When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

As Jeanne entered the conference room, officers of all ranks were sitting upright at the long table, listening intently to Horn explain the situation.

Patting her chest, Jeanne secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Tiptoeing to the table, Jeanne had just turned to pull out a chair when a "whoosh" whistle came from behind.

Jeanne turned her head sharply, but saw two rows of resolute faces, unable to tell who had whistled.

Rudylo and Coleman, those two big mouths!

Feeling her ears turn red, Jeanne glared at them fiercely and sat down next to the head of the table.

"Ah, good, now that Jeanne is here, we can get down to business," Horn quickly steered the topic back to the main point.

Although it was an emergency meeting, Horn had sent people to notify them in the afternoon, so preparations were fairly complete.

One item after another was placed on the table, to be decided upon by the officers and staff monks of these battle groups.

How many soldiers should be recruited this time? How many laborers should be mobilized locally? How many guns and cannons should be ordered from Grey Hearth Town? How many carts and mules should be mobilized?

Frontline officers and central staff monks communicated quickly, clerks came in and out, and the scrolls, maps, and ink bottles on the table piled higher and higher.

"Your Excellency," Jeanne suddenly spoke, "Regarding the manpower issue discussed earlier, there is someone who might have a solution."

Horn, who was holding the household register and feeling a headache, looked up: "Who?"

"When I just went out, a teacher from the Saint Danji Military Academy gave us a suggestion, which I think is reliable," Jeanne always spoke directly, "It's just that his identity is a bit special."

"Identity is a bit special? Let him come in and talk first, it doesn't matter what his identity is if he can come up with a good idea."

A minute later, a middle-aged man with a stubbly beard walked in.

Looking at the man who entered, Horn felt that he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him.

Fortunately, the privy monk beside him reminded him: "This is Griffin, the leader of the Eagle Regiment."

Horn suddenly realized, wasn't this one of the two mercenary regiments that had fought a meat grinder battle with them at Cheese Bay?

The two top imperial mercenary regiments were split up after the war, and most of the soldiers were incorporated into the new armies in various places or became instructors.

Among the leaders of the two mercenary regiments, Gidada had previously gained the appreciation of Melia and became a military advisor.

However, due to involvement in the previous aristocratic spy case, he was exiled to the eastern county of Black Serpent Bay.

Griffin and other mid-level officers, such as phalanx leaders, were incorporated into the Saint Danji Military Academy to teach officers.

Previously, Wickdor and the others had complained about why they were being taught by someone they had defeated.

"It's not a brilliant idea," Griffin said, "When I learned the news of the Duke's disastrous defeat and Neidbach's fall, I knew you must be worried about manpower.

In my opinion, with your control, recruiting another twenty or thirty thousand people would be more than enough, but I am still moved by your kindness.

I would like to offer a small suggestion, have you considered using foreign mercenaries to fill the manpower gap?"

"The quality of mercenaries is too low," Before Horn could speak, an officer below retorted, "My infantry regiment of 500 men swept your phalanx of 2,500!"

"That's very impressive," Griffin didn't look at the officer who spoke, "But what I want to say is, hire the mercenaries and then dismantle and retrain them."

Horn blinked: "Continue."

"You see, mercenaries have all received basic line drills and weapons training.

As long as you eliminate the slippery ones and retrain the rest, they can have the combat power to meet your minimum needs in a month or two."

Horn reacted.

Like a measuring scale, the Saint League's training system is standardized.

The commands are consistent, the training is consistent, and it's the same to command with a different officer, so why must it be people from Thousand River Valley?

Of course, the hard conditions must be met, just remove the identity restrictions.

It's difficult to fight hard battles like the one at Cheese Bay, but it's enough for regular battles.

Dass asked, "Are you saying, let us go to other people's territory to recruit soldiers and use their manpower to help us fight?"

"Yes."

"Then where do we recruit from?"

Hearing that outsiders were going to join, many officers were uncomfortable.

"The most classic source of soldiers, the Norens on the east side of the Dragon Spine Mountains, are close, dare to fight, and have a good reputation."

"What about morale and wages?"

"Give them half the daily wage, including food and lodging, and there won't be any complaints within three years," Griffin looked like no one knew the Norens better than him, "If you give enough money, the morale may not be the same as yours, but it won't be too far off."

"Why?"

"The Norens are very simple, they live to be loyal for money."

The upper-level officers lowered their heads and communicated, some agreeing and some disagreeing.

"It's worth a try," In the end, Horn made the decision, "Let's recruit 4,000 people to test the waters first."

… … … …

The newest novel is first published on Six 9 Books!

After meeting all night, the generals left one after another to start preparing.

Horn and Jeanne decided to have breakfast first, catch up on three hours of sleep, and then go to Rapid Stream City.

After all, the mess of war bonds left by Melia was still there.

Horn already had some ideas on how to alleviate the war bond problem.

Taking money from the Saint Treasury in a short period of time would be too much for the finances to bear.

Since domestic debt and finance can't free up their hands, they have to rely on foreign debt.

Catherine had told him about this, if the Saint League sold national debt to them using workshops and land as collateral, the Kingdom of Fran would definitely buy it.

The Franks wanted workshops and land, but they didn't claim it.

If the Saint League sold them national debt, even if King Gigi occupied Thousand River Valley in the future, then they would have a very legitimate reason to invade, and could unite a large number of new nobles and citizens in the country.

Because for them, land claims and titles are not important, markets and workshops are important.

Catherine is currently handling this matter.

Judging from the various performances of the Franks, they are likely to take the bait.

"Your Excellency…"

Walking out of the Saint Proclamation Hall, Horn had just stepped out the door when he saw that the hundred or so officers who had served as guards earlier were still there.

The officers in the morning light stood in a circle, waiting quietly outside the door.

These officers were basically promoted from the tenth squad leader level in the army, and could take office as fifty-man captains in order after graduation.

Previously, many fifty-man captains had to come to the military academy to take remedial classes.

Entering the military academy also requires exams to ensure basic literacy and arithmetic, and the ability to read and understand normally.

The most basic requirement is to have been a soldier for two years and attended army remedial classes.

The military academy mainly focuses on learning the tactics and related knowledge of corresponding arms, and secondly, on supplementing cultural courses and related concepts.

It takes one or two years for those who are fast, and two or three years for those who are slow, for these officers to graduate.

However, the Saint Danji Military Academy has only been established for two and a half years, and the highest grade students are only in the first semester of the second year.

Now that they heard that there was going to be a war, they were naturally apprehensive.

"Your Excellency, are the Leia people going to invade early?"

Horn hesitated for a moment, but still told the truth: "Yes."

"Then what should we do? I've only been in school for half a year," A young officer from Black Serpent Bay looked worried.

Horn looked around: "I know what you're thinking, soon you will have to end your studies early and enter the battlefield.

I know you are being rushed into it, I was also rushed into it, everyone came over being rushed into it.

If you don't know, just read the book, if you don't understand, ask people, learn and accumulate experience at the same time, you are all people who have really been on the battlefield, are you still afraid of this?

I might as well tell you all, your teachers at the military academy will also enter the army as staff advisors.

Currently, there is probably more than half a year before the war starts, just treat it as a practical course and final exam for the new semester."