Wearing a black student uniform, Lu Ming looked at himself in the mirror and nodded with satisfaction.
Next to her, holding a bag similar to a black briefcase, is the smiling Liuli.
At seven o'clock in the morning, Lu Ming was getting ready to go to school, the first class of the day.
However, when Lu Ming caught a glimpse of the maids coming in and out of the living room, he felt a little helpless. The maids in the house all wore student uniform skirts as if it was the start of the school season. It was all Liuli's idea. Heitou and Yuluan were Liuli's suggestions, and the other eight Qing'e were Liuli's orders.
To be honest, girls like Heitou, Yuluan, Daguo and Xiaoguo are pleasing to the eye in their pretty and cute school uniforms, but the same is true for a few big and strong Qing'e. They are careless, their hands are full of calluses, and their clothes seem to be torn, which is really speechless.
Then Lu Ming shook his head. They were all people who served him loyally, but he subconsciously judged them by their looks and figures. This was a bit wrong.
"Okay, I'm leaving!" Lu Ming took the schoolbag from Liuli.
Just then, the phone on the TV cabinet in the living room rang. Yu Luan was standing next to the phone, answered it, turned around and said crisply, "Master, it's Hu Dingshan calling."
Um
Lu Ming walked over and took the microphone, listening to what Hu Dingshan said, frowning slightly.
After hanging up the phone, he looked at the clock, shook his head and said, "I'm not going to school. I have something to do."
I felt helpless, as if going to school was just a luxury in this world.
Hu Dingshan called and told him that the imperial capital had preliminarily agreed to the report on the new privates submitted by Governor Chakson. Now, Governor Chakson wanted to see him. After all, he was one of the two chief officers of the new army, so he had to meet him.
Time is running out, Hu Dingshan said he must meet with Governor Chuckson today, otherwise something might happen.
The implicit meaning is that Mrs. Hu doesn't know that the new army has been established, and if she interferes, she is afraid that her position will be in jeopardy.
Therefore, I have to go there. I have to be absent on the first day of school, and I don’t know when I can make time to come.
…
The provincial capital of Jiangning is relatively close to the southern part of the province. It only takes more than three hours to get to Jiangning from Zhenjiang by train.
On the way, Lu Ming was thinking about the various possibilities of meeting with Governor Charleston, and also thinking that Sister Windsor was really efficient.
Of course, Governor Chuckson's report itself has its rationality. The military blocked it, which was a bit bullying. Once the big shot commissioned by Sister Windsor showed up, everything would fall into place.
As for Sister Windsor, she must have put in a lot of effort. She had originally hoped to make a name for herself in the five provinces of Jiangnan and add some weight to the heir she supported. When she became strong enough, she could barely be considered a small member of the Windsor faction in the princess faction. As for herself now, at least in the eyes of the big shots in the imperial capital, she is not qualified to be mentioned by them.
At most, he was a nouveau riche who somehow got an oil field and was a lawyer with good talking skills. But for a person of that level, what did that mean
…
Although he had thought about various possible conversations with Governor Chuckson and how to respond, when he really met Governor Chuckson, Lu Ming couldn't help but feel helpless. The various rumors outside seemed to be true. Governor Chuckson clearly had symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
The old man in his seventies has obvious age spots on his face and hands.
I forgot Lu Ming's name several times and had to ask Hu Dingshan to remind me.
The meeting took place in a quiet tea room. It seemed that Governor Chuckson usually drank tea, and Hu Dingshan chose to meet here to avoid being disturbed.
"Oh, Qianxing, is Ms. Basha okay?" Governor Chakson asked suddenly.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Not bad." He now had some understanding. It was because Governor Chakson had misremembered who he was again and thought he was the descendant of an old friend.
Hu Dingshan drank tea calmly beside him.
Lu Ming sighed in his heart. This was probably how the people around Governor Chuckson dealt with him.
Governor Chakson looked to the side, stretched out his hand, shook hands with the air, and turned his head again: "Qianxing, in the future, you and Dingshan must do a good job in the new army!"
As he spoke, the secretary behind him took out several pages of paper, pens, official seals, etc. from the drawer beside him, and he signed and stamped on them.
Hu Dingshan immediately put down his teacup, staring at Governor Chuckson's every move, with joy flashing in his eyes.
What Governor Chakson signed was naturally the letter of appointment to Hu Dingshan and Lu Ming, as well as an order granting them the authority to form a new army and requiring cooperation from relevant departments.
"Sir, we're taking our leave!" After putting all the official letters into his briefcase, Hu Dingshan stood up and said carelessly, "Just use them up and forget about them. Anyway, you will forget my rudeness today tomorrow."
The secretary behind Charleson nodded to Hu Dingshan.
Looking at the expressions of the two men, Lu Ming knew that this secretary had accepted bribes from Hu Dingshan.
Lu Ming stood up, performed all the formalities, and bowed slightly: "Your Excellency Governor, I'm leaving now!"
The secretary looked at him in surprise and said nothing.
Governor Chuckson smiled and nodded to Lu Ming. At this moment, he seemed to be suddenly back to normal.
…
Back in the car, Hu Dingshan said with a smile, "Mr. Lu, oh, it's time to call you Commissioner Lu. From now on, we are colleagues!" He extended his hand, "I hope Commissioner Lu will give me more guidance in the future."
Lu Ming smiled and stretched out his hand to shake his hand.
Hu Dingshan added, "This is what I think, Commissioner Lu. Right now, the two of us will convene a meeting of officers above the battalion level of the garrison regiments that are about to be disbanded, and set up a new army preparatory committee. You will be the chairman, and I will be the vice chairman. Afterwards, the officers and soldiers that can be retained by the disbanded garrison regiments, as well as the selection of talents from the five provincial military academies, Commissioner Lu, you can do more work, so you can handle it yourself, and I will be responsible for recruiting new soldiers. What do you think?"
Lu Ming was stunned. Hu Dingshan's proposal clearly stated that he would be the main person in the formation of the new army and he would be the auxiliary.
In particular, the officers and soldiers who were retained after the disbanding of the guard regiment, as well as the student officers recruited from the military academies in the five provinces, will be the backbone of the new army. They will be responsible for them, that is, the entire framework of the new army will be formed by themselves.
It was obvious that his proposal was not a sudden idea, but the result of careful consideration, so he brought it up as soon as he got in the car.
"Commissioner Lu, please take care of me in the future!" Hu Dingshan touched his shiny bald head and said with a smile.
Lu Ming nodded. After he got involved, the matter of the new army was quickly approved in the imperial capital. It seemed that Hu Dingshan was even more confused about his strength.
He has been ostracized in the Hu family recently and is probably considering retreating.
Of course, the Hu family is cunning and greedy, so let's just wait and see what happens.
…
The new army is stationed in the suburbs of Montenegro. The original barracks of the Montenegro Guard Regiment have been renamed and the camp is also being expanded.
A total of three guard regiments in the province were disbanded, which originally had more than 8,000 officers and soldiers. It was rumored that one would be laid off every three years, which means two-thirds of the personnel would be laid off, and people were in panic for a while.
However, Commissioner Lu from the Inspectorate who was in charge of cutting redundant staff, basically retained all the frontline soldiers, but did cut a lot of officers, and basically all the service staff and so on. The frontline soldiers took a questionnaire survey, but not many people were cleared out. Despite this, in the end, only more than 4,000 people were left in the three guard regiments. It was rumored that there were many people on the roster who were drawing salaries without working, but in the end Commissioner Lu did not investigate further and simply cut them all as redundant staff.
Nie Shichao is a platoon leader. He graduated from a military academy and became a platoon leader right after joining the army. Now, after ten years in the army, he is still a platoon leader.
In the past few days, comrades have been complaining. For several consecutive days, they have to fill out various questionnaires every day, and even feel like they have entered school and are taking various exams.
This morning, there were finally no questionnaires and exams, but we were notified that there would be a meeting in the afternoon, which would be chaired by New Army Committee Chairman Lu Ming and Vice Chairman Hu Dingshan.
Nie Shichao was also on the list of people summoned to attend the meeting, which made him extremely surprised. After all, he was not even considered an officer. The platoon leader had the lowest presence. The company commander was responsible for major matters and the squad leader was responsible for minor matters. The platoon leader was generally a transitional position for officers. Who knew that his transition would last for ten years.
Nie Shichao arrived at the auditorium of the military camp very early. Many officers came one after another. More than a hundred officers of all levels were sitting in the audience. They were all wearing brand new uniforms and sitting upright. Nie Shichao did not recognize many of them, but it was obvious that those officers with beer bellies were gone.
Someone took the lead and loud applause broke out in the auditorium.
On the rostrum, several people came in one after another and took their seats.
"Well, let's introduce ourselves one by one. Many of our colleagues probably can't tell who is who among us!" A young man in an olive green officer's uniform stood up on the stage. He had the rank of brigadier general, and golden stars on his epaulettes sparkled.
Nie Shichao was surprised. This must be Commissioner Lu. Moreover, judging from the structure of the committee, it was obvious that the inspector general had surpassed the military commander to become the de facto top officer of the new army.
During the past ten days, Commissioner Lu has been wandering around the military camp, meeting and chatting with officers and soldiers at all levels. I have never met him before, and I have heard that he is young, but I never imagined that he is so young.
Nie Shichao was distracted and did not hear Commissioner Lu Ming's self-introduction, but warm applause soon broke out in the auditorium and Nie Shichao hurriedly followed suit.
Next, the brigade commander Hu Dingshan, as well as the chief of staff, the chief of logistics, the chief of training and other brigade officers stood up and introduced themselves.
There were waves of applause in the auditorium.
Brigade commander Hu Dingshan began his speech, using official jargon such as the significance of the establishment of the new army.
Everyone in the audience was drowsy after listening to the speech.
But when Hu Dingshan started talking about the new army's structure, Nie Shichao suddenly became alert and hurriedly took notes.
The Montenegrin Brigade has three regular infantry regiments, three motorized infantry battalions directly under the brigade headquarters, two armored tank battalions, one reinforced artillery battalion, as well as three battalions: a communications battalion, an engineering battalion, and a repair battalion. There are also six direct-affiliated teams, including a police detective company, a motor vehicle company, a medical company, a teaching team, etc.
Nie Shichao's eyes widened when he heard this. He majored in mechanized warfare in the military academy, but after coming to Montenegro, he had no place to use his skills at all.
After Hu Dingshan finished talking about the new army structure on the rostrum, he said with a smile: "In fact, the composition of the new army was mostly determined by Commissioner Lu after listening to the opinions of military advisers, conducting various surveys, and visiting many military units in the south to learn from them. The new army has a new look, and we are going to upgrade our rifles and cannons." He smiled again and said: "Next, we welcome Commissioner Lu to announce the appointment of the remaining personnel. All the colleagues who can stay are elites. I hope we can unite sincerely and build our Black Mountain Brigade into a mighty and invincible army!"
Warm applause broke out from the audience again. At the same time, everyone looked at Commissioner Lu Ming expectantly, wondering whether they would be promoted.
Nie Shichao took notes carefully with a pen. He could feel that Commissioner Lu didn't say much, but all the important orders seemed to come from him.
Commissioner Lu announced the appointments of company-level cadres and above.
In fact, it is obvious that the regimental commander, deputy regimental commander, battalion commander, deputy battalion commander, etc. have already talked to their superiors, and most of them have a clear idea of what they are doing.
Some company-level positions that are vacant will naturally be filled by recruits from military academies, but officers at the deputy battalion level and above cannot be filled by rookies who have just graduated from military academies.
Therefore, most of the officers who remained in office received promotions to varying degrees, and many of them were very happy.
In particular, many of them were previously frustrated, but now feel they can make a difference.
"Nie Shichao, code 003487, is to be appointed commander of the Second Tank Battalion directly under the brigade."
Commissioner Lu's words echoed in the auditorium. Nie Shichao didn't react at first, but suddenly he looked up. The code was 003487. It was indeed him. Even if the name was repeated, the military code would not be wrong.
Tank battalion commander
How could that be
Nie Shichao looked around in astonishment, but no one noticed him. Only Commissioner Lu's voice continued to announce the candidates and positions to be appointed.
…
The moon was as cool as water. Lu Ming was walking on the military camp grounds, followed by the guard platoon leader Lei Bao.
As a brigadier general inspector, he now has a regular security platoon, and Lei Bao, Hei Feng, Zhao and others have been incorporated into it.
The guard platoon consists of more than 30 people, all equipped with long and short guns, including submachine guns for close range and automatic assault rifles for long range. In addition, there are several snipers led by classmate Zhao.
"You don't have to stay with me all the time." Lu Ming instructed Lei Bao.
While I was traveling around, I made sure the guard platoon was in the same city as me so that they could arrive quickly when called.
Looking at the military camp under the bright moonlight, Lu Ming sighed deeply.
This work took more than a month. It is not an easy task to disband and reorganize a new military unit.
Next, I will go to the military academies in five provinces to select talents.
However, I have to go to the East China Sea to handle some matters first.
If you go to school in Zhenjiang, you still have to make other arrangements for your schedule, just don't get expelled.
Thinking about it, Lu Ming shook his head.
However, the composition of this army is still acceptable. At least, it is considered elite among the five provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.
The military technology of this world is quite different from that of the previous life because there has been no world-class war in modern times.
For example, tanks and armored vehicles are at the level of World War I in the previous life, but individual weapons are similar to those in World War II.
Therefore, the organization of the new army's infantry brigade can be considered very powerful.
However, under current technical conditions, the most important thing in fighting a war is still people. As for this new army, at present, I am afraid that a regiment-level military unit of three to four thousand people in the Northern Territory can be defeated by this new armed force. After all, civil wars often break out in the Northern Territory, and all of them are arrogant and brave soldiers who have been baptized by war.
Thinking about it, Lu Ming sighed. The road ahead is long, and the further he goes, the more difficult it will seem.
Huh? Lu Ming suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure over there, who seemed to be hesitating whether to come over.
Lu Ming looked at him carefully, then smiled and waved to him, "Captain Nie Shichao, come here, I want to talk to you!"
Over there, Nie Shichao immediately walked over quickly, stood at attention and saluted when he got close, looking extremely energetic.
Lu Ming smiled and looked at Lei Bao and others around him.
Many times, I feel that I am fighting alone, but in fact, it is not the case. You will always meet like-minded people along the way.