The Army and The Soldiers

  At the time of its founding, Aky-Ut did not have proper professional soldiers, conscripted peasants occupying the role of defending the small republic. However, during the reign of King Vsevolod II “the Oppressor”, in 490 A.F.H., Vsevolod II wrote and adopted the Act of Defence and Internal Affairs, officially creating a professional Army for Aky-Ut made up of Aky-Utians. The future soldiers were trained from the young age of about 9 in the Art of War by, at first, Mercenary Commanders at the Academy of Defence and Peace Protection. In 502 A.F.H., following the Liberation Revolution, the Mercenary Commanders were replaced with Naval Commanders. All those who wished to become soldiers of Aky-Ut had to attend the Academy from a young age and their families had to pay for their spot within the Academy. They would then, around the age of 15, finish their academic preparation and go on into the Army.

  During the reign of King Vsevolod II, the only option available to new soldiers was the Republican Royal Army.

  After the Liberation Revolution, the Merchant Families began offering 3 more choices to the new soldiers. One could go into the Republican Royal Army, renamed in 502 A.F.H. to The Republican Army. Or, one could choose between the three big Merchant Families: Luzza, Styo, Bova. While the uniforms didn’t differ much between each army, apart from a little necklace which included the symbol of the Republic or of the family, the state of the equipment and the payment did. The gap between the clean and healthy Merchant Families’ soldiers and the dirty and sick Republican Soldiers became even more apparent during and after the reign of King Vasylyv I Madiotev (552-632 A.F.H.).

  In 632 A.F.H., shortly after the coronation of Vasylyv II Madiotev, he declared through the Act of Naval Expansion that: “The Naval Units of the Merchants shall see reinforcement units in a shape similar to that of the Republican Army. (…) From now-on-forth, the Academy of Defence and Peace Protection shall teach naval matters to those willing and those able. (…) I, Vasylyv II of the Madiotev line, son of Vasylyv I, King of the Republic of Aky-Ut and of the semi-autonomous Duchy of Arisis, declare that from now-on-forth the Republic of Aky-Ut shall have an official navy not tied to the Merchants but to the Republic itself. (…)”

  [The Academy of Defence and Peace Protection had been secretly built at the orders of Vsevolod II between 450 and 480. When the Act of Defence and Internal Affairs was adopted, the Academy was mentioned within the document as the place where the newly recruited would be sent to become protectors of the Republic. From 480 to 501 A.F.H., the Academy was the private property of Vsevolod II, who had full control over every part of it. After the Liberation Revolution, 495-501 A.F.H., and the killing of Vsevolod II, dubbed “the Oppressor” by the Merchant Families, the Academy became a public property under the supervision of the Merchant Families.]

  The structure of the Republican Army:

555 soldiers = 1 unit

A Marfer = 10 units (usually only 2 Marfers had ever been present at the same time)

500 Simples/Unit, 50 Centrals/Unit, 5 Elevated/Unit

  Those with the lowest of rank were called “Simples”, above them were the “Centrals” who commanded 10 simples each, above them were the “Elevated” who commanded 10 “Centrals” each.

  Finally, above Elevated, there were the Marfons, who never participated on the front lines and always stationed themselves as close to the Republic as possible. They would send writing paper through a Central to his Elevated every month on which the Elevated had to report anything that had happened that month. The Elevated themselves received verbal reports through their Centrals one by one. Afterwards, a Central, sent in advance by the Marfon, would take the paper back to the Marfon. The Marfon would read it and send instructions, advice and supplies back to the Units through hired Guilds of Craftsmen.

  During a campaign, the quarters of the Simples were closely located to that of the Centrals and in the direction of the enemy, while those of the Elevated were located farther back from the main location of battle, parallel to that of the Centrals. The Marfons simply lived as close as possible to the Republic, usually in their mansion.

  Due to the Naval focus of the Republic, horses were not used in official units and mercenary horsemen were often bought.

  To become a Central, a Simple must have had 5 years of active duty or 10 years of passive duty (peace time duty). To become an Elevated, a central must have had 15 years of active duty or 20 of passive duty (solely within the Central rank) and must have graduated a special course at the academy, “Logistics”, where they were taught about supply lines, safety, psychological warfare and how to keep a unit happy/mutiny-free.

   To become a Marfon, an Elevated must have had 10 years of active duty within the role, must have graduated between 2-5 Economic and Trade Courses (usually held at the residences of the Merchant Families) with a recommendation from the Family and must have received praises from their subordinates while Elevated. Due to the accumulation of years between each rank and other circumstances, a majority of Elevated never became Marfons. The mean age for a Marfon was 65.

   A council of 5 retired Marfons decided whether one was suitable for the following rank or not.

  Equipment of the Republican Army:

Every Simple was equipped by the Republic with a medium length sword, sharp on one side but blunt on the other, with a green uniform tunic, metal shoulders, a chain mail and frontal knee armour.

Centrals had the same equipment as well as a horse/5 Centrals, a short knife for cutting and a spare sword. Their uniform tunic was blue.

Elevated had the same equipment as Centrals as well as 1 horse/Elevated, a spear, a small shelter tent (which would be moved when positions moved), a soft bedding made of fine cloth and linen, and delicate toilet paper. Their uniform tunic was red.

The Navy and the Sailors

  With its creation in 632 A.F.H., the Republican Navy did not differ much in 690 A.F.H. from its mainland counterpart, the Army. In 640 A.F.H., after much visible struggle between the Merchants and the King, the King Vasylyv II Madiotev updated the Dictionarum with the help of scholars, including new naval terms and ranks that were missing altogether.

  In 660 A.F.H., Bartran I Madiotev, succeeding his father Vasylyv II Madiotev upon his death, age 16, enacted the Naval Aid Act, through which Republican Ships could be used by the Merchants for trade travel on lake Xezer.

The Ships

  The vessels of the Republican Navy were all very much the same. They were long and wide with 2 levels beside the deck, the lowest level was used for food and equipment storage while the first level was used as the kitchen and crew’s quarters. The stairs that led below the ship could be found next to the Captain’s Cabin, named more commonly as the Central’s Cabin. Inside, one could usually find a bed, a desk upon which the map usually sat and square spaces carved into the right wooden wall that protruded slightly. Parallel to the stairs which led to the lower levels were the stairs which led to the quarterdeck upon which the wheel sat. The quarterdeck was off-limits for Saiples (the naval equivalent of Simple) and only the Central (equivalent for the Army’s Central) as well as the Corrift (Equivalent for the army’s Elevated) could be there. Any exchange between a Saiple and a Central or Corrift had to be done from a distance or on the deck itself.

  The vessels had only one mast and one big sail usually white with the symbol of Aky-Ut on it (a face thought of as the Emperor’s face). The Kitchen was positioned below the Captain’s Cabin and the cook was usually a Saiple that was good at cooking. Though, on special occasions, the Central and Corrift would make something for the Saiples.

  There were 50 Saiples on one ship, 1 Central and 1 Corrift. The Corrift would sleep in the Central’s Cabin along with the Central, taking shifts just as the Simples, when not engaged in battle (day and night shifts). 25 Saiples/shift was usually the norm. Supplies were in abundance due to the island-less nature of the lake and the lack of stops during missions. Those supplies usually consisted of clean water, bread, salted meat, cheese, onions, potatoes and coconuts (the latter imported from the semi-integrated Duchy of Arisis). With proper consumption, they lasted around 1 month, more than enough time for the back-and-forth journey.

  However, the number of supplies varied greatly between ships and while one had enough, another may have had less than necessary. Thus, if sailing together and lacking supplies, the one Corrift or Central of the lacking one would hold a red flag up the sky and wave it towards their companion ship. In turn, the other ship would do the same and slowly they would stop and board one another for an assessment and exchange of supplies, usually done at the decision of the Corrifts and Centrals.

  The vessels were capable of turning through a hard and thick wooden rudder located at the back of the vessel and a row of 7 long and wide wooden oars. To stop, an iron anchor chained to the mast would be thrown into the water. On the other side of the vessel, opposite to the quarterdeck, was a long metal pike (called a bowsprit), positioned horizontally, that would be used offensively against other ships by impaling the opponent ship. A wooden railing would be present on the deck and quarterdeck’s extremities, useful if the crew was drunk or the ship suffered great turnings as it stopped the crew from falling into the water. Finally, as light sources, candles placed into square metal containers with small windows on all sides were held by Saiples to light the deck during the night or below deck to evaporate the dark.

Boarding and Strategies

  To get onto a vessel, one had to place a plank that acted as a bridge between the port and the vessel.

  During naval battles, the Saiples of the ship, equipped with iron hooks attached to a rope, would throw the hooks onto any surface that could be grabbed and would pull the opposing ship towards them. Other Saiples, equipped with bows, would, in the meantime, shoot their enemies, creating a gap in their defence and allowing the sword-wielding Saiples to board the ship. Another boarding technique was by ramming the metal bowsprit into enemy ships and the climbing the enemy ship while archers would create the gap in the enemy’s defence. Shields were rare on ships due to the fast nature of the combat and agility coupled with speed was encouraged as a tactic.

  When encountering an enemy with a shield, the encouraged tactic for a sword-wielder was to grab the shield with one hand and sword stab with the other, either using force to lower the shield or using agility to stab the opponent in their blind spots.

Equipment:

 Saiples, Centrals and Corrifts wore the same coloured tunics as their counterparts in the Army, but wore no armour whatsoever.

 Saiples were equipped with a small cutting knife, swords with blades that curved towards the tip and the aforementioned hook attached to a thick rope. A quarter of the Saiples had bows and arrows, unlike within the army where the use of bows was highly unusual due to the surrounding terrain of the Republic.

 Centrals and Corrifts were equipped with a map of the lake and the surrounding Duchies/Kingdoms or Republics of importance, a compass, a thin spyglass telescope, a cutting knife, paper and a white flag for surrendering. Because Corrifts were above Centrals, any major decision such as procuring supplies, communicating with another vessel and battle plans had to be accepted by the Corrifts.

  Due to the recent creation of the Republican Navy, it was not known at the start of the war in 690 A.F.H. how many vessels could be active at the same time.

  Lastly, concerning waste, buckets would be used and the waste would be thrown in the lake. As for cleaning one’s bottom, a quick dip of the lower half into the ocean as well as a quick rub in that area usually worked. Corrifts and Centrals received toilet paper and would sometimes share it with the Saiples.