Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 161 Badu
Zhao Huai'an had always wanted to reorganize the team.

Since establishing Baoyidu, he has consciously kept the highest unit size of his army at fifty men. The advantage of doing so was that it made it easier for him to control the army.

But after he arrived in Gwangju and won over the army with more comprehensive logistical support, Zhao Huai'an now has the confidence to expand the force and increase its size.

In fact, the troops were nearing the end of their reorganization period, as the army was about to march into the mountains, and the original fifty-man formation was no longer suitable for the requirements of mountain warfare.

Fifty men went into the mountains, while a mountain hut had at least a hundred men. If only one team went to fight, it would be a case of fighting against overwhelming odds, which would be very disadvantageous. If multiple teams went in, how would the command of the troops be determined?
Although Zhao Huai'an had previously reorganized eight teams into one battalion to prepare for the final battle, this was only a transitional measure, as the number of personnel in the teams later doubled.

Therefore, it is now necessary to reorganize the troops. As for the organization and construction of the troops, Zhao Huai'an has his own ideas. He does not intend to completely adopt the current Tang army's regional military command organization, since such an organization is too prone to breeding petty warlords.

But what kind of military structure should be built? Zhao Huai'an had been pondering this question since the decisive battle of Hanyuan last year, and now it was almost finalized.

The original troop strength of Baoyidu was 1,500 warriors and veterans, 1,500 Han and non-Han militia along the river, and about 500 cavalry, for a total of 3,500 combat troops.

Zhao Huai'an's plan was to reorganize the existing teams into three teams and one regiment, and two regiments and one battalion, with the battalion as the highest unit. Each battalion would have 300 combat troops and 200 auxiliary and support troops.

The troop composition of these 300 troops is divided into three types: light, heavy, and cavalry. Among them, those above the rank of captain, regiment, and squad are organized as flower squads, while those at the rank of shi are organized as pure squads.

Taking one team as an example, there were thirty men wearing iron armor, double-layered armor, and willow-leaf-shaped armor. These men all carried spears and lances, no longer carrying crossbows. The remaining twenty men all wore chainmail and carried bows and arrows and swords.

Each squad also has two mounted scouts. When the squads are engaged in combat, the mounted scouts are responsible for scouting the surrounding area, observing the situation, and then reporting to the squad leader, who will then make tactical arrangements.

When the enemy has a large number of troops, or is in a formation that facilitates troop deployment, the troops will be organized into three infantry units at the regimental level, consisting of ninety heavily armored warriors, sixty chainmail-clad warriors, and eight cavalrymen.

The commander of a regimental-level operation would also be accompanied by about ten cavalrymen. Therefore, when the troops formed a regimental-level combat unit, they would have a scale of 18 cavalrymen, 90 heavy infantrymen, and 60 light infantrymen, with an actual combat strength of 168 men.

In most battlefields, this is sufficient as a basic decision-making unit.

In reality, the operational deployment in the Dabie Mountains will involve a combat force of 168 people and a support force of over 200 people, totaling approximately 400 people, who will enter the mountains in units of independent decision-making and independent operations.

However, considering the future needs of fighting on the Central Plains battlefield, Zhao Huai'an merged the two regiments into one.

Like the regiments and teams, the capital's organization was also a flower team, with heavy armor and chainmail armor allocated in a 3:2 ratio. The capital's directly subordinate troops consisted of only one team.

In other words, from the capital level down to the squad level, the number of troops that generals at each level can flexibly deploy is still fifty.

So in reality, Zhao Huai'an still led the army as a squad leader, only he divided the squad leaders into three levels.

So who actually has the military strength? It's still Zhao Huai'an.

After consolidating the existing forces into eight commanderies, Zhao Huai'an established eight commanderies of military garrisons. Baoyi Commandery was upgraded to Baoyi Army. Back in Xichuan, Yang Qingfu had already upgraded Baoyi Commandery to an army, but Zhao Huai'an didn't have time to do so, so it remained unchanged.

Now, under the Baoyi Army, it will be divided into the Eight Capitals Inside the Government Office and the Eight Capitals Outside the Government Office.

The so-called "Eight Detachments of the Young Masters" were actually the detachments that Zhao Huai'an had previously bestowed with military titles upon, but he had streamlined and merged them.

Among them, the Left and Right Beiwei tribes were merged into one capital, with 100 soldiers; Bashan and Tieshou were merged into one capital, with 100 soldiers; Buba and Poxi were merged into one capital, with 100 soldiers. The former Qingyi Qiang and the riverside tribes were also merged into one capital, and were given the military title "Wudang". In addition, the former soldiers of Xuzhou were merged into one capital, with 100 soldiers, and were called "Golden Knife".

These five units of the yamen's inner guards are also known as the yamen's inner infantry, while the remaining units are the three units of the yamen's inner cavalry.

Among them, the former Turks were the core, and they were dispersed to lead the sons of Chuankang, Huaixi, Uyghurs, Turks and other groups, and were organized into three capitals, which were respectively given the titles "Flying Dragon", "Flying Tiger" and "Flying Leopard".

Among them, the Jianghuai, Uyghur, and Turkic peoples were all locals recruited by Zhao Huai'an after he arrived in Guang Prefecture. There were many heroes in Huaixi who were skilled in riding and mule riding. After Zhao Huai'an arrived, the vagrants from Huoshan, Guang Prefecture, and other places admired Zhao's great reputation and came to join his army.

There were forty or fifty of these people. The Uyghurs and Turks were actually people who had been incorporated into the Huaihe River region in the past. Now they are basically no different from the locals. However, due to the tradition of having many skilled riders in their families, Zhao Huai'an recruited dozens of these people after arriving in Guangzhou.

Therefore, with the addition of these newly recruited cavalrymen to the original five hundred elite cavalrymen, the Baoyi Army's cavalry strength reached six hundred.

However, in order to enable the lower-level commanders and regiments to have the ability to fight at a distance, Zhao Huai'an dispersed half of the cavalry to the eight commanderies below, either as scouts in the army or as guards for the commanders and regiments.

The remaining three hundred elite cavalry were divided into three divisions: Dragon, Tiger, and Leopard.

It is worth mentioning that although the previous five commanderies of the Yan Nei Infantry were organized as infantry, they were equipped with a large number of strong mules, imitating the tactics of the Huai Xi Mule Army of that time, using strong mules to gallop and advance, and then dismounting to form a battle formation and break through.

Thus, the full name of the Yamen Badu is also called Yamen Mabu Badu.

In addition to the inner and outer eight capitals, Zhao Huai'an also had a special team, which was the command headquarters composed of Yishelang and his adopted sons.

These men slept in the main tent at night and guarded outside the tent during the day. When going into battle, they would carry Zhao Huai'an's boots, robes, armor, umbrellas, and stools. In short, whatever Zhao Huai'an needed, one of them would carry it for him.

Thus, this is the military organizational structure set up by Zhao Huai'an, consisting of the inner command, the eight inner command, and the eight outer command.

With the organizational structure finalized, the most important task is selecting the right personnel.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Baoyi Army today is full of brave warriors, fierce generals, and countless capable fighters.

Therefore, when Zhao Huai'an wanted to promote his subordinates, he mainly selected them based on three dimensions: military generalship, strategic ability, and loyalty.

But this was still not an easy choice. Zhao Huai'an spent a lot of time calling over his former loyal generals one by one, just to put his mind at ease and to prevent his brothers from having any doubts.

Finally, Zhao Huai'an proposed the following commanders for both the inner and outer wing: Zhang Dai, commander of the left wing outside the Baoyi Yamen, leading the black flag; Chen Fahai, commander of the second wing outside the Baoyi Yamen, leading the red flag; Zhou Dexing, commander of the third wing outside the Baoyi Army Yamen, leading the blue flag; and Gao Renhou, commander of the fourth wing outside the Baoyi Army Yamen, leading the white flag.

The above refers to the left wing's organization and officers; the following refers to the right wing's organization and officers, who are:
"The Right Wing Commander of the Righteous Army Headquarters is Han Tong, who leads a black flag with a yellow border; the Second Wing Commander of the Right ...

This list was drafted by Zhao Huai'an after a long period of thought, taking into account not only the three factors mentioned above, but also seniority and factional background.

In the process of the development of the Baoyi Army, the most important people were those who Zhao Huai'an had recruited last year. They were considered Zhao Huai'an's original followers, so they were basically all promoted to the position of general.

After the group was formed, two people were selected based on their abilities: Gao Renhou and Guo Qi. One was skilled in military strategy and the other was adept at tactics; both had the potential to become great generals.

As for the remaining people, such as Wei Jingang and Qian Tiefo, the reason they were not selected was because there were too many people from the Xiongbian Zidi Baoyi Army on this list. He had already promoted Han Tong to the position of Right Wing General, so he certainly couldn't promote Wei Jingang and Qian Tiefo as well.

It was Sun Chuanwei who trusted this person because he had done him a great favor.

As for Zhang Dai, Chen Fahai, and others, although they were all Yuan Cong, they basically had no connection. They either came from mountain huts or were from the outer vassal army, and had no prior relationship with each other.

Therefore, Zhao Huai'an was quite satisfied with this list. The reason he was so cautious about this list was that these eight commanders would not only be the main force entering the mountains, but would also be assigned as garrison troops to various counties, garrisons, ferry crossings, and bridges in Guang Prefecture. No matter how cautious one was in commanding such an outlying army, it was not an overreaction.

After arranging the outer eight districts, the inner eight districts were simple, because these people were all directly under Zhao Huai'an, so he only looked at one thing: whether they could fight. That was the only criterion.

His eight elite detachments, from generals and officers to sergeants and soldiers, were all warriors selected from the entire army. They were well-armored and sharp-edged, and Zhao Huai'an was training them as the core of his military force.

Among these eight capitals, Zhao Huai'an directly assigned two commanders, who were above the rank of general and could command the main generals of the other capitals.

They were Wang Jin, the commander of the infantry under the yamen, and Guo Congyun, the commander of the cavalry under the yamen. Each of them commanded their own troops. Wang Jin commanded the Beiwei, the former personal guard of Zhao Huai'an, while Guo Congyun commanded the Flying Dragon Cavalry, one of the cavalry units.

The remaining commanders were: Bashandu under Han Qiong; Bubadu under Gao Qinde; Wudangdu under Huo Yanchao; and Jindaodu under Li Jiyong.

The only reason these people were selected was not because of any kinship or faction, but simply because they possessed unparalleled courage!
At that time, Zhao Huai'an organized an internal competition, and apart from Wang Jin, the remaining four positions were all won by these people through martial arts competition.

It was Han Qiong, Gao Qinde, Huo Yanchao, and Li Jiyong who won the four capitals with an indisputable victory.

As for the generals who lost to them, Zhao Huai'an placed them under the four men as squad leaders. Among them, almost half were from the Zhongwu Army.

Because these four men, including Wang Jin, were all brave enough to defeat ten thousand men, and the army loved the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," they were called the Five Tiger Generals of the army, which really added to their prestige.

Besides these five tiger generals, there are also the cavalry commander Guo Congyun, the Flying Tiger Cavalry commander Liu Zhijun, and the Flying Leopard Cavalry commander Geng Xiaojie.

While Geng Xiaojie was indeed a good cavalry general, there were several others in the army who were comparable to him, such as Liu Xin, Li Jian, Zhang Qianyu, Xu Yao, and Wang Huan.

The reason Geng Xiaojie was able to win was because he was considered a representative of both the local army of Guang Prefecture and the guest army of Xu Prefecture. Zhao Huai'an needed to promote him as a sign of recognition for these two groups in the army.

It can be said that Zhao Huai'an's eight cavalry and infantry units, though numbering less than a thousand, were virtually invincible in terms of mobility, combat strength, and equipment. Perhaps only the "Shatuo Army," which they had never encountered before, could rival them.

After allocating the eight armies, both internal and external, Zhao Huai'an began to arrange the list of commanders within the tent.

In reality, although the tent was called a "du" (都), it was not actually a combat unit. It was more like a regiment of generals, serving as a place to house some surrendered generals and as a second echelon of troops that Zhao Huai'an wanted to train.

The surrendered generals were mainly used as military advisors in the army, such as Duan Zhongjian, Zhao Jinzhong, and Yao Xingzhong.

Then there were the Righteous Society members, such as the earliest ones like Yang Mao, Sun Tai, Li Hu, Wang Li, Niu Li, and He Wenqin, followed by Ding Hui, Guo Liang, Zou Yongfu, Lin Yanhao, and Lin Renhan, who were former members of the Huoshan Party, as well as promising young soldiers like Wang Yanzhang, Liu Wei, and Tao Ya, who were favored by Zhao Huai'an.

These people were all recruited into Zhao Huai'an's righteous society, and their relationship with him, Zhao Da, was somewhat similar to that of a teacher and disciple.

Finally, there were Zhao Huai'an's own cronies: his three younger brothers and four adopted sons. Among them, the younger brothers still needed to learn from him, but Zhao Wenzhong, Zhao Wenying, Zhao Wenhui, and Zhao Wenxun were already old enough to graduate, but they were still not released by Zhao Huai'an.

They are too young, their minds are unsettled, and they have an inflated sense of courage and strength. Sending them into battle would be a disservice to them.

Besides these, who were mostly warriors, there were also some who could be considered "attendants," namely Zhao Liu, Dou Pangzi, and Lao Mo.

For example, Dou Pangzi and Zhao Liu are not suitable for leading troops, but they have something that generals do not have: Zhao Huai'an's trust. Therefore, they are often temporarily assigned a task by Zhao Huai'an and then go to do it.

They also lived under the tents with these Baoyilang (a type of local militia).

As for Lao Mo, Zhao Huai'an originally planned to arrange for him to retire and live a good life with that cook, but Lao Mo refused to leave no matter what. There was nothing Zhao Huai'an could do, as he had also gotten used to being served, so he let Lao Mo go.

However, given that the husband is older than the wife and they live apart, it remains to be seen whether the older man will eventually forgive her.

……

The above are the elite troops trained by Zhao Huai'an, but the cost is also heavy. In order to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army, Zhao Huai'an has always adhered to the principle of elite troops, so the treatment is extremely high.

The annual salary of an ordinary officer or soldier was 20 guan, while that of a lower-ranking officer was around 60 guan. The higher the rank, the higher the salary, which would increase several times over. For example, a general like Wang Jin had an annual salary of 1,100 guan.

To put it simply, how heavy is this fiscal expenditure? Take Gwangju as an example. The summer tax surplus was only 40,000 guan, while the Baoyi Army had sixteen commanderies. These sixteen commanderies alone would consume half of Gwangju's surplus. It's that exaggerated.

And this doesn't even include the benefits for the soldiers, such as the construction and maintenance of barracks, spring and winter clothing, weapon manufacturing, maintenance and replenishment, and then there's the rations and hay for the warhorses. All of these are frantically devouring Zhao Huai'an's pockets.

Therefore, Zhao Huai'an was well aware that the maintenance cost of elite troops was too high, so it was necessary to develop local militias to serve as local defense forces.

This could be done like in the Song Dynasty, where local towns and counties could use local militia, with their salaries paid according to their individual wages and their benefits halved compared to the government troops. Then, they could develop local militias and archers, thus creating local conscripts.

Only in this way can a military system be formed. This can not only improve the efficiency ratio, but also promote outstanding local talents to join the government army, providing a continuous supply of troops for the government army.

However, Zhao Huai'an doesn't have time to prepare the defenses for these places right now. He's very hungry and needs to eat meat.

After the Li family was escorted to Dingcheng, what could these people possibly hide under the guise of Sanmu? Not only were all the nodes in their smuggling network betrayed over the years, but they also sold off all the large and small sheds in the Dabie Mountains.

Once he received intelligence, Zhao Huai'an immediately mobilized the eight reorganized yamen outposts, which served as a good opportunity for troop training.

In just over a month, the eight capitals outside the capital basically wiped out most of the local warlords' armed forces in Guangzhou, either annihilating them or incorporating them into their ranks. In short, the Baoyi Capital fully achieved its monopoly on violence in Guangzhou.

It was through these continuous attacks that Zhao Huai'an obtained more and more intelligence, and he became increasingly aware of the situation inside the mountains.

Finally, on the fourth day of the seventh month of the second year of Qianfu, during the hottest period of the year, Zhao Huai'an swore an oath to lead his troops south to the Dabie Mountains.

Many people will remember this day. It was an unusually hot day with no wind at all, and even the flags were hanging up.

The entire 3,500-strong Baoyi Army assembled at the Dingxian drill ground, where Zhao Huai'an personally read out the rewards for this battle from the command platform:
"Merit is divided into five grades: the first grade is ten bolts of silk and ten strings of cash; the second grade is seven bolts of silk and eight strings of cash; the third grade is five bolts of silk and five strings of cash; the fourth grade is three bolts of silk and three strings of cash; and the fifth grade is one bolt of silk and three strings of cash."

"In this battle, the one who captures prisoners will have a greater merit than one who beheads them! The one who captures the masses will have a greater merit than one who captures the bandit leader! The one who captures the tea mountain will have the greatest merit!..."

There are various rewards and punishments, but the core message is the same: killing people is not the most important thing in this trip into the mountains; acquiring the people and tea plantations within the mountains is the most important thing in this battle.

The generals and officers were very clear about the objectives of the campaign; Zhao Huai'an was simply emphasizing one more point.

Finally, Zhao Huai'an left Wang Jin with two commanderies and his own commandery to guard Guang Prefecture, while he led the remaining seven commanderies of the inner court and six commanderies of the outer court, heading towards the mountains to the south.

It was a hot day, with no wind for miles around, but no one knew what kind of storm would be brewing in the 800-mile-long Dabie Mountains from that day forward.

(End of this chapter)