Bodenfeng said, "I think the magical beast tide is actually quite beneficial—at the very least, it brought us a huge supply of fresh meat. Uh, sorry, I've been eating too much mutton..."
Al said, "I want vegetables—potatoes are fine. Don't serve me any more beef. For over two months, I've been eating beef and drinking beef soup every single day. Now just the smell of beef makes me want to vomit..."
Pat said, "I agree with Al—I want potatoes too..."
Dolles said, "In the face of our Chariot Corps, all magical beasts are nothing but trash!"
Josk said, "I think it was the steel car-mounted crossbows His Lord designed that changed everything. Without good weapons and equipment, courage and hot blood alone can't stop a magical beast tide."
Master Falin said, "The appearance of the steel car-mounted crossbows means we no longer fear the arrival of the magical beast tide. This is a magnificent innovation in the history of crossbows. Next, we will further refine and improve the steel car-mounted crossbows. Our goal is greater range, faster firing, more power, and better accuracy..."
Because the harvest from this magical beast tide was extraordinarily bountiful, Lorist had to mobilize nearly a hundred thousand workers from the family's territory to complete the cleanup before May.
...
On May 10th, Lorist convened the annual family knights and civil officials' assembly at
"...Last winter's magical beast tide brought us countless pelts and nearly thirty million pounds of beef, mutton, and other magical beast meat products. We can confirm that for the next three years, our family will not lack for meat. The most encouraging fact is that the magical beast tide was not a threat to us—it was a grand harvest..."
Thunderous applause erupted throughout the hall. From the despair they had faced with the magical beast tide the year before last to the bountiful harvest from last year's tide, everyone present could see the hope of living in peace and prosperity.
"Last year, through a full year of diligent labor, we completed the defensive fortifications for all the settlement villages and central towns across the Fertile Plains, which is why we were able to remain safe and unharmed during the magical beast tide. This year, our priority work will be improving road construction and housing in all the settlement villages and central towns, so that every settler in the Fertile Plains has a safe and warm home. This is both His Lordship's promise to the settlers and a reward for those who loyally followed our northward caravan to the family's territory..."
"In addition, we will establish administrative bodies for the seven districts of the Fertile Plains to improve grassroots management of the settlement villages. All departments must continue to maintain their fine tradition of hard work and plain living, guard against arrogance and rashness, and make even greater contributions to the family in the new year.
Last year was a difficult year, but through unremitting effort, we finally welcomed a harvest of joy. Last year was also a year of achievement—the various workshops established by the family have made our territory self-sufficient. We believe that under His Lordship's leadership, the future of our
Warm applause rang out once more, and the assembly was successfully concluded.
After the meeting, Lorist kept behind the six Golden Knights and Fatty Shi, along with
This time, Lorist focused his attention on military reform.
The military systems used across the Galentea Continent were primarily legion-based: a legion contained corps, corps contained battalions, and battalions contained companies and squads, with further division by troop type into longbow companies, heavy infantry platoons, spear squads, and so on.
A squad consisted of roughly eighty to one hundred fifty men. The squad leader was the most basic command position, and the squad leader would then appoint several trusted subordinates as deputies to assist in managing a dozen or several dozen men.
What Lorist was most dissatisfied with was that once the squad leader and deputies were lost in battle, the entire squad would easily fall into chaos. What Lorist wanted to do was not to overthrow the entire legion system, but rather to refine the squad structure and implement fire-team-style management.
To that end, Lorist's proposal was to reduce squad size to ten men, implement a mixed composition, and no longer organize by a single troop type. Instead, each ten-man squad would include swordsmen, spearmen, and longbowmen who could coordinate effectively in battle.
The goal Lorist hoped to achieve was for each squad to become something like the Mandarin Duck Formation of the Qi Family Army he had heard about in his previous life—though he had only heard of it and didn't fully understand its tactical variations. However, he believed that with gradual experimentation, squads with proper coordination would be the most effective in large-scale battles during the cold weapons era, whether for offensive power or self-preservation.
Among the family armies, this kind of arrangement was nothing unusual. In small-unit combat, mercenary squads were undeniably more effective than family soldiers at working together.
Above the squad was the company: ten squads formed a company of one hundred men. Five companies formed a battalion of five hundred men. Above the battalion was a regiment: five combat battalions plus one garrison and logistics battalion, totaling three thousand men to form a regiment. In Lorist's vision, each regiment would be a self-sufficient combat unit.
Lorist planned to vigorously reorganize the family army. First, he would dissolve the three garrison corps. Each of the eighty-odd settlement villages in the Fertile Plains would form a garrison company of one hundred men. The seven central towns plus the industrial town at the Blade Mountain Range would form a garrison battalion of five hundred men. Additionally, Maple Forest Manor and the rear section of Rock Fortress would each form a garrison battalion of five hundred men.
The primary duty of these garrison troops would be to defend the towns and maintain security in surrounding areas. The task of reorganizing these garrison units was entrusted to Golden Knight Farea, with completion required within the year.
Farea rose and accepted the order.
Lorist then commanded Golden Knight Malek to establish a police company in each town, consisting of one hundred men, responsible for civil and criminal cases, as well as managing hygiene and public order. Personnel would be selected from retired family soldiers and disbanded garrison troops.
Next, Lorist turned his axe of reduction to Bodenfeng's Heavy Armor Corps and Iron Tiger Ross's Iron-Armored Lance Cavalry Corps. He required them each to form two regiments of three thousand men according to his proposed regimental organization. Soldiers who could enter these regiments must have
Dolles's Chariot Corps was also reorganized by Lorist into three regiments of nine thousand men. As the family's primary ranged unit—the chariot steel crossbows had already replaced the role of longbowmen—Lorist did not wish to make major changes.
Yuri's scout light cavalry, three battalions, was reorganized into a single three-thousand-man mobile cavalry regiment. Those cut from the ranks, aside from those eliminated due to age or insufficient Combat Force, were distributed into companies of one hundred and assigned to the garrison and logistics battalions of each regiment. In Lorist's vision, each regiment's garrison and logistics battalion would consist of one scout light cavalry company, one garrison heavy infantry company, one logistics company, and two baggage guard companies. This way, each regiment would have twenty-five hundred frontline combat troops and five hundred auxiliary forces, giving it genuine capability for independent operations.
Josk's Mounted Archery Regiment was left unchanged. Lorist had already been working with Master Falin on designing new mounted bows to replace the longbows used by the regiment, but after testing several prototypes, none matched the longbow's power. That goal still seemed a long way off.
Terman's knight corps was also left intact, though its organization was changed by Lorist to a three-thousand-man regimental structure. Terman still needed to recruit several hundred more men.
Al's bodyguard battalion received a thorough overhaul. The original bodyguard battalion had expanded to over five thousand men—as Al put it, the bodyguard battalion was a jack-of-all-trades: escorting supply convoys, guarding mines and workshops, watching over prisoners, and accompanying Lorist. They were the universal glue, the first ones thought of whenever anything needed doing.
This time, the bodyguard battalion was split in two. Al's bodyguard battalion would now only follow Lorist's direct orders and handle nothing else. The newly established guard battalion would take over responsibility for guarding warehouses, mines, and workshops. Lorist also planned to select and form a Second Guard Battalion from the personnel cut from the family army, specifically responsible for overseeing the more than thirty thousand prisoners performing forced labor.
Besides the bodyguard battalion, the former bandit Ovikis's guard company was ordered to expand into the First Close Guard Regiment, responsible for defending Rock Fortress. At Maple Forest Manor, Knight
Lorist pointed at the map and said that this year, he planned to build a fortress castle at Oxrest Hill, the current position of the Mounted Archery Regiment. First, it would provide protection and support for both the Dark Dragon Mountains and the Two Mountain military outposts at the family territory's border. Second, this location was a strategic nexus: it connected eastward to the Two Mountain outposts and overlooked the river valley; northward it faced the Black Mud Marshes; and westward it led to the Populus Beach. As long as this place was controlled, even if the Two Mountain outposts fell, the mountain barbarians would be unable to raid the family's territory. Moreover, this was the route the magical beast tide passed through every winter. In the future, if the tide was not too large, they could even directly intercept it here, preventing it from reaching the Fertile Plains.
The family had previously planned to build a fortress here but had lacked the manpower and military strength, with several powerful families in Northfield Town dragging their feet, so the plan could not be carried out. The terrain at Oxrest Hill demanded a large fortress castle—building a small one would be inadequate and useless. Now that the family's army was strong and well-equipped, this was the perfect time to construct the fortress. With Knight Pachiko's Second Close Guard Regiment garrisoned there, the family's territory would be safe and secure.
Finally, there was Miss Baisha's Women's Battalion. In the two previous operations to sweep up magical beasts lingering in the Fertile Plains, the Women's Battalion had performed excellently. Lorist permitted Miss Baisha to expand the battalion to three thousand members, but required every member to be proficient in battlefield medical care and the use of various medicinal preparations. Lorist intended to shape the Women's Battalion into a battlefield medical corps.
As for the potion-making squad from the Northward Caravan, Lorist believed its mission had been accomplished. He ordered its leader, Renmerd, to establish medical bureaus in all major towns and to place the apothecaries who had been brought along the northward journey into these bureaus as directors, responsible for treating the settlers.
As for Renmerd, Lorist gave him two choices: either take charge of the Medical General Bureau at Rock Fortress, or go to the Women's Battalion as an apothecary instructor to train the women soldiers.
Renmerd cheerfully went to report to Miss Baisha.
"Sir, from now on our family army will be organized by regiments—there won't be any more corps or legion designations?" someone asked.
Lorist smiled. "How could that be? The current trend is toward legion organization. Even the Kelmess family is forming a thirty-thousand-man family legion, not to mention that
"So that's Your Lordship's plan. I understand. I'll definitely follow your orders and train an elite family army. Please rest assured," said Bodenfeng.
"But Sir, why haven't I been assigned any tasks?" Belunek stood up.
"Don't rush—there is an important matter to entrust to Big Brother Beck." Lorist waved his hand. "I plan to establish a recruit training camp at Maple Forest Manor. All family soldiers between the ages of twenty and twenty-five who have not yet reached the Black Iron Combat Force standard will be sent to the recruit camp for training. Only after meeting the standard will they be allowed to serve in the units. From now on, no branch of the family army may recruit soldiers on its own—any vacancies will be filled through the recruit training camp.
Furthermore, from now on, all settlers in the family's territory who reach the age of eighteen—males must enter the recruit training camp to undergo Combat Force awakening training, while females may participate voluntarily. The training lasts three months. Those who fail to awaken may attend up to three consecutive sessions. All future family soldiers will be selected from among these awakened youths. The standard for family soldiers is regular regimental-level units with Black Iron Combat Force strength; garrison troops must be at Bronze level or above. Once sufficient numbers are reached, expansion can begin. The person in charge of this recruit training camp will be Big Brother Beck."
"Yes, sir." Belunek snapped to attention and saluted.
...
If the garrison troops in the various settlement villages and towns were not counted, the family army currently maintaining its organizational structure consisted of sixteen regimental-level units, with a total strength of nearly fifty thousand men. For Lorist, this was barely satisfactory. The military-to-civilian ratio stood at one to ten. On this statistic, Lorist somewhat self-deceptively counted the garrison and police units as militia, ignoring that these two forces also required the family to pay them real gold in monthly salaries.
Fortunately, the family's territory was located in Northland, and the Northward Caravan had not done much trading along the way. Instead, it had accumulated wealth through plunder, gathering an enormous fortune of three million Gold Forde for the family. Add to that the generous donation of White Lion Legion standard weapons and equipment, and Lorist could still afford to maintain this family army.
Now that every industry in the family's territory was controlled by the family, no matter how generously Lorist treated the family soldiers, it was all a left-hand-to-right-hand trick.
After finalizing the detailed regulations concerning the family army with Fatty Shi and the others, it was already the end of June. Lorist was preparing to give himself a two-month vacation to visit Maple Forest Manor and spend time with his precious son when Count Kelmess came to visit once again.
This time, Count Kelmess came regarding the agreement they had previously signed. He not only transported thirty-three thousand sets of iron armor and matching weapons and equipment from Rock Fortress, but also, tempted by what he saw, spent twenty thousand Gold Forde to purchase large quantities of snow salt and two million pounds of smoked magic beef from Fatty Shi.
Fatty Shi was fuming with indignation after completing the transaction. He knew that once Count Kelmess resold the snow salt and smoked magic beef, the twenty thousand Gold Forde worth of goods would easily fetch fifty to sixty thousand.
Lorist felt there was nothing to be done about it—the other party controlled the suspension bridge for external trade. Moreover, since they couldn't just keep stockpiling indefinitely, and these were all products of the family's own territory, selling some was better than letting it sit.
Fatty Shi believed they absolutely had to find a seaport within the family's territory. The family still had large stocks of high-quality magical beast pelts, which could fetch top prices in
Lorist nodded. He already had a target in mind—he was just waiting for the time to go take a look.
...(To be continued.)