After the meeting ended, the officers returned to their posts to busy themselves with their own affairs. Only Jon stayed behind alone. He asked Aldric, "Teacher, if we all go South, what if the White Walkers beyond the Wall make a move? What should we do?"
Aldric answered, "Aren't there still the Wall and the Night's Watch? As long as the Wall stands and the Night's Watch isn't dead to the last man, the White Walkers can't come over."
"Besides, you know the status of the Night's Watch. Less than a thousand men to guard a three-hundred-mile defense line, and no Southern noble values the Wall's defense."
"If the White Walkers really breach the Wall and invade the North, while your brother leads the bannermen and main forces to fight in the South, what do you think the North will look like?"
Jon thought for a moment and answered despairingly, "...It will be a hell."
Aldric said heavily, "Yes. If Young Lord Robb really intends to go South to help your father, the two of us can't persuade him otherwise, probably not even with First Ranger Benjen."
"What we can do is follow your brother South to fight, win this war as quickly as possible, acquire wealth as much as possible, expand our troop size, and then return to defend the North as a victorious army tested by blood and fire."
"Instead of relying on these few dozen men to futilely resist an enemy that even the Night's Watch and the Wall can't stop."
Jon nodded, accepting his teacher's explanation.
In his heart, he was actually more willing to go South to help Lord Eddard.
Asking Aldric was less about persuasion and more about hoping his teacher would give him a reason to march South.
After unifying the troops' thoughts and understanding, Aldric began upgrading the unit's equipment.
Recalling the time in Purple Wisteria Village, the leather armor worn by the two combat squads was bought and made on the spot. Due to tight time, craftsmanship was rough, and quality was less than ideal.
Thus, when Squad 1 soldier Torn was ambushed by the feigning Free Folk, a big hole was poked in his chest despite the leather armor, nearly killing him.
Given this, Aldric decided to upgrade the warriors' equipment, changing leather armor to sturdier iron armor.
Iron armor came in diverse styles. Depending on scenarios and battlefield needs, types like plate armor, lamellar armor, scale armor, and chainmail evolved.
According to Aldric's current understanding of armed forces on this continent, the most common equipment combination in Westeros was a padded gambeson (jacket) underneath, a layer of chainmail over it, and a layer of plate armor on the outside.
Aldric's and Kevin's "Lightbringer Acolyte" sets were embodiments of this combination.
However, crafting the "Lightbringer Acolyte" set for Kevin took nearly three weeks of meticulous work out of deep care and responsibility as a teacher.
But Aldric knew the situation was different this time. He couldn't spend years crafting a "Lightbringer Acolyte" set for every newly recruited warrior, nor did he have the desire to do so.
Considering the urgency of equipment updates and mission importance, after careful consideration, Aldric decided on a more practical and efficient plan: a localized version of Brigandine, or "Leather-Faced Iron Armor."
Brigandine, also known as "clothing armor" or "hidden armor" in ancient China, was actually iron armor covered by cloth or leather on the outside, with large iron plates riveted securely inside.
This design ensured protection while reducing weight to some extent and improving comfort, very suitable for quickly equipping large numbers of warriors.
In the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty of China, brigandine gradually became popular in the military, becoming an important part of Ming army equipment and continuing into the mid-Qing Dynasty.
Brigandine mainly consisted of an outer fabric layer and inner iron plates. The fabric varied, using silk, cotton, etc.
Armor nails on the fabric fixed the iron plates. The iron plates were usually large, similar to plate armor, connected to the fabric by rivets.
This design made brigandine look like ordinary padded clothes externally, but it hid powerful protection internally.
Most importantly, compared to traditional lamellar armor, brigandine's manufacturing process was simpler, consuming less time and material, thus lower cost.
The so-called "Leather-Faced Iron Armor" was just replacing fabric with animal leather.
Buying armor for forty men from outside might be hard to find and expensive.
As a Grandmaster Blacksmith, Aldric naturally wouldn't hand over this profit. So he decided to resume his old trade: chopping wood, burning charcoal, and firing up the furnace.
In manufacturing brigandine, the most time-consuming and technically demanding step was hammering iron ingots into plates.
This job couldn't be done by just handing a hammer to a strong lad. Improper force could cause iron pieces to fly off, risking injury.
Therefore, Aldric wasn't confident he could teach the Engineer Squad members to control the hammer precisely in a short time to ensure quality and safety.
After deliberation, he decided to use draft horses as power, designing and building a horse-powered trip hammer to replace the tedious manual hammering process.
Making a horse-powered trip hammer wasn't complex; its principle was intuitive.
It mainly used animal power (oxen, horses, etc.) to pull or push, converting force into kinetic energy for the falling hammer via ropes, pulleys, or levers. When the heavy hammer fell rapidly, it released immense impact force on the forging piece, causing plastic deformation.
Additionally, the trip hammer had adjustment functions, changing hammering force and frequency by adjusting the transmission device between hammer and winch.
Coincidentally, Aldric had canceled the barracks construction plan, freeing up John. The two worked together and completed the horse-powered trip hammer in just three days.
Meanwhile, charcoal fuel was also prepared.
After equipment selection, Aldric lit the forge, melted iron ingots into liquid iron, modulated it into liquid steel using the co-fusion process, and poured it into clay molds to form steel ingots of equal size and thickness.
To make steel ingots soft and malleable, Aldric heated them to red-hot, then placed them under the trip hammer for shaping.
Since they were cast quite thin during division, under continuous hammering, a steel ingot was forged into a palm-sized steel plate in just over ten minutes.
To test protection, Aldric fixed one plate to a tree and called Eddie.
"Eddie, stand ten paces away and shoot an arrow at this plate," he ordered.
Eddie drew his longbow. "Full power?"
"Of course."
With a swish, the arrow flew out, followed by a crisp clink. Arrow and plate both fell to the ground.
Aldric picked up the plate. Only a shallow dent remained. He wasn't fully satisfied.
The root problem was low carbon content, leading to insufficient hardness.
Using ready-made iron ingots bought from smithies meant imprecise carbon control.
Aldric used the stir-frying method to reduce impurities in pig iron, then co-fusion to mix wrought and pig iron into liquid steel.
However, this method easily led to low carbon content.
But Aldric had a countermeasure: Carburization. Placing finished metal parts in a carburizing agent of charcoal powder and lime, sealing and heating to 900°C, then keeping warm to increase hardness and durability.
After taking parts out, carbon would permeate the surface, improving physical properties—harder, more wear-resistant.
But this step had to wait until all plates were forged to be done in batch.
Aldric picked up a finished steel plate, measured it against his body, finding nine palm-sized plates enough to protect the front chest and abdomen, and eighteen to cover the whole torso.
So he forged eight more plates.
While plates were red-hot, he punched small holes around the edges with steel nails and a hammer, then riveted these plates inside Squad 1 Captain Vitaly's leather armor.
Then he had Vitaly put on this special armor.
Vitaly, having a medium build among the warriors and being a round-shield bearer, had urgent need for armor.
Having him test it made it easier to spot potential problems.
Then, Aldric handed his sword "Azure Song" to Juan. "Juan, test the armor's protection. Poke Vitaly."
Juan raised the sword flusteredly, seeing Vitaly's face written with reluctance and fear, he hesitated. "Commander, this isn't good, right? What if I accidentally hurt Vitaly?"
Aldric shook his head gently. "It's fine. With me here, are you afraid Vitaly will be in danger?"
He turned to Vitaly. "Are you willing to try?"
Vitaly smiled bitterly. "Commander, maybe someone else?"
But Aldric offered a tempting condition. "If you volunteer, the first Leather-Faced Iron Armor I made is yours."
Thinking of the Commander's exquisite skill, Vitaly gritted his teeth. "Okay, Commander! Come on, Juan, hit hard!"
Seeing Vitaly persuaded, Juan got excited. He raised the sword and stabbed Vitaly's stomach without hesitation—after all, he suffered enough under Vitaly before.
Though Juan stabbed with full force, Vitaly was stronger. He only stumbled, uninjured, not even falling.
Aldric had Vitaly take off the armor and checked the stab point.
A small hole remained on the leather, but the internal steel plate was intact, not even a scratch.
Quartermaster Eddie witnessed this, marveling inside. As the warband's steward, he watched the whole process.
Eddie knew the Commander alone forged plates covering the front chest/abdomen in less than two hours.
Inferring from this, the back wouldn't take much time either.
More importantly, riveting plates into leather didn't occupy the forge; warriors could do it themselves.
Ideally, one trip hammer could produce enough plates for three suits in a day.
Based on this efficiency, equipping the entire Silver Hand would take only ten days.
Adding arm guards and helmets, in twenty days, this small mercenary band could transform into an elite iron-armored force.
If two more trip hammers were built? The time could be cut to a third—seven days. Then produced armor could be sold.
So Eddie pointed at the rough semi-finished armor, eyes shining. "Commander, weren't you worried about funding? Isn't this the source?"
Aldric laughed self-mockingly. "You joking, Eddie? Who would buy such crude stuff? King Robert and Lord Eddard's guards wear much finer, sturdier armor. They wouldn't look at my trash."
Eddie shook his head. "Commander, you said it yourself—they are guards."
"Guards around the King and Lord are at least descendants of knights or sheriffs."
"Their armor costs at least two or three Gold Dragons, polished by master armorers for a month."
"If war really starts, these guards, if sent to the front lines, would lead seventy or eighty ordinary soldiers like me."
"And for ordinary soldiers like me, and more conscripted militia, having leather armor is already rich. Let alone iron armor."
"Commander, I believe if you sell this 'Leather-Faced Iron Armor' for no more than ten Silver Moons, countless people will fight for it."
Aldric thought about it. True. In the cold weapon era, armor rate was a key indicator of combat capability.
Soldiers of equal ability, the armored one often beat ten unarmored.
Though brigandine production was simple and easy to copy, Aldric didn't care. The more Northern warriors equipped with iron armor, the sooner the war ended, and the sooner the army could return victorious.
"You make sense. Discuss with Septon John and Juan, calculate a budget, and report to me. I won't participate in the manufacturing later."
Then Aldric turned to Juan, instructing solemnly, "I've explained the key points of plate forging several times. The final product doesn't need to be exquisite, just flat and uniform. This is warriors' life-saving gear; practice more to ensure quality."
Busy by the forge for days, Rennel brought no valuable news, deciding Aldric to visit Wolf's Kiss Tavern personally.
However, even talking to Harvard yielded no noteworthy new info.
Facing the lingering fog of war, Aldric felt a headache, but understood he had no prophetic powers. He could only ground himself, preparing fully for himself and the Silver Hand to meet the possible war in best condition.
A few days later, Rennel finally brought new news. "Harvard says he wants you over tomorrow afternoon."
Aldric put down the hammer, wiping sweat. "What's up? Something happened?"
Rennel answered, "He said a few old friends are gathering, wants to invite you to sit, meet everyone, chat."
Aldric frowned. "Just chat?"
Rennel shook his head. "Don't know. Harvard didn't elaborate. But if just pure chat, he wouldn't specially call you. You going? If not, I can find an excuse to refuse."
After pondering, Aldric nodded. "Go. Harvard is a good guy; I must give this face. Besides, his friends might be brothers fighting alongside us later. Good to know them early."
So, the next afternoon, after a bath, Aldric took Rennel to Wolf's Kiss Tavern.
Compared to usual, the atmosphere was clearly different.
People sitting inside were not only more numerous but also more imposing, unlike scattered mercenaries waiting for jobs.
Harvard wasn't behind the counter as usual but drinking with a white-bearded burly man.
Seeing Aldric enter, he greeted warmly, "Grab a drink from the bar and sit over. Rennel, how about singing 'Shaun the Sheep Loves Fish' for the brothers?"
"No problem!" Rennel agreed readily, picking up his harp and starting a cheerful tune.
Aldric took two drinks, placed one before Rennel, then sat before Harvard, smiling. "Brother, not going to introduce me?"