Alien world

Chapter 1659, Section 292: The Political Commissar Takes Office
"I understand, Lord Annan!"

Losi's gaze hardened again. Perhaps in the future, as Hellfire achieves various honors, he will still stare at Annan with that "womanly look," but at least for now, he can remain calm for a while.

But to say there's a permanent solution... it seems there really isn't one. The soldiers of the Royal Guard and the Hellfire Legion are all the same age, all young and strong, just at the age when they want to make a name for themselves. Keeping these young men guarding Free City and the Commercial Street is no different from having them become ascetics.

In any country, a leader's bodyguard is essential, and Losi understood this principle.

That being said, Fermi calls himself His Majesty, while you call me Your Excellency. That's the difference between you and him!
……

Losi left the city lord's mansion, while Fermi, who had come in with him, remained in his office.

"Are you trying to bargain with me?" Olmedo asked with a playful tone.

Fermi said in a deep voice, "I wouldn't dare, it's just that the current number of Hellfire soldiers limits its effectiveness."

The larger the scale of the battle, the less effective the Hellfire can be. For example, in this battle in the far north, if it weren't for the Blue Dragon's decapitation and the Black Watchers holding the front line, the rat swarm would have already stormed into the army, causing casualties among the Hellfire.

Therefore, Fermi came here hoping that Olmedo would agree to expand the army.

After reading the full battle report, Olmedo understood this as well: "How much do you want?"

"Expand to 10,000 people."

"You mean, one in every thirty Free City residents is a Hellfire Soldier?"

Olmedo shook his head.

Before Fermi could say anything, she continued, "It's not that I don't allow expansion, but the population of Free City is only this much. The Hellfire, the Guards, and the Rangers already make up nearly one-thirtieth of the population. If we recruit another five thousand, where will the people come from? Or are you willing to lower the recruitment standards?"

With a population of 300,000, after deducting the elderly, middle-aged, children, and women, less than half of the working-age population remains. They still need to maintain the basic operation of Liberty City. They can't just let the factory and shop employees quit and join the army, can they?

According to Annam, everyone was contributing to the empire, so there was no question of who came first.

"I can find a way."

Olmedo looked helplessly at Fermi, who persisted: "What method?"

“We can recruit soldiers from outside. With the momentum of eliminating the Red-Eyed Clan, a large number of young men will be willing to join us, the Rathunters.”

Olmedo was actually quite tempted... Even though the Empire's extermination order had been issued for a month and the Middle-earth was still silent, that was only because the nobles were afraid of war. Knights and professionals with a strong sense of justice and passion had long wanted to fight the Empire in the North, but the Empire didn't think much of them, and they were too small to be anything but catching rats in the wild.

Liberty City has been making headlines these past few days, partly thanks to their help with publicity. If Hellfire were to rally its troops, adding five thousand soldiers might be a piece of cake. Plus, with the political commissar providing training, making them Liberty City residents wouldn't be out of the question...

"Once your new political commissar can manage the food, clothing, housing, and transportation of five thousand soldiers, and..." Olmedo recalled the awkward word Annan pronounced: "...'ideological and moral character' then."

At this moment, Frank, whose name was called by Olmedo, was in the military camp, getting along with the officers—perhaps there was no so-called "adjustment period," as the entire Hellfire had long awaited the arrival of the political commissar, and Frank and others had joined the legion they had dreamed of.

The discrimination faced by new officers outside due to age, seniority, and background did not occur here; they quickly integrated into Hellfire's rules and regulations.
At six o'clock in the morning, the camp bell rang, and the soldiers got up to eat breakfast and begin breathing exercises.

At noon, lunchtime, those with energy continued practicing breathing techniques, while those without energy went to the playground for physical training.

At 6 PM, dinner time, the soldiers had free time to relax and unwind in the camp. At 10 PM, lights out and bedtime were set off.

This is a typical day for the Hellfire Legion when they are not on high alert.

The remaining five days were the same, and Sunday was a unified day of rest, during which soldiers could leave the camp, go home, or go to the city to play.

Once he became familiar with the legion's environment and could name all the officers and centurions, Frank began to show his "fangs."

For example, previously, officers punished soldiers who made mistakes by doubling their training, while they themselves would triple their training for making mistakes.

But simply doubling the training is hardly a punishment... There's a group of guys the soldiers call "beasts" who don't waste a single minute of free time. They practice breathing exercises as soon as they open their eyes, and they still practice breathing exercises when they close their eyes. They even practice breathing exercises while eating and defecating. Making them double the training is actually a reward for them.

Frank understood; he himself hadn't slept for three days and three nights after learning the breathing technique. However, understanding didn't equate to agreement. Punishment should instill fear, not the current system where "animals" deliberately cause trouble to allow them to continue training late into the night in order to increase their workload.

So the punishment became making them recite the Declaration of Liberty and the Code of Liberty.

The centurions were instructed to spread the word about the new system. At first, some "beasts" and slow-witted soldiers didn't realize it and, as usual, deliberately made mistakes to make themselves train harder. The result was a mix of stumbling recitations and laughter, and the situation improved considerably.

Frank and the other soldiers could recite it fluently, so they changed it to writing a self-criticism.

What is a self-criticism?

"It means admitting your mistakes. For example, after making a mistake, write, 'I deeply realize...'"

Lieutenant Lockren understood; it was just like when he was a child and made a mistake and told his family that he would never do it again.

This time, not only did those who "deliberately made mistakes" not receive extra training, but they also had to embarrass themselves in front of their comrades. The number of mistakes in each team decreased sharply, and those who occasionally caused trouble by accident felt ashamed and were unwilling to write self-criticisms.

Frank's solution to this is simple: if you don't write it, you'll implicate your teammates.

As a result, within just three days of the new system being implemented, the number of mistakes made by the Hellfire Legion decreased by 99%.

Then comes the daily schedule.

The biggest problem with the Hellfire Legion isn't laziness, it's that nobody is lazy.

Even the four-hour relaxation time after dinner is usually used by soldiers for extra training.

Frank encountered tremendous resistance as soon as he was about to take action, with complaints coming not only from rank-and-file soldiers but also from officers.

He had no choice but to change his rule to require him to go to bed before midnight.

To persuade the soldiers, Frank made a special trip to the Mage Tower to ask the mages to help him research the topic of "the effects of rest on the human body." He then convinced everyone by saying that "sufficient rest is more useful than rigorous training."

But allowing soldiers to leave on their days off is a truly "insurmountable wall".

(End of this chapter)