Recruit Training 1

The day after meeting with the knights, Paul organized the troops according to his new structure. The old and new soldiers totaled nearly six hundred men and were divided into two understrength Infantry Battalions.

After organizing the soldiers, he remembered there was also a group of Guards from the Lord's Manor. His obsessive nature compelled him to create a structure for them as well, establishing a separate unit—the Internal Guard Unit.

Modeling it after the Armed Police System from his previous life, the two lowest levels remained squads and platoons. Above them came companies, battalions, and regiments, corresponding respectively to companies, battalions, and regiments in the army. To save trouble, they also adopted the same Military Rank system as the military. There were only sixty Guards at the Lord's Manor, so they were organized into two platoons.

As for the knights and their attendants, that was more troublesome. After all, the knightly class had already touched the threshold of nobility. From what he had observed, there was still a vast gulf between nobles and commoners in this world. Mixing them into the same system might provoke their dissatisfaction, and his seat as Lord was not yet secure. Yet separating such a considerable force into an independent unit felt strange as well.

So he first held a private talk with Bryce, laying out his ideas and concerns. To his surprise, Bryce's old face reddened. He said Paul was worrying too much and explained.

When the Greiman Family had been kicked by the King to the Northwest Coast, it had carried a strong sense of exile. Their former vassals had either been implicated and punished alongside them or switched allegiance to another patron.

The knights currently in the territory...

"Uh... how should I put this?" Bryce stammered. "It may sound a little offensive, but the Royal Family at the time forbade your family from granting titles to new vassal nobles. Although your ancestors granted us knightly fiefs, our status as knights is not recognized by the kingdom's authorities or other nobles. People generally call people like us 'Wild Knights.' Apart from knowing a few words and practicing martial arts, we're no different from ordinary people. Most of us often work the fields ourselves."

Paul asked curiously, "Then Baron Ford is...?"

"His title was inherited from a distant relative. He had served your family for a long time before inheriting it, and he is a Robe Noble—a noble in name only, without any fief."

"I see. Then you can bring them into the army. I can tell you carry quite a bit of prestige among them."

Bryce broke out in a cold sweat and readily agreed. "Not at all, not at all. I can only drink them all under the table. Don't worry, I definitely won't disappoint the Earl."

Just as Bryce had said, the knights and their Knight Attendants had no objections. Most were appointed as Military Officers at various levels, while Bryce and another knight named Claude were appointed Battalion Commanders of the First Infantry Battalion and Second Infantry Battalion respectively.

They then conducted a series of physical fitness tests, selecting Squad Leaders for each squad. Originally, Paul had intended to make literacy the most heavily weighted criterion, but after asking around, he found that nearly all of the several hundred men were illiterate. The few exceptions could only recognize and spell their own names. Left with no choice, he tested physical fitness first.

It was precisely because the troops' overall education level was so low that the selected junior officers all had the word "acting" added before their titles, and their ranks were temporary as well. All current soldiers were Privates, while acting Squad Leaders were Temporary Corporals.

"All right. Given the recent military tension, there's no time to waste. Training begins immediately." The young Earl spoke eagerly. Ignoring everyone's objections, he insisted on taking the troops into the woods outside town for training and announced that they would camp in the woods throughout the training period.

He brought only the Second Infantry Battalion and the First Internal Guard Platoon. The First Battalion remained in Lakeheart Town to deal with any emergencies.

After selecting a site, the recruits began setting up camp under the guidance of the veterans. Paul called Knight Claude—now Major Claude—to discuss the training plan.

He handed Claude a parchment densely covered in writing and said with no small degree of pride, "Take a look, Claude. Have you ever seen a more brilliant training plan than this?"

Claude took it and quickly scanned it. Breaking out in a cold sweat, he said, "My Lord, this training will kill people."

"What? How could that be? This is already a scaled-down version with many subjects cut out."

"My Lord, this level of training is almost comparable to what I went through as a Knight Attendant."

"You could endure it. Why can't they?"

"Nutrition is important, my Lord! Although I wasn't well-off back then, I could at least eat meat once a week. These soldiers of common birth don't have such conditions. Under the previous food standards, we could only ensure they didn't go hungry. But once their workload increases, they will have a hard time holding on without meat."

Paul smacked his forehead. "I actually didn't consider that. Fine, I'll write a letter at once and send someone to Philip, telling him to increase our food supplies, especially the meat. We'll also organize hunting parties every day."

Claude laughed heartily. "Uh... I have no objections, but Butler Philip will probably cough up blood again."

"My Lord, aside from physical training, it also mentions strange terms such as standing at attention, goose-stepping, and formation drills. I can understand them from the words alone, but could you explain them further?"

"Discipline, Claude, discipline. Did you see the disgraceful display at the previous parade? Our army must be uniform and orderly, advancing and retreating in proper order. At all times, they must act as a single whole. Only then will they have presence, rather than being a disorderly mob of stragglers."

Claude sweated profusely. "Not even the kingdom's regular army has such high standards! Fine, what you say makes sense."

"It's already getting late, so we'll leave the other subjects for now. Before dinner, let's start with standing at attention as an appetizer! Hehehehe..."

Watching the busy soldiers, the eager young Earl rubbed his hands together and let out a sinister laugh that sent chills down Claude's spine.