403. Military treatment
Chapter 403: Military Treatment
The northwestern territories of the Kingdom of Aldo spent the Advent Day of the Holy Calendar 1993 in the cold wind and winter snow, ushering in a new year.
This year, Paul chose to spend this important holiday with the soldiers in the military camp.
The Army of Alda now had a total of eight infantry battalions, two of which were stationed in Emden, two in Bairdine, and the remaining four were all stationed in Lakewood.
On Advent, the four battalions, totaling over 2,000 men, assembled on the playground in four neat squares. All the officers and men were informed that their supreme commander, Count Greiman, had an important announcement to make.
Paul stepped up to the podium in front of the crowd, and he contented himself with “scanning” back and forth between the soldiers and the officers on the podium.
The effect of the new uniforms is good, the spirit of the army under his command has been raised to another level, together with the upright posture, the soldiers look energetic.
In accordance with the general pattern of this era, Paul first advocated a large number of honor, loyalty and other words, encouraging officers and soldiers to continue to work hard to defend their hometowns and loved ones.
But this is all false, Paul’s following real words made everyone perk up their ears.
“In return for your loyalty and dedication, I – Paul Greiman – have decided to raise the salaries of all members of the army.”
“I have issued a special batch of manuals to explain the altered pay and reward system, and they will be sent out to everyone, in the hope that you will fight bravely to kill the enemy, obey orders in all circumstances, and accumulate military honors to raise your ranks. And I, Paul Greiman, hereby swear to strictly abide by the rules I have laid down!”
“I’ll mainly mention here the most numerous Private brothers among us, after this pay raise, an ordinary Private will receive 700 copper coins per month, while his family will receive 100 grams of salt per month.”
“Hurrah!” Before Paul’s words ended, a huge cheer rang out on the playground, and the atmosphere changed from serious to enthusiastic all of a sudden.
Even the most ordinary big-headed soldiers could receive so much, and the officers were even less so.
“Count Paul Greiman ~ My Commander-in-Chief My Lord ~”
“Blessed by the Father ~ as the wind and thunder and lightning ~”
“Who does not know Count Greiman and his soldiers ~”
The officers and soldiers went so far as to spontaneously sing the Ode to Count Greiman.
This military song whose lyrics made Paul feel slightly embarrassed was surprisingly popular in the army, and almost everyone knew it.
Although technically speaking, the reaction of the officers and soldiers at this point was a bit of a violation of discipline, but stopping them from expressing their love for themselves at this point would obviously make strike a blow to the feelings of the officers and soldiers, so Paul had no choice but to clap his hands in agreement with their rhythm until the song ended.
Whether an army can maintain combat effectiveness, in addition to having strict discipline, adequate material supply is also very necessary. According to Paul’s memory, the reason why the sons and daughters of the soldiers in the other time and space could maintain high morale for a long time, in addition to having a great revolutionary ideal, there was also an important reason why the soldiers’ pay was twice as much as the enemy soldiers’ actual pay in hand.
After a good deal of quiet, Paul went on to announce his other measures.
“From now on, the payment of salaries for everyone in the army will be unified by the Ministry of Logistics, and those responsible for this will implement vertical management, free from the restraints of the military chiefs at all levels, and they will send the money to everyone by hand. If any brother receives less money than is prescribed, then he will have the right to come directly before me and state his case.”
This was to prevent the occurrence of vicious incidents such as withholding of pay and drinking the blood of soldiers. Although this military regulation in his hands was still small and such things hadn’t happened yet, it was always good to take some precautions first.
“In addition, I will set up a [postal] department in the army, which will be used to deliver letters or send items for you, including your salary and clothing, which can be sent to your home through this postal department.”
The establishment of the military postal service was partly for the convenience of the soldiers, and partly for the need for secrecy. With Paul’s strong literacy efforts in the military, most people had no problem writing a simple letter home, but there might be some content in the letter that shouldn’t be there, and it was better to have a unified department for screening than to have a soldier casually delegate an individual to take it home with him.
Paul also planned to set up a postal system in the civil sector, but he planned to do that after the Customs Union was established, pulling in the other lords’ territories as well.
“Alright, I now call a dismissal, you are free to roam the barracks today except for those on duty, but be sure to be in the mess hall in time for dinner, I have a special treat for you all.”
All dismissed, the crowd ran off to wherever they wanted with the enthusiasm brought on by the pay raise and the curiosity of the special delicacy the lord was talking about.
There were many interesting places in the barracks of Lake Town, in order to enrich the entertainment activities of the soldiers, Paul had racked his brains, in addition to promoting the more “elegant” activities such as playing cards and chess, he also replicated the various types of sports and entertainment from his previous life into this time and space, such as soccer, basketball, table tennis, compared to chess and card games, sports and entertainment had two significant benefits, one is to improve the quality of life, the other is to enhance the quality of life. There are two significant benefits of sports entertainment, one is to improve the physical quality of the soldiers, and the other is to consume a lot of their physical strength and energy, so as to reduce the amount of thoughts they spend on the opposite sex. After a short rest, Paul and his chief of staff, Schroeder, went to the chapel in the barracks, and by the time they arrived, there were already 200 people waiting inside, this is the so-called “Greimann Military Academy” is training young officers, who are basically all the better educated, excellent performance of the good seed selected from ordinary soldiers, and then gathered together to let the soldiers from the next door, Wiemann Military Academy, to be trained, so that they can be trained. They are basically selected from ordinary soldiers with good culture and excellent performance, and then gathered together, letting the teachers transferred from the next door Wis Academy to further teach culture and arithmetic, and letting Schroeder, Bryce, and other people with chivalrous ability to teach command, horsemanship, map reading, positional recognition, and other military abilities. But the most important thing was to instill loyalty to the commander-in-chief, also known as Paul Greiman.
Another characteristic of this group of officers was that most of them came from civilian or serf families, which was what Paul valued, but those who came from serf families had already been restored to freedom, including their families, by Paul using the power of the lord.
In the original plan, they would undergo three years of training and learning, but Paul couldn’t wait any longer, he instructed Schroeder to compress the curriculum, speed up the progress, and place this group of officers in the army as soon as possible for field exercise.
Today, the young officers had received word early that the lord was going to have a private “heart-to-heart” talk with them in the church after he had finished addressing the whole army, so they gathered here after the dismissal.
“Lord Earl!”
When Paul entered, the crowd stood up and raised their hands in unison.
“Gentlemen, please be seated.”
Paul responded.
He took the chairs and sat down in the center of the hall instead of at the high pulpit. Then he ordered the congregation to rearrange the chairs and sit around himself.
“I didn’t find you all here today on some important military matter, but just to get to know each of you.”
“Let’s start with a chat about your respective families, where do you come from, how many people are in your family, and how did you get into the military? Although I’m a lord, but I’m still quite interested in the lives of my men. I’ve been busy with political affairs, but today I finally have the time to find out more.”
It was important to maintain the majesty of being a noble while not rejecting people, the balance between the two must be gotten right – this was what Schroeder had told him.
Giving up the majesty of a noble would make the people of this era look down on him, while rejecting people would make some words unspeakable.
“Lord Count, my …… name is Makarov.”
A bearded, stocky man raised his hand and said that he was going to stand up.
“No need to stand up, just sit and speak.”
“Yes, Lord Earl. I come from a village near the port of Fulan ……”
“The year of the haunted pirates …… my family ……”
……
Paul listened carefully to the officers as they told their respective situations, listening to their joys and sorrows.
Time passed, and the “symposium” continued until the sun sank in the west.
“Today’s conversation has improved my understanding of you all. I think this kind of special meeting can be held every once in a while, so that we can communicate with each other, such as learning experience, work experience, life difficulties, can be said. Even if I’m not there, it can be chaired by someone in a higher position.”
“Yes, Lord Earl.” The officers answered.
Paul stood up and looked around the crowd.
“Well, that’s all for today. Now let’s get to the delicacies.”
The group followed Paul toward the cafeteria, where a food called “dumplings” awaited them.
(End of chapter)