Regarding the 'army' that he had seen in this world so far, Gwen only had one word for it: weird.
At least, that was the case in Ansu.
Due to various factors such as the severe regression of civilization, low productivity, the fragmentation of the nobles, and the absolute dominance of high-end military professions, the military system of the Ansu Kingdom was deformed. This country was a unified whole in name, but in reality, every noble was equivalent to occupying an independent kingdom, and the so-called king was just the most glamorous one among all the lords (and not necessarily the most authoritative one). This kingdom did not have a unified professional army, only the troops led by the nobles and the Knight's Order, which was directly under the royal family in St. Sunil City. Furthermore, the nobles of all levels did not have the authority to rule from top to bottom. The situation of 'my vassal's vassal is not my vassal' was especially serious here. Even the many southern families that claimed to be directly under the king were only attached to the royal family in the form of an alliance. They only had a small obligation to the king to monitor the southern border, provide intelligence, and send troops during wartime, but they would not listen to the king's other orders.
The soldiers under their hands were naturally only their own.
Even the few soldiers under a viscount were the viscount's own.
So, if a great noble needed to fight a war, how would he raise an army?
It was simple. If he had enough prestige, found a good reason for the war, and promised enough benefits for the division after the war, then the lords under his name would have the obligation to bring their own private soldiers to help in the war. These private soldiers would form their own teams and be led by the powerful military professions sent by their lords. (Usually, it was the latter. Many Ansu nobles in this era had fallen to the point where they did not know how to fight on horseback and could only use money to hire powerful military professions to guard their families.) During the war, these 'mixed armies' with all kinds of flags, numbers, and tactics would swarm forward, depending on the strength of the enemy and how much benefits they would gain. After the war, the leaders would run to the great lord or the king to calculate the benefits.
The result of this was obvious: the entire kingdom did not have a professional army, nor did it have a unified command system and training rules for soldiers. The nobles used various methods to assemble their own private armies. The weapons were not unified, the military system was not unified, and the logistics were not unified. Even the armies trained by the nobles' father and son were not necessarily unified — if the two did not have a good relationship.
In addition to the variety of soldiers, this chaotic military system also led to a series of serious consequences: the formation of the army's combat power was extremely slow, the training efficiency was low, the selection of soldiers was not systematic, the desertion rate was frighteningly high, and once the leader died, the whole team of soldiers was finished. Because they had neither discipline nor knowledge, all they knew was to follow the Knight's lead and charge.
In this respect, the Cecil family was slightly better than the other nobles. As the "Guardian Family of the Southern Territory" that resisted the invasion of monsters at the frontier, Cecil's family still retained the tradition passed down from generation to generation: a more scientific militia system.
In addition to the official soldiers (also known as the family warriors), Cecil's other main source of soldiers was the trained militia. The family Knight trained these people from the freemen according to the standard that was lower than the official soldiers. In their spare time, they trained the freemen, and in their busy time, they worked on the farm to make up for the shortage of official soldiers. At the same time, this way, a large number of reserve soldiers were stored in the territory. Because there were many people who had received basic combat training, in case of an emergency, it was much easier to replenish the official soldiers than other nobles.
Rebecca's decision to expand the scope of militia recruitment from freedmen to serfs was the result of further development of this system.
But Gwen decided to take all of this a step further.
Considering his future plans, he needed a professional, professional, and stable army. Therefore, he simply abolished the separation of the militia and the family warriors. Instead, he unified all the soldiers into a "combat regiment". He required that all the soldiers must be trained according to the new and unified method. He also announced that they would be paid a uniform salary.
Before this, the private soldiers of the nobles were not paid. Usually, the private soldiers of the nobles had to prepare their own weapons or buy weapons from the feudal lord at their own expense. When they went to war, they even had to prepare their own food. Under such circumstances, the soldiers were still willing to fight for the nobles because of the existence of the "privateering" behavior. The soldiers could plunder on the battlefield and after conquering the enemy's city, and keep half of the goods for their own use. This was their reward for being a soldier.
The situation in Cecil Hill was different from other places. The feudal lords of the Cecil Hill would provide the soldiers with weapons and equipment in the form of renting. They would also give the soldiers food as compensation for training and farm work. But other than that, they would not be paid any salary. The food was just enough to make ends meet.
Of course, Gwen decided to pay the professional soldiers and at the same time announced that the Cecil soldiers would be permanently banned from any privateering behavior.
If the soldiers wanted to get promoted or additional rewards, it was very simple. Gwen also promised to formulate a detailed reference for promotion based on merit and various kinds of contributions. Compared to the disorderly and barbaric plunder in the past, if the soldiers bravely killed the enemy or seriously carried out orders, they would get more wealth in the future.
This was not a problem because the Cecil family had always only fought against monsters. At most, they fought against the barbarians outside the state in the early years. Their soldiers did not have the habit of privateering at all. All along, their loyalty to the Cecil family was maintained by the food subsidies and various benevolent policies for the families who joined the army. At this time, Gwen just made the "prohibition of privateering" a clear law. Everyone did not feel anything and even welcomed it. After all, Gwen promised that in the future, even the serfs who joined the army could rely on merit to be promoted. This was a privilege that only the family warriors had in the past.
But what happened next made them feel a little bit different. As a continuation and extension of the original militia system, Gwen stipulated that all adult men in the territory were obliged to receive basic military training during their leisure time. The original conscription had become compulsory and compulsory.
This did not mean that everyone had to go to the battlefield to fight, but to ensure that the subjects had basic military training and could be more easily converted into professional soldiers.
If this had been brought up at any other time, it would most likely have caused a certain amount of dissatisfaction. However, at this very moment, less than a day had passed since the monster attack, and Gawain Cecil's prestige was at an all-time high. Coupled with the fact that he had personally defended the camp, this system was announced to the public.
And everyone was very open-minded. After all, the regular labor of the feudal lord was to contribute, and this time, participating in the training was also to contribute. Thinking about it this way, in fact, there was not much change, as long as they could eat their fill.
Besides, if there was really a chance to be selected as an official soldier, then wearing armor and wielding a sword was equivalent to becoming 'half a decent person'. For most of the poor people who lived in poverty all their lives, this was a rare way out. In front of this path, it was completely worth it to just spend the rest of their time training.
The change in the military system could not be completed in a day, and the details involved were far from being explained in a few words. Considering the acceptance ability of the live audience and the complexity of the various details, Gwen did not explain all of his ideas on the stage. He just roughly talked about the integration of all the soldiers into a "combat regiment" and the basic military training before leaving the platform. As for the real details … that would have to be discussed with the two Knight and Heti.
And what he announced today was just to lay the foundation. To put it bluntly, considering the current situation of the territory, the things he said were a little too advanced. There were only about 800 people in the pioneering land, and only 100 of them were trained as soldiers. These 100 people were the entire "army" of Cecil, and the scale of the army was like heaven and earth compared to the future that Gwen envisioned.
Even though it was only a hundred, the ratio of soldiers to soldiers had actually reached an insane level. One-eighth of the population had been converted into professional soldiers. Judging from the ratio alone, it was almost as if the words' militaristic 'were written all over their faces. In Gawain's impression, the ratio of soldiers to soldiers in a kingdom in a state of peace was usually between forty to one and seventy to one, or even lower. Even during wartime, the ratio would not exceed one-tenth, unless there was a war of life and death, or a nomadic tribe like the Northern Barbarians in the past, where the whole population was a soldier.
And in his territory, one-eighth of the people were soldiers!
If these were all demobilized soldiers, it meant that almost all the material output of the camp would be used to support this one-eighth of demobilized soldiers, and all development would come to a halt. The stability of the society would also decline. Therefore, all the soldiers in the territory were not demobilized. They were usually training, guarding, and when they were free, they would participate in the construction of the camp and the reclamation work to ensure that the labor force was sufficient.
This made them similar to a construction army, and what made Gwen glad was that the soldiers did not complain about this.
This was partially due to the fact that more than half of the soldiers were militias, which meant that they weren't out of work. The rest of the soldiers were extremely loyal veterans. Furthermore, the Cecil Family had always been strict in their management, which ensured that the soldiers under the family's name wouldn't turn into lazy old soldiers. This was the reason for the current situation.
Even so, this one-eighth ratio of soldiers was not a long-term solution. Gwen's next plan was to find a way to bring in more people to make up for the camp's biggest shortcoming.
If he did not make up for the lack of manpower, anything he said would be a fantasy. To plan a professional modern army for a camp of only 800 people and a troop of 100 soldiers, Gwen admitted that he would not dream of such a thing even if he did not hold on to the coffin lid and get his head smashed by it.
It was just that he had to set the framework in advance, even if it was just a framework. Because once a large number of outsiders came in, it would be too late to do many things. At that time, without a mature and stable framework, all his efforts here would be diluted by the mixed new population.
After the meeting was over, Gawain immediately summoned the management staff of the camp, including the two knights. This time, he also called upon Norris, the farmer who had adapted to the position of 'agricultural supervisor' for more than ten days, and Hammer, the blacksmith who had begun to take charge of the steelworks.
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