Quote:
Originally Posted by Anime Online
A standing army means it exists in both wartime and peacetime. My point is how exactly is the southern kingdoms supposed to afford keeping that army around in peacetime? The southern kingdoms has no means to keep that army sitting around and the central kingdom certainly isn't going to pay for its upkeep once the fighting has ended.
Therefore, I'm saying it is not logical that army is a standing army.
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A standing army means an army of professional soldiers. Existing in the peace time is a correlated condition, but not a necessary one. The distinction is important in some circumstances, including:
1. In extended conflicts, where no peace is achieved within a significant fraction of a soldier's productive life time.
2. In periods where peace time is ill-defined because no formalities of war exist.
Both these conditions apply to Maoyu. We know that the Central Nations have been funding the Southern Nations continuously, because the Winter Prince fears the Central Nations shutting off their aid. It is more rational to assume that the Central Nation has been funding a standing army than to assume that they are funding various peasant militias that were raised for small border skirmishes then disbanded as soon as the skirmish ends. Certainly a standing army is more consistent with the troop deployment around Gate City than a peasant militia that goes home for the winter.
Relating back to the original reason a standing army was mentioned: For the purpose of analyzing whether there will be a lot of people who cannot return to civilian life, a mercenary army and a national standing army are exchangeable.