The next day, Shang Yi led his troops, Wu Quanfu's family, Zhang Gengqiu, Andre and others, and also took the captured pirates into custody, left Chang Guowei and returned to Hangzhou. The two captured pirate armies were also captured by Ye Shen. Shouchong sent someone to sail it and bring it to anchor on the sea near Hangzhou.
The harvest of Changguowei and his party this time was far beyond Shang Yi's expectations. Not only did they get a pretty good army from Changguowei, but the navy that Shang Yi had always hoped to build also took a solid step forward. The most important shipbuilding technology of the navy has been basically solved, and the next step of the problem of manpower resources has been initially settled. The next step is to build the framework of the navy. In fact, even Shang Yi did not expect that. The formation of a navy was put on the agenda so quickly.
Therefore, after returning to Hangzhou and taking care of all other matters, Shang Yi immediately summoned all the members of the Second Regiment and the Fifth Regiment who stayed in Hangzhou, plus Wu Hansheng, the commander of the reconnaissance battalion, and Xiang Shang who rushed to Hangzhou from Suzhou. Cheng Gang, the deputy commander of the third regiment who reported the work to Yi, held a meeting to discuss personnel adjustments and arrangements for the merchant army. In addition, there was also preparation work for the navy.
When Shang Yi left Hangzhou, the Merchant Army organized another selection. More than 2,500 reserve troops passed the assessment and became official soldiers, who could be organized into three regiments. Officers at all levels in each regiment were selected. Arrangement, in addition, the Merchant Army now has six new battalions in Hangzhou, which can be organized into a new regiment, so the members of the regiment must be determined. In addition, after this selection, only the reserve army of the Merchant Army is left There are more than 500 soldiers. Do we need to continue to recruit more troops?
First of all, Shang Yi expressed his plan to form a navy. However, due to the influence of this era, Zhou Shaohuan and others did not realize the importance of the navy. Therefore, Shang Yi first gave up a lot of words, and then brought Portugal and the Netherlands together. He explained the development history to them in as much detail as possible, and even listed examples of Zheng He's voyages to the West to prove the importance of building a strong navy. As a result, it took more than two hours to start, almost I also gave them history lessons.
In fact, everyone has no objection to Shang Yi's idea of establishing a navy. This does not mean that they understand Shang Yi's words and realize the importance of the navy, and based on the inertia of thinking that "Shang Yi's decision is not wrong" .This also made Shang Yi feel very hurt. Because all along, Shang Yi’s planning for Shang Yi and the development direction of his group have basically been handled by Shang Yi, and everyone else just followed his requirements. Shang Yi Being able to reach the present step by step also proves that the strategic development route formulated by Shang Yi so far is very correct.
After going south, Shang Yi changed his past hands-on approach in many battles. Instead, he fully let his generals direct the battles alone. On the one hand, because the opponents he encountered after going south were not strong, he took this opportunity to fully On the other hand, Shang Yi has to spend a lot of energy on the overall planning.
Judging from the current situation, although Shang Yi's good intentions have paid off, in the battle south, both Zhou Shaohuan and Cheng Jin showed a very good level of independent command operations, but at best they can only be regarded as one A general who can lead an army alone and charge into battle is still far from a commander who can act alone.
The difference between a commander-in-chief and a general on the battlefield may not be big, but it is mainly reflected outside the battlefield, because as a commander, you must not only consider various tactics, but also consider the overall strategic view, the logistics supply of the entire army, and the daily routine of soldiers. Training life, planning for the army, and even administrative capabilities for the station. Now it is time to support them in this regard. Therefore, Shang Yi changed his previous practice of doing everything by himself and began to organize meetings in the form of meetings. , let the main generals participate in the discussion.
However, the change in qualitative thinking does not take a day or two. On the other hand, it has also instilled in them a little awareness of the navy. After the navy is established and plays its role, they will gradually understand more and more. to naval purposes.
So Shang Yi went to the next step and asked: "Then who among you is willing to be the commander of the navy?" Suddenly no one was willing to speak, and the venue suddenly became cold.
The eight people sitting here can basically be regarded as the main generals of the Merchant Army. After all, the Navy is a newly established army. All its current assets are the two captured pirate ships. It can be said that they are completely poor. So naturally who I don't want to transfer to the navy. Even if I transfer to a new regiment, at least I have ready-made soldiers to lead.
This scene was basically expected by Shang Yi. The reason why he insisted on selecting the navy's chief general from regiment-level officers was because, on the one hand, regiment-level officers had more experience in all aspects, and on the other hand, because To show that he attaches great importance to the navy, Shang Yi said: "Everyone, I just said so much, I don't know how much you have listened to it. In a word, even though the navy has just been established, I can Let me tell you clearly that in the future of our Merchant Army, the importance of the Navy will definitely not be less than that of the Army, or even more important than the Army. So now I hope that some of you can take the lead and take on this important task for our Merchant Army."
Others were a little moved after hearing this. They had never thought that Shang Yi would value the navy so much, so some were moved. After all, no one in the merchant army dared to doubt Shang Yi's words. But for a while, no one did. I would like to be the first to speak.
After a while, Cheng Gang stood up from his seat and said, "General, I am willing to give it a try."
Shang Yi nodded and said: "Very good, but there is still one person missing. Is there anyone willing to come out?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Zhen stood up from his chair and said, "General, I am also willing to join the navy."
Shang Yi smiled and said: "Okay, then it's the two of you." At the same time, he immediately formally appointed Cheng Gang as the commander of the navy, and Huang Zhen as the deputy commander of the navy. After the meeting, he discussed with them separately the formation of the navy. matter.
After the selection of the naval commander is determined, the next step is the reorganization of the new battalion. This is still the same as before. The battalion commander is served by veterans, while the company and platoon-level officers are mainly selected from veterans, and recruits with outstanding achievements can also be appointed. In this regard, the Regiment Headquarters of the Second Regiment had made recommendations on some candidates during the assessment of soldiers. Among them, Li Dingguo was recommended as the company commander because of his outstanding performance in the assessment. I just didn't know how Shen Yunying should handle it. Based on his results, She is qualified to be a platoon leader, but she is a female after all, so she still has to let Shang Yi make the decision.
Shang Yi nodded and basically agreed with Zhou Shaohuan's recommendation. The vacancies for other officers were recommended by the Second Regiment, the Third Regiment and the Fifth Regiment. Shen Yunying was arranged by Shang Yi to serve as the squad leader of the security squad of the Second Regiment and concurrently as the regimental clerk. Everyone also knew Shen Yunying's special status, so although they laughed for a while, they all thought that Shang Yi's arrangement was very suitable.
Next, Shang Yi made a decision to select four new battalions from the six battalions to form a new regiment. The leader of the regiment was Liu Botao, the deputy commander of the fifth regiment, and the deputy commander was Zhao Tuo, the chief of staff of the fifth regiment. , the chief of staff of the regiment was selected from the battalion of the fifth regiment. Because after Cheng Gang and Huang Zhen were transferred to the navy, the regiment headquarters of the second and third regiments could no longer be moved. The regimental officers of the new regiment could only be selected from the fifth regiment. To select. As for the vacancies in other regiment headquarters, selection will be made within each regiment, and the list will be given to Shang Yi.
Shang Yi also made a decision to select 200 veterans and a company commander from each of the second, third and fifth regiments, and 500 new soldiers as the first batch of soldiers in the navy. The right to choose Leave it to Cheng Gang and Huang Zhen. Each group must cooperate unconditionally. No matter who is selected, they must be released.
Cheng Gang and Huang Zhen couldn't help but beam with joy, and they were gearing up to prepare for a big fight. But Zhou Shaohuan and Luo Yuanbin were worried, fearing that they would lose the capable men in their regiment.
However, twenty years later, among the six people who gave up being commanders of the navy, except for Zhou Shaohuan and Tong Dayong, who were promoted to marshals, the other four all regretted it. They all said that they were so obsessed back then? Good opportunities were given to Cheng Gang and Huang Zhen.
After the meeting, Shang Yi left Cheng Gang and Huang Zhen alone to explain.
Shang Yi said: "From now on, you two are officers of the navy. Although I give you the power to select people, the navy is different from the army, so the selection criteria are not based on personal martial arts skills. First of all, the navy is different from the army. One thing, try to choose soldiers who can swim."
Cheng Gang laughed because he knew how to paddle a dog a few times, but Huang Zhen broke his lips and said: "General, I don't know how to swim, and most of our veterans in Shandong don't know how to swim."
Shang Yi smiled and said: "You can't just learn. No one is born with the ability to swim. This is a necessary condition for becoming a navy, and swimming is not difficult to learn. Therefore, this is the first thing you should start training after you select your soldiers." I will find someone to teach you."
Huang Zhen nodded and said, "Okay, I promise to learn to swim as soon as possible."
Shang Yi continued: "The second thing is to be young. Try to choose someone who is around 20 years old. It is not necessary to be over 25 years old. He is smart and clever. It is best to choose someone who knows a few words."
Cheng Gang was a little confused and said: "General, why is this?"
Shang Yi said: "The navy has to master far more things than the army. In terms of sailing, you must not only be able to steer, haul sails, lower anchors, and rig up cables, but you must also learn to read charts and use a sextant. , Flag language. These things all need to be learned, so you must be young, smart, and literate. At the same time, after you become a navy, you must learn to read and write immediately if you are not literate, and you must also learn to count and calculate. Including you two, you must Give me serious study."
Chenggang stuck out his tongue and said, "My mother! Is it so troublesome to be a navy?"
Shang Yi nodded and said: "Remember, you are not just the navy, but the first batch of naval officers of our merchant army in the future. They will basically be born among you, so you must master this knowledge."
Huang Zhen is much better than Cheng Gang in this regard. He has attended private school for five years at home and can at least recognize basic Chinese characters. Therefore, he said: "General, please don't worry! We will comply with your request."