Chapter 158 - Mixed Regiment
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
Ouyang Shuo temporarily ignored his worry towards the Military Affairs Department and announced his military reorganisation plan.
"I agree with a large part of what the Military Affairs Department has said. The casualties in the various units have to be replaced. But not all members must be chosen from within the prisoners."
The reason Ouyang Shuo did that was to show that he supported the Military Affairs Department. The generals seated were no fools and definitely understood. Before choosing a suitable replacement, Ouyang Shuo had to resolutely support Ge Hongliang and act as his shield.
Ouyang Shuo first looked at Pei Donglai and said, "The 300 water bandit prisoners will be handed to the Beihai Naval Fleet. Apart from replacing the 50 soldiers, the remaining 250 can act as the reserve force for the naval fleet for the future expansion of the 3rd unit."
"Yes my lord!" Pei Donglai was surprised that the lord said outright that the Beihai Naval fleet was going to expand. As its commander, Pei Donglai was naturally delighted.
"As for the 2nd leader Huo Liu, just execute him. We have already killed his older brother and there's no way back." Ouyang Shuo ordered. The current him didn't have any psychological burden when ordering executions.
"Understood!"
Ouyang Shuo looked around and looked st Wang Yuanfeng. "The god machine unit is special so the dead 10 soldiers will be recruited from the territory. Apart from that, we must increase development of the reserve force. The future city wall will be able to fit more arcuballistas and will need many more archers."
"Yes my lord!"
Ouyang Shuo looked at Shi Wanshui next and said, "The 15 men from the infantry unit were all elite mountain barbarian warriors. These two units are the future heavy armored infantry unit. My intentions are to transfer 150 men from the Langshan protection unit. As for the soldiers there, we will recruit from the various tribes."
"Yes my lord!" Shi Wanshui didn't have any objections to the Military Affairs Department and since the lord considered everything, he had no reason to do the same.
In the end, Ouyang Shuo looked at Zhao Sihu, Zhang Daniu, and the others and said, "The, city protection unit and the cavalry unit will be reinforced with the raider prisoners."
"Yes my lord!" The three generals acknowledged.
Following which, Ouyang Shuo started to announce his plans for the remaining prisoners.
"Lin Yi!"
"Present!"
"After supplementing the cavalry unit, immediately return to Friendship Town’s north camp. The cavalry unit will be named the vanguard unit and will now be under Friendship Town."
"Thank you lord, for the name!" Although they were removed from the main camp, Lin Yi knew the responsibility which was bestowed upon him.
From their name, it wasn't hard to see that their role was to act as the knife against the nomad tribes. Their importance was obvious.
"Director Ge!"
"Present!"
The Military Affairs Department needs to make an army flag for the vanguard unit. The design will follow the lord’s flag design and change the golden dragon to a cross of the horse lance and Tang Sword."
"Roger that!"
Ouyang Shuo's orders made the other generals and leaders of the units look towards Lin Yi with envy. Apart from the god machine unit, the vanguard unit was the 2nd to be given a name and was the first to be given an army flag. This honor made everyone mad with envy.
Lin Yi laughed on the inside, these usually calm and composed young men were emotional and he said, "All members of the vanguard unit thank my lord for the army flag, and we won't let you down!"
Ouyang Shuo nodded and continued. "Li Mingliang."
"Present!"
"I order you to form another cavalry unit out of the 600 cavalry raiders. The remaining 100 will be sent to the reserve force."
"Yes, my lord!"
"The newly built unit will move into the city’s west camp, and you will be its major."
"Thank you my lord, and I won't let you down!" Li Mingliang was very emotional.
Ouyang Shuo waved him off and continued. "The cavalry unit 2nd squadron captain Sun Tengjiao will become the 1st squadron captain. The 3rd squadron captain Liaokai will become the 2nd squadron captain. The 4th squadron captain Guoliang will become the newly built cavalry unit’s 1st squadron captain. The original calvary unit’s 5th squadron captain Suwang will become the 2nd squadron captain of the new cavalry unit."
"Yes my lord!"
Ouyang Shuo didn't have any biases, and the remaining 4 captains were equally assigned to both cavalry units. The only difference was that the vanguard unit was a heavily armored calvary unit, and the newly built one would be lightly armored.
After arranging the cavalry, Ouyang Shuo looked at Shi Wanshui once again. "General Shi, I order you to build a bowmen unit and a pikemen unit from the remaining raiders. The two infantry units and the newly built cavalry unit, bowmen unit and pikemen unit will become the first mixed regiment of Shanhai County. You will be the colonel and be in charge of the city’s west camp."
Shi Wanshui replied loudly. "Thank you my lord for your trust, I won't let you down!”
Ouyang Shuo nodded and announced the personnel appointments. "The first unit of the regiment will be the infantry first unit, and the major will be Shihu. The second unit is the second infantry unit, and the major will be Shibao. The third unit is the cavalry unit, and the major will be Li Mingliang. The fourth unit is the pikemen unit, and the major will be Zhaoyan. The last unit is the bowman unit, and the major will be Jiangkai."
"Thank you sire, for your trust!" They all replied in unison.
At this point, all the captains that had reached the basic general level had been promoted to major. Major was a bottleneck, and to become a colonel, one needed to be an intermediate general.
What was key was that for those normal soldiers who changed class to basic generals, to upgrade once more would be highly difficult. Most of them would be stuck and would never be able to break through.
Only those with immense talent, after training and stimulating their potential could be able to break through to intermediate general.
Just as all the generals thought that all the reorganisation had ended, Ouyang Shuo didn't disperse the meeting. "The upgraded Lord's Manor has a new drill courtyard known as the Wuying Courtyard. This means that it's time to build a guards army. The current guards army will be a squadron. The members won't be newly recruited and will be chosen from the various units. To become a member of the guards army, one must be an elite and must be good at archy and riding."
"Lord, don't worry, the mixed regiment will push forward our best warriors," the newly appointed colonel Shi Wanshui said.
"The five hundred men of the vanguard unit are at your disposal." Lin Yi followed.
Following which, all the other majors also said the same thing.
As for the newly built guards army, all the generals agreed with it. All the generals were personally brought up by Ouyang Shuo. Now to build a guards army, they all wanted their best soldiers to be chosen as it would be the utmost honour.
Ouyang Shuo laughed happily and said, "The selection will be done by the captain."
"Wang Feng!"
"Present!"
"You are appointed the Guards squadron captain and are in charge of the selection of members."
"Thank you lord for your trust, I won't let you down!" Wang Feng's face was really emotional.
During the military reorganisation, all the captains were promoted, and only Wang Feng didn't get a new role which made everyone feel weird. One must know that out of all the captains, he was one of the best.
As the disciple of Bajiquan master Lin Yue, Wang Feng's potential was greater than majors like Zhao Sihu and breaking through to intermediate general was sure to happen. As for advanced general, that would be up to fate.
Today, the answer was revealed.
Although Wang Feng was a captain, he had more power than a normal major.
From what the lord had described, the future Guards army would be made up of soldiers that surpassed a grade 9 elite soldier. They wouldn’t just be skilled in a single type, but would be skilled in all areas.
That was right, the future Guards squadron was a special force in Ouyang Shuo's eyes and the elite of the elite. Because of such strict demands, Ouyang Shuo decided that it would just be a squadron.
Shi Wanshui, Lin Yi and the other generals that participated in the Battle of Zhuolu expected such an arrangement. During the Battle of Zhuolu, Wang Feng followed closely beside Ouyang Shuo and had in actuality done the job of a Guards squadron captain.
If any other general took up that role, some other general would be unhappy. Only Wang Feng would make everyone happy and accept the decision.
The military always worshipped the strong, and in terms of skill, Shi Wanshui was the best. Under him would be Lin Yi, Sun Tengjiao and Wang Feng. Even the intermediate general Pei Donglai was weaker than the three of them.
Hence, Wang Feng as the guards squadron captain was highly suitable.