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Ch.78: : Army Inspection - I
🕑 Added 2025-02-25 07:52:15 +0000 UTCBolton Lands
POV of Domeric Bolton
Domeric was sitting on a horse and gazing at the roads that were being built within his domain.
Watching hundreds of people working together to achieve a common goal on his behalf… There was just something sensational about that. Wherever he went, people would stop what they were doing and bow to him until he passed by.
Yes, being a lord could be addictive. He could admit that to himself. Perhaps this was the main reason why old Voldy wanted to rule Britain. To feel powerful and respected.
The concrete road for the city to be built around the Dreadfort was almost complete. Now they were expanding the roads to the North, South, and East. To the lands of Umbers, Manderlys, and Starks.
To be fair, he himself was a bit surprised by how quickly the work was progressing. He was sure the work would not have gone so fast even if he himself was at the head of this project.
But then again, he supposed that this is what happens when you pick the right man for the task.
This particular task of building the roads had been delegated to a slave that he liberated from Essos. A slave who was once under the contract of Iron Bank to build new real estate for the Bank.
Now, the man worked for him because of the gratitude he felt for having been saved from his status as a slave.
He and his men traveled through the concrete road for half an hour before taking a sharp right turn and taking a dirt path leading to a small forest.
After traveling for another hour on their horses, he and his men came out to a large clearing inside the forest that had been cleared to build a large building and three large training yards that could hold thousands of people at once.
And within those training yards, he could see thousands of people doing drills right now.
“Is it just me, or have their numbers increased once again?" his aunt asked from behind him in a subdued voice and he could see that even she was a little stunned by the thousands of men working in order while following the command of their officers at once.
"They've increased. I conscripted 500 more men for the infantry. So, it's 3,000 infantries now. Along with 1000 archers and 500 cavalries."
"Training so many people, feeding them, and accommodating them wouldn't have been cheap." His aunt complained. And she was correct. Training an army of this size cost him about 4,500 gold dragons per month. And that was only because the food, clothes, and weapons for them were coming from his own lands. Otherwise creating an army of this size would have cost him about 8,000-12,000 per month.
After all, building and sustaining a professional army in Westeros was no joke. Especially one that was equipped as well as these men.
As they stood atop the hill and looked down at the men going through the drills, their presence was soon noticed by the commanders and the general of the army broke apart to come and greet them.
"Little Lord." General Bronn said with an exaggerated bow from atop his horse before he gave a more serious bow to his aunt. "My lady."
"How is the training of the men going General Bronn?" he asked the man whom he had scouted due to his vast experience as a mercenary and someone who had a lot of experience in the actual battlefield.
Bronn was not the only mercenary turned soldier working under his command. In fact, the ranks within his army were filled with mercenaries and other veterans of the war who had a lot of experience in actual battle.
After all, he might have his own ideas about creating an army, but it would not work without the feedback of someone who has actually taken part in a battle and knew how the whole 'war' thing worked.
"Can't believe I'm saying this. But the lads are coming along well. Better than I had expected." General Bronn said as he looked at the soldiers marching together in a formation before turning to face him. "For someone who has never taken part in a real battle, you seem to have a lot of good ideas about forming an army."
He shrugged in response to Bronn's words. After all, how was he going to tell them that he had based this army of his on the model of the Roman Empire army from back on earth?
"Are you here to enjoy the sight or do you actually want something?" General Bronn asked him "Because if you want hospitality or some shit like that then I'm afraid you've come to the wrong man."
His aunt bristled at the crass words of the man, but he knew that despite his insolence, Bronn was highly loyal to him. This was just how the man talked. Nothing more. Nothing else.
After all, it would be the height of stupidity if he went to a great length to form an army but then didn’t make sure that the general was loyal to him.
"As good as it would have been if you had offered us some bread and tea, you're right. We're not here for that." He said and moved his horse forward toward the training area as his men and General Bronn followed after him.
"I'm here for some of your men. Admiral Muron is having some trouble hunting down the pirates from around Sisterton and fighting the Whaler Ships from Ibbenese intruding upon our domain at once and has asked us for some support." Domeric said, "This is also a decent time to bloody our troops and give them experience in actual combat."
"You're right in that. Most of the lads here are green as piss. And no matter how much you might train them here; they won’t become veterans without actually participating in a war. No matter how much you train, war is something that you just can't replicate." General Bronn spoke, Varko making a noise of agreement from behind him.
"But before that..." Domeric said.
