Munitions Empire

The King of Dorne listened to what Bolton had to say and seemed even more interested. He knew this young man truly had the skills, so he became even more curious about just what level those graduates from the Great Tang Military Academy were at.

Thus, he continued to inquire, "What kind of level were you at in school?"

"Me? In the grade examinations, I ranked 4th, which is pretty good, I guess." Bolton said with a touch of embarrassment, scratching his nose as he mentioned his graduation ranking.

Honestly, that was already an exceptional result because the questions Tang Mo used to test these graduates were meticulously picked and incredibly challenging. Simply obtaining a diploma instead of being held back proved the graduate's capabilities.

The King of Dorne was taken aback; he had not expected that his nation's pillar of the future was not the most excellent talent...

According to his conjecture, the Double Pride of Dorne, Strauss and Bolton, these two young men, surely must be personages of the caliber of Mohcik Klosevitz. But he never imagined that there could be anyone even more outstanding than Bolton!

So, he exclaimed in surprise, "A young man as talented as you ranked only 4th in the Great Tang Military Academy?"

Little did he know, these words made Bolton feel a chill down his spine, and he subconsciously shrank his neck, glanced around, then heaved a sigh of relief before he explained, "Don't just say anything! I was ranked fourth among the second batch of graduates! Your Majesty! If Dino were to hear that, he might beat me to death..."

He stressed the word "second batch" because he knew that among the first batch of students, he might not even make the top twenty... or even the top thirty...

The King of Dorne immediately picked up on the implication, and asked in astonishment, "...You mean there are people from the first batch of graduates who are better than you?"

"Your Majesty, you don't understand... anyone who makes it into the top ten at the Great Tang Military Academy is like a god... they are destined to become great figures in the future..." As Bolton spoke, his tone resembled that of a pilgrim.

In fact, while he was saying these words, an image of a girl arose in his mind, a girl who should have graduated but had never, a girl known as 'the Queen'...

"This..." The King of Dorne, seeing Bolton with the zeal of a devout believer describing his revered deity, began to grasp the terror of the Great Tang Group's military academy.

Reminiscing on this, Bolton sighed deeply, filled with emotion, "To make it to the top twenty, I would wake from dreams laughing..."

"Is it really that incredible?" The King of Dorne felt that Bolton might be exaggerating a bit.

However, what Bolton said next left him completely stunned, "Your Majesty, let me put it this way; if any of those upperclassmen were willing to serve you, the Dorne Empire would merely be a beginning."

A few seconds of silence followed before the King of Dorne, as if realizing his lapse, forced a smile to cover his embarrassment, "Wha, wha... what?"

Bolton knew that digesting such information required some courage and time. But he was not in a hurry because, sooner or later, everyone would come to know just how terrifying that school established by Mr. Tang was...

And by that time, all the influential people in the world would understand just how terrifying Tang, the principal who had been controlling everything and the man behind the Great Tang Group, truly was.

According to Bolton's own assessment, if he were an ant, then Mr. Tang was a deity. His current honors were nothing compared to that younger principal!

Imagine this, he was like a cat playing with a mouse, already surpassing most by being a formidable figure in Dorne. Yet this cat, when facing Principal Tang, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, could truly fathom the vast gap only himself could appreciate.

When a tiger roars in the mountains... what insect dares to make a sound?

At this thought, Bolton found the topic dull, shook his head, and changed the subject, "Let's drop it; I was just speaking in passing. Let's return to the topic of military reform."

"Alright, continue," said the King of Dorne, evidently finding the topic of military reform more relaxing.

He had already made up his mind to dispatch an envoy immediately, to recruit as many talents as possible from the Great Tang Group's military academy and any other schools, whatever the cost.

These were not just any ordinary graduates! In critical moments, these talents could save lives!

Even if they were mediocre, establishing a good cooperative foundation with the Great Tang Group and strengthening the friendship would be worth the investment, wouldn't it?

Importing talents! That's the top priority! The King of Dorne mused inwardly—considering Suthers Kingdom! They say a tax reform issue caused some instability within the nation.

The talent on his own side was impressive, mainly skilled in combat and loyal, never giving him any trouble.

Poor him, he didn't yet know that the young man stirring up trouble, causing some chaos in the Suthers Kingdom but affirmed by the King and ministers of Suthers, was also a graduate of the Great Tang Military Academy.

And this young man was also from the second batch, ranked first among the second batch, even higher than Bolton and Strauss...

Bolton did not intend to disrupt King Dorne's fantasies at this time; he continued to bring the topic back to military ranks and military reform: "Clearly, with the development of weapons, the existing organization can no longer meet the combat needs of the troops, so a new organization should replace the old one."

There was no other way, his major in school was military command, unlike that economics maniac who ranked first in their grade. His familiarity was more with the military field, and at least in this aspect, he was very impressive.

Therefore, he explained to King Dorne the necessity of military reforms: "A battalion organization of 500 is really too few, by normal standards it should be around 650, a company should have 200 soldiers, and a corps should maintain around 2100 soldiers."

"That many?" King Dorne was startled and felt that such a reorganization was a bit too ruthless: a corps would have 600 more soldiers than the original army, an increase of an entire battalion's strength!

What he didn't know was that in the Great Tang Military Academy, voices had already begun to study whether to expand the infantry corps to 2500 soldiers to meet future independent combat needs.

And as the military grew in size, the graduate group of the Military Academy and the teachers had all begun to prepare for the formation of a "division," an even larger combat unit.

According to the concept of the Great Tang Group, or rather Tang Mo's idea, a division would be under the jurisdiction of four corps, in addition to divisional artillery and logistical support troops, independent defense forces and heavy weapon units, and considering future anti-tank units and possible tank units... altogether, they would have a staffing of over 15,000 people.

If using the United States' division troop numbers, a division's organization would exceed 17,000 people, nearly the total strength of ten army corps.

That is to say, Bolton, who was now commanding Dorne's great army to attack the Xilun Kingdom, was probably just the equivalent of a division commander...

Of course, he was already very fortunate, because just a few days ago, Major General Tagg of the Great Tang Group had just expanded his own troops to a corps.

"Consider this, like the battalion-level combat group of the Great Tang Group's security forces that you just saw, with nearly 700 soldiers, equipped with battalion artillery and machine-gun teams, but if we cut down the rifle soldiers, wouldn't that be somewhat undesirable?" Bolton quietly persuaded, advising King Dorne.

"Indeed..." King Dorne was quite moved and nodded in agreement.

"And doesn't commanding such a force require even more professional talent?" Bolton continued to ask.

King Dorne subconsciously nodded again: "It does..."

"Then, just using titles like team captain, battalion commander, corps commander, wouldn't be enough to reasonably distinguish these talents. Surely we can't, give the title of battalion commander, and yet have them lead five field medics, right?" Bolton questioned again, aiming directly at the crux of the ambiguity in the original military positions.

"Uh... I also feel it is inappropriate," King Dorne had realized the problem and continued to nod in agreement.

Bolton smiled and concluded, "Right! Therefore, the use of military ranks is now imperative."

"Within a battalion, there could be 20 captains or majors, but only one battalion commander, which would increase the ability to accommodate talent." He was prepared to implement the military rank system of the Great Tang Group in Dorne.

The same military structure was needed to apply the command techniques he learned, to take full advantage of the Great Tang Group's weapons performance.

King Dorne continued to express his approval: "That makes sense..."

"So, Your Majesty, we should rationally reorganize the troops to adapt to the future combat needs," Bolton pressed on while the iron was hot.

King Dorne thought of an issue and asked Bolton with some difficulty: "But, after such a reorganization... from where will we get the weapons and equipment?"

"Don't worry! The Great Tang Group will support you!" Bolton immediately assured, because he knew the Great Tang Group would never turn down a large order for weapons procurement.

"That will require a lot of money." King Dorne was financially embarrassed; his kingdom had just undergone a coup, followed by disturbances and then an invasion. Only now had they managed to repel the enemy with difficulty and he guessed there wasn't much spare cash available.

"We are very wealthy now!" Bolton confidently replied.

King Dorne was startled, then burst out laughing: "Hahaha! You're right! As long as we win this war, I will become very rich! Richer than before!"

"Your Majesty..." Bolton pointed at the ground, reminding King Dorne that they were already on the territory of the Xilun Kingdom: "We have already won..."

"Hahahahaha!" This time, King Dorne laughed even more joyously and unrestrainedly.

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Starting tomorrow, catch-up updates.