A Night in the Grid
Chapter 216 Fifty Camps
The original Frost Wolf and Silver Wing armies each had establishments of around six thousand men, slightly expanded. The scout cavalry had two thousand five hundred men per battalion, with slight fluctuations. The two armies each had three battalions.
The planned size of the Iron Cloud Riders and Jingyun Riders remained unchanged at around thirty thousand each, with ten battalions each.
Xu, the old general, had not made a very clear deployment for Yunzhou's originally weak infantry, but now it was clearly adjusted to a size of thirty thousand men, divided into ten battalions. These included three heavy infantry battalions, three melee infantry battalions, two archer battalions, and two heavy ordnance battalions. This organization of the infantry also basically determined the combat method of heavy infantry and melee infantry cooperating to delay the enemy, relying on archers and heavy ordnance for long-range main force annihilation. After seeing the equipment displayed by the Ye Clan Workshop today, such as those weapons and Huoxingdan (Mars Grenades), Huoyoudan (Oil Grenades), Meng Huoyou (Fierce Oil), and other powerful tools, everyone was not at all repulsed by this method. On the contrary, they were quite expectant. And from the military establishment plan, the equipment standards of the melee infantry battalions and archer battalions were not far from those of the Blood Kirin Army, which made everyone extremely excited.
These thirty-six battalions formed the main force of Yunzhou for future external operations. The eight garrison battalions, reorganized and strengthened after training from the garrisons of various regions, would gradually take over the defenses of various regions. Due to Yunzhou's abundant animal husbandry resources, almost everyone could ride a horse. The garrison battalions did not distinguish between infantry and cavalry, and were equipped with simple swords and leather armor. In addition to ensuring the safety of towns, the garrison battalions would gradually take on tasks such as internal inspections in Yunzhou, patrolling main roads, and assisting local law enforcement. Naturally, Ye Tao would give a clear measure for this assistance to local law enforcement later, so as not to give the army the opportunity to intervene in local affairs. In wartime, these garrison battalions might also have to bear a series of tasks such as preventing enemy infiltration. However, the series of considered equipment and training that So Zheng recited made most of the generals present roll their eyes—was it necessary to create such an elite force for these simple tasks? When all the garrison battalions completed their reorganization and re-equipment, their combat effectiveness would probably not be worse than that of the ordinary cavalry of the Northern Liao. It would be a waste to leave such an army behind when there was a real war.
The last six battalions were all directly under the Yunzhou Pacification Office and the Command Headquarters. These included two logistics battalions, one guard cavalry battalion, one guard infantry battalion, one central army battalion, and one special operations battalion.
The commander of the two logistics battalions was naturally So Zheng, the only professional logistics management general in the world today.
The guard infantry battalion and the guard cavalry battalion were mainly responsible for the security of the Pacification Office and the Command Headquarters. By the way, they were also supposed to be the face of the Yunzhou armies and meet some ceremonial needs.
The central army battalion and the special operations battalion each had an establishment of about a thousand men. The central army battalion was easier to understand. In future external operations, with the expansion of the battlefield, and with the increasingly strict communication system and communication confidentiality system in Dongping, there was indeed a need for a group of professional soldiers who could quickly decipher secret messages, messengers equipped with better horses, and people who were professional in raising and training eagles and pigeons. The establishment of professional staff and document management departments would also begin with this central army battalion.
The special operations battalion was a special type of soldier that Ye Tao, Tan Weixin, and Dai Yun finally decided to establish after several communications. It was derived from the special forces understood by Ye Tao and Tan Weixin, and mainly performed various tasks that ordinary troops could not. The commander of this battalion was Dai Qiong, and the deputy commander was Zhou Rui, one of Ye Tao's closest guards. Dai Qiong had always managed military intelligence in the Dai clan's army. He had profound experience in reconnaissance, probing, and intelligence analysis and management. The special operations battalion was only taking this part of the function a step further. Zhou Rui, as the son of the famous "Wolf King" in the martial world, had extremely deep attainments in stealth, assassination, hunting, searching, and capturing. He was most suitable for leading teams to carry out sabotage missions behind enemy lines in the future. And such a special army as the special operations battalion, which was preparing to absorb many martial artists, naturally needed such a young hero who could hold the scene, with both good Kung Fu and brains.
Such a plan made everyone quite rejoiced. When such a framework was fully completed, Yunzhou would have more than 100,000 elite troops that could play a role in the future dynastic wars, and at the same time, there would be a fairly solid rear. Moreover, there was a complete system in logistics, command, and coordination. It was conceivable that the Yunzhou army would definitely impress people in the future.
But when Dai Yun began to gradually announce the steps of the army reorganization, some people could not laugh anymore. There were forty or so people present today. If nothing unexpected happened, most of the battalion commanders would be produced from among these people. Everyone's affiliation to various arms was also very clear, so naturally some people would be dissatisfied with Yunzhou's reorganization plan. The reorganization plans for some battalions would not be completed until two years later.
The plan announced by Dai Yun was formulated roughly according to the replacement of equipment for five battalions each quarter. Everyone understood the priority reorganization of the Frost Wolf and Silver Wing armies. Before the Yunzhou armies had formed a strong combat capability, reconnaissance and harassment work was very important. Moreover, the training subjects of scout cavalry were much more than those of ordinary cavalry, which required more time, so they should also be given priority. Other troops would have a series of training standards. Each season, any arms with equipment replacement quotas would be given priority for equipment replacement if they met the training standards. The problem appeared in this quota issue, especially for the Iron Cloud Riders. It was still summer, and the reorganization plan would be officially implemented starting from the next quarter, but the first equipment replacement quota for the Iron Cloud Riders would not appear until next summer. As the chief officer of the Yunzhou Pacification Office and Command Headquarters, Dai Yun could not favor the Iron Cloud Riders. Everyone could understand this, but there was no need to treat their own people so badly. However, these middle and high-ranking officers of the Iron Cloud Riders were almost all members of the Dai clan. Everyone looked at each other and did not say anything strange.
However, Dai Shijin, who was designated as the commander of the Yunzhou infantry, said hesitantly: "Pacification Envoy Ye, Military Supervisor Dai... This, is it a little inappropriate? The Iron Cloud Riders have always been the mainstay of my Yunzhou. This old man thinks that they should be given priority for equipment replacement? Moreover, this old man was originally only in command of the Dai clan soldiers... Now there are four arms all of a sudden, which is really a bit confusing. Pacification Envoy Ye, is it..."
Ye Tao signaled Dai Yun to sit down and said, "The appointments will be decided like this for the time being. Everyone goes from not knowing to knowing. In marching and fighting, understanding or not understanding the technology is only one aspect. Whether you can fight and dare to fight is the key. Uncle Dai doesn't need to belittle himself. Yunzhou's infantry needs to be able to quickly form an army, and it still needs to rely on your prestige and courage."
Ye Tao stood up and said to everyone: "This is just a preliminary equipment replacement plan. It can be said to be an equipment replacement, but in fact, except for the Iron Cloud Riders, other armies are almost starting from scratch, and they have to go through a stage of running in from immature to mature. It is precisely because of the strength and maturity of the Iron Cloud Riders that I have planned this way after repeated consideration. I believe that once the equipment arrives, the Iron Cloud Riders will be able to transform into an army that will terrify the whole world in the fastest time. Moreover, when this plan was specified, I also missed something. For example... this bag of things in my hand." Ye Tao threw a bag of gems that Saiyid had given him on the table. Several pigeon-egg-sized sapphires, rubies, and even chrysoberyls that had never appeared in the East broke through the golden tassels on the mouth of the pure black flawless velvet bag and jumped on the table, appearing even more dazzling in the bright lights of the factory.
"Equip one battalion of the Iron Cloud Riders in the first quarter. I will not lower the training standards. If they fail to meet the requirements of the Command Headquarters after the equipment replacement, then the Iron Cloud Riders should not make any more demands in the future. If they can meet the requirements, then equip one more battalion of the Iron Cloud Riders outside of the plan each quarter. How about that?" Ye Tao looked provocatively at the officers from the Iron Cloud Riders who were sitting together and whispering to each other.
The first to protest was Dai Yun. She frowned and stood up, saying, "Pacification Envoy Ye, this is against the rules. Yunzhou needs money everywhere now, and there is no need for this. Even without the equipment replacement, the Iron Cloud Riders are still an iron army and will never lose to anyone."
Ye Tao waved his hand and said, "The money outside the plan has arrangements outside the plan. The reorganization of the army requires the allocation of priorities, and so does the investment in the region. If the local finances are really in urgent need, I would definitely not suggest this... The training standards of the Iron Cloud Riders and Jingyun Riders are very high. I just want to ask, for this quarter, do you have this confidence?"
Dai Yun snorted. How could she not know that Ye Tao was also considering her very much in this way? Moreover, since the words had been said like this, if she did not agree, it would obviously mean that she did not trust her subordinates to be able to meet the standards. Dai Yun raised her chin and whispered, "Cheng Chi, start with your battalion." Then she sat down sulkily, thinking in her heart that she would have plenty of opportunities to deal with Ye Tao in the future.
In this way, this originally well-rounded reorganization plan could be considered to have been passed smoothly. Ye Tao nodded and said with satisfaction: "Then I will talk about the next thing. You have all seen Military Supervisor Dai's armor. What do you think of that kind of armor?"
Everyone had drooled over the beautiful armor that Ye Tao had personally designed and that a group of elite technicians from the Ye Clan Workshop had jointly produced. Since Ye Tao asked, it naturally aroused a burst of praise. The most exaggerated of them was Chi Lei. He almost really drooled. After some description, he half-jokingly asked: "Could it be that it is no longer exclusive to the proprietress?"
Dai Yun frowned and glared at Chi Lei, but her face turned red. Although she knew that everyone already knew about her marriage with Ye Tao, and also knew that everyone already knew that she knew that everyone knew about this, it was, after all, a bit... a bit embarrassing to be exposed at a military conference. But facing the smiling Chi Lei, Dai Yun could not get angry. Instead, her face was a little feverish.
Ye Tao scratched his head and pointed at Chi Lei and said, "You will be the last to replace the equipment." Then he said to everyone: "The Ye Clan Workshop now has two armor design teams. One continues to be in Danyang, serving the wealthy masters of the Blood Kirin Army. The other team has already come to Yunzhou. After you report the candidates for the fifty battalion commanders, and after they are approved by the Command Headquarters, they will gradually customize them for everyone."
Dai Shijin asked with a smile: "Can General Qiu Haohui's kind of armor also be made?" You must know that since seeing that set of Cloisonné enamel armor, he had been coveting it until now. It was really too gorgeous and too beautiful.
"Naturally," Ye Tao's mouth curved into an even steeper arc, and he said with a smile: "No expense will be spared."
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...I know everyone knows that my updates have been a bit late these two days