Chapter 15 — Form Up

“Morgan, wake up. They’re back.”

Morgan sat up to see Dre standing over him.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said with a groggy voice.

“How long was I out?”

“Probably two hours, if that.”

Dre helped Morgan off the ground. He had fallen asleep in the planning tent while working on strategies.

“It looks like the guys ran into trouble, but thankfully no one was hurt.”

Morgan poked his head out of the tent. It was still dark out.

The wagon had arrows sticking out of it like a pincushion. Klein was laughing with William, talking with his hands about what sounded like an attack they had rushed through.

The other men began unloading the Magiguns from the cart.

Morgan made his way over to the pile and picked one up.

His Weapons Mastery skill activated, filling his mind with the knowledge of how to work the makeshift rifle.

Why didn’t it work at the compound?

Was it not a complete weapon yet?

“Duke, can I test it?”

William smiled.

“Sure, just don’t hurt anyone.”

Morgan noticed wooden crates filled with metal balls, each one the same size as the barrel.

He picked one up and loaded it through the barrel.

It was just like a musket.

As he aimed at a tree, he noticed a large bird sitting at the top.

“He didn’t say no animals.”

Morgan placed the end of the barrel on the center of the bird.

The runes began to glow blue.

As he placed his finger where the trigger should be, the tip of his pointer finger touched a Viking fire rune.

Zipp.

That was all there was.

No loud bang.

No fire coming out of the end of the barrel.

No heavy kickback.

The bird dropped instantly.

Feathers rained down from the top of the tree.

Morgan and Dre ran over to the lifeless bird.

Most of the bird's body was gone.

“Oh, hell yeah! My turn!”

Morgan looked at Dre with a grin.

“Get your own. This one is mine.”

William and Klein appeared beside them.

“Is this what you were hoping for, Sir Morgan?”

Morgan examined the Magigun with great care, nodding his head.

“This is going to do some serious damage. I need roughly 198 men ready to be trained as soon as they have eaten. It’s going to be a long day.”

William nodded.

“We can provide that.”

After the men had eaten, Morgan and Dre stood before 198 men, all holding Magiguns.

“Listen up!”

The men focused on Morgan.

“All of you standing here have been selected by your duke to be in the first ever rifle company of this world. I am your commander, Morgan Sterling. This is your other commander, Dre Jones.”

The men started looking around and murmuring to each other.

Why does he have the same surname as the duke? Who is he?

“Today, we will drill into you the techniques of fighting in our world. Tomorrow, we will face the enemy.”

Morgan looked over the men.

“I would much rather have a few months to train you all, but one day is all we were given.”

He paused.

“But it will be enough!”

Dre started walking through the ranks, tapping men on the shoulders.

“Those of you I touched, stand here in a line! Y’all are now squad leaders!”

The men moved quickly and formed a line.

Morgan motioned for the rest of the men to form lines beside them.

Morgan and Dre began instructing the men on how to fire by rank, how to march forward, how to reload quickly, and how to disperse.

After a few hours, the men took a break and sat together in one large group.

Morgan stood up in the middle of them.

“Listen up, men. You have all done well.”

He looked over the group.

“This was the standard doctrine of the largest country in my world a few hundred years ago, and it almost gained them control of the entire world.”

Morgan paused.

“Here today, you have proven yourselves capable of handling that much. Now we move to the standard doctrine of my current time.”

William, Barnes, and Charles stood off in the camp watching.

“I swear, this is the most I’ve seen him talk,” Barnes said. “It’s like he’s right at home.”

William and Charles nodded.

Morgan and the men started marching toward the tree line in formation, all marching in step.

Morgan was impressed.

Although these men were from a different world in what was the equivalent of the medieval ages, they were disciplined.

William really knew the type of men he needed.

“Here is where we will do most of our fighting.”

Klein raised his hand.

He had been ordered to join the rifle company by Barnes because of his battle experience.

“Sir Morgan! Why would we fight in the trees? Our battle is on the field.”

Morgan and Dre grinned.

This was the kind of question they wanted to hear. It showed that the men were beginning to think for themselves.

A good quality to have in combat.

Dre spoke first.

“We have seen your battle style firsthand. It involves two opposing sides rushing and clashing with each other, correct?”

Klein put his hand down and nodded.

“That’s good for a melee unit, but we are neither melee nor archers. We are different.”

Dre pointed toward the field.

“If we take up ranks at the front, we are targets for archers and charges. We would have to move behind the shields, which takes time.”

He looked at Klein.

“After we do that, what is the problem?”

Klein thought about it for a minute.

“I don’t follow.”

Morgan crossed his arms.

“The issue is we can’t shoot over our own men. We would tear our guys to shreds from behind.”

He pointed at the trees behind him.

“The field we will meet at tomorrow has a tree line on two sides. We will be split in half. Dre and his group on one side, and my group on the other.”

Morgan looked at the men.

“What’s the issue with that?”

One of the men raised their hand.

“We will now be in the firing line of each other?”

Dre clapped his hands in excitement.

“Hell yeah! That’s the answer! That’s why we need the trees.”

He pointed toward the tree line.

“We are protected from each other’s bullets, the enemy archers, and cavalry. We hide behind the trees while engaging the enemy, and they will have no idea.”

“Well said, Dre. Let’s move to formations in the wood line.”

As the men moved into the trees, commands could be heard from the other side of the camp.

Finally, silence.

A messenger could be seen running out of the woods toward the command tent.

William and the other commanders were inside drinking tea when the messenger walked in.

“Sire, Sir Morgan and Sir Dre have requested the other commanders to do a patrol of the woods. It’s important.”

They were all confused.

William stood and grabbed his sword.

“This should be interesting.”

As the four men walked through the wooded area, William noticed there were signs men had been there, but the area seemed deserted.

A cold, dark feeling washed over William.

He suddenly jumped back and drew his sword.

The other commanders did the same.

It was a feeling they knew well.

Danger.

Bloodlust.

William’s eyes darted around from tree to tree, searching for the source of the impending danger.

Was this a trap?

Was Morgan really going to assassinate him?

“Sire, I don’t like this. Where the fuck are they?” Thorn said.

Sweat dripped down his chin.

“There are 200 men in these woods. What is going on?”

William’s chest began to pound.

It was a feeling he had not felt in years.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw it.

He sheathed his sword and raised his hands.

To his right, Morgan was standing there, smiling.

It was as if he had morphed from the air itself.

“Good job, men! Reveal yourselves now!”

William, Thorn, Marx, and Gutenburg looked around them in disbelief.

The soldiers under Morgan’s command did the same.

“What is this, Morgan?”

“Training. We taught them the art of camouflage. These men passed with flying colors.”

The men had used dirt and makeshift dye to change the colors of their clothing.

Using charcoal, they had covered the shine of their armor.

Some had even fastened bits of bushes to their clothing.

William could not believe his eyes.

The entire time, they had been surrounded.

From the moment they stepped foot in the woods—

No.

From the moment they left the tent—

Morgan, Dre, and their men had them dead to rights.

“I figured you were hesitant on our plan, so I decided to show you.”

William started playing with his beard, deep in thought.

“I’ll explain how the attack will go tomorrow.”

Morgan bent down and started drawing in the dirt.

“This is the field. This is where they will come from, and this is where you all will be.”

Thorn knelt down beside him.

“Where will you be?”

“Here in the tree line. Dre will be on the other side with his men.”

William had never seen a battle plan drawn in the dirt with sticks and rocks.

He knelt down.

“I’m afraid I’m not following, Sir Morgan.”

Morgan pointed with a stick.

“Here is where you will be. Your job is to draw the enemy forward.”

He paused.

Fuck.

There was one thing he forgot to check.

“Are any of you familiar with the Detonate skill?”

Marx cleared his throat.

“I have it. What’s your question?”

Morgan thought for a second.

“Say I held a rope. Could I detonate what the rope is attached to?”

Marx shrugged his shoulders.

“No clue. I’ve never tried it.”

“Klein, get me a rope and a rock about the size of my fist. Hurry.”

“Yes, sir!”

Klein took off running toward camp.

“While he’s doing that, I’ll explain what I’m thinking.”

Marx and Gutenburg knelt down as well.

“If this works, I will have rocks placed as landmines that I detonate when they get here.”

Thorn raised his eyebrow.

“Landmines?”

“Yes. Explosives.”

Morgan continued.

“It will disrupt their ranks and do damage at the same time. That will be the signal for Dre’s men and my men to start shooting.”

He pointed toward the woods.

“They will not know where they are getting struck from.”

“Next we—”

“Hold up.”

William was scratching his head.

“You plan on taking down the entire army just like this?”

“I mean, the concept makes sense, but what if they attack you?”

“Then we run.”

Morgan shrugged.

“We will be lighter than they are, and they will have a hard time fighting in the woods. It would make more sense for them to retreat or keep pushing forward.”

William nodded his head.

He couldn’t believe it.

It was the same tactic his father had walked him through when he invented the Magigun, but couldn’t figure out how to make it work.

He really must be—

“Here’s the rope and rock, sir!”

Klein handed them to Morgan, out of breath.

“Tie the rock with the rope. I want to test something.”

Klein tied the rope around the rock and placed it down.

Morgan walked backward, stretching the rope out until it was tight.

“You guys might want to take cover.”

Everyone lay down or hid behind trees.

Morgan focused.

His skill would activate if he had touched the desired object, but he did not touch the rock.

Klein did.

Holding the rope, he activated his skill.

“Detonate.”

There was a loud cracking noise.

Then—

BOOM!

A large explosion shook the surrounding trees.

“It worked! It worked!”

Morgan began jumping up and down in excitement.

“Damn, dude. Are you a pyro?” Dre said.

This startled William.

He had not sensed Dre beside him.

“Sorry, I got the Stealth skill.”

William smiled.

As insane as Morgan’s plan sounded, it just might work.

“So what now?”

Morgan turned to face William.

“We will eat. My men get priority. Then we will set out.”

Morgan looked toward the woods.

“We will stay there all night, waiting for the battle. We will set the ambush and the mines.”

He looked at the rope in his hand.

“Also, I need all your rope.”