I will be crowned king

Minutes of the military meeting on December 5, the 101st year of the Saint's Calendar:

“...Although there were many accidents, quarrels and even minor physical conflicts during the meeting, under the wise leadership of Brigadier General Anson Bach and the full cooperation of many outstanding and high-quality officers, the meeting finally ended with a successful outcome.

The four-hour and thirty-two-minute meeting determined the basic direction of the Storm Legion's first round of expansion plans and laid a solid foundation for subsequent legion reforms.

Among them, the "skirmishing reform" resolution of the new deputy commander of the corps, Colonel Fabian, has received positive response from the entire officer corps. It not only minimizes the budget and ongoing expenses, and does not cause any excessive burden, but also optimizes the infantry to the maximum extent. Corps-level independent combat and mobility capabilities.

Even considering the highest standards, the legion only needs to add one thousand to two thousand pieces of infantry equipment on the current basis, plus equipped with rifles with medium-precision rifling, but it will completely change the combat mode of the entire legion, from line firepower to mobile Combat, extremely cost-effective.

This has also been recognized by the Commander-in-Chief himself. As an academy officer from the Skirmisher Division, Brigadier General Anson Bach has always had a soft spot for mobile warfare; as early as the Hantu War, the Storm Division had some of its most glorious results. Battles are all about moving quickly on long-span fronts, seizing favorable terrain, and gradually encroaching and decapitating actions.

But although it was very popular, in the end this ambitious reform plan failed to gain majority approval and failed to pass.

As a personal experiencer of the meeting, this result was once beyond my understanding; but fortunately, Lieutenant Colonel Carl Bain, Chief of Staff, stood up in time and explained the reason to me:

Putting aside cost-effectiveness and results, the biggest problem with this reform plan is that it is too radical.

Once the reform is really carried out according to the route set by Colonel Fabian, it may seem that the cost is not high, but in fact it is not at all like that - it will completely subvert the current Clovis military system and let the Storm Legion follow a brand new, Reforming fighting methods that had never been attempted on a large scale.

To paraphrase Lieutenant Colonel Carl’s easy-to-understand words, if someone else’s proposal was to mend a coat, then Fabian was raising objections to the material used in the coat.

Although the commander-in-chief also admires skirmishers and has repeatedly used long-distance attacks, roundabouts, and mobile operations to gain an advantage in a certain battle or the entire campaign, he has never used skirmishers as the core force and still relies on line suppression or defense. The enemy's attack only made the line more flexible.

And if skirmishers are to be used as the core force, then the entire Clovis military system must be redesigned and new tactics based on skirmishers must be formulated. Infantry training must also change from uniform lines to volleys. For precise shooting, cover, rapid maneuvering, etc...

And large-scale skirmishers also require a large number of officers with excellent personal qualities; an excellent line private officer can be in charge of a company, but if he is a skirmisher, he can probably only command a platoon.

This is not determined by personal ability, but by the battle mode; relying on uniform formations, volleys and unified action battle lines, a tight formation can keep a hundred soldiers within the officer's field of vision at any time. An order is given to everyone.

Switching to skirmishers, the density of soldiers within the same distance will be reduced by one-third. At the same time, officers need to manage every soldier under their command; unlike the line of suppression formed by salvos, the precise strike of skirmishers means that every soldier They are all important firepower points.

The human cost and the various costs involved in reform are the reasons why the officer corps rejects the reform plan.

So in the end everyone agreed to the plan to expand the scattered troops, but failed to pass Fabian's reform plan.

However, the new deputy commander of the corps does not seem to be discouraged. He has proposed a new plan - to consolidate the expanded and original skirmishers of each regiment into independent skirmishers, conduct unified management and training, and then redistribute them to each infantry regiment; if If necessary during the war, they can be directly reorganized and concentrated on operations.

Even if I don’t understand military affairs, I can see that Deputy Commander Fabian drew on the Clovis Army’s army reform in the 80th year of the Saint’s Calendar and concentrated the grenadier companies that were originally scattered in various infantry regiments into one. Combat units; in this way, bypassing the entire army, conducting independent military experiments, and exploring the possibility of individual soldiers fighting independently.

This not only improves the training efficiency of the new unit, but also circumvents the opposition of most people. It can also pave the way for future reforms... It is a good way to kill three birds with one stone.

Such an obvious idea was naturally resisted by many people, but with the support of the Commander-in-Chief, the proposal was barely passed, confirming that the Storm Legion would develop in the direction of increasing the strength of skirmishers.

After that, the meeting successively passed the expansion plan, the light artillery plan, the small field hospital plan, the military boots and winter clothing plan, and the comprehensive armed plan.

The new "Storm" regiment will have a cavalry battalion composed mainly of light cavalry, and an artillery battalion with sixteen to twenty-four artillery pieces (of which light artillery accounts for two-thirds to three-quarters). Each The infantry regiment expanded by a skirmisher battalion and a line battalion on the original basis. The staff doubled the number of personnel on the basis of the original department, and equipped the field hospital with horse-drawn carriages to facilitate movement on the battlefield.

In the words of Sir Anson Bach - this is the beginning of the 'Storm' Legion truly becoming an army rather than a small armed group.

The strength and armament of each combat unit has been greatly enhanced, and the logistics and staff departments have become increasingly professional. Each infantry regiment has gradually grown into the "Storm Regiment" of the past, with the possibility of independently executing military operations, and its authority has also been greatly strengthened. Legions increasingly became command units rather than combat units.

At the same time, the legion learned from the experience of last year's battle and customized military uniforms and boots for the troops that are more suitable for the climate of the new world; although this will greatly increase the logistics cost, it is indeed a necessary move.

And because of the increase in authority, the Storm Legion has the authority to directly recruit civilians from the local area to join the army. If necessary, it will directly arm the ordinary people in Beluga Port and participate in the battle as an auxiliary legion; before that, it will continue to strengthen the army that is already on the right track. Shooting Corps, formally incorporated into the regiment's order of battle.

The initial investment in the entire plan alone is close to tens of thousands of gold coins, and the time limit is three months; and the final answer to the success or failure of the entire reform will be given by his enemies..."

…………

At 15:30, the military meeting finally came to an end; the officers participating in the meeting breathed a sigh of relief, left the chairs where they had been sitting for more than four hours with tired faces, and walked out with expressions of satisfaction or regret.

In any case, this long and uninterrupted memory finally gave the Legion an answer; although this answer did not make everyone happy, or even very unhappy...but there was an answer after all.

The Storm Legion, which was originally almost the same as Anson Bach's, began to change to the style of military democracy; and the officers who received new powers also had new responsibilities and obligations on them, and they could no longer live as pure people as before. .

To put it more bluntly, they are more like a closely structured interest group.

Such a decisive delegation of power, not only because the officers need to cooperate with their own adaptation, but also because of helplessness: if the mainland really decides to abandon the colony and regard itself as an outcast that attracts the firepower of the empire, the Storm Legion will be Anson Bach's last and all. capital.

Therefore, no matter what the price, he must firmly bind these people to himself and form a community of interests that cannot be easily shaken to face the betrayal of the local people and the counterattack of the enemy.

Of course, even without this incident, Anson still plans to delegate power, but the pace may be slower... After all, the Storm Legion is getting bigger and bigger, and it can no longer solve most of the daily problems just by passing the blame to his loyal lieutenants. At work, decentralization of management is a must.

As everyone left one by one, in the empty conference room, only Anson and Fabian were left sitting in their seats, looking at each other with different expressions.

"...I won't ask stupid and meaningless questions like 'why', Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, but I still have a few small questions that need to be answered by you here."

After being silent for a full quarter of an hour, Fabian, who looked gloomy, could not help but speak first: "How much do you know about my situation? Also, about the situation of the Luen family and the local high-level officials, do you... know more about it?" How many?"

Anson, who was smoking a pipe, did not change his expression, but his pupils shrank slightly.

Obviously, the information his "deputy" has is not much less than that of Norton Crosell, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment who was born in the Truth Society, and may even be more.

But this is not a particularly surprising thing... Born in Clovis City and a Guardsman, it is natural for Fabian to know more about the Luen family than ordinary people. This thousand-year-old spellcaster It is probably no secret that wealthy families are in the upper echelons of Clovis. Even if the middle and lower levels are willing and have access to this information, it will not be very difficult to understand.

In addition, he was also a direct spy of the royal family. Anson even wondered more than once whether Fabian had ever had direct contact with the Luen family. Otherwise, why would he accept Talia's existence so naturally?

But at least for now, Anson has no plans to have a complete showdown with his deputy commander.

"I know that you are a native of Clovis City. I know that you joined the Guards through connections. I also know that... you have been serving the royal family." Anson wrote lightly:

"Do you need me to continue?"

"No, that's enough." Fabian's expression gradually became serious, hiding his surprised eyes well.

"The local high-level officials...if you are talking about the attitude of the Privy Council and the royal family, although I don't have exact evidence, I have roughly guessed part of it." Anson continued unhurriedly:

"As for the Rune family, although Thalia has gone to Wintertorch City now, for the sake of your life and mine, I will not reveal anything to you, and you should not try to inquire about anything from me - this is the most important thing for us. Good choice."

"I understand this." Fabian nodded slightly:

"Now I can finally confirm that you made this series of decisions on the premise of knowing the truth of the matter, rather than being completely kept in the dark."

"Please forgive me for my tentative behavior towards you, because this is really important - it is about the life and death of thousands of people, and it is also about my own life and death, so I have to be cautious."

Anson blew out a smoke ring and didn't say much.

"Since you know the seriousness of the situation, you still decided to stay in the colony, even expanded the legion on a large scale, and established a servant army called the Shooting Army... You seem to be very confident in the situation you are facing."

Fabian's expression was still very solemn: "I must remind you that the mainland is very unfavorable to the situation in the colonies. Especially according to the latest battle report on the Western Front, the emperor has deliberately controlled the current front and shrunk many mobile troops to the rear. .”

"The current judgment of the army's top brass is that the enemy is concentrating its forces and preparing to launch a concentrated breakthrough from a certain point on the front. Following the route of the surprise attack on Fort Thunder more than two years ago, it will cut off the southern transportation center of Clovis and then make an emergency landing at the southern fortress."

"But there is also another voice among them: the emperor has not given up control of the colonies and is preparing to launch a full-scale counterattack - it is currently foreseeable that the empire will gather 40,000 to 60,000 people, close to the strength of two legions!"

"Then let them do it." Anson put down his pipe:

"If the empire can use so much manpower and material resources to throw 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers onto the coastline and ice fields of the New World, I am sure that all 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers will be left behind and become fertilizer for the legion's farm."

"I believe you have the strength." Fabian nodded:

"But the current Storm Legion still has a huge flaw, which will be very fatal if it cannot be solved before June of next year."

"Of course I know that."

Anson couldn't help but sigh: "But the mainland is wary of us everywhere and refuses to give us even the most basic sources of troops. The limit of being able to get a small military factory is already the limit."

To be honest, he had not thought about increasing his purchases from the mainland, but on the one hand, the shipping warehouses were limited, and on the other hand, the colonies did not actually have that much financial resources, which allowed him to purchase various arms unlimitedly.

Coupled with various local restrictions, even if it is purchased from the Luen family's August Military Factory, and the Cecil family has a green light to pass through the port, it is still not easy.

Just as the two gradually fell into silence, the chief of staff, who had been away for some time, suddenly broke in, breaking the rare silence.

"boom!"

He roughly kicked the door open, and the out-of-breath Karl squatted half-crouched at the door and breathed in air. After half a minute, he straightened up. While breathing, he looked at the two people with astonished faces:

"There's something wrong with the port, port, port!"