Rumpet was surprised to see Claude, but he was also delighted.
He didn't think that Claude would become a lieutenant-colonel in the kingdom's army in just a few years and be in charge of a battalion all by himself.
He recalled the first time he met Claude. He was a novice herbalist in Bluefeather's 11th Field Battalion while Claude had just joined the army for officer training.
He could only sigh at how quickly time passed. The two of them had different experiences and Claude seemed to have a bright future ahead of him.
Rumpet readily agreed to Claude's request to take up a post in Tribe 131 and arranged for three novice herbalists and medics to report to Tribe 131's camp within three days.
Just as Claude was busy setting up the basic structure of Tribe 131, he finally received the first official order from General Michelc to all the troops stationed at Chateau Christophe. It required all officers to return to their original units and reorganize them. It was also announced that soldiers who joined Ranger would receive a one-time allowance that was twice their salary.
For the soldiers stationed at Chateau Christophe, the reorganization of Ranger that they had been waiting for two years had finally begun.
They didn't doubt the authenticity of the order and returned to camp one after another. They obeyed the order to collect all sorts of old weapons and equipment without delay.
This was common sense. Reorganizing a new army should also use new weapons and equipment. Recycling old weapons and equipment was very common sense.
However, the soldiers didn't expect that they would be subjected to a month and a half long period of military discipline after they handed in their equipment.
General Michelic immediately announced a lockdown order and martial law. Then, he began to clean up the military camps one by one. Countless soldiers and gangs who violated the military rules were caught.
In the latter half of July, the military discipline ended. 1,027 soldiers who had committed serious crimes were hanged on both sides of the main road in Chateau Christophe.
3,486 soldiers who had committed lesser crimes were put into six labor camps and sentenced to 10 years of hard labor.
One hundred and ninety-four junior officers were ordered to retire for dereliction of duty and incompetence.
In addition, there were countless soldiers who were sentenced to confinement and whipping. The only thing they could rejoice about was that they could still continue to serve in the army, and when their service was over, they could still obtain citizenship.
No one had expected General Michaelic to have such a ruthless side to him, punishing so many soldiers who had violated military discipline.
Prince Hansbach hurried from the royal capital to Christophe Castle and talked with General Michaelich through the night.
It was said that the eldest prince's opinion was that it was best not to sentence these soldiers to death and labor for violating the rules. After all, they had made great contributions to the kingdom during the war and were once the kingdom's elites.
However, General Michaelic refused the First Prince's request. He said that the two years of lack of discipline and sloppy military life had made the soldiers lose their drive. If the military law was not strictly enforced, the soldiers would lose their fear.
Only by letting them understand the harshness of military law could they once again understand the duties of a soldier. Only then could the reorganization work proceed smoothly.
In the end, Prince Hansbach decided to support General Michaelic's decision. It was now a time of peace and stability was the priority.
The harsh punishment of the soldiers was more than enough to garner the joy of the citizens and merchants of Christophe Castle. They had suffered quite badly from the soldiers in the past two years.
It would be even easier if it was during war. The soldiers who had violated the rules would form a dare-to-die battalion and charge to the frontlines.
That incident would be known as the 'Bloody July of Christophe Castle'. After all, the kingdom had never sentenced so many people to death at once.
More than a thousand corpses were hung on both sides of the main road of Christophe Castle, forming a horrifying scene.
A week later, the corpses were collected and cremated. The cause of death reported to the ministry of war was death on the battlefield. That was a good ending for the soldiers who had violated the rules.
On the 10th of the 8th month, Tribe 131 completed its mission.
Claude went to the command center and submitted a report to be summoned by General Michaelic.
"You're going to use three months for long-distance training?" Michelic asked as he looked at the application.
"Yes, General," Claude replied, "Our men are all veterans and there's no need for new recruit training.
What we need the most right now is to master new tactics, especially mobility and emergency response skills.
After some discussion, we felt that it would be best to train them along with training. That's why we decided to train them on the road and train them on the way. We'll train them as quickly as possible. "
"Then why the three southwestern prefectures and not the 29 new prefectures? There's quite a lot of rebellious activity in the newly conquered areas. You could've gone through actual combat training," the general said with a frown.
The so-called twenty-nine new prefectures were actually the former duchies of Sidins, Rimodra and Askilin. After the fall of the kingdom, the three duchies were annexed and divided into twenty-nine new prefectures.
"It's like this, General.
Considering that there are already three standing corps stationed in the new prefectures, we're worried that we might get into trouble with them.
At the same time, we can't provide support for our logistics and supplies, which puts us in a difficult spot.
Due to the fact that we've only just been formed, we don't think it's wise for us to head to the newly conquered areas for training before we can guarantee that Tribe 131 has a certain level of combat power, "Claude explained.
"Then why do we have to go to the three southwestern prefectures? You can just train in the prefectures around the Ibinister Plains."
The general didn't seem to want Tribe 131 to go too far. Claude had no idea what he was worried about.
"General, it's like this. The prefectures around the Ibinister Plains are all densely populated and prosperous places.
The terrain there is rather flat, which isn't good for Tribe 131's field training. It'll also affect the secrecy of our combat training and drills.
The three southwestern prefectures are rather remote and have many mountains and hills. It's very suitable for us to carry out live ammunition drills and supplies.
"Also, Tribe 131 is preparing to train our men in extreme wilderness survival. The primordial forests and mountains there are very suitable for such training."
"Wait, Claude. What's with this extreme wilderness survival training?" the general interrupted.
"This is one of my tactical ideas. It's to designate a combat target and have a squad of soldiers carry three days' worth of supplies. They'll go through seven days of combat training in the wilderness, forests, and mountains. The goal of the training is to eliminate the combat target and ensure that everyone survives.
You'll be able to infiltrate through the enemy's defensive lines and launch a surprise attack on the enemy's supply lines and command centre, disrupting the enemy's communication and supply system. "Claude was referring to special operations in his previous world.
"I understand," Michelic said with a nod. He recalled how Claude's elite squad had ambushed the cadets' command center during the drills back in Calleben's Royal Army Academy to secure victory.
"Alright, I'll give the order and permit Tribe 131 to go to the three southwestern prefectures for training for three months.
However, I will have the division headquarters organize a staff team to observe and record the training results of this long-distance field training.
Don't worry, the staff won't interfere with your training and drills. I only need them to record what they see and hear and send it to HQ, "Michec said.
"Yes, General." Claude saluted and left the office.
Yay!
Claude cheered excitedly when he left HQ. Letting Tribe 131 go to the three southwestern prefectures for training was purely out of his own selfishness.
In the blink of an eye, his and Kefnie's son was almost two years old and he had never seen his father before.
Claude had wanted to apply for leave to visit his family, but Tribe 131 had just been formed and they still had to undergo a long period of training and drills.
Claude was worried that if he asked for leave, he would be stripped of his post by the general in the blink of an eye.
At the end of July, more than a thousand corpses were hung on both sides of the main road of Castle Christophe and sent to be cremated. Michec, who had gone from a scholarly soldier to a cold-faced and emotionless division commander, was now a demon king in the eyes of countless soldiers. Nobody dared to defy his orders.
Even Claude had to think about his own future. He didn't want to leave a bad impression on Michec because of something like a home leave and be labeled as unimportant.
Fortunately, Skri was considerate and gave Claude an idea.
Since the newly formed Tribe 131 had to undergo training, why not head to the three southwestern prefectures?
Not only would he be able to achieve his goal of training, he would also be able to take time out to visit his children and family.
Claude spent quite a bit of effort to come up with a complete training plan for the troops. After he submitted it to HQ for approval, he immediately mobilized the entire battalion to head to the three southwestern prefectures. Their target was Whitestag.
When Claude received the travel plan from Siegfelde, he finally understood why the higher-ups had given his battalion a logistical brigade.
It was simple. Tribe 131 had a total of 120 four-wheeled carriages. That many carriages were there to increase the mobility of the tribe and allow them to transport all their supplies at once in times of emergency.
Even if there was a logistics company, when it came to the carriages, there would only be two soldiers for each four-wheeled carriage.
"No, Major Siegfelde. We can't let the logistics department handle all the wagons. That will only increase their workload and make them lose the ability to defend themselves," Claude said as he vetoed the logistics department's report on the wagons.
"The medical squad will be assigned five carriages and Dr. Rempt will be in charge of them. We don't have to assign coachmen to them. The medics can drive carriages anyway.
The logistics brigade will need 13 carriages, so we'll give them 15 carriages. They're all craftsmen and are more valuable than our soldiers. Two more carriages will make them feel more comfortable during long journeys and allow them to rest on the carriages.
"The artillery brigade will need 22 carriages to transport ammunition and other supplies. We'll give them 20 carriages and they won't have to be taken back in the future.
The coachmen will also be assigned to them by the artillerymen. Don't tell me they don't know how to drive a carriage.
"A light cavalry brigade will need eight carriages to transport their rations. What's the point of having so many carriages? We'll assign one to each platoon and another to the brigade, so five carriages should be enough.
As for the extra rations and fodder for the horses, they were to separate them and leave one bag behind each warhorse.
"As for the four brigades directly under us, we'll also assign five carriages to each brigade. That's the standard arrangement. We won't need to provide them with coachmen and guards. They can handle it themselves.
In that case, our battalion only needs to be responsible for 55 carriages, and we can take out two logistical platoons for mobile defense. I think, Major Siegfried, that our battalion's logistics department should have enough supplies to transport, right? "
"It's enough, Sir. That way, we can have ten more carriages."
Siegfeld heaved a sigh of relief. Claude had solved most of the logistics division's transportation problems in no time and gained two more platoons for mobile defense.
Otherwise, all the subordinate units would have to send carriages and coachmen, which would increase the logistics division's workload and lead to a shortage of manpower.
"Let the extra carriages follow the main brigade. Our supplies for this long journey will be provided by the places along the way. We'll be able to stock up even more when the time comes," Claude said.
"Yes, Sir. I understand what to do," Siegfeld replied.
On the 21st of the ninth month, Tribe 131 arrived at the entrance of the three southwestern prefectures, Whitestag, after an 18-day long march. They set up camp at the stone outpost.
Claude decided to stay there for a month and a half to deal with the problems they encountered along the way. After that, they would undergo a month-long survival training in Egret.
The arrival of Tribe 131 caused quite a stir in Whitestag, not only because Ranger was the newly formed royal guard, but also because Commander Claude was a native of Whitestag.
After serving in the army for eight years, he rose from a peasant background to become an official lieutenant-colonel of the kingdom. That was the highest rank a soldier of the three southwestern prefectures could achieve in the past fifty years. Claude had already become a legendary figure in Whitestag.
Viscount Felidos personally went to Tribe 131's camp at Stone Outpost to meet with Claude and hosted a banquet for the high-ranking officers in the camp. He also agreed to all the supplies Major Siegfelde requested and it was a joyous occasion for both the host and the guest.
Only after the banquet was over did Claude have time to bring Myjack and Gum home to visit his family and the son he hadn't seen since he was born.