When Ouyang Shuo arrived at the main hall, the military meeting officially began.
The subject of this military meeting was very clear. It was to discuss the arrangements for the three reorganized divisions.
Deciding on the candidates for the three division commanders was only one aspect.
More importantly, the territory had increased the establishment of three divisions. In addition to the existing four divisions, they already had the conditions to establish a military unit that was one level higher than a division — a legion.
According to the establishment, four divisions would form a legion. What was different from a division was that a legion did not have a direct subordinate force. The legion commander was only equipped with a personal guard battalion.
If a division was said to be the cornerstone of an army, then a legion was a true army. It was the highest level military unit in the army apart from a group army.
Moreover, according to convention, a group army was temporarily formed from several legions during wartime.
Therefore, a legion was in fact the highest level military unit in the army during normal times.
Often, a legion was enough to dominate a local war.
Naturally, the establishment of such an important military unit had to be extremely cautious.
It could even be said that the establishment of a legion was a major milestone in the territorial army.
Ouyang Shuo already had a draft in mind on how to establish a legion.
At the beginning of the military meeting, Ouyang Shuo first kept everyone in suspense and did not immediately announce the establishment of a legion.
In the army, there was such a special force that was always at the highest level of the army. Its position was unshakable, and that was the personal guard directly under the lord.
The personal guard was the divine weapon that protected the country.
In his previous life, a lord had described this force as: the personal guard is the sharp sword in the lord's hand. It spreads the lord's prestige, defends the lord's glory, and is the most dazzling star on the crown.
'Glory is my life' was the most vivid portrayal of the personal guard.
The current Praetorian Guards Brigade was one of the Imperial Guards.
Not including the city defense force, the territory's field army was already close to the hundred thousand mark. Such a large army, but the personal guard only had a pitiful imperial guard brigade. It clearly did not match its strategic position.
Therefore, the first thing Ouyang Shuo needed to do was to restructure the personal guard system.
The first to make a move was the imperial guard brigade.
Ouyang Shuo ordered the imperial guard brigade to be renamed the Featherwood Guard, and was organized according to the three thousand Featherwood Guards. The commander of the Featherwood Guard was specially appointed as the Featherwood General, with the same rank as the division commander.
Wang Feng was the first Featherwood General.
Wang Feng's appointment did not cause any ripples in the army.
Since the establishment of the personal guards, the promotion of the personal guards, and the establishment of the Forbidden Brigade, Wang Feng had been playing the role of the captain of Ouyang Shuo's personal guards.
The position of Featherwood General, who else but Wang Feng?
The Featherwood Guard, to put it bluntly, was Ouyang Shuo's personal guard.
Ordinarily, the Featherwood Guard was responsible for surrounding and protecting the estate.
During the war, the Featherwood Guard was Ouyang Shuo's personal army. Wherever Ouyang Shuo went, the Featherwood Guard would follow.
The establishment of the Featherwood Guard wasn't as simple as changing a name.
Ouyang Shuo clearly stated that all members of the Featherwood Guard must pass the special combat training. Only those who passed the test and had outstanding results could be selected.
The Featherwood Guard was the army's special forces.
Currently, all members of the Imperial Guard Brigade who were eliminated in the first round of assessment were not allowed to join the Featherwood Guard. Apart from special combat training, Ouyang Shuo also raised two rigid requirements for the Featherwood Guard's member selection.
Firstly, the lowest standard of the Featherwood Guard's rank was a rank ten elite soldier that had gone through hundreds of battles.
Secondly, the Featherwood Guard's aptitude couldn't be lower than B-grade. Otherwise, they wouldn't be accepted.
Such a high threshold forged the Featherwood Guard's prestige.
Ouyang Shuo also imposed strict restrictions on the Featherwood Guard's establishment.
For a very long time in the future, the Featherwood Guard would maintain an establishment of 3,000 people. If one wanted to join the Featherwood Guard, the only way was for the Featherwood Guard to have casualties and fill in the gaps.
Ouyang Shuo's goal was to make the Featherwood Guard not only equal to a division in terms of status, but also equal to a division in terms of combat strength, perhaps even surpassing it.
This required each member of the Featherwood Guard to be able to fight one against three, or even four.
A few days ago, the second batch of immigrants had already arrived in Cliff Province.
The members of the Imperial Guard Brigade would follow the North Sea Fleet back to Shanhai City to receive reorganization.
Their primary mission was to complete the remaining special combat training at the training base.
Where would the eliminated members of the Imperial Guard Brigade be sent to?
This involved the second level of the Imperial Guard Brigade that Ouyang Shuo had constructed.
Ouyang Shuo ordered the formation of the Imperial Guard Brigade.
The Imperial Guard Brigade was under Ouyang Shuo's direct command. Ordinarily, it was responsible for surrounding and protecting the capital and was also Shanhai City's last and strongest line of defense.
During wartime, the Imperial Guard Division was the absolute main force of the campaign map.
In the future, the members of the Imperial Guard Brigade would be selected from the Imperial Guard Brigade. As for the members of the Imperial Guard Brigade, they would be selected from the various field divisions, just like the previous Imperial Guard Brigade.
The selection criteria were exactly the same as the previous Imperial Guard Brigade.
If the Featherwood Guard was said to be Ouyang Shuo's personal guard force, then the Imperial Guard Brigade was Ouyang Shuo's personal army.
The two added together formed Ouyang Shuo's indestructible Imperial Guard Brigade.
In reality, there were still two levels in the Imperial Guard Brigade system that Ouyang Shuo had constructed.
It was just that the territory's current conditions didn't yet possess the conditions to construct these two levels of Imperial Guard Brigade, and there was no need for them for the time being. Only when the time was ripe could the plan be implemented.
Ouyang Shuo had unexpectedly chosen Lin Yi as the commander of the Imperial Guard Brigade.
There was no doubt that among the divisions, the Imperial Guard Brigade was the most dazzling.
Some people couldn't help but be a little puzzled that the Marquis had arranged for a young general who wasn't even a high-level general to hold such a position.
As a matter of fact, Ouyang Shuo had just finished speaking when the hall was already in a state of discussion.
None of the generals had any objections to the Marquis's decision to construct the Imperial Guard Brigade. What they didn't understand was the choice of the commander of the Imperial Guard Brigade.
It wasn't that no one was tempted by this position.
Even special-class generals like Shi Wansui and Er Lai were a little tempted, especially Er Lai.
But in the eyes of meticulous people like Bai Qi and Du Ruhui, it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Since it was the Marquis's Imperial Guard Brigade, then whether it was the Yulin General or the commander of the Imperial Guard Brigade, they were only responsible for the day-to-day management of the army.
During wartime, the Imperial Guard Brigade would be directly commanded by the Marquis.
Thus, although the two positions seemed illustrious, they both lacked the opportunity to stand on their own. Arranging for a young general to be the commander of a division wasn't surprising at all.
This way, the Marquis could strengthen his control over the Imperial Guard Brigade and take the opportunity to train young generals.
Killing two birds with one stone, why not?!
In reality, Ouyang Shuo's favorite candidate was the commander of the Second Division, Luo Shixin.
Not only was Luo Shixin brave and courageous in battle, but he also had a high character. He was the most suitable candidate.
Unfortunately, the Second Division had already passed the division's test and was completely branded with Luo Shixin's mark. Thus, Luo Shixin couldn't easily leave the Second Division, otherwise all his efforts would be in vain.
After weighing the pros and cons, Ouyang Shuo settled for the next best choice.
Receiving the appointment, Lin Yi was both excited and nervous.
The speculating looks from the generals around him made him feel uneasy.
Even so, Lin Yi still had to thank the Marquis for his trust. As for the doubts of his colleagues, using words to argue was the most useless way. The only way was to prove himself on the battlefield.
In the army, one always spoke with their fists.
After the formation of the Imperial Guard Brigade, there were, in fact, only two divisions left.
Ouyang Shuo had made arrangements for these two divisions.
Ouyang Shuo announced that the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Divisions would form the Dragon Xiang Army.
Dragons were supreme beings.
The Dragon Xiang Army represented the first division of Shanhai City.
The future divisions would be formed in the order of Huben, Baotao, Feixiong, Yingyang, and Fengxiang.
Shanhai City's army would also officially be separated from the First and Second divisions. Every division would have a unique name.
After passing the division's trial, every division would also have a unique flag.
The General of the Army, Bai Qi, lived up to the expectations of the people and officially became the commander of the Dragon Xiang Army. As for the commanders of the four divisions, they remained unchanged.
At this point, Bai Qi could be considered to have truly gained control of the most powerful military force in Shanhai City.
The General of the Army was truly worthy of his name.
The headquarters of the Dragon Xiang Army was set up in the Mulan Fortress, which was still under construction.
It went without saying that the Dragon Xiang Army had two responsibilities. Internally, it was responsible for guarding the headquarters — Lianzhou County. Externally, it was responsible for the northern expedition. Currently, it was mainly to deal with the challenges from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Chiyou City.
As Lianzhou County gradually calmed down, the Dragon Xiang Army's main focus in the future would still be on the northern expedition.
This was also the main reason why Ouyang Shuo set up the headquarters of the Dragon Xiang Army in the Mulan Fortress.
The Mulan Fortress would be the frontline and the headquarters of the northern expedition.
After Bai Qi became the commander, the military office would conduct a major change in the defense area of the four divisions.
Among them, the Third Division led by E Lai and the Fourth Division led by Mu Guiying would be stationed at Mulan Fortress. The 3rd Division was a pure infantry division, so it was the best choice to defend the stronghold.
The First Division led by Shi Wansui would take over the Third Division's eastern defense zone.
The First Division was a light infantry and cavalry mixed division with high mobility, enough to deal with the two defensive zones in front of them. The main focus of their defense was on the Hundred Thousand Mountains in the east.
According to the arrangement, the cavalry brigade of the 1st Division would be responsible for patrolling the western defense area. The remaining four brigades would be deployed along the Hundred Thousand Mountains in the east.
As for the Second Division, it was still stationed in the grasslands. Once the situation in the grassland was completely stabilized, the 2nd Division would reinforce Mulan Fortress at any time according to the situation and needs of the northern battlefield.
As for the defense of Shanhai City itself, there were the City Guard Division and the Imperial Guard Division. It might not be foolproof, but it could be said to be impregnable.
In addition, the construction of the outer city walls of Shanhai City would be completed in another month or two.
There was nothing to worry about in the base camp! (To be continued.)
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