With 500,000 Elite Troops at My Command, You Say I Can't Be an Admiral?
Marineford residential area, Ortolan's home.
At this moment, Ortolan was changing Ace's diaper. In the inner room, Rouge was helping Ortolan pack his luggage, packing up some clothes and daily necessities that he needed to take with him.
To be honest, however, Ortolan is a bit careless and doesn't have much to take with him.
After Rouge finished packing, she came out of Ortolan's bedroom and saw that Ortolan had already changed Ace's diaper. He was holding Ace in his arms, sitting in the courtyard sunbathing and playing with the little guy. The scene was very warm and harmonious.
This touched Rouge a little. As a mother, she could feel that Ortolan really loved Ace. After work, when he got home, he would patiently interact with the little guy Ace, just like Ace's father.
However, Rouge quickly composed herself and stepped forward, saying, "Xing Ling has already packed everything for you."
"Ah..." Ortolan said with a smile, "Thank you for your trouble."
"Are you leaving soon?" Rouge asked again.
"Yes, it'll be time to leave soon. This is my first time being transferred from Marineford to the New World. I'm a little reluctant to leave this place." As he spoke, Ortolan gently pinched Ace's little nose.
Ace was sleeping in the sun when his nose was grabbed. He raised his little hand and struggled a couple of times in annoyance. After Ortolan let go, he smacked his lips and fell back into his dream.
Looking at the little guy's adorable appearance, Ortolan couldn't help but smile.
"By the time I come back, this little guy will probably be running around by now," Ortolan remarked.
Rouge was pleased to see the interaction between the 'father and son', but just as she was about to say something, she heard footsteps outside the courtyard. Then, Gion, Kuzan, Momonga walked in, talking and laughing.
When Rouge saw Gion, she felt a little guilty. Perhaps Ortolan didn't notice, but as a woman, Rouge could sense that Gion definitely had feelings for Ortolan. It was just that she seemed a bit clumsy in this regard and didn't know how to express them properly.
For various reasons, she usurped the identity of Ortolan's wife, so she often felt guilty when facing Gion, especially after Ace was born. She realized that she had thoughts she shouldn't have, which made her even more afraid to face Gion.
"You two chat, I'll take the child inside," Rouge, stepping forward and taking the child from Ortolan's arms.
"Is the little guy sleeping? Looks like I came at the wrong time. I wanted to hold him..." The Momonga said with a hint of regret as it looked at the scene.
But he quickly changed the subject, saying, "I heard you're going to G-5?"
"Yes, G-5 suffered heavy losses before, and now Admiral Sengoku has assigned me to be in charge of rebuilding this elite force," Ortolan nodded and said.
Kuzan replied, "This isn't an easy job. G-5... how should I put it, they seem more like pirates than Marines..."
"Isn't that perfect for me?" Ortolan joked.
"I'll be leaving the 2nd branch soon too..." Gion sat on the stone bench next to Ortolan and sighed.
"Where are you going?" Ortolan asked curiously.
"The CP Agency recently established a new peripheral intelligence agency that ventures into the dark world, creating a Pleasure District. Sister Tsuru thinks this model is pretty good, so she wants me to give it a try," Gion said somewhat helplessly.
"To the New World?" Ortolan asked again.
"It's not decided yet, but it's highly likely, right?" Gion pondered for a moment before replying.
"After all, you're Vice Admiral now. As a member of the Intelligence Department, this arrangement gives you a chance to gain experience at the grassroots level. It seems the Chief Staff Officer still thinks you have the potential to become Marine Admiral in the future," Kuzan said with a smile.
Basically, in the Marines, once you become Vice Admiral, you'll be sent out to a different post at the right time. It's not like what Kuzan said, that being sent out means the higher-ups are looking to make you an Admiral or something.
Those who are sent out to gain experience will be transferred back to headquarters as soon as possible to continue their positions there.
"You've been transferred to be a base commander this time. G-5 has basically lost all its personnel. Did Admiral Sengoku give you a spot?" Momonga suddenly asked.
"Two Rear Admiral positions, and I'll arrange the rest according to the usual standards," Ortolan immediately gave his answer.
On the G-5 side, they were badly defeated by Douglas Bullet. The base commander was seriously injured and disabled, and will have to retire from front-line troops. Basically, all the senior Marines in G-5 were wiped out, leaving only a few survivors.
So when it came time to start all over again, Admiral Sengoku naturally knew that in this situation, he would definitely give Ortolan enough personnel to build his own team. This would allow him to rebuild G-5 more quickly and also allow Ortolan to take control of the unit as soon as possible.
Therefore, two Rear Admiral positions were given to Ortolan, who could serve as his direct subordinates in G-5. Below the Rear Admiral, they could follow the normal Marine Base organization. Generally speaking, there could be three to five Commodore. As for officers of the field grade, that would depend on the number of your troops.
That's right. There's no fixed rule for the number of troops at Marine Base. It fluctuates depending on changes in the maritime situation. In recent years, the situation has been volatile, with more pirates causing trouble, so naturally the number of troops has to increase.
If a peaceful 'Great Marines Era' were to occur, the size of the Marines would be reduced accordingly.
As for concerns about the size of the military forces at an external base becoming too large and uncontrollable, there is no need to worry. Apart from G-5, the other Marine Base are basically maintained by the military budget allocated by headquarters and do not have strong logistical production capabilities, so the situation that is being worried about is simply impossible.
The Marines can't just target G-5 and directly establish new military law to clearly stipulate the limit on the number of Marines at bases. That would be putting a framework on itself. Establishing new military law is like creating something out of nothing. If you feel it's inappropriate in the future and want to abolish it, it will be very troublesome.
Therefore, Ortolan can be considered to have taken advantage of a loophole. Other normal Marine Base usually only support 10,000 to 20,000 people and have a scale of more than ten warships, which is about right. After all, a fully operational warship, according to the Marines standard, is required to carry a team of 1,000 people, and the main fleet warships can even carry 2,000 people.
As for the G-5 under Ortolan's command, as long as Ortolan can afford it, then let alone 20,000 people, he can support an army of 500,000 without violating any rules, at least in name!
Of course, this is in theory. In reality, unless the Admiral Sengoku and the Steel Bone Commander have lost their minds, they would not allow Ortolan to raise an army of 500,000 men and ignore it.
After all, if Ortolan had 500,000 of the most capable front-line Marines troops under his command, and he were to become an admiral in the Admiral, you, the Marines commander, would have to consider whether you should retire and make way for him!
Upon hearing about the two Rear Admiral positions, the Momonga's eyes lit up and he asked, "Have you made arrangements for the Rear Admiral generals?"
"No," Ortolan shook his head, then said, "My promotion speed has been too fast, so I haven't even built up a core team yet. Currently, I've only considered taking Yixiao with me, but given the current situation, whether it's merit or seniority, I can only promote him to Commodore at most. Rear Admiral isn't really suitable. So I plan to wait until I've finished with G-5 before slowly training him..."
"What's the point of training them?" The Momonga patted its chest and said, "Isn't there one already?"
Upon hearing the Momonga's words, Ortolan exclaimed in surprise, "You want to come with me to G-5?"
The reason why Ortolan hadn't considered Momonga and the other current Rear Admiral before wasn't because he thought they were unsuitable. In fact, after spending time with them, Ortolan felt that Momonga were people who could be guided. If they really wanted to work with Teacher Zephyr on some Neo Marines in the future, they could definitely be recruited.
However, G-5's reputation is a mess, and it has been scattered. Inviting them to join G-5 at this time is like getting up early to collect manure, running into an acquaintance on the way, and asking them if they want to have breakfast together – it's incredibly annoying.
If you ask and they refuse, it's a bit awkward given the relationship. But if you don't refuse, the reality is also rather awkward.
"That's right, that's why I came to see you today. If you think it's a good idea, I'll immediately submit a report to mobilize the personnel," the Momonga said without hesitation.
Upon hearing this, Ortolan suddenly seemed to realize something, and looked at Kuzan with a surprised gaze. If he remembered correctly, you were a Rear Admiral, weren't you? Could it be that you came with the Momonga today because you wanted to go to G-5 with me?
After noticing Ortolan's gaze, Kuzan paused for a moment, then quickly waved his hand and said, "Don't misunderstand, I just missed you. I saw you were leaving, so I came to see you off."