Chapter 61 An old friend in the porter camp (1/2)

Chapter 61 An old friend in the porter camp

Translator: Tchu

Editor: Sara, Danny

In the armed force, cavalry were the most expensive and delicate units.

According to the current standard of the Byzantine Empire, the expenditure for a cavalryman was at least seven times higher than for an infantry – calculation based on a heavy armored infantry. If you were to consider an ordinary, light infantry member, the disparity would be widened to about ten times.

To answer why, first of all, the worth of a cavalryman far exceeded that of an infantryman. A skilled cavalryman must be proficient at horse-riding, as well as combat and weapon techniques while riding. A person who excelled at several different skills was more expensive than a cheap labor, this was true anywhere in the world.

Secondly, the weaponry of the cavalry cost much more than that of the infantry – after all, a four meter lance took way more iron to forge than a one meter double-edged sword.

With horses added to the sum – a superior warhorse’s feed cost even more than the food consumed by an ordinary infantry! After all, ordinary infantry were only served coarse food to fill their bellies. However regarding a warhorse, if the feed for it wasn’t satisfactory, then it wouldn’t have the strength and capability to reach high speeds. Furthermore, the loading capacities would be reduced and their effectiveness in combat would suffer greatly.

Lastly, there was the squire!

The Byzantine Empire had a strict hierarchy system governing its population; since a squire occupied an essential and irreplaceable position within a cavalryman’s retinues, they had a status higher than that of an ordinary auxiliary soldier.

For a regular cavalryman, he would spend most of his time honing his horse-riding skills, practice killing techniques and other combat abilities on his horse. In addition to that, he had to practice formations, lineup and so on…… In this case, you couldn’t count on that cavalryman to personal feed his warhorses every day and look after them while needing to also repair his weapons and equipment; that is when a squire comes in.

Generally speaking, except looking after the horses and doing some simple weaponry repair, superior squires also required to know some basic horse-riding. In some cases, squires also had their own equipment, weaponry and armor so that they may serve as back up calvary for larger operations

It could be said that Shaar was an exceptional case since he possessed great strength in combat. If he were only an average person, there would have been absolutely no opportunity for him to directly become a regular soldier. Most of the cavalrymen were formerly basic auxiliary soldiers; some were former squires that were promoted to cavalryman after some time.

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Two miles south of the 13th Cavalry Army’s camp laid the auxiliary camp, and auxiliary troops that were affiliated to the 13th Cavalry Army were stationed here. These troops were tasked with escorting military baggage and its porters, guard and logistic personals.

A considerable portion of them were all temporarily mobilized before each war.

The porter’s campsite was situated on the outermost region of main camp, and if you came by you would see several groups of temporary recruits hauling military provisions, bundles of arrows and wooden boxes filled with weapons, one by one. Each of them had a solemn look and by the side stood Byzantine soldiers with a hand on their sword hilt.

It wouldn’t be hard to imagine that a large number of these porters weren’t voluntarily recruited to come here – of course such a thing was quite common in armies.

And even if they were recruited voluntarily, when war approaches, it is inevitable that there would be those who panic and flee.

These porters were all clad in dirty rags and covered in grime. When Shaar arrived here with Kevin, he immediately went and brought back a fat military supply officer. It was easy to see that Kevin and the officer were old acquaintances. When faced against the general’s Praetorian Guards, this fat military supply officer obviously would put on a flattering show. However, Kevin acted very indifferent, even so he still displayed some disdain and his words had some disgust that were hard to conceal.

That fat officer unexpectedly had a thick skin and completely disregarded the disdain on Kevin’s face. When he heard that Kevin had come, he did not forget to put a respectful smile on his face and immediately came over in a flattering manner while saying: “So you are here to select a squire……Please don’t worry, we have just drafted a number of new recruits who are quite good. There are some who excel at blacksmithing, as well as someone who had raised horses at home and as such would presumably make a good squire. I will take you to make your choice right now.”

Having some dissatisfaction, Kevin grunted, “How could porters that have just arrived become squires? Can’t you find some more appropriate personnel in the auxiliary barracks?”

The fat military officer showed an awkward expression on his face, “This ……The escorting duties of convoy is very important; the manpower of the auxiliary barracks had always been very……”

Shaar gave a timely smile and commented, “Never mind, a porter is not a problem. I do not need a squire that accompanies me on battlefield anyway, as long as they look after my horses, that’s good enough.”

Remembering the formidable fighting power that Shaar displayed, Kevin relaxed and reluctantly nodded, before adding, “It would be better if you could find someone who understood a bit of blacksmithing; otherwise you will be in trouble when your weapon breaks.”

The fat military officer led the way while Shaar and Kevin follow behind. On the way, Shaar could not help but whisper, “You seem to hate this guy?”