Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 362 Military Expenditure and Promotion

“General, I have a question,” Claude pondered. “What do you mean by giving each of the 100,000 immigrants an estate? ”

Marshal Michel replied: "The industry is very simple. For example, if they want to grow a field, they can divide a plot of land into 30 acres and 50 acres. They just need to be clear about their ownership of the fields, and the rest can be ignored. You should be aware that in the kingdom itself, as civilians, they are very difficult to become landowners. Only in overseas jurisdictions can they own the land we have allocated to them free of charge. The future development of these civilian families in the field will depend on their own efforts.

This is not something that you, the commander in chief of the theatre, need to worry about. You just have to urge the civil affairs department under the theatre command to arrange for the resettlement of the 100,000 immigrant families at first sight. In fact, an Amphiston administration alone would be enough to accommodate 100,000 immigrant families, a vast and sparsely populated area that could accommodate them by choosing the right place to expand two or three more towns. Besides, mineral development here also needs good people, if you don't want to grow a field, you can also go to those four mountain cities to find a well-paid job... "

Claude nodded, and if this was the industry, another 100,000 immigrant families would be able to eat in the war zone. Just allocate their land, don't worry about anything else, and don't even need to invest in development funds to help them resettle in the early stages. After all, when these civilian families migrated, they took the settlement fees of the emerging commercial aristocrats enough to purchase their own production materials to develop the land allocated to them.

100,000 immigrant families, one demobilized soldier per household, plus more than 20,000 people in 20 local security battalions, then 120,000 veterans who have been through five years of war in the eastern region have basically a bit of battlefield experience. Combined with most of the Rangers transferred to the local guards, and two overseas field regiments, the strength is quite adequate.

Five reinforced divisional groups, each of which has a total of 32,000 personnel, total 160,000. And the Kingdom of Hicks has declared the formation of ten standing legions, each with more than 60,000 men, or more than 600,000 men. Nearly four times the force gap, but defense-oriented on its own side, this colonial war is not without the possibility of victory, with the defensive line set by the heavenly Dorinibara River and the increasingly well-named Claude defensive line behind it...

“General, there really is no problem in replenishing the force. But what about military spending, weapons and equipment, supplies of logistics?” Claude asked the final question.

“Cough, cough...” Marshal Michel coughed suddenly and he couldn't help but look at Claude: “I have to explain these issues to you one by one, where logistical supplies and the daily consumption of troops are mainly provided by the local, as well as by the rear three jurisdictions, Mormary, Arturas and Tyrsim. Our overseas administration has traditionally been a thriving agricultural and pastoral industry, the Kingdom's largest cash crop production base, and the daily consumption of troops can be fully replenished locally.

With regard to armaments and equipment, the Royal Ministry of the Army has promised to provide complementary armaments to the five divisions, which will be delivered here within three months. However, due to the overexpenditure of war funds, this was the last shipment of armaments available to them. The future depletion of ordnance and the consumption of ammunition required for the training of troops will be provided by the firearms repair workshop and ammunition workshop here, which will require our theatre to make its own funds available for procurement.

On the final issue of military spending, the Royal Ministry of the Army stated that they could only allocate up to 100,000 gold kroner for the maintenance of the theatre during the two years, until the Kingdom of Hicks launched another offensive. But limited by the current tensions in the Nubian continent and the need for preparedness in our theatre, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Crius. The Duke of Man Duncan agrees with the Royal Ministry of the Army's proposal to allocate tax revenues from overseas territories directly to our theatre for military expenditures.

According to previous tax records, the three direct jurisdictions, Mormary, Arturas and Tyrsim, collect nearly 300,000 gold kroner each year. I think this is enough for the five reinforced divisions to spend on their daily military expenses, so I agreed to the proposal put forward by the Royal Army, and the rest of the shortfall will require us to raise and save money on our own within the theatre... "

Claude's face is somewhat heavy, with a reinforced division of 32,000 people, requiring 56,000 dollars in salary expenses per year for officers and soldiers alone. The salary of a soldier for a year is about two gold kroner, which is not a welfare subsidy and is doubled for officers. Five reinforced divisions require more than 300,000 gold kroner a year, and the taxes that the three jurisdictions - Mormary, Arturas and Tyrsim - can provide each year are basically spent on salaries.

But the troops are not just paid enough, they are chewed up, and they spend a lot of money on their daily lives. While these logistical supplies are also provided by the next three overseas jurisdictions, what they are able to provide is food staples and meat reserves, fresh vegetables and fruits, all of which have to be procured locally. Provision is also made for the maintenance of firearms repair workshops and ammunition workshops in theatre, and the consumption of ammunition and firearms in training is also a major expense.

The integration of the five divisions will require military exercises and field combat exercises to adapt each soldier to future colonial wars. Expenditure in this area alone is significant, and the Royal Ministry of the Army has allocated only 100,000 gold kroner for the maintenance of the theatre, which is not spent at all. In Claude's calculation, the difference of at least KK 340,000 between the two years would allow the five reinforced divisions to complete all their operational tasks.

Although Marshal Michel said he could raise his own military contributions in the theatre, it was difficult to say so easily. Looks like the war zone has four overseas territories, but both Cromwell and Bering Ghana have been cleared of fields, and there are no residents, so who are we looking for to raise military money for? As for the direct administration of Robisto, it is a key defensive area that relies on the Dolinibara River, where few of the inhabitants of the Kingdom remain.

Amphiston Direct Administration, where the battlefield headquarters is located, is the largest mining development area in the seven overseas jurisdictions. It has four cities, one town and one fishing port. In addition to Lanhu Town and that fishing port town providing some food, meat and fishery products, those four cities are all mountain towns, mainly mining development. Every year, large sums of money are spent purchasing food and other living materials from other overseas jurisdictions.

Although 100,000 immigrant families are now moving to Amphiston, farming and husbandry, and changing the industry structure of Amphiston, immigrant families have been exempt from taxes for the first three years, so the strain on military spending has not helped at all. According to the tax records of the former Amphiston Administrations, it would be good to charge 100,000 gold kroner a year, similar to the three rear Administrations.

“General, how can we calculate that there is still a shortfall of 200,000 gold kroner in military spending for two years? This has a great impact on our five divisions completing all their operational tasks and setting up a defensive front. Is the Royal Ministry of the Army prepared to relinquish all overseas jurisdictions, reluctant to provide us with adequate military spending?” Claude grinned and complained.

“How did you calculate that?” Marshal Michel was curious how Claude calculated this conclusion, and he euphemistically criticized it: "I think this is something that the logistics department needs to worry about. As Chief Commander of the theatre, your focus should not be on the small things of military spending, and it is the integrated units that are most important to complete the operational work. ”

“General, you are wrong, fighting is logistics, and adequate armaments and logistics are the prerequisites for victory. Claude rebutted, then reported his rough calculations.

“Was the war actually about logistics?” Marshal Michel thought about it, but was immediately drawn to Claude's calculations. After hearing Claude's statement, Marshal Michel laughed: "Claude, you were wrong in calculating the salaries of the soldiers. Don't forget that the Rangers were transferred to local guards and their salaries needed to be adjusted.

For example, our Ranger Corps soldiers are paid eight riazos a month, plus welfare subsidies around a silver tall. One soldier is twelve silver tallers a year, that is, two gold crowns plus two silver tallers, so you calculate that five divisions need at least 300,000 gold crowns a year. But you forget that our Ranger Corps is a standing army in the kingdom, and the salary and welfare subsidies for officers and soldiers are actually double those for second-line regiments, that is, local guards.

Those places are armed with one soldier's salary of four riasos a month, plus welfare subsidies of six riasos, seventy-two riasos a year, or seven silver talls, so one soldier's salary of one gold kronor two silver talls a year, which counts as up to 50,000 gold kronor a division's salary in a year, and a total of 250,000 gold kronor five divisions is enough, and here you spend 50,000 gold kronor more a year. ”

Claude stunned: "General, if we move to a place where armed treatment is diminished, few people in the Rangers would agree to stay, would they? ”

Marshal Michel shook his head with a smile: "Claude, it was the veterans of the original division who moved the Rangers into the area to arm them, not the recruits who joined the Corps after the Battle of Bering Ghana, or more than 20,000 people. As the backbone of the five new reinforced divisions, they will all be promoted to the first rank in order to compensate for their reduced treatment with the same rank. In this way, they will receive the same treatment as they would have received in the Rangers.

As you should understand, what you value more as a soldier than the salary you receive is the promotion of the rank. This is related to his development prospects in the military and post-discharge status treatment, as well as the reduced length of service. From now on, the five divisions of your battlefield belong to the Second Line Regiment, the local guard force, but they are the official ranks of the kingdom. Most Ranger Corps officers transferred to the local guard were therefore satisfied with the promotion of the rank, rather than the payment of salaries.

More than 20,000 Ranger Corps officers and soldiers form the backbone of five divisions, each with just over 4,000, the remainder are recruits from immigration and local guard battalions. As for the two overseas field corps, they are already second-line corps, and the treatment, as I have just said, has not diminished. So your salary calculation should not have been based on the treatment of the Rangers, which would have saved you 100,000 gold kroner. ”

So that's it, Claude. That's when I realized I was in the wrong place. As Marshal Michel said, based on the salaries of local guards, second-line corps officers and soldiers, at least a third of the cost of salary and welfare subsidies would be reduced, so the remaining balance would be around 100,000 gold kroner for two years, 50,000 gold kroner a year, trying to save what might still be possible...

“In addition, don't forget that we have stockpiled a large quantity of armament logistics, such as grass and ammunition, from our enemies at the base of the Rangers' home. I ordered two overseas battalions to send personnel to the sea near Port Patres and to the Dolinibara River to salvage the wreck of the Seaking fleet of the Kingdom of Hicks.

Hundreds of artillery have been recovered from these wrecks, and we are well placed to use the artillery mounted on these enemy warships to reinforce the positions on both lines of defence, which has already resulted in significant savings in armaments. As you know, these guns on enemy warships are of the same standard, which reduces our production of ancillary ammunition by a lot of trouble.

There is also the fact that, while the ammunition and armaments used by the army of the Kingdom of Hicks do not go hand in hand with the manufactured equipment of our Kingdom, they can be replaced with those used by our army, thus reducing the cost of raw materials and only requiring a processing fee. ”

Marshal Michel looked at Claude with a smile: "I'm sure you can rest assured now that the various armaments and logistics stockpiled at the Legion Logistics Base are worth about 200,000 gold kroner. This material will remain in this theatre when the Rangers return home, which is enough to keep you from worrying about logistics while you consolidate the five reinforced divisions...

There's good news, by the way. When the arms and equipment of the Royal Ministry of the Army arrive, orders for the promotion of the ranks follow. Don't be surprised that the seven colonels you transferred from the Ranger Regiment to the local guard arm will be promoted to Major General of the Kingdom at the same time, which is the Kingdom's reward for your insistence on preparing for this colonial war in the front battlefield. ”

This is truly unexpected good news, since the officers and soldiers of the Ranger Corps were transferred to the local guards for the armed forces, and the good thing about the promotion of the rank to the first rank also belongs to the colonel himself. Compared to those soldiers who were promoted from corporal to sergeant, or from lieutenant to lieutenant at the grassroots level, it would be cheap for a colonel to be promoted to Major General. You know, it takes more than a decade of seniority to get from colonel to general in peacetime. In times of war, three first-degree merits are required.

But Claude is also well aware that whether he succeeds Marshal Michel as Commander-in-Chief of the theatre or is promoted to Major General, such a smooth passage in the Royal Army Ministry means that no one at the top of the Royal Army sees his future in the next colonial war. To say the worst is to say that you are a scapegoat after the failure of the next colonial war, unless you can win it again.

“I have an estimated three months left here, and the time is a little tight.” I hope to help you solve most of the problem of integrating the five reinforced divisions before I leave, "said Marshal Michel. I will be summoning the remaining officers over the next few days and will be completing preparations for the new sector headquarters in a week's time, with the selection of the heads of departments to be finalized.

Take this follow-up strategic plan programme for the Overseas Territories' war zones back to take a closer look and see if there are any omissions and changes that need to be made, and give me a follow-up report. Then wait for the meeting to notify you that you will be attending the preparatory meeting for the Forces nouvelles zone command and have a good conversation with your future colleagues. ”

Claude stood up, picked up the blue cover document on the table, and stood up, saluting Marshal Michel solemnly, ready to leave.

Just as Claude wanted to open the door, Marshal Michel remembered something and called Claude: “By the way, Claude, your deputy commander, Lieutenant Colonel Schneck, I'll transfer him back to Legion headquarters, and he'll be deputy director of the Legion Administration Office. ”

Claude, what did Colonel Schneider do? From the deputy chief to the deputy director, this is a mysterious descent. One is a second-hand man in the regiment, in power. The other one is in the Legion headquarters, besides running errands, you have to compensate everyone for their smiles...

Instead, Marshal Michel said slowly: "You don't have to blame Lieutenant Colonel Schneck, who has always been honest and diligent. He just doesn't understand that not every Sterling represents the royal family, and not every Sterling is the object of loyalty to our legions. He was just lured by General Van Snick to give General Van Snick the books of the distribution of your internal trophies..."

Claude suddenly realized.