The first year of Chengshun in the Chu Empire and the eighth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty.
On the evening of October 6, Luo Zhixue, who was located in Hanyang City, received a good news from the troops crossing the river in the direction of Shuilin Town.
Xu Zhixian took the good news and reported to Luo Zhixue with a happy face:
"All the troops scheduled to cross the river on the first day of our army have successfully crossed the river, including the commando team, the entire 1st Infantry Regiment, a battalion of the 2nd Infantry Regiment, an artillery battalion, a cavalry sentry, an engineer battalion, and a transport battalion. , and after crossing the river, they successfully defeated nearly 1,000 Ming troops stationed there and 2,000 Ming troops coming to aid."
"During the battle, about 400 enemies were killed, more than 1,800 were captured, and hundreds of others fled!"
"Thirty-five of our troops were killed, 16 of whom died due to falling into the water or accidents during construction. Ten of them were killed when they were intercepted by Ming army beachhead fire in the early stages of crossing the river. Seven were killed in the battle after landing."
"Generally speaking, there was no fierce resistance when crossing the river this time. The intensity of the fighting was relatively low, and the casualties between the enemy and ourselves were not large!"
"As of nightfall, our army has completely controlled the favorable terrain such as the beachhead and nearby highlands, and has built peripheral defenses and deployed 12 field guns and nine mortars."
"After completing the artillery cover mission, the Han River Fleet has moved west along the Yangtze River and anchored upstream of the crossing point to prepare for the Ming Navy's attack from the direction of Yuezhou!"
"The engineering troops crossing the river have built three temporary trestles, one large, two small and one small, and are urgently building pontoons overnight. It is expected to be put into use the day after tomorrow!"
"Until the pontoon bridge is completed, our army will continue to use ships to transport soldiers and supplies across the river. It is expected that about 5,000 troops and corresponding equipment and supplies will be delivered tomorrow!"
"The subsequent 20,000 troops and more artillery and supplies need to wait for the pontoon bridge to be built before being delivered!"
"In addition, according to reports from the Yangtze River Fleet and frontline army reconnaissance reports, about 10,000 Ming troops left Wuchang City to the west, and gathered about 4,000 Ming troops along the way. They have now reached a position about ten miles away from the beachhead of crossing the river."
"If nothing else happens, the Ming army will arrive at the landing beach tomorrow and engage in battle with our army!"
Speaking of this, Xu Zhixian said in a joking tone: "If they didn't escape overnight!"
Luo Zhixue said: "It would be easy for them to retreat directly, but so what if they return to Wuchang. Once the main force of our army crosses the river and a large number of mortars arrive outside Wuchang, Wuchang will be a dead city!"
"Whether they take the initiative to attack or escape back to Wuchang overnight, Chu Nan is determined by me!"
"Go back and have a good chat with Wei Kaifu. The meritorious soldiers in this cross-river battle should be rewarded in time. Those who deserve promotion should be promoted, and those who should be rewarded should be rewarded."
"I said that I will not hesitate to reward you generously when crossing the Yangtze River this time. Compared with the usual battle achievements, I will count them as double!"
Luo Zhixue put down the good news in his hand, then picked up a document on the table and handed it to Xu Zhixian: "This promotion of a group of soldiers will be used to expand the fifth and sixth divisions, the seventh garrison division, and the Eighth Defense Division!”
"The Fifth and Sixth Divisions can take a break first. Didn't they capture more than a thousand prisoners during the cross-river battle? This should be enough to form a garrison battalion. We will later transfer some of the basic personnel from the Sixth Garrison Division. Let’s put up the frame of the 7th Defense Division first.”
"What do you think of the candidates for the chief officers of the Seventh Garrison Division?"
Xu Zhixian immediately said: "Your Majesty, the chief officers of each ministry have their own sacred decrees, and I dare not speak nonsense!"
Xu Zhixian is not an idiot. He knows that in the Baoxiang Army system, all appointments of senior generals are made by Luo Zhixue, and no one else can interfere at all.
Not to mention him, the head of the staff who is not responsible for personnel, even Major General Wei Kaifu, the minister of military and political affairs who is responsible for personnel, cannot interfere in the appointment of a colonel.
Luo Zhixue made his own decisions for everyone from the regimental commander and above of each main division, to the brigade commander and above in the garrison division.
Even though Luo Zhixue was questioning him today, Xu Zhixian still abided by his duties and never made false claims about general appointments.
Luo Zhixue glanced at Xu Zhixian and immediately laughed: "You, really, just say what you say, don't be like a coward like me..."
After hearing this, Xu Zhixian still hesitated and said: "I am not very familiar with the generals in the army. I really can't make any suggestions. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Seeing Xu Zhixian like this, Luo Zhixue didn't say anything anymore. When he asked just now, it was just on a whim. Since Xu Zhixian himself didn't want to talk to avoid trouble, Luo Zhixue didn't embarrass him.
It's just that Luo Zhixue himself has some headaches about the personnel appointments of these four divisions.
The Baoxiang Army is expanding too fast, and high-level general positions are popping up one after another, waiting for people to fill the holes.
And now in the Baoxiang Army system, the senior generals who can be favored by Luo Zhixue basically have their positions and cannot be transferred randomly.
As for being promoted from middle-level generals, to be honest, Luo Zhixue doesn't know much about these new mid-level generals now.
But even so, the candidates must be selected in advance. We can't wait until the 7th Defense Division has begun to reorganize. The division commander and brigade commander are not there yet.
But there was no need for him to talk to Xu Zhixian about this matter. This personnel matter indeed had nothing to do with Xu Zhixian. Since he was determined to avoid suspicion, he could not force him to participate.
By the way, if Xu Zhixian really dares to participate in senior personnel appointments, Luo Zhixue will have to suppress him...
Some are, even if Luo Zhixue really asks you to participate, you absolutely cannot participate.
The appointment of senior generals is one such matter.
After letting Xu Zhixian go down, Luo Zhixue called over the Minister of Military and Political Affairs, Major General Wei Kaifu.
Regarding the appointment of these senior generals, Wei Kaifu also did not have the courage to participate, but he had to participate, so Wei Kaifu's own method was to make a large-scale candidate list and let Luo Zhixue choose...
For example, for the candidates for the division commander of the 7th Garrison Division, Wei Kaifu directly listed more than 20 people, including almost all those who did not hold important positions but were qualified.
The positions of deputy division commander and two brigade commanders, such as colonel, also had dozens of candidates on the list.
Luo Zhixue took a look and knew that in order to avoid suspicion, Wei Kaifu had all kinds of people on top...
Even many people, Luo Zhixue, are not familiar with it, but the list was sent along with brief resumes of each candidate.
After reading through it, Luo Zhixue finally narrowed down the names of a few people, and then said: "Get ready to issue an order to have Wang Dazhuang in Luyang Pass go south immediately and take up the post of commander of the 7th Garrison Division."
"For deputy division commander, choose Dong Siyuan. This person does a good job as a staff officer in the combat department and has excellent tactical ability. He just happens to partner with Wang Dazhuang."
"The brigade commander of the 13th Garrison Brigade, let Chen Yongfu ask for guidance. This man is quite good at fighting."
"As for the 14th Garrison Brigade, let Lin Gaozheng go over. They are all cavalry brothers. You still have to pull in!"
With a wave of his hand, Luo Zhixue identified the four main generals of the 7th Garrison Brigade.
Wang Dazhuang was one of his own soldiers. He had been in the garrison all his life. He was senior and not very capable, but he was obedient.
Dong Siyuan came here as a scholar, and was considered a rare Confucian general in the army to protect his hometown. He was a military clerk before, and later served in the field army. After studying in the camp school, he was transferred to the combat department as a combat staff officer. Now he For the rank of lieutenant colonel.
If you want to go out now, your rank is too high to be an infantry battalion commander in the main force, but you are not qualified to be the commander of the main regiment. As for the garrison, according to the convention, if you are transferred to the garrison, you have to be promoted to a higher rank. , so the regiment commander is not good either. It is just a transition to a deputy division commander, which can not only solve the problem of colonel rank, but also pave the way for being transferred back to the main force as the regiment commander.
He can also use his excellent tactical ability to solve Wang Dazhuang's lack of tactical ability.
Is Chen Yongfu a demoted general? Luo Zhixue has a very good impression of him. He is not sure about his other abilities, but he is really ruthless in leading troops.
The same Ming army had completely different combat capabilities under his hands than under the hands of other Ming army generals.
It's just that this man likes to use his secondary troops as cannon fodder...
Therefore, Luo Zhixue did not dare to transfer such a person to the main force, so it was better to let him serve in the garrison. Anyway, those were second-line forces, and most of them were soldiers who surrendered to the Ming Army.
I happened to be the professional counterpart of Chen Yongfu.
The last Lin Gaozheng, this man is one of the earliest elite cavalry of 60 or 70 people. Up to now, as long as the elite cavalry of this group is not dead, the worst they can be is a major. Those who are good at it are all Major general.
Lin Gaozheng is also an ordinary person. His personal combat ability is good, but his ability to lead troops is just that. He cannot be said to be outstanding, but he will not make any big mistakes. At the same time, he is senior, able to convince people, and as an old man, he is loyal. There is no need to worry.
So this time he was promoted one level to the position of garrison brigade commander, which could be regarded as once again appeasing the more and more unsatisfactory old generals in the army: It doesn't matter if his ability can't keep up, as long as he does things honestly, even if No matter how senior you are, I will also lift you up.
What you create is the image of benevolence!
To prevent people from thinking that Luo Zhixue has not even conquered the world, he has to hide everything...
Treating an old brother harshly will be very detrimental to the unity of the Hometown Protection Army if word spreads about it.
Because no one wants to be the one who is treated harshly!
Since the Baoxiang Army marched eastward and southward, the army expanded on a large scale. Although many high-level job vacancies were created. Although many old people in the early Funiu Mountain period were promoted, there were always some who fell behind.
This is an inevitable situation in the process of the continuous development of the Baoxiang Army. There were hundreds of old brothers from the Funiu Mountain period, and some of them were destined to be unable to keep up with the pace of development of the Baoxiang Army!
