Formation of the Militia Force

Just after Ron finished making his assurances, Victor noticed that all the ships in the fleet, except for the one he was going to be on, had already left the pier.

Victor said to the two of them, "It seems I have to leave. I'll leave things to you two from now on."

After saying this, Victor led his guards to the pier and boarded the ship one by one along the gangplank. Once everyone was on board, the gangplank was removed by the Dockworkers.

The workers also untied the mooring lines fixed to the dock, and the pre-prepared boat trackers began shouting slogans, pushing the levers and pulling the tow ropes to provide assistance to Victor's flagship.

Levant then boarded a small boat and personally piloted it.

Victor stood at the bow of the ship waving goodbye to the shore, while Ron and Steward Boon also waved goodbye to their lord on the dock.

As Victor's flagship sailed away into the thick fog, Ron said to Steward Boon beside him, "Mr. Boon, we should return to Stone Castle. We need to discuss the militia matter from yesterday again."

"Yes, Regimental Commander Ron,"

After saying this, the two simply left the dock, each mounted their horses, and led their entourage towards the Stone Castle.

At this moment, Victor was still standing at the bow of the ship, his eyes fixed on the dock. Although the thick fog obscured everything on the dock, the lighthouse's light always pierced through the fog, telling Victor Golden Sunflower Collar was.

A guard approached and said, "Viscount, the river breeze is still a bit chilly this morning. Why don't you go back to your cabin and rest for a while, and come out for some fresh air when the fog clears?"

Victor did not refuse, although he was still somewhat disappointed about leaving his hometown, but he understood that it was his men's concern.

Ron and Steward Boon returned to Stone Castle without wasting any time and quickly got to work.

The two sat facing each other. Ron earnestly said to Boon, "Steward Boon, the militia is Viscount Victor's requirement. Although they will not participate in combat directly, but will only provide supplies to the territory's regular army and undertake patrol duties along with the Logistics Department, they should still be guaranteed to receive certain military training, otherwise there will definitely be problems."

Boon scratched his head in annoyance. "Regimental Commander Ron, I understand your thinking. Helping you build a militia force is an important task that the Viscount entrusted to me, but your training requirements are a bit too exaggerated."

As he spoke, Boon waved a report in his hand, which Ron and Foss had worked on overnight after the deployment meeting yesterday.

Boon read aloud one of the passages, "The militia should undergo combat and tactical training, at least two days a week and no less than ten days a month..."

Regimental Commander Ron, as far as I know, even the Auxiliary Troops in our regular army only have this much training. Do we have to demand so much from the militia?

It should be noted that soldiers in many territories only train once every three days and drill once every five days.

"If we maintain this level of training intensity, how much food and meat will we need? And these militiamen also have to work in peacetime; they are vital laborers in the territory. Even disregarding these costs, how am I supposed to fill the labor shortage alone?"

Ron then resorted to a bit of shamelessness. "Steward Boon, Viscount Victor has entrusted the militia to our command. Please cooperate fully with our work. How can you back down because of this little difficulty!"

Boon was amused by Ron's attitude. "Ron, don't change the subject. I didn't say I wouldn't cooperate, but can you come up with some practical standards? Even if the Viscount agrees, I can't provide the supplies and money to train an entire militia according to these standards."

"Steward Boon, you can't say that. We just want to be as perfect as possible. Look at this battle, although we won, we lost a lot of veterans. Although we replenished our ranks with a batch of new recruits, it also affected the combat effectiveness of the troops."

The reason Foss and I set such high standards was to build a lower-cost second-line force that could supplement the regular army when necessary. Our intentions were good.

Boon shook his head. "Even if you say that, it's impossible. You can kill me and I can't conjure up enough personnel and supplies. If you want to continue, you'd better lower the standards. Otherwise, you can find the personnel and supplies yourselves."

Ron understood that Boon had already relented, and like in a business transaction, he was now negotiating with him.

Ron thought for a moment and said, "How about this, Steward Boon, according to Victor's previous orders, we need to build four to five battalions of militia. Considering that the territory is indeed in trouble right now, we will build five battalions this time, with the standards of two battalions downgraded by one level, and the other three remaining unchanged."

Boon shook his head.

Ron continued to change his tune, "Then three will be downgraded by one level, and the other two will remain unchanged?"

Boon was still shaking his head.

Ron had no choice but to continue, "Then reduce the configuration of one battalion, lower the standards of two battalions, and keep the other two unchanged."

Boon was still shaking his head at this point.

Ron was getting a little angry. "Steward Boon, don't go too far. I've already made so many concessions. If you keep doing this, I'll write to Victor."

"I'm not trying to refuse, I just want to know what you mean by lowering your standards."

Ron was taken aback when he heard this, and quickly explained, "Lowering the standards means reducing the quality of equipment and weapons by one level. Armor will not be provided, and weapons will mainly consist of spears and lances. At most, two crossbow teams will be formed. The cost of equipment procurement alone will be reduced by at least half. Training will also be reduced from twice a week to once a week, five times a month. This will reduce the consumption of materials and will not interfere with the normal work of these militiamen."

Boon finally nodded after listening. "That makes sense, it's much more feasible."

Ron was pleased. "So you agree?"

Boon shook his head again. "Still no good!"

Ron stood up abruptly and slammed his fist on the table. "Old man Boon, don't go too far! What exactly do you want?"

"At most one original standard brigade, otherwise it won't work!"

"No, we need two!"

"One!"

The two were locked in a tug-of-war, while their entourage stood by, somewhat at a loss.

Finally, Ron compromised and said to Boon, "One is fine, but I still want to form a militia force of five battalions."

Boon could see Ron's firm stance, and after hesitating for a moment, he nodded in agreement.

After receiving Boon's reply, Ron left the meeting room without hesitation; he didn't want to stay there for even a second longer.

When he mounted his horse and began galloping towards the military camp, his mouth was stretched into a wide grin. His personal guards were very worried when they saw Ron like this, so Ron simply explained to them.

It turns out that the high-standard militia training was something he added privately after discussing it with Foss last night. It was purely his own idea, and Victor had no idea about it.

Ron learned all about the negotiation with Boon from Victor. Victor once said that if you want to open a window, you should first try to lift the roof. That's how you get what you want. He didn't expect to succeed on the first try.