10: Chapter 10 Military Expansion Plan

The arrival of the Mortar accelerated Li Ling's expansion plan.

Originally, he intended to train his three thousand elite troops for three months before expanding, but now that he had new weapons like the Mortar, he needed more soldiers to operate them and more soldiers to protect this precious equipment.

"Father, I want to expand the army." Li Ling went straight to Retired Emperor Li Zhenshan.

"Expand by how much?"

"From three thousand to ten thousand."

Retired Emperor Li Zhenshan frowned. "Ten thousand? Where will you get so many people? Where will you get so much money?"

"The men will be transferred from your one hundred eighty thousand, and I will provide the money myself. You only need to give your consent."

Retired Emperor Li Zhenshan remained silent for a moment, looking at his son.

For the past month, he had been observing his son. From acquiring the blueprints for the new rifle to establishing the New Army, from wiping out the Nanshan bandits to mingling with the gentry—every step Li Ling took was steady and powerful, not at all like a young man in his early twenties.

"Where will you get the equipment for ten thousand men?"

"My foreign friend has connections. As long as there is money, anything can be bought."

"How much money?"

"Equipping ten thousand men will cost about five hundred thousand taels of silver."

Retired Emperor Li Zhenshan gasped. "Five hundred thousand taels?! Where will you get five hundred thousand taels?"

"By selling weapons." Li Ling smiled slightly. "Father, I have already negotiated with several big merchants in the city. Selling them a batch of rifles will bring in over one hundred thousand taels. As for the rest, I can ask my foreign friend for credit and pay it back once we have money in the future."

Retired Emperor Li Zhenshan stared at his son for a long time, eventually sighing.

"Do as you wish. I am old and can no longer manage you. But remember, do not cause any trouble for me."

"Rest assured, Father."

Once the order to expand the army to ten thousand men was issued, the entire barracks erupted in excitement.

The three thousand veterans knew they were going to become squad leaders and platoon leaders, and they were too excited to sleep. The seven thousand newly transferred men stared wide-eyed at the shiny Model 1888 Rifle in the veterans' hands, the mountains of ammunition piled up in the barracks, and those never-before-seen Mortar.

"Are these General Li's soldiers? This equipment is stronger than the Imperial Guard!"

"What is the Imperial Guard? I heard that one of General Li's soldiers can take on ten!"

The discussions rose and fell.

Li Ling stood on the drill ground, looking at the seven thousand newcomers, and said loudly, "I know what you are thinking. You are thinking, what kind of ability does this General Li really have? Why should we submit to him?"

There was silence below the stage.

"I will tell you why." Li Ling drew his pistol and fired three shots into the sky. "Because I can ensure you survive the battlefield and return home alive!"

His voice echoed across the open drill ground.

"Being a soldier and fighting is not about throwing your life away. Being a soldier and fighting is about protecting your family and defending your home. But the prerequisite for protecting your family and defending your home is that you yourself must survive first. How do you survive? By relying on good weapons, strict training, and scientific tactics. I can give you all of these."

"But there is one prerequisite—you must obey my orders and train and fight according to my requirements. If anyone tries to slack off or acts in bad faith, do not blame me for being ruthless!"

"Do you understand?"

"Understood!" ten thousand men roared in unison.

The expansion work proceeded intensely.

Li Ling organized the ten thousand men into three infantry regiments and one artillery regiment.

Each infantry regiment consisted of three infantry battalions, with each battalion equipped with 600 Model 1888 Rifle, and several light machine guns—which he did not have yet, so he temporarily substituted them with Mortar.

The artillery regiment consisted of three Artillery Battalion: one 75mm Field Gun battalion (16 guns), one 120mm Howitzer battalion (8 guns), and one Mortar battalion (60 60mm Mortar, 30 80mm Mortar).

Such an organizational structure was absolutely top-tier in the world of 1900.

While expanding the army, Li Ling did not forget about the navy.

He asked Fritz to select five hundred recruits who were good swimmers and formed a "Naval Training Team." These men had no warships to operate for the time being, but they could begin basic naval training, such as swimming, rowing, sea survival, navigation, and positioning.

"When we have warships in the future, these men can go directly onto the ships," Li Ling said to Fritz.

"Young General, do you really intend to build a navy?" Fritz asked, somewhat skeptically. "A navy is not child's play; it requires a vast amount of capital and technology."

"I certainly know that." Li Ling smiled slightly. "But in this era, without a navy, there is no sea power. Without sea power, one can only be slaughtered. Therefore, the navy must be built, even if it means scraping together every last cent."

Fritz looked at Li Ling, a flash of admiration in his eyes.

"Young General, I served in the German army for fifteen years and have seen many promising young officers. But you are the first with such foresight."

"Stop flattering me, go and train."

After Fritz left, the system spoke in his mind: "Host, with the army expanded by ten thousand men, plus previous achievements, you have achieved the minor achievement 'Initial Scale.' Reward: one lucky draw opportunity."

"Draw!"

"Drawing... Congratulations to the Host for obtaining: Light Machine Gun Technology (reproduction of the Danish Madsen light machine gun, capable of production)."

Li Ling almost laughed out loud.

A light machine gun!

He finally had a light machine gun!

The Madsen light machine gun, which would only appear in Denmark in 1902, was the world's first mass-produced light machine gun. It was lightweight, highly reliable, and had strong sustained firepower, making it the best choice for infantry squad and platoon support firepower.

With the light machine gun, his infantry firepower would reach another level.

"System, can the light machine gun be produced at the existing Production Base?"

"Yes. After the Mortar production line is retrofitted, the light machine gun production line can share the same equipment. The retrofit will take two days."

"Retrofit!"

Two days later, the light machine gun production line was put into operation.

When the first Madsen light machine gun came off the production line, Li Ling test-fired a magazine himself.

"Da-da-da-da—"

The bullets hit the target one hundred meters away precisely, the impact points dense and stable.

Li Ling nodded in satisfaction.

"A good gun! With this, our infantry squads will have real support firepower!"

Fritz, standing nearby, stared at the light machine gun with wide eyes.

"Young General, how many more good things are you hiding?"

"There are plenty, I will show you slowly."

Li Ling patted Fritz on the shoulder, in a great mood.

Expanding the army by ten thousand, equipping them with light machine guns and Mortar, and preparing to build a naval training team—the progress of this month far exceeded his expectations.

But Li Ling knew that this was just the beginning.

More difficult challenges were still to come.