Compared with the hectic government affairs that evolved from chaos to governance, Qingzhou's military aspect can only be described as step-by-step.
The theme of the whole year is military expansion and training.
In addition to the Wind and Fire Cavalry, several major military departments have undergone large-scale expansion. As of December, all armies have basically completed their reorganization and are undergoing arduous training under the auspices of the chief generals of each army.
After the expansion of the army, the largest one was Xu Huang's Taishan Army. The combat troops alone already numbered 18,000. Together with the reserves and auxiliary troops, Xu Huang's troops alone were as large as
The Qingzhou Army before the start of the Hebei War was quite strong.
The expansion of Yu Lin's army was started after Bai Bo's arrival. Among Bai Bo's tens of thousands of soldiers, only less than 10,000 truly met Wang Yu's requirements. Taking into account factors such as personal wishes, Bai Bo finally had more than 8,000 soldiers.
Replenished the Yulin Army, more than 10,000 people entered the urban management brigade, and the remaining people picked up hoes again.
As a result, the number of soldiers of the Yulin Army has exceeded 15,000, becoming the second largest military department after the Taishan Army.
Huang Zhong's Thunder Army was originally the smallest, and it is still the case now. After the expansion, the Thunder Army only had 5,000 soldiers, but the number of auxiliary soldiers reached 20,000!
The reason for this is mainly due to Wang Yu's positioning of this army. Wang Yu believes that this army should have the tradition of being mainly long-range troops. Long-range troops need the most auxiliary troops.
Of course, there are only crossbows now, but they will definitely not be available in the future. With the development of Qingzhou's craftsmanship, various long-range weapons and siege equipment will appear one after another, and the Thunder Army is the best person to operate these weapons.
Wang Yu did not deliberately study muskets, artillery and the like, because the military force of the Han Dynasty was already strong enough. It didn't matter whether they had those things or not. In addition, there was not enough basic industrial support. Even if they could be built reluctantly, it would not be possible on a large scale.
universal.
However, if these weapons emerge in the war, Wang Yu will not deliberately avoid them. He himself has also imagined that if the smelting technology can be improved to a higher level in recent years, artillery can still be studied.
The destructive power of this thing is not what he values most. What he values most is the audio and video effects of the artillery. Isn't it awesome to use this thing to pretend to be a ghost and scare people? In addition, cannons are also a good tactic for siege.
Zhang Jaw's army missed the Gaotang Alliance, but did not stay away from the Sixth Army. Wang Yu assigned it to the Yulin Army series to fight alone. After the Langya War, Zhang Jaw's army also
After a certain expansion, they now have eight thousand troops to guard one side, which has completely relieved the many surrendered troops and generals.
Including Zhang Jaw, the Yulin Army is still the largest in size. It's just that the two armies will not join together for the time being.
The Hidden Mist Army is now divided into three parts. The intelligence part, under the command of Jia Xu, continues to fight in the darkness of the enemy's territory. The specific number. Apart from Jia Xu, Wang Yu and Diao Chan, no fourth person knows;
The special force, led by Xu Shu, Pan Zhang, and Ma Zhong, crossed the Taihang Mountains and launched waves of attacks on Bingzhou, causing Gao Gan and Yuan Tan to suffer miserably.
Finally, there is the newly expanded part. Now, three thousand recruits, together with their new general Wei Yan, are receiving devilish training from Wang Yu and Jia Xu in Gaotang. According to Wang Yu's estimation, the elimination rate of the training should reach 1.
Three, only a thousand or less people were left in the end.
The two cavalrymen with the smallest movements are the two. Since the war, Zhao Yun's Gale Light Cavalry has only added more than a thousand people. Now its scale will reach 5,000, while the Fire Heavy Cavalry, which is Wang Yu's personal guard, has only added two hundred people.
, barely enough to make up the number of a thousand people.
The scale of such a cavalry army is actually quite impressive. Except for Dong Zhuo, Ma Teng, and Gongsun Zan, no other prince has such a large cavalry army. However, compared with the drastic expansion of other major military departments, the Wind and Fire Cavalry does seem too large.
It's been a bit calmer.
Despite this, the Qingzhou Army after completing its rest and recuperation is also a very terrifying force. The number of troops in the battle sequence alone has exceeded 50,000, plus auxiliary troops, militia and security forces. According to the habits of this era,
Wang Yu's claim to have millions of troops is no exaggeration at all.
Compared with the army, which was huge in strength but had been standing still, Qingzhou's naval force was the most prosperous during the three years of Chuping.
The navy mentioned here is of course not the navy that has just begun to emerge.
The princes basically sneered at Wang Yu's eastward crossing plan, which he had been busy planning. Some people thought that this was Wang Yu's plan to hide from the sky, and that the so-called eastward crossing must be a plot against a certain coastal princes; others thought that it was Wang Yu's plan to cross the sea.
He was dazzled by the victory and started to lose his temper. In short, he had nothing to say and few people believed him.
Even Gongsun Zan sent an envoy to confirm the matter with Wang Yu and advised Wang Yu that although the Central Plains seemed calm, underneath the calm was a huge storm. He believed that Wang Yu should focus his main energy on the Central Plains.
This is the trouble of being high-minded and reclusive. Wang Yu will not deliberately explain anything. No one will understand it anyway. Even within Qingzhou, there are many people who have reservations about this, including Tian Feng.
, an important minister like Guoyuan.
There is no way, who makes China not have the tradition of sailing?
Not to mention the Han Dynasty, even the later Song Dynasty, when the economy was extremely prosperous, and the Ming Dynasty, which made seven voyages to the West and had the strongest fleet in the world at that time, did not put much effort into navigation.
For the Central Plains, which has a vast land and abundant resources, people have no enthusiasm or motivation to explore the ocean. Wang Yu had previously allowed the reclamation order to continue without taking any action. It was out of this consideration that if there was no land in the Central Plains, would it be possible?
Are you motivated and willing to explore outside?
Nanyang is far away and cannot be counted on in the near future, but what about the two places that are relatively close? The peninsula in Liaodong, rather than allowing it to breed bacteria, is better used as a practice for colonial policy; the island country to the east is full of gold and silver
, instead of letting those treasures just sit there, it would be better to start a gold rush.
It was because of the plan to cross eastward that Wang Yu tried his best to complete the initial business plan first. After the commercial operation has been relatively mature for a period of time, the exploration fleet should also have results. By then, the tide of colonization and gold mining will start.
Is it seamlessly connected?
The new currency system, which can also be said to be the financial system, will be implemented soon. It will also grow through this trend. Only then can Qingzhou's rest and adjustment be completely completed, and Wang Yu can safely start his strategy for the Central Plains.
Because the political and economic system centered on the New Deal at that time would automatically accommodate and infect the newly occupied areas, disperse or transform the old forces, and eliminate local resistance in the shortest possible time, making them a boost to the Hussars.
, rather than resistance.
These ideas are incomprehensible to outsiders. Even to Tian Feng and others, Wang Yu could not explain them, and even if he did, it would be difficult to explain them. They were too complicated, too advanced, and too prophetic.
Anyway, he can control the overall situation, and there is really no need to explain everything to his subordinates. Wang Yu thinks clearly, and wait until the day when everything comes to pass. Then let everyone admire his foresight.
However, it was precisely because of this that Wang Yu had to stay in Gaotang and could not fight everywhere as before. He could only watch his generals show off their power.
Fortunately, there are no major battles this year. The most famous general of the Qingzhou Army is not the five generals, nor the outstanding Xu Shu, Zhang Jia, but Zhou Cang.
Zhou Cang is the commander of the navy in Qingzhou. Although many of his men have been deducted by the navy, he still has hundreds of warships and thousands of sailors under his command. This navy carries the majesty of the Hedong victory under the banner of escort.
, traveling between the Yellow River Basin, including various tributaries of the Yellow River, it can be described as majestic.
Zhang Yang's navy was captured in the Battle of Mengjin. Lu Bu's relationship with Qingzhou is now very ambiguous. As long as the Qingzhou navy does not threaten the important pass town of Luoyang, he cannot raise troops to fight against it. What's more, the Bingzhou army also has no navy.
Tradition, if you really fight, you will be humiliating yourself. Of course, Lu Bu will not do such an unwise move.
Of course, the most important reason is that the Qingzhou Navy is beneficial to the princes.
Once the goods are circulated, the prosperity of the territory and the fall of prices will follow. This is particularly obvious in Hedong and Sanfu areas.
Before the merchant group from Qingzhou arrived by water, prices in Chang'an had risen to a terrifying level. A bucket of rice cost one hundred thousand, and a load of salt cost one million. The lives of the ministers, not to mention the ordinary soldiers and civilians, were very difficult.
The salt in the Central Plains was almost monopolized by Qingzhou. Bold and desperate merchants traveled through the war-torn areas of the Central Plains and sold it to Hedong and Sanfu. The price of salt was naturally extremely high. Coupled with the inflation caused by Dong Zhuo's coinage, salt
The price is as high as heaven, so why is it surprising?
The reason why Li Jue and Guo Si wanted to fight Baibo in Hedong was because they wanted to seize the salt lake controlled by Baibo, which was the largest salt production area west of Hangu Pass, in order to alleviate the salt price crisis.
Salt and rice are necessities for human survival, and Dong Zhuo had to treat them with caution.
When the Qingzhou business group arrived, these crises were greatly alleviated. Among the commodities carried by Qingzhou merchants, there were not only luxury goods such as paper and handicrafts, but also in-demand materials such as food. Most importantly, these people were willing to
Receive the small coins cast by Dong Zhuo!
Although they will keep the price very low for small money, as long as someone takes it, it will be good. Who has the thought of being picky?
What's more, the price given by the people in Qingzhou is also relatively fair, and is calculated based on weight. You know, the copper content in Dong Zhuo's small coins may be less than half, and the people in Qingzhou are already very kind.
It is true that some people regard Qingzhou merchants as fat sheep. Bandits and bandits, as well as various forces disguised as bandits and bandits, are all included in this group. It can be said that they are surrounded by wolves.
This is the time for the navy to show off its power. To deal with these monsters and monsters, Zhou Cang always uses a big knife to speak. There is not much difference between the navy and the army in this era. Fighting on the water means jumping off the ship to fight hand-to-hand. There is no need for the fierceness of the Qingzhou navy.
doubt.
Pan Zhang and Ma Zhong in Wei County will make guest appearances from time to time. If the real and fake bandits bump into Zhou Cang, they may just be repulsed. If you are unlucky and bump into these two, you will not want to die.
No more.
After a year of statistics, it was the navy that fought the most battles, killing thousands of enemy invaders before and after.
Of course, no one would ignore the huge Sixth Cavalry Army just because of the glory of the navy.
Of course, the combat effectiveness of the troops after the expansion cannot be compared with that before. After all, many veterans have retired and many new recruits have joined. But no one will doubt the terrifying destructive power that the Sixth Cavalry Army will bring once it is launched.
Fortunately, this lion has been dormant and waiting, without showing its teeth or claws, so the princes are not too nervous.
However, the hidden dragon in the abyss will one day soar into the sky. In order to accumulate enough strength before this day, Wang Yu and the various princes are working hard in their own way. (To be continued...)