After listening to Moltke's explanation, everyone in the General Staff suddenly realized that the emperor wanted to learn from Prussia's universal compulsory military service system, and it was no wonder that as soon as this foreign devil Moltke came, he appointed the head of the war chief to a high position. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Sure enough, Feng Yunshan cleared his throat and announced directly: "I feel that the current strength of the captive army is too small, and it seriously does not meet the military needs of the empire. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the army. However, it is not possible to recruit people and expand the number of people like the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the past. For this reason, I want to follow the example of Prussia, and this time it involves the changes in the responsibilities and personnel positions of the General Staff, and I hope that Zhong Aiqing will be prepared. In the future, the armies of the empire were divided into four categories, one was a standing army, the second was a quasi-standing army, the third was a reserve army, and the fourth was a local militia. Among them, the first-class and second-class divisions of the active army were all converted into standing armies; The rest of the captive army and the local garrison brigade were all converted to the quasi-standing army; A new reserve force will be formed, with officers and retired non-commissioned officers serving as officers, including retired soldiers and recruits, forming a reserve force as a reserve army; After serving a number of years in the reserves, he retired and became a local militia. In this way, in the event of war, a large number of troops can be sent. ”

Feng Yunshan didn't wait for everyone to finish digesting it, so he continued: "I am going to set up a new Ministry of Defense in the Chinese Empire, with Yiwang Shi Dakai as the Minister of National Defense, Zuo Zongtang as Chief of the General Staff of the General Staff, and Mao Qi as the Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Chief of the Operations Division of the General Staff of the Capture Army. The newly established Ministry of National Defense, which is responsible to the Cabinet, is mainly responsible for the unified management of the construction of the armed forces of the Empire, such as the recruitment, establishment, equipment, training, military scientific research, and military ranks and salaries of the standing army, reserve army, and militia. The General Staff, on the other hand, is only responsible to the Supreme Commander of the Capture Army---- that is, the ---- of the Army, and its main responsibility is to carry out my will, formulate all battle plans, and be responsible for their implementation. ”

Feng Yunshan's words surprised everyone. As a result, the status of the General Staff was significantly raised, almost to the same status as the Cabinet. The Cabinet is also directly responsible to the Emperor, while the General Staff is also directly responsible to the Emperor, the difference is only that the Cabinet is responsible for all aspects of the country except the military, while the General Staff is only the military aspect. But without the military, everything is empty talk, and this special position determines that the position of the General Staff is not weaker than that of the Cabinet.

In this way, Zuo Zongtang's real power is much greater, and it is much greater than that of the defense minister who has no actual military command power. And that foreigner Moltke, for some reason, His Majesty valued it even more, thinking that the direct appointment of the chief of the operations department was already a great thing, but I didn't expect that it would not be long before he was directly promoted to the deputy chief of the general staff of the General Staff. This level of attention is unparalleled in the entire empire.

In addition to the envy of everyone, they secretly held their breath, they wanted to make a name for themselves, otherwise a few more foreigners would come out and snatch their positions, and they would be the old men of the Holy Kingdom who followed His Majesty, but they couldn't hold their faces. However, they did not dare to doubt His Majesty's decision, and judging from the words of Moltke translated by Lord Wu, it was indeed very set.

Feng Yunshan directly announced: "The General Staff is responsible for listing the reorganization plan of the imperial army, and I will see that within a year, the strength of the standing army will reach 600,000 troops; The strength of the quasi-standing army reached 400,000, the strength of the reserve army reached 500,000, and the scale of the local militia reached 500,000. All military expenditures, with a list of budgets, were submitted to me together with the Ministry of Finance and Taxation. Three days later, I will see the detailed plan. ”

After everyone dispersed, Feng Yunshan left Zuo Zongtang, Mao Qi and Wu Chongyao behind and explained carefully.

Regarding Moltke's Prussian conscription system, Feng Yunshan agreed very much. He remembers, however, that two years later, Prussia, under the auspices of the Minister of War, undertook a major reform of the military service mobilization system, extending the period of reserve service and training part of the reserve army into a standing army. It is precisely this practice of strengthening the standing army and weakening the reserve army that the original standing army has been used for two years in the reserve and three years in active duty for a total of five years, while the reserve army has served for 14 years, with eight years of service in the standing army and 11 years in the reserve army.

At the same time, Feng Yunshan discussed the officer training system with Zuo Zongtang and Mao Qi. In this regard, Feng Yunshan did not have a good idea, and he directly put Moltke to refer to the Prussian tradition of officer training.

"Your Majesty, the training of officers in Prussia was mainly based on the military academy founded by the military strategist Scharnhorst, and the Berlin Military Academy was built, focusing on the training of high-level officers of the General Staff. He demanded that officers of the General Staff and officers of active combat units, such as brigade commanders and battalion commanders, be regularly exchanged with each other in order to maintain the vitality of the General Staff and to train officers in turn. Subsequently, the Prussian War Ministry opened a school for alternate officers, a school run by divisions and brigades, an artillery engineering corps, and other technical arms schools, and initially established a system for training officers. After Mo Qi finished speaking, he looked at Feng Yunshan expectantly, as if he was still unsatisfied.

Because Mao Qi spoke too fast and had a strange accent, Feng Yunshan, who originally thought that his English was good, only listened to something that he didn't understand, so he had no choice but to translate to him through Wu Chongyao: "Does General Mao have any other suggestions?" ”

In Feng Yunshan's impression, it seemed that Moltke would be the chief of the General Staff of Prussia in two years. After that, he carried out some reforms of the General Staff, among which there were some new attempts to train officers.

Sure enough, Moltke said: "Your Majesty Xie gave the minister this opportunity!" The Chinese Empire was a great country, and its territory and population were incomparable to Prussia and even the Russian Empire. Moreover, since Your Majesty attaches so much importance to the army, and now that it has begun to reform and expand the army, the number and variety of the army in the future will become more and more complex in size, and the weapons and strategies and tactics will also change, so I think the most important and most effective change is the training of officers. First of all, it is necessary to establish a complete set of officer training mechanisms! ”

"Your Majesty, the selection and promotion of officers of the General Staff Headquarters must be strictly controlled, and the officers of the General Staff Headquarters must set an example for the soldiers in the entire army of prisoners. In my opinion, almost none of the current officers of the General Staff of the Capture Army have the military ability to serve as a staff officer of the General Staff, and I suggest that Your Majesty allow Wechen to completely disband the General Staff first, let Wechen screen them, select suitable personnel, and then enter the training course held by Wechen in the General Staff, and after half a year of personal guidance and teaching by Wechen, a new General Staff will be formally formed! ”

As soon as Mao Qi's words came out, Feng Yunshan, Zuo Zongtang and Wu Chongyao were all frightened. Wu Chongyao is okay, just translated, but he still thinks that this foreigner is too bad at speaking and being a man.

Zuo Zongtang is very unhappy, his foreigner deputy would look at the General Staff Headquarters that he has worked hard for more than two years, which is almost a naked slap in the face. I want to see what he is capable of, and his tone is so arrogant!

In fact, not only did he think so, but even Feng Yunshan, as the emperor, felt that his face was hot. This general staff was set up by him, and although Zuo Zongtang was in charge of most of the specific work, the overall plan was according to his intentions. Moreover, as a traveler, he has more than 100 years of knowledge, but he is so belittled by this foreigner, he really wants to cry without tears. However, on the other hand, Feng Yunshan admired the foreigner's uprightness. Mao Qi can say this, which shows that he should have his own set of opinions and has a straightforward personality, which makes Feng Yunshan very happy. What I am afraid of is that I refuse to talk about the problem, and like some bureaucrats in later generations, I will be troublesome.