In the afternoon we inspected the training of Megalopolis's heavy infantry. Our companion was the chief general of their army named Albrun Avary. He was a short, middle-aged man with dominant Dwarf features. We observed the soldiers executing maneuvers and skirmishing with spears and swords. General Albrun, unlike his Megalopolis counterparts, was a realistic man who spoke bluntly.
“Some resent my attitude, how I phrase things, but I speak the same as I have spoken when I was a foot soldier. Why bother with them fancy-pants words? Lately there’s been a great push to have me replaced. By some book worm who never lifted a sword, or a spear, in his entire librarian life!” he spat in anger on the ground. He continued: “But this is how Megalopolis conducts its business nowadays. Everything is political, delicate even! Talks of hard decisions that ought to be made make people uncomfortable. They listen to me, yes. They smile, nod, yes, yes, yes, mhm, yes, yes, while in their thoughts they scream SHUT HIM UP, THE ELECTIONS ARE NEAR!”
We walked around the barracks while soldiers in the camp went about their day.
“I’ve been pleading our consul for much needed reforms, but she won't listen to me!”
He dropped to his knee and started drawing in the ground dirt:
“You see, Megalopolis's infantry fights in phalanx formation. The main job of our infantry is to keep the enemy engaged, pinning him down. And in the meanwhile our eagles and our mercenary cavalry attack the flanks. And that’s it! A simple and effective strategy that served us well in the past. But times have changed.”
“What reforms do you speak of?” asked Tiberius.
“The League uses phalanx formations as well, but their spears are three times longer! An unbreakable wall of spikes that stop at nothing. And although their cavalry can’t match that of our mercenaries, they are still very well trained. We’re no match for them, even with our eagles. I keep telling the consul we ought to remodel our army! We must abandon the phalanx formation, shift to the Vetulonian legion system. Let’s counter the League’s wall of spears with flexible, more maneuverable units! Let’s stop relying on the Sodomir people and their cavalry, let’s build our own! But nobody listens to me! In fact, soon I’ll be replaced – as I mentioned before. Tell me, where does a sane man go when his home becomes nothing more than a mad house?”
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“Vetulonia will be happy to accept you into our ranks, general,” answered Tiberius.
“Lord… Vetulonia is not my home”.
“Will you give your life for the ill decisions of your consul? Or the Populares? Because that is the reality of things. Megalopolis seems to be gone,” Tiberius spoke bluntly.
“Then I’ll give my life for my family!”
“And for whom shall they give their life?”
“I’ll die with and for my soldiers!” the general kept going, ignoring Tiberius’s question.
“Well, at this moment your soldiers are busy with a mud fight,” Julia pointed to a group of jolly young man. They were laughing and throwing mud balls at each other. Their spears and shields lay in the ground. The general’s face got red. He left us and started walking towards the young soldiers! He screamed incoherent words, throwing his arms up in frustration. Not far from us, near the entrance of one of the barracks, we heard giggles. Another group of soldiers with smug faces laughed at their comrades getting scolded. Julia addressed them:
“Soldiers!” she screamed with authority, but with a pinch of mockery as well. “Aren’t you on duty?”
The soldiers got confused. They looked at this strange lady as if they weren’t accustomed to be called out for their behavior. Then one of them got his senses back and defiantly countered Julia:
“Do you know who my father is?!”
We looked at each other and without uttering a word we all agreed. The League is going to annihilate these idiots.