"How's Handan?" Xi Zhicai asked Xun Yu with some urgency. Although Xun Yu was enjoying his own dinner. He came here in a hurry, and whether he could reach a real military alliance with the Republican Army, as well as the related economic and political alliances, would be very important.

However, the current basis for cooperation between the two sides is very unfavorable. It's not even as good as Yuan Shu. I heard that Yuan Shu was just outside the Bishui Pass, and his troops did not lose much. And he is very rich, if it weren't for the fact that Yangzhou was far away from here, maybe the republican army would not consider the Cao army, which did not have any strength and suffered serious losses in troops.

Cao Cao was working to expand his army, simply by recruiting from among the Republican prisoners of war.

The Republican Army was very lenient in its treatment of prisoners of war, because if they were to be fed, it would be very troublesome, they needed to be fed, and at the same time they had to be cared for, and the most troublesome thing was disease, which could easily expand if it was not well controlled on the battlefield. The best thing for the IRA was to give them a modest amount of money to free them home, and many of them were forced to be drafted in, and they naturally resented the war. When they heard about the release, their first reaction was to go home.

But the road home was extremely difficult. Even if they are homesick. But in many cases, it doesn't change with their minds. It was from these prisoners of war that the Cao army found a way to intercept a large number of released prisoners, and then "recruited" them to join the Cao army.

Of course, there are many ways to recruit. Violence, threats, intimidation, and even direct control.

However, Cao Jun did not blindly do this, and they also took some measures, such as participating in Cao Jun and distributing land in the future. Even, give greater preferential military salaries, tax-free benefits, and so on. The dead will have more land to give to their own families, and their families will not pay taxes for a certain period of time. Under such circumstances, some prisoners of war had to rejoin Cao's army.

In this way, Cao's army is expanding its establishment at a relatively rapid pace, and their current establishment has exceeded more than 9,000 people, about 21 infantry battalions. On top of that, the number is increasing.

Of course, in the rapid expansion of the Cao army, there are also some other problems, such as the serious shortage of officers, the non-commissioned officers can not control the situation, and the rapid expansion has brought about a shortage of management talents.

Cao Jun hopes to solve such a problem as soon as possible. In this way, their situation can be even better.

The economic aspect is more important than the military aspect.

"The economic side of things, and most importantly, what kind of benefits we can bring to the IRA. The parliamentarians from Handan have already made a lot of sense, we have tried to provide some labor to the other party, and the other party is very satisfied, but in terms of scale, they hope to expand as soon as possible, and for the market, they believe that our market is still a little narrow, and they hope that we can expand a larger market. Xun Yu said.

The demand in Handan is very large, and they need a broad market, because the single production of munitions can no longer meet their needs, and they need to expand a larger civilian market. But the entire civilian market is a closed and unopened market for the Republican Army. This is extremely detrimental to the IRA. Therefore, they hope that cooperation in this area can be carried out.

Xun Yu's role is here, he is very clear about the needs of those congressmen of the Republican Army, Shang Wu knows it, and he knows it. At the same time, Cao Jun also needs to expand his territory so that he can expand his strength.

And when Cao's army expanded, in fact, it was equivalent to helping the Republican Army expand their market. This is the basis for the current interdependence and cooperation between the two sides.

"At present, the most important thing for us is to sign a free trade agreement between the two sides and reduce tariffs on both sides." Xun Yu put down the chopsticks in his hand and said.

"Free trade agreements?" Xi Zhicai didn't know any of this, but he knew what it would bring them.

"Yes, that's what the IRA legislators need, and if we can meet their needs in that regard, they can definitely help us solve a lot of practical problems. That's what both sides want, and that's what we're doing, and if we can meet that aspect, they're definitely in a much better position than we are. Xun Yu said.

"Our market is very small, and we can only expand if we open up a larger territory. This is where we are now, and the IRA knows that an adversary who is too strong will not cooperate with us. And we are weak, so we naturally have a relationship of mutual needs. Xun Yu said.

"Therefore, the first priority for us at the moment is to sign an agreement in this regard, and this agreement is more important than the military alliance agreement. Military alliances do not make much sense to the Republican Army, they can fight on their own. Other aspects of the situation naturally need to be talked about. Xun Yu said.

"Hmm." Xi Zhicai said. A military alliance is simply an alliance of trust. And the economic agreement is the most critical basis of interests, and only with such a foundation can their situation be completely reversed. This is the basis of cooperation.

In a military camp in the east of Luoyang City.

"Sir, are you really not thinking about it? You could have taken on a higher position. Such an order has already been given from above. Many officers and non-commissioned officers looked nervously at their company commanders.

Cao Ang is a very young one, but at the same time, he also has a strong sense of responsibility, and he has established personal prestige within his company in a relatively short period of time.

He himself fought bravely in this operation, and the casualties of his troops were small. The soldiers placed great trust in him.

Originally, the republican army's transfer order had been issued, he would first go to the division headquarters as a staff officer, then return to the middle officer school to study, and then he would be sent to an infantry battalion as a military adjutant, then a military commander, and then come back to eat and study again, and then he would be the deputy regiment commander, and then the regiment commander. It can be said that his future path is very stable.

But at this time. Cao Ang actually applied for personal retirement. This makes many people feel very puzzled. They don't know why their commander is doing this.

"My father was the main person in charge of Cao Jun. He's over there. I am his eldest son. Being the first son means taking on a lot of responsibilities rather than having your father do it. I think you understand that. Cao Ang said to his subordinates.

Many of them understand this. After all, many of them are familiar with them. It can be said that in the army, a considerable number of people who do well are the eldest sons.

"I need to share part of my father's responsibility. I came to the Republican Army to study, it taught me a lot, to be honest, I didn't want to leave here, I wanted to go to the division headquarters to see how the staff officers worked, I wanted to go to the military academy to continue some courses, and then take on a higher position. But now it seems that I can't do that. Cao Ang said regretfully.

His men were eager to stay. After all, they had integrated their own commander into the IRA.

"There is no way, I have to do this, only in this way can I meet some of my father's needs to the greatest extent." Cao Ang said helplessly.

"Of course, if you can't get along with the retirement, you can also come to my father's army, I know your talents very well. I will arrange a suitable position for you. Cao Ang finally said.

With the Republican Army and Cao Jun going to cooperate. Cao Jun also wanted to recall some of the children who had gone to the military academy to study. And in order to show the truth of his cooperation, Cao Jun took out a part of the list, some of which may not have been mastered by the Republican Army itself.

And the IRA is also very generous. Directly approve them to join Cao's army. After all, Cao Jun's subsequent officer training, non-commissioned officer training, and the hiring of the military advisory group will be more important. The cooperation between the two sides will be further strengthened.

And Cao Ang's retirement from the Republican Army was carried out under such a circumstance.

In fact, Cao Jun needs an officer like Cao Ang even more. It was seen that the speed of expansion of Cao's army was very fast, but the quality was seriously reduced, although they received a large amount of assistance in weapons. However, they still do not know how to use firearms to fight and play the tactics of firearms.

At the same time, in terms of establishment, Cao Jun comprehensively studied the Republican Army, and they adopted the basic organization method of company platoon battalions, but in many cases, they did not know how these officers organized, managed, and conducted operations.

Therefore, they urgently need a group of officers from the Republican Army, so that their situation can be completely improved.

Although Cao Ang continued to stay more advantageous, because Cao Ang's ability has been fully demonstrated, when most of the company officers failed to realize the safety of the flanks, he himself had such a great sense of crisis, which shows that Cao Ang's vigilance is very high, and such an officer is very suitable for the staff work. In the future, it is also extremely possible to grow into a qualified officer.

But it was in such a situation that Cao Ang still gave up such a possible opportunity, and then turned to Cao Jun to develop.

Cao Jun needs him more, and he also needs a development platform to carry out. Cao Ang has no regrets at all. Now that it has been chosen. There is no possibility of regrets.

This is Cao Ang's choice. Senior officers of the IRA thought Cao Ang's choice was a pity. He may have a greater development.