?
Unity of thought was a magic weapon, but the core of unity of thought was that the organization could not be divided into opposing classes. In other words, the organization could not be without a channel for promotion.
After staying in Anqing for just over a month, and even before Vézé started to try to establish a grassroots organization, four to five thousand local heroes of Anhui came to join the army. Vézé began to officially implement the military rank system within the army. From private to general, Vézé copied the modern military system. Moreover, Vézé set clear standards for promotion.
The people who just came in were all privates. Soldiers who could complete basic military formations, run, understand basic commands, as long as they could read ten words and count from one to a hundred, they would be promoted to second-class soldier. After further military training, those who could read up to fifty words, and learn addition and subtraction, as well as basic multiplication and division would be promoted to first-class soldier. Below lieutenant, each rank had corresponding military skills, physical training, and cultural knowledge standards.
Vézé not only learned from the Qin army in hairstyle, but also in the system. Different ranks had different treatment. Although the difference was not too big, there was still a difference. Learning well, training well, and obeying orders were the only criteria for promotion from the lower ranks.
Above lieutenant, one needed to have military achievements, and there were special tests. Vézé originally thought that this standard was a bit harsh. But unexpectedly, the higher the rank of the officer, the more ruthless he was. The higher the rank of the officer, the more educated he was. For example, Wei Changrong had read some books and could read up to two hundred words. After receiving education from Vézé, he also learned some military orders. By the time of the assessment, he had already mastered more than five hundred words. He passed all the assessments and finally obtained the rank of colonel.
Even Ruan Xihao, who had no cultural foundation, obtained the rank of major after six months of intensive training in the army and the intensive study before the assessment. In any case, Vézé did not need these people to be able to write parallel prose or recite poems. He only needed them to be able to read and write. Their language was rough, but they could read standard official documents. That was enough.
From March to mid-April, after a series of struggles, the army became more regulated. Low-ranking soldiers knew that if they could complete a certain level of knowledge and accumulate enough military merits, then they would be able to advance to the next rank. It was not impossible for him to become a general. Now that the troops had a clear path of ascension, the morale of the troops was even more stable.
Originally, the soldiers regarded the training classes and night schools held by the army as incomparably difficult places, but now, everyone's enthusiasm for learning had increased to an unprecedented level. Originally, China had a deep-rooted tradition of learning about culture. Now that learning about culture was directly linked to their treatment, and they were learning knowledge that would be very useful in the army, everyone was naturally willing to learn.
Even the newly enlisted soldiers could accept Vézé's system. Anqing had always been a place where literature flourished, and the proportion of illiterates who were completely illiterate was far fewer than other places. Nearly half of the new warriors passed the cultural exam. For them, the military exam was more difficult.
The combat training department, which also functioned as an organizational department, picked out about 2,500 cadre leaders from the original five thousand brothers. Among the new recruits, there were also four to five hundred people who were seen as talents that could be nurtured. The core backbone of the entire army depended on this group of people to gradually nurture them.
The Qing Army did not give Vézé too much time. On the 20th of April, it was said that a group of more than four thousand Qing Army soldiers had set off for Anqing from Luzhou.
When the troops received this news, the officers and soldiers all rubbed their palms together. Cultural knowledge and basic military training were only part of the assessment. If they really wanted to be promoted quickly, they still had to rely on military merits. After the Qing Army attacked, the ambitious officers and soldiers all saw an opportunity to be promoted even faster. Under their leadership, the troops' will to fight was very strong.
Before Vézé could mobilize his troops, on the 25th of April, Yang Xiuqing's order arrived. Yang Xiuqing readily gave Vézé the designations of the first eleven to the first twenty corps. He also ordered Vézé to lead the army to attack Luzhou. Yang Xiuqing wrote a secret order to Vézé, which explained in detail why he wanted Vézé to attack Luzhou. The Taiping army had already made preparations for the northern expedition. Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang, who were stationed in Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, were to lead 20,000 troops to carry out the northern expedition and attack Beijing. Yang Xiuqing asked Vézé, who was stationed in Anqing, to first send troops north to attack Luzhou, an important city in Anhui, in order to attract Manchu Qing's attention.
After analyzing Yang Xiuqing's order, the General Staff was very satisfied with this arrangement. However, the Chief of Operations, Hu Chenghe, raised a question. "If we take Luzhou in one fell swoop, will the King Of The East allow us to go on the northern expedition?"
This concern seemed quite unreasonable. When Vézé's troops were stationed in Anqing, there were only five thousand men. Even now, there were only ten thousand. Even if they successfully took Luzhou, it was simply unrealistic to send ten thousand troops to attack Beijing from thousands of miles away. The other generals in the General Staff Headquarters were too lazy to think about this matter.
However, Vézé had a thought. He did not remember that the Taiping army had really occupied Henan. If they had occupied Henan, they would have occupied all of Anhui. The Northern Expedition Army this time was led by Deputy Prime Minister Lin Fengxiang and Prefectural Prime Minister Li Kaifang. There were as many as 20,000 troops. The northern expedition strategy should be serious.
Based on the historical results, the Northern Expedition Army must have failed. As for Vézé's current position and the King Of The East Yang Xiuqing's request for Vézé to attack Luzhou … Vézé was undoubtedly the Taiping army closest to the Northern Expedition Army. If the Northern Expedition Army was cleanly taken down by the Qing Army, then so be it. Looking at the current situation, the Qing Army would not be able to take down the twenty thousand Taiping army in one bite. In the future, when the Northern Expedition Army suffered a setback and was besieged by the Qing Army, Vézé would have to lead troops to rescue them.
Thinking of this, Vézé only said lightly, "That won't happen!"
Without waiting for the generals to speak, Vézé continued, "It's just that it won't happen now. Look, to the north of the Yangtze River, besides the troops from Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, there is only Anqing. It is only a matter of time before we attack the north, so we have to make preparations early. If we suddenly have to go north, there won't be anyone left to guard Anqing. "
After listening to Vézé's words, Hu Chenghe stared at the map with a frown. "According to what the Prime Minister said, we must occupy Luzhou."
It was clear from the map that Lu Prefecture was north of Anqing. The area around Anqing was mainly mountainous and hilly. If they wanted to occupy the more fertile plains, they would have to seize Lu Province.
"If we can seize Lu Province and implement the tax system, we'll have to change our budget," Lin Asheng joked. At this point, there was no need for Vézé to point it out. The next battle would not be as simple as defeating the four thousand Qing Army that had come out of Luzhou to threaten Anqing. Instead, they would have to swallow the entire Luzhou in one bite. After deciding on the strategy, all that was left was to decide on how many people to bring to Lu Province.
"Our First Division has to go to Luzhou, right?" Zhang Yingchen immediately asked for permission to go. After the expansion of the army, each division had four brigades under its command. The First Division, which originally only had a thousand men, now had two thousand. The munitions factory had also provided the brigades with more than a hundred modified fire hat-guns. The effective range of the hat-guns was more than 120 paces. There were many cannons in Anqing to begin with, and their calibers were also large. The First Division would definitely be able to make a great contribution.
As soon as Zhang Yingchen finished speaking, Lei Hu of the Fifth Division rushed to say, "Our Fifth Division is willing to be the vanguard!"
Lei Hu had not done very well in the cultural examination this time. He had barely passed the rank of major. Although the military rank in the army was not completely linked to the position, Lei Hu personally hoped to be promoted through his contributions. Seeing that Zhang Yingchen was rushing to take the lead, Lei Hu did not want to be left behind.
Actually, Vézé was very worried about these famous generals. In Vézé's opinion, both Zhang Yingchen and Lei Hu were a little too frivolous. It was one thing to strive for victory, but the fact that these two placed so much importance on it made Vézé feel very uneasy.
It wasn't that their personal futures would be ruined if they failed, but that if they failed, they would lose too many soldiers. Vézé could not bear such losses.
In the end, Vézé decided that he would lead the First, Third, and Fifth Divisions to attack Lu Province. The Second and Fourth Divisions would stay behind in Anqing.
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