At about four o'clock in the afternoon, the court meeting ended, and the other officials and generals left together, while the newly appointed four commanders of the army and navy were left alone.

"The Imperial Army has been expanded by half, and the burden on the shoulders of the army and navy is very heavy, and the four of you must cooperate sincerely to ensure that there are no mistakes in the expansion work."

"Your Majesty, rest assured, we will do our best to ensure the completion of the task of expanding the army."

The four of them said in unison.

"Well, that's good." Li Mingyuan nodded and said: "The focus of the large-scale army expansion work is on the army side, and in this army expansion work, I hope that the army can learn from the past combat experience and organize several units for special terrain operations according to the different terrain and climate of various parts of the country. ”

"The Special Forces Command has deployed a combat unit for special tasks in Patagonia, the northern mountains and forests of the empire, and the tropical rainforest, and the minister intends to use the three forces as a model to establish a regular army dedicated to the snow and cold areas, the mountainous and hilly areas, and the tropical rainforest areas."

Following Li Mingyuan's words, Zhao Yongzeng replied.

"Chief Zhao has served in the Special Forces Joint Command for several years, and he is very familiar with the combat style and tactics of the special forces, so he thinks that General Zhao should lead the training of the special terrain units of the National Defense Forces."

Luo Linshan, the new Minister of the Army, took the initiative to propose.

"I can see the performance of General Zhao during his tenure as commander of the special forces, and it is only fitting for General Zhao to lead the organization of the special forces of the National Defense Forces."

Li Mingyuan agreed with Luo Linshan's suggestion and continued: "Patagonia covers an area of more than 600,000 square kilometers, with a cold climate and rich fishery resources, and American and Canadian fishing boats often illegally cross the border and enter coastal areas to hunt.

In order to secure the Empire's control over the region, and to prevent the Western powers from passing through the Penguin Islands (Malvinas), after the Han occupied Argentina, they claimed to inherit Argentine territory and claimed sovereignty over the Penguin Islands and Antarctica. ), blockade of the Jianye (Strait of Magellan) Strait, the strength of the garrison in the Patagonia region of Africa is necessary to be strengthened. ”

"Does Your Majesty think it is appropriate to select suitable sources of troops from among the young people of Patagonia and re-form a brigade-sized snow combat unit?"

Zhao Yongzeng asked tentatively.

"The brigade is too small, and three units are selected directly from the newly formed infantry divisions to train in a combat style suitable for snow and cold areas, mountainous and hilly areas, and tropical rainforest areas.

After the training, the Snow Division was deployed in Patagonia to defend the southern territory of the Empire, and the Mountain Division and Jungle Division were deployed in the southern border areas of the Empire for the Knife Units fighting against Paraguay and the Republic of Brazil. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, the ministers will learn from the training model of the special forces and conduct targeted training for the three special forces."

"The combat missions of the three special forces are different from those of special forces, and some changes can be made in the training methods and conditions, but the training standards must also be maintained at a normal level, and cannot be too much lower than the training standards of special forces."

"Remember Your Majesty's teachings."

"In addition, although the number of special forces carrying out tasks has decreased in recent years, it is not possible to relax the management and training of special forces, airships, gliders, new guns, new grenades, mines and other weapons can be given priority to equip special forces, and in view of the operational requirements of special forces, the Ordnance Department of the Ministry of the Army should also cooperate with the Special Forces Joint Operations Command to develop special standard weapons."

"The special forces are the troops created by His Majesty himself, and the requirements and support of the army for the special forces are the same, and there will never be anything that disappoints His Majesty in the special forces."

"High standards and strict requirements can build a steely army!"

In Li Mingyuan's heart, the special forces built by himself have always had a special status.

"The special forces were formed during the Peruvian uprising, when the troops were poorly equipped and in a harsh environment, and I and more than 100,000 soldiers all fought thousands of miles and sacrificed more than 10,000 soldiers all the way to Yangzhou (Rio Gro Sul)."

Recalling 21 years ago, the Peruvian uprising and the more than 10,000 Chinese laborers who died during the thousand-mile transfer, Li Mingyuan's mood could not help but be affected.

"The place where the tombs of the Han soldiers are located is the territory of the Han family!

Today, more than 10,000 soldiers are lost on thousands of kilometers of migration roads.

Now, more than 20 years have passed, and the loyal souls of more than 10,000 soldiers have been waiting in the barren land for more than 20 years!

I remember the original promise, where the horse stepped on the Han soil,

Even if the loyal souls of the soldiers cannot return, we must give them a place of peace! ”

Li Mingyuan said that he was excited, turned his gaze to Zhao Yongzeng, and ordered: "Twenty-one years ago, it was the special forces that found the way for the whole army to turn thousands of miles, and in the future, I also hope that it will be the special forces that will start and bury the loyal bones of the soldiers left behind on the migration along the way to the road!" ”

"The burial place of every fallen soldier is recorded, and the minister assures His Majesty that the bones of a fallen soldier will never be left in the wild!"

"Good! Very good! I hope that in my lifetime, I will work with you to complete the task of welcoming back the bones of the soldiers and storing the burial of the bones of the soldiers as the land of the Han Dynasty, rather than leaving this task to future generations to complete. ”…………

Inside the council hall, Li Mingyuan's conversation with the four commanders of the army and navy continued, while outside the palace, more than a dozen young and strong naval officers between the ages of 20 and 30, who were generally in the western powers, and who had studied and trained in the Western powers, gathered together to discuss topics in the court.

"I heard that the German naval instructor is about to leave the ship and hand over the command of the warship, who do you guess is most likely to serve as the captain of the two Pioneer class ironclads (two 3,500-ton armored cruisers built on the mainland, originally commanded by German naval officers on board to assist the native naval officers)?"

"It's hard to say, He Linshu, Yang Jiannian, Chen Binshi, Wang Jinyong, Yang Guangzong, Xu Zhixuan, Lu Wenhui, Chen Jurong...... The Admiralty has selected a dozen reserve candidates, and who knows which two will be chosen. ”

"According to me, He Linshu, Yang Jiannian, Chen Binshi, and Wang Jin have the best chance."

An officer with the rank of major on his shoulder spoke.

"Why? Is it just because of their qualifications? High status? ”

"Hehe, Brother Wang, don't be unconvinced, the four of them are the fifth batch of local students to go to sea, and they are also the first batch of seniors with experience in serving in the German naval fleet, isn't it just right to choose them as the captains of the Pioneer-class armored cruisers?"

"It's not necessarily, Your Majesty has always advocated meritocracy, not to engage in seniority, just having seniority and not taking the credit, but you can't be the captain of the main battleship of the Imperial Navy."

"What Brother Chen said is good, in terms of ability and combat exploits, Major Yang Guangrong, the captain of the No. 1 Yongxing-class ship, Major Xu Zhixuan, the captain of the No. 5 ship, Major Lu Wenhui, the combat staff officer of the Chaoyang (Zhenyuan-level improved version), and Major Chen Jurong, the main gun commander of the Liming (Zhenyuan-class improved version), are not worse than the four of them, why must He Shulin be the captain?"

"It's just that............

More than a dozen young naval officers divided into two factions and argued separately.

"Okay, let's stop arguing, who is the captain of the first and second ships of the Vanguard-class armored cruiser, before the official appointment of the Admiralty, it's useless for us to argue, in my opinion, let's make a bet, just bet on who guessed the captain of the two ships, what do you think?"

"Chen Laosan, it's not that you don't know that gambling is prohibited in the army, and you have suffered from gathering people to gamble when you were discovered by the military police!"

"Chen Shiding, it's okay if you kid gets caught gambling, don't get the big guy involved!" ……

Everyone felt that Chen Shi had a bad idea, and they all squeezed it.

"What the brothers said! I, Chen Shiding, am also a top student who graduated from the University of Charlottenburg! Where will you take everyone to gamble! ”

"Come on, Chen Laosan, the dominant discipline of the University of Charlottenburg is metallurgy, you kid is the navy who entered the navy halfway after graduating from the University of Charlottenburg, who doesn't know this little bit of yours!"

A young officer who had a good relationship with Chen Shiding coaxed.

"What's wrong with the navy that entered halfway, we came in with real talent, and in terms of naval combat command, we are no worse than your Major Sun!"

Chen Shiding retorted loudly, then changed his smile to a smile, and continued: "Haha, everyone misunderstood, what is meant in the next is that let's make a bet, just bet on who will serve as the captain of the two Pioneer class ironclad ships, and those who guess wrong admit to losing the bet, please go to the capital to drink in the drunken immortal building, what do you think, brother?" ”

"That's a good suggestion, I agree,"

"I agree" ......

More than 10 of them were officers at the rank of major, and they were given a lot of military salaries and subsidies by the navy every month, and they were not short of money, so they agreed to Chen Shiding's suggestion one after another. …………

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