Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 310: East China Front Army is established (Happy New Year in the North!)
Upon hearing the name of the East China Front Army, all the generals present perked up. For the generals participating in the Battle of Crossing the Yangtze River, this military expansion was simply a feast, and everyone's official rank was greatly promoted.

Zhu Liangzu and Liao Yongzhong were also very concerned because if there were no major changes in the future, the East China Front Army should be their model.

Lu Jin flipped through the roster of generals and spoke directly.

"Yang Jing, your 103rd Division must continue to expand. All regiment commanders must be expanded to division level, and all thousand-man units must be transferred out to lead new regiments."

Yu Tonghai and Zhang Desheng became even more excited after hearing this, as they were now both commanders.

Lu Jin continued to name names, "Wang Shuyang, the former battalion commander of the 103th Regiment of the 4rd Division, was promoted to commander of the 41th Regiment; Pu Ying, the battalion commander of the 42th Regiment, was promoted to commander of the st Regiment; Guo Tianxu, the battalion commander of the th Regiment, was promoted to commander of the nd Regiment.

"The reorganized 103rd Division, with Yang Jing as its commander, consisted of three regiments: the 41th, 42st, and nd.

"Yu Tonghai, the former commander of the 103th Regiment of the 114rd Division, was promoted to the commander of the newly formed 43th Division, and still served as the commander of the 44th Regiment; Su Zhishang, the former battalion officer of the th Regiment, was promoted to the deputy commander of the th Regiment; Li Xin, the battalion officer of the th Regiment, was promoted to the commander of the rd Regiment; Lan Chun, the battalion officer of the th Regiment, was promoted to the commander of the th Regiment.

“The newly formed 114th Division, commanded by Yu Tonghai, consists of three regiments: the 43th, 44rd, and th.

“原103师17团指挥使张德胜，升任新编115师督师，仍兼任17团指挥使；原17团营官贾伯英，升任17团副指挥使；17团营官许元琰，升任45团指挥使；17团营官张宏晁，升任46团指挥使。

"The newly formed 115th Division, commanded by Zhang Desheng, has three regiments under its command: the 17th, 45th, and 46th Regiments."

Lu Jin counted and said, "This will expand to six regiments and two divisions. It's not bad to use a battalion to expand a regiment. At least each squad can have two or three veterans. The combat effectiveness will not be reduced too much, and it will be able to be led quickly."

Yang Jing also finished writing his notes, looked up and said, "Now we have three divisions, the 103rd, 114th, and 115th, with nine regiments, but the Northern Army on the Eastern Expedition needs at least 12 regiments, which is still not enough."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin immediately said, "I'll give you another imperial guard division as the main attack force."

Yang Jing nodded. "With the three regiments of the Imperial Guard Division, there are indeed 12 regiments, but the artillery regiment actually only has the strength of a battalion, and the artillery regiment cannot be used to defend the city alone. It cannot be used as a regiment, so it is still a little short."

Lu Jin scratched his hair in worry, "Where can I find another master for you?"

Seeing this, Yang Jing reminded, "Marshal, the cavalry that crossed the river fought well this time."

Hearing this, Lu Jin looked at Ye Sheng, who had been silent, thought for a moment and then said.

"The cavalry has indeed made great contributions, but it is not easy to expand the cavalry. But we can't always suppress the expansion, otherwise it will be too unfair to the cavalry soldiers." Lu Jin asked Ye Sheng directly.

"Ye Sheng, what are your plans? If you continue to stay in the cavalry, I can upgrade you to a cavalry division according to the method of the artillery battalion, but the troop strength will remain unchanged for the time being. After all, you also know that cavalry is not easy to train, and it will be difficult to find so many war horses in a short time.

"Or you can hand over the cavalry to someone else and take the infantry instead. I will give you the strength of a division."

Upon hearing this, Ye Sheng immediately said, "I will leave it entirely to my lord to arrange."

Lu Jin was immediately annoyed when he heard this, and said bluntly, "Don't listen to me completely. You have been with me for such a long time. You have been following me since I conquered Luzhou. The cavalry of the Shengwu Army was trained by you and Zheng Yong. We are all brothers here, no outsiders. You can speak directly if you have anything to say. After all, this is related to how you will develop in the future."

Ye Sheng also had a conflicted expression on his face, and said frankly, "I was born a cavalry general, so I naturally hope to continue to lead cavalry, but the current conditions are limited. I also know that there is a lack of war horses, so it is not easy to expand the cavalry.

"Besides, I have always stayed in the cavalry regiment. If I don't get promoted, the battalion officers under me won't get promoted either. It always seems like I am suppressing them. I can also lead the infantry. After all, fighting is just like that. Just try not to make mistakes and be brave enough in battle."

Lu Jin just stared at him without saying anything. Ye Sheng thought for a long time before saying, "Why don't I lead the infantry?"

Lu Jin nodded, "Okay, Ye Sheng will be transferred from the 116st Cavalry Regiment to form the new 47th Division. You will be the commander of the division and concurrently the commander of the new 48th Regiment. Shen Ren, the former battalion commander of the st Cavalry Regiment, will be promoted to the commander of the new th Regiment. We still need one more regiment."

Lu Jin looked through the roster again and finally found a suitable candidate.

"I'm going to transfer Li Wang, the battalion commander of the musket battalion of the 49st Guard Brigade, to you and promote him to the commander of the newly formed th Regiment. I remember Li Wang. He was originally a centurion under Hua Gao. Later, I transferred him to the Guard Brigade as a battalion commander. He is also a very capable young general. Now I'm transferring him to you.

"The newly formed 116th Division, with Ye Sheng as the commander, was composed of three regiments: the 47th, 48th, and 49th.

"In the original cavalry regiment, the battalion officer Zhang Long was promoted to commander of the cavalry regiment, and Lu Qianhou was promoted to deputy commander, still leading the cavalry."

Lu Jin glanced at Yang Jing and said, "Now your Northern Army has five divisions, two and a half armies, and 15 regiments. You can form an army group."

Yang Jing nodded and wrote and drew on the notebook with the pen in his hand, writing down the numbers of each unit and the names of the generals. It was he who made the plan for the Eastern Expedition and also proposed the number of troops needed. Now that Lu Jin had given him the troops, he was also calculating the troops in his hands and the characteristics of these generals, and how to use them when the time comes.

"The Northern Army is composed of my 103rd Division, Yu Tonghai's 114th Division, Zhang Desheng's 115th Division, Ye Sheng's 116th Division, and a Royal Guards Division, with a total of 14 infantry regiments and one artillery regiment, totaling 63900 people. It is indeed enough. What about the Southern Army?" Yang Jing asked again.

Zhu Liangzu and Liao Yongzhong looked at each other and were shocked. My goodness, this East China Front Army, half of its troops alone have 15 regiments. If you add the complete Southern Route Army, how many soldiers would it have? Even if their troops finish the battle of Jiangbei and undergo a round of major expansion, they will probably only be half the size of the East China Front Army.
Lu Jin was also thinking about the problem of the Southern Route Army. The southern front also needed no less than this number of troops. There was no shortage of ordinary soldiers, and there were plenty of prisoners. If there were not enough, they could recruit from the public. Jiangnan had plenty of population, but what was lacking were experienced generals. And who should be the commander of the Southern Route Army?
Hearing this, Lu Jin looked at Zhang Wen and Zhu Shou and asked, "Who of you two will be the commander of the southern army?"

They both looked at Lu Jin in surprise, "The two of us?"

"Correct."

Zhu Shou and Zhang Wen looked at each other, neither of them saying anything. These two peasants, who had led hundreds of young men in the village to join the Chaohu Navy with Lu Jin, were young men in their early 20s, and they had never dreamed that they would lead an army of more than people one day.
Seeing this, Lu Jin said again, "If you don't speak, I will call your names."

The two men looked at each other again. One of them was now Lu Jin's elder brother-in-law and the uncle of the future prince, and the other one had been helped by Lu Jin to avenge his father's death and find a wife. He had also followed Lu Jin to join the army and embarked on the road of rebellion. His current position was not low, and even in the entire Shengwu Army, he was the two people closest to Lu Jin.

Both of them trusted Lu Jin unconditionally and obeyed Lu Jin's orders, so they simply said, "Marshal, please make the arrangements directly."

Lu Jin nodded and said, "Well, Zhu Shou will be the commander of the southern route. His Imperial Guards Brigade has more time for training. Zhang Wen, you will lead the reorganized Imperial Guards Second Division and follow Yang Jing to attack the northern route."

"Yes!" The two of them immediately clasped their fists and accepted the order.

A total of 36 cities needed to be captured in the Eastern Expedition, with the goal of controlling the entire Taihu Plain in northern Zhejiang. According to Yang Jing's plan, the army would be divided into two routes, attacking Hangzhou simultaneously from the north and south banks of Taihu Lake. After the two armies joined forces in Hangzhou, they would split up to attack the mountains in central Zhejiang, push the troops to the Tiantai Mountain line, and control the eastern exit of the Jinqu Basin.

According to Yang Jing's calculations, in order to capture these 36 cities, the entire battle would require a maximum of 32 regiments, and a minimum of 28 regiments, otherwise the strategic goal could not be achieved.

The Northern Army now has 15 regiments, but one of them is the original artillery battalion, so it can only be counted as 14 and a half. So if we want to make a total of 28 regiments, we must have at least 14 regiments on the Southern Front to be barely enough.

Lu Jin thought about it and counted on his fingers.

"Zhu Shou's Imperial Guards 110st Division, three regiments, and Xu Yong's 37th Division, three regiments, were transferred from your 117th Army. The newly surrendered Dong Xingyao, Duan Wu, and Jin Xuan can form another th Division, which will have nine regiments, and we still need two divisions."

Feng Guoyong, who had been silent the whole time, was in charge of the Military and Political Department, which was responsible for the establishment of military rosters and the transfer of generals. Upon hearing this, he spoke immediately.

"General, I don't recommend that Dong Xingyao and the other three surrendered generals form a separate division. It would be better to swap them with other divisions. Only one newly surrendered general can be placed in a division."

Lu Jin nodded, "I know. I'm going to calculate the troops first. We're still short of two divisions and six regiments. Who should I appoint as the general?"

Yang Jing thought for a moment and said, "We can consider using new soldiers to exchange a regiment from the 35th Army in Anqing. It won't be a loss to exchange three regiments of new soldiers for one regiment of old soldiers."

Hearing this, Lu Jin immediately complained, "That's indeed not a loss, you pull a veteran regiment over, and immediately expand it into three regiments, how can it be a loss?

"But there are some considerations in choosing which one to use. It must not affect Anqing's defense, and the regiment must be useful."

Now Yang Jing was silent. He could only give suggestions on where to transfer troops, but he didn't dare to interfere in matters such as the appointment of generals.

Lu Jin flipped through his roster of generals, stared at the list of generals of the 35th Army for a long time, and finally chose Guo Zixing's Eighth Regiment.

At present, the only one suitable for expansion is the Eighth Regiment, while other regiments are not suitable.

The 35th Army had only two divisions and six regiments. The regiments of Liao Yongan and Miao Daheng could not move. They were the core forces of Anqing's defense. Once these two forces moved, Anqing's defense would collapse directly.

The two regiments of Lu Ding and Han Qinglu cannot be moved either. They were promoted to regiment commanders during the Battle of Anqing. Since then, they have never fought in a battle and have no military merits. Why should they be promoted?

Excluding the above four regiments, the 35th Army still has two regiments left, one of which is Miao Youzhen's Lei Chi Navy, numbered as the Third Navy Regiment. The Lei Chi Navy is an important part of the Susong defense line, and it cannot be without them. Besides, it is not appropriate to expand the navy into an infantry division. The scale of the Lei Chi Navy is not as large as the other two navies. So after choosing and choosing, only Guo Zixing's Eighth Regiment is left.

Moreover, the situation of the Eighth Regiment is relatively special. The Eighth Regiment is not because it has no military merits, but because Guo Zixing did not perform actively enough during the last battle of Anqing. In addition to historical factors, Lu Jin was always worried about him, so he suppressed and hid him until now.

But now, the time has come to activate them, and Lu Jin also saw the names of Xie Zaixing and Shao Rong in the list of company commanders of the Eighth Regiment.

Maybe it was because the two of them were too low, so I didn't notice them before. Now I see that they are hiding two big treasures.
"Guo Zixing's Eighth Regiment can be transferred here to expand it into a division. Guo Zixing will still be in charge of the Eighth Regiment and serve as the acting commander. The battalion officer of the Eighth Regiment, Cao Liangchen, will be promoted to the commander of the new regiment and serve as the acting deputy commander. The battalion officer of the Eighth Regiment, Xia Xinghou, can also serve as the commander of a new regiment, and the battalion officer, Guo Tianjue, will be promoted to the deputy commander of the Eighth Regiment.

"Then we will raise a new regiment and send it to Anqing to exchange with the Eighth Regiment. This new regiment can be led by Yin Congdao, the former battalion officer of the Third Regiment. Yin Congdao joined the army at the same time as Zhang Huan and Ye Sheng. When he first joined the army, he was a battalion officer of a thousand households. He is still a battalion officer of a thousand households now. It's time for him to be promoted."

Yang Jing calculated and said, "The 110st Imperial Guard Division, Xu Yong's 12th Division, and the three regiments of Dong Xingyao's surrendered generals, plus Guo Zixing's three regiments, that's four divisions, regiments, and we still need three."

This time, Lu Jin didn't think too much and spoke directly.

"Select generals from the Imperial Guard Division and organize three more regiments. Zhang Liang, the commander of the Second Brigade's Xianzhen Camp, has been a commander for a long time. He can be transferred out to command a regiment. The expanded Vanguard Regiment of the Second Brigade will be led by other people.

"Zhu Chongba, the commander of the Xianzhen Camp of the First Brigade, has been promoted since the Xianzhen Camp was expanded to the Xiandeng Regiment. This is his second promotion since crossing the Yangtze River, and he cannot be transferred again. "The others are Xu Da and Qin Rong. Let's just take these two, plus Zhang Liang, and form another division."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Shou immediately asked, "Who will be the commander of this division?"

Lu Jin said, "Xu Da."

Zhang Wen was a little puzzled and asked, "Why?"

After all, Zhang Liang was a brother of his clan and one of the hundreds of young and strong men that Zhang Wen brought out of the village. He could be considered an old man in Chaohu. However, Xu Da joined the army in Haozhou, and when Xu Da came, he came alone without bringing many soldiers with him.

Judging from their backgrounds and close relationships, all three of them were promoted from officers of a thousand-household camp to regiment commanders. If one of them was chosen to be the commander-in-chief, Zhang Liang would obviously have the advantage.

Lu Jin explained, "At the level of commander, personal strength is no longer important. What matters more is the command ability and understanding of military tactics.

"Xu Da has read a lot of military books, and when he was in the Imperial Guard, he gave me some advice and had his own understanding of strategy and tactics.

"Xu Da is a very stable person. He never panics and keeps his composure. He is a talented general, but he is still a rough diamond. If he wants to become a capable general, he needs a lot of experience before he can take on the responsibility. Let him be the acting commander first to practice.

"As for Zhang Liang, you know how much knowledge he has, I'm sure you know it better than me. It's more than enough for him to be a regiment commander, and he can complete the task well, but you want him to lead a division..."

Lu Jin shook his head, "Ask yourself, do you think he can take care of it now?"

Zhang Wen held it in for a long time. Although he didn't want to admit it, he still shook his head.

Lu Jin spread his hands, "Then it's settled."

Then he looked at Yang Jing again, "The southern front also has five divisions and 15 regiments, one of which is an artillery regiment, the same as the northern configuration. Do you still want cavalry?"

Yang Jing scratched his head after hearing this, thought for a while and said, "The plains in northern Zhejiang are very open. Although there are more waterways, the cavalry is still somewhat useful. However, they are just for helping out, performing some tasks such as scouting, guarding, and chasing fleeing enemies. They are useful, but limited. The decisive main force still depends on the infantry.

"After all, our current cavalry is still small in size and not strong enough to carry out battle missions alone. For the time being, we can only provide support to the main infantry."

Lu Jin immediately said, "Then you should transfer the cavalry regiment as well and have it follow your northern army. The southern army has more mountains, so the cavalry won't be able to play a big role there."

Yang Jing nodded and said, "Okay."

So Lu Jin began to draw up a list of generals for the Southern Army and a plan for expanding the army with Feng Guoyong.

There are not many changes in Zhu Shou's Royal Guard Division. He only needs to expand the Xianzhen Camp into the Vanguard Regiment.

Xu Yong's 110th Division originally had Xu Yong's 24th Regiment, Wu Fu's 25th Regiment, and Hua Yunlong's 26th Regiment under its command. This time, it was modified to form a new 50th Regiment, with Duan Wu, who surrendered from Zhenjiang, as the regiment commander. It was assigned to the 110th Division and Hua Yunlong's 26th Regiment was transferred out.

So it became the 110th Division, with Xu Yong as the commander, and it had three regiments under its command: the 24th, 25th and 50th Regiments.

The newly formed 117th Division was headed by Guo Zixing, the former commander of the th Regiment, as acting commander, and Guo Tianjue, the former battalion commander of the th Regiment, as deputy commander.

A new 51st Regiment was formed, with Cao Liangchen, the battalion officer of the 117th Regiment, promoted to commander. It was affiliated with the th Division and Cao Liangchen also served as acting deputy commander.

A new 52nd Regiment was formed, with Jin Xuan, a general who surrendered from Danyang County, as the commander of the regiment.

The newly formed 117th Division was composed of three regiments, the 51th, 52st and nd, with Guo Zixing as its acting commander.

The newly formed 118th Division was appointed with Hua Yunlong from the 26th Regiment as acting commander; the newly formed 53rd Regiment had Xia Xinghou, the former battalion officer of the 37th Regiment, promoted to regimental commander; and Dong Xingyao from the th Regiment was transferred over.

So it became the 118th Division, with Hua Yunlong as the acting commander, and three regiments under its command: the 26th, 37th and 53rd.

In this way, the three surrendered generals Dong Xingyao, Duan Wu and Jin Xuan were separated, and each newly formed division was configured with two veteran generals and one surrendered general.

Finally, a new 119th Division was formed, which was composed of the newly formed 54th Regiment, whose commander was promoted from Xu Da; the newly formed 55th Regiment, whose commander was promoted from Zhang Liang; and the newly formed 56th Regiment, whose commander was promoted from Qin Rong.

The composition of the 119th Division was formed under the acting commander Xu Da, and it consisted of three regiments: the 54th, 55th, and 56th.

The above is the troop composition of the South Route Army of the East China Front Army. Then there is the reinforcement for the 35th Army in Anqing. The Eighth Regiment was transferred from Anqing, and one more had to be returned to them.

The commander of the newly formed 57th Regiment is Yin Congdao, the former battalion officer of the 57rd Regiment. This old buddy should be promoted. Yin Congdao's 35th Regiment will still belong to the th Army in Anqing, so let him train well in Anqing.

After Lu Jin and Feng Guoyong arranged the numbers, Yang Jing asked Feng Guoyong to read the list to everyone. He wrote it down before speaking.

"In this way, the Southern Route Army will have Zhu Shou's 110st Guard Division, Xu Yong's 117th Division, Guo Zixing's 118th Division, Hua Yunlong's 119th Division, and Xu Da's 15th Division, which is also a combination of five divisions, regiments, and one artillery regiment.

"The total strength is the same as the Northern Army, which is 63900 people. The entire front army has a total of 30 divisions, 12 regiments, and 7800 people."

"You forgot a cavalry regiment." Lu Jin reminded.

"Oh yes, there is also a cavalry regiment, which adds up to 31 regiments, 127800 people, plus 4500 cavalry, a total of 13 people." Yang Jing recalculated.

Lu Jin nodded, "You want 28 regiments, I'll give you 31. Even without counting the two artillery regiments and the cavalry regiment, there are 28 infantry regiments. That should be enough, right?"

Yang Jing immediately said, "That's enough!"

"Very good, then how long will it take you to conquer the entire northern Zhejiang Plain?" Lu Jin asked again.

Yang Jing thought for a moment and said, "From Danyang to Hangzhou, it's at least 800 miles, and from Hangzhou to Zhuji Prefecture, Shaoxing Road, and Qingyuan Road, it's at least 1,200 to 1,300 miles. Even if we do nothing, it will take at least a month to march all the way there.

"Plus we have to fight all the way, it will take at least two months at the fastest, and at the slowest it may take more than three months."

Lu Jin said after hearing this.

"It is now the evening of October 6th. I will only give you one month to reorganize and train. You must send out the troops before November 10th.

“November, December, January, and February, a total of four months, you must conquer the entire northern Zhejiang Plain before the beginning of March next year. You cannot delay the spring ploughing next year, otherwise the land will be abandoned and famine may occur.

"At most a few hundred thousand people would die in a war, but if there is a famine, millions of people would die. I don't want to see such a tragedy. What I want is a Jiangnan with a prosperous population and sufficient food, not a Jiangnan with starving people everywhere."

Yang Jing nodded when he heard that. "Four months is more than enough time. I can definitely do it, but I wonder if we can set off a few days later. How about the fifteenth of next month? On the one hand, we can buy a few more days for training, and on the other hand, we can wait for the artillery regiments. After all, both artillery regiments have gone to Jiangbei, so we have to wait for them to come back."

Lu Jin thought for a moment and said, "Okay, that five days won't be a big deal."

Seeing that Lu Jin had almost finished his arrangements, Feng Guoyong reminded him again.

"Marshal, this time the army expansion has only been arranged up to the division level. The organization and appointment of the higher-level armies, army groups, and fronts have not yet been determined." As he spoke, he handed Lu Jin a list of names above the division level that he had just recorded, as well as the existing army-level organization.

The army-level organization of the Shengwu Army started with Liao Yongan's 35th Army, Zhu Liangzu was the 36th Army, Yang Jing was the 37th Army, Yu Tingyu was the 38th Army, Hua Gao was the 39th Army, and the next one was the 40th Army.

Lu Jin looked at the list, thought for a moment and said.

"Since Xu Yong's 110th Division has been transferred to the Southern Army, the 37th Army should be reorganized. The other two guard divisions and the cavalry regiment cannot be counted in. I will transfer them back after this battle, so only the other divisions should be counted.

"Yang Jing's 103rd Division and Ye Sheng's 116th Division were combined into the 37th Army, with Yang Jing as the commander-in-chief and Ye Sheng as the deputy commander-in-chief.

"Yu Tonghai's 114th Division and Zhang Desheng's 115th Division were combined into the 40th Army, with Yu Tonghai as the commander-in-chief and Zhang Desheng as the deputy commander-in-chief.

"The 37th Army and the 40th Army were combined into the First Army Group. Yang Jing was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the First Army Group, and Yu Tonghai was appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief. During the expedition, Zhang Wen of the Imperial Guard Division was also appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief. On the Northern Route Army side, Yang Jing was the commander-in-chief, and Zhang Wen and Yu Tonghai were the left and right deputy commanders.

"On the southern route, Xu Yong's 110th Division and Guo Zixing's 117th Division were combined into the 41st Army, with Xu Yong as the acting commander-in-chief and Guo Zixing as the acting deputy commander-in-chief.

"Hua Yunlong's 118th Division and Xu Da's 119th Division were combined into the 42nd Army, with Hua Yunlong as the acting commander-in-chief and Xu Da as the acting deputy commander-in-chief.

"The 41st Army and the 42nd Army were combined into the Second Army Group. Zhu Shou was temporarily appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Second Army Group, and Xu Yong and Hua Yunlong were appointed as deputy commanders-in-chief. During the expedition, Zhu Shou was the commander-in-chief of the Southern Route Army, and Xu Yong and Hua Yunlong were the left and right deputy commanders.

"The First and Second Army Groups were combined into the East China Front Army, with Yang Jing as the Governor-General and Zhu Shou as the Deputy Governor-General.

"For the generals named above, the chief and deputy divisional commanders will all be promoted to the rank of major general, the chief and deputy army commanders will all be promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, the chief and deputy general commanders will all be promoted to the rank of general, and the governor of the front will confer the rank of major general!"

When Yu Tonghai and Zhang Wen heard this, they immediately laughed. They both held the position of deputy general of the First Army Group, which meant that they could both be promoted to the rank of general, even admiral!
General Tiance, General Five Tiger, what nice names!

Yu Tonghai, in particular, was so beautiful that he was bubbling with joy. Although he and his father Yu Tingyu were both military chiefs, he had been given the additional position of deputy general of the group army, and his rank was suddenly one level higher than his father's. Yu Tingyu was only a lieutenant general now, while he was already a general, which immediately made him extremely happy.

(End of this chapter)