Harvest Review

The next day, Victor held a review meeting for the hunt at the Main Camp.

Ron was still radiating low pressure. It seemed his detachment's performance yesterday had truly dissatisfied him, leaving Victor rather helpless.

"Ron, your decision was indeed decisive, but there was a problem with how the orders were conveyed. The squads had no clear division of responsibilities, and each squad understood the orders differently. That caused confusion during your advance and affected the entire formation."

"My warriors are all fine men, and the squad leaders are battle-hardened veterans. The fact that such a major problem occurred during this hunt was entirely my responsibility. I should have briefed each squad leader in advance so they would all have a unified understanding of every order."

"Yes, your troops are elite, and you are strong. Even with only two hundred men, you would dare charge an enemy formation of a thousand. But you know we are here to develop this land. What we lack most is not land or money, but people. Our troops are precious. After all, this is the Northlands Wasteland, and hostile Barbarian Tribes will be the one thing we never lack in the future. I don't want to face heavy casualties after every battle."

"More than victory, I care about what we gain from a battle. Even if we cannot defeat the enemy, as long as our troops remain, we can fully defend several of the most vital core areas of the territory with our advantage on the Great Fish River. But if I lose half my army, I may have to abandon many places."

"So I hope you will think it over carefully. There will be more hunting exercises like this in the future, and I hope your troops will perform better next time. All right, Santos, you can explain the problems you found."

Victor directly called on Santos to start. As time passed, Victor had become genuinely satisfied with the former Captain of the Guard his father had introduced to him. Santos was mature and steady, knew how to handle matters with proper restraint, possessed extensive experience, and cared deeply about the soldiers. He was an exceptionally qualified commander. If Victor ever led an army on campaign, Santos would certainly be his first choice to remain behind. No one else inspired the same confidence.

"After the troop reorganization and the assignment of duties to each squad, the squads have become faster and more flexible in their movements than before. With flag signals, we can also communicate simply and directly. There is no need to specifically send messengers or gather all the captains to relay orders." Santos answered in a measured manner, first voicing his support for the reorganization.

"But there are also problems. Some of the ten-man leaders are highly unqualified. Many of them are experienced veterans and have performed well, but after becoming ten-man leaders, they fail to understand their responsibilities. Yesterday, when James led his men to intercept the gazelles, many ten-man leaders relied on their superior combat skills, abandoned their own units, and charged ahead alone. By the time the fighting ended, their ten-man units had completely scattered. That was in an easy battle. If it had been a difficult one, such conduct would have been nothing less than a waste of soldiers." Santos's criticism was indeed sharp, directly pointing out the greatest problem with this military reform.

Victor understood as well. Small-unit formations were not common in this world because they were too unusual. Compared with people from his previous life, the people here were stronger and faster to react. Even a fifty-man formation, though somewhat cumbersome, could be commanded effectively by its captain and deputy captain. This placed higher demands on the quality of officers, but required fewer officers overall.

Victor had always believed that small units of around ten men could better bring out the initiative of individual warriors in battle. He wanted a modern-style army with independent combat awareness, not an old army that rigidly carried out military orders. His experiences from his previous life had deeply influenced him.

If this world had merely been an ordinary feudal age, he might not have entertained such ideas. But with this world's excellent resources, its productivity alone was enough to rival that of his previous life after the First Industrial Revolution. Even an ordinary barony could support a considerable number of full-time standing troops. With his own cheat ability, Victor could make his territory even more productive and afford to support both full-time soldiers and workers. He could fully achieve a rapid, incremental industrial revolution.

That was why he had carried out such a sweeping military reform. Fortunately, his status as a noble lord allowed him to push these matters forward.

"This issue is indeed important. We already noticed it yesterday. Everyone can also look at the hunting report, which contains many examples we compiled."

"As for this issue, I have an idea for solving it: establish a simple training course. The detachment commanders and experienced company commanders will teach these junior officers and help them understand their duties. I have already begun compiling the teaching materials. You can also provide your own experience so we can include it in the materials." Victor explained his approach simply. It was education. If even that could not solve the problem, then they would replace the men. The requirements for ten-man leaders were not especially high; after some time, the soldiers themselves would be able to tell who was more suited for the role.

"What other problems are there? Everyone can keep bringing them up."

"Lord Victor, I noticed an issue with the Barbarian Cavalry. We have assigned people who understand the Barbarian language to serve as squad leaders and ten-man leaders, but I do not think that allows us to command the Barbarian Cavalry effectively. I suggest promoting some Barbarians to become ten-man leaders," Jackson proposed.

"Indeed, we noticed that problem as well. After you were tied down yesterday, your directly subordinate squad managed to escape more or less intact, while that Barbarian Cavalry squad was nearly wiped out. Their reactions on the battlefield were too slow, and they could not respond at the first opportunity. This is certainly a suggestion worth trying. Also, I will add language classes to the short-term training course. Not only must our people learn the Barbarian language, but Barbarians capable of serving as junior officers must learn Common Tongue as well. Does anyone else have any suggestions?"

"I would like to ask how the logistics detachment is meant to be used. I understand supply convoys and engineering teams; we had such logistics units before. But what about medical teams? We generally use Bitter Bamboo and similar things for battlefield first aid, and the wounded can be handed over to the logistics units as well. Is it really necessary to establish specialized medical teams?"

"The medical team did not participate in yesterday's exercise, so it is only natural for it to be questioned. But I believe you will gradually come to understand its benefits in the future. It will take time to prove that."

Such doubts were normal. Even though field hospitals had existed early on in Victor's previous life, before Nightingale's reforms, they had been places even demons were said to be unwilling to visit.