Present at the meeting were Wang Shizhen, chief of staff of the division headquarters, Jiang Guidi, head of the cavalry regiment directly under the division, Duan Qirui, head of the artillery regiment directly under the division, Gong Yuanyou, commander of the engineer battalion directly under the division, and Wu Changchun, commander of the baggage battalion directly under the division; Liang Huadian, commander of the 1st Brigade, Wang Yingkai, commander of the 1st Brigade and 1st Regiment, and Yang Rongtai, commander of the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade; Feng Guozhang, commander of the 2nd Brigade, Xu Bangjie, commander of the 3rd Regiment of the 2nd Brigade, and Ren Yongqing, commander of the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade, etc.

According to the practice of previous years, in the assessment of the five major arms of the infantry, artillery, cavalry, engineers, and baggage teams, the inspectors and examiners sent by the imperial court did not evaluate the whole army in order to save the face of the imperial court and the various armies, but selected soldiers to participate in the assessment by the officers of each province.

Although the combat capability of the provincial armies was very poor in the past, there were always a number of soldiers with good foundations and excellent military skills in the various armies, so the soldiers selected and assessed by the officers of the various provinces were not bad, and basically they were all sharpshooters, sharpshooters, superb horsemen, skilled engineers, and meticulous baggage arrangements.

This kind of show not only satisfied the imperial court, but also made the local officials happy, but it did not matter in peacetime, once the war started, the troops who showed off were vulnerable, resulting in the result of repeated defeats of the Qing court army in the First Sino-Japanese War.

"My lord, if you put on a show like this, then all the armies will pick out the elites for assessment, everyone's results are about the same, and the distribution ratio is rounded, everyone is basically 1:1, and there is no way to tell the winner from the loser."

"Yes, all the elites must have reached the standard to participate in the assessment, so that the military quality parameters of the soldiers on both sides have become the same during the confrontation exercise, so what is it better than? Shake hands and make peace! ”

"It's like, isn't all our hard training in vain in the end?"

……

The generals have a lot of discussions, and they are very dissatisfied with this kind of show-style assessment.

Wang Chenhao said that he strictly demanded that the officers and men should not be in a formal way but should stress reality, and today he saw the results from the faces of the generals and was very satisfied.

"What about showmanship?" Jiang Guidi stood up at this time and said disdainfully: "Are we afraid that they won't succeed if we have the ability?" Since ancient times, we are not as good as them in water warfare, but neither of them can beat one of us in cavalry! All you have to do is settle for a draw with them, and we'll leave the rest to our cavalry regiment. ”

Wang Yingkai was dissatisfied, and jumped out and said, "Hey! What do you mean? As far as your cavalry is capable, isn't it? Our infantry can only fight to a draw? ”

Xu Bangjie said: "Zeng Lingqin's cavalry is strong, but what is the result? Tens of thousands of people can't defeat a thousand infantry of foreign devils, and it turns out that the cavalry is inferior to the infantry and has long been outdated. Your cavalry regiment can at best be harassed and engage in sneak attacks, and the only advantage is that they can run faster than us when they retreat. ”

Everyone burst into laughter, Jiang Guidi was very unhappy, and shouted: "Xu Bangjie, you were still wearing open crotch pants when I was a soldier!" What qualifications do you have to call me? If you have the ability to pull it out and slip around, believe it or not, a cavalry regiment will still defeat your infantry regiment! ”

Xu Bangjie said unconvinced: "Heads-up is heads-up!" I'm really not afraid! Your cavalry target is so big, I don't need to go up the whole regiment, I will put a heavy machine gun company position, and I will definitely break through you! ”

Jiang Guidi sneered and said, "Don't flash your tongue when you say big things!" You think I didn't know you had a heavy machine gun company? What are you? I'll go to a battalion to consume with you, and your heavy machine gun will run out of ammunition in half an hour at most, and I will cut off your supplies, and without ammunition, your heavy machine gun is like scrap metal, and my cavalry will clean you up like cutting a watermelon! ”

The two riveted Mai Mang's needle, and the people next to them only looked at the joke. Lao Huaijun naturally turned to Jiang Gui's question, and the Beiyang Student Department supported Xu Bangjie, and the argument between the two sides gradually became louder, and Wang Chenhao, who was discussing countermeasures with Wang Shizhen not far away, quickly heard it.

"What's the noise? Go out with the energy! ”

Wang Chenhao snorted softly, his voice was not loud, but all the generals sat down honestly, and they all shut up and stopped talking.

At this moment, whether it is Jiang Guidi and other generals of the old Huai military system, or rookie student officers from the Beiyang Martial Arts Academy, they dare not underestimate the Wang Chenhao Wang Marshal in front of them. Although the two factions of Lao Huaijun and Beiyang Military Armament did not like each other, they both claimed to be Wang Chenhao's small Beiyang generals, and they did not dare to have any objections to Wang Chenhao's orders, which was simply a holy decree.

Everyone quieted down, Wang Chenhao swept around, and said lightly: "We are a collective, our fists must be consistent with the outside world, and internal strife is absolutely not allowed." Although cavalry declined in Europe, it was because the European railway network extended in all directions, and it could be quickly delivered to various theaters without the need for cavalry troops. But our country does not have that hardware, and for a long time, cavalry is still an indispensable main arm of our [***] team. General Jiang Guidi has rich experience in the battlefield, and the strength of one cavalry battalion in the first battle of Motianling was able to block the follow-up pursuit of the two cavalry battalions of the Yue Army, which won valuable time for the victory of the Motianling Resistance Battle, and made great contributions. ”

Wang Chenhao emphasized the importance of cavalry combat, and praised Jiang Guidi's achievements, which made Jiang Guidi's heart full of admiration and touch.

"Report!"

"Speak!"

Wang Chenhao saw that it was Xu Bangjie, who had just fought with Jiang Gui, and only heard him say: "The words of the adults have benefited me a lot, and I don't dare to underestimate the cavalry anymore." ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and gave him a look, Xu Bangjie turned around and apologized to Jiang Gui: "I offended a lot just now, and I hope that the old general Haihan." ”

Jiang Guidi is fifty years old, and Xu Bangjie is twenty years older, and it is not an exaggeration for Xu Bangjie to call him an old general.

Jiang Guidi is also a straightforward person, so he got up and hugged his fists in return, and said: "Captain Xu has said it, I have this temper, I speak too impulsively, but I am not right about things and people." The soldiers led by Commander Xu are good, and Jiang is also deeply admired. ”

The two smiled at each other and understood each other, and the atmosphere suddenly became much better.

Wang Chenhao smiled slightly, beckoned his hand, and motioned for the two to sit down.

praised Jiang Gui, proving that the important surname of the cavalry is only a link, Wang Chenhao continued: "The army that has always been strong can't do without cavalry, can't do without infantry, and can't do without artillery, in short, we are directly subordinate to the new army's infantry, artillery, cavalry, engineers, and logistics add up to a collective, just like a person, you have to be complete, you have a head, limbs, internal organs, eyes, nose, ears, and mouth are indispensable." Do you think that's the truth? ”

"Yes! Wise adults! All the officers replied in unison, this simple and profound truth was said by Wang Chenhao, and everyone immediately understood that they were equally important in Wang Chenhao's heart, and after knowing this, everyone no longer compared with each other.

Wang Chenhao suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said with a smile: "I still thought of a way after our excitement!" ”

Everyone hurriedly looked at Wang Chenhao and listened.

Wang Chenhao smiled and said a few words, "random selection".

The generals quickly understood what Wang Chenhao meant, the manpower and time sent by the imperial court were limited, and it was impossible for all units of the whole army to participate in the assessment.

Wang Chenhao told Li Hongzhang and Yang Shixiang about his idea, and the two also felt that it made sense, and out of the protection of his own people, Li Hongzhang asked Yi for approval.

Yi felt that this was indeed the best way to test the combat effectiveness of the army, and that the random selection of officers and soldiers in the assessment could prevent cheating, and it could also test the real combat effectiveness of the troops.

After Yibao asked the Guangxu Emperor for approval, he immediately randomly selected according to the roster of officers and soldiers of the new army in each province, and 150 people from each of the five major arms of the new army in each province were selected for the examination.

As a result, most of the military assessments made up by the provinces failed in this random selection, and the ranking of their results was suddenly opened.