There are nearly dozens of kilometers of mountains in the northern suburbs of Helensa City. There are a large number of oak trees scattered among these mountains. Therefore, this mountain range is called Oak Ridge by the Helensa people. These oak trees produce a large amount of gold and silver acorns every year. This is
It is also the most famous export product of Hiranza City. Almost the nobles in the entire Bena Province know that Hiranza City acorns are the best fuel for heating in winter.
Passing over the continuous oak ridge is the Pagolos Pass, which is known as the southernmost point of the Pagolos Mountains. Strictly speaking, this is not the southern foothills of the Pagolos Mountains. There are still mountains in between.
Desolate land.
From the Paglos Pass in the south of the Deserted Land to the Pussy Mountain in the north, it almost spans the entire Deserted Land. The straight-line distance is about 140 kilometers, and the village of Wall is located on a hill close to the Paglos Pass.
In the mountain col, the main reason why this mountain col is livable is that there is a spring in the upper reaches of the mountain col. The stream here never dries up all year round.
If you want to live in a deserted land, the problem of water sources is the first priority. There are a total of nineteen natural villages in the deserted land, and it is mainly these villagers who gather to live near these nineteen water sources.
Of course, in addition to these natural villages, there are also some small villages with less than a hundred people, which move around during the dry and rainy seasons in the deserted land.
In winter and spring, they will leave the barren land to make a living. In summer, they will return here to plant some crops. After harvesting in autumn, they will leave before the first heavy snowfall.
They have no houses or land, but each family has a four-wheeled caravan that can protect them from wind and rain. Of course, there are also several families who share a magic caravan. These people cannot be regarded as aboriginal people in the deserted land, at least in this world.
Here in Wall Village, they still insist on calling them wanderers.
This time, the old village chief Bright took Suldak to visit ten natural villages close to Wall Village.
This time Surdak is recruiting a private army, and once selected, in addition to a fixed monthly salary of thirty silver coins, the most attractive thing is that in the future, family members of the cavalry battalion can join Wall Village, regardless of whether the cavalry battalion members
If the child is disabled or killed in battle, Wall Village will pay a pension and promise to raise the family's children to the age of sixteen to participate in the coming-of-age ceremony.
The lords and villagers are no strangers, and the city of Halanza has hundreds of lords, large and small.
But Surdak was the first lord in the deserted land. When the villagers heard that Surdak offered such generous terms, everyone, young and old, was willing to come out and join the private army.
In fact, this is not difficult to understand. The land in the deserted land is barren, and there is a long dry season every spring. Not only do you have to watch the weather for food, but you also have to face bandits on the other side of the desert.
It is not easy to survive in a deserted land.
The reason why the villagers resisted military service was because everyone knew that young people without any fighting ability would only be sent to heavy armored infantry battalions as cannon fodder once they joined the army.
The lord's private army is different. The lords' strictly selected warriors join the private army, and they will not easily be sent to the battlefield to fill graves.
Moreover, the series of benefits obtained after joining the private army can almost ensure that the family has enough food and clothing, and it even makes the villagers in the desolate land have a hard time.
In just three days, Surdak gathered 200 people for the cavalry battalion. If Wall Village could not accommodate more people at present, Surdak could almost recruit 500 people in one go, and Su
Erdak did not have any more horses to share with other veterans at this time.
At present, Surdak has requisitioned almost all the ancient horses in the village. The total adds up to almost 120 horses. Together with more than 70 camels, he has collected mounts for the two hundred cavalry.
As a result, the village's road construction team completely lost the support of the four-wheeled carriages. Now they are unable to build roads outside the areas covered by volcanic ash. They can only follow the road in the direction of Pudu Mountain and enter the no-man's land covered by volcanic ash.
According to the plan on the Surdak map, build a cement road leading to the Great Rift Valley from there.
Surdak's private army happened to be assembled in the central square of Wall Village on the day the mercenary group arrived in Wall Village.
…
After crossing the Paglos Pass, we saw a desolate landscape surrounded by white snow.
The leader of the Sea Giant Mercenary Regiment, Gabri Grie, took the lead in passing the Paglos Pass on horseback. Behind him, a group of mercenaries wore thick leather jackets. The harsh north wind blew in their faces, and they instantly felt desolate.
It's much colder here than in Oak Ridge.
Captain Gabri is a senior mercenary leader. It is said that his personal strength is infinitely close to that of a second-level powerhouse. His subordinates are all warriors who have completed the first level. The Sea Giant Mercenary Group is in the city of Helensa.
The name is very resounding and the reputation has always been very good.
After completing his military service, Gabri Gerry joined the Sea Giant mercenary group, which was not well-known at the time. At that time, the mercenary group even had less than ten people. Now he is just forty years old after this winter, and he has been with the Sea Giant for twenty years.
, and now the sea giant has grown into a medium-sized mercenary group of thirty people. This is definitely a first-class mercenary group in a small mountain town like Helensa.
Gabri also thought about leading a mercenary group to participate in the plane war. However, none of the lords in Helensa City were leaders. Captain Gabri could not be deeply impressed, so he still brought the mercenaries with him.
The group mingled in the city of Helensa.
This time I accepted the commission to exterminate desert bandits, which is considered the biggest business of the year.
If they are lucky, after completing this order, they can lie dormant all winter and wait until next spring to take over the task...
Therefore, Gabri Gerry has done a very detailed investigation in the past few days. He hopes that the bandits in the desert will not run so fast. A bandit is worth hardware. As long as he kills a small group of desert bandits, this winter may become
Very beautiful.
A flat cement road has been paved from Paglos Pass to Wall Village. Although there is still snow on both sides of the road, the flat road makes Gabri feel particularly good. He can see the mountain col from a distance.
What are those white things in the upper reaches of Qingshan Col? As I approached on horseback, I discovered that there was a huge dam suspended above my head. This dam was built between the mountains in the upper reaches of Qingshan Col. It looked majestic.
"Captain, Wall Village has arrived!"
One of the men pointed at a dead tree in front and shouted loudly.
In fact, even if he didn't shout, Gabri would still know this village.
The old village chief, Suldak and all the villagers stood at the entrance of the village, watching thirty mercenaries arrive one after another at Wall Village. In addition to the members of the mercenary group, there were also people who kept arriving at Wall Village. Su
Erdak greeted Gabri Gerry, pointed to the row house at the entrance of the village and said: "Gabri, you and your companions can temporarily stay in the row house before entering the desert. If you have any problems in life,
If you have any needs, you can submit them to the village chief of Bright."
"Wol Village welcomes all warriors!" the old village chief said at the right time.
"When will we set off?" Gabri Grie jumped off the horse, holding the horse's reins with one hand and asked Suldak.
"tomorrow!"
Surdak replied with a smile.
Gabri Gerry didn't say anything. He immediately ordered his team members to clean up the temporary residence. The most important thing was to light a fire to completely warm the room like a cold storage. His team members did not need his instructions and were busy performing their duties.
.
"There's still some time before dinner, so tonight I'll prepare broth and wheat cakes for everyone..." the old village chief said to Captain Gabri.
Gabri immediately nodded in greeting.
…
At this time, people were still gathering towards Wall Village, and those businessmen with a keen sense of smell once again set up their stalls at the entrance of the village.
"Captain Karl and the others are here." Suldak pointed to the mountain pass and said to the old village chief beside him.
In such a cold weather, Karl and the reserve knights did not wear metal armor. They wore leather armor and thick fur cloaks. They hung the heavy armor package next to the saddle and looked at the green faces beside Karl.
The eyes of those young people were full of novelty about the outside world.
The old village chief frowned and stood at the entrance of the village and said to Suldak: "Should we leave those children in Wall Village? In such a cold weather, do you think they can take care of themselves?"
Surdak touched his nose and said to the old village chief: "I want to take them to practice. After all, such a good opportunity is rare."
The old village chief Bright turned around, stared at Suldak with a serious face and said: "Dak, not everyone is born as a warrior who can fight one against a hundred. Compared with your cavalry, they need to grow up more.
space, you should also create such conditions for them, after all, you are their squadron leader."
Seeing that the old village chief was speaking so seriously, Suldak quickly said, "I know it. Andrew and I will take care of it personally, and everything will be fine."
The old village chief warned with a fierce look on his face: "Don't underestimate those robbers!"
Surdak chuckled and said: "I don't underestimate them. You see, for them, I spent a lot of money to hire a mercenary group..."
Before Gabri Gerry left Helensa City, he saw these young reserve knights from the guard camp. He did not expect that they would also come to Wall Village. He would have gone with them if he had known about it. Seeing these immature knights
With his face, he couldn't help but think of himself who had just graduated from college and didn't know how high the sky was.
Gabri just glanced at it and sighed in his heart: There are so many wealthy families in Helensa City now. They graduated from the Knight Academy and actually put on a formal knight's uniform. It is impossible to come to the guard camp to give these reserve soldiers
The knight prepares these. If he pays for it out of his own pocket, he can't buy this outfit without sixty or seventy gold coins!
Captain Karl led a group of young reserve knights into Wall Village. The old village chief and the villagers quickly made way for them.
After the young reserve knights entered the village, they whispered and secretly looked at Surdak...the commander who would control them for the next four years.