Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

There were a total of six officers who could participate in the decision-making: Tang Juan and Moritz did not express their positions, while Bard, Andre, and Mason were successfully persuaded by Winters.

The matter of reorganizing the army was already on the agenda, yet the New Reclamation Legion did not provide the opportunity.

No sooner had Winters drafted the reorganization plan than the forces of Mont Blanc County and Vernge County came bearing down with great momentum.

"The crisis has been temporarily averted," Winters said with an intense gaze, "but the legions will inevitably come again. If we are to reorganize the army, now is the time!"

The atmosphere grew somewhat tense.

"When have I not supported you," Andre slapped his thigh, "then let's reform!"

Mason also nodded, "The current situation is unacceptable; the organization indeed needs to be sorted out. Without clarifying the structure, we will always be the rebels."

Lieutenant Tang Juan and Colonel Moritz exchanged glances.

"You don't need to consider the colonel's and my opinions," Juan shrugged, "you are Paratu officers; we are not."

And so, Xial silently wrote in the meeting minutes, "Lieutenant Bard absent, A and B abstained, the remaining three unanimously pass the resolution."

"A small boat turns easily; there are advantages to having a smaller troop size," Winters pulled out a thick stack of draft papers, excitedly saying, "I propose to restore the legion's structure!"

Lieutenant Tang Juan nearly choked on his saliva, "Are you trying to be on the same level as your father?"

"No, no, no," Winters reddened and said, "I don't want to be a legion commander."

"Stop being so modest," Andre slapped his thigh again, "the decision is yours; you should be the commander."

Winters's face grew even redder, shaking his head again and again, "The legion is only a nominal organization, not set up to truly establish a legion. It's impossible for the artillery and cavalry to fall under the command system of the infantry corps, so we need a higher-level legion organization."

"So, leave the position vacant?"

"Just leave it vacant."

Winters distributed papers with the reorganization content to the others, "Above the legion, there should be formed an officers' council, responsible for coordinating all military administration and command, just like the current council of six."

Unofficially, the council of six, which was not documented, changed its signboard to become a formal military council, without any objections.

If viewed from an organizational standpoint, the members of the military council would have a higher rank than that of a legion commander.

Only Moritz quietly spoke up, "Don't assign honorary titles to Juan and me; we are still officers of Vineta."

"Then we continue to call you Mr. A, Mr. B," Winters said nonchalantly.

Moritz sighed and did not speak.

"The cavalry and artillery don't need much reorganization," Winters looked at Andre and Mason, "they only need to have their personnel and equipment standards set and their bylaws written; you two are responsible for writing the regulations."

Andre grimaced, struck by an idea, "I'll ask Bard to write it! Wouldn't that solve it?"

Mason also smiled bitterly, "I don't even have a single cannon in my hands; what personnel should I set?"

"We don't have a legion either, but we've also set up a legion structure," Winters comforted Senior Mason, "set the structure first; the cannons will come sooner or later."

Senior Mason sighed and absentmindedly sketched the lines of cannons on a piece of scrap paper.

"The infantry really needs a major overhaul," Winters's expression became serious, "the army will sooner or later fight a proper and hard battle, the existing organization is simply not enough for a true battle, it must change!"

In Winters's reorganization plan, "regiments" as recruitment units would still be tied to regions and retained.

For ease of troop replenishment and logistics management, hundred-man units would nominally remain directly under the regiment.

However, from a tactical perspective, hundred-man units should be formed into "battalions" for combat.

The size of a "battalion" would be close to that of the current large unit, but slightly different.

"The minimum standard for a battalion should be its ability to form a square formation independently for combat," Winters's eyes sparkled when discussing infantry tactics, "A thousand or even three thousand men in a big square formation is too cumbersome. The Paratu Standing Army generally uses five hundred men in small square formations in combat on the plains, which is very effective."

Tang Juan became interested, "What happens when a five hundred man small square formation encounters cavalry? Can it withstand the charge?"

"Yes," Winters unconsciously leaned toward Juan, recounting his combat experience on the plains, "a five hundred man small square formation can still prevent Hurd Cavalry from breaking through. And with smaller squares, the musketeers can really demonstrate their firepower. Especially the area between two squares, it's practically a killing field..."

Among the officers present, only Juan and Winters were infantry officers.

When it came to discussing infantry tactics, the two could talk all day sitting on stones.

The others had less interest in infantry, with Senior Mason idly drawing cannons, Colonel Moritz quietly dozing off, and even Andre struggling to stay awake.

In contrast, Winters and Tang Juan were so engrossed in their conversation they nearly had their faces touching across the table.

Caught up in the excitement, Winters grabbed scrap paper to draw maps and used chess pieces to represent the two armies, explaining and strategizing for his senior.

Tang Juan too was thoroughly engrossed, at times marveling, at times emoting, and at times sighing with regret.

"You two find time to discuss this on your own some day!" Andre burst out in anger, slamming the table, "Let's finish the important matters first!"

Winters and Juan both glared at Andre, which made him feel somewhat guilty.

Andre said softly, "I'm so hungry, let's wrap up this meeting and go have dinner."

Tang Juan glanced at Andre and let out a light snort with a slight shake of his head.

"I'm expanding the hundred-man unit to 120 men; if a 'large unit' is still made up of six hundred-man units, it would no longer be appropriate," Winters returned to the subject, "So we will use the battalion structure, with four hundred-man units in each battalion, totaling 480 men."