The Elf Saint is a NEET, so I Forced Her to Work in Another World

Military Exercises (Part 2)

**Kuro**

Two weeks after the final 'call' for the enlisted elves, the training of the 'Elvish Expeditionary Force' began, with the soldiers from the Royal Army of Cherwind and the demons' Jäger regiment teaching them discipline, physical fitness, and drills. Out of the hundreds of thousands of elves who tried to get enlisted, we chose around 20,000 able-bodied males to train, with bias towards those who had prior military experience, such as retired mercenaries, male and female. Based on the reports I received, around 15% of the army recruits had fought in some conflict, either in Chersea's past, or someplace else. The rest were green elvish youths, eager for an 'adventure' and making a name for themselves.

And, out of those 20,000 elves, three thousand people opted out of 'boot camp' after running into obstacles with their families. So that left us with 17,000 recruits, to be organized into 15 regiments each with a thousand or more elves in its rosters.

Two weeks already passed after the start of the 'boot camp', which we setup in the southern shores of the kingdom of Amaranth. I specifically chose this area since according to the Lady Hinwe, the northern part of Cherwoods had a long shoreline. Similar to the preparations leading to Operation Overlord, I chose to have the elves train in an environment similar to their actual battle site. So, after I asked the permission of the Queen of Amaranth, Lady Jessica, the 'boot camp' kicked off.

Yes, while I was aware that this army was significantly different from the one the Allies used in the Normandy Landings, it wouldn't hurt to take 'inspiration' from that event. I mean, aside from that amphibious landing, no one else came close. And I doubt we could land someplace else peacefully, given the welcome we received before when we tried breaking into the elvish fleets in Tenedrim.

Also, I'd like to finish this war as soon as possible; prolonging it would only benefit the Seductress.

So, with the limited time I got, I decided to train the soldiers with mercenary backgrounds in how we'd implement the landings. The reason for this was, after they got the 'idea' how they would transition from water to land and fight, they'd pass the knowledge to the 'greener' recruits, who were still in the middle of their boot camp.

"..."

Of course, there's no other way to effectively accustom the soldiers to the sight and sounds of battle, other than to use actual ammunition.

"30 seconds to shore!" I heard an officer shout from one of the landing boats. The ships began firing their cannons, though it was deliberately pointed away so it won't hit our forces. For their enemies, we hired some soldiers from the army of the Kingdom of Amaranth, who peppered the landing parties with 'duds'—arrows with blunted heads wrapped in cloths so it won't cause damage. We also included 'designated magicians' in every wave, so they could protect their comrades with barrier magic.

Just to be extremely safe, I purchased thousands of 'substitute dolls'—those that were used in Nerfes' Tri-Skill Tournaments—so that the participants of this military exercise would be protected from their injuries in case someone fucked up.

The original plan, while it was disapproved by Maddie, Ruro and Natasha, was changed to make the city of the 'Saint's Tree' the 'immediate' main aim of the landings. A victory here would quickly 'behead' the elvish opposition with crucial leadership during the battle, disorganizing their forces and reducing the risk of resistance. The Elf Saint's capital was also served by a small port village, only a few distances away from its walls, and its capture would give us a port to which we could unload our supplies as well.

From the Saint's Tree and the port village was the shoreline; the capture of this part would give us the opportunity to advance into Cherwoods' hinterlands, and threaten the elvish cities that won't submit to the authority of Her Lazy Holiness.