Chapter 260
The news of Alda's solo expedition to Emsun spread throughout the northwest bay, making the lords once again look at this earldom with great success in the Battle of Bido Castle. Emsen is Malz Kent's hometown. This is tantamount to touching the tiger's butt single-handedly.
Other lords in the alliance wrote to Paul anxiously, advising him to act cautiously. If the war situation went unfavorably, they might not be able to provide timely support, and Paul wrote back to reassure them.
Paul's confidence comes from two points. One is the current combat effectiveness of the Arda army, and the other is the new military service system implemented by the staff.
Since last year, the General Staff has dispatched personnel to various large villages and towns in the territory. These people are either retired officers and soldiers or active soldiers directly transferred from the army. Their task is to organize and train the local militia. , making the militia a qualified reserve force.
After the beginning of the new year, these instructors were assigned to a new organization - the military service station. In addition to continuing to organize and train local militia, the military service station also added a new task - to regularly count the number of qualified personnel in the area under its jurisdiction. The conditions for military service include age, height, physical fitness, reputation among neighbors, family criminal records, etc. The statistical information is then summarized to Lake Center Town.
When Arda's various armed organizations - the navy, army, and internal security forces - are short of personnel, such as suffering heavy casualties or forming new units, the staff will come up with the latest military service population List, select a group in each place according to proportion, and send enlistment notices one by one to the military service stations in various places. People at the military service stations then take the notices and visit door to door, and finally unify the personnel on the specified date. Organize and report to Huxin Town.
The new batch of Arda soldiers were born. After three months of intensive training, they will be able to carry rifles on the battlefield. If the situation is urgent, they can train in a hurry for a few days and then go directly to the battlefield. Anyway, most of the enemies they face have just put down their hoes for a few days.
According to the calculations of the staff, after the implementation of the new militia system and military service system, without considering other factors under ideal circumstances, Arda and Bailding can mobilize a total of 15,000 people in an emergency. A team of thousands.
As an earl, the Grayman family does not have many vassals in its name. It has always been regarded as a symbol of weakness, but for Paul it is a great advantage. Every inch of his territory The land was under his direct administration, and his decrees could reach every town and every village, at least in theory.
Other lords at the same level as him do not have this convenience. Their decrees can only be passed unimpeded in their own direct territories. When they reach the territory of their vassals, they must first be approved by the vassals before they can be executed. Of course, this also depends on the relationship between the vassal and the vassal. If it is a strong lord with absolute power, most of his decrees can be implemented on the territory of the vassal. As for the effect of implementation, That's another story.
And the vassal's obligation to the lord is not unlimited. For example, if there are 20 knights in a barony and can recruit 500 soldiers, then strictly speaking, he only needs to provide 5 knights to his superior feudal lord. With more than 100 soldiers, they have fulfilled their obligations as ministers. The lords will only devote all their strength to defending their territory.
But in reality, no one would be so stupid as to provide their lord with only the minimum troops required by the vassal obligation. In addition to showing their loyalty, providing more troops can also distribute the spoils after the war. gain a greater voice. However, the superior feudal lord could not abuse the loyalty of the vassals. After recruiting the vassal's troops for more than a certain period of time, he would either let them disband and go home, or be responsible for their expenses, or even pay extra military pay.
Before reaching the deadline stipulated by the obligation, the logistic expenses and weapons and equipment of the vassal army will be solved by themselves. The obligations in this regard extend downward layer by layer. In most places, the lowest-level soldiers need to spend their own money to buy weapons and armor after being recruited by the lord. Of course, if you feel that you are extremely lucky or do not cherish your own life, you can just go to the battlefield with a hoe, no matter what. No matter how the equipment is, people must arrive anyway.
This resulted in the armies of local lords often being dressed in disarray and with various equipment. In Paul Greiman's view, even the battle of more than ten thousand people in the Battle of Bido Castle was like an amplification of the villagers' fighting. version.
A few lords with strong financial resources will maintain a group of off-the-job or semi-off-the-job soldiers, wearing uniform clothes and holding uniform weapons, but the number will not be too many, such as what appeared in the Battle of Bido Castle The group of archers, who were the former soldiers of Duke Ferdinand, were gathered together to train archery two afternoons a week.
Only national-level forces, such as the royal family of the Gabela Empire, the Aldo royal family, or semi-independent dukes like Giles with large territories and many vassals, can afford to support an organized army. .
In the previous march, the Arda army occupied almost half of Emson's territory. Under the management of the Kent family for generations, Emson developed into a large earldom, with half of its territory The population of the city was nearly 100,000. If the first and third battalions continued to attack, although the lower-class civilians of this era had little loyalty to their lords, Paul was still afraid of what trouble would happen in the newly occupied land. So the troops heading south stopped at Fort Byron. One of the objectives of the operation was to create a buffer zone between Arda-Bailding and Emsen, and this objective has now been achieved.
Furthermore, Fort Byron, where the Kent family lives, is stronger and more well-defended than Fort Byron. Even with artillery, it will not be easy to conquer it. Paul still plans to wait for the armies of other allies to gather again. After getting up, fight the Kent family together.
Fight in the front and build in the rear. The rebellion in the south caused the royal family to purchase armor and weapons across the country. Due to the adoption of new technologies, Arda's iron production has increased dramatically, and the cost of iron-making has been greatly reduced. Naturally, they want to get a share of the royal family's strong demand for weapons. But what the royal family needed was finished weapons. The number of blacksmiths in Arda was not enough for its own production in the territory. How could it be possible to allocate part of it to the production of swords and armor, which in Paul's eyes were bound to be eliminated. And whether it is Arda or Bailding, there are very few blacksmiths who are good at making traditional weapons.
But there are them in other people’s territory! It's time to talk to allies about cooperation.
(End of this chapter)