There was only one thought in his mind: "This is insane! I need to tell His Excellency!"
However, the arrival of Alder Felter was just the beginning. The teaching staff of the Second Army Academy, much like the morning latrine, was quickly filled with adept craftsmen from the prisoner camps.
Since the captured officers generally held higher ranks, their qualifications and experience far surpassed the junior officers of the New Army who had left the frontline due to injuries, so the vital military subjects were entrusted to the prisoners, while the injured New Army junior officers could only handle some general education subjects.
Many junior officers were not even assigned teaching duties; instead, they were placed in various classes as platoon leaders—essentially becoming the leaders of the children.
This was something Houdel found increasingly unacceptable.
But before he could find an opportunity to complain, he, along with all the teachers and students of the Second Army Academy, embarked on a "study tour" to Kingsfort under the leadership of Principal John Jeska.
...
The latrine was soon completed, but Houdel did not, as he said, retaliate with a big one.
He just felt entirely disinterested.
"You know," on the way back to the camp area, Houdel asked Claude, "Before I joined the military academy, I dug latrines every day; after joining, I'm still digging latrines every day. What's the point of this academy?"
Claude tilted his head, thought for a moment, then smiled happily and put his arm around Houdel's shoulder:
"No matter what, we're digging latrines at Kingsfort now."
Houdel stopped walking, "Hmm, makes sense... let's go!"
"Go where?" Claude was puzzled.
"To take a big one and celebrate."
"Alright," Claude grinned, "let's go together."
-----------------
[The camp across from Magit Island]
"Was the journey smooth?" Facing Brigadier General Jeska, Mason was at a loss for words, "Why did you bring the whole Second Academy to the front lines?"
"What else would I do with them if not bring them here?" John Jeska leaned on his cane, speaking coldly, "Without a full complement of teachers, the classes are incomplete. I might as well take the students to the battlefield to test their mettle and prevent them from overthinking."
"But the front lines are still too dangerous," Mason wanted to persuade him, "These cadets are precious; everyone is counting on them to graduate quickly and fill gaps everywhere..."
"Dangerous?" Jeska raised an eyebrow, though a strip of black cloth covered his eye sockets, it seemed like a chilling light emanated from underneath, "Perfect, it can weed out the cowards. If they're afraid of danger, why bother becoming soldiers? No need for flowery words, with the quality of your recruits, you should be grateful if half of them remain."
Mason scratched his head, smiling awkwardly.
After all, to ensure that candidates from Iron Peak County could all enroll, the passing mark for the Second Army Academy entrance exam was practically set below sea level.
It's no exaggeration to say that even if a candidate only left a footprint on the paper, they could find their name on the admission list.
"What are you laughing at?" Jeska turned his face towards Mason.
"Nothing," Mason waved his hand hurriedly, even though the other couldn't actually see, "You're right, we have indeed admitted as many as we could, which is why we invited you to oversee and eliminate unsuitable candidates. This important task can only be entrusted to you."
"Stop flattering me," Jeska responded bluntly, though it was apparent he appreciated it.
"But, at the front, how will the Second Academy conduct classes?" Mason instinctively began looking for omissions to fix, "As for the barracks, we don't have any available, nor can we spare the manpower at the moment..."
"Classes? What classes?" Jeska struck his cane heavily against the ground, "Can there be a better classroom than the battlefield? Lecturing a hundred times on siege tactics in a classroom isn't as good as putting them in the trenches with a shovel in hand! No need to prepare barracks, just use them as you would any other troops."
"Then..." Mason scratched the back of his head, "I won't hesitate then."
"Hesitate? Why would you hesitate?" Jeska questioned, "This is the Kingsfort siege. These cadets might never again witness a siege of this scale in their lives, so missing it would be the greatest regret. Use them, let them gain experience, there's no harm in it."
"Yes," Mason saluted, then smiled and asked, "Actually, you wouldn't want to miss this siege either, right?"
Jeska snorted coldly, without replying.
"So, I'll brief you on the arrangements," Mason tactfully changed the topic, "and ask for your assistance in overseeing."
"Go on," Jeska answered tersely.
Mason unfolded the map and began to explain to Lieutenant Colonel Jeska in great detail.
-----------------
[River Dike of River Shijian]
"That little island opposite is Magit Island," Mason, lying on the dike, pointed it out to the two people behind him, "in just one day, the enemy inserted a circle of sharp stakes on the riverbank and connected them with iron chains, preventing us from directly landing with boats..."
Acting Commander of the Iron Peak County Infantry Regiment [Tamas] and Battalion Commander of the Thunder Group County Infantry Regiment [Chalka Mott] listened to the Major's explanation while attentively observing the situation on the island.
As for the New Army's other officer, Skur McClennan, he had already returned to Maplestone City.
Skur McClennan hadn't stayed at the front line for many days because someone needed to oversee the rear and handle various affairs.
Especially since Winters Montagne went escorting prisoners to the Newly Reclaimed Outlands and Richard Mason moved to the front line, the Army Headquarters in Maplestone City couldn't function without personnel.
Thus, even though Richard Mason was only a major, he was the second-highest-ranking officer at the front, making his position as deputy commander perfectly justified.
However, Mason was still extremely cautious when exercising his authority.
Because the New Army had yet to shake off the shadow of the "Four Counties Allied Forces."
According to the New Army's organizational plan, nominally, a "regiment" was merely a unit responsible for recruiting, like the token "Gold Pound" that doesn't exist in reality but is used by traders for bookkeeping.
A regiment could comprise several battalions, with a battalion being equivalent to a brigade in the old structure.
This allowed the county garrison forces to seamlessly transition to the new structure, never having to worry about scaling between surpassing a brigade while not quite reaching a regiment.
In the vision of Winters and Mason, the highest commander of a campaign should be able to directly mobilize any battalion within a regiment, just like a corps commander in the old structure could command any brigade under their command.
But in reality, county officers still instinctively view "regiment" as a kind of combat unit.
When Mason wanted to mobilize a "battalion" from Thunder Group County, he had to issue orders through Thunder Group County's regiment command, or at least obtain Skur McClennan's acquiescence.
The same applied to Gessa wanting to command a battalion from Iron Peak County.
Winters, on the other hand, was optimistic about this, saying, "Even the Alliance Army has its internal factions, let alone us originally being four separate doughs; knead slowly, and eventually, the dough will become one piece."
Mason, however, didn't think about how to "knead the four doughs into one." His primary goal was "not to split one dough into four."
Therefore, at this moment, he's visiting the front with Chalka Mott to survey enemy positions.
He hopes to secure the support of Thunder Group County's officer corps for the battle plan before issuing orders.
Fortunately, though Thunder Group County's officers were aware of territorial loyalties, they didn't practice factionalism.
As someone said, "Though we are four pastry doughs, all four are striving to become one."
"Please issue the orders," Chalka Mott nodded in salute, "Deputy Commander."