"I am a lord who deserves to be treated badly." Wu Lai shook his head while eating meat. "You violated military orders and fought. I will beat you with my military stick according to the rules. Not only will I be reluctant to use heavy blows, but after the fight, I will also treat you to hot pot."
The generals burst into laughter. Pu Tong scratched his ear in embarrassment and said, "Lord, to be honest, you... can't be considered as 'not using heavy hands'. My butt is now as if it is being pricked by needles and burned by fire..."
"Oh, from what you said, you are still questioning me?" Wu Lai glared at him, then glanced at Pompey and Isaac, "You guys are all major generals, why are you still as angry as a soldier?"
"The lord is right. I have taken note of it and will not do it again." Isaac quickly admitted his mistake.
"I don't dare anymore." Pompey glanced at Wu Lai.
"If you dare, prove it to me with your actions in the future." Wu Lai nodded. "Today, the parliament sent a letter, and I have approved your applications for merit and promotion."
"Approved?!" Pu Tong was delighted and asked hurriedly, "Lord, what did you approve?"
"Didn't we talk about applying for merit and promotion?" Wu Lai rolled his eyes at him. "All the division commanders present here will be promoted one level, and all of them will receive first-class merit."
"Okay, okay." Pu Tang nodded happily. "It doesn't matter whether it's first-class merit or not. As long as I get promoted, it's fine." He has been looking forward to the rank of lieutenant general for too long.
After everyone burst into laughter again, Odo hesitated for a moment and asked, "Lord, how do you arrange the rewards for the soldiers?"
"Don't worry about that." Woolley replied: "According to the new regulations, the soldiers' rewards will be arranged uniformly by the parliament."
"I hope the parliament can be more considerate. Lord, you know that in the past, soldiers could pick up some spoils for themselves during wars. Now the parliament requires everything to be handed over. The soldiers don't quite understand. If the reward can be a little more generous, it will be easier for us to convince them."
Wu Lai nodded: "I will hand over the issue you mentioned to the parliament for serious discussion, but everyone must first change their mindset. In the past, wars were nominally fought for the territory, but in fact they were also fought for themselves. The Supreme Council was only responsible for half of the military expenses. If they won, everyone from top to bottom would make a fortune. If they lost, they would go their separate ways. But now it is different. The parliament is fully responsible for the army, from the commander to the soldiers and civilians. There is a complete set of guarantees, not only for themselves, but also for their families. All spoils of war are handed over and managed and allocated by the parliament. You, as commanders, no longer have to worry about weapons, armor, and supplies. Once a report is submitted, the logistics will be provided. How good and convenient. Take the war against Armenia this time, for example, the parliament's logistics support was very good, and you don't have to be distracted at all. Don't you think this is the truth?"
The generals nodded one after another. Although the war against Menia had only been going on for a few days, the siege had lasted for so long that the cost of food and fodder alone was a huge number. If it were not for the continuous supply of food from the parliament's logistics convoys, the generals would not be able to concentrate on the battle.
"Come on, come on, it's time to eat and drink, let's talk while we eat." Wu Lai greeted, "By the way, I have two more things to tell you. First, the Armenian Standing Army Council has decided that Isaac Bei's Annan Third Division will serve as the standing garrison. Isaac Bei, today is my advance notice. Someone from the council will come to make the announcement in two days."
"Yes!" Isaac quickly stood up.
"Sit down." Wu Lai waved his hand, and Pu Tong on the side interrupted.
"Lord, what's going on? Don't you have the final say in military matters? How can the parliament make decisions for you?" Pu Tong looked stunned.
"Get used to it slowly. Now that the entire territory has been recovered, the separation of military and political affairs will gradually transition to the overall coordination of the territory." Wu Lai laughed and said, "Now, I will tell you the second thing. I have to make it clear in advance that everyone should not get excited after listening to me."
Wu Lai suddenly gave such an advance warning, and all the generals stopped subconsciously.
"The second thing is... everyone go back and prepare. Starting tomorrow, each division will begin to downsize and reorganize. Each division must not exceed 15,000 people." Wu Lai said.
"How can this be possible?" Pu Tong jumped up anxiously.
"Lord, this is not appropriate. We don't need so many soldiers at once..." Odo also frowned.
"Lord, I can't understand." Pompey stood up suddenly. "It's true that Assyria has been recovered, but we still have to fight Tianjuan. If we lay off the soldiers at this time, what can we use to fight? If we don't fight, how can we convince the Hurrians and Kimos who have surrendered to us? Lord, they will say that we are not trustworthy, and maybe there will be chaos because of this. Lord, Epicurus is guarding the Red Valley Bay Fortress Group."
"That's why I asked the Vulture's Second Division to rush over to defend with him." Wu Lai also stood up, his face quite solemn, "It's hard to convince him, I have to do it myself."
Wu Lai said this, and Pompey lost his temper. After thinking for a while, he said, "Lord, I was the one who persuaded them to surrender. I'll explain the matter to you. But, Lord, I really want to know, will we not fight against Tianjuan in the future?"
"It's hard to predict what will happen in the future, but I don't think we will be able to fight in the next few years. Do you know why?" Wu Lai glanced at everyone, "Because the territory can no longer support so many of our troops, and now Annan, Menia, and Kayiked are all in a state of disrepair. Investing manpower and material resources in these places and letting the laid-off soldiers return home to participate in the construction will also be better for the future of Assyria."
"Lord, what if the Tianjuan people attack again?" Pu Tong asked with a frown.
"Don't worry. Once the Hatra army is defeated, Tianjuan will not only be unable to send troops within three to five years, but will also have to be on guard against us. They, like us, need to recuperate." Wu Lai replied.
"Lord, I still think it's inappropriate. It's good for the laid-off soldiers to return home to participate in construction, but once they leave the battlefield for too long, their martial arts will be abandoned and their hearts will be at ease. Their combat effectiveness and morale will inevitably decline. If the war breaks out again in the future, we..."
"Why worry so much?" Wu Lai laughed. "It was the parliament's idea to ask you to disarm, but it was also my suggestion. When you do this, you should be more serious and careful. Keep the good soldiers, the tough soldiers, the soldiers who fight with their brains. They are for combat effectiveness. Hahaha, don't stick to the previous combat mode. Come on, get up and follow me outside the tent. I'll show you something."
After the generals followed Wu Lai to the open space outside the tent, Wu Lai waved to Golden Wolf, took the wooden box he was carrying, and after giving him a few instructions, Golden Wolf nodded, ran to a tent, took off a suit of leather armor hanging there, and then hung it on a wooden stake twenty steps away from the crowd according to Wu Lai's instructions.
"Lord, that is my armor." Pu Tong quickly reminded Wu Lai.
"Lend it to me and I'll return it to you later." Wu Lai said with a smile, opened the wooden box at his feet, and took out a shotgun from it.
"Look everyone, this is a new weapon that will be equipped to each division in the future. It will conservatively take three to five years for all personnel to be equipped with it, but what I can be sure of is that with its combination with artillery and mortars, we will be invincible." Wu Lai said with a smile and took the two bullets handed over by Golden Wolf.
After loading, Wu Lai raised the gun with one hand and aimed the muzzle at the armor twenty steps away: "Now, I will show you the effect."
All the generals subconsciously held their breath, because they all knew that everything Wu Lai came up with was always shocking.
"Click", Wu Lai pulled the trigger.
With a loud bang, a large ball of fire suddenly spurted out from the muzzle of the shotgun. At the same time, the armor hanging on the wooden stake twenty steps away suddenly moved and fell apart...
All the generals showed surprise on their faces at the same time...
…
Muti took office, the government was established, the divisions were disarmed, and Menia was rebuilt. Everything was going on in an orderly manner. Wu Lai was worried about explaining to Cyril and Epicurus, and he calculated that there was still nearly a month before the celebration day, so he left Menia with only Caesar, Ye Renwu and more than 20 special company soldiers to the Red Valley Bay Fortress. He didn't even bring Meng Bao, because this guy has a big appetite. If he brought it, he would have to waste time waiting for it to find food halfway.
Shortly after leaving the city, Wu Lai untied all the chains for Ye Jianwu.
"Aren't you afraid that I have some bad intentions?" Ye Renwu asked while flexing his wrists.
"Come on, if you really have any bad intentions, these shackles can't lock you up?" Wu Lai laughed and threw the untied chains to Caesar, who was acting as a coachman.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
"You are really brave." Ye Renwu smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Well, you are right. I don't want to solve it myself because I don't know where else I can go or what else I can do."
"There are so many things you can do. For example, you can be a teacher at West Point Military Academy or the Administrative College. Or, you can just be a general for Assyria. I promise..." Wu Lai was interrupted by Ye Renwu before he could finish his words.
"No, I won't help you kill the people of Tianjuan." Ye Renwu shook his head. "If you allow me, let me go to Yanmarsh City. I remember that you built a school there. I want to go there to teach the children to sing and learn to read. According to your rules, I can also get a house, right?"
"But this is a waste of talent. Ye Renwu, with your ability, you can be a mayor without any problems in terms of civil administration. In terms of martial arts, you are better than Pu Tong and the others." Wu Lai said seriously, "Now, don't you understand what I mean?"
"I understand, but... Wu Lai, I can't convince myself. And I think that staying in Salt Marsh City will allow me to experience your great achievements and witness the changes you have brought to this world." Ye Renwu said.
"According to what you mean, we can go our separate ways now?" Wu Lai frowned.
"It's not my wish, but yours. I can only leave if you let me go." Ye Renwu said.
After hesitating for a moment, Wu Lai nodded and asked for a horse from the special forces soldier waiting on the side. After putting the reins and whip into Ye Renwu's hands, he took out a small leather bag from his arms and said, "There are dry food and water on the saddle, and there is some change in this small pouch. You can go to Annan first. Guru is there. Show him this small pouch and tell him that you are going to Salt Marsh City, and then he will help you."
Ye Renwu pursed her lips and nodded heavily: "Thank you."
"I hope we'll have a chance to see each other again in the future," Wu Lai said.
"Goodbye, each other." Ye Renwu sighed softly, no longer looking at Wu Lai, jumped on the horse, turned the horse's head, and headed straight towards Annan.
Wu Lai watched her back, sighed and shook his head.
"Well, even if it can't be used by me, at least it won't be used by Tianjuan." He said to himself.
…
On this day, as soon as Woolley reached the first gate of the fortress group, Epicurus came to meet him with a group of regiment and battalion commanders.
"Excuse me, is it the Assyrian lord Ulegrindo who is in the car?" Epicurus asked.
"It's me." Wu Lai smiled and opened the car. "It's Master Yi Bi, right? I've seen your portrait, but after seeing it today, I realized that the portrait only resembled your appearance, but didn't capture your spirit at all."
"It is indeed the Lord who has come." Epicurus saluted and said loudly, "Yesterday the Lord stopped at Qiyun Town for a rest. My secret sentry in the town saw the Lord but did not dare to alarm him, so he rushed back to report overnight. I wanted to go out to greet him, but the Lord had already issued an order that the guards were not allowed to go out without permission, so I had to wait at the gate. I hope the Lord will forgive me. In addition, congratulations to the Lord for recovering the entire Assyrian territory, and thank you for the praise just now."
"It was my fault for not notifying them in advance. Master Yibi was thoughtful." Wu Lai laughed and asked as he got out of the car, "What has the Tianjuan people done recently?"
"Yes." Epicurus nodded. "Yesterday evening, Tianjuan sent two messengers to the pass, saying that they brought a letter from Emperor Tianjuan and that they came for peace. Now the two are still inside the pass because Commander Vulture said that they can only be allowed to enter Assyria after consulting the lord. I didn't expect that you, lord, would come."
"Peace?" Wu Lai raised his eyebrows slightly. "Don't delay here. Take me to see it."
"Yes, sir." Epicurus bowed and responded, and his eyes couldn't help but glance at Wu Lai.
How young he is! Epicurus could not help thinking to himself.