As with other projects mentioned before, Malik readily stated that all expenses for establishing this new army, including the cost of purchasing weapons and equipment, will be borne by the two regions themselves. Of course, its establishment must still belong to the Haihan regular army, and it will unconditionally accept the dispatch and command of the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense.
Malico plans to select about thirty to forty officers from the current garrison and send them to the Army Academy in Sanya for a three-month short-term training to specialize in mountain warfare tactics, and then use these people to build a new army. skeleton.
Since the two major districts raised their own funds, it goes without saying that most of these officers must be Maliko's close subordinates or children of local elites.
Yan Chujie asked straight to the point: "How big is your new army going to be?"
Maliko stretched out his index finger and gestured: "I am going to build an independent regiment first and deploy it to the border area of Shaozhou. We will see the actual effect of suppressing bandits later, and then determine the next plan."
Shaozhou Prefecture borders the Ming Dynasty ruling areas in Hunan and Jiangxi. It is the main route for inland immigrants to enter the Pearl River Basin. It is also the area where banditry is most rampant as Malik mentioned earlier.
Yan Chujie continued to ask: "What weapons and equipment are needed? Have you made a list?"
Maliko waved his hand and said: "Of course, the more advanced the better, it is best to follow the standards of Qian Tiandun's army!"
Yan Chujie smiled: "The more advanced the weapons, the higher the cost, and the production is also extremely limited, and will not be specially supplied to a certain army. Even Qian Tiandun's special warfare division has several grades of weapons. There are also old-fashioned guns.”
Maliko is definitely a good player in economics, but the military field is obviously not what he is good at. In front of an expert like Yan Chujie, a few words revealed a lot of taken-for-granted things.
Maliko said: "Your Ministry of National Defense makes the decision regarding weapons and equipment. Money is not an issue. I only have one request. When the troops are established, all the equipment they should have must be in place. The two major regions do not want to raise an army without combat effectiveness." Bare troops.”
Yan Chujie said: "The arms order is for the arsenal of the Ministry of Industry. It's useless for you to urge me. If anything happens, you have to find Lao Qiao."
Qiao Zhiya responded: "If you want new weapons, you have to wait patiently. Now the garrison troops in various regions are expanding, and there is a serious backlog of orders for weapons and equipment. Most orders can only be delivered in batches."
< br>
Maliko said: "You won't have to wait for several years again, right?"
Qiao Zhiya said noncommittally: "My suggestion is to consider using the old equipment in the Ministry of National Defense's arsenal first. Although the performance is not the best, it should be more than enough to deal with bandits."
Maliko obviously didn't like hearing this, and shook his head slightly: "My idea is to build an elite armed force for the two vast areas, which will be stronger than the current Lu Second Division. If it is all old equipment, then Can’t I just take the troops of the Second Lu Division to Shaozhou?”
Yan Chujie said: "Actually, if you ask the Second Lu Division to allocate elite forces to form a regiment and send it to Shaozhou to carry out the task of suppressing bandits, it should have good results. Forming a new army may not go as smoothly as you expect."
"For a newly formed army, you can't fire off the weapon and go to the battlefield immediately. Even after it is formed into an army, it will take a long time to get into place and form a combat effectiveness." "I suggest you leave this matter to It will be of great benefit to you and this unit to be operated by professionals and not to be overly involved. What you have to do is to ensure that the funds and personnel for establishing this unit are in place and to supervise that all the resources invested are spent. Wherever you should spend it, that’s enough.”
Malico thought for a moment and agreed with Yan Chujie's suggestion: "You are right. If I do everything personally and waste energy, it will easily lead to a situation where a layman commands an expert."
"My surname is Ma, not Jiang. I am not suitable to be a master of micromanagement."
Malico's self-deprecating joke immediately relaxed the atmosphere at the table, and everyone smiled heartily.
Only Li Nai didn't quite understand who the master surnamed Jiang that Malik was talking about, what micromanagement was, and why everyone could make everyone laugh so happily.
Mali Keben was not a soldier, and he had no particular obsession with military power. The starting point of his attempt to form a new army was not only to maintain local peace, but also to use it as a model to demonstrate the military strength of the two vast regions to the outside world.
As for expanding the army and preparing for war, it was not his wish to conquer the remaining territory of the Ming Dynasty. He has never been on the battlefield. If he really wants to step in and become the commander, he may be in serious trouble.
Fortunately, although Maliko was arrogant, he didn't know how much he weighed. After listening to Yan Chujie and others' persuasion, he quickly changed his mind and decided to listen to their opinions.
Yan Chujie said: "But having said that, Lao Ma, your financial situation is really good. Other regions are trying their best to approach the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense for budgets to expand the army. You are so cheerful and willing to pay for the expenses out of your own pocket."
Maliko said: "Isn't this just to skip those tedious procedures quickly? If I am like other regions and write a report to apply for an increase in military spending, then I will have to wait in line until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse!"
"In the past few years, among all the major regions, the military expenditures of the two major regions are the lowest, right? All the money we saved has been used to develop the economy and people's livelihood, and the finances are naturally higher than those of places that have always maintained a large number of troops. Stronger.”
Malico's words actually tell the truth. The two vast areas are located in a location where there has been almost no large-scale war in the past thirty years. The execution of operations such as suppressing bandits within the jurisdiction is already the responsibility of the garrison. If the upper limit is reached, there is no need to maintain a large-scale armed force.
Other regions often have the need for foreign operations, and as the territory expands, the size of the garrison also increases, and military expenditures will inevitably rise.
For example, in frontier frontiers such as the Northern Region, which are in a state of war all year round, the annual military expenditures are extremely high. If there was no financial support from the Executive Committee in the early years, I am afraid that they would have been unable to make ends meet.
Of course, the long-term peaceful environment is not all good. Due to the lack of actual combat experience, the actual combat effectiveness of the garrison troops in the two vast areas is not ideal, and is far inferior to those troops fighting with real swords and guns. In addition, the military strength is very limited, even maintaining local security is somewhat stretched, and it is inevitable to be criticized by the local gentry.
Maliko also learned from the experience after suffering a loss and decided to increase military investment and train a new army with combat effectiveness.