“An army marches on its stomach.” - Old military adage.

“Dried meat and salted fish… Barley and wheat flour… Are the ales and meads sufficient?”

In a tent amidst the mercenary encampment, Lars of Zephirous battled with a thick pile of parchments on which he scribbled notes and numbers in tiny script, to make full use out of every bit of parchment he had. The lists were very mundane, as they listed the supplies the Company had gathered together, ones they purchased from the villages and towns they passed on their way to the wall as well as the ones shared with them by the Algenverrian army.

Logistics was a vital aspect to any campaign, albeit one often glossed over despite its necessity, simply because it was boring to speak about. During the Theodinaz campaign, Reinhardt had not had the luxury to worry about their logistics - in fact, they had plenty since they reclaimed most of their supplies after the battle of Fort Ascher - and the campaign moved speedily, which resulted in its end long before he had to worry about it at all.

The first few years afterwards also mostly dealt with short and easy missions, one that took a couple weeks and only small portions of the Company to do, which greatly simplified their logistics as well. Their defensive contract in Dvergarder also had clauses where their employer would provide for their food supply, which only made sense given the situation at the time.

This offensive campaign from Algenverr on the other hand, was planned to last at least a few months of time, and involved the Company which had returned to its previous strength of a thousand men after so many years of recovery. The logistical trail behind it was by default more complicated and involved compared to anything they had dealt with since Reinhardt took over as the leader of the Company.

Reinhardt himself was clear on that fact the first time he was briefed about the general purpose of the offensive nearly a month ago. As such, he had immediately sought out someone who could give him a hand in dealing with the logistics. Lars was the unfortunate one who ended up saddled with the mounds of parchmentwork in the end, since all too many of the Company’s lieutenants were more brawn than brains.

As such, he was occupied with all the logistics - though several of his old friends who followed him from Theodinaz helped him out with all the legwork involved - needed for the first longer-term large campaign the Free Lances would undertake since the change of leadership. Lars knew he was given a heavy responsibility, but he considered it as a show of trust, which was something he appreciated.

The man had come a long way from a deserter who latched on to a faint hope back at Zefirous.

“How’s it going, Lars?” came a question from Reinhardt who entered the tent and almost immediately cast a shade as his bulky shape covered most of the entrance. He quickly stepped aside though, allowing more sunlight to enter the tent.

“Everything seemed in order, Captain. We have enough food for the planned duration of the campaign, plus an extra month as you ordered,” said Lars without even looking towards Reinhardt. His eyes read through some reports and his hand penned tiny letters even while he spoke. “Our supply of consumables had been similarly prepared.”

“Really? Last I heard Master Fletcher Uthgar said it’d be a tough order to finish in time. Not enough shafts I think,” asked Reinhardt with some surprise in his voice.

“Apparently he found some local trees that make really good arrow shafts when we reached Algenverr. All our archers are allocated with twenty quivers’ worth of arrows, equal parts barbed and bodkins,” reported Lars even as he scribbled on a slim sheet of parchment and handed the note over to one of his men, who promptly left to deliver it. “They prepared an extra thirty quivers for Salicia’s use, together with that one quiver of special order from Sire Hogarth.”

“Ah, so pops managed to get those done as well. That’s good to hear,” said Reinhardt. The “special order” Lars referred to was a quiver of twenty arrows, each one crafted entirely of metal, with an arrowhead that tapered until it was as sharp as a needle, the furthest end of the point made out of adamant steel for hardness. The rest of the arrow was made from a more flexible alloy, one that allowed the metal shaft to flex and bend around the bow much like a wooden arrow would.

The result were heavier arrows - which did reduce their effective range somewhat - with greater penetrative capabilities within that range. Hogarth already had Salicia test a prototype before, and with her heirloom bow, she proved capable of piercing through plate armor, the underlying mail, as well as the padded gambeson behind it at all two hundred paces away. Combined with her use of space magic she was capable of easily doubling that range.

Since she had been detached from the archer platoon on her own request, Reinhardt saw little reason not to arm her better in order to allow her to do her job better. Of course, the difficulty of crafting those arrows - which took Hogarth’s personal attention and a good amount of effort for each of them - meant that they could not exactly produce them in large quantities.

Even that one quiver potentially meant twenty dead people at the right time and the right place, however, and Reinhardt knew all too well how killing the right person at the right time might well turn the tides of entire battles on its own.

“Excellent,” he told Lars with a satisfied nod. The main reason he had grabbed Lars to help out with the logistics was because he was the most bookish out of the Company’s platoon leaders. All too many of the others were useless for such tasks, especially Elfriede, who wouldn't even be able to read all the notes to begin with. As for trust, the former Theodinaz tactician had earned it many times over in the past few years, something he probably had not realized himself. “I’ll inform the young Duke that we’ll be ready to march by tomorrow then.”