#main articles

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The Organisation of The Tullisan Land Army.

The Corps consists of a variable number of Armies. --- Commanded by The Emperor and His Generals.

An Army consists of twenty(one(ⅰ)) Battalions. --- ~200,000 men, Commanded by a council of three Superior Generals.

A Battalion consists of ten Brigades. --- 10,000 men, Commanded by a General

A Brigade consists of five Regiments. --- 1,000 men, commanded by a Colonel

A Regiment consists of four Companies. --- 200 men, commanded by a Major.

A Company consists of fifty men, commanded by a Captain. --- Below the Company level, men can be temporarily and informally organised into platoons, squads, or specialist teams as the situation demanded, at the discretion of the Captain.

The Infantry Corps are the backbone, the core, of the Tullisan Land Army, and following that principle, every other Corps are organised into their own Armies-through-Companies to be attached to the Infantry for deployment;

Armoured Corps for tanks, SPGs, Mobile AA Platforms, and armoured transports.

Artillery Corps for light, heavy, and rocket artillery, and mortars.

ETP Corps (Engineering, Technical, and Pioneering) for vehicle repair and maintenance, structural evaluation and maintenance, entrenching and fortification, or any other large-scale work that standard infantry tools can't accomplish.

Mechanised Corps for all variety of trucks detailed below. There has been debate as to whether Mech. should be reintegrated into Arm. as it was pre-2016, however, it is always decided against as Mech. has roughly 8x as many vehicles to keep track of, so keeping the systems separate simplifies logistics and inventory.

The most well-known organisational unit of The Land Army is the Battalion, as these were the smallest unit deployed on a strategic level in response to an invasion, as an occupational force, or invasion force. However a Land Army Battalion only describes the number of footsoldiers, and they would never be present unaccompanied;(ⅱ)

For each Regiment present, there would be a complement of:

Five general purpose medium tanks.

Five armoured transports

Four trucks; one supply, one transport, one ambulance fit for six casualties, and one combined mobile radio post and cooking station.

Two mortar Companies, each consisting of ten men, three mortars; two light 52mm, one heavy 85mm, and a light truck and trailer for rapid transport.

At the Brigade level and above, heavy artillery Regiments are attached, an artillery regiment consists of five Companies;

Two Companies of five heavy long-range howitzers, 150mm

Two Companies of five heavy medium-range howitzers, 212mm

One ETP Company of fifty men to protect the guns and assist in the construction of artillery positions and trenches.

This is scaled up at all higher levels, a Brigade Colonel has 25 tanks, a Battalion General has 250 armoured transports, and an Army Council has 2,000 light and 4,000 heavy trucks at their disposal and all the same for Artillery, however they can only be commanded by a Brigade Colonel.

Each of these supporting Companies are organised into their own Regiments, Battalions, and Armies, logistically separate but always moving and training in coordination. Infantry would never be deployed without tanks, tanks would never be deployed without artillery, artillery are never without trucks, and so on. There are many corps.

Before I can address my asterices I must first address how infantry organisation works at an Army-Battalion level. An Army has twenty full Battalions, Battalions 1 - 10 are fighting battalions, soldiers and officers who are considered experienced and well-trained enough to be brought to bare if they are needed. Battalions 11 - 20 are training battalions, soldiers and officers that have passed all examinations but have never yet been in combat or have simply not been in the Land Army long enough.

If a man enlists in the Tullisan Land Army, after completing two seasons of training, and a further season of examination, he will be placed in Battalion 15 - 20 depending on how well he passed that examination, over time, he will be moved up as he gains experience in the ranks and fully adopts the culture of the Army. After graduating to Battalions 11 - 14, he will begin the proper progression towards a fighting Battalion, but cannot be put in Battalions 6 - 10 until he has been in a fight or, in especially peaceful times, is judged valuable by a soldier of Battalions 1 - 3. After either one comes to pass, he will be placed in Battalions 6 - 10. This is where most soldiers remain until retirement or injury, as promotion into Battalions 4 & 5 requires a demonstration of exceptional skill or meritorious leadership. A recommendation from a higher battalion cannot promote a soldier above Battalion 6. However, if a position in Battalion 4 or 5 is earned, then retirement from here is a mark of pride and skill that few can claim. But there is one more step up; The Tullisan First, Second, and Third Battalions. 30,000 of the best men the Army of that region has to offer, these were the first and fiercest responders of the whole Land Army, and, as such a position demands, they are also the most proven and experienced, their reputation earned purely by the ferocity with which they fight and the victories that affords them. (ⅲ) This kind of skill-based organisation only occurs at this level, the 1st Army is no more experienced than the 185th, and a Battalion's 10th Brigade is no less experienced than the 1st.

These factors led to the "1,4 pattern" and the identical but larger scale "1,10 pattern(ⅳ)" strategies; where a fighting front would be divvied up into five sectors along its axis, and then assigning them to the 1st, 4th, 3rd, 5th, and 2nd. Such that the most experienced soldiers hold the flanks and centre, and the less-experienced battalions are surrounded by the most experienced, maintaining constant momentum when on the move and morale when they need to hold.

ⅰ - There is a twenty-first battalion. This is the retirement and injury battalion, where soldiers that are technically still fit to fight but have been cleared by a General to begin the retirement process, it was an open secret that soldiers of Battalions 1 - 5 had preferential treatment in this process. Any rumours of this being a secret penal battalion, police force, super-elite specialist force are all equally unfounded and ridiculous.

ⅱ - Military reforms in the 1600s made mandatory that no infantry force could be present without sufficient and appropriate supporting forces. When implemented, this was in reference to cavalry forces, artillery, and maintained supply columns, by the 1900s and 2000s this had been revised and adapted to apply to armoured transport, tank forces, air support, anti-air cover, and TCIC supplemental rear-line duties and logistics.

ⅲ - A result of this has been the mythicisation of "The Tullisan First" in reference to The 1st Battalion. Seeing them as being the elite of the elite, masters of war, equipped with only the best and newest equipment, to undertake any task and never be seen, and so on. In reality, the 1st Battalion of an Army possesses no material advantage or any greater training than the 2nd or 3rd, or even Battalions 4 - 10 - 20, but as they were the first responders they became seen as some specialty force. For a military force that does fit this description, see The Rangers, Suicide Ops, and The Regent's Own, not the be confused with The Regent's Guard.

ⅳ - 1,10 Pattern were arranged 1st, 10th, 4th, 6th, 9th, 2nd, 7th, 5th, 8th, and 3rd. This was the official arrangement, however often the 6th Battalion was stationed behind the arranged line to act as a rear-echelon security and logistic guard force, but the well-known actual purpose of this was to keep the arrangement of each less-experienced battalion being flanked by two more-experienced Battalions.

this next part was written by Elder Archivist Hora and was appended to the article, not inscribed on it.

Junior Archivist Rutthe that wrote this particular piece, a former Second Major of the 45th Infantry Army, 3rd Battalion, 6th Brigade, 2nd Regiment, has been reassigned to non-military matters. While there are no factual inaccuracies, his clear biases, and investment in mythologising the reputation of the upper battalions are cause for concern. He has been tasked with inscribing a set of architectural documents, if this issue persists even there, I will put him forward for reassignment somewhere out of the Archives. - E. Hora, 20th of Late Winter, 2119.

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The Caldendar of Tullis.

Each Year has four Seasons; Sow, Sun, Harvest, and Cold. (ⅱ)

Each Season has four Months; Early, Low, High, and Late.

Each month has four weeks; not numbered or titled but used for short-term organisation.

Each Week has six days and nights. Day/night of: -rest, -work, -honour, -food, -drink, -relax (ⅰ)

A day begins at sunrise and ends and sunset, a night begins at sunset and ends at sunrise. (ⅱ)

Ex: The 263rd day of the year would be the 23rd of High Harvest, the founding date of the Tullis Citizen's Infantry Corps in 1985.

ⅰ - These are derived from an old scheduling edict from 952, naming the days for what was supposed to be done on each day;

"Rest is a must before work, no work is to be done on Rest. Work is the first day of a week where work is permitted. Honour is a day of prayer, work may be done, but proper Rituals of Honour must be observed, and time allowed from works. Food is a day when enough foods are to be collected and stored until the next Day of Food, much as Honour, work may be done, but time must been allowed. Drink, same as Food, is a day of collection and storage, work must allow for this. Relax is a day of mandatory rest, no work may be done outside of The Imperial Hill." - Empress Ermas I, Day of Honour, 15th of Low Summer, 952.

ⅱ - Seasons are defined by the lengths of days and nights; days are longest in Sun, and nights are longest in Cold. The melting of the ices of Cold leads to fertile soils for Sow, and the long days of Sun ready the crops for Harvest.

The last record of Emperor Dusca IX was on Day of Drink, 11th of High Summer, 2521. I am translating this on the Day of Rest, 7th of Low Cold, 2712. Transcribing and posting on the 9th.

The Calendar today is largely unchanged, though the titles of the days have been compressed and shifted, Day of Rest is now written and spoken Darist, and similarly for the rest, Daork, Dahour, Daed, Daik, and Dalax.

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Imitators and Copycats.

The earliest imitators of the Bladesmen were recorded in 1452, a gang in The City of Eluny stole horses and rode around the city walls demanding protection money from anyone leaving, unfortunately, they did this just as Jorun VI was beginning to take the real Bladesmen seriously so when reports came up the chain of "cloaked, horse-riding bandits that only used swords" 450 Cavalry were sent to dispatch a gang of 52. [They did not resemble the true Bladesmen at all, cloaks all mismatched and hoods up and down at personal preference, I believe they were only described to Imperial Forces as Bladesman to move the responsibility on to the Land Army instead of the City's Civic Guard.] [2/10]

Imitators were a problem for the reputation of the Bladesmen well before the Bladesmen themselves were. Though once they were a presence throughout Tullis it became easy to see when the cavalry waiting outside the walls were Bladesmen, admirers hoping to be added to their number, or simply bandits playing dress-up.

The largest and longest-lived copycat group was formerly known as The Eagle's Eyes, a mercenary and bounty hunter outfit that operated between South and Central Tullis. In 1520, they borrowed the name Bladesmen and began harassing convoys for payment or stealing supplies from them. Very little different from typical raiding, however, their impact was notable for two reasons: first, in 1510 an estimate of their size was at least 8,500 and as such their impact was massive, it took concerted efforts from the Civic Guard and often intervention from the Land Army when it could be justified, as by then, Emperor Danae II was much far more restrained in his deployment of the Army domestically. Second, where they did operate, support for actual elements of The Free Bladesmen increased, however, in the areas around, support plummeted.

Sources from the time lead us to the conclusion that the people that were attacked or harried were aware that these were not associated with the Bladesmen, but onlookers only saw cloaked killers attacking their supply chains, and overall, the opinions of a thousand onlookers had more impact than 50 caravaneers.

This particular copycat group took a hit in 1523 when the Bladesmen faded from relevance in the East and moved focus South. In 1530, they reverted all changes made in 1520 and retook the name Eagle's Eyes, reverting to mercenary and bounty work. It is estimated that at least 1,500 of them were killed in misplaced retribution for the massacre in the town, as when they were next able to be counted in 1532, they were no more than 4,000. Accounting for typical attrition, this scale of loss can only be attributed to some kind of active hunting effort, given the events of the time, it is most likely that they were incidental victims because they were intentionally mimicking the Bladesmen.

There are some other copycat groups attested to throughout Tullis, but following the disastrous results of the Eagle's experiment, other mercenary groups elected to avoid the same fate, and following the reformations in 1549, imitators similarly dried up, as most of them simply joined The Free Bladesmen proper, when word came about that they needed more manpower.

Copycat groups did see a slight resurgence post-reformation, however, newly reinvigorated and reinforced, the true Bladesmen dealt with them quickly and directly.

Following integration in 1600, with the precedent set on how copycats would be dealt with and now with Imperial funding, imitators and copycats were a non-issue.

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The Free Bladesmen, 1592 - 1600

Emperor Cedwyr died in 1592 and was succeeded by Cedwyr. With the ascension of Cedwyr II, again, nothing changed. However, under Cedwyr II a new, slow course of action would be taken.

Announced in 1594, an unprecedented new policy of open acceptance was put forward, however in a very specific way: The Free Bladesmen could become a domestic, public-facing defensive military force. They would never be deployed beyond the border of Tullis and their commander would be picked from among their own ranks. Under a new battalion banner and with full Imperial funding, they would be incorporated into the Tullisan Land Army, but working as a Civic Guard. The caveat that came along with this, though, is that anyone seeking to join the Bladesman Battalion would go through a much more stringent practical and theoretical examination than the normal Land Army. [to be linked after translation]

This policy was met with suspicion at first, and after convening with some Bladesmen from the other regions, a band of 300 Bladesmen volunteered to be the first cohort of The Free Bladesmen Battalion. Even after 132 years of neutrality, there was still a great deal of distrust between the Bladesmen and the powers that be.

Eighty days later, they returned to the Northern Bladesmen with a report, spoken to The Northern cohort and relayed in letters to the East, West, and Central cohorts.

"For My Brothers and Sisters of The Bladesmen, Faceless, Nameless, and Free; Some years ago, Emperor Cedwyr II rose to the Imperial Throne. Some weeks ago, an offer was made; that any of our number may come to the Military Quarter of the Imperial Hill and surrender our titles as Soldiers who serve Tullis. Serve our People. Each other. To give up our independence and serve as domestic soldiers. This letter is sent to you with the full ascent of every Free Bladesman that has volunteered and we have avoided contact with others that have not so we can think on our own experiences without any influence, positive or negative from Fellow Bladesmen or the Public. My Brothers and Sisters, this long preamble we believe necessary because our opinion is unanimous and strong; we should proceed with another band to enlist under this banner. Not with haste though, no. We have devised a course of action; a new band, this time of five hundred from The West of Tullis. To come to The Military Quarter and enlist, they will meet with us and we will assist them through the strange processes of the Emperor's Armies. When they have been integrated they will send to the East for yet another 800 and so this cycle repeats, but the number of Bladesmen enlisted at any one time is never to exceed 1,000. Until one of two possibilities comes to pass; either we, by degrees, are completely integrated into the Bladesman Battalion, or, at some point, the Emperor believes he has enough to cripple us and elects to slaughter those that have already enlisted. Here we are relying upon our two strengths lent to us by the nature of our Brotherhood; we avoid the public eye except when we want to so our true numbers remain unknown and our ability to remain in hiding but still thrive. So, here is our proposal; from all that we can see, the offer appears legitimate. We believe that slowly, over the coming years, we see the best future in forming this new Battalion" - A Letter From the First Cohort of The Bladesman Battalion to the Free Bladesmen, 1594.

In the years following this letter of endorsement, between 500 - 1,000 Bladesmen came to the Military Quarter every season until 1600 when the final number in the Bladesmen Battalion was 62,503.

Outside the Battalion, there were still a few, occasional sightings of 20 or 50 cloaked riders ranging across the hills, and until the last member of the Bladesmen Battalion died in 1692 they insisted that there were some that did not step down or enlist, but none that did not serve under the battalion banner ever came to the aid of Tullis when it was needed; leading it to be speculated that these were simply people with horses reenacting or roleplaying being Bladesmen in their free time. Farms throughout Tullis commonly had more than 50 hands with evenings free and horses in need of training, it is not too much to assume that these farmhands simply donned cloaks and carried their mixed weapons to make some fun out of the necessary practice.

In Winter 1600, the last group of 457 Bladesmen enlisted into the Battalion.

This is broadly considered the "End of The Free Bladesmen."

As for the battalion, having a very low rate of replacement and almost constant work, it withered down to 10,000 by 1651 and it was abolished by Eiran III in 1679, the third-shortest-lived Battalion in the history of The Tullisan Land Army.

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Equipment

In no version of the story are weapons specified but they do seem to be largely uniform, and from preserved documents of the period we can make more accurate assumptions.

Swords

The most common weapon would have been a short arming sword, 50-80cm long and 5cm wide. Supplemented by longer bastard swords and at least one two-handed longsword was uncovered in excavations around the area of the first battle, though it is unclear whether it belonged to the Bladesmen or the army. Furthermore, while the name was based around the primary arm being bladed weapons, some spears and arrows were also found in the area though they were an overwhelmed minority and contributed little to the battle overall. Regardless, in the future, Bladesmen would be seen carrying bows, spears, and axes in packs and used in battles, still though only presenting their swords at the shoulder.

Shields

No clear majority of shields were found, an seemingly even mix of small bucklers, well-suited to cavalry combat, unwieldy large round shields meant for ground use, and versatile, if heavy, kite shields.

Tactics

Going by the story's account, tactics employed backed up by the locations of archaeological recoveries it is believed that this equipment was deployed where it would be most useful; bucklers and longswords for the charging mounted Bladesmen, round shields and spears for the village wall, et cetera.

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Naming

The full title "The Bladesmen, Faceless, Nameless, and Free" and its more well-known short-form "The Free Bladesmen" were chosen as an encapsulation of their goal. Not to be famous individually, not to be known individually, and a dual meaning in free: to render service for the good of the service itself, and that they are not bound to a commander's orders but only to what they each believe to be good.

To these ends, they were always, even in high summer, cloaked with their hoods obscuring their faces, each cloak dyed black, and no individual markings on their cloaks. Carrying their sword in hand and at rest on their shoulders; left hand, left shoulder for the driver, right hand, right shoulder for the passenger as well as the passenger holding a shield at the hip in their left hand. The driver's shield was slung across the bags and bedrolls on the very back of the horse.

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The Free Bladesmen, 1425 - 1430

In the five years immediately following the formation of The Free Bladesmen, there are no less than 200 attested instances, recorded by locals and the armies they faced, of the Bladesmen arriving after hearing of some violent problem or another. In most cases, more punitive incursions from Jorun VI though they would also respond to calls for defence from simple bandit or supply raiding.

Their skill on horseback, carrying two men per horse, each with a sword and kite shield, and with trained, swift warhorses, they were a terror to face. Turning any pitched battle into a hit-and-run battle of harassment and endurance, each double-strength cavalryman was able to split into a regular cavalry and an infantry line with little preparation. Allowing them to adapt to and dominate any landscape they found themselves fighting on.

As the Bladesmen roamed Tullis, gaining fame and notoriety with each attack repulsed and vital supplies successfully protected, something happened repeatedly; men and women, some youths, some elderly, most middle-aged, and with army experience. Over these years, their numbers swelled from 600 to around 2,000. While the numbers of their supporters were far larger, they were limited by the number of horses they could secure.

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The Free Bladesmen, 1430 - 1460

As a standalone army 2,000 strong and completely mounted, The Free Bladesmen soon earned a reputation as a perpetual thorn in The Emperor's side; by 1440 the campaigns of Jorun VI had been all but ignored in favour of hunting down and crushing them. This proved fruitless due to the nature of the Bladesmen; by the time a tip on the location of a group was passed up the chain and acted upon (provided of course the information provided was even true) they would have already moved on.

Through the rest of the 15th century, even as the original 600 grew too old to be effective or were killed in combat, their numbers only grew, as leather workers, weaponsmiths, and tailors made saddles, light armour, blades, shields, and cloaks to provide totally free of charge or paid for by the people of the villages and towns they passed by.

Also, perhaps even more vital, the tens of thousands of sympathetic farmers across Tullis would breed more horses than they personally needed at their own expense so they could reinforce or refresh the Bladesmen when they passed through the area.

This was so prolific a problem that, at one point, a decree was issued that limited the number of horses a farmstead could hold to a number set by how much an assessor evaluated that they needed for the size of the land they worked. This order was roundly considered a failure, the least of the problems being that the lands supplying the most horses were the same lands largely out of imperial control and unsafe for assessors to visit.