In this five-hundred-mile expedited military report delivery, sea delivery showed more advantages.
When the military reports transmitted by land were continuously delivered by the postal department staff at the stations along the way, they achieved a speed of more than 200 kilometers per day.
The Post Office's first-generation sea mail express ship, "Quick Mail No. 1," sailed on the sea, but it sailed southward at a high speed of more than ten knots every hour twenty-four hours a day!
The Shuyou No. 1 communication ship was born entirely for speed, and for this purpose it sacrificed seaworthiness, anti-sinkability, cargo capacity, not to mention its protective capabilities and firepower.
This thing has only one mission, and that is to fly across the sea at the fastest speed and deliver news from afar to the other side of the sea.
This good news from Zuo Yingzhe was first sent to Wusongjiang Port by Express Mail No. 1 of the Postal Department, and then fast horses galloped day and night to Jinling City. At this time, the second good news delivered on land was still there. On the long way.
Emperor Luo Zhixue of the Chu Empire was in a good mood after receiving the good news!
Although in his opinion, the victory of the Northeast Campaign was a matter of course, even certain, the national power of the Chu Empire was simply not comparable to that of the Eastern captives. This war did not even require any conspiracy, as long as the frontline generals did not act foolishly. , play steadily and continue to advance, then you will be able to win.
But, in the final analysis, we still need to play steadily... If we adopt some more risky strategies and tactics, the possibility of capsizing in the ditch is not impossible.
Now it seems that he was right in sending Zuo Yingzhe to the Northeast to preside over the war situation.
Zuo Yingzhe was actually not very famous among the top army generals of the Chu Empire in the past few years.
His predecessor, General Li Chengtong, the previous commander of the Northeast Campaign, was more famous and more prestigious than Zuo Yingzhe.
Compared with Li Chengtong and other high-ranking generals who had a bright future in the unification war, Zuo Yingzhe seemed a bit mediocre.
This man is not an old bandit, but a scholar, and has been working in the staff department for a long time since the Dragon Queen. It is not an exaggeration to say that this man is a staff officer.
Later, he served in field troops many times, serving as chief of staff several times, division commander, deputy corps commander and other positions.
Throughout my entire military career, I never experienced any thrilling battles, but I also never made any mistakes.
Its overall combat style is very stable.
This is also the reason why Luo Zhixue asked Zuo Yingzhe to succeed Li Chengtong as the new commander of the Northeast Campaign and continue to serve as the commander of the Third Army after the reform of the Northeast Campaign Command.
Luo Zhixue didn't need him to be able to fight, or have any genius-like tactical strategies... Luo Zhixue only needed Zuo Yingzhe to fight steadily and rely on the powerful national power of the Da Chu Empire to push past!
Don't take risks, this is what Luo Zhixue personally told Zuo Yingzhe.
Zuo Yingzhe also fully implemented Luo Zhixue's strategy. Throughout the early stages of the Northeast Campaign, he focused on prudence.
After hundreds of thousands of troops marched eastward, they advanced step by step. There were no words such as rush or surprise attack in the whole process.
Even the commander-in-chief Zuo Yingzhe actually seemed to have little sense of presence in the several battles on the front line, and he was not even as popular as the cavalry general Zhu Xingfa.
He didn't take the lead, let alone personally command a specific battle!
But Luo Zhixue was very satisfied with Zuo Yingzhe's performance.
"good!"
"It's not in vain that I gave him an army of hundreds of thousands!"
Zuo Yingzhe's performance is exactly what Luo Zhixue expected to see as a commander-in-chief!
A group army commander is responsible for the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. What he needs to do to win or lose the war between the two countries is not to do other messy things, but to coordinate the overall situation.
As for the specific execution of tactics and details on the battlefield, those are the business of the army commanders and division commanders.
After Luo Zhixue read the victory report several times, he said to the royal secretary of the secretariat beside him: "Make a note and send a message to Zuo Aiqing. I am waiting for him to return from the captivity. When he returns, it will be the day of the enthronement." !”
The Great Chu Empire now only has four dukes, and Zuo Yingzhe did not say that he completely wiped out Dongdu, but as long as he recovered most of Liaodong, his contribution would be enough to make him a duke.
And if nothing else happens, he will also become the fifth Duke in the Chu Empire!
The five dukes are all high-ranking military generals with great military exploits, which fully embodies the title system of the Great Chu Empire that does not grant titles to dukes except for military merit.
In addition to the commander-in-chief Zuo Yingzhe, the meritorious officers of the Third Army and the Guards and Navy who participated in the war also need to be rewarded one by one as appropriate.
Anyone can be treated badly if they deserve a promotion or receive money, but the meritorious soldiers on the front line cannot be treated badly.
The rewards for middle and low-level officers and ordinary soldiers will naturally be handled by the military and political departments of the three armed forces. Luo Zhixue did not need to worry about it. He just set a tone: he would be rewarded heavily for his contribution to the recovery of Northeast China.
The rewards for senior generals often involve the promotion of titles, general ranks, and changes in senior positions. These are not handled by the military and political departments of the three armed forces. They do not have this authority, so Luo Zhixue can only handle them personally.
In the early series of battles in the Northeast region, from the landing operations on the Liaodong Peninsula, to the raids in Monan Mongolia, to the launch of the Western Liaoning campaign.
During this series of processes, many senior generals achieved military exploits.
Luo Zhixue also gradually awarded rewards according to the size and importance of their respective military industries.
Among the generals who have made great achievements in battle, the one who has made the greatest contribution is undoubtedly the Guards Major General Sheng Yushu, the director of the Cavalry Department of the Guards Army!
Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa, commander of the First Cavalry Corps, was called the first contributor to the cavalry battle in the northern suburbs of Zhongqiansuo; Lieutenant General Qian Tai, deputy director of operations of the Guards Army, also tried his best to take credit for Sheng Yushu!
General Zuo Yingzhe, commander of the Third Group Army, also listed Major General Sheng Yushu as the first contributor in the battle merit list attached to the victory report.
General Zhao Zhongshu, the military and political officer of the Third Army and Hebei Garrison Command, also said in the secret that Major General Sheng Yushu was loyal to the emperor.
Loyalty to the emperor is basically the highest level evaluation given to an official at the official level.
No matter how talented you are, or have outstanding military exploits, they are not as mediocre as being loyal to your Majesty.
The top-secret files of Major General Sheng Yushu of the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy show that although Major General Sheng Yushu also had some minor problems, such as adopting several concubines in the name of adopted girls in violation of regulations, his family secretly used his name to engage in bullying and domination. behavior, but there is no big problem.
Luo Zhixue is not a pedantic person. He knows very well that when the water is clear, there will be no fish. Many civil servants and generals in the Chu Empire had their heads in their belts and followed him to conquer the world in the early years, but few of them did it for the common people at the dawn of the world. Most of our happy lives come for glory and wealth.
Sheng Yushu is no exception!
As long as there are no major issues that violate principles, plus he has good abilities and can do things, Luo Zhixue will basically use them, and the best among them will reuse them.
And Sheng Yushu's military training and combat command abilities are quite outstanding.
The reason why the Battle of Western Liaoning progressed so smoothly is inseparable from the fact that the cavalry troops successfully defeated and almost completely annihilated Hauge's cavalry.
Unless Haug's cavalry is defeated, they may have to consider retreating to protect themselves, let alone continue the attack.
In this large-scale cavalry battle, the performance of the Guards Cavalry Detachment is the key!
It was the Guards cavalry detachment that successfully defeated the enemy's 3,000 fine cavalry on the left wing, and subsequently defeated the enemy's 3,000 reinforcements, which ultimately led to the collapse of the enemy's army and laid a solid foundation for the overall victory of the cavalry battle.
Sheng Yushu personally led the three cavalry regiments in the Guards Cavalry Detachment into battle, and he had also presided over the previous training.
Because Sheng Yushu is the director of the Guards Cavalry Department, which is roughly similar to the Army Cavalry Director. He plays an important role in coordinating the development and operations of the Guards Cavalry.
Sheng Yushu led the Guards cavalry he personally trained and won this great victory, so a heavy reward was inevitable.
Luo Zhixue personally gave the instructions, and Jin Shengyushu was appointed as the Lieutenant General of the Guards.
In terms of position, because he was still in the front-line combat period and could not be easily transferred, he continued to lead the Guards Cavalry Detachment in the front-line operations as the director of the Guards Cavalry Division.
At the same time, the title was promoted from Viscount to Earl.
There are also some material rewards such as mansions and money.
In addition to Sheng Yushu, other meritorious generals were also rewarded one by one, but not many were promoted directly. For example, Zhu Xingfa, commander of the First Cavalry Corps, his military rank and title remained unchanged.
Because Zhu Xingfa was already a lieutenant general in the army, and if he were to go up further, he could only be the commander of the group army or the director of the central department. This kind of transfer would have too much impact and Dong Dan could not be easily replaced.
After Liaodong is completely recaptured, giving him the rank of Army General will be enough, but now, it's still not that interesting.
However, there were adjustments in his duties. Luo Zhixue appointed him as deputy commander of the Third Army, and as deputy commander, he also served as commander of the First Cavalry Army.
In terms of title, he is an earl and will not move for the time being. He will wait until the Liaodong Campaign is over before declaring rewards.
In addition, there are many rewards in various materials.
Luo Zhixue quickly finalized the rewards for the senior generals on the front line, and at the same time ordered the Di Reporting Department of the Ministry of Ethics and Education to conduct extensive and focused reports on the victory in the Western Liaoning Campaign.
It is important to let everyone in the world know that the Chu Empire has just won a great victory in western Liaoning. The Dongjiu people who frequently invaded the pass and harmed the people have been defeated by their brave and fearless soldiers of the Chu Empire.
In short, it’s all kinds of blowing!
And don’t be afraid of being too embarrassed... This kind of bragging will get used to you if you brag too much.
As a result, just three days after the victory news arrived in Jinling City, the latest issue of the Da Chu Di News published news of the great victory in Liaoxi!
This article was jointly written by more than a dozen former Ming Dynasty scholars and writers from the Ministry of Ethical Education, and every word was carefully considered. It is an easy-to-understand and philosophical report.
Luo Zhixue was praised as the greatest emperor in thousands of years. His talent, ability and achievements were directly comparable to those of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. The soldiers of the Chu army on the front line were praised as more heroic and skillful than the heavenly soldiers and generals. The frontline army attacked the Eastern captives as if they were beheading melons. Just as easy as chopping vegetables.
In this battle, more than 100,000 enemies were killed. When the remnant soldiers of the East Captives saw our king's army advancing eastward, they all fled. When they scrambled to escape, countless people were trampled to death, and they even killed each other in order to seize the way to escape.
And this is just the main report. In order to increase credibility and let the people feel the greatness of the Chu Empire and the bravery of the soldiers, a group of literary giants from the Di newspaper department directly made things out of nothing, relying on their own strong imagination, through May 6th This article describes in detail a number of small-scale battles in which the few defeated the many and the weak defeated the strong. Through these small battles, the images of several fighting heroes were established!
Later, the general in charge of internal military reports in the Army, and also reluctantly responsible for external propaganda, read it... and fell silent!
When it comes to bragging skills, these civilian officials are better. This article is much better than the military newspaper within our army!
But...
Can you please talk to us before you brag... In this way, we can still find a few battles that fit the example for you, and then introduce a few real battle heroes...
As a result, you just made something up out of nothing and made up the whole story...
You said that we had several fighting heroes and fought several tragic battles, which fully reflected the battle in which our army defeated the strong with the weak...
But... neither our army nor the Guards have ever done this before!
Our Chu army will not stupidly defeat the strong with the weak, or defeat the many with the few... We all pushed forward all the way, and most of the soldiers did not even see the faces of the Donglu people...
If outsiders ask later, where these battles took place and who specifically participated in the battles, wouldn’t it be embarrassing if we don’t know exactly what happened?
As a result, the Military Newspaper Section of the Army Military and Political Department, which is responsible for publicity, found the Di Newspaper Department, and then slobbered wildly, asking them not to blow randomly when writing articles, and to give us a break before blowing. I will prepare some battle cases and typical characters for you.
You are making us very passive by talking nonsense like this!
As a result... the people at the Di News Department just laughed... and didn't even bother to pay attention to these warriors!
When we in the Di newspaper department write articles, when do we need facts? All we need is a clever pen!
Besides, the Di News Department is in the civilian system and has nothing to do with your military... We can brag as much as we like, and you have no control over it!
Later, Luo Zhixue found out about this... and was silent for a long time while facing the article written by Di Newspaper Division.
They could be regarded as obeying their own wishes, and the results were quite good. As soon as these reports came out, the world was in an uproar. The people's identification with the Chu Empire, even among the gentry, rose sharply.
However, Luo Zhixue still ordered the Di Newspaper Division to stop doing things like making things out of thin air in the future. Although art comes from life, it must also follow basic facts.
"Green Gourd Sword Fairy"
This small episode did not affect the Chu Empire's extensive publicity of the great victory in Liaoxi. According to Luo Zhixue's request, the Di Bao Division wanted everyone in the world to know that their Chu Empire had won a great victory and regained the victory. The Northeast is just around the corner.
This is to maximize the people's sense of identity with the new Chu Empire, enhance their sense of honor, and win more people's hearts.
Nowadays, the Great Chu Empire has just been established, and the process of unifying the provinces within the pass is not peaceful. Even after the unification, the regions often experience bloody storms ranging from a few months to more than a year to break the past. The benefit distribution system redistributes benefits.
For example, land policy, industrial and commercial policy, etc. are all redistribution of interests.
The process of interest redistribution is always accompanied by killing!
I don’t know how many so-called gentry and landlords have suffered losses in their interests or even had their families destroyed during the rise of the Chu Empire!
There are also many ignorant ordinary people who are coaxed and coerced by local wealthy families, and eventually become cannon fodder on the battlefield and even harm their families.
The Dachu Empire used tough and bloody iron-fisted methods to forcefully promote a series of new policies, which have now been initially completed in various regions within the pass and are beginning to bear fruit.
By this time, in fact, the implementation of policies in various places has basically been completed, and those who need to be cleaned up have also been cleaned up. Although there are still some people who may have been hiding deeply, it is impossible to truly clean up all the people in such a large empire. The risk factors are all eliminated, and as long as they can't stir up any trouble, they can start the next stage.
Luo Zhixue has prepared to gradually relax local military control. The military has begun to reduce its involvement in ordinary local security affairs and is only responsible for suppressing incidents such as riots.
Previously, armed patrols were established in some areas to handle emergencies, emergency rescue, and deal with serious violent crimes. This was based on the fact that the Army began to gradually separate from local security affairs and focus on military tasks.
Although the second-class division in the army also assumed the task of maintaining local security in the early stage, this was only a preliminary task. In fact, the second-class division in the army still belonged to the combat order of the regular army.
Suppressing unrest, defensive operations, and protecting important facilities are their main tasks. Excessive participation in local security affairs will affect the combat capabilities of the Class B Division and lead to military and political chaos.
In addition, the second-class divisions in the army also rotate their locations regularly. In order to prevent a certain unit from being stationed in a certain place for a long time and causing various problems, the second-class divisions in the army's garrison areas are rotated regularly.
The establishment of armed patrol police, coupled with the gradual reduction of the number of armed tax police, can basically be seen as measures by the Chu Empire to gradually reduce direct military control over the controlled areas.
Of course, this does not mean that military control will be completely abolished directly, but that it will be gradually reduced, and the military's presence among the people will be gradually reduced in the early stage of local stability.
How should I put it, it is not a good thing for people to see soldiers patrolling and guarding the streets every three days.
However, if it is a patrol officer wearing a black uniform, even an armed patrol officer carrying a flintlock gun and a waist knife, then it seems much more normal.
It's normal for patrol officers to patrol the streets and guard the entrances and exits of some important areas.
The empire is gradually lifting military controls in various regions, gradually restoring normal life and rule in some areas, and liberalizing the movement of people in some areas. These all mean that the Great Chu Empire is gradually eliminating the chaos in the unification war in the troubled times. Negative effects will gradually normalize.
In this process, in addition to the gradual weakening of military presence, publicity must also keep up!
The war with the Eastern captives is a good starting point for propaganda.
Foreign war can divert some internal conflicts, stimulate the people's sense of happiness and even superiority, and ultimately evolve a sense of identity.
Over time, when ordinary people are proud of themselves as "I am a native of Da Chu," it means that the rule of the Da Chu Empire has a real foundation.
And by that time, it might be the so-called prosperous age in the traditional feudal dynasty!
As for now, it’s still a little early!
Don't look at the fact that the Chu Empire is killing a lot of people on the battlefield in the Northeast. Many important industrial zones within it are developing rapidly, many factories have been established one after another, and the national defense industry has made great progress.
But in fact... a strong military does not necessarily mean that people's lives are good.
In the Victorian era, Britain was the world's most powerful country, and its Royal Navy defeated the world's invincible rivals. However, there were still countless child laborers in the country... There were countless slums in the city.
When the Royal Navy was conquering the world, countless people in their country still went hungry every day and endured the severe cold in winter. Countless child workers died in factories and died in the winter.
The little match girl is the epitome of the lower class people in Victorian England.
In the era of Tsarist Russia, the Tsar Steamroller was a powerful force in Europe for a hundred or two hundred years, and it was a serious power.
Its army was called the gray cattle and was a nightmare in modern Europe. But the word "gray cattle" itself means that their middle and lower-class people are not living well...
When praising the great work "War and Peace", please do not forget that when Napoleon invaded Russia, Russia was in serfdom.
In fact, Russian serfdom was not abolished until the 1860s, but even during World War I, some residual systems from the serfdom era still existed in Russia.
One can imagine how miserable the people at the bottom of Russia during the Tsarist Russia era were!
Tolstoy, who also wrote about war and peace, was born in an aristocratic family... In his early works, you can see the love and hatred of the aristocracy, the hatred between the country and the family, as well as the magnificent war scenes, and all kinds of great things. Something... but the wailing of the low-level serfs could not be seen!
In his later years, he gradually changed his mind and said that his past works were "grandmaster-style games". However, countless people later praised his early works.
Maybe they are all nobles...
Japan, one of the great powers in modern times, is basically inseparable from such a routine.
From the Meiji Restoration to World War II, Japan gradually became stronger and eventually became one of the great powers. At that time, they had a powerful navy. Its naval strength was once the third in the world, and even for a certain period, it was considered the second in the world. The country also has a relatively complete defense industry, which can manufacture 18-inch naval guns, 60,000 to 70,000-ton battleships, aircraft carriers and other warships.
However, during the same period, it was common for the people at the bottom of Japan to be hungry. It was extremely common for a large number of poor young women to be forced to engage in some kind of harmonious trade, or even go abroad to make money.
At that time, poor young people in Japan regarded joining the army as the only way to make a living and even change their lives!
Many great powers are actually similar. Britain, France, Japan, Russia, Italy, and Germany are all the same. The only exception is the United States.
The reason why the United States is special is purely because they have natural geographical advantages that no other country can match... The natural barrier of the two oceans, plus the extremely rich natural resources and a large amount of arable land, plus some coincidences, history Opportunities eventually became one of the few examples of a strong country and a prosperous people.
It is difficult for other countries to have these natural advantages, so most of the great powers have a strong country but poor people...or simply a poor country and poor people.
The current Great Chu Empire was only a few years old when it was founded. Naturally, it is a very typical stage when the country is strong and the people are poor!
On the one hand, the Dachu Empire had various primitive factories evolved from the most powerful handicraft industry in the contemporary era, with large-scale application of water power; it also had an extremely efficient administrative system, especially the taxation system, and a large-scale and advanced-equipped army.
However, there are still a large number of people in the empire who do not have enough to eat!
Especially the provinces north of the Yangtze River that have suffered from natural and man-made disasters in the past, such as Shaanxi, Gansu, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Jiangbei, Hebei and other provinces, are all the hardest hit areas!
The Da Chu Empire has been struggling in these places for some time. Although it has successfully avoided large-scale famine in these places and prevented people from starving to death again, it still has not been able to completely solve the local food and clothing problem.
Naturally, Luo Zhixue would not let the empire he had worked so hard to build become a deformed country. After unifying the provinces within the Pass, Luo Zhixue already had new goals or ambitions!
He wants to build a powerful country unprecedented in Chinese history, and even in human history!
He wants the empire to be so powerful that the sun never sets!
He wants the people of the empire to live a prosperous life!
Well, it’s not the kind of country that is strong and the people are prosperous as boasted in the Da Chu Di newspaper, but the country is strong and the people are prosperous in the true sense!
Luo Zhixue also knows that it is difficult, even harder than directly dominating the world, and much more difficult, but he has become the emperor, and the customs have been unified. Seeing that Dongdu is about to be finished, he must set a goal for himself, right? , you can’t just stay in the harem and play hide-and-seek games with a group of concubines every day...it’s annoying too many times!
People, you have to find something to do for yourself, something challenging to do, otherwise you will easily fall into boredom or even confusion!
So while the war in the northeast was unfolding vigorously, the first five-year development plan within the Dachu Empire also entered its second year.
Among them, the five-year agricultural development plan, which is the most important, has entered a critical stage!
And Luo Zhixue's concern for the agricultural development plan is no less than his concern for the Northeast Campaign!
