Munitions Empire

Mounted on his steed, the young officer watched as his troops marched down the muddy road, his heart swelling with pride and his bearing striking and dashing.

The man in even more lavish military attire, with a patterned steel helmet on his head that looked somewhat out of place, was none other than His Majesty, the King of Dorne.

At the moment, he was inspecting his advancing troops alongside his most trusted confidant, who had just been promoted to the Army's total commander in charge of 20,000 troops for the counter-offensive against the Xilun Kingdom.

The continuous line of troops progressed along the road, with horses dragging cannons, pulling carts laden with ammunition, and being led by soldiers marching tirelessly on the highway.

Because so many troops had passed through, the road was utterly crushed and everywhere was muddy and pitted, resulting in a not-so-fast march.

However, this was already the ultimate speed a contemporary troop could advance; normally, a troop's daily marching speed in a purely marching state without encountering enemies was about 40 kilometers per day.

Yes, that slow…

But there wasn't a hint of dissatisfaction on the face of the Dorne King because his troops were advancing into enemy territories with practically no resistance from any hostile armies.

After all, the 50,000-strong military of the Xilun Kingdom had already become prisoners of war and were now being held, ready to be dealt as slaves to the Great Tang Group, which was in dire need of human resources.

The young general mounted on his horse was a rising star within the Dorne military, with his renown spreading far and wide over time, Bolton.

This man, not yet thirty, now commanded over 20,000 of Dorne's elite troops and was also His Majesty's most favored close official.

Mounted on his horse, he watched the troops pass by, their rifles slung over their shoulders in an orderly array, and began to explain to the King at his side, "According to the standards of the Great Tang Military Academy, ranks within the whole military should be separate from duties, which can, to some extent, distinguish the individual contributions within the military hierarchy."

He explained slowly and clearly, for such a rank system had been tested and was a convenient military reform: "For instance, the captain responsible for protecting the King was previously essentially a battalion commander by old standards but was most often referred to as Guard Commander, which simply doesn't reflect the rank he should truly hold.

Thus, everyone can only vaguely respect this officer without immediately grasping the importance of this military person for the nation."

"I'm still a bit confused," admitted the King of Dorne, who lacked experience in this area and was somewhat perplexed.

Bolton decided to strike while the iron was hot, seeing as he was the real favorite now, with the Dorne King even treating him like a son: "Let me tell you about the provincial and county system used by the students of the Great Tang Military Academy."

This wasn't just a feeling of self-importance; he was almost literally the King's son at this point, as the King of Dorne had two daughters and had told Bolton explicitly that he planned to choose one of them to marry him.

The other daughter would marry Strauss... For the King of Dorne, this was a way to make the best use of his non-typical daughters.

"Yes, go ahead," said the Dorne King, who, the more he saw his future son-in-law, the more pleasing he found him, and chuckled as he spoke.

"In the Great Tang Military Academy, students are granted military ranks, which are consistent with the ranks held inside the military," Bolton immediately elaborated.

Now almost considered the foremost figure in the Dorne military or, at the very least, on par with Strauss as a representative of the new generation, and as one of the King's most trusted military commanders, he confidently held forth: "Firstly, upon enrollment, all students hold non-commissioned officer ranks, distinguishing them from common soldiers.

They're officers, so when they graduate, they won't need to start at the rank of regular soldiers."

This confidence, combined with his actual battle achievements, filled the King of Dorne with joy—this was his son-in-law! A loyal subject who had saved his life and a reliable high official! Utterly beyond reproach!

As Bolton spoke, the King of Dorne agreed wholeheartedly with such arrangements: "It should be so. You're so excellent; naturally, you should not be treated like ordinary soldiers."

To him, the graduates of the Great Tang Military Academy obviously couldn't be regarded the same as ordinary soldiers; that would be a complete waste, like using fine jade for window glass.

Completely convinced of the Great Tang Military Academy's teaching quality, he now thought that snagging its graduates to hold positions such as division commanders was simply basic protocol.

"In the school, if a student has excellent grades and completes all assessments before graduation, they can be granted a higher rank," Bolton mentioned with undeniable pride in his school, as if a nobleman introducing his distinguished family lineage.

He casually provided an example of the military rank promotion system within the school: "For instance, securing a scholarship and ranking in the top 50 in one's class brings a 30 Gold Coin reward and a promotion to Sergeant; reaching the top 30 warrants a 50 Gold Coin reward and ascension to Staff Sergeant."

"I see, so it's about gaining ranks through academic achievement in school?" The King of Dorne grasped the concept, feeling quite receptive to innovation.

Bolton nodded and briefly introduced the rank system in modern militaries, "Yes, after Staff Sergeant comes Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, Captain; above that is Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel; and higher up there are Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General."

This system was clearly copied straight from Tang Mo, practically unchanged, just directly adopted for use.

He had wanted to use the ancient Huaxia military rank system, for example using terms like Cavalry Colonel for school officials, or Guerrilla General for generals.

However, because it was too complicated, and he himself found it a bit unclear, he figured that the terms junior, middle, senior, and the like were more straightforward and ended up using the most common modern military titles.

After all, anyone could understand them at a glance, so he copied the insignia as well, since nobody knew the original source of these things, there would be no sense that there was any problem.

Tang Mo was actually a very simple person; he wouldn't bother to change things that could be easily copied. For instance, with calibers of artillery, he used the 105 caliber exactly as detailed in the designs without pursuing anything unusual or unique.

Similarly, when it came to using things he was familiar with, he was completely unreserved, such as the march step of the Great Tang Military Academy, which was exactly the same as the orthodox Huaxia march step, majestic and earth-shattering.

The military salute was the same, Tang Mo directly took the Huaxia military salute for use, without intending to change it at all...

The King of Dorne smiled and found a point of interest to break into the conversation, remarking thoughtfully, "It's quite interesting that your school has generals, and even divides them into three ranks."

"Our academy currently has a teacher with the rank of general; his name is Luff, he is the Chief of Staff for the Great Tang Group," Bolton did not intend to conceal this, assuming that anyone determined would investigate and find out. He introduced his teacher, or rather, the teacher of the military command subject.

"Luff..." The King of Dorne keenly noted the name, feeling that if any interaction occurred in the future, it would be good to forge a strong relationship with this heavyweight.

On the other hand, Bolton continued to introduce other commanders, "Additionally, the Great Tang Group has three commanders with the rank of Brigadier General, namely Tagg, Bernard, and Redman."

"Tagg... Redman... Bernard..." Similarly, the King of Dorne silently noted these names, feeling he should take the time to study these as yet uncelebrated figures.

After glancing at the King of Dorne, Bolton thought he shouldn't trip up his future father-in-law on such a minor issue, so he added, "Bernard is the Navy Brigadier General who commanded the fleet to the great victory at Hotwind Port."

"Oh... no wonder." The King of Dorne was taken aback and immediately classified the naval commander named Bernard at the "extremely formidable and dangerous" level.

Just then, Bolton followed up with, "General Redman has already crossed the border a few days ago, leading his troops on a counterattack, entering the territory of the Kingdom of Gemalin."

"Indeed impressive." The King of Dorne was startled once again, reinforcing his memory of the name Redman.

The next moment, he realized, if Luff and Tagg could be on par with Bernard and Redman as Brigadier Generals of the Great Tang Group... how could these two possibly be ordinary individuals?

Therefore, as the King of Dorne, for the first time, he recognized that the Great Tang Group had become an existence to be feared in terms of talent reserves.

After a few seconds of silence, analyzing an array of details in his mind, the King of Dorne turned to his future son-in-law and asked, "So, may I ask you?"

"Me?" Bolton was taken aback, then remembered how his "youthful ignorance" had led him to challenge the top student in his grade.

Being utterly outplayed in physical education, pummeled in combat class, still losing by one ring in shooting class, and eventually beaten by seven points in the final exam results... truly... embarrassing.

The current top student of the second term, as he heard, was in Suthers... also the esteemed Prime Minister's rapid-rising son-in-law, while simultaneously managing the entire financial tax system of the Suthers Kingdom...

"Yes, you!" the King of Dorne curiously looked at Bolton, asking.

"What's there to say about me, just an unknown," Bolton modestly brushed it off, a bit embarrassed.

After all, before this war, he indeed was not well known... even compared to the third in the grade, Strauss, he didn't have much to boast about.

Better not to brag too much and risk being exposed for exaggerating, right? That would be humiliating.