Chapter 44: The Overall Structure of the Marines
One has to admit the high efficiency of the Marines.
With plans for action and the support of the World Government, during the two years Hades was immersed on Rusukaina Island, they expanded their sphere of influence in the New World, becoming active there once more.
The current structure of the Marines is extremely vast.
Besides Marine Headquarters, there are a total of forty-six Navy Fortresses throughout the World.
The G1-G5 Marine Branches that originally existed in the New World have now been rebuilt or newly constructed into thirteen Navy Fortresses, numbered with the latest G34-G46 Marine Branch designations.
The two fortresses, G1 and G5, guarded by Marine Admirals, have Marine personnel as high as ten thousand.
The remaining sixteen fortresses each have five thousand Marines.
In addition, each Navy Fortress is supported by four Marine Branches, which also serves to strengthen control over the Sea Area and allows for support at any time.
Each Navy Fortress is equipped with a Marine Vice Admiral, while the commanders of each Marine Branch are Officers of Commodore or Rear Admiral rank.
The Navy Fortresses alone account for a total of one hundred thousand Marines.
Adding the New World Marine Branches supporting the Navy Fortresses, their number is roughly four times that of the fortresses, with each Marine Branch garrisoned by one thousand Marines.
Including all other personnel, it appears the number of Marines deployed in the New World is close to two hundred thousand.
In recent years, besides recruitment, with the endorsement of the World Government, Fleet Admiral Black has transferred a large number of elites from the relatively stable Four Seas.
Twenty Officers holding the rank of Marine Vice Admiral, including the Four Seas Governors.
A large number of Commodores and Rear Admirals, almost completely sweeping up the Officers of the Four Seas Faction in the Four Seas and transferring them to Marine Headquarters and the New World.
They had no room to refuse.
Internally, they belonged to different factions with their own interests, but externally, they shared a common identity: Marines!
Many among them joined the Marines for justice.
The Marines have placed the vast majority of their forces in the New World, seemingly preparing to confront the Rocks Pirates.
However, not all of them are elites.
The so-called Marine elites only account for about a quarter of the total.
Many of the remaining Marines are just making up numbers, or more accurately, are cannon fodder recruits, being trained as quickly as possible through a 'veteran leading recruit' method to form combat power.
A large portion of these Marines are Marines newly recruited during the expansion, or Marines directly transferred from the Four Seas.
The Four Seas are vast and possess a large number of Marines.
In the upcoming war, those who can survive will definitely become elites.
This is also a helpless measure taken in the face of pressure from the Rocks Pirates.
In terms of personnel alone, the current Marine personnel in the New World is close to one-third of the entire Marines.
In this era, the number of Marines has not yet surged to the millions needed to cope with the Great Pirate Era.
It cannot even compare to the army.
One must know that the army guarding the Grand Line has a massive number of three million, garrisoning the various checkpoints on the Red Line connecting the Four Seas.
This number is actually insignificant in the face of the vast Red Line.
Although the army has more personnel than the Marines, their overall strength cannot compare to the Marines, whether in terms of average strength or high-end combat power.
In the First Half of the Grand Line, the Marines have a large area of activity, not as small as the New World.
They have established a total of eight fortress-style Marine Bases.
These are the G6-G9 Marine Branches and the G14-G17 Marine Branches.
Navy Fortresses can be said to be the standard command for Marine Vice Admirals.
Each Fortress has five thousand personnel, and similarly, there are Marine Branches in the four directions that can provide remote support.
The scale of the Marine Branches is slightly smaller than those in the New World; each Marine Branch has eight hundred personnel.
Including the remaining one hundred thousand personnel at Marine Headquarters, the Marines in the First Half of the Grand Line have approximately over one hundred sixty thousand personnel.
The Four Seas have the largest number of Marines, and currently, the largest Faction within the Marines is the Four Seas Faction.
Compared to the future, the strength of the Four Seas Marines today is immeasurably stronger.
Each Sea Area has a Marine Governor, holding the rank of Marine Vice Admiral, who is the de facto controller of the Marine forces in that entire Sea Area.
Their strength may not compare to a Marine Admiral, but in terms of status, a Marine Governor is completely on par with a Marine Admiral.
Each Sea Area has five Navy Fortresses: one Governor's Mansion and the other four located in the four directions of the entire Sea Area.
The Four Seas Marines are currently very powerful, possessing more than one Marine Vice Admiral besides the Marine Governor.
It is a fact that the Four Seas Marines are weaker compared to Marine Headquarters, and this will be true even in the future, but the gap is not as large now.
Due to the strength of the Four Seas Faction, the difference in rank compared to Marine Headquarters is only one level, not the large difference of three levels seen later.
A Governor's Mansion has ten thousand Marines, and the fortresses in the Four Seas have five thousand Marines.
Each Sea Area basically has one hundred fifty Marine Branches, with a troop size of around five hundred personnel per Marine Branch.
However, due to transfers by Marine Headquarters, at least two hundred Marines have been transferred from each Marine Branch in the Four Seas, leaving only around three hundred now.
At least half of the personnel from the Navy Fortresses has also been transferred.
Throughout the Four Seas, the number of Marines remaining is two hundred thousand, and their elites have been transferred away.
It seems Fleet Admiral Black is determined to suppress the Four Seas Faction within the Marines, and the reason given is impossible to refuse.
The overall strength of the Rocks Pirates is becoming increasingly terrifying, and the combined strength of the Marines is needed to resist them.
This is an overt scheme.
Such a massive number of personnel shows just how powerful the Four Seas Faction is in this era, possessing at least twenty Marine Vice Admirals and accounting for half of the Marines' high-end strength.
There are many Pirates and criminals in the Four Seas, but they are suppressed by the Marines.
The Pirates in the Four Seas today are not weak; they are able to survive under the powerful Marines.
The strength of the Four Seas Marines has been greatly weakened, and it can be predicted that Pirates and criminals will become more active.
The Four Seas will also become more chaotic.
This trend is already apparent; the elites of the Four Seas Marines are constantly being drawn away by Marine Headquarters and sent to the New World.
Currently, the Marines possess a massive number of personnel approaching six hundred thousand.
Not counting the Vice Admirals at Headquarters, the number of Vice Admirals specifically garrisoning fortresses reaches twenty-six.
Although their strength varies, this number is sufficiently large.
The vacancies in the Marine Vice Admiral positions in previous years also gave many within the Marines opportunities to advance, and not all of them were from the Four Seas Faction.
Naturally, there were also skilled individuals who rose through combat.
Especially with Fleet Admiral Black and Steel Bone Kong deliberately supporting younger Marines within the organization.
Without regional divisions, many Marines are gradually forming a unified entity.
Facing powerful enemies, those around them are comrades.
This allows them to feel a sense of vitality; the internal atmosphere of the Marines is no longer as stagnant as before, and they are consolidating greater strength.
Killing, hatred, and battle are enough to make people forget some contradictions and conflicts.
It's also not impossible for CP0 Agents to make a move against Hades, but the probability is low.
Coincidentally, the Marine Vice Admiral garrisoning the G36 Fortress is named Vic.
Revenge should not wait overnight.
Having Hades in this Sea Area near the G36 Fortress is perhaps not without intention.
Daring to leave a scar on his mother's face, Hades is already impatient to smash his head in and perform a blood sacrifice.
(end of chapter)