The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 437 Occupy the Pit First

Teng Yuzao did not say any words of encouragement to Pan Jinshan and Li Jinyu, but just patted them on the shoulders affectionately.

The military ranks of Liu Yuzhi, Li Xianze, Hu Dianjia, Liu Shijiu, and Wu Peifu were all lieutenant generals, while Pan Jinshan and Li Jinyu were both major generals.

These people had no complaints about their military ranks.

Liu Yuzhi, Li Xiangze, Hu Dianjia and Liu Shijiu were promoted to lieutenant generals, and no one had any objection. After all, they had all been assistant commanders for a long time, or de facto assistant commanders with a different name, and their military rank was major general. It was natural for them to take another step forward at this time.

Although Wu Peifu rose rapidly, it should be noted that Wu Peifu's military command and combat were remarkable and he made outstanding achievements.

What's more, Wu Peifu was a disciple cultivated by Teng Yuzhao, so naturally no one would say anything.

Even Li Jinyu and Pan Jinshan had nothing to say.

Since Wu Peifu had the merit of saving the emperor and was also a general with a court title, Wu Peifu's military rank had long been one level higher than theirs. It was natural for him to be promoted to lieutenant general, one level higher than theirs.

Due to the expansion of the troops, the military ranks of Li Yulin and Wei Jinghai also rose, from major general to lieutenant general.

The promotion of these two people is also extremely normal. Not to mention that Wei Jinghai personally participated in organizing and coordinating all the battles, even Li Yulin, who is in charge of the camp affairs office, is indispensable for them to continue fighting.

Wei Jinghai's military rank was awarded by Teng Yuzhao himself.

Subsequently, Wei Jinghai announced the appointments of Cao Futian and others.

The name of Cao Futian's Independent Column remains unchanged, but it will also be expanded according to the size of the town, and his military rank will also be lieutenant general.

Liu Bingyi's Second Guards Brigade removed the number "second" and was renamed the Guards Brigade. Xue Qian's cavalry was finally expanded into the Cavalry Brigade.

However, these people were not present, so Teng Yuzhao did not have the opportunity to personally award them military ranks.

"Although we can decide our own military ranks and official positions, they still need to be approved by the court. Deputy Chief of Staff Wei has already written the memorials reporting the victory, the memorials requesting your merits, and the memorials for expanding the army. Someone has been sent to Shanxi this morning."

"Give the officials of the imperial court some time to think first. I will challenge them when I arrive in Pingyao."

"However, one thing is certain. In order to defeat the foreign devils and drive them all out of our land, we must expand our military. Even if there is no approval from the court, we must do it."

Teng Yuzhao's words directly touched the hearts of Liu Yuzhi, Li Xianze, Liu Changfa, Wu Peifu, Liu Shijiu, Li Jinyu, Pan Jinshan and other trusted generals and leaders.

If it weren't for the presence of an outsider like Duan Qirui, or even the Chief Counselor Yang Shixiang, these generals would not have understood Teng Yuzao's intentions, which made them dare not act too presumptuous. Otherwise, someone would have "spoken outrageously" long ago.

Teng Yuzao continued, "Since I will be going to Pingyao, Shanxi soon, there is no time to make arrangements for the officers at all levels below."

"You can start preparing for this matter first, draw up a list, and then make a decision when I return to Luzhou."

When Teng Yuzhao said this, his gaze intentionally lingered on the faces of Wu Peifu and Li Jinyu for a moment.

Wu Peifu and Li Jinyu exchanged glances, both of them showing excitement in their eyes.

"All towns are organized into two corps and four battalions, plus an artillery battalion, and two battalions of direct guards and special forces. There are also baggage, engineering, reconnaissance, communications, medical, logistics and other battalions, with a total of about 40,000 troops."

With this configuration, the number of people in a town exceeds the division-level organization in all countries in the world.

It was not that Teng Yuzhao wanted to be unique, but he wanted to organize the troops to the maximum extent. Otherwise, he was worried that it would be difficult to expand the troops in the future in a short period of time.

"If fully staffed, my preliminary estimate is that our troops will have nearly 400,000 troops." Teng Yuzhao's words made the generals below excited.

Teng Yuzao waved his hand and said, "Don't be too happy yet. Although we are actively recruiting soldiers, and the camp office has even sent people to Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and other places to recruit soldiers, and the local Vanguard Army Support Associations have also recruited a lot of people for us, it is estimated that it will be difficult to recruit enough qualified soldiers in a short period of time."

"Besides, our weapons are not enough to meet the needs of a force of three or four hundred thousand."

"Therefore, some of the troops deployed in each town cannot be fully staffed for the time being, and personnel and weapons must be given priority to the first to fifth towns."

It is obviously unrealistic to rapidly expand the army from less than 100,000 to 400,000 in a short period of time.

Teng Yuzhao's idea is to occupy the position now, and the lack of staff is not a big problem.

He was very worried that if he wanted to expand in the future, the Qing court would not easily agree.

And now, he has occupied these numbers. Even if the court no longer agrees to his continued expansion in the future, he can still tamper with these numbers secretly.

However, towns one to five must be fully staffed, as they will be his main force in the future.

"Also, since we lack artillery and engineering talent, the artillery and engineering battalions of each town are not fully staffed for the time being. As for the final deployment, I will talk about it when I come back."

"All artillery will be assigned to the artillery town first. All artillery will be temporarily under the management of the artillery town. The artillery marks that are not fully staffed in your towns will also be temporarily handed over to the artillery town for training and management. You need to wait for orders when to build them."

Based on the artillery pieces in stock, including those in the camp office, Teng Yuzhao initially estimated that he could barely put together four artillery targets.

This can be organized into two artillery towns, but he has no one he can trust now.

Teng Yuzhao sighed secretly in his heart and couldn't help but think of Duan Qirui again.

But a forced melon is not sweet, so he had to give up the idea for the time being.

"In addition, when I am not in the army, the entire army will be in charge of Deputy Chief of Staff Wei. After the entire army rushes to Luzhou tomorrow morning, it will immediately start reorganization, and then the training focus of the troops will shift to mountain combat training. Deputy Chief of Staff Wei will make corresponding arrangements for the specific training plans and programs."

Training shifted to focus on mountain warfare, which was easy to understand since they were already retreating into the mountains.

Teng Yuzhao's words also conveyed an implicit meaning, which is that the vanguard army will not retreat again, at least not from the mountains.

"Military matters will be decided by Deputy Chief of Staff Wei, Yuxuan, Kangnian, Qingyun, Xuanqing, my eldest brother, and Ziyu. The specific organization will be the responsibility of the Deputy Chief of Staff."

Teng Yuzao turned to Wei Jinghai again and said, "Except for military issues, I need to consult Qionglin on other matters."

The fact that Teng Yuzhao handed the troops over to Wei Jinghai instead of Li Yulin surprised the generals for a moment, but then they remembered that Li Yulin had been in charge of logistics since the establishment of the Vanguard Army, so this arrangement was normal.

But these people also feel that sooner or later, the Japanese guard Jinghai will become the real chief of staff of the vanguard army.
Five days later, Qiaojiabao, Qi County, Shanxi.

As soon as the sky brightened, Teng Yuzhao got up.

At this time, Teng Yuzao, wearing only a shirt, was running around the village for morning exercise, sweating profusely.

In front, behind, and around Teng Yuzao, there were more than ten soldiers from the special guard squadron who followed him in morning exercises. At the same time, these people also had the responsibility of protecting Teng Yuzao's safety.

Therefore, these people all have pistols on their waists.
(End of this chapter)