USE Army

The USE Army was the Army of the United States of Europe. It was modeled on the army of the New United States, which was in turn modeled on the up-time United States Army. Its commanding general was Lennart Torstensson, and Frank Jackson served as his advisor on up-time military matters. After the middle of 1635, it was composed of three divisions: the First, under George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg; the Second, under Dodo zu Innhausen und Knyphausen; and the Third , under Michael Stearns.

While the USE Army had mercenary and ex-mercenary components, much of it was composed of citizen volunteers. Many of those volunteers were recruited by the Committees of Correspondence, and significant numbers were either sympathetic to, or members of, the Committees. This gave the USE Army some advantages; even officers who didn't really care for the attitude of the CoC regiments acknowledged that they could, and would, fight. CoC influence in the army was also an issue during Axel Oxenstierna's attempted coup. Oxenstierna wanted the army's divisions tied down outside of the USE out of concern that they might turn on him.

In the USE army, ranks and rank insignia were standardized, though brevet ranks were sometimes used. There was a table of organization, which laid out standard names and sizes for infantry units, though it was not always strictly adhered to under field conditions. Units had numbers, though there was a tradition of regiments being known by unofficial names rather than their official unit numbers.

Rather than being expected to provide their own gear, or have it provided by their officers, as was normal for 17th century armies, soldiers in the USE army were equipped by the government. This did not just apply to weapons and ammunition, but to basics such as socks and boots. Also, USE soldiers were directly paid by the government through designated payroll officers, and the USE Army, unlike most others, regularly met its payroll.

Unlike other armies, the USE Army did not pillage and loot towns after taking them, and treated billeting soldiers on civilians as something to avoid whenever possible. This generally gained them the support of the local populace.

The USE Army contained a special group known as the commandos. Led by Harry Lefferts, this small group of special forces were tasked with important operations during and after the Ostend War. In practice, while Mike Stearns was President of the New United States and Prime Minister of the United States of Europe, they were his special unit.

The USE Army had the advantage of up-time knowledge and technology, which gave it an edge over its enemies. Developments such as the French Cardinal breechloader and the Russian AK-series rifles and the spread of radio and volley guns appeared likely to narrow the USE Army's technological edge. However, another part of the USE Army's edge came from recognizing the importance of hygiene and sanitation, which meant that USE soldiers were, on average, healthier than those in other armies.

In early 1636, the USE Army was probably the most powerful and modern army in the world. However, soldiers in the USE army enlisted for three-year terms. It remains to be seen what will happen when those enlistments begin to expire.

After the first major battle with the Ottoman Empire, Emperor Adolphus ordered a mass conscription in order to raise the number of divisions to six.

USE Army Table of Organization

Theoretically, each USE Army division consisted of 9000 men commanded by a major general. Each division had three brigades of 3000 men commanded by a brigadier. Each brigade had three regiments of 1000 men commanded by a colonel. Each regiment had two infantry battalions of 400 men commanded by a major, and an artillery company (more commonly known as a battery) of 200 men usually commanded by a captain. A infantry battalion was composed of four companies of 100 men commanded by a captain. A company consisted of three platoons of 30 men commanded by a second lieutenant, and a heavy weapons unit of 10 men commanded by a sergeant. The company first lieutenant usually served its captain as his executive officer.

All cavalry and flying artillery forces were under the direct command of the army's commanding officer (as of 1636, Lieutenant General Lennart Torstensson), and could be assigned to whichever units he chose in any manner he saw fit.

While this was the standard, field commanders could, and did, deviate from it. For example, the Third Division had ten regiments instead of nine as of 1636. The tenth was the Hangman Regiment, which had oversized companies containing an average of 120 men, with the extra being in heavy weapons units. This regiment also had Captain Thorsten Engler's flying artillery unit attached instead of a normal artillery battery.