Marleyan military

The Marleyan military (マーレの軍事) is the combined armed forces of Marley, consisting primarily of the Marley navy (マーレ海軍) and the Marley army (マーレ陸軍), which includes the infamous Warrior Unit.

Structure
Marley maintains its military dominance in the world stage by the use of Titans and a technologically moderate military force, which was not as developed as other powers around the world.

Military service
Marley used to have a conscription system which was abolished at an unspecific time. It is implied by Magath that Marley's rank and file is filled by Eldian enlistees, while the few ethnic Marleyan occupies leadership positions. In the year 854, Magath pushes for the reintroduction of conscription for ethnic Marleyan in order to meet anticipated threats in Paradis and from other advanced powers of the world.

Army
In the year 854, the Marleyan army saw major action during the four-years long war against the Mid-East Allied Forces.

The Marleyan army possesses conventional armament that is largely similar to other world powers in appearance, but is noted to be more obsolete. For small-arms weaponry, bolt action rifles and stick grenades are the standard-issued weapons of Marleyan infantrymen, with two models of rifle in service. Zeke also carries a sub-machine gun into battle, suggesting that automatic small-arms were used at least by Marley's elite airborne unit. Heavier weapons such as water-cooling machine guns are employed as the primary armament of certain Titans, turning them into mobile weapon platforms. Troop transports are primarily done by steam-powered trains.

The use of Titans is central to the army's doctrine. Beside having the seven Titans as strategical deterrents, Marley also has a long-standing strategy of converting its Eldian population into pure Titans to bolster its military strength. In ancient times, pure Titans were simply set loose before friendly line toward an enemy force en masse, as they are unable to follow complex commands except from the Founding Titan. The tactic remains unchanged in the modern era, except that the Titans are now airdropped by zeppelins.

Other than strategic value, inheritors of the Nine Titans also fulfill the tactical role comparable to tanks on the field. For example, Porco Galliard was tasked to destroy a machine gun nest which was otherwise untouchable by infantry in the battle against Fort Slava. A more literal example is Pieck, who had four machine gun turrets strapped on her back, a configuration that proved highly effective in clearing the Allies' trench system. Otherwise, Marleyan troops practice conventional tactics such as trench warfare, frontal human wave assault, and rudimentary anti-armor technique such as the use of bundle stick grenades. However, due to their heavy reliance on Titan's power, the Marleyan army neglected in developing and advancing its conventional armament. As a result, its force was gradually outclassed by the Mid-East Allied Forces and the rest of the world, who had to push all their efforts into military development in order to strike a balance with Marley's Titans. The situation was so dire that a general pessimistically stated that, even with the power of the Founding Titan, the army can stand little chance against the advanced aircraft technology developed by its enemies.

The army's hierarchy is ethnically segregated, with Eldians forming the entire enlisted ranks leading by an all-Marleyan leadership corp. As a clear indication of rank, Eldian soldiers are issued with headgear differing to their Marleyan superiors, and are required to wear insignia identifying them as Eldian at all time unless when being explicitly ordered to take it off.. Like in the civilian society, Marleyan commanders are generally disdainful of their Eldian subordinates, but some are less so. For example, Magath is more willing to communicate with his Warrior cadets, and even allowing them opportunities to celebrate, although those were likely done out of pragmatism. On the other hand, Koslow is openly contemptuous of the Eldians, and he seeks every chances to belittle them. Despite the discrimination, Eldian veterans are entitled to medical care if they are permanently crippled or psychologically damaged in war.

The army have little regards for proper conducts of war. For example, Magath intentionally allowed Gabi Braun to attack an enemy pillbox in civilian guise, even though he was aware of that it violates international laws.

Warrior Unit
Before the year 830, Marley possessed seven Titans, which assured its position as a world power. However, advancements in technology have started to undermine the military importance of Titans. Recognizing this fact, the Marleyan government planned to conquer Eldia in order to exploit its rich fossil fuel resources in order to improve their conventional military. The plan was hindered by King Fritz's threat of unleashing the Colossus Titanss upon the world in case of a Marleyan invasion.

In order to counter King Fritz's ultimatum, the Marleyan government decided to grant the power of the seven Titans in their nations possession to a selection of children who are Subjects of Ymir. The families of those chosen children were promised to be made into honorary Marleyans with all freedoms that come with the distinction. These children were trained into expandable soldiers in warfare while also serving as candidates to inherit the powers of the Titans.

Over a dozen years later, in the year 845, Marley sent out four of their Warriors, Bertolt Hoover, Reiner Braun, Annie Leonhart, and Marcel Galliard from Liberio. These Warriors were given the task of breaching the gates of the Walls in order to wipe out the Eldians and take the Founding Titan from the royal family. They succeeded in breaching Wall Maria, though their efforts in breaching Wall Rose were halted upon learning that Eren Yeager possessed the power of the Titans, leading them to suspect that he has the Founding Titan they sought. Since that revelation, the goal of the surviving Warriors has been to capture Eren Yeager in order to obtain the Founding Titan. However, after their failure at the battle of Shiganshina District, the Paradis Island Operation has since been postponed due to the loss of the Colossus and Female Titans.

In the year 854, a Warrior cadet unit consisting of Gabi, Falco, Colt, and a few others joined a Warrior unit to help capture Fort Slava under the command of Commander Magath during the Marley Mid-East War.The same battle also saw Reiner and Zeke being deployed on the field alongside a barrage of mindless Titan. Reiner was severely damaged when he shielded Zeke from a direct hit of a naval artillery shell.

Their Warriors are now facing the threat of being outclassed by advanced technology in weaponry used by others nations against them.

Navy
The Marleyan navy fought in the sea-fighting phase of the four-years long Marley Mid-East War, which was the longest phase of the war.

The navy was mentioned to be outdated and underdeveloped, which led to devastating outcome against the state-of-the-art naval warships deployed by the Allies. During the war, it only managed to control the sea at the cost of half of its fleet after four years of fighting. The failure of the navy was attributed by Magath as one of the causes leading to Marley's Pyrrhic "victory".

At some point during the war, the navy sent 32 ships including a number of destroyers to the coast of Paradis in the course of three years. The purpose was to survey the area for the eventual invasion of the island. All ships were lost to an unknown force.

Relations between the army and the navy are poor. For example, Udo scolding it for being a "cesspool of incompetence"; when Magath blamed it for damaging Marley's reputation as the victor of war in a post-battle meeting with the general, a naval officer frustratingly defended his service branch.

Air Force
Although it is unclear whether or not the Marleyan military possesses an independent air branch, air power had seen use in the Marley Mid-East War and the operation against Paradis.

Marley uses zeppelins to parachute Titans into battle and to bombard an area with pure Titans.

At the conclusion of the Marley Mid-East War, it was hinted that Marley would focus on developing heavier-than-air aircrafts that can rain bombs from above.

Public Security Authorities
The Public Security Authorities is a Marleyan internal military force. Its primary purpose is to control the Eldian minority within the Marleyan mainland. The PSA repression of Eldians drove Grisha Yeager into becoming an Eldian Restorationist and led to the creation of several Titans which ravaged the Walled society in Paradis.