Reorganizing the Third Army

The Black Bear Tribe.

"Grand Elder, word has come from the royal court."

"The khanate has decided to recall the Seventh Tumen to reinforce us. Its army has already set out from Dragon Spine Pass and is expected to arrive in ten days.

"The chief told us to send people to watch the enemy's every move and help the army encircle and wipe them out!"

Jared spoke with an excited look on his face.

Ever since receiving news that the Goshawk Tribe and the Cors Tribe had been wiped out, he had not slept well once.

The neighboring tribes in the same region were all roughly equal in strength.

The enemy had dared to venture deep into their territory alone and wiped out two major tribes in a single stroke, putting the Black Bear Tribe under immense pressure.

For safety's sake, they had even moved their encampment more than a hundred li farther back, putting as much distance between themselves and the enemy as possible.

But that distance was not enough to make them feel secure.

If all the lush pastures had not already belonged to someone, and it had not been so hard to find a better place to graze their herds on short notice, they would have moved immediately.

Revenge was out of the question. There was no neighborly affection between Tuwu tribes, only grudges left by struggles over pasture and water.

With two fewer neighbors, there were two fewer rivals, and everyone else could claim more pasture.

More pasture meant more cattle and sheep, and more tribespeople could be fed.

"What are you so happy about?"

"The warriors our tribe sent out all serve in the Seventh Tumen.

"They finally broke through Dragon Spine Pass, and now's the time to head south and make their fortunes.

"Coming back to wipe out the enemy means missing the best time to plunder.

"The scraps handed out by the royal court won't be nearly enough to live on.

"Our tribe will have a hard time this winter!"

Grand Elder Lancaster shook his head helplessly.

Productivity on the grasslands was low, and many everyday goods and production supplies had to be obtained from the Holy Glory Empire.

Because of the terrible relations between the two countries, the border markets had long since closed, leaving smuggling as the only way to obtain them.

Compared with prices inside the pass, prices on the grasslands were several times higher, and some scarce supplies cost ten times as much.

Most of the wealth the Tuwu People had painstakingly accumulated by herding ended up in the smugglers' pockets.

In years of famine, prices soared even higher.

To survive, many small and midsize tribes had been forced to run up enormous debts to the smugglers.

They could not even default, because the smugglers had a monopoly on trade.

If they broke with the smugglers, obtaining supplies in the future would only become harder.

Besides, these smugglers had connections among the royal court's upper ranks, and the khanate had expressly forbidden attacks on caravans.

Since they could not obtain what they needed through normal trade, they could only seize it.

Rare supplies seldom seen before could be found everywhere beyond the pass.

Even the lowest-ranking serf households could produce an iron pot or two, something herders on the grasslands could hardly match.

Grain, salt, iron, cloth, and other supplies could be found at just about any market.

Besides supplies, they also needed craftsmen.

Blacksmiths were especially sought after.

When a tribe's iron pots broke or its weapons' edges curled, blacksmiths were needed to repair them.

"Ah!"

"Doesn't that mean we're taking a huge loss?"

"Can we make up for some of it with the spoils we capture?"

Jared asked in a panic.

The war had badly disrupted the Black Bear Tribe's production, and they had been forced to reduce their livestock numbers during the migration.

At this time of year, water and grass were plentiful and the livestock produced plenty of milk, so there was little effect for now. Once winter arrived, things would change.

When the livestock stopped producing milk, they would lose an important source of food.

Then they would have no choice but to slaughter cattle and sheep to get through the crisis.

For the tribe's long-term development, they had to keep enough cattle and sheep for breeding, so the number they could actually slaughter was limited.

If they slaughtered too many, the following year would be even harder, and they would enter a vicious cycle.

In less than two years of that, the tribe's reserves would be exhausted.

"Don't get your hopes up. The enemy doesn't intend to stay on the grasslands for long, so why would they keep so much livestock?

"The Dragonbone Mountains are often shrouded in smoke. The enemy is most likely curing meat.

"If nothing unexpected has happened, everything the Goshawk Tribe and the Cors Tribe painstakingly accumulated has been turned into a pile of dried meat.

"If fighting really breaks out and the enemy dumps the dried meat somewhere in the mountains, where are you going to find it?"

Lancaster spoke with a pained look.

The same beef or mutton could provide different amounts of nourishment depending on how it was prepared.

A sheep cooked in a stew was enough to feed twenty people. With some wild vegetables and coarse grains added, thirty or forty people could have a comfortable meal.

If it were roasted, it might not even fill ten people.

Curing it into dried meat caused much the same amount of loss.

During the curing process, a great deal of the valuable fat in the beef and mutton was lost.

To the Tuwu People, slaughtering livestock and curing meat on such a large scale was simply too extravagant.

Even when armies marched to war, they drove cattle and sheep along with them rather than carrying convenient dried meat.

Everyone knew the latter was easier to carry and could speed up a march, but it consumed far too much.

It was fine as an occasional supplement, but they simply could not afford to do it for long.

The outskirts of the Dragonbone Mountains.

After deciding to march west, the Third Supplementary Army did not withdraw immediately. Instead, it began another major reorganization.

After a series of battles, the army's total strength had fallen from a peak of over 7,500 to 6,856.

Because the intensity of the fighting each battalion had faced differed, their losses varied as well.

The larger battalions still had nearly 900 men, while the smaller ones had fallen to just over 500.

The old organization could no longer meet the needs of the current war.

To keep the officer corps stable, Victor did not reduce the number of battalions, making only minor adjustments to their internal structure.

Two companies were added to the cavalry battalion, bringing its total strength to 1,000 and making it one of only two full-strength battalions in the Third Army.

The original archer battalion was broken up. Aside from the company previously transferred to the cavalry, one company was merged with the existing mountain company and heavy infantry company to form the army's only special operations battalion.

The remaining archer company was divided among the infantry battalions to strengthen their ranged attack capability.

The overall organization of the seven infantry battalions remained unchanged, but their infantry companies were reduced to 200 men each.

Each battalion headquarters was assigned fifty men, reducing total battalion strength to 650.

The more than 300 personnel directly under army headquarters remained largely as they were, aside from a few individual transfers.

The seemingly simple adjustments still kept Victor on his feet.

There was no helping it. Although the officers and soldiers below him carried out their orders, the process was far from smooth.

Disputes were constant, especially during personnel transfers, when everyone wanted the best soldiers.

Some hotheaded officers even threatened to fight duels to the death.

Each battalion settled its own internal affairs, but disputes involving multiple battalions had to be handled by Victor himself.

It took five or six days of work before things finally settled down.

The effort paid off in the end. After the infantry battalions were trimmed down, command became much more flexible.

It was clear that, apart from a few outstanding performers, most of the officers who had been thrown into their posts still lacked individual ability.

They had no trouble carrying out orders by the book, but fell well short when it came to taking initiative.

Reducing the number of troops under their command eased the pressure on them instead.

The greatest gain, however, was breaking up ties of hometown favoritism and several small cliques within the army.

Only at this point could the Third Supplementary Army be considered truly integrated. Throughout the army, there was only one voice left: that of its commander, Victor.

"Commander, enemy traces have been spotted eighty li away."

Preston came forward to report.