396: Chapter 44, Master of Drawing Cakes_2 396: Chapter 44, Master of Drawing Cakes_2 Martins answered with great certainty.
These combat achievements were as real as they come.
No matter how much one nitpicked, no flaws could be found.
The embellishments in the war reports merely hid the fact that the Bimon cavalry corps had once fought bloodily with the enemy before falling into their encirclement.
The small flaws in the details didn’t matter.
The process of the battle was not important; what mattered was the number of confirmed Bimon combat kills.
Hard-fought victories were the most convincing.
If this happened several more times, the Bimon tribe would absolutely not be able to withstand it.
“If there is no problem, proceed directly with the propaganda!
This good news will greatly boost the morale of our domestic military,”
Chris the Ninth said calmly.
“Your Majesty, it’s not entirely without problems.
There is no fault to be found with the combat record and war report, but there are big issues with casualties.
According to the data reported by them, The Layton County Legion lost over 2800 war horses while the Newly formed Twenty-Third Army lost 500 war horses.
But according to our information, the entire Layton County Legion does not even have 2000 war horses.
How could they lose so many war horses!
We sent people to communicate with Earl Hudson, but he insisted that the losses were indeed that large and asked us to replenish them as soon as possible,”
Martins said somewhat helplessly.
Exaggerating casualty reports was nothing new.
After a victory, as long as the exaggerations were not too excessive, the Military Department would usually turn a blind eye, as a form of reward for the meritorious officials.
If the boundaries were crossed, a thorough inspection would have to be carried out.
Under normal circumstances, everyone would abide by the tacit agreement and not go too far.
The Military Department was only responsible for verification, while the Logistic Department was in charge of replenishing supplies.
If the frontline were allowed to constantly falsify reports, it would be impossible to carry out logistic tasks.
Over time, the Logistic Department grew smarter.
They would typically calculate a number based on the information they had and use this as a standard to cut down the reported casualties when replenishing supplies.
For example: if the Newly formed Twenty-Third Army reported a loss of 500 horses, they would only receive about 300 in the end.
The Layton County Legion was an exception.
As a guest army, they did not need to abide by these unwritten rules.
If the Military Department confirmed the numbers recorded for losses, the Logistic Department would have to supplement all losses.
The Logistic Department, having been taken advantage of once before, now preferred to keep a fair distance from Hudson.
They didn’t dare to cut the supplies he demanded.
If an outburst were to occur, this kind of underground tactic, which was inglorious in nature, could not be used as an excuse to avoid responsibility.
“How many of the Battle Horses from the Layton County Legion were lost?”
Chris the Ninth asked in concern.
“According to information from the Logistic Department officials at the Flying Bear Fort, the amount of fodder collected by the Layton County Legion has only decreased slightly.
If we were to estimate it based on this, their losses in war horses would not exceed 200, and could possibly be fewer than 100.
Even if we were to include draft horses, the casualties would not exceed 500.
From the intelligence we have collected, we know that Earl Hudson is particularly keen on the cavalry.
In addition to a standard cavalry corps, he has also equipped a large number of draft horses.
All soldiers of the Layton County Legion have learned to ride.
This time, when they surrounded and killed the Bimon cavalry corps, they transformed from infantry to cavalry.
The draft horse cavalry they deployed alone amounted to 3500 men.
Many of these draft horses were obtained in exchange for weapons and equipment seized on the battlefield, some were extorted from our Logistic Department, while the originals were still used for pulling carts.
If this situation continues, I highly suspect that the Layton County Legion will turn into a cavalry corps before the war is over.”
Martins couldn’t help but rant.
As the Minister of Defense, he loved all forces that were capable of fighting,
Even if the Elite Legion needed more supplies for replenishment, he wouldn’t even bat an eye.
He had already seen much of the cheeky operations from the brave generals,
But this was his first time encountering an infantry legion transitioning into a cavalry corps.
Although he grumbled, he did not express explicit disapproval.
Although it was slightly unconventional, it was hard to ignore that the strong had special privileges.
“Give it to him!”
Chris the Ninth said, massaging his forehead.
He hesitated for a moment, then added, “Tell Earl Hudson that providing war horses is a minor issue.
If he can eliminate an additional five thousand Bimon cavalrymen, or exterminate ten thousand of the other royal armies, I have no problem equipping them all as cavalry!”
This was a blatant promise of benefits.
If they could actually manage to eliminate so many elite orcs, the Layton County Legion would probably not have many men left.
If they had no men left to fight, the promise of equipment would naturally not pose a problem.
If there were not too many losses, it would be even better.
Simply providing equipment would add an elite cavalry corps to their forces, the Moxi Duchy would not be at a disadvantage.
As for whether Hudson could transform his elite infantry into elite cavalry, Chris the Ninth was not worried at all, given the previous successful case of annihilating the Bimon cavalry corps.
“Your Majesty, how do you intend to handle the matter of rewards for the meritorious?
Should we accumulate the merits and calculate them all at once after the war, following the old rule?”
Chancellor Hercheg asked tentatively.
His own son was also on the battlefield, and even if he was just reaping the achievements of others, those were still merits.
Being a vested interest, he was naturally concerned.
With his eldest son’s survival uncertain, he now had to devote more energy to his second son.
Perhaps Rakel’s personal abilities were average, but his winning point was his good luck.
He had managed to latch onto a powerful ally from the start, which meant that he could just lie low and enjoy the benefits.
Given his luck, the probability of him surviving this chaotic era was quite high.
Plus, he is still young and has a lot of potentials.
As a backup for the heir to the family, he was a good choice.
“Send someone to inquire about their own opinions.
Adding their contributions from the last time, many of them have enough merit to be promoted to nobility, or to be granted a fief.
If they want to settle, the Duchy can give them settlement rewards.
Ranks, fiefs, gold and silver jewelry, beauties, cultivation resources, they can choose any of them.”
The explanation and announcement tasks related to these rewards should be done well by the Military Department, we can’t afford any mistakes.
The Layton County Legion has already had their ranks elevated, so just award them with some tangible items!
The Department of Foreign Affairs should continue to make contact with them, trying to win as many nobles over to our side as possible.
We can be generous with the awards of ranks and fiefs.
Especially that Earl Hudson, if we could win him over, and have him guard the North Border Region, we would also be able to…”
Even though Chris the Ninth seemed casual, but he did it on purpose for others to hear, mainly because he was worried that his subordinates would not work hard to make it happen, after all, who would be willing to divide their own interests.
Even though the Moxi Duchy has little appeal to the aristocrats of the Alpha Kingdom, some fools could always be lured over if they were promised enough benefits.
After all this time with no results, it was hard to believe that it wasn’t due to the laziness of their subordinates.
Specifically assigning the North Border Region to defend was the best assurance to the aristocracy.
After this war, few aristocrats would be willing to have orcs as neighbors.
According to the past experiences of the Alpha Kingdom, the Orc Empire launches a major invasion every few decades.
It was possible that everyone could experience it a second time in their lifetime.
The borders always had to be defended, whether they wanted to do it or someone else had to.
If the nobles of the Duchy didn’t want the land in the north, letting it finally fall into the hands of the king, it cannot be left for the royal family to deal with, right?
Direct control of the central government?
Not to mention that there’s no precedent for this, the problem was everyone wouldn’t trust it!
Judging others by yourself, if you were a villain, your subordinates would probably not be good either.
The rapid fall of the Augustusburg Defense Line, although no one said it out loud, everyone knew in their hearts, it definitely had something to do with the bureaucrats in charge of constructing the defense line.
They did not pursue accountability, that was because the person in charge of the defense line construction back then, had now entered the soil.
The last unlucky person collapsed on the battlefield together with the defense line.
This was not a problem that could be solved by replacing people.
When the nobles built castles themselves, once problems were found, they would just redo it.
The cost, in the face of life safety, was not worth mentioning.
But the bureaucrats, even if they were honest, it didn’t matter.
The budget always had a limit and couldn’t be redone casually.
Even if a problem was discovered, they would choose to cover it up in order to keep their position.
After all, as long as the orcs didn’t launch a full-scale invasion during their term, they wouldn’t be blamed.
After being tricked once and paying a bloody price, no one would want to go through it a second time.
“Your Majesty, please rest assured.
Our Department of Foreign Affairs will certainly try our best to fulfill the task!”