It is not a secret that the Chu army treated prisoners of war well, and demoted talented people in an eclectic way. It was not a secret that some demoted officials and generals were reused. Basically, anyone with a little bit of information can find some examples.
For example, Huang Guangmao, Chen Yongfu, and He Renlong were all demoted generals of the Ming Army, but now, these three are all serious senior generals in the Chu Army.
In his early days, Huang Guangmao served as the commander of the West Route Army and the commander of the Second Garrison Division. Later, the West Route Army was abolished. He once served as the commander of the Chu North Garrison and continued to serve as the commander of the garrison division. Later, the garrison division was abolished and Huang Guangmao served as the newly established Tenth Army. The commander of the Seventh Division, who also served as the garrison commander of Shaanxi Province, was awarded the rank of Lieutenant General of the Army.
Chen Yongfu served in the garrison one after another in the early days. Because of his outstanding performance, he was first transferred to the staff department while studying, and then transferred to the 9th Division as brigade commander.
When the garrison divisions were eliminated last year, some of the garrison armies in the southern Chu area selected elites and formed a new 19th Army Division with part of the 9th Division. Chen Yongfu served as the division commander and was promoted to the rank of Army Major General.
He Renlong's experience is similar to that of Chen Yongfu. He first served in the garrison, and was subsequently transferred to the regular army due to his superior performance. During last year's expansion wave, he went a step further and served as the division commander of the Army's 16th Division, and was awarded the rank of Army Major General.
The Da Chu Empire Army now only has twenty-five divisions and one mixed brigade, plus two Guards Divisions, and there are three division commanders who were born as generals.
Moreover, they are all standard first-class masters, which is quite a lot to be honest.
There are actually more lower-level deputy division commanders, brigade commanders and regimental commanders.
In addition, some special surrendered generals, especially generals who defected to the past with large numbers of troops, were often awarded knighthoods.
For example, Zheng Zhilong in the navy is the most typical. After Zheng Zhilong surrendered to Chu, he was awarded the rank of rear admiral and was also granted the title of earl of Zhenhai.
Then there was Shen Yuankui, who had defected with a thousand elite frontier cavalry not long ago. He was awarded the rank of Army Brigadier General and the title of Viscount.
To put it bluntly, the Chu Empire used military ranks plus titles to buy the troops they had on hand.
Of course, it's not like someone can get a title just by bringing troops and surrendering. The troops you bring over must be what the Chu army lacks.
Before Zheng Zhilong surrendered, the Chu Empire lacked warships and its coastal defenses were unstable. Therefore, Zheng Zhilong's surrender brought hundreds of warships and tens of thousands of skilled sailors to the Chu Empire, and the maritime territory of the Chu Empire suddenly changed. It became safer.
Therefore, for the sake of warships, tax revenue and coastal security, the Chu Empire was willing to pay for the title of an earl.
Shen Yuankui, despite the fact that he only has a thousand cavalry, behind these one thousand cavalry are more than two thousand war horses, more than a thousand batches of service horses, and hundreds of auxiliary soldiers who serve as horsemen and coachmen.
Not just a thousand people alone!
Shen Yuankui's men are elite frontier cavalry. Riding two horses is a standard operation. Without this mobility, they can still jump around and have been wiped out by the First Cavalry Brigade.
Because the first cavalry brigade in the Chu army also rode two horses and was very maneuverable.
For these more than 3,000 horses and 1,000 elite cavalry who are good at riding and shooting, and considering the advertising effect of buying horse bones for thousands of dollars, the Dachu Empire was willing to pay for the title of viscount.
No, after Shen Yuankui defected, he not only continued to lead the troops, but the soldiers under his command were immediately fed and drank, and they also had a large number of armors, swords and even guns. Shen Yuankui also received a title.
To be honest, this made many Ming army generals in Jiangbei a little jealous...
Especially Zhang Wenzhi, the commander-in-chief from Liaodong.
Zhang Wenzhi was the new general in charge. Before he led his troops south, he was actually a staff general, and when he left Liaodong, he only had five or six hundred cavalry.
And the reason why he went south was simply because he couldn't survive in Liaodong!
He is not a member of the Guanning Border Army, and he is not even a member of the Liaodong Border Army... He was involved in the three frontiers in his early years. He is considered a member of the Yulin Border Army system. In the past few years, he suppressed bandits like other Yulin Border Army. Later, Hong Chengchou led his army to reinforce Jiliao, and he also followed Hong Chengchou to Jiliao with more than a thousand men.
Immediately after Hong Chengchou took over as the governor of Jiliao, Zhang Wenzhi was assigned to garrison in Liaodong, but life was very difficult when he was garrisoned in Liaodong.
The cities in Liaodong are basically the emperors of local general families. The ancestral family headed by Zu Dashou plus the Wu family of Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui, who have risen in recent years, these local general families basically control every city. .
There is no room for outsiders to survive in this broken place like Liaodong.
When Zhang Wenzhi led more than a thousand Yulin cavalry to garrison in Liaodong, they couldn't get food and pay, and they were used as cannon fodder and placed at the front when fighting with the Dong captives...
After more than a year, more than half of the more than a thousand people were killed or injured, and only about 600 riders remained.
Zhang Wenzhi couldn't survive in Liaodong, and he had been trying to find a way to transfer away from Liaodong. Last autumn, the Ming court planned to transfer the frontier army cavalry to the south, so Zhang Wenzhi found Hong Chengchou and recommended himself, and then he became a member of the southward frontier army.
After going south, Zhang Enzhi felt as if the sky was high and the birds could fly, and his whole body felt comfortable!
Without the support of the Zu family, and without the Wu family, especially Wu Sangui, who made him sick to watch, Zhang Wenzhi couldn't be happier.
Along the way south, there was no shortage of money and food, and no one from above was suppressing him, so he expanded his troops unscrupulously.
"Rebirth of the Great Era of Fighting Waves"
When he passed by Ji Town, he also picked up a few colleagues who were also from Yulin, but who had not done well in Ji Town and went south together.
When he reached Shandong and Fengyang Mansion, he also successively annexed other cavalry.
So, by now, his men have expanded to nearly two thousand cavalry. Of course, not all of the two thousand cavalry are elites. Probably only Qian cavalry is a serious Yulin frontier soldier. The cavalry is elite, and the remaining thousand cavalry are ordinary cavalry he got from everywhere.
And as the number of cavalry under his command increases, so does his officialdom...
When he first arrived at Fengyang Mansion, he was promoted to deputy general, that is, deputy chief soldier.
After Fengyang fought several battles with the Chu army's cavalry and achieved some small-scale victories, the most important thing was that he had more and more cavalry, even when Zhu Dadian had to be polite when talking to him. , it was logical for him to be promoted to the commander-in-chief of the Jiangbei Front Battalion in January this year.
In order to arrange a group of generals in Jiangbei, the Ming court came up with a bunch of general soldiers with the prefix Jiangbei, deputy general titles, general soldiers of the left and right and front and rear battalions in Jiangbei, deputy generals, staff generals, guerrillas, etc.
In addition to the traditional old army generals, some new standard army generals are also awarded.
The reason why it is said to be a part is because the sources of the Ming Dynasty's new standard army generals are relatively complicated. Some are from old army generals, others are from military and civilian officials, and some simply have no military experience or official experience. A scholar, born in Juren.
So you can see that in the Jiangbei New Biao Army, there are general titles such as generals, deputy generals, and staff generals; there are also deputy envoys, deputy envoys, ministers, and experience in the envoy department; , left and right counselors, experience, everything, civil official titles such as co-president of a certain government, general judge, recommendation officer, etc. Therefore, the titles of the generals of the Ming Dynasty's new standard army are often very complicated, and there are all kinds of things... they cannot be unified. .
Most of the time, Mingting itself distinguished them by the positions in the New Standard Army, such as military commander, deputy commander, battalion commander, sentry commander, etc. This was simpler and clearer.
However, the distinction between civil and military affairs is still very clear. It is impossible for a new standard army general who is a military general to obtain the titles of civilian generals such as left and right counselors, political participation, or even ministers and deputy envoys.
However, this is only limited to the new standard army, while it is much simpler in the traditional old army, and the old set of military officer titles are still used.
After Zhang Wenzhi was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Jiangbei Front Battalion, he was slightly inflated. Even if it was Yang Sichang's order, he would most of the time have to consider personal pros and cons before deciding whether to listen or not.
If the order would cause him to suffer losses and there would be no compensation, then Zhang Wenzhi would not even pay attention to Yang Sichang.
If it was something beneficial, then Zhang Wenzhi wouldn't mind obeying Yang Sichang's orders.
If it was something of great benefit, he would do it even if Yang Sichang stopped him...
The person mentioned above is still the Governor of New Water Transport, Yang Sichang, who holds a high position. As for Fengyang Governor Zhu Dadian, who has been demoted several levels in a row and now only has the title of Yushi of Qiandu, Zhang Wenzhi doesn't even bother to pay attention to what he said.
It's just that although the past few months have been very relaxed, Zhang Wenzhi also knows that this situation may be difficult to continue. After all, the current situation is Chu Ming's struggle for hegemony.
The Chu army was in the Northern Expedition, conquering Youzhou City and establishing a unified Chinese dynasty. In the process, Zhang Wenzhi would either be defeated and die, or surrender to Chu.
As for a group of Ming army generals, including himself, they could lead the army to stop the Chu army's Northern Expedition.
Zhang Wenzhi feels that the possibility of success is smaller than choking to death from drinking water...
He didn't understand other things, but he knew that all the Chu soldiers on the opposite side were strong and strong. They didn't dare to risk their lives when fighting, but most of them had high morale and rarely collapsed easily.
what does that mean?
This means that the Chu army treated its soldiers very well, at least in terms of food, it should be the same as the rumors say: full control!
Otherwise, how could those soldiers of the Chu Army be able to develop such a muscular body?
It's not just one soldier or two soldiers, but all the Chu soldiers that Zhang Wenzhi saw were basically the same, they were all strong and strong.
As for a dynasty that is willing to give up and has the ability to feed and drink its soldiers well, no matter how bad it is, it can't be that bad.
Contrast this with the Ming court... Even Zhang Wenzhi himself had forgotten the last time he received money and food from the court, maybe two years ago? Or was it three years ago? It's been so long that he forgot...
This is only talking about a small amount of money and food provided by the court, and the cost of a large army is huge. Even if some frontier troops are provided with part of the money and food by the court, most of them actually have to raise it themselves.
As for a large army, it only relies on the money and food provided by the court to maintain operations...
He had never heard of such a thing.
But... Chu Ting's side, all the army's money and food are provided by Chu Ting, all in full!
Under such overall situation, Zhang Wenzhi believed that the outcome of the Chu-Ming war for hegemony was already obvious.
And what he has to do is, before this almost destined ending comes, to get as much capital as possible for himself, and then exchange for a better ending.
Now, it's time to get a better ending.
He wants to use the more than 2,000 cavalrymen under his command to buy himself a fortune!
Shen Yuankui can sell a brigadier general and a viscount, so there is no reason why he, Zhang Zhiwen, should not be allowed to sell his troops in exchange for wealth!
This makes no sense!
