Translator: Cinder Translations
...
Paul Grayman spent nearly a week familiarizing himself with the daily work and life of a lord. During this time, his original memories gradually returned.
The territory he was in belonged to the Aldor Kingdom, the westernmost country on the known continent. To the east of the kingdom lay numerous human nations, with the Gabella Empire being the most powerful among them.
The north and east of the kingdom were dominated by vast mountain ranges, inhabited by many dwarven clans. Beyond the Rocky Mountains to the north lay endless grasslands, dotted with numerous orc tribes, and further north was the rarely traveled endless ice plains.
To the south of the known world were discontinuous expanses of rainforests, inhabited by elves known for their beauty and elegance.
What worried him a bit was the existence of a vast religious organization in this world—the Church. It had different formal titles in different historical periods, but people eventually referred to it simply as the Church.
Its faith spread almost throughout the human nations, with even believers among the non-human races. The priest he encountered on the night he woke up was a clergyman of this religion.
With his current memory, he didn't know much about the historical background of this religion, nor whether it had any dark history. But it was certain that there were plenty of fanatical believers among humans, and he had encountered several with his limited experience.
The territory directly controlled by the Church was not vast, only slightly larger than a duchy, but its influence could be said to be immense.
"Isn't this setting already overused? It seems to appear in every world-crossing story." He was too tired to complain.
Moreover, it seemed that magic existed in this world. Although most people, including nobles, had never seen a magic user in their lifetime, many regarded magic as nonsense.
However, his steward, Philip, solemnly swore that he had been saved by a mage from bandits when he was a child. According to Philip, the mage gestured with his left hand, chanted some words, and then a large fireball shot out from the wand in his right hand, instantly scorching the faces of the bandits opposite him.
Well, since there were already dwarves, elves, and orcs in this fantasy world, the existence of magic wasn't entirely implausible. But he tended to think that what the steward saw was more like stage magic tricks.
On the first weekend after his awakening, the long-awaited parade finally began.
As per his request, the soldiers formed three formations and marched through the small square under the command of the knights.
"These... are my soldiers?" The young count's face turned pale.
The soldiers in the "formations" wore all sorts of clothing, with the only common item being a cloth armor embroidered with the Grayman family crest.
At first, the formations seemed somewhat orderly, but as they began to march, the steps quickly became chaotic. By the time they reached him, the formation had become disorganized and sparse, barely recognizable.
"Gentlemen, it's necessary to raise the standards for the quality of our army!" Paul said grimly after summoning the knights.
"Erm..." The knights looked at each other, and finally, Bryce stepped forward. "My Lord, the thing is, our place is quite remote, with no other lords coveting it. Combined with the simple folk here, we usually have lax military preparations. Frankly, we didn't expect pirates to strike so far from the coast this time."
"A bloody lesson indeed! Comrades... ah, I mean, gentlemen." The young lord sighed deeply, looking genuinely distressed. "The failure last time was indeed a bloody lesson!"
The knights were overwhelmed with shame; the death of the old count cast a shadow over their hearts.
Paul took advantage of the situation and declared, "Therefore, I have decided that I will personally supervise the training of the new recruits recruited this time!"
"Yes, my lord!" Although they harbored great doubts about the young count's military knowledge, the embarrassing performance of the parade team left the knights too timid to voice objections.
Another week passed like this, and a new round of recruitment gathered a total of 315 new recruits. Paul decided to reorganize the army based on the military structure from his previous life on Earth, and thus announced his reorganization plan to the knights.
The army was organized into five levels: battalion, company, platoon, squad, and fire team. The most basic unit, the fire team, consisted of 10 people under normal circumstances, with positions for both a squad leader and a deputy, adhering to a three-tiered structure. Each company consisted of three platoons, with a company headquarters and a company commander and deputy. Each battalion comprised three companies, with a battalion headquarters and a battalion commander and deputy. A regiment consisted of three battalions, with a regimental headquarters and a regimental commander and deputy.
Corresponding to this structure, he also devised a military rank system modeled after the previous world's system. Under the current structure, there were two ranks for soldiers (private and corporal), three for non-commissioned officers (sergeant, staff sergeant, and sergeant), three for officers (second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and captain), and three for field officers (major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel). He also stipulated the corresponding relationships between ranks and positions.
He also established protocols for special circumstances—such as when commanders were incapacitated or sacrificed and unable to command their troops—the sequence of command transfer prioritized based on position, then rank, and finally seniority.
Taking a company as an example, if the company commander became incapacitated and unable to command in battle, the deputy company commander would take over. If the deputy commander also encountered an accident, the squad leaders would sequentially assume command of the entire company based on their ranks. If the ranks of the squad leaders were identical, they would be sorted by their seniority. Similar principles applied to other organizational units.
The rank system ensured tighter organization within the troops, preventing the chaos seen in old armies where the unit dispersed once the commander fell. Under the rank system, in the event of such accidents, a new commander would automatically assume command in sequence, ensuring the sustainability of combat effectiveness.
The knights were somewhat dizzy with these complex titles. Some suggested simplifying the ranks directly to four levels—soldiers, non-commissioned officers, officers, and field officers—eliminating further subdivisions within each level. Their rationale was that the current army of a few hundred in the territory didn't justify such complexity, but their proposal was rejected by the young Earl.
He explained, "Although our army's size is still small, we must establish a framework first. This way, if we encounter more serious emergencies in the future, expansion will be more convenient."
"These shortsighted fellows," Paul silently criticized, "I haven't even brought out terms like division, corps, army group, general, and marshal!"
The reason he didn't propose larger-scale formations or higher-level ranks now was twofold: firstly, the current troop size was too small, and secondly, he didn't dare. Even with the largest regimental structure, if fully manned, it would have over a thousand people—quite a substantial military force for a remote county like his.
If he were to propose division-scale formations of tens of thousands or even larger army-level formations, and this were to leak out through malicious intent, it might lead to accusations of plotting rebellion. After all, even a knight's order in the capital had only slightly more than ten thousand people.
Moreover, those who had fought in battles for the country and were truly distinguished deserved the title of general. It wouldn't be right to bestow titles like brigadier general or major general upon mere local knights who usually dealt with bandits and pirates, managing only a few hundred men.
There were also objections to assigning a mess section to each company, deemed unnecessary by some.
"This will ensure our combat readiness!" When it came to the mess section, the lord suddenly became excited, stood up, and enthusiastically explained its great significance, speaking in terms that left the knights puzzled. However, seeing how seriously the lord valued it, no one opposed.
Finally, Paul proposed to standardize the army's readiness and offered compensation allowances to soldiers for the loss of labor at home.
The knights had no objections to this, as it was all paid for by the lord's estate. However, Philip, the steward standing nearby, almost fainted. Recruiting soldiers had already cost a fortune, and now the young master wanted to increase expenses, which would be ongoing. It seemed he would have to find a good time to persuade him otherwise.
After the meeting dispersed, what troubled steward Philip even more was that the young master had tasked him with custom-making two sets of clothes for each of the new recruits, to be completed within a month. Despite his strong opposition to what he considered "squandering" money, the young master repeatedly emphasized the importance of a uniform appearance for a regular army. Philip had no choice but to comply.
(End of Chapter)