Autumn, 1430

The gonnes were soon passed out among the cynos. Oevcn and the Elders had carefully selected the 500 individuals so equipped, choosing not just among the strongest or more accurate individuals, but also those with the most intelligence, adaptability, dependability and technical skills. Soon enough, those individuals assembled at the mustering field, honored to be selected by their commander but uncertain why they were called up and slightly confused over why their commander looked so giddy when he finally appeared, dragging several crates with Swefaw and the blacksmith's apprentices.

Oevcn Burntfeet went straight to the point, prying open a crate to reveal stacks of firearms. &Thank you all for joining me. I come to you with gifts from our human friends in Caldern. However these are rare and valuable gifts, and I need to make sure you all can use it to the best benefit of Tar Hollow. Understand?&

&Yes commander!& The troops called back in unison. Some individuals were wagging their tails. A whole legion of gonnes! Many had been quietly envious of the effectiveness of Oevcn’s weapon in the previous battles.

&Good! Now the world has changed and we must change with it. Twice now our enemies have forced us into fighting on their terms by forcing us to defend Tar Hollow. Twice we have suffered heavy losses driving them off. We need to adjust. We are still the best guerrillas in Nalbin, but we also need to learn how to fight in formation, like the humans do. &

&But we're not strong enough to fight humans head on in combat!& Someone responded.

Oevcn smiled and patted his new arquebus. &With these babies, we don't need to.&

***

Training went all winter and into early spring. The individuals gifted with the weapons learned to fire them as quickly and accurately as possible, as well as maintain the gonnes and handle them in terrain and weather. Then the cynos were lined up and divided into squads of 10, and together these squads learned to march, to form up, to fire in volleys, to stack volley fire, and to withdraw as a unit. Twenty squads were then made into a legion and the training repeated on a larger scale. Finally the 2 Legions were trained to move as one Regiment of Gonnedogs. It was rough going; the cynos were not used to acting uniformly and multiple fights and pileups and a few accidents occurred, with others thrown out to be replaced by new recruits. Still those gifted with their weapons soon learned to treasure them, especially with increased hunting successes, and by the time the snows began to melt over Gryphon’s Gate Oevcn was satisfied with the progress.

&Good!& The commander laughed as he observed a demonstration where the entire regiment marched in formation assembled into battle lines and fired a volley that hit a row of targets. &I am impressed by what I see! But the real test will come when we cross that mountain. Are you all ready?&

&Yes commander!& The gonnedogs called out.

&Let’s show these humans what happens when you give a dog a gonne!&

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Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe

Stream Doodle from  OtherWords!