Chapter 412 Military System Reform
Today, Liu Feng's army has more than a thousand sets of full armored cavalry suits and more than four thousand sets of heavy infantry armors. There are more than two thousand sets of iron-inlaid leather armor, mainly for rangers.
Although there are only two battalions of cavalry and five battalions of infantry, the cost of two battalions of cavalry is twice as much as that of five battalions of infantry combined.
It can be seen that the cavalry battalions are extravagant and exaggerated.
“Lord, do we need so many heavy troops?”
Before the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was no obvious difference between combat soldiers and auxiliary soldiers. In other words, auxiliary soldiers had the same status as combat soldiers.
But in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, armor reached its peak, but production fell to a low due to years of war.
As a result, humanoid tanks began to grow wildly. With excellent armor and mounts, it became fashionable for one person to ride alone and drive unparalleled. Military strategists began to realize that light infantry could no longer continue to serve as the main force on the battlefield. .
From this point on, the protagonists of the battlefield began to become completely dominated by humanoid tanks.
But during the Eastern Han Dynasty, most of the work of the auxiliary soldiers was actually performed by laborers. This is why most battles always involved conquering civilians.
Taishi Ci didn't know this, so he was surprised why the war camp had to set aside one-fifth of its manpower to undertake logistical tasks.
But Liu Feng knew very well that a complete logistics system could not only exponentially enhance the combat effectiveness of soldiers, but also effectively reduce the mortality rate of soldiers from injuries and illnesses.
Relying only on basic hygiene methods and a lantern smile, Nightingale reduced the 44% mortality rate of the British army in the Crimean meat grinder to 2%. How terrifying is this? gap.
Liu Fengjun's current recovery rate has been as high as over 85%. He relies on basic care and a clean and hygienic rehabilitation environment, which makes Liu Fengjun's veterans more and more active.
As the trump card that Liu Feng has high hopes for, the Destroying Front Army is the best among the best, and the best among the selected forwards. Every soldier is an extremely valuable warrior. Liu Feng naturally has to achieve the ultimate in logistics. Ensure that these people can exert their strongest fighting power and receive the best treatment.
After explaining to Taishi Ci for a long time, Taishi Ci finally understood.
He looked at Liu Feng with complicated eyes, full of admiration in his heart.
It’s no wonder that Taishi Cihui admires him deeply. In this era, everyone talks about putting the people first, but how many people can really care about the lives and fortunes of ordinary soldiers and people?
Taishici has traveled half of the Han Dynasty, and the only people he has seen are Liu Feng and his son.
“The Lord’s kindness makes Ci ashamed.”
After being moved, Taishi Ci immediately turned over and left the table, knelt down and kowtowed, saying: "I am willing to serve the lord as a dog and horse, and I will go through fire and water, no matter what!"
Liu Feng was stunned for a moment, and then he laughed dumbly. He mistakenly thought that Taishi Ci was recommending himself.
However, Liu Feng had no grudges and instead took the initiative to help him up: "Teacher, why do you do this? The master of destroying the front army is between the teacher and his fourth uncle."
As soon as he heard this, Taishi Ci knew that Liu Feng had misunderstood. He opened his mouth to explain, but the words could not come out.
When he was about to speak, Taishi Ci suddenly thought that the leader of the Destroying Front Army was I Yu Ye, so this was not an injustice to himself.
In this way, there is no way to explain. Rather than explaining with empty words, it is better to make contributions on the battlefield to repay Liu Feng's trust and love.
Immediately, Liu Feng also informed Taishi Ci. In the military discussion a few days later, Liu Feng also needed Taishi Ci to suppress the generals.
The reason why Liu Feng made such an arrangement was not that he did not have enough prestige, but that as a lord, the most suitable thing for him was to stand on the shore and make a decision, rather than to wrestle at the end.
Tai Shici understood immediately and immediately expressed his stance that he would obey Liu Feng's orders.
********
A few days later, the military meeting was held as scheduled.
Taishici, Zhou Yu, Zhang Liao, Pan Zhang, Zhou Tai, Dong Xi, Xu Huang, Jia Kui, Gao Shun, Sun Ce and other generals gathered together, but it was a pity that Zhao Yun's troops were far away from Hou Guan. If you can't come back in time, you can only be absent.
In addition to the military generals, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, as clerks, were naturally able to attend.
In addition, Zhong Yao is the chief historian of the shogunate, Dong Zhao is the deputy chief historian of the shogunate, Cao Yu of the Ministry of War is Zhao Yan, Cao Yu of the Ministry of Interior is Jia Xi, Chen Duan is the false historian, and Wei Jing is the doctor. Yuan Ba, Fan Qin and others are also in charge, so naturally they need to attend.
Looking at the crowd of civil and military ministers below, Liu Feng couldn't help but sigh, he was no longer just two or three kittens.
The reason why the shogunate was established at this time was because Liu Feng finally had his own territory - Yangzhou.
This is a place where Liu Feng can freely implement political reforms as he wishes, so naturally he needs close people to manage it.
Secondly, Liu Feng's attack on Jingzhou is already inevitable, and he may even take action before Jiaozhou.
Jingzhou is not a small county. Now it has nine counties and one hundred and two counties. And once Jingzhou is captured, Jiaozhou will almost be given away for free.
Although Jiaozhou is located in a remote area at this time, its population has increased tremendously due to the war in the Central Plains. It already has more than two million people, close to three million in total.
This is equivalent to taking over Jingzhou, which will create 18 more counties and nearly 160 counties.
Liu Feng had to cultivate talents in advance so that he would have enough manpower to take over these territories and digest them into his own foundation.
Before the meeting began, the generals had heard the news about the expansion of the army and the selection of elites. Many people came to Liu Baowei to hear about it based on their qualifications, merits and knowledge.
Pan Zhang even went so far as to ask for a position in the new army, even if it was just a battalion commander.
It’s no wonder that Pan Zhang made such a choice. After all, he had never led an army alone. Although the Iron Armored Battalion was under his command all year round, everyone knew that it was under the direct control of Liu Feng and was only in his name. .
Now that the elite are being selected, the armored battalion will inevitably be disbanded, and supplies such as elite veterans and armored armor will definitely have to be spared.
After all these things have been taken away, what is the meaning of what Pan Zhang is doing as a captain? It is better to be a battalion captain in the new army. After all, even a fool understands that the new army must be If you have to use it on the edge of a knife, how can you get less credit?
But Liu Feng was so tight-lipped that even Pan Zhang failed to impress him.
Liu Feng just kept Pan Zhang in his house and gave him a cleansing at night. At the same time, he also gave him many valuables, such as snow salt, frosting sugar, sesame oil, white paper, etc., to show his favor.
It’s just a matter of the new army, no need to discuss it. Everyone immediately understood what Liu Feng was thinking, and they could only put back all their thoughts about entering the camp. Precisely because of this, when the discussion actually started, everyone was extremely excited.
Before Liu Feng came, the generals were already discussing in full swing.
When Liu Feng appeared on the throne, although the hall became quiet, the fire in the eyes of the generals increased instead of decreasing, and they all looked at Liu Feng eagerly.
When Liu Feng announced that the army expansion would be at least doubled, bringing the total army to at least 150,000 people, the generals' breathing became rapid.
As a warrior general, what could be more exciting than having more, stronger, and more elite soldiers under his command?
Therefore, the generals are more concerned about the news of selecting elites and forming a new army.
Most of the generals are thinking about this, and only a few can remain calm.
Liu Feng's eyes glanced around below. As he expected, only a few people such as Jia Kui and Gao Shun could really stay calm.
Even Zhou Yu’s heroic appearance, profound wisdom and calmness, Sun Ce’s face holding the jade, and the embarrassment of dropping the jade, can’t conceal their excitement, which shows that they still have long-term plans. , let alone others.
Liu Feng did not hesitate and directly laid out the plan to train the new army to destroy the front army.
The Destroying Front Army has a temporary strength of 20,000 people, with ten battalions. Half of the troops are drawn from brave and capable veterans of the existing armies. Three of them are Liu Feng's old troops, and the other 70% are from Yuan Shu, Sun Ce, and Liu Yao. As well as selecting elite soldiers from the old Yellow Turban Army to serve.
Of the remaining vacancies, half were selected from elite warriors among prisoners of war such as Shanyue and Jingman, and the last quarter were recruited from various places, especially Danyang soldiers.
In this way, while the combat power of the Destroying Front Army is reliable, it can also ensure the balance of composition within the army, thereby ensuring the loyalty and organization of the Destroying Front Army.
At the same time, in order to strengthen the loyalty of the Destroying Front Army and improve the organization of the Destroying Front Army, Liu Feng also used an experimental system, which was the Eastern Han Dynasty version of the political and committee system.
Each battalion has a supervisory committee member with the same authority as the captain, who is the chief political officer of the military camp and is responsible for a series of duties such as the life of the soldiers, food, salary distribution, and recording of merit.
It basically overlaps with the command authority of the captain. At first glance, it seems that apart from being redundant, there is almost no need to set it up. But there are only two differences that make people aware of the importance of this position.
First, it is clearly stipulated that in all military decisions, the military commander has the final decision-making power. That is, if there is a dispute between the school lieutenant and the supervisory committee on military issues, the school lieutenant is the final decision-maker. By the same token, when there is a conflict between two people on government affairs, the supervisory committee has the final decision-making power.
Of course, these two permissions only apply when there is no way to report.
Secondly, the most important task of the Supervisory Committee is to go deep into the soldiers and preach the policies and orders issued by General Zuo. The soldiers must understand that they are fighting for themselves, the people, and the Han.
Under the Supervisory Committee there are instructors and instructors, who are regarded as Army Sima and Qujunhou respectively.
The establishment of a battalion consists of one supervisory committee, five instructors, and ten instructors, for a total of sixteen people.
There are ten battalions in the first army, with a total of 160 people, all of whom were selected by Liu Feng from Liu Er's camp.
This time is both a pilot and a beginning.
Liu Feng has great confidence in the supervisory committee system. As long as the pilot is successful and the manpower is sufficient, it will inevitably be promoted to the entire army.
This system naturally restrains the expansion of the military head. It can make the personal life, future and achievements of soldiers, low-level non-commissioned officers and officers no longer closely related to the middle and senior officers, but completely tied to the opponent.
Although nepotism also exists in later generations, the supervisory committee system can indeed greatly improve the loyalty and organization of the army. Of course, the premise is that the reform must be carried out with the final decision-making power of the military commander on military issues, and these government affairs in the later period It is best for officers to graduate from military academies.
But these questions are still early. Even the military commanders are not college students now, so it is really meaningless to consider these.
As expected by Liu Feng, almost no one objected to the soldiers of the Destroying Front Army. Even if they did, it was a matter of proportion, or they were worried that so many elites would be taken away from the old army. Then we have to figure out how to maintain combat effectiveness after doubling the army.
Everyone's focus fell on the Supervisory Committee system. Although Liu Feng made a guarantee, the military chief had the right to make decisions on military issues. But the generals are still full of doubts and distrust of this position similar to that of a military supervisor.
Liu Feng can also understand, he knew that these warriors would react like this.
However, understanding is understanding, Liu Feng still used his own prestige to suppress the opinions of the generals, and made a clear stance to force the restructuring.
Seeing that Liu Feng's attitude was so resolute, the generals softened their attitude.
The biggest problem with the supervisory committee system is the competition with military chiefs for power, especially military command. But now Liu Feng has ensured that this power remains in the hands of the military chief, which makes most generals feel that this matter has exceeded the bottom line. There are even some who are really simple-minded, such as Pan Zhang, who even think that it will be enough to give evidence to the supervisory committee when the time comes.
Zhou Yu, Jia Kui, Sun Ce and other people who have both talent, ability and experience can naturally see the secrets hidden in the supervisory committee system. But they won't tell them.
Liu Fengke has a clear attitude and wants to promote it. If you go to speak out at this time, what is the difference between it and trying to undermine it?
As long as you are not thinking of rebellion, you can't do this.
As a result, under Liu Feng's tough attitude, the rather sensitive reform of the supervisory committee system was finally implemented despite the hesitation of the generals.
The next step is the main event - the adjustment of the armies.
Among them, the establishment of 20,000 front-destroying troops and 40,000 naval troops has been decided, and more and more are indispensable.
Nowadays, Liu Feng’s main territory is in the south. Liu Bei’s territory is in the Central Plains, but there are also many rivers, and they are interconnected with the rivers in the south. Coupled with trade exchanges and tax transfers, the navy cannot be ignored. of a link.
Liu Feng carefully calculated and found that a naval army of forty to fifty thousand people was really indispensable.
Whether it is attacking Jingzhou, supporting the Central Plains, or taking long-distance shots at Jiaozhi, it is inseparable from the navy.
Therefore, he set a quota of 40,000 soldiers for the navy, divided into Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Dong Xi, Gan Ning, Zheng Bao, Xue Zhou, Ling Cao, Chen Wu, Huang Gai, and Zhu Huan Commander, each unit has 4,000 people.
The department here refers to the department, not the ministry-level unit of the army commander under the battalion. In fact, there is a real relationship between these two buqus. The origin of the word buqu is also the buqu of Jun Sima and Qu Junhou.
The requirements for soldiers in the navy are relatively high. For soldiers, they must be able to fight on the water when they get on the ship, and when they get off the ship, they must be able to fight on land. For auxiliary soldiers, they must be good at sailing and boating. . The most demanding ones are naturally the navy generals. Mid-level and senior generals must have the basic ability to identify hydrology and understand the direction of the river.
(End of this chapter)