The miserable days did not last long. After over half a month of training, the noble officers finally began showing the temperament of a military officer.

By now, the content of training had also changed: in addition to the physical exercise, the noble officers were also taught a military command course.

This course was very targeted and all the illustrations and examples used to explain the tactics involved battles in narrow streets inside cities as opposed to battles in vast plains. Naturally, these illustrations and examples had been carefully selected by Franz to familiarize the officers with small-scale battles which would prove useful when they went to put down the rebellions inside the cities.

All the noble officers had basic knowledge regarding commanding soldiers on the battlefield, so this course was not difficult for them to understand. Unlike the previous physical training, many officers excelled in this course.

‘This is what we are good at! There was no need to train us as if we were foot soldiers! We are officers! We only need to be proficient in commanding the foot soldiers!’ thought many noble officers who had struggled through the tough physical training.

***

Lt. General Albrecht commanded, “Alright, here’s your test! Half of you will form units of four members each and make a defensive plan while assuming that the enemy is attacking Vienna; the other half will also form units of four members each and make an offensive counterattack plan while assuming that the enemy has occupied Vienna. The time limit is three days. I will give each unit a score. The idiots in the units that fail will be dishonorably discharged and have all of their privileges and honors revoked!”

Hearing Lt. General Albrecht’s words, the faces of many noble officers fell and they began looking around at their peers in worry.

Being dishonorably discharged from the army would leave a huge stain on their name and the name of their family, especially in Austria where not serving in the army despite being a healthy adult male was considered very shameful.

All the noble officers present were young and spirited. None of them would be willing to admit that he was an incompetent fool who had not talent in military command despite having been trained for over a decade. And no one doubted that Lt. General Albrecht would not dare to do what he said since it was his family tradition.

When Field Marshal Archduke Charles had carried out his military reforms during the start of the century, he had done the same thing: he gathered a number of lazy and incompetent nobles who were unfit to serve as officers and demoted them down into soldiers, forcing them to retire or bear the humilitation of serving as common foot soldiers.

Afterwards, the days of those retired noble officers were truly pitiful. No other noble dared to associate with them due to the misconception that they had earned the ire of Field Marshal Charles. Ultimately, those retired noble officers led secluded lives before they passed away in obscurity.

The nobles in the German region had continued the tradition of Noblesse oblige through serving in the army. Everyone was trained as an officer from an early age. After over a decade of being exposed to the military, even if they were a fool, they would be a cultured fool with extensive military knowledge!

In a word, the Austrian nobles during this period had not yet fallen in debauchery. Most nobles still had a sense of honor and duty. Even during the Austro-Prussian War, the Imperial Austrian Army had been among the best in Europe. Their defeat came, however, due to fighting the equally strong Prussian army from the front while Italy attacked them from the rear and Hungarians caused internal unrest in the Empire.

Of course, the City Defense Force could be an exception to that rule. It was one of the weakest links in the Austrian army since the noble officers had become lackadaisical and lax due to the continued prosperity in Vienna.

Currently, the most important thing was to save these eight hundred young nobles. So long as these noble officers became responsible, the coming March Revolution in Vienna would no longer remain a problem for Franz.

“What do you think, Albrecht? Are any of them worth nurturing?”

“I’m afraid not. Most of these men are far too lacking and they still have too much to learn. You shouldn’t get your hopes up at least until they finish the training,” Lt. General Albrecht replied while shaking his head in disappointment.

Franz frowned and asked, “What about assigning them as the commander of a platoon or maybe even a company? If we send them to lead a platoon, how effective do you think their command will be?”

“I can’t say with certainty but we must not expect too much from them. Most of them are still not fit to act as commanders on the frontline, but if we really had to use them, they could probably inspire ~70% combat effectiveness from a platoon,” Lt. General Albrecht answered after a moment’s thought before he warned, “However, that’s currently their limit. If we blindly send them to command a company then they won’t even be able to inspire ~30% combat effectiveness from the soldiers.”

Franz breathed a sigh with relief upon hearing his answer. ~70% combat effectiveness was more than enough for him to cope with what was to come.

Franz smiled and commanded, “Promote the best among them to the rank of First-Lieutenant and assign each of them to command a platoon in the City Defense Force. Despite their lack of skill, at least these youngsters are loyal and enthusiastic, and we don’t have to worry about them deserting!”

“That’s true. Even if they’re slightly lacking, it’s better to use them than the cunning older officers. But, Franz, I wanted to ask, why did you personally help train the younger officers? Do you want to use them to replace the older officers?” Lt. General Albrecht voiced his doubts.

“The consequences of replacing so many officers at once are too great. I plan to arrange for the younger officers to serve as deputies to the older ones in the name of training them. Then we can slowly sideline them and organize an armed training where we let the younger officers take over command!”

Franz felt that it had been totally worth it for him to personally become a part of the City Defense Force. With the City Defense Force and the Palace Guard under his control, Vienna was within his palms. Fortunately, he was in Europe. If Franz had dared to do something like this in the East as a prince, everyone’s first guess would be that he was planning a rebellion against the emperor!

Hearing Franz’s illusive reply, Lt. General Albrecht decided not to ask again. After all, he had received an order from Emperor Ferdinand I personally that Franz now held command of the entire City Defense Force.

He had never considered that Franz was plotting a rebellion. After all, the Emperor had no children, and no possibility of having any due to his condition. Not to mention, Franz had already been appointed as the heir since his birth. Without even doing anything, he would be named Crown Prince Regent in two or three years, at most. Afterwards, he could dissolve the Regency Council and wield the power of the monarch.

Franz could simply wait for his aged uncle to pass away and become the emperor. He had no reason to do something as risky as overthrowing the emperor.

In fact, if it hadn’t been for Franz’s future as the emperor being set in stone, there was no way someone influential like Lt. General Albrecht who was an Archduke would follow him around. Let alone him, even the young noble officers in the City Defense Force wouldn’t show him the respect they did.

Lt. General Albrecht sighed and replied with a hint of helplessness evident in his tone, “Alright then, if that’s what you want; anyway, as long as you don’t mess around, I don’t have a problem helping you!”

In his view, Franz was just a kid who was too anxious to make a name for himself and obtain the recognition of others. Lt. General Albrecht had also gone through a similar phase during his youth, so he knew that it was pointless to attempt to dissuade Franz. In fact, the more he tried to dissuade him, the more he would want to do it. Still, at least for now, what Franz had done was still within the scope of the rules, so there was no reason to earn his ire by dissuading him.

On the surface, Franz was only preparing to replace the corrupt and jaded noble officers with young and enthusiastic noble officers, something which would not elicit any objection from the nobility since the posts were still held by members of their class. Maybe, the ones who replaced the older nobles would be their own son or brother or nephew.

On the other hand, if Franz had wanted to replace the noble officers with commoner officers, Lt. General Albrecht would never have supported him, even if he was the future emperor. It was impossible for him to oppose his own class.

Even from the standpoint of choosing competent officers, he would have opposed the appointment of commoner officers. Regardless of other factors, in terms of literacy alone, nobles and commoners were worlds apart. Unless it was a very talented commoner, it would take years to turn an illiterate man into a qualified officer.