Assigning the Veterans
When James and others heard about the situation of the retired veterans, they all agreed, and they also felt sorry that these veterans had to be retired.
But according to Victor's military strategy, these veterans who were past the age limit should have retired long ago. If it weren't for the Civil War, they probably would have left the army two years ago.
When Victor spoke about the situation of the Auxiliary Troops, Lodan, who commanded all the Auxiliary Troops and militia, shared the same sentiment.
These Auxiliary Troops are all within the Logistics Department, and many exist as supplementary forces to combat troops. They have all undergone complete military training, but they did not enter combat troops because of lack of experience or physical development.
In this Civil War, whether in the first or second phase, the Southern Marching Legion suffered considerable losses. It was only by drawing reserve soldiers from Lodan's Logistics Department forces that they were able to maintain their fighting strength.
Moreover, the Auxiliary Troops also participated in combat, especially in the fourth phase of the offensive in the Central Region, where many Auxiliary Troops experienced the ravages of war.
Even now, the Logistics Department still have some sixteen or seventeen-year-old auxiliary Auxiliary Troops. As long as they take good care of their health and experience the baptism of war, they will be able to become qualified soldiers in the future.
It's a real shame to retire these veteran soldiers and promising Auxiliary Troops now that the territory is downsizing.
So when Victor got to this point, everyone perked up, knowing that what followed was going to be important.
Victor: "I want to assign some veterans and promising new recruits to various border areas to establish settlements centered around military garrisons, similar to the Blue Lake Bay Outpost."
As for the other group of veteran soldiers, I plan to allocate them to the territories of barons and nobles of the rank of baron, to serve as the core of your private armies!
As soon as Victor finished speaking, James shouted, "Leave it to me! My territory is short of manpower, especially since it has just expanded considerably and even borders some small Barbarians. The defense of the territory is under great pressure!"
Look at me now, in my viscountry that's almost 2,000 square kilometers, I only have a few hundred standing private troops, most of whom are still subordinate to the troops of the Two Rivers Territory. The only defense force in the territory is some militia.
"If we were suddenly invaded by Barbarians, it would be disastrous! My few bottles and jars are nothing, but if they affect the iron ore supply to Two Rivers Territory, that would be terrible!"
After James complained about being poor, the others retorted, criticizing James for being a well-fed man who didn't understand the hunger of a starving man.
They stated that their territory had just been established and was still in a desolate state, but with the assistance of the Two Rivers Territory, a central village would soon be established. They needed a small but elite private army to protect the territory's security and hoped that Victor would prioritize assigning these veteran soldiers to them.
The group quickly started arguing about it. At this point, getting more veterans was a matter of personal interest, and even comrades-in-arms from the battlefield couldn't be expected to gain an advantage.
Even the usually mild-mannered Santos and the usually low-key Marvin joined the competition at this point.
Only Captain Jack and Sonanda, representing the Golden Sunflower Family fleet, remained calm. After all, although they were granted the title of baron, their territories were the smallest and all located by the sea, so they had little defensive pressure. It would be good to gain veterans, but it wouldn't be a bad thing if they didn't.
Victor tapped the table. "Alright! Stop arguing!"
I have already determined the allocation quotas for each family, and they will be distributed directly according to the size of your fiefdoms."
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately fell silent and began to listen to Victor.
Victor shook his head. "James's viscountry is the largest, especially since all his private armies are still serving in the army of the Two Rivers Territory, so I will allocate him 200 veteran slots (James's vassalage was transferred from the Iron Birch Family to Victor after the Civil War).
Ron's viscountry is half the size of James's, but considering the support the Snowflake Family provided at the beginning of the territory's establishment, it also has 200 veteran slots (Ron was able to be promoted directly to viscount because Victor's maternal grandfather, the former Viscount Edelweiss, transferred most of the Edelweiss Territory's war merits in the Civil War to Ron).
Santos, Marvin, and Lodan, your baronies are roughly the same size, so we'll allocate 100 veterans to each household (based on seniority and military achievements, the three are roughly equal; although Marvin arrived later, he brought a whole army with him, which is also counted in his seniority).
As for Foss, who was not present, as well as Captain Jack and Sonanda, the three of them had similar baronial estates, which were based on the quota of 50 veterans per family (Foss became the last to become the Regimental Commander, Captain Jack was the first in the fleet system, Sonanda, in addition to his outstanding performance in the Civil War, also led a fleet to join the Golden Sunflower Family, so all three were granted baronial titles with the minimum amount of military merit).
You need to work with these veterans yourselves, offering them resettlement allowances, benefits, or other conditions, and it must be done on a voluntary basis. Also, their families will be traveling with them to your territory, so you must take good care of them.
Although they have retired from the military, they were still once members of the Golden Sunflower Family. If they encounter any injustice in your territory, the Veterans Management Office will report it to me, and I will definitely have to look into it then!
"They certainly won't be mistreated; they are our subordinates too."
"Please rest assured, Marquis Excellency, we will treat them well!"
Everyone expressed their determination to follow Victor's orders.
But no one had any objection to Victor's actions. Logically speaking, how independent nobles manage their own territories is not something even their lords have the right to interfere with.
However, Victor had stated in his initial investiture that all his vassal territories would be governed by the same set of laws.
Since the establishment of the Two Rivers Territory, relevant laws have been established for the management of retired soldiers. According to these laws, Victor does have the right to directly inquire about the situation of these retired veterans, regardless of where they live.
Those present were all military nobles who had been granted titles for their military achievements and were familiar with the relevant laws, so naturally they had no objections.
Moreover, compared to the benefits of these retired veterans joining the territory, the possibility of Victor interfering with a small part of the territory's management is not a bad thing. Besides, none of them thought they would treat these veterans badly.
After all, even when recruiting retired veterans, they would prioritize recruiting veterans from their own regiments, who are their comrades-in-arms who fought alongside them. How could they possibly let the veterans suffer any injustice?
Everyone was satisfied with Victor's allocation of slots. After all, if they had given more slots, their funds would have been limited, and they probably wouldn't have enough start-up capital for the territory after recruiting the veterans!
At the victory banquet following the end of the Civil War, in addition to bestowing titles upon the vassal nobles, Victor also gave out substantial rewards. The barons and viscounts present each received at least a thousand gold pieces, Victor served as start-up capital for the development of their territories, allowing them to afford to recruit these veterans.
Looking at the joyful faces of the crowd, Victor suddenly lost in thought. When he first conferred titles upon his vassals, he actually wanted to create a more detailed classification system, such as dividing barons and viscounts into three ranks and knights into five ranks. However, considering that no one had ever done this before, he didn't want to be too unconventional, so he temporarily put aside this idea.
If we follow Victor's previous idea, the allocation of veteran quotas this time could be implemented according to this classification. James would be a second-class viscount, Ron a third-class viscount, Santos, Marvin and the other two would be second-class barons, Foss, Captain Jack and the others would be third-class barons. This would make the allocation of quotas much easier!
He had mentioned this to everyone, and no one objected. On the contrary, James even suggested that the title of Second Viscount didn't sound very good and hoped that Victor could change it to a better one!
Actually, the name of this classification doesn't matter. If Victor wants, he can call a third-class viscount "early viscount" or a first-class viscount "half- Count" or "peak viscount." Anyway, no one has ever done that before.
Victor plans to take advantage of his trip to the Raine Kingdom in August to learn about the relevant regulations of the Kingdom Heraldry Institute. If there are no such restrictions, he intends to implement such a noble rank system. If it can be implemented, the management of vassals will be more convenient in the future.
Just as Victor was deep in thought, someone suddenly interrupted his thinking.
"Marquis lord, when can we contact the veteran?"
He looked up and saw Ron. Only Ron and James could interrupt his thoughts at this moment.
"It can be done tomorrow. I'll notify the Operations Staff Department today and have the Veterans Management Office cooperate with your work!"
Seeing the expectant looks on their faces, Victor didn't intend to keep them waiting too long and decided to get to work on it immediately.
Just as he was about to let them leave, he suddenly remembered something. "Most of your territories haven't been built yet. Here's what we'll do: you can start by working with the veterans, but don't move out too soon. I'll have the Housing Construction Department send an engineering team to build your first settlement as soon as possible!"
"Thank you, sir!" ×N