It had been a while since the military Reform. For the civilians, nothing had changed; life went on as always. But in the official circles, it felt like a bomb had been dropped, and everyone was scrambling to get their job done.
Today, Vijay got up excitedly, wearing the new military uniform he designed. The uniform resembled an early version of the modern military uniform. He looked heroic as he headed to the new training grounds to inspect the army training.
*cling cling cling*
As he got closer to the barracks, he heard the sound of fighting, which made him excited and increased his pace.
Upon reaching the barracks, he was stunned, not elated, but disappointed with the training. The training still resembled the way armies were trained in the middle ages, emphasizing individual combat ability while ignoring group combat.
What infuriated him, even more, was that most of the soldiers were in their 40s to 50s. He needed a progressive army, not a cold weapon army; he needed an army that could transition from cold weapons to firearms and adapt accordingly.
While he was lost in thought, he heard footsteps and turned to see who it was.
"Long live your majesty," an old man said, who was none other than Lokananda Senapati.
"I would have come to pick you up, your majesty. I could have arranged a welcome banquet for you," Marshal Lokananda said.
Vijay frowned, waved his hand, and said, "Leave that aside for now. Now tell me...."
He was about to start ranting about what he saw during the army training, but his voice trailed off as he noticed that the marshal was not alone; he was accompanied by two new faces. Vijay gestured to the marshal; the marshal's face must not be lost after all.
"These are...?"
"Oh, them? They are the new candidates to be promoted to the position of major generals of the army," the marshal said, "I am vetting them before submitting a report for your approval," and then he continued to introduce them, "This one with a Dastar is called Yogendra Singh. He is a refugee from the Mughal Empire and used to be a general in the resistance army against the Mughal Empire. Sadly, they failed, and a few of them escaped and found refuge with us. Due to his outstanding contributions to our army, he is a candidate to be promoted after the reform." Vijay glanced over at the tall mountain of a man with a white skin tone; he had the air of a seasoned general. The marshal then continued, "The other one here is Kiran Pujari, an outstanding defender. He defended a fort in Hyderabad from the Mughals with only 5,000 people against a 10,000-strong Mughal army. His merit is well known in the army." Vijay glanced over him too; he had a dark complexion and an average height. He looked like a normal man, but his eyes told otherwise, as they were full of vicissitudes of life, as if he had seen everything there is to it.
*Thump*
As soon as they heard the marshall's introduction, they both saluted.
"Major General Candidate Yogendra Singh, reporting for duty, sir!"
"Major General Candidate Kiran Pujari, reporting for duty, sir!"
Vijay was satisfied with their salute, even though it looked a little awkward, given it had only been a few days since the reform. It was already excellent.
"At ease, soldiers," Vijay said as he came closer and patted their backs like an elder and said, "Do a good job." The sight of a 20-year-old patting the back of 40-year-olds looked a little funny, but no one laughed. The two generals once again stiffened their bodies and raised their heads with pride.
"SIR, YES, SIR!" They yelled. Vijay nodded and then looked at the marshal.
"Join me for a cup of tea, old man?" he asked.
The two generals, after hearing this, saluted and left.
Vijay came inside the barracks, poured a cup of tea for the marshal, and got straight to the point.
"Why is the training going on like this, marshal? Where are the drills and queue training? How will you give me an invincible army like this?"
"Drills?...Queue training?" Lokananda was confused by the new terms, but he quickly forgot about it as he stopped drinking his tea and replied, "Your Highness, the problem is that we don't know how to train the army to make it like in the reform bill. We don't have any experience in the area, so we are going through trial and error. It will take a lot of time," he said, looking defeated.
Hearing this, Vijay slapped his head. "Idiot, a gun needs bullets. Without bullets, a gun is nothing but a paperweight," he reproached himself for getting too ahead of himself and forgetting to transfer the knowledge on army training. He also had a slip-up, which isn't like him.
"Get a hold of yourself," he screamed internally.
Vijay's hot head quickly calmed down. "One step at a time," he muttered.
"Alright then, what about all the older soldiers in the army? I need a progressive army, not a rigid one," he asked, addressing the second issue he noticed.
The marshal retorted as if his tail had been stepped on, "What you said is wrong, your majesty. They are strong soldiers who have been battle-tested and brave. They are the backbone of the army; we cannot retire them now. That will cause huge problems for us with their placements. Moreover, training new recruits takes a lot of time and money."
Hearing this, Vijay was stunned; he had forgotten about the placement of veterans and the resources required.
When he was having a headache, he suddenly got an idea. "This can work," he said excitedly.
"Marshall, please prepare the army training plan. In a few days, I will hold the imperial council, and I will solve these problems for you then." He patted the old man's back and sent him all the information about the army training methods he knew.
Vijay felt light-headed immediately, but the pain was much less than the first time. He quickly added some extra sugar and drank his tea, feeling better. "Hmm, the efficiency improves, I see," he muttered in a low
voice.
"Ah... what?" the marshal asked, confused. Vijay quickly regained his senses.
"Nothing. You can go now, Marshall. Make sure to prepare the plan. I'll hold a yaga in the palace for your success."
Lokananda's eyes lit up; he wished he could have another dream. He quickly saluted and left the room. Vijay looked at the door with expectations for the future. Remembering something, he called his butler.
"Vinod, please schedule the imperial council for this weekend," Vijay instructed. The butler bowed and left the room to arrange the matters.