My Italy

Marshal Cadorna took office as a new officer and made a big splash with three fires. All eyes in the army were attracted to it.

General Simeone, who is also a new official, seems to have disappeared and has not made any moves. Is it because Simeone, who was suddenly promoted to chief of general staff and became the second most powerful person in the army, has not yet recovered from his joy? Or do you have to be careful because you get a high position?

The above are all Simeone's thoughts, but he prepared a stunning appearance to make everyone remember him.

"Oh, it's finally done."

In his own office at the General Staff Headquarters, General Simeone looked at the wet manuscript in front of him and stretched.

The manuscript in front of him was exactly the way he was planning to hold back his debut, the standardization of the noncommissioned officer system.

Non-commissioned officers, to put it bluntly, are professional soldiers. Simeone's approach is to regularize professional soldiers.

The military system in Europe has always been a recruitment system, and the recruitment model was mixed with it. Until Prussia promoted the omen system, various countries also vigorously developed the recruitment system.

However, with the development of the times, a large number of new weapons have been added to the army, wars have become more and more diverse, and the command and tactical requirements of the army have also increased at the same level.

General Simeone also felt the shortcomings in the army's command during the Italian-Turkish War that just passed. This is especially true for low-level company and platoon-level battles.

After General Simeone collected the manuscript he had just written, he called his secretary. "Get the car ready, let's go to the War Department."

Yes, this matter must be promoted with the support of Marshal Cardolna, Minister of War.

Because this is a major overhaul of the army, and without the support of the first person in the army, it is just empty talk.

The chief of general staff talks to the minister of war, and the meeting with the first and second most important figures in the army is also very quick.

No matter how busy the Minister of War is, he still needs to receive the Chief of General Staff as soon as possible when he arrives.

"Simone, are you still used to living in the General Staff?"

"Well enough."

"Those officers didn't do anything treacherous, did they?"

"That's not true. They are still very disciplined."

After a brief chat, Marshal Cardorna immediately got down to business.

"Come to me this time. Do you need my help with anything?"

Faced with Marshal Cadorna's inquiry, Simeone was not polite. "Yes, Marshal, I just need your help with something."

As soon as he finished speaking, Simone handed over the manuscript he carried with him.

"This is my little suggestion for the development of the army."

Cardona opened it and said with a smile. "The standardization of the non-commissioned officer system is not trivial just looking at the title, and it is also very difficult to achieve."

Marshal Cardorna said this for a reason. Even though it only involves non-commissioned officers, it is about changing the structure of the military. When it comes to the structure of the military, there are no small things.

Faced with the words of the Minister of War, Simeone immediately explained. "I feel that the noncommissioned officer class will become the key point in the military in the future, so I want to promote this work, no matter how difficult it is, I want to try."

Now that Simeone has said this, what else can Cardorna say? He can only pick up the manuscript in front of him and read it carefully.

The room was very quiet for a while, except for the ticking of the pendulum.

"It's very detailed and very helpful for grassroots companies to improve their combat effectiveness."

After reading the manuscript, Marshal Cardorna evaluated the plan, but his words changed.

"But by doing this, you are decentralizing power to junior officers. Have you considered this factor?"

After all, he was a marshal, and Cardorna could still see many things, and even see further. Although this plan talks about promoting non-commissioned officers, it involves many people.

Facing Marshal Cadorna's question, General Simeone nodded and answered. "I have thought about it, and the impact is not too big. Because with the development of the times, officers need to master more skills. If they cannot delegate some power, many people will not be able to keep pace."

Simeone said it a bit euphemistically, but he was actually referring to the uneven quality of officers. At present, a high proportion of military officers from various countries come from aristocratic and military families, and this trend becomes more obvious the higher you get to the top.

Among these nobles and officers from military families, we do not deny that there are geniuses among them, but most of them are mediocre people.

Of course, Simeone did not think about challenging this, but wanted to improve the army's combat effectiveness by promoting the non-commissioned officer class.

After all, compulsory service only lasts for three years. How can professional soldiers who have served for eight, nine or more than ten years be as capable as they are?

As for officers who graduated from military academies, their starting point is basically company commander. For squads and platoons that are closer to the soldiers, they are more likely to be non-commissioned officers. These non-commissioned officers who have served longer are the link between officers and soldiers, so deepening the role of non-commissioned officers will be of great help to the army.

Although these are all described in detail in Simeone's plan, Marshal Cardorna wanted to ask something that was not in the plan.

"Simone, I already know the role of non-commissioned officers from your plan. Then I would like to ask something else. If you have such high requirements for non-commissioned officers, what should you do in terms of welfare benefits? After all, they are not compulsory soldiers and need to consider supporting their families. The problem?"

It was clear that Cardorna was concerned about the cost of the changes to the NCOs. There is no way. Currently, among the army funds in various countries, the cost for salaries and wages is always the largest. Even in later years, salary and stipend expenses are still the most important component of funding.

General Simeone said when faced with the funding issue raised by Marshal Cadorna. "I have also thought about this issue. If according to the non-commissioned officer plan I proposed, a fully staffed division will need at least more than 1,300 non-commissioned officers. And according to the current domestic income situation, on average each non-commissioned officer will have at least 1,300 non-commissioned officers per month. It takes 85 lire to keep up with the domestic income level. Then the annual cost of these more than 1,300 non-commissioned officers will reach more than 1.2 million. If the entire army completes the transformation of non-commissioned officers, the cost will not be less than 1.0 million. More than 18 million."

Having said that, considering that the cost is not low, Simeone added another sentence. "But if the transformation is completed, the combat effectiveness of the army will be significantly improved."

Don't blame Simone for saying this. Although the annual expenses for the Army are not low, they are still very tight. They measure their pants based on their buttocks and there is no money left at all. If you want to take out the money, you have to withhold it from other sources, let alone under the premise of this kind of disarmament.

So even though Cardorna is an Army man, he still has to learn to live frugally.

"Let's show the plan to His Majesty. If he agrees, then we will choose one division to pilot it first. If the effect is good, it will be extended to the entire army."

Although Marshal Cardorna did not agree immediately, but instead proposed to do a pilot to see the effect, Simeone was still very grateful to him. Because this method is the best, as long as the pilot unit is effective, it will just stop the officers' mouths.

Thinking of this, Simone was confident enough to go to the palace to meet His Majesty Carlo.