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“Your Highness, the total number of new recruits conscripted from the six prefectures this time is 20,000. After all, the number of young and strong common people in the six prefectures is limited. However, relatively speaking, the number of soldiers enlisted from Pengzhou, Yangzhou, Huaizhou, and Tongzhou is quite large. Lu Fei said that Pengzhou alone has 10,000 new recruits, totaling about 25,000 with the new recruits from Huaizhou. And the number of new recruits reported by Ye Qingyun is even higher than Lu Fei’s, totaling 30,000.”
In the camp of the Qingzhou Grand Camp, Niu Ben reported the conscription matters to Xiao Ming.
“Seventy-five thousand people!” Xiao Ming was somewhat surprised to hear this number. It had already exceeded his expectations, as this time the new recruits joined voluntarily, not by forced conscription.
Niu Ben nodded, with a proud expression. He said, “In this battle in Wei, we lost 3,000 soldiers. Now that these troops have been replenished, the state’s army totals 160,000 people, including 100,000 infantry, 40,000 cavalry, and 20,000 charioteers.”
“160,000 people, hmm, the annual military pay alone will be close to two million taels, and that doesn’t include the cost of warhorses and equipment,” Xiao Ming sighed. If it weren’t for the war, he really wouldn’t want to maintain such a large military force. The number of new recruits conscripted this time was almost equal to the number of veteran soldiers from before.
Niu Ben said, “Your Highness, our number of soldiers is not considered large. According to this subordinate’s understanding, Prince Wei, Prince Yan, Prince Liang, and Prince Zhao are all conscripting soldiers, some even directly kidnapping able-bodied men to fill their armies. Now that the world is in chaos, who doesn’t want to hold heavy troops and contend for supremacy?”
“You are not wrong, but these vassal princes forcibly conscripting men are now provoking widespread resentment. I cannot imitate them. A stable rear is the foundation of conquest. Furthermore, quality matters more than quantity in troops. The current number of troops has reached the number I have in mind. These four prefectures we have just taken can support these 75,000 men.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Niu Ben said.
“Also, the training for these new recruits must not be relaxed. You must train them as strictly as you train the Qingzhou Army,” Xiao Ming said.
“Your Highness, if I cannot even do this well, I might as well go back to farming,” Niu Ben laughed a few times. Then he pointed to the training ground outside and said, “Your Highness, please look. Those are the new recruits being trained. According to the training manual, when these new recruits first enter the barracks, they must first train their physical strength, endurance, and discipline. Only when their bodies are strong and they can strictly obey discipline will they proceed to musket loading and firing training.”
Xiao Ming looked outside and motioned for Niu Ben to join him in walking towards the training ground to observe the training of these new recruits.
Unlike the traditional training methods of Great Yu Empire soldiers, Xiao Ming’s army now belonged to a modern army, so its training and subjects were naturally different from those of a feudal army.
Precisely because of this, new recruits, upon entering the army, did not immediately begin combat formation training, but first began physical training. After all, if a soldier had no strength to tie a chicken, his survival rate on the battlefield would still be very low.
Just now, in the tent, Niu Ben had explained very thoroughly. Generally speaking, training a feudal army into a modern army required several points: first, modern national and state concepts; second, a high spirit of martial valor, where the status of soldiers was no longer lowly; third, strict discipline; fourth, scientific training, which included reasonable allocation of physical energy, diet, and sleep; fifth, strict drills, such as shooting, exercises, formations, folding blankets, and internal affairs; sixth, selection of grassroots officers and theoretical study at military academies; and seventh, standardized equipment.
Now, for the Qingzhou Army, all seven of these points had been met, which meant that the Qingzhou Army had completed its transformation from a feudal cold weapon unit to a hot weapon modern army.
After observing the physical training of the new recruits on the training ground for a while, Xiao Ming and Niu Ben walked towards a resting new recruit camp. At this time, the soldiers in the new recruit camp were sitting on the ground.
And the military historian, dressed in a dark green military uniform, was explaining what a nation and a country were to the new recruits.
The new recruit camp historian immediately shouted upon seeing Xiao Ming and Niu Ben approach: “All stand up, salute!”
Under the historian’s command, the new recruits immediately stood up and saluted Niu Ben and Xiao Ming in unison. Seeing this, Xiao Ming smiled with satisfaction. According to Niu Ben, the first thing these new recruits learned upon entering the camp was to obey orders.
“Continue,” Xiao Ming said. He wanted to hear how the military historian instilled ideological education in the soldiers.
After the soldiers sat down, the military historian spoke of the Hall of Heroes, implying that being a soldier was a noble thing, and dying on the battlefield was a soldier’s most glorious destiny.
Next, the military historian recounted the history of Great Yu Empire’s humiliation by barbarians, and the soldiers gradually became agitated, as the barbarians’ atrocities were not distant from them at all.
After stirring up the soldiers’ emotions, the historian timely began to sing the Qingzhou Army’s battle song, and the soldiers, their faces flushed with excitement, followed the historian in singing.
Having observed the military historian’s work in the army throughout, Xiao Ming felt at ease. He looked towards Jinling City in the south. In a few months, he would lead his army forward.
The Great Yu Empire had suffered too much. He would use the army in his hand as a sharp sword to cut through the darkness that enveloped the Great Yu Empire.
“Your Highness, are you satisfied with the training of these new recruits?” Niu Ben asked with a smile as he escorted Xiao Ming to the gate of the Qingzhou Grand Camp.
“Barely,” Xiao Ming didn’t want Niu Ben to be too complacent. He reminded him, “The only thing that dissatisfies me is the selection of grassroots officers. You need to strengthen this. I looked at the list in Bowen Academy. Many generals are from military families, and there are still too few generals like Zhu Sansi. In a few days, I will separate the Military Academy from Bowen Academy and expand the scale of grassroots officer training. This time, you should select more excellent generals without background to enter for study.”
Niu Ben nodded upon hearing this. It wasn’t that he deliberately gave preferential treatment, but most grassroots officers are illiterate. To enter the academy for study, they first had to learn to read. It was for this reason that he first selected those who could read.
Now that Xiao Ming brought it up, he had to explain.
“Most of the grassroots officers are illiterate, Your Highness.”
“This reason?” Xiao Ming frowned and said, “How about this, leave the matter of these generals learning to read to me. I will personally teach them to read.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Niu Ben was a little envious. It was truly a blessing from their ancestors that these fellows could be personally taught by Prince Qi.
Xiao Ming naturally had his own considerations for taking such pains. If the military was still dominated by generals from military families, his army would inevitably experience factionalism among its generals. In such a case, if such a modern army were to mutiny, it would be a very serious matter.