Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2095 Greedy Wolf and White Dragon Build a New Army; Behold, They Can Overturn Clouds and Rain

As for the government troops, their main responsibility is merely to guard the prefectures and counties. Even if they might be needed in external affairs, the frequency would be limited.

Moreover, it will not be used as a main force, but rather as a support.

Therefore, Wang Yu did not assign any strong generals to the government troops. After determining the generals of each route, he simply assigned a few Heaven-level generals to them.

Just like Da Cang before, those top generals were either in the four border armies or in the Imperial Guard.

The various provincial and municipal armies simply couldn't find a single general of god-like caliber. If such a person did emerge, he would be transferred to another location by the central government.

The Great Cang of the past was like this, and the Great Han of today is the same.

The Central Imperial Guard, the three border armies, the five main field army corps, plus the eight provincial armies.

In addition, with the addition of the Yi Xie Army and the Guandong Army of the Eastern Yi, once the Han Dynasty completes its next troop reorganization plan, the number of troops in the main corps of the Han Dynasty will reach 1.6 million.

In addition, there were five Black Cavalry units with a total strength of 25,000, Meng Tian's 5,000 Golden Fire Cavalry, and Yue Fei's 3,000 Beiwei Army.

As for the 700 elite infantrymen, the 800 vanguards, and Zhang He's 1,000 halberdiers, although their numbers were relatively smaller than the previous elite battalions, they were indeed truly elite battalions.

Of course, in addition to this elite battalion, the Han Dynasty also had another elite battalion, namely the Tiger Guard Army led by Dian Wei.

A thousand Tiger Guards, and Tiger Guards that were purely infantry, were no longer sufficient to meet the current needs of the Han Dynasty.

Besides serving as the emperor's personal guard, the Tiger Guard also routinely protected the imperial palace. Although the Central Imperial Guard also had auxiliary duties in protecting the palace, the Tiger Guard was the primary force responsible.

The previous Yecheng Imperial Palace was, after all, a temporary construction and not very large in scale. Compared to the imperial palace in the capital, Tianjing, it was less than one-fifth the size.

Therefore, a force of one thousand is no longer sufficient to fulfill the current function of guarding the palace.

Although within the palace, there were also Zhang Han's Shadow Guards and the Sunflower Guards, commanded by Dongfang Bubai and Cao Zhengchun, who were responsible for guarding the palace.

However, the Shadow Guards do not appear in public; they are a hidden force. As for the Sunflower Guards, they are mainly responsible for the inner palace. The outer palace, on the other hand, still relies on the Tiger Guards.

Therefore, Wang Yu decided to expand the Tiger Guard Army from the original one thousand men to three thousand men.

In addition, two more battalions will be added, both cavalry battalions. One battalion will be commanded by Yuwen Chengdu. The Greedy Wolf Battalion will be heavy cavalry, with an estimated strength of two thousand men.

Another battalion, commanded by Zhao Yun, is the White Dragon Battalion, a light cavalry force, with an estimated strength of three thousand men.

The Tiger Guard, the Greedy Wolf Battalion, and the White Dragon Battalion were all the emperor's personal guards.

The reason Wang Yu planned to recall Zhao Yun from the Zhongxing Mountain defense line and Yuwen Chengdu from Su Dingfang's command, and instead replace them with other generals, was largely to establish two new elite cavalry battalions centered around these two men.

Compared to infantry, Wang Yu was more adept at commanding cavalry.

Moreover, in battles like the Battle of Henan, when Wang Yu personally led troops into battle, he would usually lead cavalry in charges.

As a result, in the decisive battle with Huangfu Guyuan, Wang Yu was followed by cavalry from the Flying Feather Legion, not the Tiger Guard Army, who served as the emperor's personal guards.

Therefore, it was necessary to form a new imperial guard.

The final battle of the Henan campaign was not because Wang Yu insisted on personally leading the charge, but because if he were to personally lead the charge, who else could command Li Yuanba?
At that time, their objective was to directly attack Huangfu Guyuan's central command post; their target was absolutely clear. If Wang Yu didn't personally lead the charge, who else could command Li Yuanba to execute his orders precisely?
Without Wang Yu, who knows where Li Yuanba would have gone.

Without Li Yuanba, how could they have so easily stormed Huangfu Guyuan's central command tent? If Li Yuanba hadn't drawn away all the enemy's experts, would Hou Yi have been able to shoot down Huangfu Guyuan?
As for forming a new imperial guard, Yuwen Chengdu and Zhao Yun were undoubtedly the most suitable candidates.

The Tiger Guard's expansion plan was relatively simpler; it only required selecting elites from various armies. With so many troops in the Han Dynasty, selecting two thousand men wouldn't pose any problem with their quality.

The troops for the Greedy Wolf Camp and the White Dragon Camp will need to be drawn from the Black Riders and the Golden Fire Cavalry, and a small number of elites will be drawn from the Flying Feather Legion to form them.

As for the vacancies created by the troops withdrawn from the Black Riders and Golden Fire Riders, they will need to be filled by drawing from the reserves of these two elite units and the prisoners captured this time.

Although Zhongcang's champion battalion cannot compare with the real champion battalion that was destroyed back then, and has not reached the standard of an elite battalion, the basic personnel quality of this army is indeed up to standard.

All that's missing is the necessary hardware, training, and actual combat experience.

In terms of supporting hardware, Zhongcang mainly lacks the ability to equip itself with warhorses.

Elite units like the Champions and the Black Riders not only select the best soldiers, but also the best warhorses.

Yanyun Horse Ranch, one of the three major horse ranches in Yanbei, was dedicated to supplying warhorses to the Black Cavalry. In Henan Province, the original Da Cang Dynasty also had a horse ranch dedicated to supplying warhorses to the Champion Camp, with countless investments made every year.

However, after the first Battle of Tianjing, not only this horse farm, but all the horse farms of Huangfu Mingzhao's court were naturally divided up among the various forces at the time.

This is why, although Huangfu Guyuan wanted to rebuild the Champion Camp, he was unable to gather enough warhorses.

After all, Huangfu Guyuan wanted to rebuild the Champion Camp, which was no small feat. The basic configuration of one rider and three horses meant nearly 30,000 of the finest warhorses.

Even though Huangfu Guyuan had already received the full support of the Nangong family, one of the four great imperial merchants, the Nangong family couldn't conjure up so many warhorses for them all at once. They would need to slowly procure them from outside. And this process wouldn't be short.

If Wang Yu were to rebuild a champion battalion, he wouldn't be able to provide so many of the best warhorses all at once.

However, if it were the Greedy Wolf Battalion of two thousand men, then Wang Yu could afford to take it out.

Of course, with the addition of the White Dragon Battalion, Wang Yu was under considerable pressure on horseback.

Elite cavalry units, whether heavy or light, never compromise on their horses; they always select the best of the best.

To ensure the combat effectiveness of an elite battalion, no factor can be ignored, let alone the warhorse, which is the most important element for cavalry. Compared to the Greedy Wolf Battalion, which is heavy cavalry, the White Dragon Battalion, which is light cavalry, actually faces greater challenges in truly achieving its goals.

Heavy cavalry, as a type of cavalry responsible for frontal assaults, primarily require robust hardware, including not only warhorses but also armor. For heavy cavalry, armor plays a significantly significant role in their combat effectiveness.

However, the White Dragon Battalion, as light cavalry, is different. They actually have higher requirements for software measures, and their expertise lies in tactics such as raids and harassment, as well as mounted archery.

Therefore, in order to form this army as quickly as possible, they could only be drawn from the Black Cavalry. Even the Golden Fire Cavalry were not qualified, as their ranged attack relied on short spears, not mounted archery skills.

To find so many cavalrymen with qualified archery skills, it's impossible to avoid the Black Knights!
The people of the Central Plains could not possibly compare with the Northern Di in this respect. Apart from the Black Cavalry, who had been trained for years from the pre-service period, how many ordinary cavalrymen could be found with qualified archery skills?

Today, the Han Dynasty possesses the wealth of Henan, Hebei, Hedong, Shenglan, and Qingbei, with two million soldiers, which is sufficient to support the costs of maintaining the army.

On the Han side, the Battle of Henan had only just ended not long ago, and even major events like the relocation of the capital were still in progress and not yet fully completed.

However, the news of the large-scale recruitment had already been sent out to all the provinces.

The transfer of officials and military commanders can indeed be done slowly, step by step.

However, the matter of conscription needs to be handled more quickly in terms of time. After all, recruiting soldiers is not enough; truly forming a fighting army is not something that can be accomplished overnight.

The Han Dynasty's open and aboveboard conscription attracted the attention of the Song and Yan dynasties.

"The king should observe the demeanor of a national hero; even though he is far away in the northern barbarians, he can still control the world!"

"However, given the distance, we need to be cautious in choosing this person!"

To be honest, even Yao Guangxiao was quite surprised when the cabinet received the letters from Wang Yingkan and Wang Zhi.

Although the current cabinet has five Grand Secretaries—Zhao Anling, Kuai Liang, Guan Zhong, Zhang Bin, and Yao Guangxiao—a sixth may soon emerge.

However, in reality, among the five Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, only Zhao Anling and Guan Zhong were truly concerned. Kuai Liang, who was also one of the six ministers, was only selected as half a person. The remaining people were just symbolically clocking in and out and making an appearance.

Therefore, the cabinet is completely polarized, with some people extremely busy and others extremely idle.

Even the court assemblies were not held every day. If there was no urgent matter, they would attend court on average once every five days.

It was precisely because of this that Zhao Anling, Kuai Liang, Guan Zhong, and the others were busy with the backlog of affairs after the great battle and the relocation of the capital. Even Zhang Bin was sent to Hebei. Only Yao Guangxiao could steal a half-day of leisure.

Drinking tea during the day while at work and reciting scriptures after getting home is hardly a pleasant experience.

However, a document sent by Wang Yingkan broke the peace in Yao Guangxiao's place.

The document that Wang Yingkan had someone hand over, though brief, concerned a significant matter.

In an instant, Yao Guangxiao deduced Wang Yingkan's entire plan.

In terms of diplomatic skills, Yao Guangxiao is indeed no match for Wang Yingkan. Whether it was forming an alliance with Huangfu Guyuan to create a situation of two powerful forces, or stirring up trouble among the Northern Di now, Wang Yingkan's talent in this regard has been fully demonstrated.

At the very least, Wang Yingkan's contributions to the Han Dynasty's development to this day are undeniable. While Guan Zhong was the proposer of the dual-strength strategy, Wang Yingkan was a crucial implementer of it.

The implementation of the dual-strength strategy enabled Zhongcang to stand alone against the three families of Zhao Kuangyin, Dongcang, and Xuanyuan Huang. As a result, the Han Dynasty was able to unify the north, take over Hedong and Shanyin, blockade the Zhongxing Mountains to the north, and even destroy two of the four minor dynasties to the west.

In this way, they accumulated the national strength to destroy Zhongcang and launch this southern campaign.

Therefore, Wang Yingkan, as an important figure in this process, deserves significant credit.

However, when it comes to devising strategies, Wang Yingkan can never compare to Yao Guangxiao.

Although Wang Yingkan gave Yao Guangxiao a pleasant surprise, Yao Guangxiao felt that there were still many oversights in Wang Yingkan's plan.

Therefore, upon seeing the document, Yao Guangxiao immediately re-analyzed it in his mind. At the same time, he summoned Zhao Anling, Guan Zhong, and even Wang Yu.

"When it comes to alliances and counter-alliances, no one can surpass them. The Seven Outstanding Scholars of Confucianism truly live up to their reputation!"

“However, Your Majesty, the enemies of the Han Dynasty are the Song Dynasty and the Wu Dynasty!” Zhao Anling said with maturity and composure.

Wang Yingkan was far away in the Northern Barbarians. The things he brought could, to some extent, help them counterbalance the Song Dynasty. If things developed well, they might even become a sharp weapon to deal with the Song Dynasty.

However, Zhao Anling saw the future Great Wu through the Zhao Song dynasty.

At present, there is indeed no contact between the Song Dynasty and the Wu Dynasty. However, this may change in the future, as times may change.

Just like the Han Dynasty and the Golden Horde had no connection in the past, but when they had common interests, they naturally started to have contact, and it became a close contact.

The same principle applies to the current Wu and Song dynasties.

After the Southern Expedition, the Han Dynasty has become a force that the Wu Dynasty can no longer take seriously. If the Han Dynasty was previously only a potential threat to the Wu Dynasty, it is now a real threat.

When it was merely a potential threat, Da Wu still had to support the remaining two of the four minor dynasties and maintain close ties with Zhong Cang. During the Southern Expedition, it even lent a hand to Da Yan.

Not to mention nowadays!

It's likely that before long, Da Wu and Zhao Song will gradually strengthen their ties. Zhao Song will undoubtedly become more important to Da Wu than Zhong Cang was before.

Wang Yingkan's plan could indeed become a powerful tool for dealing with the Zhao Song dynasty later, and could even significantly disrupt the Zhao Song dynasty at this stage.

However, that place was also a place where people struggled to survive in the cracks.