Chapter 84 Military Change

Li Jun spoke slowly and vetoed very easily: "What Lu Shan said is not without reason. However, some of the problems are inconsistent with the current situation and are difficult to implement."

With Li Tingzhi's keen insight, Li Jun felt that today was particularly relaxed, and he had a kind of confidence in mastering everything. The anxiety caused to Xie Daoqing's death during the battle with Guo Kan was obviously gone. Being able to have such confidence was not only because he handled Xie Daoqing's funeral and left a thorn in his heart, but also because he must have found a good solution to the current situation and said: "The emperor has obtained good plans, and I will listen to the holy teachings."

"Don't say anything like the Hadith in the future. This is not a teaching, but a discussion with you on national affairs. Everyone can raise it if you have any ideas, just like Lu Shan." Li Jun said to Wen Tianxiang: "Lu Shan said that Lu Shan is fighting alone because our dynasty disperses its power too much, and it is easy to defeat each other by the enemy. I think so too. My dynasty inherited the Tang system and learned from the lessons of the Tang Dynasty that the power of the Jiedushi was too great, so the starting point was good and the right one. However, our measures lack operability and the authority given to the generals was too small."

The reason why the Song Dynasty rarely won foreign wars was actually many. People generally recognized that it was too restrictive of the power of the generals, but this was only one aspect. It was also an important reason to divide the army too scattered. The roads in the Song Dynasty were similar to those in the current provinces, and the size of the provinces was as big as one or two provinces. Each route had a general who commanded the army, which was not affiliated with each other. If one was attacked, the other might not be able to provide strong support.

Even if the reinforcements come, the question of who commands whom comes to light again. If there is a general who is expected to be the most, everything will be easy. If there is no such general, everyone will do your own things and do mine. They will not be able to coordinate with each other, and they will not be able to solve the command power. The army cannot coordinate and cannot use its power in a unified manner, and it will be easy to defeat each other by the enemy.

Not to mention anything else, Gundam once did something, which was to go against Jia Sidao. At that time, Jia Sidao coordinated the army to fight the Mongolians, but Gundam did not obey him or his orders. Gundam was brave and good at fighting, and was loved by the soldiers, making Jia Sidao have no choice but to invite him to fight. If Jia Sidao was not good, Gundam would not go to fight and asked the soldiers to go to the camp to cause trouble and cause trouble for Jia Sidao.

Jia Sidao is a traitor. It is certainly a great thing to be happy to fight him, but this also illustrates the seriousness of the problem from another aspect. If the Song Dynasty's army was not divided into multiple routes and was not affiliated with each other, if there was a good coordination agency to coordinate, there would be no need to send a temporary general to deal with it when the war broke out.

We can take a step back and say that the court often sends incompetent generals. Even if the court sends out generals with very military talents, he must be familiar with the situation when he arrives at the place, right? He has to redeploy the army, right? It will take his time to wait for him to figure out the situation, maybe it will be too late.

Not to mention, perhaps the army had defeated the enemy from the beginning because it did not have unified command or ran to another place. This was entirely possible and would bring greater difficulties to the command.

This has been a very painful lesson in history. The best example is the performance of General Wei Gang, a famous French general during World War II. When the German armored troops were unable to withstand the British and French coalition forces, Britain and France remembered the famous general who had shown the limelight during World War I and sent him to command the army. Unfortunately, his actions made Churchill angry. He did not stay in the command center to command the army, but ran to the army to understand the situation. When he returned to the command center three days later, the situation was already gone.

In fact, even if Wei Gang stayed in the command center, the British and French coalition forces could not defeat the German army. If he commanded in time, the situation would be much better. I would give this example just to show that familiarity with the army is very important to the generals.

The Southern Song Dynasty dispersed the army very small, with troops all the way and roads not affiliated. Once something happened, report to the court and wait for the court to send someone to command. The fighter jets might have passed long ago. If the enemy moves fast enough and just wants to harass him, the enemy may have retreated before the news arrived at the court. When the court sent people there, they could not even see the enemy's butt.

Wen Tianxiang's statement really hit the nail on the head.

The policy restricting the power of generals has been in place since the Taizu period. It has been implemented for more than two hundred years. No one dared to express his opinions, let alone this statement from the mouth of the emperor Li Jun. It really has the effect of shocking the crowd. Li Tingzhi and the others were so shocked that they opened their mouths wide and didn't even know how to say it.

Even Gundam, who has always been anxious and quick-talking, dared not touch it casually. He just opened his mouth and looked at Li Jun in surprise.

Wen Tianxiang was really brave and said excitedly: "It is a blessing for the Song Dynasty and the people. I also think that many measures have been implemented for more than two hundred years and can no longer be used."

He was really bold. If it weren't for the current emperor that was Li Jun, if any emperor of the Song Dynasty would have made him feel better for accusing the Southern Song Dynasty of such a policy.

Li Jun understood their shock very much and comforted him: "You don't have to be afraid. You should know that the ancients said "The sages will work hard with the world." As Lu Shan said, there are many systems in our dynasty that cannot be used anymore. We need to innovate and reform, and change according to the times. Don't stick to the past. Only then can we win the battle with the Mongols. This is also the purpose of my gathering you to discuss."

He paused and said, "When it comes to how to change the issue, I will talk about it later. Let's talk about how to fight the Mongols at present. I know that the whole country is shouting now: Fight the Yangtze River and restore the Central Plains! Some time ago, when we achieved the victory of completely annihilated Guo Kan's army, this slogan was shouted out. When it was victorious, it is understandable to shout like this. I have also shouted like this, so there is no need to be embarrassed.

"I thought about it calmly these days. I think we are now launching a large-scale Northern Expedition to restore the Central Plains. We are too hastily. We do not have the strength to fight the Mongols because we are not ready yet. There are many reasons for this:

"First, our army is now uneven, with a very different combat power, and the equipment is varied. One unit has the equipment of another unit, and the gap between equipment is also very large. The best equipped is the Jiangnan army, equipped with sharp weapons, good-quality chain mail, and our sharp weapons, grenades and artillery.

"The grenades needless to say, there is no problem with equipment. The artillery has become a problem. The retreat device has not been solved yet. The firing rate is very slow and its power has been greatly reduced. Even the artillery we used to encircle and annihilate Guo Kan was also removed from the warships. There is no gun mount, and it depends on the soldiers to carry it and carry it.

"If we were to the Northern Expedition, artillery was essential. We do not have a large number of artillery for use. Even if we have it, we are not prepared at all to better exert the power of artillery. So far, we have only been 5,000 artillery soldiers. On such a large war, we need at least 30,000 artillery soldiers. If we want to achieve better results, it is best to be 100,000."

The power of artillery is already familiar to them. If there were no large amounts of artillery during the Northern Expedition, it would be a problem to defeat the Mongol cavalry and attack the strong city. The Northern Expedition is an offensive battle, and it is inevitable to siege cities and plunder the land. To prepare a large amount of siege equipment, artillery is naturally indispensable.

Although the Mongols lost millions of troops, Kublai Khan still had great strength. The Qiexue Corps and the Five Guards Imperial Guards were among the best. These two armies are the trump cards of the Mongolian army. They will inevitably encounter them when they are in the Northern Expedition of the Central Plains. If you can plan for the battle in the field, you should first plan. The best way to deal with them is to use firearms.

Apart from these two armies, Kublai Khan still has strong strength in his hands. The population he controlled was close to 50 million, and the war resources he controlled were more than those in the Southern Song Dynasty. Information shows that Kublai Khan was already recruiting troops in large quantities, and his counterattack was inevitable. It would be unreasonable if Kublai Khan did not counterattack. There was no precedent in Mongolia's history to lose millions of troops like him. If he could not regain his face, it would be a problem whether he, the great khan, could achieve success.

If the Northern Expedition was launched at this time, it would not necessarily be defeated under the command of Li Jun. It would be difficult to win, and it might ruin the situation that had just improved.

Liao Shenggong agreed with Li Jun's opinion very much and said: "What the emperor said is very reasonable. I also think so. So far, in addition to artillery and grenades, we have really made a headache in field battles."

"General Liao said very well. The Mongol cavalry is really a headache." Li Jun continued: "It is urgent to solve the equipment supply of the Huaixi Army, Huaidong Army, and Sichuan Army. It is urgent. This matter is being solved, but we still need time. When the equipment is in place, we need to train them and improve their technical and tactical skills. They are all good soldiers who have experienced many battles. As long as they are well trained, they will become a weapon in the court."

These three armies have been dealing with the Mongols for many years, and have a very good understanding of the Mongols and have rich combat experience. If the equipment is solved, trained well, and the technical and tactical level is improved, they will definitely be the elite among the elites, and no one can deny this. Li Tingzhi and the others nodded in agreement.

Li Jun continued: "Secondly, our army is in the process of change, and we urgently need a team of high-quality officers. The Jiangnan troops are not bad. They received training during the winter training period and had a group of outstanding officers. For the Huaidong Army, the junxi Army and the Sichuan Army, the solution to the officer problem has reached a point where it is necessary to be solved, and this matter must be handled immediately.

"In order to solve the shortage of officers, I decided to take two measures. One is to draw a group of officers from the Jiangnan army with advanced thinking, quick thinking, high technical and tactical skills, and able to fight and fight for a training for the Huaixi Army and the Sichuan Army, and to train a group of officers who can adapt to our future war needs as much as possible.

"In addition, I decided to formally establish the Royal Military Academy of the Song Dynasty, select a group of officers from the army with high loyalty, extraordinary talent, courage to think, dare to fight, dare to fight, have high technical and tactical skills and rich combat experience to study, and improve their command level to a higher level."

It is already a consensus to build a high-quality military officer team and adapt to the needs of new wars. No one has any objections to this. Li Tingzhi said on behalf of everyone: "The emperor has a far-sighted vision, and the Song Dynasty is very lucky! The people are very lucky!"

Li Jun added: "This matter was led by General Liao to establish the first military academy of our dynasty. It is under the jurisdiction of Artillery Academy, Naval Academy, Infantry Academy, Cavalry Academy, and Special Forces Academy."

"Abide by the order." Liao Shenggong has a particularly strong grasp of military theory. Naturally, there will be no problem with him controlling this military academy. This appointment is something that everyone hopes for.

Li Jun glanced at everyone and said, "The navy was officially renamed as the navy. In addition, in addition to these existing arms, a new army must be established, that is, the mountain division, which is specially used for mountain combat."

Gundam and others naturally didn't understand the term "Mountain Master" from the modern era, so they looked at Li Jun in surprise. If they hadn't known that Li Jun's novelties were emerging one after another, they would have asked questions long ago.

Li Jun knew that they were a little confused, so he stood up, walked to the map, pointed to the map and explained: "Look, this is the entire map of the Song Dynasty. The mountains and rivers of the Song Dynasty are all above. Overall, the terrain of our dynasty is high in the west and low in the east, with mountains in the west and plains in the east. When fighting in plain areas, cavalry is a very effective group of troops. On the mountainous land, cavalry is inconvenient for combat due to terrain restrictions. If you want to guard the mountainous areas in the west, it is very necessary for the mountain division to be."

Friends who are familiar with geography naturally know that China's terrain is high in the west and low in the east, mountainous in the west, and plains in the east. There are many mountains in the west, and there are many mountains in the west. Needless to say, the Qinling Mountains, the Hengduan Mountains and Kunlun Mountains are all in the west, and they are not too far apart.

There are mainly two plains surrounded by these mountain systems. One is the Sichuan Basin, known as the "Land of Heavenly Mansion", which has a fertile land and abundant resources. The other is the Guanzhong region, which is simply the southern Shaanxi plain. Speaking of the Guanzhong region, perhaps not many people know it. The Zhou, Qin, Han, Han, Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties in Chinese history were closely linked to the Guanzhong region, and once created glory in Chinese history.

From a horizontal perspective, Chinese history develops from north to south; from a vertical perspective, Chinese history develops from west to east. This "west" is mainly the Guanzhong region, where the Zhou Dynasty originated between Qifeng; Qin State obtained the birthplace of Zhou, and after Shang Yang's reforms, it became stronger and stronger, and finally unified China, and it was the core of Guanzhong. The Han Dynasty established the capital of Guanzhong because of the good terrain of Guanzhong, and the famous "Four Frontiers Country" was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and it also assisted the Central Plains. Liu Bang, the Emperor of Han, originally planned to establish the capital of Luoyang. Because of Lou Jing's proposal, after obtaining Zhang Liang's support, he immediately changed his mind and went to Guanzhong to establish the capital, so that Xiao He could build Chang'an.

The subsequent Sui and Tang Dynasties established the capital of Chang'an was all due to this strategic consideration.

Zhang Jue stood up suddenly and expressed his opinion, saying: "What the emperor said is exactly what I think. I have been fighting in Sichuan for many years and knows the convenience that the 'The difficulty of Shu Road is as difficult as climbing to the blue sky' brings us. General Yu Jie formulated the strategy of "using mountains to control cavalry, controlling points but not controlling surfaces" which is really superior. I have always followed this strategy and used favorable terrain to limit the cavalry of the Tatars, so that the cavalry of the Tatars cannot be deployed or charged. If the Tatars thought of the emperor's method and established a mountain division dedicated to mountain combat, it would be hard to say whether they could persist in Sichuan for so long."

He was telling the truth. Sichuan has not received supplies from the court in recent years. It can be said that it has cut off contact with the court. Even Zhang Jue rushed to Jiangnan to help. All resources depend on their own to raise materials, and the difficulties they face are greater than those in Huaixi and Huaidong. The reason why they can persist is entirely due to Yu Jie's talent strategy of "using mountains to control cavalry, controlling points but not controlling surfaces". He fully utilized the mountainous characteristics of Sichuan to limit Mongolian cavalry, and at the same time, he controlled important places, did not disperse troops, and avoided field battles with the Mongols. Therefore, the Mongols fought in Sichuan for many years and had no choice but to deal with Sichuan.

Zhang Jue, a general from the semi-occupied area, knew the secrets of mountain combat. His words were authority, and Gundam and others had to admire him.

"The emperor mentioned that he wanted to form a mountain master at this time, not just to defend the complex terrain places in the west, but it must have another intention." Liao Shenggong, Li Tingzhi, Liu Hezi and Zheng Jing and the other four looked at each other and nodded slightly. They all guessed that Li Jun must have made other arrangements, otherwise he would not have proposed such an idea at this time.

The term mountain division appears the most in Western military works. The reason why it is popular in the West but has not appeared in Chinese history is that the area of ​​a continent in Europe is similar to that in China today. In ancient times, China's territory was much larger than that in today. It has been in a unified country for a long time. There are no enemies in the west. The northern border troubles have always plagued China, but it was on the grassland. Naturally, there is no need to form a mountain division, and it is necessary to form a large number of cavalry troops to deal with the northern nomadic peoples.

Li Jun greeted Zhang Jue and returned to his seat and said, "In addition to forming a mountain division for combat in the western region, we must also set up a tactical command academy to concentrate promising officers who can adapt to combat in multiple arms here to learn, cultivate their ability to command multiple arms and large corps to fight, and lay a solid foundation for future generals. An army not only needs officers, but also a high-quality general team. We must always remember this! Create a better environment for the growth of generals!"
Chapter completed!