The Archer's Marines: The First Marines - Medieval fiction action story about Marines, naval warfare, and knights after King Richard's crusade in Syria, ... times (The Company of Archers Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

news.  Now come in and tell us all about it.  The boys would like to hear as well, wouldn’t you George?”
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          There is much to discuss that day, particularly when Thomas tells me that Hathersage appears to be in hand and he doesn’t think we need to keep any additional men here in order to fight for it.  That’s what I want to hear and I immediately announce that we will sail for Cyprus and the Holy Land in three days.  We’re leaving late as it is; we should have gone several weeks ago.
           I am going back to Cyprus and the Holy Land with fifteen galleys, one cog, and just under a thousand Marines – longbow archers trained to fight on ships as well as marching about and fighting together on land.  That means I’m leaving seven galleys and one cog here – if you include the two galleys being repaired and the one being torn up for firewood because it is in such bad shape.
           Eight of our company’s original archers are sailing with me as our master sergeants.  As for the other originals, my priestly brother is staying in command here with Roger as his number two and Martin in charge of Launceston; and three of our company’s other survivors are still in the Holy Land – Randolph in Constantinople, Bob Farmer in Antioch, and Samuel Farmer on Cyprus where he’s in charge of the Marines we’ve already got out there.  They are all that’s left of the one hundred and ninety two of us who went out crusading with King Richard years ago.
           We’ll also be taking almost three hundred experienced sailors including over a hundred newly recruited veteran sailors who seem to be qualified to command a cog or be its pilot.  What we’ve learned is that any sailor man who can command or pilot a cog can also command or pilot a galley what with it having a smaller sail and its ability to row its way out of trouble.
           Unlike last fall when we sent our apprentice archers out to Cyprus for their training and kept our veterans to fight Cornell, this time we’ll do it differently.  This time we’ll only be taking archers out to the Holy Land who are already fully qualified both to fight on land and on the sea, the men we’ve taken to calling our Marines. 
           Ever since we returned to Cornwall last year our newly recruited archers and apprentices have been spending their time learning how to fight as Marines under the watchful eyes of Henry and his archer sergeants; similarly, our newly recruited sailors have been learning how to sail the galleys the Marines will fight on under Harold and his experienced sergeant captains.
           Finally, and last and least, we’ll be taking about fifty of the freed galley slaves who will help row because they want to return to the Holy Land, probably so they can get off our ships and run along the way. 
          Some of those we freed who are coming with us are Englishmen who continued on to their homes after we carried them here – and then came back because their homes and families are gone and they have nowhere else to go.  Others of the slaves we freed found permanent non-fighting positions with our shipwrights, smiths, fletchers, and kitchens both here and in Cyprus.  In other words, the men going with us are the homesick and the leftovers who are still trying to find their place in the world.
           One of our cogs and our most unseaworthy galley will remain here permanently so they can be used for the schooling of our apprentice Marines and our new sailors.  They need to learn about fighting at sea, climbing grappling lines to board potential prizes, and such like that. 
           The apprentices are particularly keen to learn because they won’t receive much more than their food until they qualify as longbow archers and learn how to be Marines and fight both on land and on board ships.  Until they qualify as archers and learn to fight on ships they’ll carry swords and our