Chapter 390: Persuasion

In order to oppose Lorlist's plan to reorganize and expand the Guards, Director Speer gave Lorist and Fat a table of the size and strength of the Norton family's armed forces and the huge amount of military expenditure each year. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

At present, the Norton family has five first-line legions, the Rock Legion has a full strength of 60,000, the Flying Tiger Legion has a full strength of 60,000, and the newly formed Cavalry Legion has a strength of 60,000, followed by the Guards Legion of 75,000 people, and a Sea Legion of 55,000 people. Combined, these five legions have reached 310,000 men.

At the same time, the family also has 15,000 Knights of the Angry Bear, and the guard battalion around Lorist is only 3,000 people, but Lorist selects personnel from the guard battalion to carry out special top-secret missions, and its number has also reached 3,000, which is equivalent to having two guard battalions, and the total number of soldiers above is 331,000, these are the front-line soldiers who enjoy the best treatment of the family's armed forces, and their salaries alone reach 1.3 million gold fords every year.

In addition, the family also has ten garrison battalions, which are responsible for guarding the important places where the family needs to keep secrets from the outside world, such as warehouses, prisons, industrial and mining farms, and are responsible for the transportation of logistics and heavy materials, as well as garrisons in various villages and towns, with a total number of nearly 40,000. Although these are the second-line troops of the family's armed forces, the annual salaries and subsidies also need to be spent on nearly 200,000 goldfords.

"Your Highness, the total number of our Norton family's armed forces is already 400,000, and the total number of registered lords in the entire Northland is only about 1.6 million, even if you include the provinces of Dramke and Winston, it is only more than 23.4 million, including those of the nobles of the territory under the jurisdiction of our family. The ratio of soldiers to civilians is nearly 1:5, which is an extremely dangerous ratio, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the army is reckless, and in addition, our family has been fighting incessantly in the past two years, and the expenditure on armaments has long been overspent too much, and it is impossible to make ends meet. If it weren't for the wealth of nearly 30 million seized from the conquest of the slave kingdom of Haneyabada, with this foundation to support us, our Norton family would have gone bankrupt long ago. ”

Director Speer looked a little excited, and after a pause, he continued to persuade: "Your Highness, what I calculated just now was only the salary and allowance of the family armed forces, and if you add the expenses of the Warribel Intelligence Investigation Bureau, the expenses of each town patrol team, and the pension expenses of those casualties, the amount in this regard is close to two million Kingford. This is not counting the cost of changing weapons and equipment, horses, armor, clothing, daily accommodation, food and potions......

Last year, our family's total military expenditure in this area reached more than four million, of course, the newly formed cavalry hunting regiment accounted for more than one million expenses, and in order to destroy the Iberian Kingdom, Your Highness, you specially approved three million goldfords for military expenses. Although we have seized nearly two million in the capture of Windbury, in general the total military expenditure last year has more than doubled the total income of the family. Although the family still has more than 10 million gold fortune reserves, if we can't hold out for two or three years like last year, the family's finances will collapse.

Your Highness, I am not alarmist, what I say is the truth. Originally, I wanted to advise His Highness to cut the family armament in half after the end of this war against the mountain barbarian army to save money. Our family has so many troops that it is almost equivalent to the strength of the imperial royal family during the pre-Krisson Empire. At that time, the entire empire supported so many royal forces, and our family only owned three provinces. From a defensive point of view, one legion per province is sufficient. In the event of a war, we can reduce the strength and military expenditure of our family's armed forces, as the former Krisson Empire royal family did, and let the nobles of the territory under our jurisdiction send troops. ”

Lorist smiled wryly, this is the difference in philosophy. If Lorist is like the former Grand Duke of Northland, Duke Lukins, then with his current status and family power is enough for him to live this life comfortably, but the current situation of the Norton family is like a boat sailing against the current, and if he does not advance, he will retreat. Whether it is the potential threat of the Second Highness as the king to the Norton family, or the long-term maintenance of the alliance of the four northlands, and the pressure brought by the countless knights under his command who are eager to make achievements and hope for the family's glory, Lorist can only continue on the path of expansion.

Director Speer is right, if you defend it, only one legion per province is enough. But if the family wants to maintain the momentum of expansion, it must have an offensive spear and a defensive shield, the Rock Legion, the Flying Tiger Legion, the Hunting Cavalry Legion and the Sea Legion are all offensive spears, and only the Guards Legion is the defensive shield. Abandon the spear of the attack, and only take the shield of the defense, Lorist will only do that when his brain is kicked by a donkey. It was almost a self-defeating martial arts, allowing the Norton family to change from a courageous and enterprising posture to a situation of passive defense and beating, losing the strategic initiative.

Director Speer has no ill intentions, he is the most loyal old man to the Norton family, otherwise Lorist would not let him take charge of the family's finances and be in charge of the family's total expenses. But Director Speer was too concerned about the financial expenses to understand the situation facing the family. Don't look at the current Norton family, destroying the Duchy of Madras and the Kingdom of Iberia, successfully suppressing the Grand Duke of Fisabrun to his own family territory, the Norton family is armed and famous everywhere, and there is also a deep crisis hidden under the triumphant song of victory.

Needless to say, Archduke Fisabrun, Lorist's blow to him was so deep and desperate, it was equivalent to kicking him awake from the dream of dominating the northeast of the empire, and sweeping the Fisabrun family from the peak of its heyday with a slap. But Lorist did not dare to relax his vigilance against the Grand Duke of Fisabrun, it was obvious that the Fisabrun family would become the sworn enemies of the Norton family to the east, or the kind that would not stop dying, and they must always be on guard against their counterattack.

Although Lorist is a nobleman of the Kingdom of Antinac, or the Grand Duke of the Northland, and the destruction of the Iberian Kingdom can be regarded as a frontier expansion, but Lorist knows very well in his heart that the second highness of the imperial capital in the west is not a fuel-efficient lamp, and the greater his credit to the kingdom, the deeper the suspicion of the two highnesses of the Norton family. Don't look at the fact that the Second Highness was quietly in the imperial capital last year, and there was not even a dispute between the border and the Fude Business Alliance and the Four Central Duchies, but this is not a lord who has kept his own place. He conspired with Duke Kenmath to use the oath to make His Royal Highness suffer a big loss, and he must be holding back his heart and preparing to get it back.

Now the Norton family is relying on the sharp edge of the army to make the second highness have scruples and dare not act rashly, if the Norton family abandons its martial arts, then the second highness must be the happiest one, and the tricks against the Norton family will be used one after another immediately, so that they will be overwhelmed. Legions cannot be reduced, at least they must remain at their current size. But convincing Director Speer was a headache for Lorlist.

Looking at the size and size of the various legions of the family's armed forces listed by Director Speer on the table, and then thinking about the expenditure on a series of armaments and military expenses reported by Director Speer. Lorist had to admit that his accusations were quite justified. The ratio of soldiers to civilians is nearly 1:5, which is really appalling, no matter what country or family conscripts to this point, it is indeed a reckless army, and it is not far from extinction.

Lorist touched his chin and wondered. Why does the family armed force already have more than 400,000 troops, but I feel that the number of troops is too small and not enough? I remember a very famous assertion that circulated on the Internet in my previous life, well, this must be a problem with the system, but what is wrong with this system of the family?

At this time, Lorist heard Shi Fatzi's laughter: "Hehe, Director Speer, your soldier-civilian ratio is wrong, in fact, the ratio of soldiers to civilians in our family is not one to five, but more than one to twenty, and it is not a reckless military force at all......

Director Speer was furious, waved his hand and stood up: "Nonsense, is it false that the number of armed people in the family is 400,000, and the registered number of people in the northern land is more than 1.6 million? Is it false that such a huge amount of military expenditure is spent every year? In fact, the ratio of soldiers to civilians in our family is not one to five, but one to four!"

"Please sit down, don't get excited, Director Speer. Shi Fatzi said calmly: "I don't doubt the huge expenditure of military spending. I just think you miscalculated the ratio of soldiers to civilians. It's not that we can divide the total number of our family's armed forces by the total population of the territory to get the ratio of soldiers to civilians. If our family really recruited soldiers in the family territory according to this ratio, the family territory would not be able to maintain it for a long time. It is simply impossible to have the phenomenon of vigorous and thriving development now. In fact, I think you forgot two of the most important.

The first point is that we have only recruited soldiers from our family territory three times, the first time was the recruitment of sailors by the Sea Legion, I remember it was more than 20,000 people, and the establishment of the Sea Legion of 55,000 people, most of whom were made up of pirates and freed slaves. The second was the formation of a unicycle steel crossbow corps, which recruited fifteen thousand people from the new barracks. The third time was the formation of the Chasseur Regiment last year, after the selection and recruitment of more than 27,000 recruits, mixed with the 20,000 veterans selected by other legions, although the Chaser Corps had a strength of 60,000, but it was never full, and only three corps were formed.

Therefore, the soldiers recruited from the family territory are actually less than 80,000, and compared with the total population of more than 1.6 million people, the actual ratio of soldiers to civilians is only more than 1 to 20. And the number of legions in our family's armed forces is so much that many young people who meet the standards cannot join the legions, and can only go to work or join the village and town garrisons. As I patrol the villages and barracks of the Northlands, I often hear the complaints of young men who want to join the clan legion but have no choice.

The second point is that you have forgotten the origins of the soldiers who formed the various legions of our Norton family, who are not actually our subjects, but our prisoners of war and freed slaves. It is correct to say that our family armed forces are mercenary, which is also the reason for the huge military expenditure. The Rock Legion and the Flying Tiger Legion were formed because of the Northland's allied prisoners of war and the Second Prince's army of 100,000 soldiers who were captured by us, and who were freed after three years of hard labor in our family domain, and who were recruited to prevent them from being homeless and displaced.

The Guards Regiment was formed because of the 200,000 freed slaves, and our family territory could not absorb so many young and strong laborers for a while, so in order to prevent a chaotic situation, we formed the Guards Legion, which was mainly composed of freed slaves. It can be said that the formation of these three legions not only did not draw the young men from the territory, but the population of the family domain increased greatly because of the addition of these free prisoners of war and freed slaves. Because the families of these soldiers have also migrated to our family territory because their relatives have joined our family forces.

Director Speer, I don't deny the huge expenditure on our family's armaments and military expenditures, but it is precisely because of the generous treatment that the combat effectiveness of our family's armed forces is second to none and invincible. It also guarantees the absolute loyalty of the soldier to the family. Just like this time, the Cavalry Hunting Legion suffered a crushing defeat in Makinohara Province, but the soldiers of the Cavalry Hunting Regiment, who were in a difficult situation, still fought bravely. Although we suffered 30,000 casualties, the losses of more than 100,000 barbarian cavalry were twice as high as ours, so that their morale fell quickly after the next attack on the city of Pydro, which was met with the desperate resistance of 3,000 men of the 23rd Battalion of the Guards, and they were unable to fight again after the slightest setback.

If there were no family forces, there would be no current Norton family, and it was the formation of the family forces that allowed us to destroy the slave kingdom of Haneyabada and seize so much property. Now the provinces of Dramke and Winston have become the sphere of influence of our family territory, although we have not gained a lot of money in the past two years of conquest, and even in terms of military expenditure, we have expanded our sphere of influence and dominated the entire Northland, and these will bring our family a lot of money in the future.

This time, His Highness's plan to expand and reorganize the Guards Legion is not for nothing, but to firmly hold the provinces of Demke and Winston in the hands of the family. Moreover, His Highness was not preparing to recruit troops from the territory, but had the idea of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the former Duchy of Madras who had overcome hard labor in the Delem. For the family, although the military expenditure has increased a little, it is a very cost-effective thing to allow the more than 100,000 soldiers of the former Duchy of Madras to be attached to the family, which is the main factor to reduce the internal instability of the family territory, and it is a very cost-effective thing for the long-term stability of the family territory.

I have always believed that by allowing these prisoners of war who were originally from our family to join our family after their hard service, military life will enable these soldiers to quickly return to their family identity and be loyal to their family, and their relatives will be able to be our family's subjects with peace of mind. The current military expenditure is larger, and when the war subsides, the income of the family treasury will also increase, after all, we have added two provinces, so the expansion and reorganization of the Guards Corps will not increase the family's military expenditure much. ”

As the head of administrative affairs of the Norton family, Shi Fatzi knows the situation of the family very well, and his words make Director Speer unable to refute and find any fault, because what he says is the truth.

Thinking about it carefully, Shi Fatzi said very reasonably, every time the family expands its armament, it is mainly based on those prisoners of war, and it has no impact on the production and development of the family territory, and the ratio of soldiers to civilians of one to five mentioned by Director Speer is indeed a miscalculation, because it is not the family's territory that is recruited. On the contrary, if these prisoners of war who have been freed after serving their labor are left alone, it is really easy to cause serious problems, at least the cost of security in the family domain will be greatly increased, and these prisoners of war, who are used to holding weapons, can easily go down the wrong path if they have no food and clothing for a while. In terms of cost, it is more cost-effective to recruit these prisoners of war to expand the family's armament.

"Well, I agree with Your Highness's proposal to expand and reorganize the Guards Legion. Director Speer corrected his mistake and no longer objected.

Lorist was overjoyed, and he didn't have to convince Director Speer that he had really made a great contribution this time.

...... (To be continued.) )