Loriste decided to reform the military system of the family. Learning from Hansk's instigation of internal strife, the military reform this time involved two main aspects. The first was to completely separate the military and the government, separating the administrative system from the family's armed forces.
Currently, only the three main armies and the Northsea Fleet could truly separate the military and the government. Without Loriste's orders, no one could command them. As for the rest of the Guard Legions, Garrison Battalion, and Garrison Team, anyone could intervene and command them. Even Spear, who was in charge of the family's finances, could deploy one or two Guard Battalions and order them around.
This was also one of the reasons why the First Guard Army was easily controlled by Hansk and his accomplices. After all, the soldiers in the First Guard Army were young captives recruited by the family. It was part of the family's strategy to use the enemy as their own. They were also responsible for maintaining the stability of the area and taking care of logistics. In terms of command and management, they were not clear with the local administrative department.
As long as the higher-ups of the army were informed, it was natural to send a few guards to listen to the orders of the civil officials of the family. After all, it was all for the family's business. For example, when Hansk requested to suppress the mountain barbarian captives, Spear requested to send the guards to escort the family's property, and Fatty Shi sent the Bear Rage Knights to Munohara Province.
Loriste planned to set up a military department that would deal with the military affairs of the family's armed forces. Whether it was the changing of armaments, the supply of logistical supplies, the recruitment of the family's soldiers, the distribution of salaries and benefits, or the assignment of troops, everything would be handled by this department. As for the deployment of troops and battle strategists during war, there was no need to mention it.
However, Loriste had not thought of a name for this department. Military Department? Political Department? General Staff Department? Ministry of Defense? These names sounded so awkward. Loriste thought for a long time but could not think of a good name. He could only put it aside. At most, he would let everyone think of a name.
As for the officer in charge of all the armed forces, Loriste had two candidates in mind. One was Bofinger, and the other was Malek. In a sense, becoming the officer of this department was equivalent to becoming the superior of all the Knights in the family. He would be the number one Knight of the Norton Family. This position was truly dazzling.
Although Elephant Shi was known as the Chief Knight of the Norton Family, everyone knew that the title of Chief Knight was not based on strength or Battle Qi. On the contrary, Fatty Shi had won this honor with his outstanding administrative coordination and management ability. Among all the Gold Knights in the Norton Family, Fatty Shi was ranked at the bottom of the list with his 1-star Gold Warrior Energy and poor swordsmanship. Even though his father-in-law was a Master Swordsman, it was useless.
In terms of martial prowess, the Ferocious Tiger Ross was definitely ranked first among the Family Knights. Just like how Laurist had given him the title of Ferocious Tiger, he was the best at attacking. Whether it was an individual duel or the Flying Tiger Army that he led, the only battle plan against the enemy was to attack continuously until the enemy was defeated. Right now, the Ferocious Tiger Ross's Dou Qi cultivation is already at the peak of 3-star Gold rank. As long as he can find an opportunity, advancing to become a Great Swordmaster wouldn't be a problem.
However, Laurist was worried that the Ferocious Tiger Ross's personality wasn't very likable. He was proud and arrogant, and other than Laurist and a few good friends in the family, he didn't care about the other Family Knights. Even Fatty Shi wasn't worthy of his attention. Apart from that, Ferocious Tiger Ross's fondness for alcohol and women was also a major weakness of the Ferocious Tiger Ross. At the same time, the Ferocious Tiger Ross disobeyed orders and led troops to attack the Trade Union on his own was also the main reason why he couldn't advance his position in the family.
Laurist was worried that appointing Ferocious Tiger Ross as the person in charge of all the affairs of the Family Armed Forces would be difficult to convince. Moreover, with Ferocious Tiger Ross's personality, it would be difficult for him to get used to handling the trivial and complicated daily administrative affairs in this new department. Thus, Laurist quickly ruled out Ferocious Tiger Ross as a candidate.
Other than Ferocious Tiger Ross, who was good at attacking, the only one who could oversee the department was Bofinger, who was good at defense. He was the only Family Knight in the family who could be mentioned in the same breath as Ferocious Tiger Ross, and he was also the opponent that Ferocious Tiger Ross publicly declared that he didn't want to fight. There was no other reason than that Bofinger's swordsmanship was really good at defense. Although he couldn't defeat Ferocious Tiger Ross, he could use his defense to stall Ferocious Tiger Ross until he was helpless and had no choice but to give up the duel.
What kind of army commander left behind the style of the army he led. Compared to the Flying Tiger Army, which was good at seizing opportunities to invade like fire and attack wave after wave until the enemy was defeated, the Monolith Army was also known for being good at defense. This was especially so when the Monolith Army faced the frenzied attack of 300,000 troops from the Commerce Alliance two years ago. The Monolith Army remained unmoved and held their camp for more than a month, causing the Commerce Alliance to suffer heavy losses and retreat without achieving anything. This bought time for the defeated Andinac Kingdom's army to rearm and make a comeback. The Monolith Army became famous because of this battle.
It seemed very normal for Bofinger to be the commander of this new department that was in charge of all the affairs of the Family Armed Forces, and it would also convince most of the Family Knights. However, in Laurist's heart, he felt that the most suitable candidate was Malek. Compared to the arrogant Ferocious Tiger Ross, Bofinger was a little too humble. What Laurist was most worried about was that Bofinger would easily be a good guy when handling certain military affairs.
If it was Malek, Laurist would not have this worry. Malek, who was known as the Iron Mask, was actually the most feared Gold Knight in the Norton Family Armed Forces. As a law enforcement officer, Malek was known for his ruthlessness and meticulousness in the execution of military law. Even the Ferocious Tiger Ross could not escape punishment when he violated military law.
Moreover, Malek was very decisive in handling matters. He had a firm and loyal personality. Laurist trusted him more than the Ferocious Tiger, Ross, and Bofinger. However, Malek did not have a good reputation among the family's knights. Come to think of it, no one would like someone who was not willing to bend the rules. Other than a few close friends, Malek was only acquainted with most of the Family Knights.
Letting Malek take the position would cause an even greater uproar in the Family. For the sake of protecting Malek, Laurist felt that he could not insist on pushing Malek into this position. After thinking about it, Laurist decided to let Bofinger be the officer in charge of this military department in name. He would also be the commander of the Monolith Army, but in reality, the daily affairs of this department would all be handled by Malek. This was an excellent idea.
Setting up a new department to separate the military from the government was one aspect. Another aspect was that Laurist was prepared to reduce the Family Armed Forces. This was a change he had to make. The Family Armed Forces had been fighting outside for the past few years. Unknowingly, the Family Armed Forces had expanded rapidly. Although most of the increased soldiers were conscripted from captives who had completed a few years of labor and did not affect the development and operation of the family's territory, two-thirds of the family's annual income had already been used to pay for the family's armed forces. This had already become a very large number.
The internal strife that Majordomo Hansk had started reminded Laurist. For example, the five corps of the Imperial Guards numbered close to two hundred thousand people. They were actually responsible for guarding the area, escorting logistics and supplies, and maintaining order in the newly occupied territory. Then, was it necessary for them to be treated as well as the three great field corps of the family? Although the Norton Family treated these captives who were once enemies of the Family Armed Forces well, the Family Armed Forces had been easily taken over by Majordomo Hansk and his accomplices. This finally woke Laurist up. Not many people would cherish things that were too easy to obtain.
Since these people who had been recruited into the Royal Guards treated being soldiers of the Norton Family as a job to support their families and listened to whoever gave them money, there was no need for the Norton Family to pay such a huge price to support these unreliable fellows. There were close to 200,000 conscripted captives from the five Imperial Guard Legions, and they were comfortably staying in the rear while enjoying the treatment of the three field legions of the family. This was indeed a little ridiculous.
Laurist took a piece of paper from his desk and wrote down the names of the Monolith Corps, Flying Tiger Corps, Hunting Cavalry Corps, and the Royal Guards Corps. He then wrote down the Northsea Fleet, the Grizzly Bear Knights, the Guard Corps, and the Cannon Corps. These were the main forces of the Family Armed Forces in Laurist's mind. Laurist was prepared to combine the five Royal Guards Corps into one field army. The rest would all be reduced to local garrison troops.
The Monolith Corps had 48,000 people, the Flying Tiger Corps had 48,000 people, the Hunting Corps had 48,000 people, the Imperial Guard Corps had 48,000 people, the Northsea Fleet had 12,000 people, the Bear Rage Cavalry Corps had 15,000 people, the Imperial Guard Corps had 3,000 people, and the Cannon Battalion had 3,000 people. In total, the main force of the family's armed forces only had 220,000 people, which was almost half of the current size. This was good news to the family's finances.
Laurist had previously set the size of the Family Armed Forces at 60,000 men each. Laurist had a slight obsessive-compulsive disorder, and he liked round numbers. However, the successive expeditions had made Laurist understand that in this era where communication depended on roaring, it was not without reason that the countries of the Galinthea Continent set the maximum size of an army to be less than 50,000 men.
The armies of the Galinthea Continent's countries basically had 10,000 to 12,000 men in a corps, and two to four corps formed a corps. This was actually the largest number of troops that a corps commander could command. Laurist formed a corps with 60,000 men, but in the actual process of the expedition, both the Monolith Corps and the Flying Tiger Corps would place the 15,000 men of each corps at the back, and only three corps of 45,000 men would actually participate in the actual battle. This was actually a waste of military strength.
Even though it was only an increase of 10,000 men, it added a lot of difficulty to the command system when it came to arranging the troops. The delay in communication was only one of the problems, and the most troublesome thing was that the arrival of orders could not keep up with the changes in the battlefield, and they missed opportunities. For example, Boddfinger and Roth the Ferocious Tiger had complained to Laurist many times. Sometimes, having too many soldiers was not a good thing.
This time, Laurist decided to reduce the five battalions of a corps by one. This way, the corps would be reduced by four battalions of 12,000 men, and a corps of 48,000 men would be no different from the armies of other kingdoms. It just so happened that the family's armed forces had suffered great losses in the expedition to the Trade Federation. Apart from the soldiers who had sacrificed themselves and some who were disabled, they might need to replenish some soldiers from the imperial guard corps.
After deciding on the organization of the main force of the family's armed forces, Laurist began to consider the candidates for the commanding officers of these armed forces. The Monolith Corps was very simple. The chief of the corps, Boddfinger, would be the new chief officer of the military and political department that was about to be established. In name, he would also be the chief of the corps' first corps. Vice chief Malek, as the actual supervisor of that department, would have to leave his position as chief of corps. This meant that the Monolith Corps would need to add a Gold Knight.
Laurist thought for a moment, and without hesitation, made Beruniak the chief of the Monolith Corps' second corps. Firstly, it satisfied Beruniak's desire to go to the battlefield, and secondly, it was a demotion from corps commander to corps commander. This could be considered his punishment. The third and fourth corps commanders of the Monolith Corps were both old students of Dawn Academy who had followed Laurist north. One was Wilson, and the other was Cybora. However, Wilson had just applied for leave to advance to gold rank, so the Monolith Corps would have one less corps commander.
Laurist thought for a moment, and then transferred over the former gold gladiator Jedes, the chief of the third corps stationed in the Delemark province. The imperial guard corps was going to be reduced anyway, and Jedes wouldn't be a corps commander for long. As for becoming a corps commander of the Monolith Corps, Laurist's compensation was that Jedes would be made a baron during the new year's celebration.
The positions of the Flying Tiger Corps were mostly unchanged. Roth the Ferocious Tiger was still the chief of the first corps, and the second corps commander was the gold gladiator Mason who had been rescued from the slave kingdom. The third corps commander was Dolus, and the fourth corps commander was also an old student of Dawn Academy, Ainte Modrak.
There would be a huge change in the Hunting Cavalry Corps. Laurist was preparing to transfer the fourth corps commander, the gold mercenary Freya, to the Hunting Cavalry Corps commander. The former gold divine archer Josk would be demoted to corps commander. It was his fault for not listening to orders and leading the corps to the frontlines. He wasn't the same as Roth the Ferocious Tiger. The Flying Tiger Corps was escorting immigrants to Winston province, so it was reasonable for them to return to the frontlines. Josk, on the other hand, had given up defending the province. Laurist was already very protective of him by only being demoted by one rank.
The Hunting Cavalry Corps' first corps commander would be Freya, the second would be Yuri, the third would be Josk, and the fourth would be Vasimir. However, Vasimir had also applied for leave, preparing to break through to the next rank and become a gold knight. Laurist decided to let the Hunting Cavalry Corps nominate their own candidate for this position. He wouldn't interfere.
The imperial guard corps would also become the main corps, while the rest would be reduced to local garrisons. Thus, Laurist decided to let Aire take over as the corps commander. The Monolith Corps was good at defense, the Flying Tiger Corps was famous for offense, and the Hunting Cavalry Corps were light cavalry, good at raiding and sweeping. As for the imperial guard corps, Laurist hoped that it would become an armed force capable of both offense and defense.
Aire was the corps commander as well as the first corps commander. The second corps commander would be the former bandit Ovis, while the third corps commander would be Paciko, the gold knight stationed on Syrovas Island. The fourth corps commander would be someone else. This way, each of the four field corps would have three gold knights overseeing them, and they wouldn't be any weaker than the others in terms of high-end combat power.
The Northsea Fleet would still be under the command of Sembarwood, and the Bearfury Knights would also be led by Terman. However, the Bearfury Knights would be under the direct jurisdiction of the newly established department, and would also be responsible for upholding military law.
The imperial guard corps would still be led by Redi. The vice-commander Parker had applied for leave to advance to the gold rank the year before, and was lucky enough to avoid the family's internal strife. It was said that he had successfully advanced and would return at the end of the year. The artillery corps would be led by Shiward. The vice-commander Jim said that he would also advance to the gold rank after recovering from his injuries. The attack from the great swordsman had given him a deep understanding, and he would definitely not fail this time.
After deciding on the main plan for the family's military reform, Laurist heaved a sigh of relief. Just as he was thinking about where he had missed out, Genolio knocked on the door and walked in to report, "Your Highness, Baron Kriston requests an audience."
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