The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 450: Farming Plan, Stabilizing the Rear

He Wei's decision to recruit Ding Lunshi was naturally a spur-of-the-moment decision. After all, he had just met this guy. However, what he said about the construction of the rear guard post and the rear training ground was something he had planned long ago.

This plan actually involves the long-term healthy development of the assault corps in the future. At the same time, it is also something that must be considered as the assault corps' organization gradually expands and He Wei's own military rank and status continue to improve.

Speaking of which, this was Liu Fei's inspiration to He Wei. When meeting Liu Fei that day, Liu Fei had assured He Wei that he would give priority to ensuring the replenishment of the assault corps, and would assign at least one division-level unit to He Wei separately, using the entire division-level unit as a special place to replenish the assault corps.

This proposal was quite tempting to He Wei. According to the current military service replenishment system of the National Army, the direct contact agency for replenishment of troops by the front-line field troops was the division command area.

Generally speaking, a division command area will be responsible for the task of replenishing the troops of a field army-level unit at the front. A division command area has two or three regiment command areas under it, and the regiment command areas are generally built on the basis of counties. Each regiment command area corresponds to a county, and when recruiting new soldiers, they will recruit troops within the scope of the corresponding county. The recruitment control range of a division command area is naturally two or three regiment command areas, that is, the area of ​​two or three counties.

If it is true as Liu Fei said, the Assault Corps can be assigned to a division command area, then the Assault Corps will be assigned to the military service replenishment agency originally assigned to a field army, and use it to replenish new soldiers for an army. The division command area with a regional coverage of two or three counties will serve the Assault Corps, and the Assault Corps' troop replenishment will definitely be quite sufficient, which is also a very good thing for the Assault Corps.

The troops under He Wei used to be small and easy to replenish. For example, in Nanjing, with a single order from Minister He, they could easily withdraw troops from the troops that were to be deployed to the Songhu front and directly replenish He Wei. In Wuhan, after the assault corps was established, He Wei relied on his own money to recruit soldiers, and with the help of Minister He, who approved two battalions of Guizhou volunteers for He Wei, he quickly completed the establishment of the newly established assault corps.

Anyway, the troops are small in size and organization, and it would be enough to rely on drawing troops from all over and supplementing them here and there. But now the Assault Corps has a quite large organization, and it is likely to be expanded. It is inappropriate to use this method to supplement troops. Not only is it unstable and unfixed, it also has a great impact on the improvement of combat effectiveness. Now there is a fixed counterpart division command area for supplementation, which is of great benefit to the Assault Corps.

However, according to He Wei's idea, it is far from enough to simply assign the division command area to the assault corps. What he wants is to grasp the division command area assigned to him as much as possible and control it in his own hands.

Why did He Wei have such an idea? There are many reasons.

First, the current military service supplement system of the National Army is very imperfect. The division command area responsible for recruiting new soldiers is nominally recruiting, but in many cases it simply does not recruit enough men of military age who are willing to serve on the front lines.

Once the number of recruits is not enough, they will often start to capture people, which is commonly known as conscripting men. That is, they will be forced, coerced or even forcibly recruited soldiers within the conscription area. When the number is almost made up through conscription and capture, the division command will send these recruits to the front-line troops and leave. According to this method, the quality of the new recruits received by the reinforcement troops will be very problematic, and there will definitely be many problems in the training and management of the new recruits who are captured or forced.

It's easy to guess that the soldiers captured by force are not very loyal. They only think about how to escape and become deserters. Not to mention training and combat, just preventing these people from escaping is enough to give the front-line officers a headache, of course.

To be honest, He Wei is not a pushover, and he will not completely reject the captured recruits. If he is really pushed to the limit, he can still train the captured men and add them to the army, letting them fight on the front lines. But if he can get better recruits, why would he waste his energy on using the captured soldiers who are hated by both man and nature?
Moreover, in many cases, the reason why the division command responsible for conscription messes up the quality of the new recruits sent to the front-line troops is not only because it is indeed difficult to recruit enough soldiers and various corruption factors, but also because the disconnection between the division command and the corresponding supplementary troops is a factor that cannot be ignored.

Generally, the troops being replenished need to be supplemented with new recruits and the number of recruits will be informed to the division command area at the rear. The division command area at the rear will then just gather the new recruits to make up the sufficient number and send them to the troops being replenished, and the replenishment process is considered completed.

As for the quality of the new recruits, their physical condition, and whether they meet the requirements of being strong and healthy, that is not what the recruiting division is concerned about. As long as the soldiers are handed over to the front-line troops, the division will be considered to have completed its mission and fulfilled its mission.

In short, there are many disadvantages to such a disjointed replenishment method, and He Wei must of course avoid it as much as possible. The natural way to avoid it is to take control of the division command area that replenishes the assault corps and strive to achieve the integration of the rear-line conscription agency and the assault corps, the replenished force.

Of course, it is not very difficult to take control of the division command area assigned to the assault corps, because the replenishment of each unit is under the jurisdiction of Minister He’s Military and Political Department. By then, it should not be a problem to use Minister He’s connections.

Secondly, He Wei not only wanted to improve the quality of conscription and take control of the division command area, but also wanted to use the division command area assigned to the assault corps as a rear base to provide guarantees for all aspects of the assault corps. He Wei not only wanted to do a good job in the conscription and replenishment of new recruits, but also planned to establish a series of rear support agencies, setting up a left-behind office in the division command area, and under this left-behind office, there were many subordinate agencies, such as clothing factories, convalescent homes, and farms for wounded soldiers.

As for the clothing factory, the equipment equipped by the officers and soldiers of the Assault Corps is the tactical vest designed by He Wei. This thing is not the standard equipment produced by the clothing factory of the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs of the National Government at all. It is not easy to replenish it in large quantities. The equipment vests currently equipped by the Assault Corps were custom-made by Ding Lunshi at the expense of He Wei.

In this case, it would be better to get some machines and set up a clothing factory, produce and replenish the supplies by ourselves. This can save costs and replenish military uniforms and equipment for the front-line troops in a timely manner.

As for the nursing homes and farms for wounded soldiers, they are even more necessary. Although the assault corps has won many battles since Nanjing, it has also paid a high price. Many officers and soldiers have been killed and even more injured. Among those wounded soldiers, many have recovered but can never go to the battlefield again for various reasons. Some have intact limbs but serious physical injuries, such as difficulty walking, and some simply have broken legs and arms, and it is impossible for them to return to the army to continue serving. There are quite a few such brothers, and they are all stranded in Wuhan, under the watchful eyes of Li Youcai, Director of the Logistics Department.

He Wei would certainly take care of these seriously injured and disabled brothers who were unable to continue to return to the army to serve. Moreover, as the assault corps continued to participate in wars in the future, the number of people in this group would certainly continue to increase. As the commander of the unit, He Wei had the obligation to ensure their future lives, so he planned to set up a convalescent home and a farm for wounded soldiers.

The seriously injured and disabled brothers who had broken legs and arms and could not even move and take care of themselves were arranged to be taken care of in the wounded sanatorium. The brothers who were in better condition, with intact limbs and able to work but unable to continue fighting in the battlefield were arranged to recuperate and work in the wounded farm. In this way, these brothers were given better protection. The officers and soldiers in the army saw that the seriously injured and disabled brothers were taken care of and protected. They knew that they had medicine to treat their injuries, people to carry them, and people to take care of them. They could fight harder on the battlefield.

Of course, this is just He Wei's initial idea. What else needs to be done and added later will be discussed at that time. But as long as this series of things are done, the overall combat effectiveness of the assault corps will definitely be raised to a higher level.

The division command area under the control of He Wei can continuously supply high-quality recruits to the assault corps. Logistics supply agencies such as clothing factories can provide all kinds of material supplements to the front line. The wounded adoption agency can provide good living conditions for the disabled officers and soldiers sent from the front line, and can also provide psychological and spiritual support and guarantees to the officers and soldiers of the army.

If this virtuous cycle mechanism can be successfully implemented, it will be of great benefit to the overall combat effectiveness of the assault corps and the cohesion within the troops.

To use the words of later generations, the series of measures that He Wei is now planning can also be said to be a farming plan, well, a farming plan to seek long-term development for the assault corps.

In fact, in history, many commanders of the National Army's elite troops did the same thing as He Wei. Wang Yaowu, who commanded the National Army's ace 74th Army, used the income from the biscuit factory he opened in the rear to subsidize the troops. Du Yuming, commander of the National Army's Fifth Army, which the Kuomintang government invested heavily in and equipped with a large number of mechanized equipment and excellent weapons, was also proficient in this.

Du Yuming carried out large-scale construction in the rear garrison of the Fifth Army. He opened a clothing factory, a repair factory for repairing weapons and equipment, and a school for the children of officers' families. In addition, he also carried out various construction projects in the garrison. The original intention of these elite officers of the National Army was no different from that of He Wei. They all carried out large-scale construction in the rear in order to improve the overall combat effectiveness of the troops. The effect was also obvious. Both the 74th Army and the Fifth Army were among the most powerful in the National Army.

Now that He Wei wants to do this, he has no shortage of money. The Assault Corps is directly under the Military Commission, and its funds are directly wholesaled by the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs. The daily operation of the troops is basically enough with the funds issued from above. Moreover, He Wei has a lot of dollars and gold bars obtained from Nanjing, so his pockets are very bulging.

What is lacking now is the talent to implement He Wei's ideas. He Wei himself is an officer, and his brothers are all officers and cadres who have fought in the army. It is really difficult to ask them to do these things. Only Li Youcai, the director of the logistics department, has some ability in this regard.

But he came from a quartermaster background and was better at being a financial and logistics manager in the military. He was still a little lacking in rear-area construction. Besides, the assault corps also needed logistics officers when fighting on the front lines, so Li Youcai could not do this job.

However, although Ding Lunshi was born a comprador, he also owns a trading company and has been involved in industry. He has experience in doing business and has connections and channels. Moreover, from what he said just now, it seems that he has a group of employees from his trading company under him. This is a group of talents, and they are professionally suitable for the construction of industries such as bedding factories.

Moreover, seeing that Ding Lunshi is still leading his employees and helping them find a way out at this critical juncture, it can be seen that Ding Lunshi's character is still quite good. If he is asked to help himself, it would be a good choice.

Moreover, Ding Lunshi was born a foreign comprador and is now in such a miserable state. It would be easier for He Wei to control him by finding him to do work for him, and there would be no hidden dangers.

At the dinner table, after listening to He Wei's recruitment and the general plan he outlined, Ding Lunshi's mind instantly became clear. He was no longer as excited and manic as before, and he began to murmur in his heart.

If he accepted He Wei's recruitment, he would have to work under He Wei in the future. To be honest, Ding Lunshi's first reaction was reluctance. Although He Wei was quite famous, as the chief officer of the elite troops of the Central Army, a disciple of the emperor who graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy and had achieved an impressive record of military achievements, and with the support of bigwigs of the National Government such as Minister He, it would not be too bad to follow him.

But after all, He Wei is only in his twenties. Ding Lunshi always feels a little unhappy when he thinks about working under this young man who is so much younger than him and letting him do whatever he wants.

Moreover, he used to be involved in arms and industrial products business, and each move could make him hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now, after hearing about He Wei's dealings with wounded soldiers, farms, and bedding factories, he felt that the treatment and income would not be very good. After all, how could these things be compared with arms and industrial products worth thousands of dollars?
Seeing Ding Lunshi's sullen face, He Wei roughly guessed what he was thinking, so he said seriously: "Brother, if you are willing to come and help me, I promise that the treatment you give will not be bad. My troops are directly under the Military Commission. Well, they can be regarded as a bit like the Imperial Guard. This time we come to the temporary capital to take charge of the temporary capital's defense. Therefore, the funds and money of the troops are sufficient. I will not hide it from you. The funds and money in stock in my department's account are enough to do the arms business we did last time seven or eight times without any changes, and there is still a lot of money left. So, don't worry about the money and treatment. I will give you very generous treatment."

"And you also know that I have some connections with Minister He, and I have some connections in the military and government agencies. If Brother Ding wants to find another way out one day, I can help him a little and will never stop him. As for me, I absolutely sincerely invite Brother Ding to help. If Brother Ding is unwilling, I will never force him."

He Wei's acting was of course useful to Ding Lunshi. When Ding Lunshi thought of He Wei's background and his previous generous donation, and then thought about his current difficult situation, his wife and children at home, and his employees who were waiting for work and meals, he wisely suppressed the resentment and resistance that had just arisen in his heart.

Then, Ding Lunshi, who had been silent for a while, poured himself another bowl of wine and gulped it down. Then he nodded to He Wei and said, "Brother He, no, Captain He, I, Ding Lunshi, will follow you from today on!"

He Wei slammed the table and cheered, "Okay! From now on, we are colleagues. Let's study it carefully in the next two days. When my troops arrive, I will immediately allocate a batch of funds to you, and we will start this matter as soon as possible."

(End of this chapter)