The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 437: Towns in the South
The golden crow sets in the west, and red clouds dye half of the sky, like a wildfire burning the sky.

Inside the central army tent, an armored soldier half-knelt in front of the lamp stand, holding a lit fire stick. The fire stick was tilted, and the flames moved along the wick.

As the last candle was lit, the central military tent gradually became brighter. The bright yellow light spread like water, illuminating the sand table in the center of the tent in every detail.

Chen Wang stood in front of the sand table. The staff officers of the Central Military Department kept adjusting the marks on the sand table by comparing the maps and intelligence in their hands.

As flags of various colors fell, the battle situation gradually became clear.

Just as Chen Wang was observing the situation on the sand table, a burst of hurried footsteps outside the tent interrupted his thoughts.

The curtain was quickly lifted by the guards, but Chen Wang did not look up.

The only person who could enter the central military tent without being informed was Chen Gong, besides Hu Zhili.

Hu Zhili is now by his side, so the person coming can only be Chen Gong.

"Headquarters."

Before seeing the person, one can hear his voice first. Chen Gong's voice entered the tent before his person.

After a while, Chen Gong, wearing a red arrow robe and holding the goose-feather knife at his waist, walked into the tent.

"Have all the troops in the two towns been fully counted?"

Chen Wang put down the command whip in his hand, stood up straight and asked.

"All the statistics have been completed, and the people from the Intelligence Department have checked it. There is no problem with the military registers submitted by the two towns. It is not the one used to fool the court."

The imperial court was in financial difficulties, and the payment of military pay was always in short supply and rarely in full.

The officers were forced to falsify the number of people and ask for more money, otherwise they would not be able to feed the soldiers.

Therefore, officers usually have two military registers in their hands.

One was to falsely report the number of people in order to satisfy the imperial court.

The other book is for officers to check themselves, and the number of soldiers listed in the military roster will be recorded.

Chen Gong walked closer and handed the statistical data in his hand to Chen Wang.

"There are 35,746 people in Zuozhen and 33,603 people in Mengzhen. This is not much different from what the Intelligence Department had found out before."

Chen Wang flipped through the documents in his hand.

"But the number of these officers is indeed a bit too much."

There are eleven battalions in Zuozhen and eight battalions in Mengzhen. Logically, there are only nineteen battalion commanders. Including deputies and those in charge of the battalion, there are at most sixty or seventy officers.

However, documents recorded that there were as many as 120 officers and soldiers at the rank of guerrilla commander or above.

But this is consistent with the usual situation.

In history, Cao Wenzhao was defeated in Qiutou Town, and it was recorded that more than 20 guerrillas and below were killed.

At that time, Cao Wenzhao had only 3,000 soldiers under his command.

This situation is mainly due to too many wars and the accumulation of military merits.

However, most of them were honorary positions. Many guerrillas, who were stationed in camps or commanded by the army, were actually only thousand-man commanders or battalion commanders.

"If we cut them rashly, I'm afraid it will cause a lot of waves."

Chen Gong frowned slightly. It would definitely not be enough to have so many officers, but it would also be a hassle to lay them off.

Naturally, so many redundant personnel need to be reorganized, but rashly laying them off when the southern towns have just annexed the country will inevitably shake the morale of the army.

There are still 300,000 Western troops in Wuchang City today. Although this data is quite exaggerated and there are not many Western troops who can fight, they are still a considerable threat.

Chen Wang naturally knew Chen Gong's considerations.

The first solution Chen Wang thought of was the military rank system.

However, Chen Wang quickly rejected this idea.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty also had its own different military ranks, namely, casual ranks and honors.

But these things become more and more confusing as time goes on.

Even Qi Jiguang said: "Today's military titles are like the pearls on a woman's bun, which are only for beauty."

It is not mature yet, and introducing this system will only cause chaos. Besides, salary expenditure is also a considerable expense, which needs to be considered.

Chen Wang pondered for a moment and quickly made a decision.

"The reorganization will certainly cause dissatisfaction, but a little disturbance is not a problem."

There will certainly be many problems in the reorganization of the army, and the same is true for the layoffs in Shandong Town. However, Gao Jie, Hui Dengxiang, Ma Jinzhong and others were born as bandits after all, and there are not many officers in the army.

Most of the old troops that were laid off were transferred to the garrisons as garrison troops.

"The reorganization will still be based on the original Shandong Town reorganization method."

"Those who fail to meet the standards will be sent to the garrison as garrison troops. The two towns will be reorganized and all will follow our military system. All military pay and benefits will be paid according to the actual positions, and the one-time compensation for the nominal positions will be emptied."

The military system of the garrison camps in the Ming Dynasty was extremely chaotic, with different organizations varying greatly from region to region.

Many camps and towns also have the position of sentry officer, who replaces the captain, but the title of captain is sometimes used interchangeably with sentry officer.

Since we are going to reorganize, we must do it thoroughly.

"The reorganization is still under the charge of the Military Affairs Department, assisted by the Military Law Department and the Discipline Department, and managed by the Central Military Department."

Chen Wang handed the document in his hand to Hu Zhili who was standing beside him and gave instructions.

"It would be difficult to lower the Military Law Department and the Discipline Department to the bureau level. There may not be enough military judges and discipline officers on active duty... Should we first lower them to the department level..."

Hu Zhili thought for a moment and replied.

There are indeed many reserve military judges in the Military Court, but with nearly 70,000 soldiers in the southern towns, there is still a certain shortage.

"There are not enough military judges and instructors. We can first recruit soldiers from various towns to fill the gaps, and then intensify the training and study."

Chen Wang shook his head and rejected it.

"Only when general judges and training officers are set up at the bureau level can the discipline and combat effectiveness of the troops be guaranteed."

"The Military Law Department and the Discipline Department must be set up directly under the bureau."

Chen Wang turned his gaze back to the sand table in front of him and asked again.

"How is the plan for the reorganization of the Central Military Department being prepared?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Zhili took out a document from his arms and placed it on the edge of the sand table.

"The preliminary reorganization plan has been formulated. If there are any problems later, it will be adjusted according to the actual situation."

Chen Wang nodded and motioned Hu Zhili to continue.

"In the 14th year of Chongzhen, the left army originally had 13 battalions. After Zuo Liangyu's reorganization, it became 11 battalions, but the total number of people remained the same."

Hanzhong Town carried out drastic reforms to the military, and Zuo Liangyu followed suit.

Today, the garrison system that was originally created to deal with the Mongolians south of the desert is no longer suitable for the times.

A battalion of two to three thousand soldiers is no longer able to cope with the complex war situation in various places today.

Therefore, Zuo Liangyu also reorganized the troops under his command.

"Zuo Liangyu directly commands five battalions, totaling 15,000 men, all of whom are Zuo Liangyu's former confidants."

"Zuo Liangyu was in charge of one battalion, and the other four battalions were commanded by Wang Yuncheng, Hao Xiaozhong, Xu Yong, and Li Guoying, with 5,000 men in each battalion."

Chen Wang looked solemn. Although he had only met Wang Yuncheng among these four people, the other three were actually old acquaintances, old acquaintances recorded in historical records.

Among these four people, except Wang Yuncheng, the other three were of poor moral character and finally surrendered to the Qing court.

Hao Xiaozhong became the general of the right wing of Hunan in the Qing Dynasty.

Xu Yong continued to make contributions in the war against the Southern Ming Dynasty and was promoted to the commander-in-chief of Huguang in the Qing Dynasty, but he was soon captured and killed by Sun Kewang. As for Li Guoying, he was even better than Hao Xiaozhong and Xu Yong, and even became the governor of Sichuan in the Qing Dynasty, and had a good end.

But none of this will happen now, and Chen Wang has no idea of ​​settling accounts.

The four generals under Zuo Liangyu's command are not mediocre. They can be deployed to any place and have the ability to command a division.

"The remaining six battalions will be commanded by the surrendered generals of the 72nd Battalion."

"They are Liu Guoneng, Li Wanqing, Xu Kebian, Wang Guangen, Ma Shixiu, and Du Yingjin."

These names are also old acquaintances to Chen Wang.

Except Du Yingjin, the other five people have left many traces in history books.

However, Chen Wang also knew that in addition to those who had their names recorded in history books, there were many others who had disappeared into the torrent.

For example, General Zhang Chengyi, who now commands the Vanguard Battalion of the Wanmin Army.

He achieved the four feats of beheading the general, seizing the flag, being the first to climb the ladder and breaking the formation. From a mere soldier, he became a general.

"Each battalion has a different number of people. The one with the largest number of people is Liu Guoneng, who has 6,000 people under his command. The other battalions mostly have around 2,000 to 3,000 people."

"Liu Guoneng?"

Hearing this name, Chen Wang couldn't help but smile.

Liu Guoneng can be considered his old friend in the true sense.

After he took command of the hundred generals, the first battle he fought was in Bingzhou.

At that time, Liu Guoneng, One-Character King Tuo Xianling, and Crashing Heaven King Gao Yingdeng led their troops to attack, but they were defeated and fled in disarray.

Later, when the campaign was launched to suppress Huguang, Liu Guoneng had already surrendered. Chen Wang and Liu Guoneng met several times afterwards.

Historically, after Liu Guoneng surrendered, he did not rebel again and died in the city.

All six of them were experienced in fighting with swords and guns, and their abilities were not much weaker than the four generals under Zuo Liangyu.

"How many soldiers are there in Mengzhen?"

"Meng Town has eight battalions of soldiers and horses, and the number of soldiers in each battalion varies. Meng Ruhu Town has 6,000 soldiers and horses, Cao Bianjiao, Luo Rucai, and Liu Guangzuo each have 5,000 soldiers and horses, and the other four battalions have 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers and horses, and the battalion commanders are Cao Dingjiao, Zhang Zhong, Diao Mingzhong, and Du Xianchun."

Cao Dingjiao did not follow Cao Wenzhao north to Songjin.

Cao Wenzhao knew very well that going to Songjin was a road of no return.

So let Cao Dingjiao follow Cao Bianjiao and go south together.

At that time, Cao Bianjiao was already the general, but Cao Dingjiao was still only a lieutenant general, helping Cao Bianjiao lead the army as a lieutenant general.

However, as the war continued, many generals of the Ming army were killed in battle.

After Cao Bianjiao took control of the army, he naturally sent Cao Dingjiao out to take charge of a battalion.

Cao Dingjiao now only holds the position of deputy general in the Ming court.

"Cao Dingjiao can also be included in the list of the first batch of military academy students."

Chen Wang hesitated for a moment and said.

Chen Wang was deeply impressed by Cao Dingjiao.

Although Cao Dingjiao did not have the abnormal bravery and judgment of the timing of war as Cao Bianjiao.

But Cao Dingjiao also has his own advantages.

Cao Bianjiao was good at leading cavalry, while Cao Dingjiao was a complete infantry general who was adept at commanding infantry.

During the Battle of Qiutou Town, it was Cao Dingjiao who commanded the infantry and blocked the first wave of attacks from the bandits.

Cao Dingjiao is a prudent person, good at defense, and has no problem commanding a battalion.

When following Cao Wenzhao, Cao Wenzhao often gave the command of the central army to Cao Dingjiao when he led troops to attack.

This is similar to when Hu Zhiyi was still in the army.

When Chen Wang was only in charge of Hanzhong Town, he often asked Hu Zhiyi to help manage the central army.

With Cao Dingjiao's ability, it is not a problem for him to lead a division alone, he just lacks experience.

Cao Dingjiao is good at defense, so he can be deployed to a strategic point such as Xuzhou.

Chen Wang only had some memories of the other three people. They were all marginal military generals in the Ming Dynasty. They did not have many achievements and there were few records about them.

"The two towns have been reorganized and merged into one. They are temporarily listed in the sequence of Huguang Town and divided into 14 battalions. According to the organization of our Hanzhong Town, each battalion has 5,000 people."

The reorganization plan issued by the Central Military Department only concerned the reduction of military personnel and the promotion of officers.

The specific number of battalions to be reorganized and the number of divisions to be set up still needs to be decided by Chen Wang.

Because of the intelligence sent by the Intelligence Department, Chen Wang already had a general idea about the two towns of Zuo and Meng, so he had a plan in mind from the beginning.

Now that he has received more detailed requirements, Chen Wang can naturally optimize the original plan.

"Except Zhang Zhong, Diao Mingzhong, Du Xianchun, and Du Yingjin, the other four will serve as deputies, and the rest will still serve as battalion commanders."

There were 19 battalions in the two towns of Zuo and Meng. Meng Ruhu did not surrender, but the soldiers were gathered together, so they only needed to be eliminated.

Chen Wang did not replace the officers of the two towns.

Now that the general trend has been established, the towns in the southern country have no choice but to follow him to the end.

Being too drastic would be detrimental to stability.

"After the two towns were merged, they came under the jurisdiction of Huguang Town, with a total of three divisions."

"The Second Division of Huguang Town has five battalions under its command, led by Zuo Liangyu as the division commander, and under him are four generals: Cao Dingjiao, Li Wanqing, Wang Guangen, and Wang Yuncheng."

The First Division of Huguang Town was formerly the Sixth Battalion of Huguang, and was commanded by Zhou Yumao.

"The Third Division of Huguang Town has five battalions under its command, led by Cao Bianjiao as the division commander, and under him are four generals: Liu Guoneng, Luo Rucai, Hao Xiaozhong, and Xu Yong."

"The Fourth Division of Huguang Town has four battalions under its command, led by Liu Guangzuo as the division commander, and under him are three generals: Ma Shixiu, Xu Kebian, and Li Guoying."

Liu Guangzuo's abilities are mediocre, and he is definitely not qualified to be a division commander.

However, Liu Guangzuo was the first to express his opinion, and naturally he wanted to serve the bones with great value.

If Liu Guangzuo performs well in the future, Chen Wang naturally wouldn't mind letting Liu Guangzuo secure his position as division commander.

Reorganization still requires breaking up the organizational structure and the old system cannot be used completely.

In addition to the officers and soldiers of each camp being dispersed, the grassroots soldiers and middle-level officers and soldiers will also change accordingly.

Although this move will cause a short-term decline in the army's combat effectiveness due to the transfer of officers and soldiers who are familiar with the situation of the troops.

But for Chen Wang at present, this level of combat power is acceptable, and the subsequent stability is worth the temporary disturbance.

and……

Wuchang City is just to the south.

Use 300,000 Western troops as a test stone.

The combat capability of the soon-to-be-expanded Huguang Town will no longer be a problem.

……

"History of Ming Dynasty·Biographies·157"

In September of the fourteenth year, they laid siege to the city and attacked it from all sides. Guo Nian was unable to withstand it, and the city fell, and he was captured.

The bandit still said to him, "Ruo, you are my old friend, why don't you surrender?"

Guo Neng glared at you and shouted, "At first I was a bandit with you, but now I am your subject. Why would I surrender to you?"

So he killed him. When the matter was known, he was posthumously awarded the title of Left Commander-in-Chief, promoted to the rank of Ronglu Doctor, and a shrine was built.