Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

"If you stay, you can command as much as you want in the future."

Tang Juan snorted coldly, his handsome features revealing a trace of loneliness, "I'm just waiting for a message from your father. I can't bind you to stay, neither can the Lieutenant Colonel, let's see what the Brigadier General can do! Once the new orders come through, I still have to return to Vineta."

Speaking of home, Winters was filled with guilt; he couldn't face his family.

He sighed and said to Senior Mason and Lieutenant Colonel Moritz, "I need to write a letter to the Legion."

It was Winters himself who put pen to paper, painstakingly choosing his words and reading aloud as he wrote, while the others listened.

The Legion had a claw chopped off in this battle, but Winters's tone was even more humble than last time.

In the voice of a personal letter, he laid bare his heart to General Adams: from the moment he was assigned to Paratu, he had been filled with gratitude for the land, and he never entertained the idea of betraying Paratu.

He expressed regret for the accidental harm done to friendly troops in the neighboring county; for the missing Vernge County officers, he was willing to assist in the search; and for the captured Vernge County weapons, he was also willing to return them.

The letter ended with the signature, "A loyal guardian of the Republic, W·M."

In short, the letter was written with a plain style and sincere emotions, arguably Winters's best piece of writing since his school days.

"What's the use of writing this thing?" Tang Juan was very impatient.

"It's to save face for General Adams. Of course, it would be even better if he could be fooled by this letter," Winters replied with a smile, passing the draft paper behind him.

Xial took the draft to copy it—currently performing multiple duties for Winters as bodyguard, scribe, gendarme, and communications officer.

Winters changed the subject, "The Legion's Spellcaster assassin and Lieutenant Colonel's… surprise attack have reminded us that we need to establish a 'security trench' to prevent similar incidents from occurring again."

"Security trench?" Mason was particularly interested in this topic; Moritz's beheading strike was frightening enough to give him a lingering fear, "How do we set that up?"

Winters explained, "First, commanders should never meet any messengers directly. The collection and dispatch of letters must go through an intermediary to eliminate chances for Spellcasters disguising as messengers to assassinate. And then…"

"And then, I haven't thought it through," Winters said with a laugh, "We need to brainstorm together and identify any shortcomings."

Mason thought for a moment then added, "Officer uniforms, helmets, sashes, belts, tassels, and hems—these things are too conspicuous. Placed before you and the Lieutenant Colonel, they are practically live targets."

"Without being a little conspicuous, how would officers command soldiers?" Andre retorted, "Without being a little conspicuous, the grunts might think their officers have fled."

Winters had also considered this issue, "The dress uniform and the one worn in battle should be completely different. The uniform doesn't need to be too flashy, but it should also allow soldiers to recognize who the officers are at a glance."

"That's a contradiction," Mason spread his hands.

"Don't think about it too much. We can worry about what the uniforms should look like when we have the money to issue them to the troops," Andre yawned and waved his hand dismissively, asking Winters, "Are you really going to return the captured weapons?"

Iron Peak County could only manufacture agricultural-grade weapons like spears about two meters long.

With the prosperity of Steel Fortress' metal industry, Revodan's only weaponsmith, [Saosha], had long abandoned the art of sword forging, now relying on trading ready-made Steel Fortress sword blades.

As for crafting armor and firearms, it was unthinkable.

The Iron Peak County Military was entirely armed with captured weaponry and armor.

So when Winters mentioned returning the captured materials, Andre was very sensitive.

"I would like to return them," Winters said nonchalantly, "If they dare to claim them, then they'll have them."

The others started laughing.

Winters's smile faded, "There's another matter, I think the time has come."

"That matter again?" Tang Juan furrowed his brows.

"Correct." Winters looked around at the other officers and announced word by word, "It's time to reorganize the army. Now is the right time."

"Reorganize the army right after a battle?" Andre disagreed, "That seems too hasty."

"No, it's precisely because we have just won a battle that it's a good time," Winters said resolutely, "Reorganizing after several more battles would be worse. Right now, our military is a blank slate, but we already have the semblance of an army. The timing couldn't be better!"

The organization of the Iron Peak County Military was in complete disarray, which troubled Winters greatly.

To reduce internal resistance, Winters had taken on the role of garrison commander and operated under the guise of the garrison to this day.

Theoretically, all units were under the jurisdiction of the garrison, but in reality, the garrison had no power; it was just a shell, and the soldiers listened to their own leaders.

The cavalry was commanded by Andre, the infantry took orders directly from Winters, and Mason had a small troop of engineers doubling as artillerymen.

Moreover, the organization of the different units varied greatly.

Among the infantry, there were old units like Bard, Chelini, and Mason's hundred-man teams that used the old structure but were the strongest in battle.

There were also units like the Iron Peak County Infantry, which used a new configuration but had less impressive combat capabilities.

The cavalry and artillery were entirely Andre's and Mason's private forces, with no set organization; the number of men depended entirely on the whims of their commanders.

The logistics were even more chaotic—down the ranks, they demanded as needed, and higher up, they distributed as long as supplies were available. Everything depended on virtue and integrity to keep going, with a severe lack of institutional constraints.

Winters had discussed this issue more than once with others.

Winters had also pointed out on more than one occasion, with heated words: The reason this chaos could persist was solely because the military was too small. If it continued to grow, they would suffer the consequences inevitably.