Severity of Punishments

After sharing the story of the Personal Guard with Gutierrez, Bask took Gutierrez to the camp mess hall for a meal.

Bask have a quick temper and a quick temper. After all, they've seen life and death on the battlefield. If they didn't even have this ability to regulate their emotions, they probably would have gone crazy long ago.

"This deployment was planned much earlier than the territory 'General Staff had anticipated. Originally, the monthly food allowance was paid out on a monthly basis, but after the early departure, a considerable amount of the food allowance was left over."

Since this money didn't need to be handed over, Regimental Commander Marvin simply ordered the kitchen to improve everyone's living conditions. "Military Judge Gutierrez, you've come at just the right time! We've had whole roasted lamb every night for the past few days, plenty of meat, and also pickled vegetables and fruits bought from Wood Fort Town!"

The Bask excitedly shared their joy with Gutierrez.

At Victor's request, when there is no war, the territory's army's monthly food expenses are allocated from special funds by the territory's Finance Department. The standards vary for each branch of the Army Department, but there is no difference between regular soldiers and Auxiliary Troops.

For example, the standard for spearmen is the lowest, followed by Sword-and-Shield Soldiers, then crossbowmen, and the highest among ordinary troops are Light Cavalry and heavy infantry.

Even the lowest-ranking spearmen are guaranteed a meal of meat every day to ensure they have the strength to maintain high-quality training.

However, the standards for Heavy Cavalry units like the First Regiment were the highest, with three meals of meat and three eggs a day, and a variety of other dishes.

Gutierrez didn't know much about the fleet; their food allowance was mainly distributed in kind.

Normally, the food allowance for these troops is distributed by detachment, and the kitchens of each detachment are responsible for purchasing and preparing the meals every day.

In wartime, food allowances will no longer be issued. Instead, the Logistics Department will distribute food and hand it over to the mess halls of each unit for unified preparation.

The mess hall where Bask brought Gutierrez to dinner was the same one directly under the regimental headquarters, responsible for the meals of the regimental headquarters and the Personal Guard. Even the Regimental Commander, Marvin, ate there.

Although it was the regimental kitchen, the standards were set according to the branch of service, just like other detachments. However, according to Bask, the captain of the regimental kitchen had been trained in the Lord's Mansion kitchen and was very good at cooking.

Unlike other detachments' mess halls, which directly assign ordinary soldiers to cook, making it difficult to guarantee even the food's doneness, the regimental headquarters' mess hall would never have any undercooked food.

Gutierrez was also intrigued by what the Bask said and was looking forward to dinner that night.

Upon entering the barracks area with the mess hall, the two noticed Regimental Commander Marvin chatting with someone at the entrance.

The two quickly saluted Marvin: "Regimental Commander!"

Marvin immediately returned the greeting, "Are you here for dinner?"

"Perfect timing! I actually need to speak with you, Military Judge Gutierrez!"

After saying a few words to the officer, Marvin turned and led the two men into the kitchen.

Marvin's orderly quickly led the three to a table where food was already laid out.

Gutierrez looked around and saw that the food had been divided according to the three people's standards: each person had a piece of lamb leg weighing more than a pound, a glass of milk, a piece of white bread, a dish of butter, and a small bowl of pickles, which included pickled cucumbers, pickled apples, and a small clump of sauerkraut.

It was a generous portion, but definitely not a luxury, since the other soldiers ate about the same, just with less meat and pickled vegetables.

"Eat first, you need to be full to have the energy to work."

Marvin invited the two to sit down and eat. Bask was Marvin's old subordinate, so he didn't stand on ceremony. He sat down directly, picked up a knife and started cutting the lamb leg meat, cutting off a small piece and stuffing it into his mouth.

"It smells delicious! That guy Rurik wasn't exaggerating. The lamb he roasted with the good spices he bought was really tasty!"

The Bask began a frenzied attack on the meat, and finding the knife too slow, he simply grabbed the meat and started gnawing on it.

Marvin laughed and scolded, "Nobody's going to take it from you, so be polite!"

Seeing the relaxed atmosphere at the table, Gutierrez became less reserved and began to cut and taste the meat with his knife and fork.

Before he could even eat two pieces, the Bask had finished the whole piece of meat, and he even licked his lips afterward.

Marvin knew his subordinate well, so he immediately called over the orderly, "Give Captain Bask another serving, this time with lamb chops. Tell Rurik that Bask isn't full!"

The orderly arrived quickly, bringing a plate of sliced lamb chops and a man with him.

"Regimental Commander, how is my whole roasted lamb? It's a signature dish from the Viscount's kitchen. I had to beg the head chef for ages to learn how to make it."

Marvin gave a thumbs up. "Delicious, Rurik. Your cooking is definitely the best in the entire army."

Then he pointed to Gutierrez and said, "This is Military Judge Gutierrez. He just joined our Third Regiment. Get to know him better."

Gutierrez said, "Captain Rurik, this roasted lamb is really delicious. It's the first time I've ever had such delicious lamb. It's so tasty!"

Rurik was pleased with Gutierrez's praise. "You're too kind. I can cook a lot of delicious food, including that sauerkraut dish, which I learned at the Viscount's mansion. It's said that the Viscount invented it, and it's especially good at cutting through greasiness."

Just as Rurik was about to launch into a long-winded introduction of the dishes, Bask walked over and grabbed Rurik, saying, "Alright, come with me to the kitchen and see what else we have to eat."

After saying that Bask took Rurik away, and as he left, he casually took a large piece of lamb chop from the plate.

Gutierrez saw that the Bask's seat and the rest of the food on the table had long been eaten up. He wondered how the Bask captain had managed to eat so quickly.

"The Bask have always been like this; they don't like to waste food, and they always make quite a lot of it."

Marvin put down his cutlery at this point; he had almost finished eating, as had Gutierrez.

After watching Gutierrez finish all his food, Marvin asked, "Those who are still hungry can ask the kitchen to bring another serving. Don't go hungry, because when we head south to fight, there won't be as many hot meals available."

"Regimental Commander, don't worry, I've eaten my fill. Is there anything you need me for?"

"It's not anything important, I just wanted to ask for your opinion on some things. Regarding the new reward and punishment regulations, punishments such as beheading and whipping are required to be carried out in public. Is that still necessary?"

Flogging is one thing, but sentencing a deserter to death seems a bit too harsh!

The usual practice of noble private armies was to send deserters to Serf Soldiers to serve as cannon fodder, but Two Rivers Territory did not have such cannon fodder units.

"This was personally decided by the Viscount. His requirements are very clear: any punishment must be fair and just. At first, everyone may have felt it was harsh, but they'll get used to it later!"

Marvin nodded. "That makes sense. Gutierrez, are you interested in leading troops?"

"For now, I need to finish my job duties first, and I'll talk about other things later!"

However, if Regimental Commander Marvin has any requests, I can give it a try.

Before joining the Military Judge, I was a Squad Leader!

"That's good. I'll have to trouble you then."

After they finished eating, the two left the kitchen.

Bask suddenly popped out from the side, "Have you all finished eating? How about we go for a drink? The kitchen just bought a batch of barley wine this time, and it tastes pretty good."