Miscellaneous Matters
In the following days, Victor frequently visited the medical squadron to see the wounded. The more than 2,000 men Two Rivers Territory had participated in more than ten battles, large and small, with a total of 378 dead and 514 wounded, a casualty rate of nearly 50%. Fortunately, most of the wounded were able to return to the army after treatment.
Although Victor achieved his wish of being promoted to viscount, the heavy losses suffered by the troops in the Two Rivers Territory were truly heartbreaking for Victor.
This also gave Victor a lot to think about. He realized that his army was still lacking. So Victor planned to expand the army after returning to the Two Rivers Territory, especially in terms of long-range projectile firepower. He would build a similar force to the Heavy Crossbow of the Iron Birch Territory. However, Victor had high requirements for the mobility of the troops.
Victor used Number One to search his memories of his past life and found a direction: referencing the Poxi Army of the Western Xia Dynasty in his previous life. The Poxi Army carried small Catapult on camel backs, maintaining mobility while also possessing a certain degree of offensive capability.
In this world, the carrying capacity of large packhorses is not much different from that of camels in the previous life. Victor can also design Bed Crossbow and crossbows that can be carried or dragged by a single horse through the Calculation Module. In addition, with the high strength of natural materials in this world, the power of the weapons is definitely not bad.
Anyway, the Two Rivers Territory has no shortage of horses. If you want to improve the mobility of the army, just convert all the troops to mules and horses, and turn the infantry who travel on foot into mounted infantry.
At the same time, Victor also planned to separate the logistics detachment's convoy and expand its organization to establish a transport detachment, converting all the vehicles into tanks specifically for vehicle formations. Vehicle formations are very suitable for grassland warfare, and the Two Rivers Territory is not short of pack horses. According to the plan given by Number One, this would be a large detachment of about 800 people, divided into four companies and eight squads, with each squad having 100 Auxiliary Troops, equipped with more than 30 vehicles of various types and more than 100 draft horses, which would be sufficient to meet the existing troops' transport support capabilities.
The original logistics detachment was reduced to only the medical squadron and the engineering squadron. The medical squadron maintained a strength of 300 people, divided into 3 teams. If they did not go on expeditions, they would stay in the territory's hospital and academy to help treat patients in the territory. If they went on expeditions, they could be transferred as needed.
The engineering brigade has a strength of 200, mainly consisting of military craftsmen and laborers. If more craftsmen are needed, they can be drawn directly from the factories in the territory.
According to this plan, the Auxiliary Troops of the entire Two Rivers Territory need to be further improved, especially the transport detachment, which requires a large number of Auxiliary Troops. Victor plans to strengthen the construction of the Auxiliary Troops system. In the future, the ratio of combat troops to Auxiliary Troops in the various defensive facilities of the territory will reach 1:5, expand the scale of Auxiliary Troops, reduce the waste of combat troops, and most combat troops will only be responsible for training and combat.
Victor also conveyed these plans to several Detachment Commander, and they all thought it was worth trying.
In recent days, Victor has also arranged for people to collect a lot of triple-bow Bed Crossbow and crossbows abandoned by the Iron Birch Territory Heavy Crossbow troops. These weapons are considered completely damaged by the Heavy Crossbow troops, but Number One believes that they still have some repair value. Even if they do not fit Victor's military building ideas, they can be used for territory defense fortifications. Fortunately, Victor has a lot of transport vehicles, so it is not difficult to bring these back to the territory.
Although many of the wagon formations prepared before the battle were destroyed in the fighting, Victor and the engineering squadron of the Two Rivers Territory still managed to repair more than 130 wagons by disassembling and reassembling them. Victor planned to bring all of these wagons back to the territory. These wagons were by no means inferior; they were all large four-wheeled carriages with reinforced bearings and iron plates inlaid on the sides. Iron Birch Territory was wealthy and generous enough to spare no expense on materials and workmanship. As long as they were brought back to the territory and slightly modified, they could meet his needs. There would be no need to spend money on special vehicles for the transport detachment.
Victor also asked the logistics officer of Iron Birch Territory for a large amount of horse feed. Because the battle ended too quickly, Iron Birch Territory a large amount of supplies that they hadn't used up. The grain was fine, as they could sell it cheaply to other nobles on the spot, but the horse feed was a different story. Nobody wanted to buy it, and it would cost manpower and resources to transport it back to the territory. The logistics officer originally planned to burn it all, but Victor saw this and simply asked for all the oats and soybeans. Fortunately, Victor didn't have much else, but he had a lot of transport wagons, and the logistics officer was very easy to talk to. Victor paid for a batch of grain, and the horse feed was given to him.
Each regiment reported the distribution of merits and the list of promoted personnel to Victor. Benjamin had one baron merit and two major merits. Battalion Commander Raymond took one, Captain Pim took one, and Viscount Benjamin kept the baron merit for himself. Battalion Commander Raymond had already accumulated two major merits, and with this one, he could be promoted to baron this time.
Two lords were promoted in the Third Regiment and Fourth Regiment, and James was promoted to baron in the Second Regiment. In total, the Second Legion promoted two barons and four lords this time.
Victor submitted the list to the clerk of Count Colt, and the promotion ceremony was scheduled to be held after returning to Enzo City.
On September 15, the battlefield was finally cleared, and the Second Legion held a simple funeral for its fallen comrades. In this battlefield, the Second Legion lost more than 2,000 soldiers and suffered more than 4,000 wounded. The casualties were so heavy that if it weren't for the nobles of each regiment forming a supervisory team with their personal guards later on, the Second Legion might have collapsed long ago.
The First Regiment and Fifth Regiment suffered the heaviest casualties. Viscount Benjamin's Golden Pear Territory lost more than 600 Cavalry. At the funeral, even though Viscount Benjamin considered himself a great general, he could not help but burst into tears. Viscount Hawke fared much better. His Fifth Regiment had the largest number of men and many nobles, so the losses were manageable.
Fortunately, Victor brought a medical squadron with him this time. The entire operation was a defensive battle, and most of the wounded were rescued. About 70% of them recovered and returned to the army. Therefore, the entire Second Legion praised the medical squadron highly.
After the funeral, Viscount Benjamin found Victor, "Golden Pear Territory suffered heavy losses this time. If it weren't for the large amount of gold and silver Silver Coin in the spoils you gave me, I might not have been able to pay the pensions. My best vanguard officer, Raymond, will no longer be able to fight for me. Fortunately, he is still alive, and this time he has accumulated enough merit to be promoted to baron."
"Lord Benjamin, thank you so much this time. If it weren't for you..."
"Alright, I didn't come to you to complain, but to tell you that what you should do now is to inform everyone to set off; we're going home." Viscount Benjamin patted Victor on the shoulder and got up to leave.
Victor looked at Viscount Benjamin, then gave the order: Go home!