I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1010 Conscription System
After one hour.

With his left arm hanging in front of his chest, Scharnhorst said to William III: “Your Majesty, while promoting civilian officers, we must also lay off aristocratic officers with low abilities.

“In the wars I have personally experienced, I have seen countless times that the incompetence of middle and lower-level officers led to the collapse of local battlefields.

"What the country needs are officers who have commanding ability, are brave and fearless, and are literate. Oh, it would be best if they also know mathematics. Rather than mediocre people who only know how to show off their background and whip soldiers all day long..."

During the retreat from Glogau, Scharnhorst broke his wrist and had to retreat to Potsdam to recuperate. It was because of this that he had the opportunity to present his ideas for military reform to Prince Henry.

After all, the latter had fought in wars under Frederick the Great, and he immediately realized that this was what the Prussian army needed most at the moment.

It is also the only way to save Prussia.

Upon hearing this, William III shook his head silently:
“The nobles are the foundation of the army. They have sacrificed their blood and lives for the country. How can they be dismissed just because they cannot read?
"Not to mention letting civilians climb over their heads. And how can those civilians have the ability to command an army?"

The young staff officer immediately said:

"Your Majesty is wise. We must not dismiss the noble officers who have made contributions, but illiteracy does have a great impact on commanding operations - they can't even read written orders.

"So, we need to provide avenues for the advancement of nobles who lack the ability - let them study in military academies, and they must pass the graduation assessment before they can continue to serve."

William III frowned slightly: "We have many military schools, but they are not used to teach officers to read."

"Indeed, Your Majesty." Scharnhorst bowed, "So we can learn from the French model. Their military academies are divided into three levels: the Royal Military University, the Army Officer Academy, and the Military Technical School, which are used to train senior officers, middle and junior officers, and ordinary soldiers respectively.

“In fact, many of our officers can only study at their lowest level of military technical school - one of the courses there is literacy.

"Yes, the common French soldier can read."

William III muttered: "What use is knowing how to read in war?"

Before Scharnhorst could say anything, Prince Heinrich said, “Your Majesty, this will indeed enhance the combat effectiveness of the army.

"Soldiers who can read can more thoroughly understand the officers' combat intentions, can independently consult drill manuals, and understand road signs and weapon markings.

"In fact, the soldiers who could read even lined up more neatly."

William III waved his hand and said, "Okay, we'll talk about building a military academy later. I'm more interested in the major's 'universal conscription system'."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The young staff officer said hurriedly, "We will provide simple military training to adult men across the country and incorporate them all into the 'National Army' system.

"Then, we will select a certain number of people to become the 'reserve army', strengthen their training, and add them to the regular army at any time.

"Ordinary soldiers in the regular army can retire after serving for three years and be supplemented by the reserve army.

"These retired soldiers can be immediately called up to the battlefield when the war is urgent.

"This model will allow our country to have an almost inexhaustible supply of troops. As long as the finances allow, we can even maintain a standing army of 20 to 30."

His idea was indeed very good, and it already had the prototype of the conscription system of later generations.

Napoleon later used a similar conscription model to mobilize more than 60 troops for France. This was also the military basis for his sweep across Europe. However, Scharnhorst overlooked a problem, that is, the conscription system for conscripts could not be implemented in a serfdom country.

Serfs belong to the nobles. If your government wants to recruit serfs into the army, who will cultivate the nobles' land? Will the government compensate the nobles for their losses?

They definitely can't afford to make up for it, and the nobles will definitely not do it if they don't. At the very least, they will conceal the number of serfs, and if they are pushed to the limit, they will directly riot.

To a certain extent, the price serfs paid for their freedom was that they had to assume greater national obligations.

However, at this moment, none of the three people in the room thought so deeply.

William III nodded happily and said, "Your idea is very good. I will take care of the funding issue, and you can immediately implement this conscription system."

He already had a preliminary plan - first sell some of the royal assets to allow Scharnhorst to start the conscription, and then wait for the British to allocate funds.

He looked at the young staff officer and said, "I need you to recruit at least 3 soldiers within a month."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

……

Constantiniere.

The French secret envoy Baron Dalson walked out of Khalil Bey's mansion with his head down.

Before he set out, he thought this would be a very easy mission, but he had no idea that the stubbornness, cowardice and lack of ambition of the Ottoman Guards had reached such an astonishing level.

Yes, he had offered extremely tempting conditions, but the top leaders of the Ottoman Guard did not dare to take the risk of harassing Austria.

Even though this could severely weaken the influence of the New Army, their biggest rival - the New Army was annihilated in Wallachia, the Guards still dared to launch an attack on Austria, which was enough to prove that the New Army, which wasted a lot of gold coins, had no value at all.

However, the corrupt Guards rejected Dalson's suggestion to send troops.

The French envoy returned to his residence, so anxious that he couldn't even eat - there were only three days left before the deadline required by Lord Talleyrand.

He dropped his cutlery and prepared to try his luck with Yunus Bey again, but he saw the attendant walking in with a tall, slightly fat officer: "Sir, there is a Muhammad Ali Agha who wants to see you. He said he is a friend of Baron Memac."

Dalson narrowed his eyes. He knew that Baron Memak was the highest person in charge of Ottoman maritime trade, so this Aga was most likely one of his own.

He hurriedly asked his servant to invite Muhammad Ali in and ordered the servant to bring the best coffee.

The two exchanged greetings in French for a while, and Muhammad Ali suddenly smiled and said, "Baron, I heard that you are lobbying a few gentlemen to launch another attack on Wallachia?"

Dalson nodded. "You know, Austria is fighting Prussia in Silesia and has no time to care about Wallachia. If you can persuade someone to advise the Sultan to send troops, I will definitely give you a satisfactory reward."

Muhammad Ali laughed, pointed at himself and said, "Why bother other adults, I can help you harass Bucharest."

(End of this chapter)