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>Stay quiet
You maintain silence to avoid incurring further ire from other attendees at the table. The Princess looks toward Knight Commander Alric as he stands, unfurling a map of Ferrovia. “As it currently stands," he begins, "the majority of our forces are situated within the most significant industrial centers. The largest force is stationed in Neverfar up north with smaller contingents placed in Gresh and Kings Rest, as well as in the capital itself.” He glances up from the map momentarily before directing his gaze towards you. “Major, now that you've joined us - you command the single largest organized fighting force near the capital. Prior to your arrival, I led a scant 200 King's Guard members loyal to the Princess.”
One of the older communists present - an individual missing most of his left arm - raises his remaining right one before speaking: “Why do we have so few men deployed within the capital?” Knight Commander acknowledges him with a nod saying appreciatively, "An excellent question Mr. Dyltov! From what I gather based on intelligence obtained; military intelligence seems intent on suppressing any attempts aimed at creating local militias within the cites boundaries, likely intending to set their base here instead of venturing elsewhere."
The Commander sifts through more papers until he comes across a single sheet embossed with the symbol for the Royal Army. “As present, Ferrovian Army officially boasts a force of 200,000 men under arms. This vastly outnumbers us, but we find our silver lining in that only about 25,000 of those are professional soldiers while the rest are peasant levies from noble estates,” he explains.
The portly merchant – apparently leader of merchant faction – interjects: “And precisely how many forces do we command, Knight Commander?” Alric rummages through some additional documents then pulls out one with handwritten numbers on it. "As per count tallied last night, we have approximately 15,000 armed men and women at our disposal. We anticipate this number to surge drastically once fighting commences. Therefore as per current strategic projection; Elric's forces will always outnumber us and the Military will be much better equipped comparatively but far smaller," He states before sweeping his gaze around room slowly adding optimistically, "However this situation can change swiftly as we expect substantial support from Communist allies in Arbeiteria along with Republics like Masalia".
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