The Beourjen Army

The Beourjen Army is the Beourjen Confederacy's primary military force, and consists of all military divisions across Beourjen and the Jzarmillan Reservations that are supported and paid for by the Beourjen government.

Phaedrus' Legacy

Do you think your pretty words will suffice when they come to our door with blades?
Do you think to hold them off with mere persuasion?

— High Commander Phaedrus Balassar

When Phaedrus Balassar arrived in Beourjen with the rest of the Inner Council, they expected him to cut his losses and make out a simple life with his sons. Instead, he appealed to Renee Baskle's fear for her newborn nation, and promised he would build her the greatest army the world had ever seen if she gave him back his seat on the Inner Council.

He never did return to his seat on the Inner Council—the Triadic was instated soonafter and Phaedrus was too unpopular with the people after his betrayal at Aveaas had become public knowledge—however he did succeed in building Renee the greatest army the world had ever seen. Within five years, he recruited upwards of 40,000 men from the thousands of Aveaans that emigrated to Beourjen, managing to siphon a hefty amount of funding from Renee for his army.

In 1273 Phaedrus did manage to get both his sons on the Inner Council, from which point the Beourjen Army would become inextricably tied to the Triadic and Phaedrus could shift even more power and finances toward the military. Despite Renee's initial disinclination toward a strong military presence, the Empress' reemergence and King Minos' invasions drove Renee, along with the rest of the Triadic, to support Phaedrus' endeavors and by the mid-thirteen hundreds the Beourjen Army had grown to a force of nearly 500,000—approximately 46,000 more men than in the Tiergarn Army at the time.

Effects of the Northwestern Trades

Phaedrus' design for the army, modeled partly after the Aveaan Army (First Empire), is commendable for its adaptability to the rapid development of the Confederacy. While drastic restructuring has not proven necessary many times throughout confederate history, measures have been taken to account for the immersion of different populations into Beourjen and each time the army shifts and swells relatively smoothly. This is a credit to Phaedrus himself, of course, but also to a firm succession of leadership over the past three centuries.

Regarding Slighen

High Commander Aristan Ryker II, looking to take advantage of the abundant slighen fleeing from the Protectorate lands to Ethana and Beourjen during the late 1300s, moved to amend the Confederacy's slighen bans so that slighen could join the military under the condition of castration. In effect, the military grew by approximately 40,000 between 1378 and 1380, more than it had grown in nearly fifty years. For a small time both the army and Beourjen itself suffered from slight growing pains—most enlisted slighen had not had any military training akin to that which typical Beourjen soldiers underwent during adolescence—but slighen would later become invaluable to military functioning after the Arcanic Purges.

Regarding Orvon

The most sizable expansion of the army came with the Brickard Trade Agreement. Over 100,000 orvon eager to ally themselves with the Confederacy if it meant more resources and technology, as well as hope in saving their race from extinction, the agreement was a cunning move that benefited both Beourjen's defense as well as their treasury.

Fort Brickard added an extra layer of defense to Beourjen City and its surrounding provinces, and better weaponry and armor allowed the Reservation orvon to pillage disputed territory adjacent to them—which Beourjen would then sell back to Ethana or the Protectorate.

The Beourjen Dream

Beourjen's class system offers meager opportunity for mobility, limited severely by its inheritance and citizenship laws. The military, in turn, is exploitive of such limitations. Holding a military rank is an asset to social standing in general, but due to the slighen appeals, longer-term employment can actually raise one's citizenship degree as well. Most often, slighen and other lower class citizens will enlist in hopes of eventually moving from a Halved degree to a Classic one, however middle class citizens may on occassion be granted Double rights.

The changes in sterilization practices used on slighen and other minority groups brought about yet another level of benefit to joining the military: sterilized soldiers could now possibly have their sterilization reversed after being enlisted in the military for a certain time, and through increasing their ascension in citizenship degree could have children and pass on inheritances.

General Logistics (WIP)

Command Structure

Beourjen Army High Commander—responsible for strategizing and monitoring army operations
General—reponsible for organizing and commanding operations on the field
Brigadier—responsible for strategizing and commanding a brigade
Regiment Leader—responsible for commanding a regiment
Captain—responsible for commanding a company

Lieutenant—second-in-command to

any given role (ex. a Lieutenant Captain

is the Captain's second-in-command

Private—commissioned soldier in a company or unit

Formation

Standard Units
Beourjen Army (approx. 200,000)
8 Divisions (approx. 24,000)

7 Common Divisions

4 Beourjen Divisions

3 Sophre Divisions

1 Brickard Division

3 Brigades (approx. 8,000)
8 Regiments (approx. 1,000)
10 Companies (approx. 100)
Specialty Units
5 Reservation Divisions

5 Brigades

12 Reconnaissance and Patrol Companies (approx. 60)
6 Medical Companies (approx. 200)

5 Common

1 Brickard

6 Beourjen City Civilian Regiments

5 Common Regiments

1 Brickard Regiment

Corps of the Army

NOTE: Corps are instated during peacetime to consolidate divisions; during wartime structuring is up to the jurisdiction of the High Commander.

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The High Guard

Division/s

First Beourjen

Size (Approx.)

22,000

Headquarters

Beourjen City

First Corps

Division/s

Second Beourjen

Third Beourjen

Size (Approx.)

47,000

Headquarters

Chamberv

Second Corps

Division/s

Fourth Beourjen

Third Sovrik

Size (Approx.)

39,000

Headquarters

D'Aurouren

Third Corps

Division/s

First Sovrik

Second Sovrik

Size (Approx.)

53,000

Headquarters

City of Sophre

Fourth Corps

Division/s

Brickard

Size (Approx.)

27,000

Headquarters

Beourjen City

Reservation Corps

Reservation Guard

Division/s

First Reservation

Size (Approx.)

23,000

Headquarters

Vladica

Fifth Corps

Division/s

Second Reservation

Third Reservation

Size (Approx.)

42,000

Headquarters

Rauszek

Sixth Corps

Division/s

Fourth Reservation

Fifth Reservation

Size (Approx.)

36,000

Headquarters

Attalux

Beourjen Proper versus Sophre Bloc

Not long after Beourjen's founding did the generals of the Sovrik divisions in the army begin to butt heads with their Beourjen compatriots. Like the Sophre bloc itself, the Sovrik divisions were dissatisfied with the notion of answering to the Confederacy proper when the women of House Baskle were capable and charismatic leaders themselves.

While civil unrest once threatened throughout the fourteenth century, the army at least has since managed compromise, albeit reluctantly. The decisions from the 1424 trial arranged for the Sovrik divisions to generally operate under the command of Sophre itself, with direction only relegated to the High Commander in war or appropriate circumstances.