Chapter 1158: Carrying on the Past and Opening up the Future (Forty-Eight)

"A centipede insect, dead but not stiff." A clear voice suddenly came from the door. Everyone turned around and saw Ye Zhong, Minister of the Ministry of War, standing there, looking at everyone with a smile. With a swish sound, all the generals in the room stood up. He stood up and gave a military salute to Ye Zhong uniformly. Ye Zhong returned the salute to everyone, strode into the room, and stood on the top position, "What's more, Chu State was in the battle of Linyi last year. , they were hurt by our beating, but we also woke them up. In the words of the king, this male lion who was sleeping and still suffering from illness has now been woken up by us, and he is recuperating. Rui will definitely become our formidable enemy in the future. Let’s not deny it. The great ambition of our Han Dynasty is to unify the world, so a full-scale confrontation with the Chu State is inevitable. Therefore, the failure of the New First Army is not necessarily inevitable. It's a bad thing. At least, he woke us up and made us realize that we are not the only heroes in the world."

Looking at all the generals with solemn expressions, Ye Zhong lowered his hands and said, "Everyone, please sit down. Originally, the king was going to come here in person to discuss with everyone, but because Director Cao of the Supervisory Academy just returned from Qin, Therefore, the King is now listening to Dean Cao’s report. He cannot come here today, and has entrusted me to apologize to everyone, and said that there will be a banquet in the palace to entertain you tonight."

The atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became relaxed. He Lanxiong smacked his lips and said, "That's good. In this way, we can drink Wu's best wine tonight. Let's not drink at noon today. Let's have enough energy." After measuring it, let’s go shopping in the evening, Wu’s top quality wine is not available in the market.”

There was a roar of applause in the room.

"There is wine for everyone to drink." Ye Chong also laughed, "It's rare that all of us are gathered together today. This is probably the first time in the world. This opportunity is rare, so naturally we want to have a good drink. In the military, you all have to take responsibility for your actions, so it may be difficult for you to drink freely!"

"Ye Shangshu, what is the reason why the king has recalled the main generals of each army group to Jicheng this time? To be honest, I feel uneasy now." Meng Chong, who was sitting second to Ye Zhong's left hand, said with a smile: "If you don't make it clear, I won't be able to enjoy the wine tonight!"

"Yes, Ye Shangshu, although the New First Army was defeated, for our Han army, it was only a skin injury and not harmful at all. However, the king's current actions are as if he is facing a formidable enemy. I I thought everyone else knew why, but now it seems that everyone is just as ignorant as me!" Bai Yucheng stroked his beard and said in confusion.

"Okay, originally I wanted to whet everyone's appetite, but since everyone is so impatient, let me first tell you the reason why the king summoned everyone to Jicheng this time." Ye Dian nodded.

Everyone held their breath and looked at Ye Chong.

"It has been two years since the founding of the Han Dynasty, but our army still follows the past model. The last time the army was reorganized was probably during the Eastern Expedition Army five years ago. During that army reorganization, General Wang led the entire army to conquer the East. The army was reorganized into four group armies to cope with the actual situation at that time. Later, with the development of the situation, the Young Guards, the New First Army and the Qilu Army were successively established. Today, our regular field army has reached 350,000. There are as many as 200,000 people in the local guard, so the king decided to reorganize the army again."

Ye Zhong paused for a moment and looked at the people gathered in concentration, "There are several key points for this army reorganization. First, all the armies in the country will be reorganized. Second, the troops will be streamlined and some unnecessary personnel will be withdrawn. , that is, reducing non-combatants. Third, unify the numbers. Like ours now, each army group is arranged according to serial numbers such as 1, 2, 3, and 4. This will cause many problems and will be inconvenient for large-scale operations in the future. This situation must be changed. Therefore, the original group army designations will be uniformly cancelled."

As soon as these words came out, there was a buzzing discussion in the conference room. Not to mention the New First Army, if the designations of the other six legions were all cancelled, the commanders of the six front armies were immediately appointed. For everyone here, this is no small matter.

"The king's decision is to establish four military regions. The first military region is mainly for the Qin State, the second military region is for the Chu State, the third military region is mainly in the direction of Liaodong and Hetao, and the fourth military region is the Weiwu Military Region. Every Each military region has a core leadership team composed of a commander, deputy commander, and chief of staff. I can tell you some news here. The positions of each major military region have not been finalized. Therefore, if you are willing, you can still fight for it. Of course, the king needs to see your plan regarding what position you want to take, what you can do once you get it, and what plans you have."

There was an explosion in the conference room again. Six armies were reduced to four, which meant that two of the original army commanders would lose the opportunity to stand alone. This is not a small matter. The army commanders present here He Guli and other independent cavalry divisions felt that this had nothing to do with them, but they looked calm. However, He Lanxiong, Ye Zhen, Xu Yuan, Meng Chong, Shangguan Hong, and Bai Yucheng all looked at me. Looking at you, you look a little embarrassed.

What the king decides is the final decision. No one here dares to question this decision, but who is up and who is down is worthy of study. Anyone who can sit in this position is not a dragon among men. Who will you really be convinced of?

"I have a question!" He Lanxiong suddenly said.

Ye Chong said with a smile: "Commander Helan, please speak."

"Establishing the Third Military Region in Liaodong, does it mean drawing personnel from various field troops? There are no enemies in Liaodong and Hetao. Drawing field troops will weaken the current military strength on various fronts. What does the king think about this?" Helan Xiong asked.

"No, no. The establishment of the Third Army will not draw personnel from the field troops. The personnel of the Third Military Region mainly come from two aspects. The first aspect is the guards that have been disbanded in various places. These local guards also have three choices. One choice is to sign up to become police officers, the second choice is to retire, and the third choice is to go to the Third Military Region. The second source of personnel for the Third Military Region is the personnel withdrawn from various field troops. After these people go to the Third Military Region, they will also enjoy the treatment of regular field troops." Ye Chong said.

"Police?" Helan Xiong asked suspiciously. "What department is this?"

"This is a new government office decided by the king to replace the original local guards to maintain local public security, and the original heads of police and patrol officers in various counties and counties will be responsible for the maintenance of local public security. will be cancelled, and these people can also apply for the police. Of course, the best candidates will be selected, and a new police department will be established in the central government to manage all police officers in the country."

"Another new department?" Helan Xiong exclaimed.

"Although a new department has been added, in fact, as far as the whole country is concerned, the abolition of local guards, patrols, and head constables has actually reduced at least 100,000 state-supplied personnel, which is a lot of burden for the national finances."

"The Third Military Region is composed of these people, and its combat effectiveness is worrying!" Helan Xiong said, rubbing his chin.

"The Third Military Region is not the main combat unit now. In fact, their more important task is to be used as a construction corps. Commander Helan, in Liaodong and Hetao, we have a lot of barren land, and no one is farming, because for the Han people, it is almost a barren area. In the past, some people immigrated there because they couldn't survive, but now our Han national strength is booming, and you can make a living anywhere. Who is willing to go to those places to suffer? So we have to develop this in the form of the army. Some places."

"I understand what they do!" Helan Xiong looked back at the others: "You all understand, right?"

"I understand!" The other commanders nodded in unison, but they were all secretly paying attention in their hearts. This commander doesn't have to be a commander. Even if he goes down to be a corps commander, he is much better than the so-called commander of the third military region.

Seeing the expressions of the people, Ye Zhong smiled and said: "What I just said is the main framework of this reorganization. Everyone just needs to have an idea in their minds. Next, everyone has three days to consider which position they are suitable for and submit a plan to the king. Well, I know that everyone must be up and down in their hearts now, because some people want to be promoted and some people want to be demoted, so I will tell you something that will make everyone happy. For my Han army, there are two major events this time. The first one is of course the reorganization of the army, and the second one is that the king has decided to implement the military rank system in the entire army."

Looking at the confused expressions of the people, Ye Zhong laughed and said: "It seems that everyone doesn't understand again. It doesn't matter. I didn't understand it at first. This system was set up by the king himself. It is simple and easy to understand. Everyone will understand it as soon as they hear it. The ranks of the entire army are divided into generals, colonels, lieutenants and non-commissioned officers. Generals are divided into generals, lieutenant generals, major generals and brigadier generals, colonels are divided into colonels, lieutenant colonels, majors, lieutenants are divided into captains, lieutenants, second lieutenants and warrant officers, non-commissioned officers are divided into sergeants, corporals and privates, and soldiers are divided into privates first class, privates and privates. The commander of the military region is a general, the deputy commander and the chief of staff are lieutenant generals, the commanders of each army are lieutenant generals to major generals, the division commander is a major general, and the regiment commander is from colonel to brigadier general. The battalion commander is between lieutenant colonel and major, the company commander is captain, the platoon leader is lieutenant and major, and the squad leader is sergeant. Do you understand what I said?"

Everyone nodded. In this way, the ranks of the army are strictly distinguished.

"Your Majesty has designed a kind of epaulette to distinguish the different ranks. I will ask the generals to appreciate the patterns of each epaulette. You can also take a look and see which one you will wear in the future, hahaha!" Ye Zhong laughed: "Very beautiful, very impressive!" (To be continued)