Chapter 369: Cecil’s Preparations

Although the atmosphere had grown somewhat tense after hearing Gawain’s words, Byron responded to the questions with a calm, expressionless tone. “After two rounds of expansion during winter and spring, the Cecil Combat Corps now numbers five thousand soldiers, of whom one thousand have received artillery training. However, despite having five thousand troops, over three thousand are still complete rookies—they’ve only undergone basic drill training and know how to use thermal ray guns, grenades, and landmines, but have zero combat experience.”

Gawain nodded slightly. This outcome was roughly what he had expected, and he was fairly satisfied with it.

The territory of Cecil had expanded once again, especially after the formal annexation of the Kant region. The population within the domain had now surpassed seventy thousand—thirty thousand residing in the main city of Cecil, with the rest scattered across surrounding villages and the vast Kant area. Considering the development model of a magitech industrial society, Gawain was steadily concentrating more people toward the city center and continuing to recruit displaced populations.

With this population base, the previously exaggerated military-to-civilian ratio of nearly one soldier per eight civilians in the early days of the frontier had finally eased. Thanks to the conscription system and the territory’s productive capacity, the current size of the Cecil Combat Corps was reasonable and balanced for the domain.

Still, the fact remained that more than half the soldiers were green recruits.

Aside from actual combat experience and the passage of time, rookies simply couldn’t be transformed into veterans overnight. Although the Combat Corps maintained a tradition of intensive, high-frequency training, regular anti-bandit and monster patrols around the territory to gain “blood experience,” and veteran soldiers leading new recruits as squad leaders, their training efficiency far exceeded that of traditional mercenaries of this era. Yet even so, it was impossible to fully train these raw recruits in just over two months.

But Gawain knew that despite the high proportion of rookies, the soldiers of the Combat Corps still held a huge advantage over the traditional mercenaries of this era—an advantage that could offset many problems caused by the rookie-heavy ranks: the uniqueness of magitech weaponry.

Traditional soldiers in this era still primarily relied on cold weapons, with magic power used only sparingly by a few combat mages to buff allies or counter enemies. Training soldiers in cold weapon combat was a long and arduous process, requiring years of honing complex fighting techniques and the courage to face enemies in close quarters. But magitech soldiers?

They only needed about a month of practice to go from first handling a thermal ray gun to being able to hit a human torso at several dozen meters. During this time, they also underwent disciplined, institutionalized indoctrination and learned soldierly conduct. As for cold weapon combat…

The performance of the fusion-cutting sword more than made up for many shortcomings.

Moreover, for the Cecil Combat Corps, close-quarters cold weapon fighting wasn’t the main focus: the fusion-cutting sword was just a secondary weapon.

Byron, as the main commander and one of the founding architects of the Combat Corps, naturally understood the condition of his troops. So after reporting the rookie ratio, he added, “A magitech infantryman with two months of training can kill several traditionally trained soldiers—some of whom have years of experience and multiple battles—at dozens of meters. So even our rookies have formidable combat power, provided they have enough space to shoot.”

“By comparison, artillery training is more complex and slower,” he continued. “Squad coordination, quick reference to firing tables, memorizing various battlefield commands, and operating and maintaining the rail accelerator are all much more difficult than handling thermal ray guns.”

“That’s normal. Advanced units always take longer to form,” Gawain nodded. “As long as they can master those small cannons quickly, that’s what matters.”

“You can rest assured on that front,” Byron said confidently. “The miniaturized ‘Persuader’ rail accelerator cannon can be operated by two people. The firing tables are simple, and the sights are easier to use. Training is already well underway.”

After Byron’s report, Philip spoke up: “I’m currently reorganizing and reconstituting the old regiments from the Kant region. After the Kant knights swore allegiance, the Walder Perich knights, along with their retinues and militias, were incorporated into the Cecil domain. That’s about three thousand people. They’re all old-style noble mercenaries with poor combat effectiveness and discipline—completely incomparable to our Combat Corps. But fortunately, among them are twelve legitimate knights. With their cooperation, the reorganization of the old regiments is progressing smoothly.”

“Accelerate training, especially ideological transformation,” Gawain emphasized, fully aware of the state of noble mercenaries in this era. Fortunately, the former Kant domain had relatively enlightened institutions and decent order, so the old regiments hadn’t decayed beyond repair. He remained somewhat optimistic. “Once trained, this regiment will serve as the second corps, still commanded by the Walder Perich knights. I’ve met and learned about Walder Perich. Once his mindset changes, he’ll be a reliable and loyal leader.”

“The first batch of Steel Rangers trainees and the initial training plan are in place, but training has just begun, so there’s nothing much to report yet,” said Solderin, the third to speak. “Personally, I’ve been thinking about some equipment design ideas based on my combat experience and the characteristics of magitech weapons. I plan to discuss them with Mr. Dan soon.”

When all the reports concluded, Gawain nodded with satisfaction. Heddy, who had been itching to speak, finally couldn’t hold back: “Ancestor, are we… preparing for war?”

“Yes, preparing—but only preparing for now,” Gawain met Heddy’s gaze. “To be honest, I don’t want the developing domain to be dragged into war just yet. But we must be ready for changes in the situation.”

“Changes in the situation…” Heddy thought for a moment and understood. “You mean the peace talks between Typhon and Ansu might actually blow up? That they could lead to war?”

“I just have a bad feeling,” Gawain confirmed her suspicion indirectly. “I want to believe the leaders of both countries recognize the common threat from the Wasteland and understand how irrational it would be to go to war now. But I doubt everything will go so smoothly… The Sleeper, the End of All Things, the warlike nobles in both countries, and rumors of the Typhon emperor’s madness—too many factors threaten these talks. If something goes wrong during negotiations, it’ll be too late to prepare once war breaks out.”

“I understand,” Heddy nodded slowly. “The Administration Office will start acting as well—actually, stockpiling supplies has never stopped since the trade routes opened. But now I’ll increase the stockpiling to wartime levels.”

Though the Cecil domain appeared peaceful and prosperous, in truth, Gawain’s sense of crisis had ensured this land was prepared for war from the start—whether the enemy was mutated creatures or humans. Over the past year, Gawain had opened trade routes in three directions. Now, ores from the western Leslie domain, medicinal herbs and wheat from northern Kant, and grain, furs, and textiles from eastern Grant were all being delivered daily to the warehouses.

Outsiders only knew Cecil was making astonishing wealth from alchemical potions and magitech machinery, but they couldn’t imagine that more than half of that wealth was being spent just as quickly, converted into wartime supplies stored in Gawain’s warehouses…

“Besides stockpiling supplies, we must also consider maintaining order, public opinion, logistics, and resource distribution once war breaks out,” Gawain said, looking not only at Heddy but at everyone present. “Cecil enjoys prosperity and order far beyond what outsiders see. We must prove that even in war, this prosperity and order will surpass anywhere else.”

After finalizing all the preparations, Gawain announced the meeting adjourned, but the atmosphere remained somewhat tense and serious.

Seeing this, he chuckled. “Of course, we’re just preparing for the worst here. Maybe the talks will end smoothly, maybe nothing will happen. So don’t be too nervous—life goes on.”

Amber couldn’t help but mutter, “The more you say that, the more nervous I get…”

Gawain immediately shot her a glare. “What do you mean by that?”

Amber grumbled, “Last time you said it’d be great if the mutants didn’t attack, but then over winter, more than three thousand monsters besieged the city…”

Gawain slapped the half-elf on the head. “Rebecca’s not here, so you’re the stubborn one now, huh?!”

“Ow—ouch!”

Thanks to the half-elf’s dedication and sacrifice, the mood instantly lightened after Gawain’s slap…

Once Amber was subdued, Gawain remembered something and looked at Byron. “Speaking of which, winter’s over. It might be time to resume exploration of the remaining parts of the ‘Rebel Fortress.’”

After Kamail joined the Cecil domain, many secrets of the mountain ruins had been uncovered. The fortress was renamed to its official name from the Gondor Empire era: the Rebel Fortress. One-third of the fortress had been put back into use, retrofitted with modern magi-net technology and powered up, now serving as an arms factory, advanced equipment manufacturing plant, and wartime supply warehouse. But a large portion still lay hidden in unknown darkness.

Though Kamail was once a senior technician of the Rebel Fortress, the ancient stronghold was vast and full of secrets only the Gondor royal family had fully known. Kamail had only helped Gawain map the lower levels and the Rebel Bastion area. The southern and eastern parts of the fortress remained a mystery.

After winter began, Gawain had paused exploration of the unknown areas and ordered corridors leading to the southern and eastern sections sealed off temporarily. But now that winter was over and the weather warming, he felt it was time to restart the project.

(End of chapter)