Chapter 201: Chapter 97: The Wisdom of Ordinary People Since ancient times, the number of troops has always been exaggerated.
Duncan’s war mobilization order had just been issued, and soon Cornwall, Hampshire, London, and other places responded one after another. He originally expected to recruit only 20,000 people, but unexpectedly, the people of Britain were so supportive of him that many volunteered to enlist, some even came with a short spear and a wooden shield.
With this, the number of troops increased to over 25,000.
Most of the extra five or six thousand people were young exiles who had just arrived on Great Britain and had been allocated land but temporarily had no land ownership.
Many wanted to gain land ownership directly through military merits.
All it took was beheading a first-rate armored soldier on the battlefield.
Military merits could earn them a reward equivalent to what their entire family could earn in three to five years, and there would be additional rewards.
Agriculture and warfare.
Duncan was actually using a tactic from the Qin Kingdom, just a weaker version of it, and added a land distribution aspect along the way.
Dorset.
A group of young exiles with long spears and wooden shields gathered within the village. This place was somewhat desolate and dilapidated, surrounded by those very old dome-shaped wooden houses that were leaky and drafty, with mud-smeared outer walls giving a rustic feel. The village didn’t even have a decent flat ground, just a circle of muddy land outside.
When they moved here, there were only a few dozen native people around, the wells were in terrible condition, and they had to be wary of wild animal attacks at night.
The Saxon pirates had wreaked havoc on Great Britain.
"Boss."
A young man of about sixteen or seventeen years old rushed up to the somewhat brazen-faced young leader and said, "Everyone’s here, a total of thirty-two people."
Roland was the small leader of this group of exiles.
The exiles were scattered in small groups, and he was just one small faction among them. He looked at the others and said in a deep voice, "Has everyone brought their rations?"
Someone quickly replied, "Brought them."
Roland nodded in satisfaction, "Very well. Prepare to depart."
"Hurry up with the journey."
"If we dawdle, we’ll miss joining the main army."
Duncan’s war mobilization order was delivered by three light cavalry. There was no rounding up of young men. The three Sarmatian Cavalry halted outside, didn’t even bother entering this rundown village, just took a sip of water outside the fence. After Roland arrived and the war mobilization order was hastily announced, they immediately headed for the next town or village.
Not coming?
No problem.
Don’t want the land anymore?
There was no worry that people wouldn’t come, in fact, there was a concern that too many might come, affecting the village’s land reclamation. Only a quota of thirty people was given to them.
Roland was a bit sneaky, secretly adding two more, a captain and a vice-captain.
"Let’s go."
This group of exile militiamen were all infantry, the village was so poor that they didn’t even have a donkey, plowing the land all depended on human force, and this period required a lot of reclamation work. Since they arrived late, the cattle and horses had been allocated to others.
Roland felt an intense sense of loss!
Exiles who came early were settled in Hampshire, near London, where the land was good, with water sources, and they could expect a good harvest next year.
Those who came late like them could only be dispersed into mountainous regions.
Of course, they could also go to London, but the land wasn’t theirs, it was tilled for the soldiers of the Britannian Imperial Legion. Essentially, their status was that of tenant farmers, able to make a living, but farming for others lacked a certain significance.
The best land in the Britannia Region mostly consisted of military farms.
Soldiers didn’t farm.
All the land was managed and farmed by tenant farmers hired by the municipal hall, or farmed by their own families. The harvest was directly taxed, and it could even be converted into money for the legion soldiers.
But very few people enjoyed this privilege, roughly around three thousand people.
They were considered professional soldiers.
Roland did not want to be a tenant farmer. The good land in London was not available to him, so he gritted his teeth and, after completing the population register, led his people to Dorset, even if it meant reclaiming barren land, at least the future land would belong to them.
The hardship would be endured by their generation, but future descendants would have good land to cultivate.
London!
It was simply their dream paradise, with fertile plains, the Thames River, convenient ports, thriving commerce, and even schools. Roland dreamed of proving himself and directly moving into the essence of Great Britain.
After traveling for a long time, they finally entered the avenue.
Rome’s road system was very advanced. Over four hundred years, nearly five thousand miles of Roman roads were built on Great Britain. The most important were the Waltling Avenue and Elmien Avenue, one directly leading to the Wales area and the other to Yorkshire.
The three major symbols of the Empire were: first, the Roman roads; second, urbanization; and third, Roman law.
However, the Roman roads had long been in disrepair, no longer a grand Four Directions Avenue, and only about four or five meters wide. These roads were originally constructed for the rapid deployment of the Imperial Legion and were still fairly well preserved.
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Roland and his group prepared to head to the gathering point along Fosse Way, with more people joining them along the way, almost all bringing their own food. But once they were integrated into the legion, they’d get meals and accommodation covered.
"Over there seems to be a druidic ritual stone," a short young man sitting by the roadside said.
Roland, chewing on dried fish and hardtack, glanced over, patted the dust off his pants, and stood up.