Laurist said, "As long as we can think about it and perfect our arrangements, the magical beast wave won't be a threat anymore."
Bofinger said, "I think the magical beast wave is beneficial. At the very least, it gives us a large amount of fresh meat. Ugh, sorry, I ate too much lamb … "
Aire said, "I want to eat vegetables. Potatoes are fine too, but don't give me beef. I've been eating beef and drinking beef soup every day for the past two months. The smell of beef makes me want to vomit …"
Pat said, "I agree with Aire, I want to eat potatoes too …"
Dolus said, "In front of our chariot army, all magical beasts are trash!"
Josk said, "I think the appearance of the steel ballistae changed everything. Without good equipment, courage and passion won't be able to stop the magical beast wave."
Master Fallin said, "The appearance of the steel ballistae means that we no longer need to fear the magical beast wave. This is a great innovation in the history of crossbows. Next, we will continue to refine and improve the steel ballistae. Our goal is to shoot farther, faster, stronger, and more accurately … "
Fatty Shi said, "I suggest that the reward for those who make contributions in resisting the magical beast wave is fifty kilograms of magic beast beef per person. What do you all think?"
Sadekamp said, "Good magic beast hide is the best material for making leather goods. It needs to be dried and tanned well. The less good ones can be used to make animal hide paper. Good beef can be marinated and dried, and the minced meat can be used to make sausages. We can make soup out of the bones and burn them to make fertilizer. We need to use everything we can. Wasting is the most shameful thing. However, dealing with so many magic beast corpses is quite a lot of work. Sir, can you send me a few thousand soldiers to help? It'll be difficult to deal with so many corpses in a month with just ten thousand people … "
Due to the bountiful harvest from the magical beast wave, Laurist had mobilized nearly a hundred thousand people in his territory to deal with the aftermath before May.
… …
On the tenth of the fifth month, Laurist held a meeting of the family's knights and civil officials at Monolith Castle. Fatty Shi gave a report on last year's work.
"… Last winter's wave of magical beasts brought us an uncountable number of furs and nearly 15 million kilograms of beef, lamb, and other magical beast meat products. We can be sure that in the next three years, our family will no longer lack meat. The most encouraging fact is that the horde of magical beasts is not a threat to us, but a great harvest from the hunt … "
The audience burst into thunderous applause. From the despair of facing the Magical Beast Tide two years ago to the rich harvest of last year's Magical Beast Tide, everyone present saw the hope of living and working in peace and contentment.
"After a whole year of hard work last year, we have perfected the defensive facilities of all the villages and central towns in Fengle Plain. That's why we are safe and sound in the horde of magical beasts. This year, the focus of our work is to improve the construction of roads in the villages and central towns, as well as the construction of housing. This is to ensure that all the people who have settled in Fengle Plain have a safe and warm home. This is not only Sir's promise to the people, but also to the people who tirelessly followed us to the north to reach our family's territory … "
"Apart from that, we will also establish a management organization for the seven districts of Fengle Plain, and improve the management of the villages at the grassroots level. All departments must continue to maintain the fine style of hard work and simple living. Guard against arrogance and rashness, and make greater contributions to the family in the new year.
Last year was a difficult year, but we have finally ushered in a harvest and joy after unrelenting hard work. Last year was also a year of harvest, and the various factories opened by the family have made the family's territory self-sufficient. We believe that under Sir's leadership, the future of the Norton Family will be even better! “
The applause rang out again, and the meeting came to a successful conclusion.
After the meeting ended, Laurist left the six Golden Knights, Fatty Shi, Terman, Yuri, and some other responsible knights of the family's armed forces behind for another meeting.
This time, Laurist focused on the reform of the military system.
The military system of the various countries in the Galinte Continent was mainly based on the military system. A legion had divisions, divisions had brigades, brigades had squadrons, and brigades had squadrons and squads. They were also divided into longbow squads, heavy armor squads, and pikemen squads.
A squad had about eighty to a hundred and fifty people, and a squad leader was the most basic commander. The squad leader would then appoint a few of his trusted subordinates as vice-leaders, and they would assist in managing a dozen or so people.
Laurist was most dissatisfied with this. Once the squad leader and vice-leader were lost in battle, the entire squad would easily descend into chaos. What Laurist wanted to do was not to overthrow the entire military system. What he wanted to do was to refine the size of the squads and implement platoon-style management.
For this reason, Laurist's proposal was to reduce the size of the squads. Each squad would have ten people, and they would be mixed. Instead of a single soldier type, there would be saber and shield soldiers, pikemen, and longbow soldiers among the ten people. This way, they would be able to cooperate effectively in battle.
Laurist's goal was for every squad to be like the mandarin duck formation of the Qi Family's army that he had heard of in his previous life. However, he had only heard of it, and did not understand the variations of the mandarin duck formation. However, he believed that he could slowly explore it. In the era of cold weapons, a squad with coordination was the most effective in terms of both lethality and self-preservation in a chaotic battle.
To Bofinger and the other family knights, Laurist's idea was to introduce the tactics of the mercenary squads into the family's armed forces. This was not strange at all. In a battle with more than ten people, a mercenary squad was more effective than a family soldier. This was an indisputable fact.
Above the squads were the platoons. Ten squads would form a platoon, with each platoon having a hundred people. Five platoons would form a brigade, with each brigade having five hundred people. Above the brigade was a battalion. Five battalions and a garrison logistics brigade would form a battalion of three thousand people. In Laurist's vision, this battalion would be a unit that could fight on its own.
Laurist planned to reorganize the family's armed forces. First, he would disband the three garrison squads. There were more than eighty villages in Fengle Plains, and each village would form a garrison platoon of a hundred people. The seven central cities and the industrial cities of Blade Peak would form a garrison platoon of five hundred people. Maplewood Manor and the inner city of Monolith Castle would also form a garrison platoon of five hundred people.
The main responsibility of these garrison troops was to protect the cities and the surrounding areas. The task of reorganizing the garrison troops would be handed over to Freya, a Gold-ranked knight, to be completed by the end of the year.
Freya stood up to receive the order.
Laurist then ordered the Golden Knight Malek to form a patrol squadron in each town. Each squadron consisted of a hundred men, and they would be responsible for the civil and criminal cases in each town, as well as the health and security of the town. The personnel needed would be selected from the retired soldiers of the family and the disbanded garrison troops.
Laurist then chopped down on Bofinger's heavy armor regiment and Roth's armored cavalry regiment. He ordered them to form two battalions according to Laurist's three thousand-strong battalion. Soldiers who could enter these battalions had to be at least Iron-ranked impetus and between the ages of twenty to twenty-five. Officers could be below thirty-five. Laurist emphasized that he wasn't asking for numbers, but for elites.
Dolais's chariot regiment was also reorganized into three battalions of nine thousand men. As the family's main long-range army, the chariots' steel crossbows had already replaced the longbowmen's position. Laurist didn't want to make any big changes.
Yuri's three light cavalry platoons were reorganized into a ranger battalion of three thousand men. Apart from age and impetus, the rest of the troops were split into hundred-man platoons and sent to the various garrisons and logistics battalions. In Laurist's plan, the garrisons and logistics battalions would consist of one light cavalry platoon, one heavy armor platoon, one logistics platoon, and two supply guard platoons. This way, a battalion would have two thousand five hundred main soldiers and five hundred support troops. Only then would they have the confidence to fight on their own.
Josk's archer battalion did not move. Laurist and Master Fallin were already designing new cavalry bows to replace the longbows of the archer battalion. However, none of the designs had the power of the longbow, so it seemed like this goal was still a long way off.
Terman's knight regiment did not move either, but Laurist also reorganized it into a three-thousand-man battalion. Terman still had to recruit a few hundred more people.
The Royal Guard Battalion under Ayer's command was greatly reorganized, and the original Royal Guard Battalion had expanded to a size of more than five thousand people. According to Ayer, the Royal Guard Battalion's job was to do odd jobs. They were responsible for escorting the transport caravans, guarding the mines, watching over the captives, and following Lollister. They were the universal glue, and there was no need to think of them first.
This time, the battalion was split into two. Aire's battalion did not care about anything other than Laurist's orders, while the newly formed battalion took on the responsibility of watching over the warehouses and mines. Laurist was also preparing to form a second battalion of guards from the family's armed forces that had been reduced. This battalion would be responsible for watching over the thirty thousand captives.
Apart from the battalion, the former bandit Ovis' platoon was ordered to expand into the first battalion of guards, responsible for guarding Monolith Castle. Meanwhile, Knight Pacico of Maple Manor was ordered to form the second battalion of guards.
Laurist pointed at the map and said that this year, they planned to build a stronghold in Crouching Bull hill, where the archer battalion was currently stationed. Firstly, it could provide protection and support for the two fortresses on the border of the Demonic Dragon Mountains and the family's territory. Secondly, this place was a strategic location. It was connected to the two fortresses on the east, overlooking the valley, the Black Clay Swamp to the north, and the Poplar Beach to the west. As long as they controlled this place, even if the fortresses fell, the mountain barbarians would not be able to attack the family's territory. Moreover, this is the path that the magical beast swarm must pass through every winter. In the future, if the magical beast swarm is not large, we can even stop them here and prevent them from reaching Fengle Plains.
The family had planned to build a stronghold here in the past, but they lacked manpower and soldiers, and the large clans of Beiye town were holding them back, so they could not carry it out. With the terrain of Crouching Bull hill, they needed to build a large stronghold. If they built a small one, it would be useless. Now that the family had a powerful army, they could build a stronghold here. At that time, with Knight Pacico's second battalion of guards stationed here, the safety of the family's territory would be guaranteed.
Finally, it was the women's battalion of young lady Bai Sha. In the two previous operations to wipe out the magical beasts lingering in Fengle Plains, the women's battalion had performed extremely well. Laurist allowed young lady Bai Sha to expand the women's battalion to three thousand people, but he requested that every member of the battalion be familiar with battlefield rescue and the use of various potions. Laurist was prepared to turn the women's battalion into battlefield rescuers.
As for the Apothecary team heading north, Laurist believed that they had already completed their mission. He requested the person in charge, Rummed, to set up medical centers in the various large towns. He requested the Apothecaries who had been forced to travel north to be placed in charge of the medical centers in the various towns, in charge of treating the citizens.
As for Rummed, Laurist gave him two choices. He could either become the person in charge of the medical center in Monolith Castle, or he could become an Apothecary instructor in the women's battalion.
Rummed happily went to report to young lady Bai Sha.
Bofinger asked, "Sir, will our family's armed forces be based on battalions in the future, and there will no longer be divisions or legions?"
Laurist laughed. "How could that be? The current development is mainly about the army. Even the Kenneth family has to form a thirty thousand family army, not to mention the first army of the Iberian Kingdom that the second prince has formed. My plan is to have five battalions of fifteen thousand people as a division, and five divisions of seventy-five thousand people as a legion. The current simplification of the family's elite forces is to first set the framework and armor, and it will be a simple matter to expand in the future. "
"So that's what Sir is planning. I understand. I will definitely train an elite family's armed forces according to Sir's instructions. Please don't worry, Sir." Bofinger said.
"But Sir, why haven't I been assigned anything?" Berunik stood up.
"Don't worry, I have something important to entrust to Big Brother Beck." Laurist waved his hand and said, "I am preparing to set up a new recruit camp at Maple Forest Manor. This time, all the family's soldiers between twenty and twenty-five who have not yet reached the Iron rank will go to the recruit camp for training, and they will only be able to enter the army after they reach the standard. In the future, the family's armed forces cannot recruit soldiers on their own, and the vacancies will be filled by the recruit camp.
In addition, all the citizens of the family's territory who have reached eighteen years of age must enter the recruit camp and receive training to awaken their fighting power. Females can participate voluntarily for a period of three months. Those who have not awakened can participate three times in a row, and in the future, all the family's soldiers will be selected from these awakened youths. The standard for the family's soldiers will be regular battalions, with fighting power at the Iron rank, and the guards at the Bronze rank or above. Once the number reaches the standard, we can expand. Big Brother Beck will be in charge of this recruit camp. "
"Yes, Sir." Berunik saluted.
… …
Not counting the guards of the various villages and towns, the family's armed forces currently had a total of sixteen battalions, with a total of nearly fifty thousand people. To Laurist, it was barely passable. The ratio of soldiers to civilians was maintained at one to ten. Based on this statistic, Laurist deceived himself and others into thinking that the garrison and patrol squads were militia. He ignored the fact that these two squads required the family to fork out a monthly salary for them.
Fortunately, the family's territory was in the north, and the convoy did not do much along the way. Instead, they robbed and became rich, accumulating a huge fortune of three million gold fords for the family. In addition, they also received the White Lion Army's standard weapons and equipment, so Laurist could still afford to support the family's armed forces.
Now that all the businesses in the family's territory were in the family's hands, no matter how much preferential treatment Laurist gave the family's soldiers, he was still playing with his left hand.
It was already the end of June when he finished discussing the details of the family's armed forces with Fatty Shi and the others. Just as Laurist was about to give himself two months of leave to accompany his precious son at Maple Forest Villa, Count Kenneth came to visit again.
This time, Earl Kenneth had come to fulfill the agreement he had signed last time. Not only had he transported 33,000 sets of armor and equipment from Monolith Castle, but he had also spent 200,000 gold coins to buy a large amount of snow salt and one million kilograms of smoked magic beef from Fatty Shi.
Fatty Shi, who had completed the transaction, was very angry. He knew that if Count Kenneth sold the snow salt and smoked magic beef, he would be able to get at least five or six hundred thousand gold fords for two hundred thousand.
Laurist felt that there was nothing he could do about it. The other party controlled the chain bridge. Also, we can't always keep them if we don't sell them. After all, these are all produced by the family, so we should sell as much as we can.
Fatty Shi felt that he had to find a sea outlet in the family's territory. The family still had a lot of good magical beast furs, which could be sold for a high price in Morent City.
Laurist nodded. He already had a target, so he just had to wait for the time to take a look.
… …
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