When it comes to his professional field, Gordon still has the right to speak. Delaney also has great respect for this senior and took out his notebook to record it in detail.
The strength of the Xishan camp, the composition of their generals, the number of their arms reserves, and the intensity of training... The most important thing is how to ensure the loyalty of this troop trained by the Sixth Japanese Institute!
How Prince Dun and Gordon used money, merit, training, reconstruction... and other methods to break up the power structure of the past, and gradually threw Yixin's shadow outside the military camp.
Delaney's face was expressionless but his heart was stirred. From Gordon's beaming expression, he could see how much he loved the Xishan Camp, especially the 10,000-strong iron army that he personally disbanded and rebuilt. Top of mind.
"Delaney... did you know? For the ten thousand soldiers under my command, one month's salary every quarter is paid by the emperor himself!"
"His Majesty is on the viewing platform, and all the soldiers are on the playground. He personally distributes the pay to each squad and platoon. I can't guarantee that every soldier can receive the money from the emperor!"
"But His Majesty can guarantee that a platoon of soldiers can stand in front of him, and every soldier can see His Majesty's face!"
"Every soldier knows that this silver was issued by the emperor, and the emperor is standing beside them!"
"For the remaining two months, I will personally pay the military salary in one month, and Prince Dun will personally pay the military salary in the other month... No one else can touch this right at all!"
"Other troops can also receive such treatment, but not as frequently as this Iron Army! I dare not say anything else. In today's Xishan Camp, almost every soldier in the tens of thousands of troops has seen the emperor and Dun Dun. The prince still has my face!”
"We can't possibly know these tens of thousands of people, but these tens of thousands of people can know us!"
ah! Delaney whispered, "Do all 60,000 people know the emperor?"
Delaney's surprise is normal. In an era before modern media technology was popularized, it was impossible for a behemoth like the army to do this. All the three armies knew the commander-in-chief!
In the armies of the Middle Ages, soldiers often only knew the officers on the two or three levels above their heads, such as squad leaders, platoon leaders, company commanders... That's the end of it. Many top soldiers didn't even know their own battalion commanders!
Why is this so? Because they have less contact and not many meetings, soldiers know more about the people they see around them every day!
Unless some battalion and regiment-level officers are very responsible and willing to go to the grassroots level of the army and take the initiative to fight with soldiers! The combat effectiveness of such an army is generally unbeatable!
Just think about it and you will know that battalion-level commanders can command basic large numbers of soldiers and can get support from front-line soldiers. How can their combat effectiveness not be high?
This kind of vertical management efficiency can effectively prevent junior or middle-level officers from evading senior officers, and there will be no discount in the implementation of military orders!
But this kind of generals are in the minority after all, so there are not many famous generals in the world, and most of them are mediocre people!
This kind of vertical management actually comes to an end at the battalion level. As the size of the troops grows larger and larger than thousands of people, it becomes difficult for you to recognize them one by one.
Therefore, in brigade-level and division-level military units, it is impossible for first-level officers to know all the soldiers, and it is difficult for all soldiers to know the top officer. There are too few opportunities for them to meet each other, and there are too many management layers in between.
This situation will only improve in the era of modern media explosion. Under the bombardment of the media, every soldier knows who the president is and who the commander of the coalition forces is. Ordinary soldiers have various channels to get to know their superiors!
But this is all after the 21st century. It is only the end of the 19th century. When Gordon said that all the 60,000 soldiers in the Xishan Battalion knew the emperor, Delaney didn't believe it and couldn't help but exclaimed.
Gordon drank a glass of wine and smiled awkwardly, "It may be a bit exaggerated, but I can guarantee that all the ten thousand people under me know the emperor!"
"At least half of the other troops know the Emperor and know that the Emperor is their master!"
"As for Prince Dun and I, all the soldiers really know each other. I can guarantee this!"
Hiss... Delaney couldn't help but take a breath of air. This Gordon was really determined to train the little emperor. He had food and accommodation in the military camp. He really treated Xishan Camp as his own home for training.
Such responsible officers are hard to find in Europe. Maybe there are only some hereditary Junker nobles in Prussia who can have such perverted military training habits.
There was a storm in Delaney's heart. He began to make his own judgment about Gordon. In response to the telegram sent from the country, he finally made a decision!
Gordon is an excellent commander who is loyal to his own cause and of course loyal to the British Empire. There is no doubt about this!
The Queen will trust him, the Parliament will trust him, and Emperor Tongzhi will trust him even more, otherwise there would be no such position for him!
But Delaney is different from Gordon. Gordon is more loyal to the interests of the British Empire, while Delaney, while loyal to the United Kingdom, must also give priority to former Prime Minister Benjamin!
At this banquet, he had an important secret mission, which was to inspect Gordon!
The telegram from the House of Lords is real, but the publisher of this telegram is actually Benjamin. He used his colleagues in the House of Lords to send this strange assessment telegram!
While understanding the combat readiness of the Xishan Camp of the Qing Empire, they also had to make a basic judgment about Gordon, that is, how loyal was Gordon to Emperor Tongzhi?
If a civil war breaks out between Prince Gong and Emperor Tongzhi, what will happen to Gordon? If during the war, Benjamin gave him an order that was not beneficial to Emperor Tongzhi, would Gordon carry it out?
In the final analysis, Benjamin has begun to bet on Prince Gong Yixin. He wants to know whether you, Gordon, will change your ways, and whether you will be determined to follow Zai Chun to the end!
The result of Delaney's test was finally obtained. From Benjamin's beaming and proud look, he saw his love for this army and his loyalty to Emperor Tongzhi at the same time!
Delaney knew very well that Gordon was loyal to the British Empire because this was his motherland, his mother country. If the Queen or Parliament made a decision and issued a formal order to him.
Then Gordon will not disobey orders, because he is still a British man after all!
But what if the order was not given by the Queen and Parliament? What if it's just a prime minister's selfishness, a private order?
So for the ambition of an ambitious man, will Gordon betray Emperor Tongzhi? This question is worth thinking about. Delaney came to a negative judgment at this moment!
"Ahem...Gordon...I have a notice here to tell you! Congratulations in advance!"
