Medieval: Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Peter drew inspiration for training the militia and practicing with long spears from the Swiss infantry squares of the same era.

As part of the Holy Roman Empire, Switzerland was known for its freedom and bravery in the mountains, and Swiss soldiers were seen as an efficient and ruthless fighting force.

In 1291, the three administrative districts of Switzerland merged and declared the formation of an autonomous federation. Although they were still nominally part of the Holy Roman Empire, they already had their own set of military and political regulations.

This aroused the covetousness of their neighboring Austrian Habsburg family, who then initiated a plan to annex them.

In 1315, Archduke Leopold I of Austria, a member of the Habsburg family, led an army of 8000 knights and heavily armored soldiers to the shores of Lake Egri in Switzerland. However, he was ambushed by 1500 unarmored Swiss militiamen who charged down a steep hillside.

The Swiss militia formed a dense formation, first thrusting with extra-long spears, then unleashing halberdiers to hack and slash. Leopold's army was caught off guard, triggering a chain reaction of defeats. The Swiss killed 1500 Austrians on the battlefield and over 2000 more during the pursuit. They never took prisoners, slaughtering all who invaded their territory.

This victory marked Switzerland's formal independence and boosted the morale of the Swiss army. In order to maintain a highly mobile and tightly packed infantry formation, they further simplified their weapons, retaining only 30% of the 10-foot halberds and replacing the other 70% with 18-20 foot lances to ensure they would not be at a disadvantage against knights and heavily armored soldiers.

Switzerland has a universal conscription system. Militia members are organized by village and begin training at a very young age so they can fight alongside friends and neighbors. Most of them are poor farmers, not particularly skilled in individual combat, but when they are organized into well-trained infantry squares, their effectiveness increases exponentially. Surrounded by family and friends, they also possess unparalleled fighting courage.

Unlike their opponents, they couldn't afford heavy armor, but they gained unparalleled mobility. They were adept at traversing mountains and valleys, and even at high speeds, they could maintain their formation shoulder to shoulder, like a group of humanoid shock cavalry, capable of attacking in any direction and defending against enemies from any direction.

In 1339, the Habsburgs invaded again. In the Battle of Laupen, 6000 Swiss infantrymen ambushed the enemy, defeating a Habsburg coalition of 17000, including 1000 heavy cavalry. This further demonstrated the power of the pike phalanx.

In 1386, the Habsburgs invaded again, but suffered an even more crushing defeat, with the Archduke of Austria and many Austrian nobles killed on the spot. The Swiss never showed mercy to enemies who invaded their land.

This battle solidified the Swiss people's formidable reputation. In the following century, they survived more than a dozen invasions by France and the Holy Roman Empire, winning every single homeland defense war.

Their pike phalanx tactics were widely imitated by other countries, but unfortunately, the scattered fiefdoms of the nobles and their slave-like treatment of their subjects meant they could not learn the essence of their tactics.

Only a few German mercenaries who had been working together for years managed to imitate it to about 70% success. This type of pike square formation became a model for modern infantry legions, and later formations such as the Spanish square, the Maurice square, and the Gustav square were all developed and improved upon from it.

With a high-scoring assignment readily available, Peter only needed to follow the example. Even if the training was shorter and the fighting strength was not as formidable as that of the Swiss Army, it could still be used to deal with the equally weak and disorganized feudal lord's conscripted troops, resulting in a stalemate.

Peter had also considered the wagon formation tactics used by Jandjeska during the Hussite Wars, but after consideration, he found that his current conditions did not allow it, so he had to give up for the time being.

Jessica's wagon tactics were able to create the miracle of a few hundred peasants wielding flailes defeating thousands of nobles because the unity of the army and the people provided morale, the large wagons provided defense, and the artillery—weapons ahead of their time—provided sufficient lethality. In particular, the extensive use of firearms allowed for a crushing defeat of the noble lords, a feat far ahead of its time.

The Griffin Camp, which is still under development, cannot produce these equipment yet and can only adopt the most "poor" tactics, namely the long spear group tactics.

In the following days, Peter traveled back and forth between several villages in Troski, inspecting the training of the local militia. He distributed the newly made four-meter-long spears, two-meter-long flails, and iron chainmail. Under the command of the veteran soldiers in the combat group, the 240 militiamen in the five villages lined up in formation, repeating the thrusting and sheathing movements with slightly clumsy but extremely serious devotion.

The will of the people flows like streams into a river.

The establishment of village militia teams was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, and the ripples were spreading rapidly. Within just a few days, signs of change began to appear.

That afternoon, a creaking oxcart, loaded with heavy iron ore and rudimentary blacksmithing tools, slowly made its way into the newly built wooden gatehouse at the entrance to the Griffin Camp canyon. The driver was a burly, middle-aged man with thick arms. He jumped off the cart, wiped the sweat and soot from his face, and shouted:

"Lord Peter, I have come to seek refuge with you!"

Peter happened to be at the camp inspecting the construction progress at the canyon entrance when he heard the noise and came over to investigate. It was Ratovan, the blacksmith from Takhov village.

Peter asked curiously, "Latovan, my friend, what brings you here?"

"Everyone understands now that war is coming soon. When the lord's vassals arrive, they will surely scour the land for craftsmen, especially blacksmiths, to serve as laborers in the army. They'll be paid meager wages, but they'll be working day and night, and often whipped... I heard you treat craftsmen well here, and Brother Seedorf is with you, so I brought all my belongings with me. I don't want to serve the Polgar family; I want to work for you!"

Latova's voice was slightly hoarse and resolute.

His eyes held a mixture of anticipation for the future and fear of the oppression of the past. This was like the horse in Aesop's fable who ran away from the knight and preferred to carry heavy loads—it eventually understood that seemingly arduous labor was more valuable than the "ease" of losing freedom under the whip.

"Haha, great! The Griffin Camp certainly welcomes a master blacksmith like yourself. Here, there are no whips, only wages based on labor and shared ideals."

Peter gripped Latova's rough hands tightly, feeling the strength within them and the thick calluses from years of polishing metal. Latova's choice represented the simple pursuit of dignity and stability by lower-class craftsmen in turbulent times.

He immediately assigned Latovan to the Ironworks Group, under the coordination of Seedorf, to be in charge of remelting the previously captured weapons.

Latova's arrival seemed to open a floodgate. Soon after, the tailor from Troski village arrived with his treasured recipes for several plant dyes and a few skillful apprentices; the master carpenter Planck and his apprentice Buffalo Bill carried his meticulously maintained set of chisels and planes; even the village's taciturn apothecary, Emmerich, who only ever knew herbs, came with a full bag of medicine, bandages, and potions.

Although Urban of the Troskii Chamber of Commerce and Betty, the tavern owner, did not come, they still sent three carts of grain, cloth, and spirits.

Soon, more than a dozen loggers from a logging camp near Semi Village also came to join them. Their leader was a burly man called "Big Matt," who was tall, broad-shouldered, and muscular, like a walking oak tree.

"Lord Peter," Matt's voice boomed like thunder, carrying the straightforwardness characteristic of lumberjacks, "we are a group of laborers who earn our living through physical labor, belonging to no lord. But in this situation, with the arrival of the rebels, we certainly won't be able to keep our meager wages and food supplies. We've heard that you shelter civilians here and uphold justice. We have nothing else but our strength, and we're willing to join your militia, or help you cut timber and build, just to find a place to live and survive in the coming turmoil."

Semih was part of Sir Sammy's fiefdom, and for some reason, Peter did not establish a militia there. However, the people in the logging camp clearly felt the pressure of the impending war, and Sir Sammy was powerless to protect them in this storm, so they chose to join Peter.

Their demands were so simple, yet so heavy; everything was simply for survival.

Looking at these ragged but determined men, Peter seemed to see in them the most resilient vitality of the era. He gladly accepted their defection, assigning some of the strongest to the camp's militia, where they were given intensive training by Monchi; others joined the lumberjack team, led by Axe, to stockpile more timber for the upcoming battle.

The people's defection was not just an increase in manpower, but also a sign that the hearts of the people had turned to them, and a manifestation of the "Griffin" ideology beginning to be recognized.