Iron Powder and Spellcasters

  Chapter 490 Rebuilding the Country (5)

  [Maple Stone City]

  [City Office]

  Early in the morning, Gaisa Adonis arrived at the Maple City Town Hall at the time of calibration.

As one of the four "supreme members" of the "Supreme Committee" of the "National Preparatory Supreme Council", Colonel Gaisa and his "supreme colleagues" have spent most of the daytime in the past half a month. They entered the meeting room of the city hall to discuss and negotiate "matters related to the establishment of the country".

   Those who stayed in the city hall longer than the four supreme committee members were the coalition military officers and provincial government officials who were selected into the "preparatory meeting", because they were also there at night.

   After all, the general meeting of free men is about to be held, and many things must be finalized as soon as possible.

  However, even though the "preparatory meeting" is working day and night, forgetting to eat and sleep, when the opening day of the conference is approaching, many specific matters are still waiting in line for a decision.

  Once the determination to "rebuild the republic" is made, many of the original things will be like old furniture in a new house.

  Take the most important military affairs as an example, from the official name of the army, the flag logo and the color of the military uniform, to the organization method, command sequence and political status of the army.

  According to the opinion of the "Committee of Four", since it is going towards a new era, there should be a new look.

In this way, all the members of the "preparatory meeting" are burdened with a myriad of tasks, including not only formal matters such as "what color military uniform to wear", but also many important matters involving the actual interests of all parties. .

  For example, how do the "informal officers" under Winters connect to the official officer system? What rank will be awarded to them?

   Note that in the past, an officer qualified to independently command an infantry brigade or a cavalry squadron to fight was at least a major.

  Even the original meaning of the rank of "major" is "the person with a higher status", which refers to "a professional officer who is fully responsible for commanding a small phalanx" in the large phalanx system.

  However, in the Tiefeng County Army, there are too many unofficial officers who meet this requirement on one hand.

  If they are directly awarded the rank of major according to the size of the troops actually commanded, what about Winters Montagne, who commanded them?

   You know, the highly respected Lord Blood Wolf, the official rank is nothing more than "Captain".

   Not only the Army of Tiefeng County, but also the troops of the other three counties have a serious mismatch between military rank and position.

  In the troops of various counties, it is not uncommon for second lieutenants and lieutenants to command a brigade, and it is not uncommon for commissioned officers who have never touched a gun to be directly responsible for hundreds of lives.

  The old seniority promotion model can no longer adapt to the current reality.

  The army of the New Republic needs a brand-new training and promotion system to end the current ridiculous situation.

  In order to solve this problem, the officers of the "preparatory meeting" racked their brains and came up with a plan.

   After many cycles of “debate—revision—heavy debate—drastic revision—more intense debate—overthrowing and starting over” before it was finally understood and recognized by all parties.

  What is the specific plan, which is not listed here for the time being.

  Although in the process of finalizing the final plan, representatives of the army in each county fought for their own interests, the negotiations were at a stalemate for a time, and it was almost impossible to reach a consensus.

   However, reaching consensus through negotiation, not through arms, is itself the greatest consensus.

  Resolutions such as the [Awarding Plan], which have been passed after many twists and turns, can only be regarded as pavilions built on this foundation.

  However, the "negotiation" certainly produced many gratifying fruits.

   There are still some beautiful and ambitious ideas, and I have to bow to reality.

  For example, Winters strongly advocated the establishment of an all-encompassing logistics department for the army of the New Republic, to centralize the deployment of various resources from ordnance to food and grass, and to be solely responsible for providing all the troops needed.

  Thus "freeing" each field force from the heavy material collection and distribution chores, so that they can focus on combat and training.

At the same time, allocate resources more rationally to avoid recurrence of situations similar to "The troops of Baishan County and Leiqun County who resisted the enemy's army in Hegu Village had only pitifully few iron-shelled grenades, while the troops of Iron Peak County who carried endless iron-shelled grenades climbing a mountain" happened again.

  Winters also told the other three committee members without hesitation that the existence of an overarching logistics department is also a constraint.

   "Since it is the army of the country, it should be supported by the country."

  The existence of a general logistics department can prevent anyone from turning the country's army into their own private property.

  Colonels Gesar, Colonel Skool, and Lieutenant Colonel Matthias agree with Winters and recognize the benefits that a unified logistics system can bring to the army.

  However, they also frankly expressed their concerns—logistics is related to the life and death of the army, and they are not at ease if they hand it over like this.

  At this stage, the three school officers still hope to continue to maintain the current model of "each county supports each county's troops".

  As for the uneven distribution of resources caused by the differences in the properties of the counties, they believe that it can be resolved through transactions—just like before.

  Four votes (Baishan County, Leiqun County, Bianjiang County, and Jinghu County) to two votes (Tiefeng County, Warney County), Winters' proposal to form a unified logistics system was rejected.

  The idea of ​​a "unified logistics system" was rejected, but Winters can still accept and compromise.

   There is only one thing, he will not give in no matter what.

   That is the ownership of the command - how should the army exist in the new republic?

  This problem sounds big, but it is difficult to implement it. It sounds illusory, but no consensus can be reached anyway.

  …

  The "Union Charter" clearly stipulates that the command of all the armed forces of the republics belongs to the alliance and the member countries.

  However, there are two problems in this sentence.

  Two were not a problem at the time, but they became a big problem in the future.

   First, the interests of the Union and the Republic do not always align.

  Second, there is no independent consciousness called "Union" or "Republic" in the world.

  In other words, the command of the army belongs to the alliance and the joining countries, but neither the "alliance" nor the "republic" can actually exercise the command.

  In the end, the actual command of the army will naturally fall back to the hands of the army, just like letting a horse bite its own reins.

  Then the Army has the "right" to do anything "in the name of the Union and the Republic".

  This is the reason why the United Provinces and Plato have come to this point, and it is also a historical case that has made many Vineta jurists heartbroken.

  When the alliance was first established, the royalists and aristocrats were deeply rooted in the local areas, especially in the vast rural areas.

  They eyeed the alliance whose influence mainly existed in the cities, and repeatedly set off armed rebellions, trying to kill the nascent republican regime in its cradle.

  However, the combat power of the alliance army after Ned Smith's reform is far from that of the old noble army.

  So the situation is often that a certain earl or baron has just raised the flag of rebellion, and is still calling for friends and recruiting troops, and the alliance army has already come to the door, and immediately suppressed it ruthlessly.

   Most of the royalists and old nobles who were hit hard fled to the empire and became court nobles and robed nobles who were completely attached to the imperial power.

  The members who stayed in the alliance also figured it out—to resist by force is to die. So they relied on the influence accumulated in the past to join local councils, and transformed themselves into "National Councilors" representing the general public.

  So, under this complicated background, in order to prevent the old royalist aristocrats from taking control of the Great Council, and then counterattack and reckon.

  In the rigorously worded "Alliance Charter", this opening about "command power" was left behind.

  At that time, people regarded the Union Army as the last barrier to protect the Republic.

   Only the sea blue people, who have always been wary of tyrants and careerists, insisted on adding the clause "The Great Council exercises command power on behalf of the Republic and the Alliance" in the charter of the Republic of Vineta.

   Today, another Vineta man finds himself seemingly at the same crossroads.

  …

  When discussing how the army should exist in the New Republic, Lieutenant Colonel Matthias Kerwin, who rarely expressed his views clearly, said:

  The Plato army in the new republic should continue to retain all the rights and powers it had in the old republic.

  Winters could see that Colonel Skull Mecklen did not fully agree with Lieutenant Colonel Matthias.

But as an ally of Lieutenant Colonel Matthias, especially when Winters and Colonel Gaisa had two votes each, and he and Lieutenant Colonel Matthias combined two votes, on such "insignificant" issues, Colonel Skool could only stand on the side of Lieutenant Colonel Matthias.

   After all, Colonel Skool is even more anxious when he will be able to make up for the vacancy of the Leiqun County troops than the ownership of the command.

   Contrary to everyone's expectations, Winters, who had the most friendly attitude in the previous negotiations, strongly opposed the proposal of Lieutenant Colonel Matthias.

  Winters argued hard, and even said very important words:

   "If we stay the way we are, we're just building a parody of the old Plato Republic."

   On the other side, Lieutenant Colonel Matthias Kerwin, who seldom expresses firm objections, does not budge on this issue.

  Lieutenant Colonel Matthias cited many reasons, many of which are convincing practical considerations.

"Look at those people outside the door, what do you see?" Lieutenant Colonel Matthias asked himself and answered: "Soldiers! Soldiers! Soldiers! They are the reason we can sit here. Depriving the army of its rights is tantamount to We are digging our own roots! If you insist on doing this, then your subordinates will be the first to stand up against you! The Union-provincial soldiers are pressing the border, how can we mess ourselves up at a time like this?!"

   Neither side could persuade the other, nor would they back down.

  Faced with this situation, Gaisa Adonis, who holds two decisive votes, cautiously did not express his position on the spot.

  For Colonel Gaisa, the rift between Winters and Lieutenant Colonel Matthias worries him more than the issue of the ownership of the command.

   So Colonel Geisar tries really hard to play the peacemaker role.

  Before setting off for the city hall today, Colonel Gaisar communicated with Colonel Skool, hoping to persuade Winters to make a concession.

  In the view of Colonel Gaisa, what Lieutenant Colonel Matthias said is more reasonable.

  The issue of the ownership of the command power is too metaphysical and divorced from reality.

  Adding the "Veneta Supplement" to the Charter of the Republic will not solve the practical problems; removing the "Veneta Supplement" will not create more problems.

   What's more, as a member of the army, Colonel Gaisa is also unwilling to allow his rights and powers to be restricted.

  So after arriving at the City Hall of Maplestone City, Colonel Gaisar did not go directly into the gate, but stayed on the steps, waiting for Winters to arrive.

   Not long after, the sound of horseshoes resounded in the streets, and the black carriage painted with the emblem of a winged lion rumbled out of the mist, appearing in Colonel Gaisa's field of vision.

  The carriage stops at the bottom of the steps, the doors are opened and the pedals are lowered.

  Colonel Gaisa greeted him down the steps with a smile, just about to say hello, but saw an unexpected face.

  The colonel's expression froze, and his brows furrowed a little bit: "Kay Moreland, why are you... here."

   "Colonel Gaisa Adonis." Kai Moreland got out of the carriage and squeezed out a smile: "Long time no see."

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  (end of this chapter)