Chapter 56 – Rallying the troops

Chapter 56 Gathering the Heart of the Army
The next day, Paul saw off Quiller and Hansel’s group outside the town.

Accompanying them was a team of grain carriers, as a pitch for the Arda Collar to show their loyalty to the crown, although the number was not large, but at least it could show the attitude.

In order to face the resistance he might encounter during the emancipation of slaves in the future, he followed Hansel’s advice – “to have a strong backing for himself as well” – and began to make some drastic changes to the army:
The Ministry of Logistics was set up to be responsible for the procurement and supply of the army’s materials, as well as the distribution of salaries, and Ron, who had previously delivered supplies to the boot camps, was appointed as the Minister of Logistics;
Establishment of the Ministry of Equipment, responsible for the army’s weapons development and testing, Kelly, who had previously managed the production of grenades, was appointed as the Minister of Equipment;

Establishment of the staff department, responsible for analyzing the war situation during wartime, providing advice and opinions to Paul, and making specific battle plans according to Paul’s intentions, and leading the training and construction of land forces during normal times. The chief officer of the staff was the Chief of Staff, and Old Knight Schroeder would continue to serve in this capacity.

The establishment of the Ministry of the Navy, wartime is responsible for commanding the maritime forces to conduct operations, usually responsible for the training and construction of maritime forces, the Ministry of the Navy’s principal officer is the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, the Northwest Bay Fleet Acting Admiral Austin will be concurrently serving in this position.

Paul ordered the staff to refine all kinds of military rules and rewards and punishments system, especially the strict duty system of all levels of officers, all officers are not allowed to leave the station, really something must be asked for leave, company commander and the following officers must live in the barracks. Officers and soldiers who do not return to their units within two days are penalized, and those who do not return to their units within two weeks are considered deserters.

After these actions, the army became more functional, and finally had the shadow of a professional army.

In order to cultivate more high-quality officers, the Ministry of Staff in the Wise College next to a new school – Gleiman Military Academy, by Schroeder, Bryce and other senior officers in accordance with the characteristics of the Alda army, the preparation of military textbooks and training syllabus in line with the requirements of the war in this era, the Earl of the Lord also pondered over the forums of the previous life bubble Learned and bottle vinegar military knowledge shake out, from time to time to give some advice.

The current stage of the military school can only be regarded as an officer crash course, the students are also basically the current troops in the active low-level officers.

In the wall of the military barracks in Huxin Township, with white dye brushed with such a slogan: “The army can not be separated from the people, just as the fish can not be separated from the water.”

Paul was trying to weave the emotional bond between the army and the civilians following the example of a certain army in the previous world, and the image of the armies of the countries in this era in the hearts of their respective populations could not be described as good.

Indeed, there is no lack of excellent generals who rule the army very strictly, such as Her Royal Highness Princess Catherine of the Kingdom of Aldo, the army under her direct subordinate has a very good reputation among the people.

But this is only an isolated example, most of the army can be summarized in one sentence, “discipline by whips, morale by looting”, not to mention attacking the enemy’s territory, even in the vicinity of the garrison to bully men and women, freeloading and so on will not be less dry.

Paul ordered the troops stationed in the town of Lakeville and the port of Fulan not to harass the people, but also to organize voluntary labor on weekends, and try to help the residents near the station to do some of the things they can do, in order to improve the image of the military in the community.

I don’t know who proposed it first, “Sons and Daughters”-this new title for the officers and soldiers of the Arda army gradually spread throughout the entire territory, but of course this was an afterthought.

Paul also ordered the officers of each village and town to try to help the families of the soldiers to solve the difficulties in life, especially the families of the warriors who were disabled or sacrificed in the first two battles with the pirates, they must be well taken care of, and he expected that through this kind of initiative, he could form a culture of supporting the soldiers and their families in Alda, in order to attract more young people to participate in the army to defend the homeland.

There is also to raise the monthly salary of officers and soldiers, in and Philip steward studied some of the current financial situation of the lord’s house income and expenditure, Lord Earl bear the pain of the officers and soldiers will be adjusted upward by two-fifths of the salary, so that a just enlisted in the ordinary recruits will be able to receive 500 copper coins per month.

Considering the consumption level of the Northwest region, this is already quite a good income, and the army includes food, housing and clothing, so if a soldier does not have any extra expenses, he can send all of this money home, or entrust the logistics department to send a portion of his salary directly to his family.

In order to eliminate the phenomenon of empty pay and drinking soldiers’ blood after the growth of the army organization, the salary is sent by the logistics department directly to the hands of the soldiers or their families, and the officers at all levels are not allowed to interfere with the salary payment of their subordinates.

For a while, the whole army was filled with the sound of gratitude to the Count.

After entering July, in an open area on the south shore of Lake Wise, a tall monument and a grand building were completed, the monument was engraved with the words “Always Remember”, while the gate of the grand building was engraved with “Martyrs’ Memorial Hall”.

This is Paul forcefully insisted on the construction of the building, with all the expensive stone and building materials, really spent a lot of money.

The memorial hall displayed the name of every fallen soldier of the Arda army, as well as their places of origin and biographies, which even included those who died in the battle where Old Gleeman was ambushed. On the day of its completion, the Lord’s House held a solemn memorial service in front of the memorial hall, and invited the families of the fallen officers and soldiers to attend. The solemn and heavy atmosphere caused many people present to shed tears, especially the soldiers in the army, and many of them even burst into tears.

They were heartbroken by the sacrifice of their comrades, lamenting the kindness of Paul, for thousands of years, it is always those high-powered generals and heroes who have been glorified from generation to generation, and who remembers them these worthless big-headed soldiers, how many unknown soldiers fell on the battlefield, along with the departure of friends and relatives eventually dissipated in the long river of history.

And from now on, the names of these mortals will be known and memorialized by future generations just like those big shots, as long as this building exists for one day, their names will exist for one day.

Fr. Morrison, Fr. Anderson and Abbot Leonard presided over the prayers at the memorial together, and they led the monks in praying to the Lord of Light, asking God to let these fallen warriors live a happy and joyful life in heaven.

Never before in history had there been nobles who valued the soldiers of the lower classes so much, and the old abbot could not help but feel a sense of sadness: could that young count really be a messenger sent by the Lord of Light to the ground to save the suffering of the mortals, as Morrison had said.

……

A few days after the memorial service, two figures rode slowly out of Lake Town on horseback.

“Ferguson, have you really made up your mind to leave?” Bryce looked to his old friend next to him, trying to persuade him one last time.

The old friend named Ferguson nodded and said, “Lord Earl has great ambitions and clearly wants to build a strong army, and those new rules he set up are excellent. But you don’t know that I’m a person who is used to being idle on weekdays, and it’s a bit hard to adapt to so many rules suddenly popping up.”

Bryce helplessly said, “Alas …… well, then I will not force you. What are your future plans?”

This Ferguson is Bryce’s good friend, for the people of the ancient ways, the character of the brash, usually two people are very compatible. After Paul’s reorganization, he served as the deputy company commander of the first company, and made a lot of credit in the battle to pacify the pirates.

The only drawback is that the character is a little loose, in the strict rule of the army slogan was put forward, because he could not stand the rules of the army to take the initiative to put forward a request for retirement.

Originally, according to the new military rules, this is to be heavily punished, but given that it is the old Gleeman left behind the knights, and made a lot of merit, Paul or quietly released.

He said to Bryce: “In the future, I intend to run my own manor well, and be a carefree rich man, I guess! But if Lord Earl has something to call upon, I will definitely beat my horse and rush to help.”

Bryce raised his eyebrows, “I knew you would say that! But what else?”

Ferguson slapped his head, “Forgot forgot forgot, if you ask me for a drink, I’ll just as easily come patting my horse without saying a word!”

“That’s more like it! We haven’t even split the difference yet!” The two laughed at each other.

“Well then, take care! We’ll have a drink together next time!” “Definitely!”

The two waved goodbye, and Bryce stationed his horse by the bridge, watching his friend run off into the sunset.

I apologize for updating so late, something has caused a delay today.

(End of chapter)