Published: December 12th 2024, 7:04:42 am
A Peaceful Land of the Orcs (3.8)
First, conscription is regarded as both an obligation and a right for all citizens, making it impossible to avoid military service through methods like paying a fee or appointing a substitute, practices that might be common in other countries.
To enforce this, the census registers maintained by administrative states—records that every citizen of Orcsen possesses—are utilized.
All adult males undergo a conscription examination, a form of physical assessment conducted by the state. This determines their suitability for military service based on factors such as physical strength, physique, vision, hearing, and whether they possess magic abilities.
Those deemed unsuitable based on clearly defined criteria are excluded from military service.
Similarly, individuals holding special positions in national civil service, those engaged in higher education, or students in fields such as medicine are also exempt, as they are considered to be significantly contributing to society. This measure aims to prevent perceptions of inequality.
Even those who pass the conscription examination are not all drafted, as the total number of military personnel required is relatively small compared to the national population. Individuals with the highest suitability are prioritized for enlistment.
Once conscripted, they serve in units based in their hometown, complete their military service, and then become reservists. Reservists are not allowed to reside in locations more than two days' travel from the location of their regiment. While they can relocate within this range, they must update their address in the census records.
Extended absences, such as long-term travel, are also prohibited.
This ensures they can swiftly respond to mobilization orders—commands issued for training or emergencies requiring reservists to return.
This system, known as the "local regiment system," has been established over the past 30 years. It’s now common for even reservists to transition into a five-year "reserve pool" after their active reserve period.
Some, including veterans or those with prior military experience, voluntarily join the National Volunteer Corps, a semi-autonomous organization formed during wartime by citizens.
It is a well-designed system.
Each year, society gains individuals with military experience—potential candidates for soldiers in the unfortunate event of war. Reservists and reserve-pool members undergo periodic training, allowing them to learn the latest military tactics and weaponry, staying prepared for mobilization.
In the context of the current exercise, both the 1st and 7th Grenadier Divisions mobilized their reservists approximately a week prior.
These reservists were reissued uniforms and equipment, underwent basic retraining to reacquaint themselves with military roles, and arrived at the training site organized as wartime units. (It should be noted that reservist mobilization does not necessarily accompany every exercise. In peacetime, such mobilizations are limited to twice a year.)
This system, impressive in its efficiency, was not what surprised Dineluth the most.
The 7th Grenadier Division, mobilized under these circumstances, had departed from its garrison in Meltemare, Orcsen's northernmost region, just the previous day.
They used the railway.
The Orcsen National Railway Company, with its extensive and meticulously managed railway network, coordinated with the Army General Staff’s Logistics Bureau to operate multiple 22-car military transport trains. These ran according to a minute-by-minute schedule, delivering the extracted units of the 7th Grenadier Division to a logistics station equipped with double-track platforms north of the exercise site.
As expected of Orcsen, no detail was overlooked. Food was distributed to troops en route using food storage facilities located at stations along the way.
Orcs, after all, cannot endure without sustenance.
For over 20 years, the Orcsen military has studied railway-based troop transportation.
Major General Kite, director of the Logistics Bureau, was originally a railway specialist. His subordinate, Colonel Walestleben, who now oversees the Logistics Bureau’s Railway Division, shares the same background.
The research results are now comprehensively documented.
For example:
Transporting a fully equipped Grenadier Division of 16,000 personnel, along with 4,500 horses, 400 supply wagons, and 72 artillery pieces, over a distance of 250 kilometers requires 42 eight-car freight trains or 15 22-car special freight trains. This can be completed in as little as two days.
Extensive experiments have identified potential issues and worked to resolve them, ensuring smooth operations for both railways and surrounding activities.
―Remarkable.
No military elsewhere in the world can mobilize such a large force over such a great distance so quickly. Other nations, even Elfynd, have experimented with railway-based military transport, but none have achieved this speed.
Reflecting on this, the clues were everywhere.
The fear of famine led to food storage depots scattered across the country.
The exceptionally developed logistics network, including the railway system.
The telegraph network, integrated alongside it.
The military's magic communication network.
The meticulously designed mobilization system.
Even Dineluth herself had benefited from this infrastructure when traveling to the capital, marveling at the convenience of a direct railway journey without a single transfer.
Above all, the General Staff—a permanent, massive organization dedicated to leveraging these systems for operations and logistics.
Yet these elements, until witnessed in action, remained disjointed in Dineluth’s mind, fragmented compared to the realities in Elfynd and other nations.
She finally understood why so many of Gustav’s close advisors were military officers.
This nation.
This Orcsen nation.
It is not the state that directs the military.
It is the military that directs the state.
This realization sent a shock through Dineluth, leaving her trembling.
But soon, she would learn that his understanding was still incomplete.
“This concludes the pre-exercise briefing.”
9:50 AM.
“However, as expected, what follows is classified military information. It must not be disclosed.”
Standing within the tent, Zebek nodded toward the soldiers, who removed a velvet cloth covering the central table.
A large map.
Markers representing infantry, cavalry, and artillery units—blue for friendly forces, red for enemy—were arranged alongside tools like command sticks and scale rulers, essential for operational control.
But Dineluth noticed something peculiar.
This was not a map of the training area.
It depicted a broader region—a completely different location.
Northern Orcsen.
And the entire Belleriant Peninsula.
―This...
The number and scale of units represented didn’t match the exercise.
Battalions were depicted as brigades, divisions as armies. Imaginary units were also positioned, facing off along the Sylvan River basin in a confrontation between blue and red forces.
The Orcsen forces deployed near the border numbered around 500,000 in total.
―This... This is...
“The purpose of today’s exercise is to test railway mobility and new military tactics using division-scale simulated combat. Additionally, it serves as a map exercise for the General Staff’s 6th Operations Plan, incorporating its fifth round of revisions. Due to the nature of the exercise, the division participants have not been informed of the plan. Command for the division-level maneuvers is being handled separately at the training site headquarters. Our counter-command for the map exercise is managed at General Staff Headquarters by Cavalry General Zieten and select staff from the Operations Bureau. Overall coordination also resides there.”
After pausing briefly, Zebek glanced at Dineluth with a faint expression of concern before continuing.
“As you know, the 6th Plan, drafted five years ago, outlines the invasion strategy against Elfynd. With the completion of six planned railway lines in the envisioned combat zone and the recent elimination of approximately 70,000 enemy troops due to various circumstances, significant revisions have become necessary. As such, High General Schwerin, slated to command the main forces during the operation, has also joined this exercise.”
―An invasion of Elfynd.
―Seventy thousand.
That means...
“10:00 AM. We shall now commence the exercise.”