Rise Of The Ussr In Another World - Volume 1 Chapter 7 Reforming The Guards
It had been three days since Add had summoned the [Shadow Knights] and told them to hunt monsters on their own. The results were already very promising. He had already been levelled up to level 15, that his he had obtained over 10,000 Exp. and another 5250 CP without doing any work himself. He had allocated all his stat points but left most skill points aside as he was planning on getting some new skills soon.
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STATUS
Name : Add
Race : Human
HP : 200/200
MP : N/A (Locked)
Level : 10 | Experience Required : 120/2905
Class : N/A
Subclass : N/A
Title : N/A
Passive Skills :
[Unarmed Combat Mastery Lv. 20 (MAX)]
[Knife Mastery Lv. 20(MAX)]
[Firearms Mastery Lv. 20 (Max)]
[Body Strengthening (Passive) Lv. 6/20]
[Accelerated Healing (Passive) Lv. 5/20]
Active Skills :
N/A
Special Skills :
[Calm Mind (Passive) Lv. 20(Max)]
[Imaginary Time (Active) Lv. 1/20]
[Contract(Active) Lv. 1/20]
Credit Points : 31,000
ATTRIBUTES :
Vitality : 4
Strength : 14
Agility : 10
Defence: 6
Intelligence : 5
Wisdom : 5
Stamina : 10
Charm :3
Magic Aptitude : N/A (Locked)
Stat Points : 0
Skill Points : 14
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His strength was now quite high, and when he tested it by punching a tree with moderate force, his fist left a deep imprint on it. Coupled with his agility and stamina, he found that his body was now very capable, and he could probably match his old self in terms of strength already, the system truly was miraculous. During this time, he had mostly been holed up in the study room, finalising his plans for the next steps he had to take. As a Lord, he had little power in his territory, both in terms of military strength and economy. The economy though poor, was holding on, thanks to the efforts of his father and Walter through the past years and though the production of crops was low, but the people had enough to survive and the territory was stable for now.
As such, he focused on stabilising the military at first. The Soviet Union had the largest military in the world at its peak, and it was the strength of this military that kept the hostile NATO at bay. In comparison, the military strength of the territory was beyond pitiful, and could be called a mob at best. A drastic reform was needed, and it was needed now. Add gathered all the guards of the mansion who numbered 20. They were led by a man called Kent. Kent was a man in his forties. He was quite well built for his age and had served the family for over 15 years now. The entire group of guards was now standing in the backyard of the mansion, which was a small training field used by the guards. Add had ordered them to stand in four consecutive rows of five men each. The guards were quite bewildered at what the young master was up to.
Add walked past the rows, inspecting them with scrutiny. The men looked healthy, and overall he was content. At least he had a proper group to work with. He then looked at their weapons and armour. The guards mainly had long swords and short swords while some had spears as well. Kent informed that most guards could also use the bow and arrow. The quality of the weapons was poor however, as good quality weapons were costly. Their armour was in worse condition. They wore a chainmail suit over their clothes with a thin plate covering the chest, and a pair of arm guards. He made a note to change these things as soon as possible. The guards saw him frown and rub his head, wondering why his mood was getting bad.
“All of you, keep your weapons aside and take of your armour now!”
Suddenly being ordered, they were surprised, and confused. The guards had thought that Add wanted to tell them something, but he was now ordering them to take off their weapons and armour.
“Young Master, why do we need to take off our armour and weapons ?” Kent asked.
“No questions! Just do as you are told! Do I pay you to ask questions !?”
Add’s mood noticeably worsened as he glared at him. Kent shook his head quickly, and began taking off the weapons and armour and the others also followed suit. Soon all men including Edward were all unarmed and their weapons and armour had been kept in a pile at the side of the field.
“Now one by one you all will have a spar with me. Then first.let’s see.yes, Edward, you come here”
Edward was one of the guards who accompanied Add on his trip to the forest. Being called to have a spar with the young master, he felt very troubled. ‘What did the young master eat today that he is out here doing meaningless stuff.’. Adolf Kaiser Weismann was never the athletic type. Ever since his father’s death, the young master had become a lazy slob. Aside from the usual gambling and merrymaking, he never did any work. His body was lean and thin and anyone who saw him for the first time would think that he was a weakling, let alone these guards who saw him every day. Add had of course upgraded his strength, but his body had not become like a body builder. Rather it remained virtually unchanged, except that his skinny body had developed some lean muscles, which were not easily observable without close inspection, and these muscles packed a lot of strength.
Edward looked at Kent who helplessly shook his head. They all knew of the whimsical nature of the young master. Kent thought that Add just wanted to try some moves. He urged Edward to go on and be easy on the young master. Not getting any help from his superior, the poor chap reluctantly left his spot in the rows and stood before Add. He looked at the young guard for some time, his eyes were cold and his expression looked heavy. He then told Edward,
“Come at me with your everything Edward, I won’t be showing you any leniency”
Edward hesitated, but looking at the stern face of the young master, which was growing darker by the moment, he did not dare waste time and took a proper stance, he looked at Add who was standing straight just looking at him, and then quickly attacked. His movement was simple, a swift straight punch, aimed towards Add’s abdomen. But to his surprise, the weak young master actually nimbly dodged his punch by moving to the side, causing his punch to hit air and he ran past Add before stopping. Edward was shocked, as the speed of his attack was not slow and Add dodging it, was completely unexpected to him. He tried a few more times, but Add dodged them with ease. Finally, Edward realised that perhaps, the young master was not so weak as he seemed to be. He made a quick decision and then again tried to punch Add. However, this time it was just a fake hit and at the last moment, he changed his mode of attack and kicked out with his leg towards Add’s feet trying to trip him down. He believed that Add could only dodge, simple moves and would fall to this trick but to his shock the later, jumped up in the air, again dodging his kick. Kent who was watching this short exchange going on was shocked more than the others.
He was a fairly experienced man who had seen his share of battles, and he knew that among the guards, Edward had a good fighting ability, but the swift and precise movements of the young master were beyond his expectations. The next moment, Add rotated his body and caught Edward’s right arm in his hands, and in one single circular throw, sent the man hurling across the field. Edward only stopped after rolling for a few metres, covered in dust. All the guards had their mouths wide open, even Kent. No one could even imagine in their dreams, that the young master, who gambled and wasted away all day, could have such strength to swing away a person like Edward, with such ease. The person who was thrown himself was in shock and didn’t even stand up. He kept lying on the ground and wondering what had just happened.
“Edward! What the hell are you doing lying here!? Get up and stand back at your position, or do you want to be thrown again!? Damn it! You best get up now or I will make sure you won’t be stand up for a month again!”
Hearing the chilling shout , the poor chap hurriedly scrambled up to his feet and returned to where he was standing previously, in a flash. For some reason he believed that Add could do exactly what he said. Next Add called all the other guards one by one and sparred with them. The pattern was similar, he would only dodge their attacks, and after each guard had three to four chances at him, he would defeat them using simple movements, but with speed and strength that were unmatched for his size and frame. Even Kent, the most experienced of the guards lasted no more than six moves, all of which missed and he too was defeated by a swift kick to his back. After all this was done, Add looked at the guards, now covered in dust and in a sorry state, before him. He shook his head in disappointment.
‘These guards, they are little better than the rookies at boot campsigh, only the old man Kent and Edward can be said to have some skill, the others, might just well be road side thugs..’
He was very disappointed in the quality of the guards. But on second thought, the guards never had to do any actual battles, they were more like the watchmen back on Earth whose only job was to stop intruders, and watch over buildings and such. Another problem was that most of these men were in their thirties, with only a few like Edward in their twenties. They were already beyond the scope of being recruited as soldiers, back on Earth. However, now that he needed to have a strong military, he could not disregard these guards, who were his closest available force. At this moment, he changed his mindset from that of a soldier, to that of an instructor. After taking in a deep breath he faced the guards and spoke;
“Listen you all! I have seen how you all can fight! And let me tell you, all of you, are pathetically weak! What guards of the Weismann family!? You lot can’t even land a single hit on me, a young boy, what would you do when you faced bandits or monsters !? I’ll tell you what you will do.You morons will die! that’s just about it! You peopleare you even guards!? Roadside thugs are better than you!”
The guards were silent as Add was criticising them. Granted than none of them were completely serious when sparring with him, it was true that no one among them, was able to land a hit on Add, who was supposed to be a weak young boy. The guards had never really trained very seriously, as their job was mostly just keeping watch, and the mansion had never been attacked, so they never felt the need to train like real soldiers. As a result, they were little better than the common folk in terms of actual ability. Add had chosen to display his strength up front so that they will obey him without any complains, after all whoever had the bigger fist, was always right.
“So from this day forth, I will be taking charge of your training! Is that clear you all?”
“Y-Young masteryou will?”
A guard spoke slowly. Add turned to face him, his eyes dead cold, causing the guard to feel chills down his spine.
“You have a problem?”
“No! No! I don’t! No problem young master!”
“Good. Even if you did, I don’t care! I pay you all to be my guards, not some showpieces! If you don’t train properly from now, then you can say this job good bye! Do you lot understand!?”
The guards were silent, their faces troubled. Add face darkened even more.
“Answer me damn it! Don’t you morons have tongues or what!?”
“””Yes Young Master!”””
The guards immediately replied in unison. Add then looked at Kent,
“You have no problems with me taking charge do you Kent?”
The old man hurriedly shook his head with a smile.
“Of course not young master. This old man is going to retire in a few months any way. These old bones of mine need a rest now. It is my honour to see you take charge like your father didPlease rest assured, all the guards will definitely follow your orders.”
He nodded to Kent and then immediately began his training. The guards didn’t know now, but they would soon began dreading this young master of theirs, much more than anything they could have dreaded before. All this while, another person had been watching these things unfold from afar.
“The young master has changed so much in the past days, as if he has completely become a new person. I wonder, how far his change goes. Sigh, master would you be happy if you saw this change of his”
Wondered Martha as she saw the proceedings taking note of everything the young master did.
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The first order Add gave them was that during training, they would not address him as young master, but as ‘Instructor’. The training would commence with day break every day, and last till sunset. No one was allowed to be late for training. If they did, they would be severely punished, and as to what this punishment was, it was not mentioned. Also, while in training, the guards would be called cadets, a word no one had heard before, but he explained to them that it meant soldiers in training. Today, since they had wasted a lot of time already he ordered them to keep standing under the sun till evening. Only Kent was pardoned watching his old age. He ordered Kent to watch the guards, and they would only be allowed a short lunch break at afternoon and any bathroom breaks if required. Other than that they had to keep standing till evening. The guards were horrified at this form of punishment, but dared not say anything. He again reminded Kent not to show any leniency to the guards, and walked off, but no before saying
“Don’t any of you dare slack off”, which for some reason, terrified the guards even more.
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Back at the mansion. Add had taken over the study and used it as his office now. He called Martha, who didn’t mention anything about his actions in the field, and asked her a very important question.
“MarthaI am planning on expanding the guard numbers..”
“Is that so.may I ask as to why the young master wants to do that?”
Add looked at her and said flatly.
“I want a proper army, not a mob.”
Martha went silent for some time and then asked,
“And for what reason does young master wish for an army?”
Add didn’t reply, yet his eyes were firm. Martha understood that he had made up his mind.
“I understand young master. This old servant shall try her best to help you.”
“Then I will get straight to the point. I plan on getting 91 more men to expand the force to 100. Can we afford that?”
Martha thought for a while and answered.
“Young Master, currently we pay each guard 10 silver coins a month, which makes our total spending on guards at 200 silver coins per month, excluding the weapons, food, horses etc. For an increase of 91 soldiers, we would then need 910 silver coins more which would amount to 1110 silver coins a month, that is more than 11 gold coins in salaries alone and if we were to add the other expenses, I am afraid we would get up to 30 gold coins, at least for the first few months. Not to mention the cost of weapons and amour which would be extra.”
This did not sound much, but the treasury only had a little more than 4000 gold coins, and that was also depleting. Adding more stress to that, was in no way a good idea. But,
“Understood. Please have the army garrison send a few troops to act as guards for some time. And issue a notice to hire 91 men for the guards. Their ages should be from 18 to 26, no more no less. I will send Kent to select and recruit them. As for the money, spend it for now, I will find a way to earn some as as soon as possible.”
Martha bowed and turned to leave.
“Also Martha”
“Yes young master ?”
“Get me a tailor as soon as possible please”
“I see..I will do that”
After she left, Add took a parchment and began writing some lines on it using pen he purchased from the system. When it was nearly evening, he returned to the field, and looked at the guards who were in a pitiful state. Many had drooping heads, some had their legs trembling, and some had even fainted, now lying by the sides. Kent who had been looking after them, smiled apologetically as he saw Add arrive.
“Young master this”
But Add stopped him. He expected this sort of outcome. The guards had been lazy watchmen who never really did much work till now, as a result, hours of standing under the sun without rest, had hit heavily on them. But things would only get worse, it was just that they didn’t know it yet. If they did, then perhaps, many of them would choose to flee and abandon their jobs right now. Add allowed the men to finally rest, and immediately all of them collapsed. He allowed them a few minutes of rest and waited for the fainted ones to wake up. After a while, when all the guards were awake, and had rested a little, he explained some simple rules to them. These were rules all soldiers had to follow without question.
Rule number 1 : A soldier must obey any and all orders given to them by someone of a higher rank, unless the order is unlawful or wrong.
Rule number 2 : While in training, a cadet must obey all orders of his instructors unless it offends his/her personal safety or self respect. Once a cadet is recruited in training, they have to follow military discipline and laws, and cannot leave the training unless relieved by their superiors officially.
Rule number 3 : A soldier must always help his fellow soldiers in terms of need, and never hesitate to help any civilians as well.
Rule number 4 : A soldier will guard everything within the limits of their post and quit their post only when properly relieved, or dead.
Rule number 5 : A soldier will always report violations of orders, emergencies, and anything not covered in their instructions to the commander or the leader of his team, or any higher ranking officer around him.
Rule number 6 : A soldier must obey all state laws alongside military laws unless specifically allowed by their superiors to ignore one or more laws.
Rule number 7 : Once in the military, a person will completely belong to their unit, and whatever they do, good or bad, the whole unit will be held accountable for it.
Rule number 8 : A soldier must never kill innocent people even if they are from opposing sides. Surrendered troops and unarmed civilians must be treated with proper respect unless orders state otherwise.
Rule number 9 : A soldier is to ensure any and every form of violence to innocent people, including s.e.x.u.a.l assault, rp, torture and similar activities, never occur under his/her watch. Women even if they are enemies, must never be s.e.x.u.a.lly harassed or assaulted.
Rule number 10 : A soldier if found guilty of not following orders, violating the state law or committing war crimes, will be charged as per military law, by a military court.
These were the basic rules he had formulated based on the many rules he had followed back on Earth. For now he would have the guards follow these, but soon he would have the complete set of military laws, available to all soldiers. He handed the paper over to Kent and told him to ensure that all the guards learnt the rules by heart. He then dismissed them and let them off for the day, but not before reminding them, not to be late tomorrow morning. The real training would start from tomorrow after all.
When he returned to his study, a maid informed him that a local tailor had arrived and wanted to meet him. Martha was very efficient in her job after all. Add welcomed the short chubby tailor named Joey. The man had a history with the Weismann family, as many of the various clothing and accessories used in the mansion were purchased from him. Add had called him for a very specific purpose.
“You see Mr. Joey, I need your services to craft me a flag for my fief”
As a noble, the Weismann Family had the right to have their own signature flag for their fief. However, his grandfather and father had never really cared for this and had not made a flag for themselves. Only the flag of the kingdom was used whenever needed. But Add would not have that.
“Of course Young Lord.just tell me how you would like it I will get it done as soon as possible”
“It’s fairly simple, Mr. Joey,” Add showed him a drawing he had previously made, “As you can see the design here, I need you to do is make a single rectangular flag, coloured completely red. And on its top left corner, there will be a hammer and sickle crossing each other beneath a star. The hammer and sickle will be completely golden in colour, while the star will only have a golden border.”
Joey the tailor looked at the strange flag and felt confused. He had never seen such a flag anywhere before, it looked too simple, and vacant, not to mention the hammer and sickle. Nobles usually had showy flags with large flashy designs, and almost never would any one use such a dull looking flag. He rubbed his forehead which had gathered sweat and asked,
“Lord, do you really want just this and nothing more ? If I can be so bold to suggest a better..”
“Mr. Joey, you can trust me. I know exactly what I want just tell me how fast you can do it ?”
Add’s eyes were chilling as he looked at the chubby man, causing the later to feel involuntarily scared. He quickly stopped his blabbing and departed, taking the sketch with him, and promising he would deliver it in two days time. After he was gone the Young Marquis leaned back into his chair and began humming a tune.
..Nash Sovetskiy Soyuz pokoryayet
Ves’ mir ot Yevropy k Neve na vosto-ok
Nad zemloy vezde budut pet’:
Stolitsa, vodka, Sovetskiy medved’!…
(
Our Soviet Union subjugates,
The whole world from Europe to the Neva on the East.
Above the ground they will sing everywhere:
Capital, vodka, Soviet bear!
)
In the silent night, his solitary tune reached no one, but the dawn of the revolution was just a little bit further away.
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