Tiger Guards

Chapter 718 Clenching the Fist and Gathering Power
Hanoi, Mengjin Water Village.

Gan Ning received the transfer instructions from Zhao Ji at almost the same time.

Gan Ning summoned his deputy general Lou Fa, military commander Shen Mi, and military supervisor Xiahou Lan to discuss the matter together.

Although General Fubo did not establish his own government office, as a titled general, he was established as a separate department after his appointment. Therefore, Gan Ning naturally had to establish and set up a general's office.

The various departments and clerks in this general's mansion were composed of military officers who met the required military rank. Gan Ning, at most, had the right to propose personnel appointments, but did not have the right to make personnel decisions.

Unable to recruit outsiders from outside the army, they could only select suitable military officers from their own troops to fill the general's office.

Not only Gan Ning's general's mansion, but also other miscellaneous general's mansions, governor's mansions, lieutenant general's mansions, and colonel's departments, were all subject to the same rule: they could not directly recruit outsiders from outside the army.

Only those with suitable military ranks could be selected from the army to serve as government officials. Gan Ning only had the right to propose such appointments; whether or not they were approved depended on whether Zhao Ji agreed.

Gan Ning can only truly control his personal guard battalion at present... If possible, Zhao Ji also wants to strip Gan Ning and other generals of their control over their personal guards and soldiers, and send the guards himself.

But this is too difficult. Putting oneself in others' shoes, even Zhao Ji himself couldn't accept such an arrangement when leading troops, let alone the unruly Gan Ning.

Even if they were to do it, they would wait until the pressure of external war was at its lowest, so that they could use troop reduction and downsizing to send Tiger Guards to the enemy's side.

Zhao Ji is not in a hurry to implement or promote this matter... Besides, the war has been too intense in the past few years, and Zhao Ji himself has relaxed the standards for supplementing and selecting his personal guards. If this plan is to be carried out, then the soldiers must be selected rigorously, given special training, and then be awarded as Tiger Guards as a reward.

Currently, because military officers are transferred to the position of clerk in the General's Office, Gan Ning's position as Chief Clerk of the General's Office, although a senior clerk in the office, is not appointed by a higher-level unit and does not have a special status.

Therefore, in military conferences within the Fubo Army, the Chief Secretary only had the role of executing orders and had no right to speak or participate in discussions.

On the contrary, Military Commander Shen Mi was a figurehead in Zhao Ji's staff. If the army were to be expanded, he would be appointed as a miscellaneous captain and would be qualified to attend the meeting.

If General Fubo's office did not have a military supervisor named Xiahou Lan, then the chief clerk would be the actual military supervisor.

Currently, Xiahou Lan has taken the position that should have been the Chief Secretary. Both of them are fulfilling the same mission, and the Chief Secretary, who has a lower status, can only stand aside and listen.

Gan Ning sat in the main seat, with the charcoal fire in the small bronze stove in front of him glowing blue-green. His chief clerk was boiling water and brewing tea from the bronze stove.

Xiahou Lan sat in the second seat and read through the military documents that Gan Ning had received. He had also received documents from Zhao Ji and showed them to Gan Ning.

The contents of the military dispatches received by both sides were largely the same, with only minor adjustments due to the different nature of their work.

Gan Ning examined Xiahou Lan's military dispatch with a hint of reluctance: "I never expected the Grand Tutor's order to transfer me so suddenly, that I must part ways with Zifang. I had hoped to work together in Hanoi, defeat Yuan Shao's army, and march straight into Ye City to achieve unparalleled merit."

The attack on Yecheng from Hanoi is very close.

Once past the county border, it's only three hundred li away. For our side, with its overwhelming cavalry advantage... as long as we break through Yuan Shao's southwestern defense line, we can reach Ye City directly.

Even if they cannot succeed in a raid, they can still plunder and destroy the manors and fortresses near Ye City, plunder their people and return, directly destroying Ye City's ability to siphon and suppress the surrounding area.

Gan Ning had been waiting for such an opportunity, but Yuan Shao was also playing cautiously on the defensive.

Since the start of the battle, Yuan Shao has been using his troops cautiously and methodically, giving Gan Ning no chance to launch a surprise attack.

If he could obtain a strong reinforcement of more than 30,000 men, Gan Ning would dare to launch an offensive and eliminate Yuan's strongholds along the way by besieging the cities one by one.

Unfortunately, the main force of the Jin army was concentrated in the Pingyang camp, which acted as a ballast, preventing the war from escalating. The war that was about to break out around Luoyang should have been very intense.

As a result, Lü Bu focused on managing Luozhong and Hanoi, Sun Ce wanted to gradually seize the two provinces of Yan and Yu, and Yuan Shao also used his military tactics cautiously, leaving Gan Ning only able to worry helplessly.

Even if he could persuade Han Meng and Wei Xing, with their mere ten thousand troops, they would not be able to quickly destroy Yuan's defensive strongholds if they launched a unilateral attack.

The field troops are trapped outside the fortified city, their morale and physical strength are being continuously depleted, and the status of reinforcements in the rear is uncertain... This would be a disaster.

The armies of Gan Ning, Han Meng, and Wei Xing were either kept in camps, waiting for an opportunity to be deployed for field battles.

Field combat is where Gan Ning's army is at its strongest.

If they were to wage a siege, they would be outmatched.

Even with classic tactics like besieging a point to lure reinforcements, Gan Ning lacked the necessary support. Had Zhao Ji given him one or two more troops, Gan Ning would have dared to launch a unilateral attack.

Unfortunately, Zhao Ji only provided Hanoi with basic defensive and support forces.

Hanoi was severely damaged, and the food supplies for Gan Ning's three armies had to be transported from the rear, which was a huge burden.

Maintaining an army of over 13,000 men was already the limit for Hongnong and the three counties south of the Zhongtiao Mountains in southern Hebei.

Strategically, Zhao Ji had no intention of engaging in a quick decisive battle with the Kwantung rebels.

The Zhao family needs time to settle down, accumulate, and cultivate reliable forces; if necessary, Luoyang can also be abandoned.

Lü Bu, having lost Luoyang and Hanoi, would actually be easier to control. He could shift the focus of his forces and move them to Youzhou.

Initially, Zhao Ji wanted to extend the Guanzhong rebels' offensive route and then launch an attack from Hedong to capture a large number of prisoners.

It was unexpected that Sun Ce could stop his advance and focus on gradually annexing the two provinces of Yan and Yu; Yuan Shao even left Luoyang unattacked... After all, Luoyang housed the institutions of three provinces and symbolized the legitimate authority of the Han Dynasty.

The capture of Luoyang could potentially undermine and shake the foundations of the Zhao family's rule over the western prefectures and counties.

It was like gambling, but Yuan Shao didn't participate; instead, he went to find Gongsun Zan.

Originally, the two sides were locked in a winter stalemate, but Sun Ce's dispatch of reinforcements across the river to relieve them broke the balance between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan.

At this moment, Gan Ning, with a sense of regret, began to separate his family from the supervising officer Xiahou Lan.

The Hanoi Mengjin water fortress must maintain a sizable naval force for support.

If Lü Bu goes too far, the navy at Mengjin Water Fortress will be responsible for evacuating him.

Therefore, of the 5,000 men and seven battalions of the Fubo Army, Gan Ning could only take two battalions as the future backbone, and the remaining five battalions, with some supplements, were enough to maintain the combat effectiveness of the naval fleet.

Gan Ning naturally took his personal guard battalion with him. Considering Xiahou Lan's situation, he selected officers and deputy officers from each battalion, along with some veterans from the north, to form a new battalion.

This would actually leave Xiahou Lan with six relatively intact battalions, and Xiahou Lan himself could then form a central army personal guard battalion, thus maintaining the combat effectiveness of the Mengjin navy.

As compensation, Han Meng and Wei Xing will each detach a cavalry battalion to join Gan Ning's command and follow Gan Ning in the retreat.

Meanwhile, in Pingyang, three battalions of officers and soldiers skilled in swimming and horsemanship have been selected, awaiting Gan Ning's command.

This means that Gan Ning has to say goodbye to his old friends Lou Fa and Shen Mi. This wandering army, which drifted from Yizhou to Liu Biao's forces in Jingzhou, then to Lü Bu's forces, and finally to Zhao Ji's forces, has officially been split in two.

Zhao Ji did not mistreat Gan Ning; he remained General Fubo, and the soldiers he assigned to Gan Ning were of even higher quality.

After completing the reorganization at the Pingyang camp, Gan Ning's Fubo Army was fully converted into cavalry and wagons, and almost four-fifths of the officers and soldiers were skilled in water warfare and could adapt to naval combat.

With warmer weather and several months of specialized training, the entire army will be able to adapt to naval warfare.

In terms of elite status and equipment, Gan Ning's Fubo Army was second only to Zhao Ji's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in the central army system.

Vehicles, boats, and horses all cost money and time to acquire. With the Fubo Army strengthened, how could Gan Ning possibly feel dissatisfied?
The only regret is that we were unable to achieve the desired results on the Hanoi battlefield!
While Gan Ning was being strengthened, General Zhang Liao, who was tasked with suppressing bandits, was also being strengthened in this round.

Zhang Liao's army, which was tasked with suppressing bandits, was also fully converted into chariot and cavalry units, making it the only pure chariot and cavalry force outside of Zhao Ji's central army.

Gan Ning's chariots and cavalry will most likely be used on ships in the future; this is somewhat different from Zhang Liao's.

Since Zhao Ji was going to use these people to help Xu Huang pull off a ruthless heist, he wouldn't be stingy with the equipment.

Machinery is manufactured to be consumed.

Having devoured so many Hu people, Zhao Ji certainly didn't lack horses.

When Sun Ce built his first combined chariot and cavalry camp of a thousand men, Zhao Ji could afford to lose a complete and powerful chariot and cavalry force.

(End of this chapter)