In the evening, several generals had dinner together, and Zhang Tingxun was also called to accompany him.

The generals on both sides of the Metropolitan Protectorate and Hailan Pao exchanged their recent situation with each other, but they were actually bragging most of the time.

Pulling and pulling, Hou Rusong suddenly said: "I just received the news that the armies are going to be expanded again this year. ”

"Expansion?" Wang Fuchen was quite surprised.

Hou Rusong shook his head and said: "It's an expansion, not an expansion of the army." The original infantry division had 11,000 men, but now it has been expanded to 12,000 men. The original cavalry division had 13,500 men, but now it has been expanded to 15,000 men. The personnel of this expansion are not soldiers, but various civilian, auxiliary and logistical personnel. Even those who nail the horseshoe will have military positions in the future, and most of them will be classified as cavalry. ”

Wang Fuchen suddenly realized and said with a smile: "It should be." ”

Zhang Tingxun suddenly interjected: "I heard from the teacher of the military academy that the military academy will also expand the enrollment of students this year. Each military academy recruits ten people every year, and after only one year of basic courses, they are assigned to the ordnance factory and horse farm, and continue to study with the master there. As for what to do after completing my studies, I don't know too much about this, but I must be in the logistics yamen. In addition, we really want to expand the army this year. Hetao was newly organized into a cavalry division, many of which were Li Zicheng's old troops. Shaanxi also wants to form a new cavalry division, presumably to deal with the West Sea (Qinghai) and the Western Regions. ”

A general named Lu Zideng said with a smile: "It seems that the imperial court is getting richer and richer, and the annual military expenditure will definitely be indispensable for expanding the army in this way." ”

Wang Fuchen asked, "What other inside information does Captain Zhang have?" ”

Zhang Tingxun said: "It's not an insider, the teachers and students of the Nanjing Military Academy know it. A Hebei infantry division was transferred south to Xuzhou to garrison. An infantry division from Shaanxi was transferred south to Hanzhong for garrison. There was also a Shanxi infantry division, which was transferred south to Nanyang to garrison. I have a classmate who was assigned to Xuzhou as a sentry chief. ”

Hou Rusong guessed: "There are too many troops piled up on the northern border, and the south seems a little empty, so this transfer of troops is to prevent chaos in the south." ”

Zhang Tingxun also said: "The title is also subdivided, take the duke as an example, it is divided into a first-class duke, a second-class duke, and a third-class duke, that is, a national duke, a county duke, and a county duke. This year, the division commanders of several divisions that were transferred to the south were all promoted to county dukes, and together with the division commanders who were previously transferred to the south, they were recruited back to Nanjing to serve as officials in the Governor's Mansion. ”

The generals looked at each other, this kind of practice is not only increasing the military strength of the mainland, but also the emperor is gathering military power.

In fact, they thought about it a lot, those division commanders were all heroes from the dragon, and they were a little older. Transferring them back to the Governor's Mansion is a blessing for promotion, and they are also promoted to the title. At the same time, it is also giving young generals the opportunity to be promoted, and there are so many division commanders, so we can't let the veterans always dominate it.

The Governor's Mansion of the Datong New Dynasty is different from the middle and late Ming Dynasty, and it is all with real power.

Let's just say that Gu Jianshan, the left governor of the navy, has now been promoted to the county duke. The establishment of the Naval Academy was promoted by Gu Jianshan, and the official shipyards were also under his jurisdiction (the chief officer of the shipyard was from the Ministry of War, and the second officer was from the Governor's Mansion), and he even had the right to appoint middle and low-ranking officers of the navy and navy. As long as you don't engage in corruption and get some oil and water, you can do it without knowing it.

The generals didn't dare to discuss these things, so Wang Fuchen hurriedly changed the topic: "Isn't Hailan Pao expanding here?" ”

"Not for the time being, you are too far here, and in another year or two, we will send you additional civilian and logistical staff," Hou Rusong said to Zhang Tingxun again, "Let's talk about the military academy." ”

Zhang Tingxun thought about it carefully: "By the way, military academy graduates, it seems that they also have to change." In the future, after graduation, no position will be arranged, but military rank will be awarded. This matter is still being discussed, and it is roughly the best group of students, who are awarded lieutenants after graduation, and all the rest are awarded ensigns. Speaking of this, Zhang Tingxun laughed at himself, "An outstanding student like me is probably awarded to a sergeant." ”

Wang Fuchen praised: "This reform is very good, only military ranks are awarded, and military positions are arranged only when they arrive in the army, and local generals can also be arranged more flexibly." ”

Hou Rusong said with a smile: "It must be Your Majesty's idea, just like being a civil official in the imperial examination." When the new branch jinshi arrives in the locality, they are generally not arranged to be the chief officer, and many of them start from the second officer, so that they can accumulate experience in politics. Now graduates of military academies are awarded lieutenants and second lieutenants, and when they arrive in the army, most of them are required to be deputy sentry (deputy company commander), and first learn how to lead troops to fight with the sentry commander. ”

Zhang Tingxun also said happily: "When there are more graduates of the military academy in the future, I am afraid that I will have to start from the captain (platoon leader) and deputy of the team." ”

……

Yaksa.

Fortress specialist Pyotr Bektov came to the aid with 54 Cossacks, who were tasked with building a fortress in Yaksa.

Stepanov greeted him warmly, gave a bear hug to Bektov, patted him on the shoulder and said, "You're finally here!" ”

"I could have come last year, but the Mongols were defeated by the Khitan (Chinese) army, and Buryatia completely lost the protection of the Mongols," Bektov explained. So we opened a new stronghold east of Lake Baikal. The new base is in a place called Nebuchu, where I built my castle last year, and this year I will come to you before the snow melts. ”

"Nebuchu? The castle was built there? Stepanov asked.

"Not yet, but the main body has been built, and I have left them drawings, and I don't have to bother me with the rest," said Bektov. ”

Stepanov said: "It's good for you to come." There is a place called Hailan Pao downstream, where a large number of Khitan troops are stationed, and the troops in my hands dare not go over at all. So I have to build a castle to defend it first, and then find an opportunity to attack the Khitans after consolidating it. As long as the Khitan army is wiped out there, the entire Amur River (Heilongjiang) basin will be subjugated to His Majesty the Tsar! ”

Bektov was taken to eat and rest, and the next day he inspected the terrain and designed the castle according to the human resources of the city.

A few days later, Bektov finished the drawings and explained in detail: "You are short of manpower here, so you can only build a simple fortress." The square walls of the castle have been built, and the four corners should be fortified with a fortress structure. The position of the fort should be changed, and then the fort should be added to the fort. In front of the earthen walls and artillery forts, a stagnation wall and a trench were built. ”

Stepanov said: "The amount of work is a bit large, and I am afraid that it will not be completed within this year." ”

"The lag wall can be replaced by a wooden fence, and two rows of wooden fences inside and outside are erected, and the earth dug out of the trench is poured between the two rows of wooden fences," Beketov said. Inside the trench, and on the periphery of the trench, sharpened wooden thorns can be inserted. By the way, there is no well in the castle yet, so you have to dig a well quickly to prevent a long-term siege and lack of water. The well had to be piped to all parts of the castle, so that water could be quickly drawn in the event of a fire. ”

"Worthy of a fortress expert!" Stepanov was very pleased with the design.

Pyotr Bektov, the castles of Chita, Nebuchu, and Yaksa, all of which he presided over, also explored and discovered Yakutsk and the surrounding area. The first castle in the Baikal region was built by this man.

As soon as the drawings were drawn, Stepanov immediately began work.

Cossacks, Siberian hunters, and Daur slaves from the surrounding areas were mobilized.

The four earthen walls of the castle have long been completed, and all that remains is to dig wells, dig trenches, build forts and artillery forts, and so on.

Stepanlov was a pioneer sent by the Tsar with 150 regular troops. It is said that it is a regular army, but in fact it is also a recruited Cossack, but each of these 150 Cossacks is armed with arquebuses. In addition, there were more than 300 Cossacks from Baikal and more than 400 native Siberian hunters.

With a total of more than 800 troops, the food was almost exhausted, and they went crazy to loot and kill the nearby natives, and continued to grow food in Yaxa.

The Daur slaves here are miserable, and even if they help build the city, they can only drink porridge and hang themselves every day. Most of the slaves were so hungry that they could not even walk, and they had to be whipped to carry earth and stones, and every day slaves fell to the ground and died.

After more than ten days of building the city, another Rakshasa ghost came by boat.

Dmitry Zinoviev, a Russian nobleman, led 50 arquebusiers to Yaksa.

Stepanov, a fake aristocrat, hurriedly went to greet him, and knelt directly on his knees: "Why did the general come in person?" Has the army of three thousand arrived? ”

Zinoviev shook his head and said: "Without three thousand troops, the empire has declared war on Poland and cannot send troops to Siberia." I only have 50 soldiers in my hands, have you raised food and grass here? ”

Stepanov said: "There is a Khitan army downstream, and I don't dare to go over to grab grain." ”

"How many people are in the Khitan army?" Zinoviev asked.

"It's not very clear, but there are at least a thousand people, and I have more than 800 in my hands," Stepanov said. ”

Zinoviev rebuked: "Coward, more than 800 imperial warriors, enough to destroy 3,000 Khitan troops. Gather your forces at once and follow me downstream to collect food!" ”

Stepanov was stunned: "The castle is not repaired?" ”

"You don't have enough food, what kind of castle are you building? If the Khitan army comes and surrounds the castle, we will all starve to death! Zinoviev said.

Stepanov looked at Bektov, and the two looked at each other, both of them thinking that the man in front of them was mentally retarded.

But it is also excusable, the real aristocracy, how many are not straw bales?

Zinoviev said: "I have been appointed by His Majesty the Tsar as the governor of Amur (Heilongjiang), and everything here must be done according to my orders!" ”

As a result, the construction of the city was temporarily stopped, and in order to save food, all the surplus slaves were killed, leaving only some for farming.

Just when the Datong Army sent troops to attack, the Rakshasa ghost actually took the initiative to attack.

Faced with a foolish boss, Stepanov tried his best to take the initiative, sending more than a dozen ships to explore the way, and retreating as soon as he found the situation.

The two sides collided more than ten miles away from Hailan.

Zinoviev, a noble general, stupidly looked at the battleship of the Datong Army, and then looked at the Cossack boat he was on, and no longer said anything cruel, and immediately shouted and ordered: "Withdraw the castle to defend!" ”

These Cossack boats rowed so fast all the way that the battleships of the Anton Naval Division could not catch up at all.

Hou Rusong said depressedly: "Damn, the raid failed." ”

On the side of the Datong Army, there was the Cossack leader Khabarov as a guide.

Khabarov was well acquainted with the tactics of the Cossacks, who slipped away if they could not win, or even slipped away without fighting. Therefore, the plan this time was a surprise attack, blocking the upper reaches with a night march, so that the Cossacks would not run away by boat.

Now the plan failed, and it was possible that the Cossacks would flee directly to Nebuchu.

Both Stepanov and Bektov would fight, and they both thought of abandoning Yaksa, and the former said: "Your Excellency, we can't fight head-on, the Khitan army is too strong. I propose to abandon Yaksa, retreat to the Nebuchu region, stretch the enemy's supply lines, and then look for an opportunity to sneak up on the enemy! ”

Zinoviev, a nobleman, did not adapt to the Cossack way of fighting, and he asked rhetorically: "What if the enemy does not chase after him?" And what if the enemy took the opportunity to occupy Yaksa and stationed and perfected the castle here? At that time, we will be stuck in Nebuchu and will never be able to touch Amur (Heilongjiang) again. ”

This also makes sense, and it does not prove who is right and who is wrong.

One is the regular army mentality, which must have a firm grip on strategic points.

One is the Cossack bandit mentality, if there is danger, run away, and then go on when there is a cheap.

The noble lord had the final say, and the Cossacks really didn't run, and in the case of insufficient food, they dared to hold on to the Yaksa castle.

Wang Fuchen and Hou Rusong led their troops here, and when they saw the Rakshasa ghosts defending the city, they all felt incredible.

Why didn't the enemy run?

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