Chapter 531 Privy Staff
In the meeting hall of the Uffizi Palace in Rapides.
The turbid sunlight of the winter afternoon shone on the ebony table. In this spacious meeting hall, fifty or sixty important figures in Rapid City were seated.
Among them are the commanders of various corps, citizen councilors, guild leaders, and main city hall members.
They sat around the oval table, or behind the long strip tables on both sides, each divided into a group, pretending not to care and peeping at the privy monks coming in and out.
In addition to serving tea and water, these privy monks posted tables and maps on a large wooden board.
Of course the map is accurate, but the locations of the various legions and fortresses on it are blurred.
But to Sechinger who was watching, those densely packed markings were still too dazzling.
Why not just have a fight? Why make it so complicated?
The nobles of North County also often had to fight with the Norn lords on the other side of the Kara Mountains. During the war, only a few major nobles met.
Then draw a simple map on the ground, and everyone goes up to insert the dagger one by one. The place where the dagger is inserted is their war zone, and the fight is over.
In fact, all kinds of wars in the current empire follow this model. Before fighting, there is a military discussion. After the tasks are assigned, each fights its own battle, and each is responsible for dispatching, recruiting troops and food.
An army like the Imperial Company that collectively distributes food and plans and coordinates its march is considered to be tactically advanced.
This was the first time Sechinger had seen such a sophisticated plan like the Salvation Army.
Seeing Sechinger's confusion, Mitny simply handed over a cup of hot black tea: "The Salvation Army calls itself the Third Reich of Ayr and has revived many of Ayr's traditions and mechanisms, such as this military advisor mechanism.
During the El Empire period, this part of the function belonged to the Temporary Military Council of the Senate, but His Majesty made it permanent, forming this more detailed combat style. ”
Although there is no clear division at present, the Privy Council is also divided into civilian Privy Council and Staff Privy Council.
Among them, the main role of the staff monk is to help Horn formulate combat plans and marching routes.
At present, there are only a small number of staff and privy officers. They are all promoted by legion clerks and chaplains.
As high-level attendees from the City of Rapides and the Salvation Army arrived, a dedicated protocol officer began to loudly maintain order until everyone quieted down.
Horn didn't say any nonsense. After briefly talking about the situation, he gave the task of reporting to Pettier, Bernardo and other privy staff members.
According to the simplified staff system introduced by Horn in later generations, the formulation of combat plans is divided into five stages: gathering intelligence on the enemy and ourselves, setting campaign goals, tactical execution plans, emergency plans, and order issuance and coordination.
The current pre-war meeting is reporting on the results of the first two stages.
"Currently, the total number of enemy troops is about 5,000-9,000. The main force is gathered near Shelley City to besiege the city. The remaining light cavalry are looting everywhere and have captured three fortresses around Shelley City.
Judging from the current situation, Shelley City will be lost by mid-January, and some Qingqi have already arrived outside the Shelley City Basin.
Our goals, in order of importance, are to maintain the defense line of the South Nauan River, advance into the basin area, and restore the rule of Kasha County. ”
Facing many senior officials and legion commanders, Bernardo looked calm and eloquently broke down the current situation one by one.
He even had a feeling of intoxication. It was so comfortable. There were no troublesome knights, no slanderous servants, and no stubborn and unreasonable nobles.
Most of his opinions and analyzes can be solidly turned into operational intentions, clearly written on paper, and announced to the officers who are willing to obey orders.
"This operation is divided into three phases. The first phase is to stabilize the South Nauan River defense line, the second phase is to advance the front to the Blago Basin, and the third phase is to recapture the Blago Monastery."
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After analysis by several privy staff members and Horne himself, it is definitely too late to rescue the Brago Monastery.
Instead of providing support, it is better to consolidate the defense line of the South Nauan River first to ensure that it is difficult for the enemy to attack the core area of the mainland, and then advance westward step by step.
"Then the next specific combat plan will be explained by Pettier."
After Bernardo bowed and left the main podium, Horn called Peltier up.
Unlike Bernardo who likes to analyze the situation and propose the direction of the campaign, Pelletier is better at breaking down the huge campaign into small tasks.
"We currently have more than 200 kilometers of defense line along the South Nauan River, and we only have 7 regiments with 3,950 people, 600 combat cavalry, and 800 rangers.
The enemy's army is about twice that of ours, the defense line is so long, and the enemy's cavalry is the main combat force, while our infantry is the main combat force.
Therefore, the enemy can make more sneak attacks to break through and cut off our supply lines. There is no future for simply holding on.
Instead, we need to take the initiative to attack the opponent while they have not completely invaded the South Nauan River Basin. In the first step, we burned most of the crossings of the South Nauan River, leaving only the most important ones, built temporary bastions, and had rangers constantly patrolling along the river.
The second step is to take advantage of the enemy's weakness in obtaining supplies and continuously mobilize the enemy's forces.
Through our advantages of high mobility and rapid supply, we can continuously harass and destroy small groups of troops, forcing the enemy to divide their forces, and then concentrate on annihilating one group.
After repeated repetitions, when the enemy's strength is reduced to a certain level, we can target Shelley City and launch a counterattack.
For the specific combat direction, you can look at the combat map behind me..."
This combat map was basically hand-drawn by Pettier, because he came from a family of grocers and had been transporting goods with his father since he was a child.
In order to avoid tax cards and reduce the loss of goods during transportation, Pelletier developed a good habit of drawing maps, and the more accurate the better.
This skill was originally just an auxiliary skill, or even just a hobby, but I didn't expect it to play a big role here.
"I have a question." Rudillo, commander of the Black Hat Third Army, raised his hand.
"Please tell me."
Rudillo coughed and stood up: "La Cunho's church army is mainly cavalry. We are infantry. How can we outrun them?"
"It's very simple. First, we have the Nan Naoan River and can quickly deploy troops through shipping. Second, we have the home field advantage and can build supply points in advance along the march route."
Picking up the stick, Pelletier pointed to a road on the woodcut map behind him.
"Just like this road, from here to here, if we march normally, it will take about five to seven days, but if we build supply points at these two locations, we can reach it within four days.
Our heroic infantry marches very fast, with almost no problems of falling behind or deserting. The normal marching speed is about 20 kilometers per day.
After replacing the standard military uniforms and shoes and socks, as long as the supply of military rations along the way can be ensured, the Guards Corps can achieve a marching speed of 30-35 kilometers per day during emergency marches.
The enemy's cavalry troops had difficulty abandoning their baggage, and their marching speed was slightly slower. Tactically, the cavalry was faster, but strategically, we were definitely faster.
Not only the infantry, but even our cavalry were faster than theirs.
I have calculated that as long as we can build the temporary forts and supply points on the map on time, our message delivery speed will be about a day faster than theirs. ”
Pettier talked about the battle plan, but Horn was not worried about the plan being spread.
The specific combat details are all in their minds. What they see is a static map, but in the eyes of Horn and Pettier, the map is dynamic.
So what if we know the rough battle plan, the flaws and weaknesses of the Church Army cannot be changed, nor can the terrain and system be changed.
Based on these two facts that cannot be changed in a short period of time, as long as the Holy Father does not make any mistakes, each legion can win without any outstanding performance.
However, this was still the first time that the staff system was put into practice. Horn carefully observed the regiment commanders and Rapid City city councilors, and most of them looked dismissive and hesitant.
Before any actual achievements can be made, Horn needs to personally implement the order.
"I invited you all to come, do you understand what I mean?" After Pettier stepped down, Horn stood on the main podium and looked around.
"We will fight the war, but you will have to do the work of building forts, transporting soldiers, and building supply points."
The businessmen and shipowners immediately started whispering as if no one else was around. After all, this was a big project.
Although Shengsun would not engage in prostitution for nothing, it would be a trivial matter to bankrupt himself in this kind of work, but it would not be worthwhile to risk his life.
On the contrary, the Masons' Guild in Rapid City couldn't wait to inquire about the specific plans. Compared to their counterparts in Fort Joan of Arc, their lives were much more difficult.
"Everyone, this is not my war, it is all of our wars."
After Horn's clear words, the discussion finally subsided, and he cleared his throat: "I've said this, are there any doubts now?"
The heads and heads of the citizens of Rapid City all looked at each other, but in the end no one raised their hands.
Horn clapped his hands with satisfaction: "Then let's do it."
(End of chapter)