knife

Chapter 590 Consensus
Contraction, stability, and a firm hold on this position like a nail—this was the consensus between Li Dachui and Jiang Qian.

For Li Dachui, he needs more power to stir up the waters even more in Guannei.

One Shu prefecture alone is far from enough.

"Burning down eight hundred miles of plank roads reveals a whole new world in Shu." These fourteen characters perfectly encapsulate the unique geographical location of Shu. The title "Land of Abundance" also reflects the wealth of Shu County. However, it is precisely because of these factors that Shu County's influence on the struggle for supremacy in the Central Plains was quite limited.

Historically, every dynasty that dominated the Central Plains eventually incorporated the Shu Commandery into its territory.

And each time, it was not through war.

Instead, after the war ended, the forces in Shu surrendered directly.

It's difficult for others to break in, but don't expect them to break out either.

Therefore, Li Dachui needed to establish another force outside, while Sichuan would serve as the logistical support for this force.

Now, Yong'an, Ruyin, Xiangyang and other places perfectly meet Li Dachui's needs.

What he and Jiang Qian need to do now is to integrate these forces and form a powerful synergy in order to face the fierce battles that can be imagined to come.

There are quite a few troops on this land that they can control now.

Kang Zhen led 30,000 elite troops, Ke Wuji, He Yiming, and Zhan Zhao led troops from Xingxian and Ningxian, totaling over 20,000 men. Yong'an and Ruyin counties each had over 10,000 troops, plus Wang Dao's navy of over 3,000 men.

This adds up to nearly 80,000 troops.

There were quite a few of them, but the only ones that Li Dachui truly valued were Kang Zhen's 30,000 Tiger Warriors. Even though Ke Wuji and his men could be considered his own, Li Dachui didn't think much of their fighting strength. Whether it was the Canal Gang or the Demonic Sect, they were brave, but in military operations, courage alone sometimes wasn't enough to solve problems.

Just like this time when Feng Kuan fought a desperate battle with his back to the river, what was the use of more than 10,000 soldiers fighting to the last moment?
The entire army was wiped out as well.

He Yiming and his team won this battle not because they were particularly skilled fighters, but because everything was planned. Anyone could win a battle like this, as long as they weren't completely naive.

As for the troops of Kang'an and Ruyin, Bi Qike and his men were truly inferior.

Fortunately, among Ke Wuji's 20,000 men, there were still several thousand elite troops left behind by Zhang Quanyi!

The military must be reorganized.

These people must be integrated into a unified whole and under a single command in order to firmly establish themselves here in the upcoming great battles.

“Eighty thousand men is too many!” Li Dachui said. “In this area, I think maintaining a standing army of thirty to forty thousand men is enough!”

"Thirty to forty thousand men?" He Jiong was somewhat surprised. "Kang Zhen's Tiger Legion alone has thirty thousand men! Protector Li, a major battle is about to begin. Isn't it inappropriate to reduce the army now? Even if military funds are tight, we must at least hold out for this period before making any decisions."

“Winning a battle isn’t about having a lot of men!” Li Dachui said. “Our battle with Chu this time isn’t about land, but about water. If the navy wins, then our 30,000 land troops will be enough to hold this area firmly. Convenient water transportation will allow us to easily move our troops to any region we want to reach. Conversely, if we lose this battle on the water, not only will we not be able to reduce our troops, but we’ll probably have to expand them. Even then, there will still be loopholes everywhere!”

Jiang Qian looked at Li Dachui: "Chen Yan is a good naval commander. To be honest, I'm really not confident about naval battles. Compared to Chen Yan, Wang Dao is still a bit inexperienced." "The Shu navy will arrive soon!" Li Dachui said: "Then we'll hand it over to Wang Dao to command. Putting everything else aside, the combined number of ships on both sides should be more than the other side's. And I'm not bragging, but the warships we've built in Shu are much better than the ones Chen Yan currently has."

"Let Director Wang take command?" He Jiong was somewhat surprised.

Li Dachui nodded: "Is there a problem?"

"Won't General Yao have any objections?" He Jiong asked.

“What objections could he possibly have?” Li Dachui smiled and said, “Although Yao Dali is older, his experience in naval warfare is not necessarily more extensive than Wang Dao’s. In the past, he served more as a transport captain outside the Great Wall. Prefect He also knows that our battles outside the Great Wall are mostly decided by cavalry, that’s one point. Secondly, soldiers take it upon themselves to obey orders. When the order is given, of course he must obey! This is the rule of our Beiting Protectorate. You can raise any objections, but there can be absolutely no deviation in the execution.”

"I've long heard that the Beiting Protectorate has strict military regulations. Some time ago, I even asked Zhu Chi to find a way to get your Beiting army's training methods!" Jiang Qian couldn't help but laugh as she said this. The world is truly amazing; no one could have imagined such a big change in such a short time.

"If you want to see it, I'll have someone bring you a manual later!" Li Dachui said.

“That’s great! Our current navy, plus the Sichuan navy, will have nearly two hundred warships, and half of them are your newest models. This battle will be quite a fight!” Jiang Qian said. “If the navy can win, we can indeed reduce our seventy or eighty thousand troops by half. Protector Li, you’re an experienced commander, and you have the most experience in reorganizing troops. You’ll be in charge of this matter! First, get the plan working, and then once the navy wins this battle, we can immediately put it into practice!”

Li Dachui nodded. Jiang Qian was returning the favor. By giving Wang Dao command of the navy, she meant to hand over the leadership of the army to him.

But she's overthinking it.

Even if the Lu Shi were to be reorganized, it would still be based on the Tiger Legion led by Kang Zhen.

Ke Wuji, He Yiming, Zhan Zhao, and the others cannot be considered true soldiers. Once the army is reorganized, most people like them will retire from the army and go back to doing what they are good at.

Although these people are highly skilled in combat, their continued presence in the army would only disrupt unified command. After all, they are senior and highly skilled, and Kang Zhen has no way to deal with them.

People like Su Qilu and Xiong can still serve in the army. Both of them are honest and hardworking, and Kang Zhen can keep them in check.

Kang Zhen is a person that both Jiang Qian and Li Dachui trust, making him the best candidate to lead this army.

“By reducing the army by half, we save more than just half the military pay. The remaining half, when they return to civilian life, are all strong and capable laborers,” Jiang Qian said with a smile. “Moreover, these people all have military experience, so when there is a shortage of manpower, we can bring them back and put them to use immediately!”

Population has always been a precious asset. When Li Dachui was outside the Great Wall, he was often troubled by the lack of population.

In recent years, with the rapid economic development outside the pass, and the numerous medical clinics built by Li Dachui and Changchun Valley, the population loss rate has been decreasing, and the population has begun to grow naturally.

In the past year, Beiting has completely defeated the Northern Yuan Empire, which has caused the Northern Yuan population to flow rapidly into Beiting's territory, greatly alleviating the shortage of manpower under Beiting's command.

Compared to the Guannei region, the natural conditions under the rule of Beiting were certainly not as good, but they were better than some and worse than others. Compared to the Northern Yuan Empire, they were much better.

The Little Ice Age is approaching, and the further north you go, the harsher the living conditions become.

That's why the barbarians moved south, and why the Northern Yuan Empire had been tirelessly trying to take over the lands under the rule of the Northern Court for many years. Of course, the result wasn't good; they ended up losing their people.

Ultimately, it's all because of the pressures of life!
(End of this chapter)