Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 217 Who can be the Five Tiger Generals
While Lu Jin was arranging the expansion of the arsenal, spring plowing and troop training, generals from all over the country also received appointment and reorganization orders from the Marshal's Office one after another.

Some people are dissatisfied with the military rank. The title of colonel has existed since ancient times, but Lu Jinlian has four levels of lieutenant, junior, middle, senior and major. They think it is a bit outrageous. When can they be promoted to general?

There is also the regimental commander level in the Shengwu Army. Logically speaking, he leads 4,500 soldiers and horses alone. If this were placed in other forces, he would at least be a lieutenant general or something. However, Lu Jin was given the rank of major general.

However, Lu Jin also gave an excuse. The messenger who delivered the order also delivered Lu Jin's message, "What is a lieutenant general? It's just a nice word. As the ancients said, a general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers. I don't ask you to kill 10,000 people. As long as you can lead a regiment of troops to annihilate the same number of enemy troops, whether you capture them alive or kill 5,000, it will be fine. If you don't even have 10,000 soldiers, how can you be worthy of the title of general?"

After this was said, no one dared to say anything. According to the new organization, a division had three regiments under its command, and a major general was in charge of 13,500 soldiers. This was in line with Lu Jin's standard of having a general commanding 10,000 men.

In addition to those who are dissatisfied with their military ranks, there are of course also those who are eager to make progress. They are curious about what the next level above generals is and set higher goals for themselves.

Among them, the reaction of the 35th Army on the southern front was relatively calm. Lieutenant General Liao Yongan's rank was well deserved. He was worthy of it both in terms of seniority and the military power in his hands.

Miao Daheng was quite satisfied with his position as Major General and Deputy Chief of Staff. After Dingyuan surrendered to Lu Jin, he was promoted to Major General and Deputy Chief of Staff of the 35th Army in a short period of time, becoming a deputy general who could fight a large army on his own.

Moreover, he is not from the Chaohu veteran faction. Even among the surrendered generals faction, he is considered to be one of the newer ones.

If the surrendered generals under Lu Jin are counted as the first batch from Luzhou and Lu'an, and those under Kang Maocai as the second batch, then the one from Dingyuan should be counted as the third batch.

Among the surrendered generals of the Shengwu Army, the one with the highest position is Zhu Liangzu, who was among the first to surrender in Lu'an. This guy has already reached the level of a military commander leading an army, with the rank of lieutenant general, only one level higher than Miao Daheng.

In addition, Miao Youzhen, the eldest son of Miao Daheng, was promoted from a battalion officer of a thousand households to a colonel and commander of a naval force. Lu Jin also promised to let them fight in Jiangxi in the future. As long as there are wars to fight, they will not have to worry about not having military merits in the future. If they have military merits, they can continue to be promoted. He is already very content and satisfied.

Guo Zixing was only a colonel and a regiment commander, but at least he held the military rank of deputy commander-in-chief of the 101st Division. Compared with ordinary regiment commanders, although his rank was the same, his military rank was at least half a level higher. This was somewhat of a comfort to him. He knew that Lu Jin was dissatisfied with his performance this time, but he had not completely given up on him.

As for Han Qinglu and Lu Ding, they had just been promoted to regimental commanders and were so happy that they had no time to feel dissatisfied at all.

On the eastern front, Yang Jing, as the commander-in-chief of the 37th Army and holding the rank of lieutenant general, was actually quite nervous. This was mainly because compared with the other two army commanders, Yang Jing's military achievements were not very prominent, and his position was so high, and he had many powerful generals under his command.

There are several Chaohu veterans in the 37th Army, and their positions are not as high as Yang Jing's, which makes him feel very pressured.

When Lu Jin captured Luzhou, Yang Jing was the first one to read the notice and recommend himself as a general. At that time, Lu Jin was short of people, so he made him one of the few regiment commanders. Later, when fighting against Kang Maocai, the main force on the front battlefield was commanded by Lu Jin himself. Yang Jing only led a small force to attack an empty city and captured Heyang. This record was not very impressive, and someone else could have taken it as well, not to mention that there was Lu Jin's insider in Heyang City.

Later, the Eastern Front Army marched north from Heyang and successively captured the three cities of Quanjiao, Chuzhou and Lai'an. Chang Yuchun was the one who came up with the idea and led the sneak attack. Yang Jing only led the troops to capture the city of Quanjiao alone. Compared with the armies on the north and south fronts, this record was not impressive.

What's more, he has Liao Yongjian, a veteran of Chaohu, under his command. Although Hua Gao has also been a Chaohu general for a long time, he had been under Zhao Pusheng before. The time when Hua Gao really defected to Lu Jin was actually later than Yang Jing. The two of them can barely be considered from the same batch.

In addition, among the several regiment commanders under the 37th Army, there are Yu Tonghai, Zhang Desheng, and Chang Yuchun. It can be said that except for Chang Yuchun, the others are all direct descendants of the Chaohu faction, but their positions are not as high as Yang Jing.

Yang Jing is only 19 years old this year, and he has to manage such a group of arrogant and powerful generals. You can imagine how much pressure this brings him.

However, there is pressure as well as motivation. He knows that he will definitely be taken along when crossing the river in the future. After all, he is in charge of the defense line along the river and is most familiar with the situation on the other side. So during the time he was stationed on the eastern front, Yang Jing had been thinking about how to fight across the river and how to develop in the future after crossing the river.

As for other troops on the eastern front, although Liao Yongjian was an old man from Chaohu, he had never been known for his abilities. Before Lu Jin arrived in Chaohu to join the army, the actual leader of Chaohu was his brother Liao Yongan.

Liao Yongjian also knew his situation. He was a face-conscious person, and Lu Jin also gave him enough face by not giving him a too low military rank. The position of a major general commander and deputy chief of the 37th Army was already high enough for him.

As for Hua Gao, he knew that he was not one of the people with the closest relationship to Lu Jin. Zhang Desheng, who was also in the 37th Army, had just been promoted to regimental commander. Even the diehard Chaohu clique was like this, what else could he, a deputy commander-in-chief, say?

Zhang Desheng and Yu Tonghai are both still young, and they are die-hard fans of Lu Jin. Lu Jin has helped them develop such a huge family business, and now they have an army of 100,000 and a territory of nearly a thousand miles. Whatever Lu Jin asks them to do, they will be the first to respond, and naturally they will not object.

On the other hand, Chang Yuchun had always dreamed of commanding 4500 soldiers. However, when the military rank system was introduced, he only got the position of a major general in a regiment, not even a general. He felt a little disappointed, even though he knew that soldiers were not a small number for a newcomer like him.

While awarding military ranks, the defense zones of various units were also readjusted. Chang Yuchun's 13th Regiment, which was originally stationed in Chuzhou, was directly transferred to the 36th Army on the northern front. He was going to lead his troops to Quanjiao County.

On the way to Quanjiao, Chang Yuchun was riding on a horse, holding the letter of appointment in his hand and muttering to himself.

"I am only a colonel with 5,000 soldiers. How long will it take for me to command 100,000 soldiers? What rank will I have then?"

Qian Hu Ping Ding, who was following him, heard this and said, "I heard that the ranks of generals and lieutenants are divided into four levels. The lowest level is the major general, which is the commander-in-chief of our army. He can manage three regiments with 13500 soldiers. The next level is the lieutenant general, which can manage two divisions.

"But I see that with the current organization, one army may have three divisions in the future. If I'm not mistaken, one army will be able to manage 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers. I heard that the higher-level army is called a group army, and the position is called the group army commander, with the rank of general. If each level still has three divisions, then it will be able to command the strength of three armies and command 100,000 soldiers.

"But now our entire army combined is only three armies, and there is also a part of the Imperial Guards led by the Marshal. Moreover, each army now has only two divisions, which may only have a hundred thousand soldiers. If the commander wants to lead a hundred thousand soldiers, he will probably have to wait until our entire army has half a million soldiers."

"Alas," Chang Yuchun sighed upon hearing this. How could he not know what Pingding said? He was just sighing. Now, in the Shengwu Army, apart from Lu Jin, the supreme commander, the highest-ranking officials were the three military generals, all of whom were capable of leading troops on their own. Now, even they were only lieutenant generals, with only 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers under their command.

Even if the army is expanded and promoted in the future, those three will definitely be the first to be promoted to generals. Chang Yuchun cannot compare with them in terms of qualifications or military exploits, so he does not expect to surpass those three. But it is hard to say who will be the fourth general in the entire army. He definitely has the ability and has a chance to compete for the fourth.

When Chang Yuchun took the initiative to join the army, he said that he could lead 100,000 soldiers. Lu Jin first let him start as a battalion officer of a thousand households, which was not a low starting point. He promised that after he captured Chuzhou, he would promote him to commander-in-chief, and Lu Jin kept his promise.

Later, Lu Jin said that he would take him across the river. How many soldiers he could lead in the future depended entirely on his future battle performance. This was an opportunity for a quick promotion.

He is now a colonel and a regiment commander. As long as he can be promoted to the rank of general, he will be able to lead more than 10,000 troops. If he can win a few more big victories, he may really become the fourth general of the entire army.

Chang Yuchun's blood boiled at the thought of the title of the fourth general. He looked at Sima Shiheng, the commander of the 13th Regiment, who was riding beside him, and was the deputy general arranged by Lu Jin.

According to the system of later generations, the political chief should be half a level higher than the military chief. However, Lu Jin arranged two people to be of the same level, that is, a dual-chief system. Shi Heng, the regimental Sima, has the same rank as Chang Yuchun, also a colonel.

This made Chang Yuchun somewhat dissatisfied. He couldn't understand why Lu Jin had to have such a position in the army. A scholar was actually on the same level as the commander-in-chief. Who should he listen to during the war? The only thing that made him think of the position of Tuan Sima was "military supervisor".

However, this job was usually assigned to the eunuchs around the master, but Lu Jin got a group of scholars to do it.

"Lao Shi, you are well-educated. The rank of major general and lieutenant general was created by our Marshal, but there should be many generals and admirals in history. Can you tell me which famous generals there were in the past?"

Shi Heng is only 22 years old this year, about the same age as Chang Yuchun. He was also selected in the first batch of exams, but he was not in the top . Then he took the military officer exam and was assigned to be a training officer.

Moreover, Shi Heng was not a "weak scholar". His family was not rich, but he had a few acres of land and could barely be considered a self-employed farmer. When he was at home, he would often go to the fields to do farm work or go up the mountain to chop firewood. Therefore, he was not the kind of person who was powerless.

After being assigned as training officers, these people also have to train together according to Lu Jin's requirements. Although they are not required to follow the lead in the battle, at least you have to keep up with the troops' march, right?
Therefore, although these literati in the army were not very well-liked by the commanders, because the instructors needed to set an example, they did not arouse too much resentment from the commanders of various departments.

When Shi Heng heard Chang Yuchun's question, the first thing that popped into his mind was "General Tiance, King Qin, Emperor Taizong of Tang." Fortunately, he was quick-witted and did not mention Li Shimin. Otherwise, if he set Li Shimin as a role model for Chang Yuchun, what was he trying to do? To induce Chang Yuchun to rebel?
After thinking for a moment, Shi Heng said this.

"Speaking of generals, the most famous in history are the Five Tiger Generals under Emperor Zhaolie of the Han Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period. They are Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, and Huang Zhong. These five generals are not only loyal and brave, but also unrivaled in leading troops in battle. Although they failed to achieve the Northern Expedition, they left behind a good story."

Upon hearing this, Chang Yuchun burst into laughter and said, "Guan, Zhang, Zhao, Ma, and Huang, I have heard opera singers sing about this before, but what about the generals?"

"The rank of Grand General should be derived from the post of Grand General, which is a military post that has existed in China since ancient times. There are many famous Grand Generals throughout the dynasties.

"In the Spring and Autumn Period, Bai Qi, the Marquis of Wu'an, who buried 400,000 Zhao soldiers in a single battle; Wang Jian, who helped the King of Qin to sweep across the world and unify the country; Lian Po, who was still strong despite his age and followed the coalition forces of five countries to the east to attack Qi; and Li Mu, who dressed in Hu clothing and rode and shot at the northern Xiongnu and killed more than 100,000 Xiongnu cavalry in a single battle. These four people are collectively known as the Four Great Generals of the Spring and Autumn Period. Their great achievements in battle and their ability to lead troops are rarely seen in the world.

"Later, there was Han Xin, the military genius who was appointed as the general by Emperor Gaozu of Han during the Chu-Han contention; Wei Qing, the general who conquered the Xiongnu in the desert in the north during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han; and Li Jing, the general who destroyed several countries during the Zhenguan period of the early Tang Dynasty. They can all be called outstanding people of all ages."

Chang Yuchun's heart surged with emotion when he heard this. These human-like beings could easily annihilate hundreds of thousands of enemies and destroy a country at will. It was really something that made people yearn for them.

According to the organization designed by Lu Jin, the rank of general corresponds to the level of the group army, which can lead about 100,000 troops. The rank of major general corresponds to the level of the front army, which should be like the major generals in various dynasties in history, leading 200,000 to 300,000 troops and being able to destroy a country with a single move.

Chang Yuchun became more and more excited the more he thought about it. His face flushed with excitement. He said immediately, "If I could become a general and lead hundreds of thousands of troops to attack Dadu, I would die without regrets in this life!"

Shi Heng had been dealing with Chang Yuchun for several months and was familiar with this guy's ideas. He did not refute but bowed with a smile.

"Then I, Shi, look forward to the day when I can take charge. Then I can also benefit from it. Maybe the lord will also reward me with the rank of a general."

Chang Yuchun's face darkened upon hearing this, and he wailed in anguish, "The commander-in-chief is so foolish, he has to appoint a Sima, and he is on the same level as the commander-in-chief. There has never been such a thing in all dynasties. Isn't this nonsense? If you want to call it a military supervisor, just appoint a military supervisor. What's the point of appointing a Sima?"

Shi Heng knew that these military commanders were dissatisfied with the instructor's equal position, but he did not get angry. Instead, he spoke half-jokingly.

"Commander Chang, if you say that about the Marshal, then I have to criticize you on his behalf. You question whether the position of Sima should be established, which means you have not understood the Marshal's good intentions in establishing the position of Sima."

Chang Yuchun looked at Shi Heng's smiling face and felt that he was a mean person. He frowned and said, "What intention can he have? He is just a military supervisor. I understand the role of a military supervisor. Why should we appoint a military supervisor directly? Why should we appoint a Sima in the army?"

Shi Heng spread his hands when he saw this, "Look, you still don't understand. The Sima does have the responsibility of supervising the army, but why didn't the commander appoint a military supervisor instead of a Sima instructor? This is because most of the military supervisors in the past dynasties did not do their job properly. They only knew how to hinder the commander, delay the battle, and lead to a great defeat.

"The commander-in-chief changed the supervisor to the training officer just to prevent the supervisor from hindering the commander. This is for the good of the commanders. The commander really shouldn't treat me as an outsider."

Chang Yuchun was a little confused. "Then tell me, what is the difference between a Sima and a military supervisor? How come I misunderstood?"

(End of this chapter)