Nine Ridge Mountain.

Meng Zhu Ling Pass.

Sandwiched between two peaks, a city that connects the sky. In other words, this is actually a nine-city city composed of several castles.

Li Ji stood silently under the pass, standing on the slope of the mountain, looking out into the wind from afar.

The May sun is a bit harsh and a little hot. This is the sunshine of Lingnan, although he is still in Lingbei, but the climate is already much hotter than the Central Plains.

Guan Junrong made Li Daen gallop on horseback, followed by his prison guards.

"Marshal, why are you so reluctant to give the order to attack?"

Li Daeun's tone was very unkind.

"Attack?" Li Jitou didn't reply, "In front of this Xiongguan, we are like dogs biting hedgehogs, and we have no way to speak." Until a good offensive plan is found, attacking is to die. More than 1,000 soldiers have been killed and wounded more than 1,000. I don't want those young fighters to die in vain. ”

"Is it, can't you find a good offensive strategy, or are you Li Ji not willing to find it at all? I see that you are deliberately delaying time, you are derelict in your duties! ”

Li Daen angrily pointed at Li Ji.

Watching the army is to supervise the army. His duty was to supervise the military, which was different from the military governor. The military governor is the chief general, and the military supervision is only the supervision of the army. But he, the eunuch who oversaw the military, represented the emperor.

The emperor did not want Li Ji to collaborate with the enemy or even condone the enemy, and the emperor also hoped that the army could invade Lingnan as soon as possible and recover Guangzhou.

And now Li Ji's behavior these days is what he can't tolerate the most.

He already suspected that Li Ji was secretly with the prince.

"Li Ji, the day before the war, you sent a letter to the rebels and asked to meet Zhang Zhongjian alone before the battle. What did you say, and did you secretly consult with him about collaborating with the enemy?"

Li Ji, who was dressed in gold armor, just sneered.

The gold armor on his body was given by Li Shimin, and Li Yuan also gave him a gold armor back then.

He is now handsome, and he was also given by Li Shimin himself.

He was the king of Dongjun, a privy envoy, and the commander of the southern expedition.

Now a eunuch is here accusing him of collaborating with the enemy, accusing him of dereliction of duty, accusing him of not knowing how to fight.

"Li Jianjun also walked with His Majesty in the army, don't you know that on the battlefield, a sentence can live 10,000 people, but it can also bury 10,000 people? Li Jianjun told a certain person, in the face of this Xiongguan dangerous village, how do we attack and take this city? ”

Li Daeun's face was swollen and red.

It is true that he has spent time in the army, but he is only an attendant who serves the emperor. Where do you know what to march and arrange, attack cities and plunder land. Even if he is a layman, he knows that this level is not easy to attack.

"Your Majesty handed over the handsome seal to you, you are a dignified soldier, don't you want to tell me that you are helpless? Do you have the trust of Your Majesty? ”

Li Ji sneered.

"A certain Zeng said that the army of the five roads should be sent to attack Lingnan with the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai. Forced the Southern Army to divide its forces into defense and disperse its forces. And the imperial court can break through each by virtue of its military superiority. ”

"I also planned to wait for the 100,000 troops to gather here, and then use artillery and crossbows as a cover, and a shield array of heavy armor as a precursor, and win this level in a battle."

Li Ji's two plans can be regarded as countermeasures to the actual situation in Mengzhuling. It's a pity that Li Shimin didn't agree, he wanted to fight quickly.

As a result, Li Ji is now under the strong pass.

"Give me another ten days, and when the artillery, ammunition, and arrows and follow-up troops arrive, I'll start the assault."

"Ten days?" Lee asked.

"Ten days!"

"Okay, then our family will give Li Shuai another ten days. Ten days later, if you can't take Mengzhuling, don't blame our family for being ruthless and participating in the performance to Your Majesty. ”

······

The vast sea.

Blue sea and blue sky.

The plum wind falls in May, which is the trade wind. In the past, when seafaring technology was not enough, the trade winds were necessary for ocean navigation. Many merchant ships had to wait up to a year for the trade winds to move south.

But now, although it is May, it is a southeast trade wind. But Zhang Chao still led his fleet and sailed north in the port of Guangzhou.

It is possible to sail against the wind.

With his arms folded, Zhang Chao stood on the deck of the flagship.

Behind him were the cabinet members who stayed behind at the imperial court.

When Li Ji, Zhang Zhongjian, and Cui Yan confronted each other in Jiuzhi Mountain, no one expected it.

Zhang Chao actually led a huge fleet, with the crown prince and the cabinet, as well as the entire imperial court of the prison country, and quietly went north.

The sailors mobilized by the imperial court were gathering in Hangzhou Bay and preparing to go south to Guangzhou.

They are still in the process of being assembled.

Zhang Chao had already set off from Guangzhou with his fleet, and the target was Hangzhou Bay.

That water division is just one of the targets, Zhang Chao's target is Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Even, the next step is Jiangnan and Jiangdong, Huainan, and Huaibei.

Zhang Chao was ready to seize the southeast, seize the Jianghuai, and seize the entire coastal zone.

There is no need to wait all the time for the emperor to attack.

They can also counterattack the Northern Expedition.

Beiqian was not in a hurry to go on the Northern Expedition, that was to stabilize Lingnan. Now Lingnan is firmly established and all parties are united. Now, it is time to ride the wind and waves and set sail for the Northern Expedition.

"Datang has an army of 800,000." Ma Zhou stood beside Li Chao, looking at the flocks of seagulls under the blue sea and blue sky, full of emotion.

"Originally, there were thousands of frontier vassal lords in the Tang Dynasty, and the lords also commanded tens of thousands of knights and hundreds of thousands of militiamen. But so what? Yang Shidao, the dean of Hanlin, sighed.

A large number of soldiers does not necessarily mean that it is useful.

During the Sui Dynasty, Yang Guang used to have many generals, and when he conquered Liao, he recruited an army of 1.1 million. Sui originally had six or seven hundred thousand soldiers, but in the end he recruited more than one million soldiers.

And yet?

Sui II died.

Datang does have a lot of soldiers, but the government soldier system makes it impossible to quickly invest all the soldiers. Although the emperor's Beiya Forbidden Army was a standing army, it also had to guard Gyeonggi, and only a small part could be dispatched in peacetime.

Of course, the most important thing is that now, these soldiers are not so many people who are really willing to charge for the emperor.

Moreover, the emperor did not have so much money and food to send more troops.

Otherwise, Li Ji would not have brought 100,000 soldiers and horses.

And the sailors will not have completed the assembly until now.

Compared with.

The Yugoslav Army is now practicing a completely different military system.

Under the promotion of Zhang Chao, the imperial court now implements a conscription system. This military system is more similar to the Northern Ya Forbidden Army of the imperial court, but it is very different.

The difference is that the real core of the recruitment system promoted by Zhang Chao is actually composed of professional officers and professional non-commissioned officers, plus compulsory soldiers.

Every man between the ages of twenty-one and thirty is obliged to take part in a medical examination for conscription. Once selected, three years of compulsory military service are required.

During these three years, they were sent to the barracks, trained by non-commissioned officers, and also learned some culture. If the performance is excellent and the quality is excellent, you can be transferred to a non-commissioned officer after passing the assessment.

Non-commissioned officers are real professional soldiers. From low to highest, they are corporals, sergeants, sergeants, and 4321 sergeant majors.

In the Yugoslav Army, non-commissioned officers serve as stewards, training soldiers, and squad leaders.

Sergeant majors at all levels serve as assistants to officers at all levels, and belong to the position of head and deputy.

As for the officers, they must be trained at the military academy, and then they will start as low-level officers such as platoon companies, and their task is to command operations.

Non-commissioned officers are trained and managed, and operational command is vested in officers.

Seventh-grade non-commissioned officers also have their own terms of office, basically three to five years, if they cannot be promoted, they will be discharged after two terms at most. Zhang Chao did not approve of the lifelong system of soldiers and officers, believing that fixed positions would not only affect the normal promotion at all levels, but also make it easier for the entire contingent of noncommissioned officers and officers to be stable, and it would be easy for soldiers to be oiled.

Even the same is true for officers, a military academy graduate who goes down to the army and starts as a platoon commander, generally serves for three years, and can be directly promoted to company commander, which is almost 100 percent promotion. And after three years of service, the company commander should also be promoted to a higher level.

Zhang Chao also formulated a system to match the officer's position and rank, which is not the original Wusan rank, but is specially subordinate to the officer, and there are not so many ranks.

From ensign to general.

Except for platoon-level officers, each level of post corresponds to a first-class military rank, and if the position remains the same, the military rank remains the same. Captain is the rank of company commander, major is the rank of deputy battalion commander, lieutenant colonel is the rank of battalion commander, colonel is the rank of regiment commander, brigadier general is the rank of deputy division commander, major general is the rank of division commander, lieutenant general is the rank of commander, and above the rank of general and marshal.

The greatest advantage of this rank system is that it is clear in rank, easy to manage in peacetime, and easy to command in wartime. In the Yugoslav Army, there is a clear hierarchy and the emphasis is placed on the subordination of the lower levels to the higher levels, so as to ensure the needs of the army's management and operations.

The promotion rate of second lieutenants to lieutenants is 100 percent, the rate of lieutenants to captains is basically maintained at 98 percent, the average promotion rate of captains to colonels is 90 percent, the chances of promotion from major to colonel are declining gradually, and the promotion of generals fully abides by the principle of "retreating one and advancing one".

The theory is that non-commissioned officers are promoted to the highest level of sergeant major of the first class, and each branch of the military will have a special chief sergeant major as a senior military adviser.

Non-commissioned officers and officers are completely incompatible.

Conscripts can be promoted to non-commissioned officers, but non-commissioned officers can never be promoted to officers.

Officers are specially trained by military academies, even from the age of a teenager. Although non-commissioned officers will also enter the non-commissioned officer school for training, they will not become officers.

Non-commissioned officers are the cornerstone of the military, while officers are the leaders.

As for the soldiers, they are rotated every three years, a small number of soldiers are promoted to non-commissioned officers, and the rest are discharged and returned to their hometowns.

During three years in the barracks, there will be some allowances. After completing the service, there will be no second enlistment unless there is a war.

Everyone is obliged to perform military service.

Zhang Chao also hoped that these young people, who had been training in the military camp for three years, would become the main force supporting the imperial court when they arrived at the place. The three years of military camp life not only trained them in martial arts, but also educated them in culture, so that they could accept propaganda in support of the imperial court.

They will even be taught some professional job skills.

This conscription system was also designed with the long-term in mind.

After all, the government military system actually has many flaws. In the war-torn years, the government military system still had many advantages, but the disadvantage of the government military system was that in the era of reunification, the combat effectiveness would decline rapidly, and the decline would be very serious.

And the establishment of a lifelong standing army of the forbidden army also has many shortcomings. For example, the recruitment system of the Song Dynasty was a professional soldier, but this kind of army that treats soldiers as professionals is actually just as easy to reduce its combat effectiveness rapidly.

The most important thing in an army is the commanding officers and the backbone non-commissioned officers, so Zhang Chao chose to use military academies to train officers and select non-commissioned officers from among soldiers.

With a professional and elite class of officers and non-commissioned officers, the combat effectiveness of the imperial army can be maintained all the time. The use of compulsory military service by soldiers greatly reduces the cost of raising soldiers.

Changing a batch of new recruits in three years can also enable the army to maintain a strong combat effectiveness and a good atmosphere.

Although this military system cannot be perfect, Zhang Chao believes that this military system is more suitable for the future Datang.

The new military system was discussed and approved at a cabinet meeting in Guangzhou, and then it was consulted by both houses of parliament, which also received their support. In the end, the crown prince issued an edict and officially adopted this new military system.

Now, the army of the Yugoslav Army has completed its reorganization.

Basically, it is structured according to this system.

The Guangzhou Military Academy has also been established, as well as the Qinzhou Noncommissioned Officer College and the Guangzhou Naval Academy.

Officers were also awarded military ranks, making them commensurate with their ranks.

The naval division in the Southern Army was also officially renamed the Imperial Court Navy of the Tang Dynasty.

Under the Privy Council there is the War Department and the Admiralty.

This was the first official expedition of the Navy after its establishment.

The army has several army groups, while the navy also has several fleets.

"When we take Hangzhou Bay, we will be able to add another East China Sea Fleet!" Zhang Chao looked at the north and said with a smile.