed that they had each spent a decade in the Royal Knights' Academy, and were all in the top ten of their class. All of them were between the ages of seventeen and eighteen years old. They all had high quality armor, and swords, and four of them could use some form of combat magic and had higher than average mana capacity with the other one being exceptionally skilled at stealth and infiltration.

"I am Mia Von Ritter, the captain of the Sun Knights. I welcome all of you to the Sun Knights. There are a few things that I would like to go over now, though. From now on, you will be members of this order, and your conduct reflects on the reputation of the order, and can affect your fellow knights. With that in mind, there are a few things that I must demand of you, and if you can't handle it, you must immediately resign your commission here and now. First, the Sun Knights never surrender and never go into rout. This means that no matter how bad things get, you will be expected to stand and fight; if you retreat while your comrades stand and fight, that may very well cause the deaths of your comrades, and you will be punished accordingly. Second, we Sun Knights do not tolerate any behavior which could be seen as atrocious. You are to give full quarter to any surrendering adversaries, and never do harm to innocent civilians. I don't care how good you are at fighting, any unlawful conduct will be punished accordingly. Third, we Sun Knights don't always operate in ideal conditions. Sometimes we are under siege when supplies are scarce, and must go hungry for a time, sometimes, we must travel many kilometers on foot for weeks, and sometimes we are encamped in cold weather with not even a fire to keep us warm. During these times, some complaints are normal, but any gratuitous or excessive complaining may affect the morale of your fellow knights and therefore will not be tolerated. Additionally, sometimes you may be at a city at a pub talking to some friendly people, however, don't even think about revealing classified information to anyone, no matter how friendly they may seem. The enemies have ears too. To reveal classified information could mean to lead to the deaths of your fellow knights. Do you all understand what will be expected of you?" Said Mia.

"Yes, My lady." They all said in unison.

"Good. Now, with introductions out of the way, let us begin preparing for what is to come. Gather around, everyone. Another war against the Western Empire will begin in two months. The Ministry of War will quickly repel the Western Empire's initial attack, and then capture or destroy the enemy forts on the west bank of the Grenze River. Once that happens, the enemy forces will try to regroup and launch a counterattack. For that reason, we will be attacking deep into the Western Empire's territory in order to prevent them from regrouping. We will be seizing the town of Baile, about 20 kilometers west of the Grenze River, in order to prevent the Western Empire's forces from using that town as a base to regroup. It is a strategically important town, and if we don't capture it, the enemy may try to base their counter attack around that city. We cannot guarantee supply lines, and therefore, we can not bring horses with us. We will need to travel on foot, and because we will need to get there quickly, we will travel light. We will bring weapons, mana potion and food, but not much else. We will wear leather armor rather than chainmail for the light weight, and we will run all the way from the west bank of the Grenze River to the town of Baile without stopping and try to get there in an hour and a half. The town is fortified, so once we are in sight to the town, we will quickly rush inside before the enemy has time to close the gates. We will then kill or capture any enemies inside, and then close the gates. Once that happens, we will be prepared to defend the town for the duration of the war, and send small groups of knights out to gather supplies and harass the enemy occasionally. Regular soldiers from the Ministry of War will come several days after we capture the town to bring us supplies and reinforcements. Any questions?" Said Mia.

"I assume that we will be spending a good deal of time over the next two months training running long distances?" Asked Hans.

"Yes. And with that in mind, let us start out training today by running ten kilometers to get warmed up." Said Mia.