While Xiao Tang and Mi Feng were allowed to carry out large-scale adjustments to the northwest officialdom, Wu Feng focused his main energy on reorganizing the army.
The First Guards Division led by Song Tianxiong suffered the heaviest blow since its formation. Its combat effectiveness was greatly weakened and it almost lost its organizational structure. At the Northwest Military Affairs Joint Staff Meeting hosted by Ling Tianfang, Mi Feng proposed that Song Tianxiong be sent to the Military Justice Department for investigation and disposal. According to the provisions of the Northwest Military Affairs Joint Chiefs of Staff system, although the Military Justice Department independently exercises military judicial disposal power, officers above the head of the investigation and disposal division must obtain the approval of more than half of the members of the Military Affairs Joint Chiefs of Staff or directly obtain the authorization of the military and political governor to agree to these two paragraphs. one of the conditions. Li Wufeng shelved the request of the Military Advocate General for direct authorization to investigate and prosecute, and instead asked him to propose a resolution on his own at the Joint Chiefs of Staff for a vote.
The members of the Northwest Joint Chiefs of Staff are composed of seven people: the chief staff officer (i.e., the chief of staff), the director of military law, the commanders of the four major corps, and the commander-in-chief of the Western Region Combined Forces. The voting is conducted in a secret and anonymous manner. In the vote on whether to remove Song Tianxiong from his post as commander of the 1st Guards Division and conduct a military investigation, the vote unexpectedly ended in an awkward 2-2 split, with all the remaining three votes abstaining. According to the provisions of the Joint Chiefs of Staff system, if there is an equal number of votes in a vote on a certain matter, the voting matter will automatically be submitted to the military and political governor for a decision. In this way, the ball returns to Wu Feng's hands.
Wu Feng has always been in a conflicting mood about this matter. In terms of personal feelings, Song Tianxiong has been with him since he became the captain of the Guards, and he also saved his life during the assassination in the imperial capital. Moreover, Wu Feng also believed that the fault for the catastrophe suffered by the First Guards Division in the Third Northwest War was not mainly on Song Tianxiong, but on his overestimation of Besang's ability to make on-the-spot decisions and his wrong judgment. The other party organizes mobilization time. However, after several post-war war situation analyses, the staff at the General Staff Headquarters did not agree with Wu Feng's view. In their view, although the northwest side misjudged the opponent's mobilization speed and time, Song Tianxiong, as a pioneer officer, If they can maintain a reasonable distance from the main force of the Chinese army in accordance with established tactics instead of rushing forward impatiently, then the Luobei raid will not be able to cause such heavy losses to the main force of the Northwest Army on the eastern front, at least the third, fourth and even the third of the Northwest First Army. The Fifth Division would not have paid such a heavy price to rescue the First Guards Division.
Wu Feng also knew that the handling of Song Tianxiong was of great importance. Many people in the army regarded Song Tianxiong as a popular man in their hearts. He could be promoted directly from the captain of the Guards Regiment to the commander of the Guards Division, except for the specific circumstances at that time. It cannot but be said that Wu Feng himself has a preference in his heart. The reason why Wu Feng put it aside when Mi Feng proposed that the Military Justice Department intervene in the investigation was because he hoped that Mi Feng's motion would not be passed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. However, things did not depend on human will. In the end, you still have to make the decision yourself.
This was a difficult choice, but Wu Feng knew that he might have to make it, even against his will. Precisely because Song Tianxiong was a member of the Guards around him, he had to shed tears to endure the pain. However, there was also an advantage to having the Military Justice Department intervene. Mi Feng's selflessness was well known. As long as they could make a reasonable ruling to prove that Song Tianxiong was involved in this matter. There is no big mistake, I believe Song Tianxiong can stand up again.
Wu Feng finally agreed to Mi Feng's motion and dismissed Song Tianxiong from his post as commander of the 1st Guards Division and asked the Military Justice Department to investigate. However, Wu Feng also asked Song Tianxiong to act as the division commander on the grounds that the reconstruction of the 1st Guards Division was urgent. Chang is responsible for the reconstruction work.
At the same time, the three divisions of the Northwest First Army that suffered heavy losses were also replenished and reorganized immediately. Students who graduated from the Northwest Military Academy were given priority to be added to these three divisions. The combat effectiveness was also quickly restored. After completing the preliminary training, the Mote Self-Defense Army and the Tubu Self-Defense Army each had three light cavalry teams of 10,000 people. They were immediately transferred by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the line from Bonan to Tianshui for adaptive marching exercises, and the independent troops were supplemented to 2,000. The Horned Beast troops also quietly arrived in Jinzhou for terrain adaptation training.
The engineering division has finally been formed, but the equipment is far from reaching the standards Wu Feng hoped for. However, this cannot be accomplished in a day or two. It requires a large amount of funds to accumulate and sufficient time to become familiar with it. This is also For the first time, a division-level engineering force was established in the northwest.
Although the First Guards Division suffered a heavy blow, it was still able to persevere tenaciously despite being attacked several times by enemy forces. This fully demonstrated the ability of the officer group headed by Song Tianxiong. After learning about the huge role that sniping played in this bitter battle, Wu Feng immediately ordered the addition of a sniper squadron to each division-level army, and selected those with superb archery skills from the troops for specialized training. They are specifically responsible for sniping and killing the enemy's officers at all levels; at the same time, they also select those with outstanding martial arts skills from the army to enter a special training camp at the military academy to practice and improve their martial arts skills. During the battle, they are responsible for assassinating and sniping enemy officers on the spot to reduce the opponent's morale. At the same time, Wu Feng also asked the internal affairs department and the intelligence department to recruit martial arts masters from all over the empire who were willing to serve for him to serve as military academy instructors or directly grant military positions to join the special operations department. Those who joined the sniper force could make an exception. Those who are directly promoted will enjoy the treatment of officers. If they perform outstandingly in the war, they can be sent to the Northwest Military Academy for further training. After graduation, they can enjoy various benefits such as promotion and promotion like other officers who have accumulated military exploits.
The combat readiness department has also strengthened its combat readiness work. In addition to the storage and production of necessary combat readiness materials, the training of reservists has also been greatly strengthened. As wars become more frequent, reservists are constantly being recruited into the regular army, resulting in increasing requirements for reservists. . Rao has become the busiest man after Xiao Tang. Although the number of operators in the War Readiness Department has also increased a lot, as the northwest territory becomes larger and larger, the scale of the army expands, and the matters involved become increasingly complex. Many things Rao He also had to put his own practice into practice. Wu Feng had kindly reminded Rao many times that he did not have to do everything personally, and that when delegating power, he must delegate power.
In short, the Northwest after the Third Northwest War seemed very peaceful on the surface, and both the gentry, businessmen, and ordinary people were intoxicated in this short-lived peace. As the internal chaos of the empire continued, a large amount of funds continued to pour into the northwest from the Jiangnan, the East China Sea, the Five Lakes, and the imperial capital. Especially the commercial funds from the imperial capital increased explosively. The Tengger Grassland and Northern Luzon became The best place to go for these funds. Whether it is the emerging wool textile industry and the traditional ethnic handmade carpet weaving industry in the Tengger Grassland or the traditional three pillar industries of Northern Luzon - tobacco planting and processing, coffee planting and processing, and sugarcane planting and sugar refining, they all show that they are in the ascendant. momentum. Especially in Northern Luzon, the long-term peaceful environment has made almost everyone forget about the war. Lu Man and Mu Haoran even boasted that as long as they were given another five years, they could catch up with the Central Plains. If any prefecture is given ten years, they can catch up with and surpass the seven prefectures in Jiangnan!
The four new prefectures outside the six prefectures in the northwest county have finally calmed down and gradually returned to normal, and their economy has begun to fully recover. A good foundation is their greatest advantage, including the mining and iron smelting industries in Lulong and the paint industry in Longdong. The cotton textile industry, Xikang's animal husbandry, Tianshui's cotton cultivation and cotton textile industry are all rejuvenated. Although they are still unable to compare with the old Northwest and Northern Luzon, they are comparable to the turbulent northern part of the empire and the panic-stricken Five Lakes. Compared to other areas, it was already heaven.
The surrender of the Luobei and Tubu people, and the embarrassed return of the Hesiluo people, all made the people once again intoxicated with the power and prosperity of the northwest. It's just that everything related to the military behind this is operating quietly, and the huge military organization is operating day and night, making final preparations for the upcoming greater storm.
"What's going on?" Wu Feng had just received the special envoy from the Bai'in people and was still thinking about the request made by the special envoy from the Bai'in people. However, he was blocked in the living room by Linghu Yi and Ling Tianfang who asked for an urgent meeting. There was nothing special about the expressions of the two of them, but the matter was so urgent. Wu Feng really couldn't think of what would happen. Could it be that something was wrong with His Majesty the Emperor of the Imperial Capital? Thinking of this, Wu Feng felt a bit mixed.
"Sir, the Chidi people broke through the Luobi people's defense line. Chaqin, with the cooperation of the An'ou people, defeated the Luobi guard army on the northern front. It is said that they annihilated more than 200,000 Luobi guard troops. Now they are attacking Luobi people. Advancing into the heartland area, the Luobei Tuda tribe on the southern front has withdrawn into Luobei territory, and Wadeya has announced that the entire Luobei clan is mobilizing to prepare for a decisive battle with the Chidi people." Linghu Yi spoke concisely and to the point.
There was no sound in the room. What a sudden disaster! Wu Feng never expected that such a thing would happen again at this time. The defeat of the Luobi people did not seem to have much to do with the northwest, but the northwest side made many concessions when they signed the treaty with the Luobi people. In order to prevent the Luobei people from being overly weakened and causing the Chidi people to expand too much, which would affect their future plans, unexpectedly, he supported the Luobei people, sent back all the prisoners, and was even willing to provide financial support. But this bunch of useless Luobei people were still defeated under such circumstances, and they were defeated miserably. Even their core strength guard army was annihilated by 200,000 people. This was undoubtedly a collapse for the Luobei people. omen.