I want to be emperor

Chapter 458 Five Battle Commands

It is also an expedient measure for the Great Chu Empire to accept the surrender of a large number of frontier troops and reorganize them into second-class divisions.

The current total strength of the Chu army is limited, and there are not many new troops in the rear, and it will take time to transfer to the north in a short time.

But at the same time, under the leadership of Zu Dashou, various ministries in western Liao joined forces with the Eastern Captives, causing the Great Chu Empire to face greater military pressure in the north, especially the northern Zhili area, than the Ming court in the past.

In order to avoid the collapse of the frontier defense caused by the change of the dynasty, Luo Zhixue, who is far away in Huai'an, issued the latest instructions to Li Chengtong in early August, to carefully handle the garrisons in the border towns of Northern Zhili, and give priority to securing the Great Wall defense line safety.

At the same time, a large number of military and political officials were sent north to reorganize the local frontier army to form a second-class division.

Well, what needs to be clarified is that Li Chengtong did not reorganize and form a second-class division. He does not have this authority.

It is the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs that has this authority.

To be precise, the Military and Political Department itself does not have this authority.

Only Luo Zhixue, the emperor of the Great Chu Empire, had the authority to form a new army.

Luo Zhixue ordered the Military and Political Department to form a number of second-class divisions before the Military and Political Department could start and form them. After the formation was handed over to the field armies or garrison headquarters, front-line generals like Li Chengtong would have the command.

There is a more complicated procedure here.

But these cumbersome procedures are necessary to control military power.

If Luo Zhixue let go of the power of recruiting and reorganizing and setting up establishments, and allowed Li Chengtong and other generals to expand the front line, then it would not take long for the military power on the front line to fall into a very dangerous situation.

Therefore, when it comes to the reorganization of second-class divisions, Luo Zhixue still firmly controls his own power. The formation of each second-class division requires his personal approval, and the appointment of each division commander needs to be appointed by him personally!

Ever since, in order to alleviate the lack of troops on the northern line, especially the follow-up Great Wall defense line, the Chu army successively formed a full-fledged army in Shandong, Beizhili, and Shanxi based on the soldiers who surrendered or surrendered to the Ming army. Two second-class divisions and six cavalry brigades.

Most of them are frontier soldiers.

These frontier troops are different from the Ming army in the Central Plains area. The Ming army in the Central Plains and Jiangnan area are all local guards or even young men recruited temporarily. food……

But these frontier troops are much better, many of them are veterans, and many of them have spent their entire lives fighting against the barbarians in the border towns.

The basic military quality of these people is not bad, and their combat effectiveness is barely passable. The only difference is food and equipment.

As long as the food and equipment are improved, the combat effectiveness will not be too bad, at least much stronger than the previous garrison.

And there is no shortage of food and equipment for the Chu army!
Along with the more than [-] Northern Expedition Chu troops, there is still a large amount of food. Some of these food are for military supplies, and some are transported northward to alleviate the food shortage of the local people and avoid large-scale famine. .

The grain that the Chu army transported to the north one after another was in the millions of shi, and it would be no problem to squeeze out some of it to supply the second-class divisions reorganized by the frontier army.

As for weapons and equipment, it was easier to handle. The Chu army successively seized a large number of equipment from the Ming army, and some of these equipment were selected and supplied to the second-class divisions.

In addition, the Chu army's own weapons production is also very large, especially now that the newly formed main division no longer uses these swords and spears, but the original production lines of various cold weapons and arquebus guns are still producing these weapons and equipment , which was originally used to supplement the original old-style divisions, now just can free up part of the production capacity to equip these newly created second-class divisions.

However, arming these second-class divisions with matchlock guns and spears is only temporary. The Great Chu Empire Army has already finalized the development path of turning to new troops. In the future, not only the newly formed troops will be equipped with flintlock guns, but also the original Like the first division, the old first-class divisions will be replaced with flintlock guns one after another, and reorganized into new divisions.

In the future, the second-class teachers will do the same.

Now it is limited by the limited production of flintlock guns, so it can only be mixed with flintlock guns and matchlock guns, and the old and new troops have ways to expand and maintain the number of troops.

And as the Great Chu Empire successively accepted the Ming army in the northern Zhili area, especially in the border towns, and then reorganized and reorganized into second-class divisions on the spot, it can be regarded as initially stabilizing the Great Wall defense line, avoiding the emptiness of the Great Wall defense line caused by the change of dynasty. , The situation of being captured by the East and taking advantage of the emptiness.

Due to the expansion of the war in the north, multiple directions are facing different threats at the same time, and the number of troops under its jurisdiction is increasing. It is difficult for Li Chengtong, the North Zhili garrison commander, to continue to control the overall situation.

Therefore, in mid-August, Luo Zhixue rearranged the division of theaters in the Central Plains, Shanxi, Shandong, Beizhili, and Western Liaoning, as well as the adjustment of senior generals.

Mainly, five campaign commands were established.

The Northeast Campaign Command was established, with General Li Chengtong as the commander and General Dong Mingjie as the deputy commander. It governed the Second Army, the Third Army, multiple second-class divisions, and some independent mixed brigades, cavalry brigades, and artillery regiments, including the No. The Eighth Division, No.20 Division of the Second Army, the First Division, Tenth Division, and No.11 Division of the Third Army, and the No.20 three-mixed brigade directly under the headquarters.

It is worth mentioning that the No.20 Third Mixed Brigade has been finalized and upgraded to the No.20 Third Division of the Army, and is currently replenishing its troops and equipment.

The Northeast Campaign Headquarters has only one mission: kill the Eastern captives!

In addition to the Northeast Command, Luo Zhixue also set up the Shanxi Campaign Command, and the former commander of the First Army, General Li Dongshao, was transferred to be the commander. The main responsibility of the regiment in the early stage was to march into Shanxi and destroy Zuo Liangyu and the remnants of the local Ming army in Shanxi. ,
It is said that Zuo Liangyu recently played a trick of supporting the vassal king in Shanxi. Naturally, the Great Chu Empire will not sit back and watch the situation in Shanxi deteriorate. In early August, it has already transferred the first army to the area east of Shanxi, planning to start from the front line of Zhending Mansion. Go straight to Taiyuan and kill Zuo Liangyu's troops.

The Shaanxi-Gansu Campaign Command was also set up, which was transferred from General Huang Dingquan, the former commander of the Fourth Army, to be responsible for the battles in Shaanxi and Gansu, with the main strategic task of annihilating Sun Chuanting's troops.

Finally, the Sichuan Campaign Headquarters was set up, and Lieutenant General Cao Hongsheng, the former Han Tianfu Garrison Commander, was transferred to be the commander, and at the same time he was promoted to be a general of the army. He was mainly responsible for the war in Sichuan.

The Yunnan-Guizhou Campaign Command was also set up, which was transferred from Lieutenant General Han Ziping, the former garrison commander of southern Chu, and promoted to general of the army, mainly responsible for the war in Yunnan and Guizhou.

The above-mentioned campaign headquarters were not provincial garrison headquarters in the military structure of the Great Chu Empire, nor were they even of the same nature.

In the military of the Great Chu Empire, the provincial garrison command is a fixed organization, mainly responsible for conscription, military-civilian relations, local defense, and suppression, commanding a small number of second-class divisions scattered locally.

These second-class divisions are different from the second-class divisions formed by the frontier army. These troops are not used to fight against foreign enemies, but to suppress internal forces. Therefore, they are not equipped with heavy artillery and have little mobility. They are mainly composed of light infantry. , and distributed in various prefectures and counties.

At present, in principle, the Great Chu Empire Army plans to deploy one or more second-class divisions in each province, depending on the local population, area and other conditions.

And although the second-class division is stationed in the local area, it is also the same as the first-class division. It is recruited from different places and deployed in a unified manner, and it will also be deployed in rotation.

Although the second-class division in the Chu Army has undertaken the task of suppressing internal forces, it is still not a local army, but a low-cost, lightweight regular army.

Its command power is not in the hands of the local governor, but in the hands of the staff. In addition, the provincial garrison command is not a civilian institution, but a serious military institution. The garrison commander of each province is headed by the local Garrison commander concurrently.

And Luo Zhixue's new campaign headquarters this time is a command organization for specific targets. To a certain extent, it is almost the same thing as the field army, but it is one level higher than the field army.

Luo Zhixue set up five major campaign headquarters to deal with the five fronts at the same time. At the same time, he also set up the provincial garrison headquarters to be responsible for internal suppression, recruitment, and logistical support.

By the time Luo Zhixue had finished making arrangements for these high-level military organizations and personnel, the time had also entered September.

This was supposed to be a good time for hunting and fighting, but for the Great Chu Empire, it was a bit calm.

In the direction of Yunguichuan, the chieftains on the opposite side could not fight and did not have the courage to fight, and the Chu army was too lazy to fight for the time being. At least until the pacification of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Shanxi, the Chu army was not even interested in entering Sichuan... As for Yungui, then Even more slowly.

In the direction of Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi, Sun Chuanting and Zuo Liangyu on the opposite side are more threatening. The Chu army is also trying to gather troops to kill them. However, because of the threat of the Dongcap people, the Chu army is now concentrating its troops and resources on the northward Zhili line. , I can't take care of these two directions for the time being.

As for them taking the initiative to fight... They don't have the guts, let alone the strength.

Even in the Liaodong direction, there was only a medium-scale war in September, and then it gradually subsided.

In mid-September, Hauge, the prince of the Eastern Captives, led a detour of [-] cavalrymen to Mongolia, trying to break through the border from Miyun.

Under the command of Li Chengtong, the Chu army gave them a closed door and beat dogs on the front line of Miyun.

They first showed the enemy their weakness, and after luring thousands of cavalry from the East into the Great Wall, the [-]th Division on the front line directly made a left and right uppercut, quickly detoured more than ten kilometers, sealed the entrance of the Great Wall again, and put the Hauge's main force and its striker were cut off.

The 8000th Division sat firmly on the Great Wall defense line, carrying the flanking attacks of the front and rear cavalry from the Eastern Captives, creating an opportunity for Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa's more than [-] cavalry and the First Division to encircle and wipe out the forward cavalry of the Eastern Captives.

(End of this chapter)