"So serious?"
Paul took the telegram from Bernard with some disbelief.
After hurriedly browsing, his brows furrowed tightly.
Immediately ordered: "Summon all supervisor-level officials to the Lord's Mansion for a meeting!"
Thomas saluted Paul, "Master Graiman, then I will not disturb you. .”
The Chief Justice resigned, and a dreary atmosphere fell upon the room.
"It seems that what I said before has come true."
Mariana broke the silence.
Paul nodded, "Yes, they are here."
Mariana's expression was very serious, "The grassland orcs have become more powerful than ever under the leadership of the new generation of kings. , if I remember correctly, the Watcher Fortress has never been captured since its establishment, but now it has fallen into the hands of the orcs, Paul, do you still want to go into this troubled water?"
Paul raised his eyebrows, "All my efforts so far are not prepared for the orcs."
In the meeting room of the Lord's Mansion, the military and political officials of Lake Center Town gathered here.
"We have obtained the consent of Duke Ferdinand to build a series of fortresses on the eastern border of the duchy of Manda as a line of defense against the orcs' attack."
Army Chief of Staff Schroeder pointed A map hanging on the wall introduced everyone to the army's preparations.
Paul interrupted him, "Has the army ever studied the [Bastion] plan I gave you?"
Schroeder nodded and said: "Yes, Mr. Graiman, we have studied your plan. But..."
"If you have anything to say, just say it. It's just mine anyway." It's just a suggestion..."
"After careful study, we finally shelved your plan? Of course, it was just shelved."
"Why?"
Although he was mentally prepared, Paul was still a little unhappy when his "genius idea" was rejected.
Schroeder explained patiently: "Judging from the shape of [the bastion], it should be designed to defend against enemies with the same level of firepower as ours - the enemy should at least be equipped with artillery or artillery-like weapons, but in reality Judging from the situation, no other army in the world has artillery except us, including the orc army. If a large number of bastions are built to defend the orcs, it will increase a lot of unnecessary construction costs, so we still prefer the traditional design of the fortress, Man. There are a lot of old castles on the border of Da, and we can make good use of them to repair and improve them."
"Uh... you're right." Paul had to admit that Schroeder was right. .
But he didn't want to give up completely.
“We must consider the possibility of technology spillover. Our future enemies may also be equipped with artillery. Therefore, I hope to build one or two bastions on the transportation hub to accumulate construction experience and conduct exercises. method to evaluate their effectiveness."
Schroeder nodded, "The army will do what you ask."
After the topic of the meeting returned to dealing with the orc invasion, Sir Ford, the Lord Administrative Councilor, made a suggestion.
“Should we send an army to meet the Royal Capital Knights who are retreating to the west?”
As soon as this proposal came out, everyone started talking.
Most tend to be supportive.
First of all, the Graiman family has been married to the royal family. As the princess's fiancé, Paul cannot remain indifferent.
Secondly, according to the traditional vassal obligations, as the most powerful lord in the Northwest Gulf, the Gleyman family should provide support to the royal family's army. After listening to everyone's speech, Paul was eager to give it a try.
The army of Arda has not experienced a large-scale battle for a long time.
"In this case, we will send troops to Blackstone Plains to assist the royal army and local lords in blocking the orcs!"
According to the telegram, Catherine plans to establish a defense line in Blackstone Plains .
He cursed secretly, damn Duke Bradley, this guy's rebellion has greatly reduced the buffer zone.
Paul looked at Schroeder: "How many troops do you think it would be better for us to send?"
Schroeder estimated: "Four reorganized battalions and four transport companies through reserves. And two thousand migrant workers."
"Should we send half of the army?"
"This is already taking into account the ongoing expansion of the army, leaving half of the force. .”
Paul thought for a while and nodded in agreement with Schroeder's plan.
The army expansion mentioned by Schroeder was started after receiving the news that the orcs were about to invade.
In fact, a complete expansion plan has always existed in the army, but the invasion of the orcs triggered this plan.
Arda's army is still "weak" in terms of size. It has always been composed of only four integrated battalions and four half-organized battalions, plus an independent transport company and an independent artillery company.
Although the development of the new situation prompted Huxin Town to immediately restore the four and a half battalions to full strength, this was still not enough, so the plan to expand the size of the army began in line with the current situation.
In the previous military meeting, a larger tactical unit, the regiment, was determined as a new organization. A regiment will be composed of three battalions. At the same time, the regiment headquarters will have an artillery company, a transportation company and a communications company directly under it. The number of personnel in a group will reach about 2,500 to 3,000.
The initial goal is to establish 6 army regiments according to the above standards, which means that the size of the Arda Army will reach nearly 20,000 people.
In response to the invasion of the orcs, economic work matching military construction was also carried out simultaneously.
Under the leadership of Alda, the members of the Customs Union negotiated and included steel, feed, saltpeter, sulfur and other materials under control.
The weapons and armor built by Northwest Industrial Company will also be given priority to supply to the armies of the northwest territories.
The thermal weapons factory located in District 51 has also been expanded on a large scale. In the future, guns, cannons and gunpowder will be continuously produced here.
During the meeting, Schroeder solemnly requested Paul: "Mr. Graiman, I hope you can agree to my personal command of this deposition!"
Paul was shocked, " How can this be done? You are the chief of staff of the army!”
In fact, although Schroeder is only the chief of staff, he also bears responsibilities similar to the “commander in chief of the army” to a certain extent.
As a lord, Paul did not have enough energy to actually lead the construction of the army. He could only make suggestions in the general direction to ensure that the development of the army would not deviate from the "right path" that he believed was right.
"Please forgive my willfulness, Lord Grayman. You should know that I used to be one of the defenders of the Watcher Fortress."
The eyes of the old knight burst out with desire and... hatred.
Paul nodded.
"I agree. Schroeder, go get revenge!"