Chapter 108 Army Construction
In the castle of Hekou Town, Rhodes was sitting in the conference room.

Opposite them were Holmes, and the three knights, Noah and Loren, who came from the other two territories.

As the training time is too short, there are still only four of them in the leadership of the army, and no other knights have been born yet.

However, with the nourishment of high-quality barley, many soldiers have a promising future.

Rhodes believed that it would not be long before the army would be able to fill the gap in the knights' combat power.

The meeting hadn't started yet. When Rhode saw Lily coming in a bit restrained, he smiled and asked her to sit behind him.

Although Rhode was a little confused, why did Lily have to go to the bakery next door to cook when she didn't use the castle's kitchen?

But it was not a big deal. It was normal for his subordinates to have some special hobbies, so Rhodes chose to understand.

Maybe that bakery has some delicious extras that he doesn’t know about?

Rhodes cut a small piece of golden bread with a knife and fork and put it into his mouth.

Delicious, crispy with a hint of grain.

After swallowing it, you can feel a noticeable warm current spreading in your stomach, nourishing the muscles all over your body.

For the Knights, the effect is weak.

But if ordinary people consume it for a long time, the improvement in their physical fitness will be significant enough.

It’s a bit regrettable to say that Rhodes originally wanted to use high-quality barley to make traditional tsampa.

That is, first fry the highland barley and then grind it into powder, knead it into a ball, and make it into small pieces similar to pastries.

However, bread has long been the staple food of the residents and its status has long been deeply rooted.

The tsampa that was produced received a mediocre response, but the golden bread instantly became a hit in the territory.

It is known as a heavenly delicacy above white bread.

Rhodes did not hesitate too much and chose to follow public opinion and give up tsampa.

Let the reputation of golden bread ferment among the residents.

Golden bread is a special supply for the army. The more precious it is, the more it can inspire residents' enthusiasm for joining the army and stimulate soldiers' motivation for training.

After finishing lunch, Rhodes wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin and officially began this parliament.

The three knights present were all familiar with Rhode's people. They did not mind Rhode's casualness, but instead felt a sense of comfort and trust.

Having said that, after the army was divided into three battalions, the three knights became more or less alienated from each other.

From being companions, they have now become competitors.

The military's resources are limited.

The plate armor of the cavalry of the Royal Guard Battalion, the heavy armor of the infantry of the Iron Wall Battalion, and the steel crossbows of the crossbowmen of the Divine Archery Battalion all require blacksmiths to spend time to forge.

The more weapons other battalions get, the less weapons our battalion gets.

Not to mention that after the golden bread came out, what the three knights heard most was their soldiers quietly asking about the distribution shares.

Everyone wants more resource allocation.

If this aspect is dealt with too much, it will easily cause alienation among the soldiers under your command.

Rhodes naturally knew this as well and was about to confirm the next troop allocation.

If you want to maintain fairness, you can't rely on preferences, but on clear rules and regulations, and make plans based on military ranks.

"The rules for the military merit promotion system have been confirmed, and you should all be aware of the levels of military rank."

The names of military ranks need to be easy to understand so that ordinary civilians can understand the soldier's identity at the first sight after hearing them.

Rhodes set the lowest rank as militia rank.

Serfs, temporarily conscripted residents, and part-time militiamen all fall into this category and are not included in the regular army system.

The second level is the soldier rank, which is divided into two grades and six levels.

Third-level soldiers, second-level soldiers to first-level soldiers, and above are non-commissioned officers with the same qualifications.

It has experienced many wars, especially the recent defense of Hekou Town.

This allows most of the soldiers in the current army to be successfully promoted to third-level soldiers.

Enjoy housing allotments and a daily pound of golden bread.

Among the shield and spear soldiers, most of the old men who followed Rhodes from Jianling were promoted to second-level soldiers.

In addition to the single-family houses and golden bread, there are also precious supplies such as yak milk and honey that are distributed.

The twelve knights who followed Rhode at the beginning have been promoted to third-level non-commissioned officers due to their accumulated merits, and their treatment is even more generous. The third level of the army is knights, which are divided into three levels: junior, intermediate and senior.

Holmes has become a mid-level knight due to his merits and is currently the one with the highest military rank.

Military ranks above knight have not yet been established because there is no demand for them.

But Rhodes already had an idea.

According to the future plans for his territory, the establishment of military ranks actually has a prototype.

He looked towards the center of the conference table, where a chessboard was carved out.

Rhodes took out the carved chess pieces and placed them on the chessboard.

The militia chess pieces are unarmed, some soldier chess pieces hold shields and spears, some hold bows and crossbows, and the knight chess pieces hold lances.

The chessboard is the prototype of an alchemical wonder and the final form of his army's development.

With the help of the soul anchor, Rhodes could feel a special connection in the dark.

Whether it is the erection of the monument to heroes or the establishment of military ranks, it is all to make the contract between soldiers and themselves more solid.

Creating the foundation for the crafting of this powerful artifact.

But the conditions are not yet met. The soldiers' contracts are not strong enough and their own wizard abilities are too weak.

This alchemical artifact is just an ordinary chessboard.

Rhodes looked towards the center of the chessboard. The chess piece there symbolized power and rule, and was responsible for commanding all the chess pieces on the board.

Currently, it remains empty.

Before it was his turn to make a move, Rhodes withdrew his gaze from the chessboard and looked at the three knights.

"The promotion list of soldiers in this defense battle has been confirmed, and the distribution of supplies has been decided. What are your opinions?"

Holmes and the other two nodded in agreement without offering any opinions.

Just at the end of the meeting, Loren suddenly came to Rhodes with a worried look on his face.

Loren said, "My Lord, you should know something about my daughter, Rensa."

Rhodes sorted out the documents in his hands and thought of the heroic girl standing in the castle garden.

He understood the girl's situation.

That was Knight Loren's daughter, who stayed in the town when Loren went to Mole Town to set up camp.

He usually takes care of the disfigured girls in the town.

That's nothing, she's a good and kind girl.

What gave Rhode a headache was that the girl inherited Loren's family tradition of chivalry and always wanted to join the army.

Not only him, Knight Loren, as a father, had a bigger headache.

He knew that Rhodes came from Rosedale in Jianling. The royal family of the Rosa Kingdom had always prohibited women from joining the army, which made him afraid that his daughter would anger the lord.

Rhodes didn't care about these, but the current army was indeed not suitable for women to join.

It’s just that Lunsa had made considerable contributions in the previous defense battle, so a forced refusal would inevitably be disheartening.

While thinking, Rhodes suddenly reacted.

"Let her in. I will allow her to join the army."

Rensha, dressed in military uniform and carrying a sword, entered the castle. She was happy when she saw the lord in front of her nod, but she was soon stunned.

"Sir, do you want me to be a doctor?"

"No, I'm a medic." Rhodes shook his head. "I will gather all the injured girls in the town and form a medical team of 100 people to deal with the wounded in the war."

Lunsa tried to understand what he meant and asked tentatively, "Are they part of the regular army?"

Rhode smiled and nodded: "Of course, they also enjoy military merit promotion and military rank benefits, and the responsibilities of medical soldiers are no lighter than those of ordinary soldiers."

At present, the injured in the town are all dealt with hastily by residents and lack professional treatment.

It was because Rhodes' disinfectant was so effective, otherwise at least 100 of the 500 wounded would have died.

It is time to establish a systematic medical insurance system.

If the army wants to develop over the long term, logistics and medical care are necessary components.

(End of this chapter)