Chapter 558: Southern Expeditionary Army
The meeting reached its final agenda item and suddenly got stuck. The main reason was that the Beastfolk were stirring, and Hudson could not get away.
Everyone knew it was merely an excuse, but no one exposed it. The Near East Defense Line could not be left without someone in charge. Once Hudson led troops south, he would have to relinquish his post as front-line commander.
Compared with the position of front-line commander, helping the Black Forest Kingdom suppress a rebellion this time was simply far too low-status.
The core issue was still military authority!
As the supreme commander of the Near East front, Hudson controlled the kingdom's most elite border troops, commanded the private armies of the nobles from the Near East Seven Provinces, and during wartime could also exercise command over the private armies of the nobles from the Northern Frontier's twelve provinces.
In the Near East Region, his authority was beyond imagination. The fact that Hudson had to be invited to every major kingdom meeting was enough to explain the situation.
By comparison, the expeditionary force headed to the Black Forest Kingdom was on a much lower level. Not only was its total strength capped at eighty thousand, but the three Standing Army corps being sent were all second-line units.
In peacetime, such second-line corps were usually understrength, generally ranging from five to eight thousand men. Their actual troop numbers depended entirely on which units were transferred.
The rest were all private armies of the nobles. Although their combat effectiveness had improved greatly after years of training, they still could not compare with the Standing Army.
Of course, the military instructors sent to the Black Forest Kingdom all believed that the combat effectiveness of the kingdom's noble private armies could match the