" So what is the plan?" Brutus asked.
" First we need to be able to preserve food and water for the coming winter. Without ready food and water, our plan falls into pieces." Ceaser replied.
" So what would you have us do?" Sir Alfred asked .
Ceaser replied saying ; " the forest is our greatest resource for now so we have to increase hunting and fishing expeditions. For the preservation of the meat, we can use stoves like the one I have in my room to dry out the moisture from the meats and....."
" That's enough Ceaser" Alfred cut in," I believe that you will be able to increase our food supply but the main thing I would need to know is how we are going to project force against the Blackthorns."
" First of all, remove all ideas of attacking for now, we do not have the numbers nor the equipment." Ceaser replied.
Before Alfred could rebuff his statement, Ceaser fetched some parchment where he had sketched some blueprints for a crossbow made out of bamboo .
Compared to crossbows made out of regular wood, bamboo crossbows and bows were more lightweight and flexible. And with the abundance of bamboo around the camp fashioning these weapons would be relatively easier.
" Let me produce few of these weapons for testing and then we would talk about its capacity to defend." Ceaser said.
With Arnold's approval, Ceaser spent few hours every day crafting the crossbows.
By the end of the week Ceaser presented the knights with a functional crossbow and the wooden bolts to be fired as ammunition.
He set up targets between 30 meters and 100 meters. As the knights settled themselves, Ceaser then announced;
" I will now start the demonstration ."
He then nocked the string back, aimed at a water pot 30 meters away, shattering it. He nocked again and moved to the second clay water pot 50 meters away causing them to shatter .
When he shot the pot one hundred meters away it also shattered but was less dramatic.
" Our victories against the Blackthorns is connected to the fact that we never engage them in frontal combat unless necessary." Ceaser said as the knights nodded in agreement .
" As you can see, the crossbows strength is greatly diminished by our lack of metals. But it would greatly help us to counter the measly forces that they would send between now and winter." Ceaser continued.
One of the knights stood up and asked "what makes you so sure that the Blackthorns would attack us before winter ?"
" Of course, the garisson that pursued us before would not want to live with their failures, so by now they have sent scouts to find out our location so that they can be done with us.
So I put the timeline of the attack between now and the first month of the winter period." Ceaser replied.
After further discussion,it was agreed that the women, children and the unarmed men would receive priority training with the crossbows and production was to be amped up.
After the meeting, Butrus and a knight named Darion stayed back to discuss with sir Alfred.
" Do we now take orders from him Sir Alfred?" Darion asked.
Alfred sighed before replying," I don't know, but you can agree that his tactics are exceptional for his age and has brought us this far."
Soon crossbows were being constructed and handed over to the campers who then trained with it .
It was even used during hunting and saw an increase in game hunting .
The hunters got animals like deers , rabbits ,wild boars and even ducks which were then dried out through smoking to preserve the meat. This was then distributed throughout the camp as winter rations .
The furs and pelts of these animals were also being processed to provide winter coverings for the camp.
On one of the hunting expeditions, they had finished gathering the animals when Ceaser decided that he wanted to explore further .
A mile out from where he started exploring he came across something incredible, he had discovered the cassava plant growing indiscriminately across large swaths of land.
This solved a lot of issues for him as the starch gotten from the cassava tubers could be converted to nitro starch which was a key component in making explosives.
The tubbers could be boiled or roasted to be eaten as food. Flour could also be produced from them which could be used in making bread and other staples.
Finally alcohol , mostly methanol and ethanol could be extracted for both consumption and industrial use. It could also be used in making weapons like the molotov cocktails.
But that was not the only thing he found, he also found palm trees growing around. Palm trees were great sources of oil for cooking, materials from it could be used in making soap and body oils.
Immediately he sent word back to camp to inform them of his discovery. The messenger he sent ran as quickly as possible to the camp to deliver the message but was sent back to fetch Ceaser.
When Ceaser came back to camp to he was confronted with a grave news, scouts had found a group of about one hundred Blackthorn soldiers armed with spears and swords headed directly for their camp.
Surprisingly, there was no panic but the air was thick with uncertainty." What do we do now Ceaser". Alfred asked. " Do we retreat or do we stand our ground."
" Of course we stand our ground but we won't wait for them to attack. " Ceaser replied. " Rather we are going to attack them this night as they sleep."
" Attacking men whilst they sleep is the way of cowards." Butrus shouted.
" And you think that because of your valiant as actions the enemy would have pause before mounting your heads on pikes. Do you think they would not rape the women and enslave the children because you are valiant and acted with the decorum of noble knights." Ceaser asked ,before answering his questions." We are not fighting a battle that is in our favor but one which is greatly biased against us. Cowardliness is having an opportunity to defeat our enemies and not taking it because of some outdated rules."