As both Vance and Richard rush down the hallways and corridors towards their meeting with Estrid and William, Vance found himself slightly excited for what the future held. There was initially a lot of uncertainty in the air before, but after finding Lara and having the second seal lifted-- it was like a breath of fresh air! Although Vance made sure to keep himself grounded, knowing full well Murphy's Law still applied, even in this world. It was a bit of a risk to just lower one's guard even a tiny bit, for even a small hole could be devastating to the whole plan if not adequately prepared. So, even in his excitement, he reigned in his emotions, bringing them to a more manageable level so as to avoid the possibility of facing defeat.
Such thoughts were churning around in his head as they finally reached their destination, with the two men stopping just in front of the door. Vance took a breath, centring himself, while Richard rolled his eyes, pushing the door open and stepping through the threshold.
"You get it done?" Richard queried as he walked towards the centre table where Estrid and William were debating the merits of the training regime they had come up with.
Vance let out a small sigh as he filed in behind Richard, glancing towards the papers and scrolls sprawled out on a long table that currently filled the centre of the sizeable rib-vaulted room. "Seems like you have a good start at one, by the looks of it?" Vance noted as he came to a stop beside Estrid.
Estrid regarded the two with a curt nod as she leaned her weight on her hand the rested on the tabletop. "We have some idea of what we want to do, but no real clear system in place that would make us stand out as anything special." She noted.
William shrugged, "It's hard to come up with a concrete plan that'll actually make the unit stand out above the rest of the Regulars or even the elites."
Richard grumbled under his breath, "Useless..."
Vance caught the insult and looked up to see if the others had heard it. Neither showed any signs of being offended or appeared even to have heard the whispered insult, their focus being on the documents before them.
Looking down at the documents, Vance grabbed the notes that Estrid had written for his benefit. A glance could tell they were still thinking traditionally, with only minor additions to the overall scale and scope of training a full-time Regiment.
"Hmm... well, it's a good start." Vance started, gently setting aside the notes as he reached over, grabbing a quill and ink jar. "But, you're all still thinking backwards." Jotting down a few notes, he began to describe what he viewed as a successful training plan. "If we want to field a professional, disciplined, and elite Regiment-- it'll take two years to do." The room went silent, the three others looking up at him dumbfounded.
"What? Two years? That's... we don't have two years, though." Estrid noted with some confusion.
"Correct, we don't have two years, but I wasn't finished. While we obviously need two years to train a soldier to a professional level, that doesn't mean just learning how to march, shoot, and maintain their gear. No, what makes a professional soldier is experience, education, and leadership. It doesn't matter what level or rank you hold; if you're sending out a newly trained Private or even a Lieutenant onto the field, they look to the more experienced soldiers for guidance, and those they often look to are the Non Commissioned Officers." Vance explained.
The three were drawn in now; their curiosity peaked.
"In all armies around the world, no formal leadership training is given to NCO's-- or officers for that matter-- and often times those who do hold the rank of Sergeant or higher are inadequately prepared for the responsibilities thrust upon them due to high casualty rates that make promotions based on attrition than on merit and skill. So to adjust for this possibility, one of the critical factors we need to instil upon every soldier is the basic tenents of leadership. We need to prepare all our soldiers for taking command. If we can mitigate the risk of losing unit cohesion in a battle, we'll be able to at least get a handle on or even mould the chaos of battle into our favour." He paused, letting them process what he was saying.
"By the Pantheon..." Estrid gasped. "Why haven't we thought of this before?"
Vance shot her a look as if suggesting she knew the reason, and she did, given how she suffered from the same experience. "Elite versus commoner. No modern military in Tavaria would even consider fully educating their NCO's, save maybe the Republic. Still, even they fail on that part as they tend only to work off favouritism than merit." Vance replied.
Glancing around, he could see everyone around the table was already starting to see the merits of such a system. "Incredible... so even if our main frontline commanders are taken out, the rest can continue on?" William commented.
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"Exactly!" Not wasting another moment, Vance quickly added, "Additionally, training and giving our soldiers, both Enlisted and Commissioned, a formal education on military strategy will allow us to field a truly elite unit."
"I'd say." Richard whistled, mildly impressed.
"Furthermore, if we give them all the basic soldiers course alongside their trades training, we'll ensure that even our stewards and cooks can take up arms and work seamlessly with the rest." As Vance went on, everyone was in awe of the plan, their minds already coming up with new ideas, new techniques, and creative strategies.
"This... this changes everything. But-- saying that, we only have six months." Estrid noted, voicing the concern everyone had.
"Don't worry-- I've accounted for that. We'll use three months to provide each and every Marine with the basics in soldiering, which will be broken up into different parts. The first month being in-class education on educating why they drill and give them the basics of tactics and intensive physical training. The second month will be in the field, weapons handling, and some basic field exercises to learn how to patrol, clean and take care of themselves when at camp. Finally, the third month will be teaching them how to aim, shoot, and fire on the move while also doing more practical and intensive drill to break and mould them into proper soldiers who rely on each other as much as they do themselves." As Vance explained all the different methods of the basic training regime he had in mind, William was already getting several things going on in his mind.
"Final weeks, eight and nine will be focused on putting everything they've learned into practice via field training exercises. We'll conduct simulated wargames, pitting each of the platoons against one another in a simulated battle using a special magic round Lara and Richard will develop that'll register when a soldier is hit. This should help engrain into each unit why we're going this hard to teach them. The idea is to turn them into the most effective, well trained, disciplined, and confident fighting force in all of Tavaria." Vance finished, his notes and detailed schedule now complete for all to see.
The three examined the schedule placed before them, nodding in appreciation for the idea. "I can honestly see this is going to increase the likelihood of success for each of our units. But, are we really giving this to all our soldiers?" Estrid found herself asking.
Nodding, Vance nodded out towards the general direction of Luna. "Yes, and they'll appreciate all we're doing for them and more. We'll provide the town with a revitalised economic growth as well with all this. The more a soldier trains, the more they eat and want. With what they're going to be paid, I have little doubt they'll buy up virtually everything in town, so we'll also need to look into resupplying the town with foodstuffs until the farms are back on their feet." Vance noted as he walked over towards his desk.
"That sounds fair. I can head back to town and begin drafting up supply orders for couriers to take to the nearby towns, villages, and cities. It shouldn't be a huge thing, and the income they'll receive in return for diverting some trade our way, it'll ensure a, well, stable province." Estrid was already writing down her own plans and marking down all she'd need in the coming days and weeks.
"I gotta say... this will likely draw in more support from the people too," William commented as he looked at all the work to be done.
"Oh? Why's that?" Richard found himself more curious at how this could benefit other towns.
"Economics," Vance answered in place of William. "With the influx of money and a growing demand for things-- it'll spark many business and farms to hire on new hands to help manage all the increased orders, which in turn puts money in the coffers and keeps the local lord happy," Vance explained as he sat down.
Richard looked impressed, even letting out a whistle, "So all this just because we're training a bunch of people? That seems rather-- odd? I'm not used to such things being so effective."
"Understandable, but if you were to find one spot that often sees the most money going in and out the main gates, it's frequently the military bases. More so with the Civil War waging. With all the new battles and the growing demand for soldiers to garrison the many forts that dot the borders, it's easy to see the country's money go into the surrounding towns." Vance paused for a moment to pack away a few handwritten notes for later, "Although, it quickly changes once the fighting starts. Most towns nearby will turn into a battlefield, so we should also account for that in our training regimes, urban warfare."
"Urban warfare?" Estrid asked.
"Mhm, basically, just fighting in a town or city. Once the fighting starts and drags on into a town, it'll go from open fields and thick woods to house to house fighting. Troops will be bogged down by potshots from snipers hidden in houses, much like the goblins were when they attacked Luna." Vance explained.
The others went silent, the memory still very fresh in their minds. "I- I see. That does make a certain amount of sense, but what do we teach them?"
"How to clear a house in teams. It's relatively simple to teach, just... exhaustive and time-consuming." Vance said.
"Makes sense. If individual troops are having to go house to house to clear it of enemies, I have no doubt there will be a lot of tired and worn-out soldiers." Estrid commented.
"Exactly, so the best way to get them ready for that? Have them simulate the experience via training and field exercises. They'll hate it, as we no doubt will as well, but it's something necessary to avoid grievous losses come a siege." Vance stated with a small sigh.
Everyone in the room seemed to let the silence hang in the air a little longer. William, Estrid, and Richard not sure how to process all the info they were given, with Ravenhaired Estrid the most perplexed at how she was going to run this whole training season. Vance quickly spotted her concern.
"I'll be helping you out with this, Estrid, so don't worry. We're in this together, always will be." Vance's reassurance did a bit to bring a smile to her beautiful face.
"Thanks-- I'll likely need all the help I can get until I can wrap my head around all this new stuff you're going to have me do. It's- well, it's intense. There's going to be a lot to remember, and I'm going to be learning the same thing I'm teaching others at the same time they are."
"I know, it's going to be overwhelming, of that I have no doubt. Until we have proper NCO's who we can rely on to do all this, it's going to be on us to train, drill, and instruct each individual recruit into becoming a Dragon Marine. But, I promise you this, after six months, we'll be ready. We'll cover the two years through our service to the Kingdom until the time comes we're able to field larger, more unique units as we grow and require more soldiers." Vance said, trying to reassure his Major.
Estrid let out a sigh, nodding in assent. "I trust you, Wolfram. If anyone can do this, it's you. Just, don't leave me out to dry if things go bad."
"I'll be there... for all of you, just as you all will be for me. As you were all worried about me being by myself, I too fear for your safety. Especially as we grow and achieve more. I have little doubts in my mind that we'll become prime targets for scorned nobles and rival officers who'll use any and all means to beat us into submission. So I want you all to also have an escort when you go out. For now, though, let's just focus on getting the Dragon Marines ready."
"Yes, Sir!" Estrid and William saluted, while Richard just nodded.
"We'll have them ready," Richard stated.
Just as the others began to finish drawing up a schedule, Lara came bursting through the door, carrying with her several scrolls tucked under her arm.
"I got it!"