Herald of Steel



"Wha..what!"

Even before Alexander could finish saying everything, the military council members were shocked and somewhat even outraged at this absurd declaration, with some even standing up in frustration.

With Alexander so casually dismissing so many soldiers with such callousness, it was only natural that they would react so violently.

It had to be also remembered that these people that Alexander was planning to fire were fellow comrades in the arms of these council members, brothers from different mothers, people they had bled with on the battlefield.

The army was the life for many of these men and if Alexander was going to throw them away just because they complained a bit, then they were going to have some problems.

"Please calm down, Please calm down. Don't get so worked up about it without letting me finish first!"

While the recipient of this surge of hostilities, Alexander remained cool and collected, quickly flashing his palms and slowly waving them to gesture them to cool down.

Something that only worked because of his prior prestige.

But though the men obediently sat down, they almost glared at Alexander as if to say, 'You better have a good goddamn reason!'

However, Alexander, facing these hostile stares seemed unfazed, and repeated,

'As I was saying, the officer core, i.e.- the former mercenaries who are the officers will still be with us. Nothing will happen to them. They are indispensable after all."

Alexander said the same thing thrice to first and foremost reassure all the council members of this.

And then finally proceeded with the next part.

"As for the squad leaders (in charge of 10 men) and some of the sergeants, a select of them will be hired to become trainers and instructors."

"These men have fought right at the very front lines, faced death in the eyes, and lived to tell the tale about it."

"I can think of no group better than them to teach all the fresh recruits about all the experiences of the battlefield, having seen and lived through so much of it."

"They will be like the seed from which our army will grow, and with them in charge, I believe we will soon have a world-beating army!"

Alexander very poetically exaggerated.

And then continued,

"As for the rest, the foot soldiers, the infantry, well they can have two choices."

"They can either continue serving in the standing army and keep their job and then things will be as is."

"Or they can choose to retire."

"And if they do so, then I will give all of them a plot of land. let's say….mmnnn…15 acres of farmland in Zanzan!"

"Or its equivalent price, which is I believe, ….um what's the price of land here, 2,000 ropals an acre?"

Alexander's stammering at the specific went to show he had just come up with the conditions just now, as along the halfway point he even had to pause to ask Menicus for some details.

"A bit less, around 1,500 - 1,600 ropals" And the old man nodded slightly while answering.

"Let's go with 2,000." But Alexander decided to go with his original value, saying with a large smile,

"The new farming methods have made the lands much more fertile, and I'm sure in the future 2,000 ropals for an acre of farmland here will be a steal. I do not want the soldiers then accusing me of swindling them."

"My lord is generous," hearing Alexander's frankness, the others could not help but chime this.

While Alexander then went on to say,

"And speaking of new farming methods, you should all know about this. That we have more than doubled, almost tripled the yield."

"So whereas a 6 to 7 acre of land could previously barely feed a family, now they can easily do it and even have surplus leftover. So with the 15 acres I will give, they will be able to easily live their life in luxury."

Alexander said this because even when going by a casual estimate of 800 kg of wheat per hectare, 15 acres would give about five tons of it per year, or 10,000 ropals according to the market value.

Even if they had to use half of that for replanting, as taxes and other miscellaneous expenditures, they still would be about twice as rich as an average peasant, being around the bracket for well-off merchants.

So Alexander's statement was fully accurate.

"Or if they want the lump sum of 30,000 ropals, they can take that too."

"Buy farmlands for cheaper elsewhere maybe."

"Or maybe start a business with it."

"Zanzan is rapidly growing and will surely continue to grow in the future. There is a lot of money to be made here."

"So perhaps the more business savvy could use that 30,000 ropals as start-up capital."

"Anyway, they are free to choose whichever option they like."

Alexander threw out arguments for both of them.

And then finished by turning to his generals and saying,

"I hope all of you can explain this to them. Of course, I will also make time to personally visit the barracks to tell this myself."

"So any questions?"

He at last turned his head inquisitively to see if there were any takers.

And for a while there were none.

Hearing all the details of Alexander's generous offer the council members finally felt soothed, as they were reassured that their men were not going to get cheated.

In fact hearing Alexander's generous offers, some even felt a tad bit jealous.

30,000 ropals was not an insignificant amount.

And it was at last Menicus who spoke up, saying approvingly, "I'm sure the soldiers will be very pleased with your offer, my lord. It is very generous!"

But the old man had not only spoken up to praise Alexander.

He also had questions, which he posed,

"But my lord, if so many soldiers were to leave the army, I'm afraid the loss…." Menicus only trailed off, shaking his head.

He did not think it was necessary to elaborate anymore as anyone with half a brain could guess what would happen if around 3,000 experienced, battle-hardened warriors suddenly left.

And given Alexander's generous offer, he was pretty sure most would.

The result of which would be devastating for the army.

But regarding Menicus's worry about this, Alexander did not seem to share it.

Or at least seem to think they were exaggerated.

He first said with a nod,

"The loss of these hardened soldiers will certainly attenuate our strength for a while. They are irreplaceable!"

And then added his trademarked 'but'.

"But that is why the army will work for the next two years training up the recruits. And with the experienced instructors, we will soon have a great army again."

"Also. remember that our officer core is still intact! They will be the ones to direct the troops. And given they will be around, the chain of command in the army will still be intact."

"That's is what matters!" Alexander insisted, and then coping Napoleon, said,

"I'm more afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion, rather than an army of lions led by a sheep!"

And Alexander truly believed in this when he said this.

He believed that it was the grassroots officers who won wars, as they would be the ones urging the men to attack and encouraging them to stay and fight.

This required a lot of skill and charisma, as sometimes entire units, usually comprised of inexperienced troops, would simply refuse to move even when the command was given.

And sometimes even if they moved, they would simply keep avoiding the enemy, circling them or advancing one step but backtracking two steps.

This would be because everyone on the battlefield was afraid and no one wanted to die.

So they would want to postpone the engagement for as long as possible.

And it took a lot of effort to remove this layer of fear.

A charismatic officer could rally the troops behind him and lead the charge, or enforce stern discipline to force these men, but no matter the tactic employed, it was a tall order for any officer to make peasants kill each other who had no grudges with one another, all for the sake of their lords.

In fact, there is even a Roman story where a unit refused to engage the enemy even after constant urging from their officers, seeing which a standard bearer suddenly threw the army's standard into the enemy formation and only after that, seeing the standard being almost lost and knowing the shame that would bring to their unit did that Romans charge the enemy.

And in addition to its organizational and logistics capabilities, it was these kinds of individual acts of bravery by low-level officers that earned the Roman army its fearsome reputation.

Hene Alexander was not wrong to place so much importance on his officers.

Hearing Alexander's boisterous line praising the officers' abilities as lions and the planned troop replenishment worked a long way in alleviating some of the worries of the council members.

They were all survivors of the battlefield and knew the importance of good leadership.

Comparing the offciers to the reguarlar infantry grunts would be like comapring flesh and bones.

It was not too determental to lose some flesh, as soon as the bones remained.

And since many of the veterans mercenaries seemed to be sick of fighitng and wanted to rest, Alxx felt like granting it to them, and use the peace time to train new forces.