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"Brother Zhang, I'd like to know how the General Staff Headquarters system established by Prince Qi works." Lin Fengxiang went straight to the point when he saw Zhang Yingchen.
Zhang Yingchen was stunned. "Why does Lin Da Ge want to know this?"
Lin Fengxiang said very seriously, "Prince Of Qi is the best at fighting in the Heavenly State. Before Prince Of Qi left the Heavenly State, I met him once. Prince Of Qi said that he completely relied on the system of the General Staff Headquarters. Now that the Prince Of Qi has left, Brother Zhang is the only one in the Heavenly State who understands the system of the General Staff Headquarters. Therefore, I hope that Brother Zhang can teach me the system of the General Staff Headquarters. "
"Hehe!" Zhang Yingchen smiled bitterly. "Could it be that Lin Da Ge wants the Heavenly State to implement the General Staff Department system?"
"Mhmm …" After being pointed out by Zhang Yingchen, Lin Fengxiang hesitated for a moment before admitting, "I do have that intention."
"Lin Da Ge, please sit!" Zhang Yingchen invited Lin Fengxiang to take a seat and poured him a cup of tea. Then, he began to explain, "Every general has an advisor. The General Staff Headquarters seems to use a lot of advisors, but that's not the case. In other armies, the generals had the final say, but in the General Staff Headquarters, the chief of staff's authority was no less than that of the generals. Moreover, the generals were all managed by the General Staff Department. If Lin Da Ge wants to implement the General Staff Headquarters system in Heavenly State, I'm afraid no one will listen to you? "
"Why?" Lin Fengxiang didn't expect Zhang Yingchen to be so pessimistic. He found it strange.
Zhang Yingchen sighed. "Lin Da Ge, the appointment and dismissal of the generals under Prince Qi's command are all decided by the General Staff Department of a higher level. Who do you think will listen to you? "
"Huh?" Lin Fengxiang was stunned. "Brother Zhang, you can explain it more clearly. If that's the case, I don't understand. "
Zhang Yingchen thought for a moment before continuing, "Lin Da Ge, for example, the generals under your direct command. Right now, whoever you want to be the commander will be the commander. However, under the system of the General Staff Headquarters, the appointment and dismissal of personnel was the matter of the Chief of Staff of the same rank as you. In the General Staff Department, there was the Human Resource Department for the higher ranks, and the Human Resource Department for the lower ranks. They were in charge of the appointment and removal of personnel. Even if you are strong enough, the General Staff Department will not dare to disobey you. However, the General Staff Headquarters had another trick up their sleeves. They would pick out people for you to choose from. They might not be willing to pick the person you want to pick. "
This time, Lin Fengxiang finally understood. It turned out that the General Staff Officer's position was actually higher than that of the Inspector-General. There were also military supervisors in the Taiping Rebellion. Although the supervisors had a lot of authority, they were easily restricted by the local commanders. Once the General Staff Headquarters was established, the General Staff Headquarters would divide the authority of the commanders.
Even so, Lin Fengxiang did not give up. He asked Zhang Yingchen to explain the structure of the General Staff Headquarters in detail. Even though Lin Fengxiang was also an experienced and knowledgeable person, the more he listened, the more he was shocked.
The General Staff Headquarters established by Vézé was a vertical system. The General Staff Headquarters was not restricted by the commanders at all. The authority of personnel, command, and logistics were all grasped by the General Staff Headquarters. Not only were the commanders unable to control the General Staff Headquarters, but the commanders themselves were also under the jurisdiction of the General Staff Headquarters. Every once in a while, the General Staff Headquarters would undergo personnel changes. The commanders would return to the military academy run by the General Staff Headquarters to study, and they would be reviewed by the General Staff Headquarters. According to the review, the commanders would be assigned to work in the General Staff Headquarters, and they would become the staff officer first. A portion of the staff officers who were approved by the General Staff Headquarters would be assigned to work as the commanders of the same rank.
After listening to this, Lin Fengxiang finally understood why Zhang Yingchen was so pessimistic about the implementation of the General Staff Headquarters system in the Taiping army. Not to mention anything else, Wing King Shi Dakai would definitely not accept the management of the General Staff Headquarters. If the Heavenly State established the General Staff Headquarters system, Shi Dakai would lose the authority to command the army.
However, Lin Fengxiang still did not give up. He asked, "Why can Prince Of Qi use the General Staff Headquarters and still win the war?"
"Prince Of Qi … Hehe …" Zhang Yingchen suddenly laughed. "Lin Da Ge, the General Staff Headquarters is not the military supervisor. He is a whole set of things that the Heavenly State may not be willing to accept."
Lin Fengxiang no longer dared to look down on Zhang Yingchen. He said seriously, "Brother Zhang, please enlighten me!"
Zhang Yingchen explained to Lin Fengxiang how Vézé established the General Staff Headquarters system. From culture, physical fitness, medical treatment, and logistics, Vézé did rely on his position in the army that no one dared to defy to start implementing the General Staff Headquarters system. However, every system that Vézé proposed had been proven to be effective in practice.
For example, Wei Changrong, as Vézé's nephew, was the real "founder" of the Taiping Rebellion. However, Wei Changrong's influence in the army was built up by his position as the head of the combat training department, the various training programs that he came up with, and the knowledge that he practically taught everyone step by step. "Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in wartime." Such a slogan appeared on every training ground, and every soldier participating in the training had to learn how to read and write. Other than recognizing these ten words and two punctuation marks, they also had to understand the meaning of these two sentences.
"Lin Da Ge, Prince Of Qi is invincible. This is not something that happened in the past two years. He has been doing this since we were in Yong 'an. Now, if you want to implement the General Staff Headquarters system in the Heavenly State, all the armies have to first hand over their military power. Who do you think will be willing to do that? This is not the General Staff Headquarters system when you change the official title of the people in your army to 'Staff Officer'. The General Staff Headquarters system is a whole set of things. " Zhang Yingchen spent nearly two hours to finish explaining the General Staff Headquarters system. He was exhausted. He did not want to speak for a while.
The person speaking was tired, but the person listening was even more tired. To be able to keep up with Zhang Yingchen's thinking, Lin Fengxiang also worked hard. After confirming that it was impossible for him to establish a comprehensive General Staff Headquarters system within the Taiping Rebellion, Lin Fengxiang asked tiredly, "Brother Zhang, what if we establish a General Staff Headquarters system in all the armies? Let these General Staff Headquarters be united … "
Zhang Yingchen shook his head. "If each army establishes their own General Staff Headquarters, it will not be the General Staff Headquarters system, but the General Staff Headquarters of each army. Prince Of Qi's General Staff Headquarters in the army, he is the Chief of the General Staff. Even if he let someone else take over as the Chief of Staff, the appointment and dismissal of the Chief of Staff will still be in the hands of Prince Of Qi. Lin Da Ge, when Prince Of Qi enters Tianjing City, he can take away my former brothers with just one order because the General Staff Headquarters of the army is still there. Even if I go to my former brothers at that time, they will still follow Prince Of Qi. This is because, according to the system, as long as the King Of The East is not around, the General Staff Headquarters will only listen to the Chief of the General Staff. Do you think that all the armies will listen to the General Staff Headquarters if there is a General Staff Headquarters above the General Staff Headquarters? "
Lin Fengxiang repeatedly thought about the General Staff Headquarters. Although there were obstacles that were extremely difficult to overcome, the advantages of the General Staff Headquarters were undoubtedly too great. Just the training of the troops and the various unified training made Lin Fengxiang completely understand why Vézé's army could be so valiant. The General Staff Headquarters was not only a system for officials, this system also forced the officers to change their identities between General Staff and Commander. Through the training, they were forced to accept the latest military thinking and combat techniques. This kind of training was not just a gust of wind, but continuous self-reflection, self-education, and self-improvement. Just as Zhang Yingchen said, just the army's marching manual alone had been released seven to eight different versions in the past three years. Each version had a lot of adjustments, and the effects were getting better. Lin Fengxiang's time leading the troops was not shorter than Vézé's. Until now, there was no military training in his army that was professional, let alone standardized.
Thinking of this, Lin Fengxiang said, "Brother Zhang, are you willing to come to me? If you are willing to come, I will definitely give you great power."
Seeing that Lin Fengxiang sounded sincere, Zhang Yingchen smiled bitterly and said, "Lin Da Ge, you are a hero. The General Staff Headquarters system that I learned from Prince Of Qi is indeed useful. Lin Da Ge, you think highly of me, so I should be tactful. However, I, Zhang Yingchen, am unlucky. I offended the King Of The East, and then I offended the Prince Of Qi. Logically speaking, I have no face to talk about at this time. However, I don't want to lose the face that I already lost. Now that the Heavenly King is willing to use me, he dares to use me. I can only follow the Heavenly King to the end. Lin Da Ge, I appreciate your kindness. However, I can't go to your place. "
Lin Fengxiang still wanted to ask for more power, but Zhang Yingchen said, "Lin Da Ge, it's getting late and I'm tired. Please go back first!"
Seeing that Zhang Yingchen had asked him to leave and understood Zhang Yingchen's position, Lin Fengxiang had no choice but to stand up and leave. After returning to his mansion, Lin Fengxiang tossed and turned on his bed. He originally thought that the General Staff Headquarters was just a way to gather more advisors and use them more effectively to increase their combat power. He never thought that it would be a brand new way to build an army. The superiority of this method was obvious. Vézé didn't have many old brothers from Guangxi under his command, but Vézé quickly became the bravest and best in the army. Lin Fengxiang decided that not only would he implement this system in his army, but he would also find a way to implement this system in Anhui and even the army in Yangzhou.
Zhang Yingchen was right. Such a system would eventually lead to a unified military command structure that would completely dominate the situation. If the central government of the Taiping Rebellion couldn't implement this system in a short period of time, then Lin Fengxiang would first establish the General Staff Headquarters to unify Anhui and all the armies north of the Yangtze River. Looking at Zhang Yingchen's army, he must have implemented this system in his army. After the General Staff Headquarters system was implemented in Tianjing and the armies north of the Yangtze River, there was a high chance that they would merge.
If Lin Fengxiang could obtain Vézé's combat power through this system, he would have a high chance of gradually obtaining the command of the other armies when the other armies were in trouble. Vézé could take away tens of thousands of troops with a wave of his arm. This example showed Lin Fengxiang the power of the General Staff Headquarters.
In the next two days, old brothers and representatives from all over the country arrived in Tianjing. Lin Qirong didn't just send representatives from Jiujiang, he also sent people to ask for help. Ceng Guofan carried out a full-scale siege on Jiujiang. Although he couldn't break Jiujiang City's defense system, he could block the food supply in Jiujiang City. Shi Dakai still refused to fight Ceng Guofan's Xiang Army with all his might to break the siege outside Jiujiang City. Other than asking for help from Tianjing, Lin Qirong had no other choice.
Soon, his brothers brought up the request for King Yi to lead the Heavenly State. Hong Xiuquan's gaze fell on Lin Fengxiang.
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