A storm of rumors drove Ashoka to the edge of a cliff.

In this atmosphere of public opinion, Ashoka not only could not withdraw his troops from Tibet, but also had to find a way to hold Tibet, and at least reached some kind of agreement with Bactria to give an account to his own people.

Otherwise, the turmoil will never be settled.

The initiators of this storm of rumors are none other than the Peacock King and the Gupta King, who are already secretly planning to attack the Ashoka Dynasty as soon as the Battle of Tibet is over.

In this way, how could the Ashoka Dynasty easily withdraw its troops from Tibet.

Only when the Ashoka Dynasty lost its troops in Tibet and suffered a great loss of vitality did they have a chance to win.

In the process, the secret agents of the Black Snake Guard Asia Division stationed in Tianzhu also added fuel to the fire, and with the joint efforts of the three forces, the rumors were quickly fermented in the shortest possible time.

After thinking about it for a while, Ashoka gritted his teeth and decided to increase his troops to Tibet by another 500,000, and at the same time ordered the garrison of the city of Luo to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

It is naturally best to be able to hold the city of Luo, and even if it can't be held, Ashoka hopes that through the response of this 500,000 army, most of the army will be successfully withdrawn to the country.

As long as the army is there, Ashoka has nothing to fear.

At the same time, in order to minimize the expectations of the people, Emperor Ashoka ordered the 500,000-strong army to go out in disguise, mix with the troops transporting grain and grass, and quietly enter Tibet.

Emperor Ashoka was worried that once the people knew that the dynasty would not be able to keep a single Tibetan with an army of two million, which would really damage the prestige of the dynasty, so he marched in a low-key manner.

…………

October 5th, Jingshi.

Emperor Ashoka first implemented cruel military control in Tibet, treating the Tibetan people as cattle and sheep, and wantonly oppressing; followed by the domestic public opinion turmoil, and it was difficult to ride a tiger, showing that Tianzhu had an internal undercurrent.

Ouyang Shuo could only sigh, it was really heaven helping Daxia.

With these two points, the "meat grinder plan" formulated by Jia Xu can basically be realized, and even because of the "active" cooperation between the Mauryan Dynasty and the Gupta Dynasty, it may be able to achieve miraculous results.

There is good news on the front line, and there is progress on the disarmament plan on the side of the imperial court.

The largest disarmament plan in the history of Bactria and the most thorough military reform plan jointly formulated by the Military Aircraft Department, the Privy Council, and the Senior Cabinet has basically taken shape.

As long as Ouyang Shuo is approved, it can be opened.

The most important feature of this disarmament is that it will not reduce the number of regiments at the first level, but will reduce the size of the regiments from 70,000 to 50,000 and reduce the number of troops by 20,000.

That's pretty impressive.

Including the Praetorian Guard, the Great Xia Army had a total of nineteen group armies, each group army had five legions, plus the Yingzhou Corps and the South American Corps, a total of ninety-nine corps.

The reduction of 20,000 troops in each regiment means that 1.98 million troops will be eliminated at one time, and the disarmament rate will be as high as 28.6 percent, more than a quarter.

This means that one out of every four soldiers will retire.

After the disarmament, the Great Xia army will be reduced from 6.93 million at its peak to 4.95 million.

Of course, disarmament is not a simple downsizing, and it is necessary to realize the transformation of the army from 70,000 to 50,000 troops, and to reform the entire military structure, which has been thoroughly reshaped.

Before the disarmament, the Great Xia Army had ten people as fire, ten fires as teams, five teams as battalions, and five battalions as brigades; The fifth brigade is a division and regiment, with a brigade directly under 1,000 people; The five divisions are corps, with brigades directly under them.

After the disarmament, the Great Xia Army still used ten people as a fire and set up a fire chief, but the difference was that it was changed from a team of ten fires to a team of five fires, a total of 50 people, and a team was set up.

There is a scientific basis for this preparation.

As a grassroots officer in the army, the team is in charge of ten fires at one time, which is a bit overrun, and it is easy to cause an imbalance in the jurisdiction between the team and the battalion, forming a top-heavy pattern.

In addition, the functions of the team level are scientifically subdivided, and according to the task, equipment and organization, they are divided into infantry teams (pikemen, sword and shield troops, and heavy sword teams), cavalry teams, musketeer teams, artillery teams, fighter teams, engineer teams, reconnaissance teams, repair teams, baggage teams, cooking teams, and medical teams.

In short, at the team level, it basically covers all the combat arms and auxiliary arms of the Great Xia Army, and the degree of completeness is almost the same as that of the modern army.

The advantages of such an organization are twofold.

First, it provides greater possibilities for joint operations of multiple arms.

For example, after the military reform, the Great Xia Army was able to realize joint operations between the three different arms of pikemen, cavalry and musketeers at the battalion level, making the combat mode more flexible and efficient.

Each branch of the armed forces has its advantages and disadvantages, and joint operations are to learn from each other's strong points and make up for their weaknesses, and the further this joint combat mode is lowered, the more it will enhance the combat effectiveness of the armed forces.

In the past, the entire division and regiment, and even the entire corps, were established as a single branch of the armed forces, but today, when new arms are constantly emerging, it is obvious that they are becoming less and less suited to the needs of war and are destined to be eliminated.

Of course, this can't happen overnight.

After this round of military reform, the various group armies should continue to explore practical problems such as how to unite, how to match, how to command, and how to solve logistical support.

Once the operation is mature, the Great Xia Army will reach a new level.

Second, the logistics support has been lowered, which has greatly improved the endurance and flexibility of the army.

Before the military reform, the 1,000-man brigades directly under the division and regimental level and the brigades directly under the regiment level were actually auxiliary arms such as engineers, baggage soldiers, and medical corps that were proposed by Bai Qi.

Below the division, there is no separate auxiliary arm.

In the past, the Great Xia Army was accustomed to fighting in large armies, and there was not much of a problem, but with the evolution of the war situation and the expansion of the territory and battlefield, it was required that the brigade and even the battalion level must have a certain degree of independent combat capability.

In this way, it is necessary to have auxiliary units in place.

The reshaping of the army during the White Rise period was still in the first year of Gaia, and six years had passed. In the past six years, the Great Xia Army has undergone earth-shaking changes, and it is long overdue for the time to renew.

With the current background of Great Xia, it also has the ability to equip all kinds of auxiliary troops in place one by one, which not only improves the flexibility of the army, but also greatly improves the survival rate of the army and reduces the mortality rate.

The team level up has undergone a thorough reshaping.

A battalion, six to ten teams, 300-500 people. In addition to the combat team, a battalion needs to be equipped with at least one baggage team, and then, according to the actual situation, it should be equipped with auxiliary units such as cooking, medical care, and reconnaissance at the fire level.

The battalion establishment is also the basic tactical detachment of the Great Xia Army.

Similarly, according to their tasks, equipment and formation, they can be divided into infantry battalions (pikemen, sword and shield battalions, and heavy sword battalions), cavalry battalions, musketeer battalions, artillery battalions, engineer battalions, reconnaissance battalions, and baggage battalions.

It can be clearly seen that in addition to the fact that the fighter fleet is not a battalion, the repair, cooking, and medical treatment of the auxiliary arms will not be based on the battalion unit, but basically on a team basis, and will be directly equipped to the brigade level.

One brigade, three to five battalions, and several directly subordinate teams, with a total of 2,000 men. A number of directly subordinate teams refer to the six auxiliary arms of the engineer team, the reconnaissance team, the repair team, the baggage team, the cooking team, and the medical team.

According to the actual situation, it is generally not fully equipped.

The brigade establishment is a high-level tactical detachment of the Great Xia Army, with a brigade headquarters and operational staff officers. According to the mission, equipment and organization, it is divided into infantry brigades (pikemen, sword and shield brigades, and heavy sword brigades), cavalry brigades, musketeer brigades, special operations brigades, engineer brigades, and baggage brigades.

With the current level of industrialization in Great Xia, it is not yet possible to equip an artillery brigade. In addition, it would be an exaggeration to say that reconnaissance will basically stop at the battalion level and will not rise to the brigade level.

One division, four brigades, several independent battalions and several directly subordinate teams, a total of 10,000 people.

In the same way, the independent battalion mostly performs combat service, technical service, and logistical support tasks, including the three major battalions of the engineer battalion, the reconnaissance battalion, and the baggage battalion.

The directly subordinate team is naturally the repair team, the cooking team and the medical team.

The establishment of divisions and regiments is already the basic tactical unit of the Great Xia Army, which can fight independently, independently defend a defense area, and is divided into sword and shield divisions, cavalry divisions, and musketeer divisions according to their tasks, equipment, and formation.

It is not difficult to see that at the division level, pikemen and heavy swordsmen will withdraw from the stage of history, and in front of the musketeers, such formed infantry divisions are living targets and are destined to be eliminated. Only the heavily armored sword and shield soldiers can still fight against the musketeers on the premise that the individual abilities of the soldiers are greatly improved.

Division headquarters are set up, and the group army command awards the number and military flag, and some have their own unique symbols.

Division headquarters have certain functions and powers for the management of the army, and are responsible for the training and administrative management of the army, including the selection and appointment of officers and men at the grassroots level.

Therefore, the commander of the division is worthy of the title of general.

One corps, four divisions, several independent brigades, and several independent battalions, totaling 50,000 people. Independent brigades at the corps level include auxiliary units such as the Engineer Brigade and the Baggage Brigade, as well as combat units such as the Pikemen, Sword, Shield, Sword, Cavalry, Musketeers, and Special Operations Brigades.

The overall goal is to achieve coordinated operations among multiple arms of the armed forces and enhance the overall combat effectiveness of the armed forces.

The corps is the basic tactical corps of the Great Xia Army, with a military headquarters and can lead the defense of a province. Except in wartime, the five major army corps under the group army will not be stationed together, and they will all be stationed separately.

Generally speaking, a clan is a combined legion of all classes.

Although the first generation of fighters has entered the production stage, with the current scale of installation, it is not yet the time to set up an air force outside the army. As for the navy, it will only conduct joint operations in wartime, and will not carry out mixed land and sea formation.

Before the military reform, when Great Xia was engaged in a certain battle, it often transferred a number of corps from different group armies and fought together, because of the tactical attributes of the corps, it could fight independently.

The corps is the basis of the strategic campaign army and the basic unit for calculating the balance of forces in the strategic campaign, and its quantity and quality are the main indicators for judging the combat strength of the army.

In short, looking at the scale of a battle, it depends on how many legions Great Xia has put into battle.

Further up is the group army, which is also the highest establishment unit of the army, and the five army corps remain unchanged, with a command organ of the general headquarters, and are the combat units responsible for a campaign direction, that is, the basic campaign unit.

Not only that, the group armies, which have relatively fixed defense areas, also have headquarters hospitals and logistics support centers to provide medical and logistical support services for the whole army.

The above is the core content of this so-called "largest disarmament plan in the history of Great Xia", which is not so much disarmament as a thorough military restructuring through disarmament.

Ouyang Shuo had long said that reducing the number of soldiers was not the ultimate goal, but the ultimate goal was to improve the army's combat capability.

In addition to the adjustment of the military establishment, the "Plan" has made very detailed plans for how to dismantle the armed forces, which troops to dismantle, which branches of the armed forces to be dismantled, and how to resettle the dismantled soldiers.

In the Great Xia Army, the Praetorian Guard, the Yulin Army and the City Guard Army belong to the directly subordinate army and stand at the highest level; Down are the seven field armies of Long Xiang, Tiger Ben, Leopard Tao, Eagle Yang, Flying Bear, Greedy Wolf and Fengxiang.

Further down are the North African Army, the West African Army, the East African Army, the Hanoi Army, the Heluo Army, the Southern Xinjiang Army, the Xiangjiang Army, the Hedong Army, the Northern Xinjiang Army, the Yingzhou Army and the South American Corps, these border guards.

Below the border guards, there are the provincial garrison divisions. Further down the garrison regiment is the reserve. From top to bottom, there are a total of five levels, which together constitute the perfect system of the Great Xia Army.

The further down the army, the combat strength of the army showed a decreasing trend.

Therefore, in this round of disarmament, it is impossible to say that all the 100,000 troops who have been dismantled by the Praetorian Guard will be decommissioned, which is too tyrannical.

In principle, the soldiers who have been laid off at the previous level will be given priority to the next level, and so on and so forth, and eventually all of them will be brought together to the first level of the reserve force, constituting a huge reserve system.

Of course, this is not absolute.

Military Minister Du Ruhui drew a red line: In this round of disarmament, all three categories of personnel, such as "the only child in the family, those who have served in the military for more than five years, and those who have dark physical diseases," will be forced to retire unless there are special circumstances.

Even if you come from the Praetorian Guard, it's no exception.

"Those who have wives and children at home, those who have bad deeds in the army, and those who have been wounded in battle" -- these three categories of personnel are classified as priority targets for dismissal.

In addition, it is the adjustment of the ratio of troops.

In view of the rise of firearms, the "Plan" clearly stipulates that after this round of disarmament, musketeers, artillerymen, air forces, battle puppet operators and other arms will account for 60% of the total army.

In particular, the artillery and air force will be greatly expanded in this round of disarmament.

Archers, pikemen, and even cavalry were given priority for retrenchment. As for the crossbowmen, they have been replaced by musketeers in the previous adjustment of the army, and they are basically extinct in the army.

Among the cavalry, a new sub-class was ushered in, in addition to the light cavalry, heavy cavalry, war elephant cavalry, ironclad cavalry and other troops, a new musketeer cavalry was added.

While reducing the proportion of infantry arms, the "Plan" also stipulates that the proportion of auxiliary arms should be appropriately increased, especially the proportion of baggage soldiers, engineers, and medical soldiers.

The "Plan" hopes that in the future, the Great Xia Army will have the ability to support logistics on its own, and there will be no need to recruit a large number of laborers to be responsible for logistics and transportation every time a major war is launched.

Of course, there is a difference between the treatment of auxiliary arms and combat arms, and military spending can also be reduced.

To sum up, in this round of disarmament, the targets of the retrenchment actually face four fates, one is degrading, such as from the Praetorian Guard to the Longxiang Army; One is the transfer of troops, such as from pikemen to musketeers; One is to transfer subordinates across categories, such as from cavalry to baggage.

The last option is to transfer to the reserve, receive a retirement allowance, and leave the military from then on.

As you can imagine, this will be a huge undertaking.

This project is not only huge, but the amount of money consumed is astronomical, and the retirement subsidy of 1.98 million people alone is as high as 20 million gold coins.

In principle, retired soldiers can be given priority to return to their hometowns to work, and the yamen at all levels have the obligation to arrange a decent and suitable job for them.

The indirect costs are even more incalculable.

At the same time, the simultaneous retirement of 1.98 million soldiers also surged the scale of the Great Xia Reserve to a new height, and how to effectively manage the reserve force became a difficult problem.