Yi Song

Chapter 209 Let’s start with literacy

Master Zhong asked in return: "Brother Liu Xian, why do you say that?"

"Commander Jie came to Shaanxi to take charge of the Xuanfu Envoy Division. It's already been three months. Isn't it time to show off his military achievements? He has come with official expectations. Shouldn't he get off to a good start as soon as possible?"

The seed master turned to look at Liu Zhongwu and asked, "Master Ziwen, what do you mean?"

"Jie Shuai entered Shaanxi. It seemed that he had just arrived. He used thunderbolt tactics to take over the Shengjie Army and captured Tong Taiwei. Now the Shengjie Army is divided into four battalions: Youyi, Tabai, Shenzhen, and Beiwei. Tong Taiwei Wei also hanged himself at the post station in Chishui Town, Weinan County, Huazhou.

This awe-inspiring display made everyone in the Western Army awe-inspiring.

Then, contrary to everyone's expectations, everything was calm. But we all know that although things look calm, there are actually turbulent undercurrents. With one move, he investigated the military exploits and not only wiped out all of Tong Taiwei's gang members, but also gained the attention of 300,000 soldiers. "

Liu Fa interjected, "It is actually very simple to strengthen the morale of the army and boost morale. All you need to do is make clear the rewards and punishments. Commander Jieh knows this very well, which is impressive."

"Yes." Liu Zhongwu and Zhong Shidao couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"Then we need to find people to talk to, from us to the various commanders and commanders, to the commanders and generals. How many people have we talked to in more than two months?"

Liu Zhongwu continued.

The shortest time is two or three quarters of an hour, the long time is two or three hours, and some even need to talk two or three times. I was invited to talk three times. "

He turned to look at Master Zhong, "Brother Duanru, if you haven't answered the question I just asked you, don't try to hide away."

"Yes, these people are the backbone of our Western Army." Liu Zhongwu sighed.

It's not my style to just take a beating without fighting back. Therefore, I divided the five roads into three, left, middle and right, and set up the Front Enemy Command Department, which was directly under the Shaanxi Hedong Xuanfu Envoys Department, meaning Xingsi.

Liu Fa said hesitantly: "Jie Shuai and Xin Shuxian only talked for less than two quarters of an hour, and it seemed a bit disrespectful."

Liu Zhongwu, Liu Fa and Zhong Shidao were deep in thought.

The imperial court divided the northwest border into five roads: Xihe, Qinfeng, Jingyuan, Huanqing, and Piaoyan. Its basic combat philosophy was to defend and divide the roads to defend against the enemy.

That morning, Liu Guozhang gathered more than twenty generals of the Western Army at the Baihu Festival Hall of the Xuanfu Envoy to hold a meeting.

The front enemy command department on the left is located in Lanzhou, and its operational targets are Zhuoluo and Luo Junsi of Xixia Kingdom, Xiliang Prefecture, Gansu Junsi and the Tubo tribes in the west.

Feng Guan and Guo Zude were okay and knew how to advance and retreat. Uncle Xin relied on his nephew to hold many important positions in the army, and he was a little ignorant of his importance. It was inevitable that he would be alienated. The Xin family would have a hard time in the future. "

Master Zhong smiled and said, "Brother Liu Xian, you have already said that Commander-in-Chief has a deep mind and clever methods. He is not the kind of person who is eager for quick success. Big battles will definitely not be fought in the near future, but small battles are definitely indispensable."

"At least there are 700 or 800 people. I calculated that the commander will be stationed in Weizhou for 75 days, 750 people, and he will talk to ten people a day. Talk in the morning, talk in the afternoon, talk in the morning, talk over meals, When we go out for a walk and talk, he takes advantage of every opportunity to talk.

The front enemy command department in the middle route is located in Huaide Army, and the combat targets are Xishou Baotai Army, Jingsai Army and Hanhai in Xixia Kingdom.

“Today I have brought you all together to adjust the strategic deployment of the Western Army.

"Brothers Yang Weizhong, Gao Shixuan, Yang Keshi, Yang Kebi, Zhao Heshou, and Yang Zongmin were all interviewed twice." Master Zhong added.

Liu Fa agreed with this: "Jie Shuai looks young, but he has a deep mind and clever methods."

Liu Zhongwu nodded: "Xin Shuxian, Feng Guan, and Guo Zude are all supported by Lieutenant Tong. Although they have not been eliminated as child gangsters, alienation is necessary.

The front enemy command department on the right is located in the Suide Army, and the operational targets are the Xixia Kingdom's Jianing Army, Xiangyou Army, Zuoxiang Shenyong Army and Henan. "

Liu Yanqing couldn't help but ask: "Jie Shuai, divided into three divisions, will it conflict with the imperial government's economic system?"

"No conflict!" Liu Guozhang immediately replied, "The three divisions of left, middle and right are just subordinate agencies of the Xuanfu Envoys Department and are temporary settings to deal with war. There is no conflict with the division of five divisions. In the future, when we march and fight, we will ration food and pay according to the three divisions. Lu refers to Si Lai; when discussing merit in Shangshu, we will discuss it according to the Five Lus. The coordination of these textual differences will be left to the copywriters in the book office to handle."

Everyone looked at each other.

Can you still do this?

However, the Shaanxi Hedong Xuanfu Envoy Department was originally a temporary organization to deal with wars. It had the power to organize troops and manage government affairs, and was specialized in raising food and wages, and marching for war.

It seems reasonable to set up a separate agency under its name to specialize in marching and fighting. It’s just that no one has done it before, so it feels a little weird.

But for the people here, as long as the officials agree, everyone has no objection.

However, everyone knows that today's officials have done even the most deviant and outrageous things. The three-finger division is really doing the right thing.

"The numbers of the five armies along the border are mixed. The Xuanfu Envoy's Planning Office has made statistics. The total number is 1,037 military numbers. The number of troops in the book is 430,000 (note 1), which is divided into forbidden troops. , Xiang army, utility, Fan soldiers, rural soldiers, archers.

Zhao Ding told me. In order to keep a clear count of military numbers, numbers, and types of soldiers, the Planning Office had twelve desk clerks busy day and night, and several of them were about to lose their hair before they managed to figure it out. "

Everyone chuckled.

This young handsome man talks very interestingly.

But what Liu Guozhang said next was not that interesting to them.

"430,000, the number of troops in the Western Army, is it really 430,000?"

Everyone was silent.

Taking shortfalls is one of the methods used by generals and officers to seek benefits. The number of troops in the Western Army is definitely not 430,000. No one here knows how many there are specifically.

"The Planning Office and the Liangtai have already allocated 31,000 vacancies. Currently, the number of Western Army troops under the command of the Xuanfu Envoy in Hedong, Shaanxi Province is only 399,000. I believe it will decrease in the future."

These 31,000 vacancies were cleared when Tong Guan's legacy was eliminated and Tong Guan's remaining members were eradicated. They did not involve the interests of the Western Army.

After tapping the heads of the Western Army, Liu Guozhang continued: "Such a complicated and chaotic situation must be changed. A bad debt now will be fatal in wartime.

So when you go back, report all the troops and horses under your respective command. The Planning and Consultation Office will need to reorganize the system based on circumstances. The horse army's trumpet is "Xiaoqi" from a certain battalion, and the infantry's "Fengwu" battalion is called "Fengwu". Elite divisions with outstanding military exploits are awarded a certain battalion of hussars in the cavalry army, and a certain battalion of tigers in the infantry army. They belong to the left, center and right armies. "

Liu Guozhang took out a piece of paper and read from it.

"The two generals and horses stationed in Pingxia City of the Huaide Army, Xiongzhou Defense Envoy and Jingyuan Soldiers and Horses were in charge of Guo Cheng, were reorganized into the 1st Hussar Battalion and the 1st Huben Battalion of the Central Route Army, with the abbreviation of the 1st Hussar Battalion of the Central Route Army. The middle tiger camp is in the first camp.

The number of soldiers was 5,760. The two battalions were commanded by the previous two generals and were still under the command of Guo Qian. They were organized into the Pingxia Brigade, and Guo became the brigade commander.

The Suide Army was stationed at Mizhi Village and Yinchuan City. The Chizhou Governor and the Suiyan Soldiers and Horses were under the jurisdiction of Meng Zhen, who led one general of Fanqi and one general of infantry. They were reorganized into the First Battalion of Xiaoqi and the First Battalion of Fenwu of the Right Route Army.

The abbreviated names are the first battalion of Xiaoqi on the right and the first battalion of Fenwu on the right. The camp management was appointed by two generals and was organized into the Yongle Brigade, with Meng Zhen as the brigade commander. "

After citing two examples, Liu Guozhang said: "When I was in Bianjing, I read through the notes and notes of many famous ministers who came to Shaanxi to take charge of border affairs, and I saw that Enzu Gong (Lu Huiqing) once said, 'Shaanxi is bordered by Han people. The Tibetan soldiers formed their own armies, and the Tibetan troops were the vanguard in every battle, while the Han soldiers defended the city and went out to fight as soon as possible.

There are also many battle records. Four or five out of ten cases were ambushed by the Xixia army and suffered miserably. The reason is simply that the soldiers were moved around. This year they went to Huanqing Road, next year they went to Fuyan Road, and the year after that they went to Qinfeng Road. It’s too late to get familiar with the road in front of your home, let alone the road on the battlefield in the distance.

There is also the poor military quality of generals and officers! "

Note 1: During the Jingkang period, the imperial court mobilized the Western Army to support Hedong, Bianjing and other places, with a book strength of 390,000 troops. It was impossible to allocate all of it, so we took 430,000.

(End of this chapter)