The news that Arda sent troops to Emson alone spread throughout Northwest Bay, making the lords once again look at this earldom that had shined so brilliantly in Battle of Biduo Fort with admiration. Emson is the home of Maltz Kent. This is tantamount to touching the tiger's butt single-handedly.
Other lords in the alliance wrote anxiously to Paul, advising him to act with caution. If the war situation went unfavorably, they might not be able to provide timely support, and Paul wrote back to reassure them.
Paul's confidence comes from two points. One is Alarda Army's current combat effectiveness, and the other is the new military service system implemented by the Staff Department.
Since last year, Staff Department has dispatched personnel to various large villages and towns in the territory. These people are either retired officers and soldiers or active military personnel directly drawn from the army. Their task is to organize and train local Militia to make Militia a qualified reserve force.
After the beginning of the new year, these instructors were classified into a new organization - Military Service Station. In addition to continuing to organize and train local Militia, Military Service Station also added a new task - to regularly count the military service population in their area that is eligible for enlistment. The inspection conditions include age, height, physical fitness, and even reputation among neighbors, family criminal records, etc. The statistics are then summarized into Lakeheart Town.
When Arda's various armed organizations - navy, army, Internal Guard Unit - are short of personnel, such as encountering heavy casualties or forming new units, Staff Department will come up with the latest military service population list, and divide them among each group in proportion. Select a group in each place and send enlistment notices one by one to Military Service Station in each place. People from Military Service Station then take the notices and visit door to door. Finally, on the specified date, the personnel will be organized and sent to Lakeheart Town to report.
The new batch of Arda People's Soldiers was born in this way. After three months of intensive training, they can go to the battlefield with rifles. If the situation is urgent, they can train in a hurry for a few days and then go directly to the battlefield. Anyway, most of the enemies they face have just put down their hoes for a few days.
According to the Staff Department's calculations, after the implementation of the new Militia system and the military service system, without considering other factors under ideal circumstances, Arda and Bairdin can mobilize a total of 15,000 troops in an emergency.
As an earl, Greiman Family does not have many vassals in his name. He has always been regarded as a symbol of weakness, but for Paul, it is a great advantage. Every inch of land in his territory is directly managed by him, and his decrees can reach every town and every village, at least in theory.
Other lords at the same level as him do not have this convenience. Their decrees can only be passed unimpeded in their own direct territories. When they reach the territory of their vassals, they must first be approved by the vassals before they can be executed. Of course, this also depends on the relationship between the vassal and the vassal. If it is a strong lord with absolute power, most of his decrees can be implemented on the vassal's territory. As for the effect of the implementation, that is another matter.
Moreover, the vassal's obligation to the lord is not unlimited. For example, there are 20 knights in a baron territory and can recruit 500 Soldiers. So strictly speaking, he only needs to provide 5 knights and more than 100 Soldiers to his superior feudal lord to fulfill his obligation as a vassal. The lords will only invest all their strength in defending their territory.
However, in reality, no one would be so stupid as to provide their lord with only the minimum troops required by the vassal obligation. In addition to showing their loyalty, providing more troops can also gain a greater say in the distribution of spoils after the war.
However, superior feudal lords could not abuse the loyalty of their vassals. After recruiting the vassal's troops for more than a certain period of time, they would either have to disband them and go home, or be responsible for their expenses, or even have to pay extra military pay.
Before reaching the deadline stipulated by the obligation, the vassal's army's logistical expenses and weapons and equipment are all solved by themselves. This obligation extends downward layer by layer. In most places, Soldiers at the bottom needs to pay for weapons and armor after being recruited by the lord. Of course, if you feel that you are extremely lucky or do not cherish your own life, you can also directly go to the battlefield with a hoe. Regardless of the equipment, people must be there anyway.
This resulted in the armies of local lords often having messy clothing and a variety of equipment. In Paul Greiman's view, even a battle involving more than ten thousand people like Battle of Biduo Fort looked like an enlarged version of the villagers' fighting.
A few lords with strong financial resources will maintain a group of full-time or semi-full-time Soldiers, wearing uniform clothing and holding uniform weapons, but the number will not be too many. For example, the group of archers who appear in Battle of Biduo Fort, they are the Soldiers of Duke Ferdinand. They are gathered together to train archery two afternoons a week.
Only national-level forces, such as the Gabella Empire royal family, Aldo Royal Family, or semi-independent dukes like Giles with large territories and many vassals, can support an organized army.
In the previous march, Alarda Army occupied almost half of the territory of Emson. Under the management of the Kent Family for generations, Emson developed into a large county, with a population of nearly 100,000 in half of its territory. For example, If First Battalion and Third Battalion continue to attack, although the lower-class civilians of this era have little loyalty to their lords, Paul is still afraid of what trouble will happen in the newly occupied land, so the troops heading south stop at Byron Fort. One of the purposes of the operation is to create a buffer zone between Arda-Bairdin and Emson. This purpose has now been achieved.
Moreover, Byron Fort, which is the residence of the Kent Family, is stronger and has more complete defense than Biduo Fort. Even with Artillery, it is not easy to conquer it. Paul still plans to wait for the armies of other allies to gather together again to fight Kent Family together.
Fight in the front and build in the rear. The rebellion in the south caused Royal Family to purchase armor and weapons across the country. Due to the adoption of new technologies, Arda's iron production has increased dramatically, and the cost of iron-making has been greatly reduced. Naturally, Royal Family wants to get a share of the Royal Family's strong demand for weapons. But what Royal Family needs are finished weapons. Arda's number of blacksmiths is not enough for its own production in the territory. How can it be possible to allocate part of it to the production of swords and armors, which in Paul's eyes are bound to be eliminated. And whether it is Arda or Bairdin, there are very few blacksmiths who are good at making traditional weapons.
But there are them in other people's territory! It's time to talk to allies about cooperation.