87: Chapter 87 Army Reorganization

Outside Jiangning Prefecture, in a military camp covering thousands of acres, bugle calls echoed one after another. Squads of soldiers ran drills in the cold wind, their footsteps perfectly synchronized, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

It was the depth of winter in 1899, less than three months before the Northern Expedition.

Li Ling stood on the reviewing stand in the center of the camp, hands on his hips, looking at the dense crowd below. Over fifty thousand soldiers were arranged in square formations, stretching from the reviewing stand to the training grounds in the distance, extending as far as the eye could see. Their military uniforms rustled in the cold wind, and their steel helmets glinted with a cold metallic luster under the winter sun.

Behind him stood more than twenty high-ranking officers, each with their backs straight and eyes burning like torches.

"Brothers!" Li Ling's voice carried through the loudspeakers across the entire camp. "Starting today, our troops will officially undergo reorganization!"

The audience below was silent, everyone waiting for what he would say next.

"The reorganization plan is simple—our existing five hundred thousand troops will all be formed into five Group Armies! Each Group Army will have three hundred thousand men, consisting of five Army Corps. Each Army Corps will have sixty thousand men, consisting of three Divisions. Each Division will have twenty thousand men, consisting of three Heavy Combined Arms Brigades!"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd below, seeing the excitement flashing in the soldiers' eyes.

"The Heavy Combined Arms Brigade is our trump card! Each brigade has seven thousand men, equipped with the latest rifles, machine guns, Mortars, anti-tank weapons, and a large number of artillery pieces and vehicles! Its firepower is three to five times that of the enemy, and its mobility is more than double! With such troops, we can crush any enemy on the battlefield!"

"Do you have confidence?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Fifty thousand men shouted in unison, their voices shaking the clouds and startling the birds in the distant woods.

Li Ling nodded with satisfaction and continued, "Reorganization cannot be completed in a day or two; it requires time and patience. For the next three months, your task is to train! Train until you die! Train until you can shoot with your eyes closed, train until you can run while carrying artillery shells, and train until you can fight for three days and three nights without sleep!"

"Now, troops return to your posts and carry out the reorganization according to the plan! Dismissed!"

The square formations dispersed, and the camp suddenly became bustling. Soldiers shouldered their guns and lined up, walking toward their respective barracks under the command of officers. Slogans, footsteps, and the sound of metal clashing mixed together, playing a majestic march.

Li Ling walked down from the reviewing stand. The Chief of Staff handed him a thick document: "Sir, the detailed implementation rules for the reorganization plan have been drafted. Please take a look."

Li Ling took the document and flipped through it as he walked. The document was over a hundred pages long, filled with densely packed text, with every detail considered very thoroughly—troop allocation, equipment deployment, officer appointments, logistics support, training plans... everything was covered in detail.

"Not bad." He closed the document and handed it back to the Chief of Staff. "Execute according to this plan. But there are two points that must be noted."

"Please speak, Sir."

"First, officers for the Heavy Combined Arms Brigades must be selected from the elite of each unit; we would rather have vacancies than accept substandard personnel. Second, the treatment of garrison troops cannot be lowered. Although they do not go to the front line, they are equally important. Our homeland, ports, and Production Base all need them to guard."

"Yes!" The Chief of Staff stood at attention, saluted, and turned to convey the order.

The first day of reorganization encountered trouble.

The selection criteria for the Heavy Combined Arms Brigade were extremely strict—age not exceeding twenty-five, height not less than one point six five meters, weight not less than sixty kilograms, vision not less than 1.0, and they had to pass over a dozen assessments including physical fitness, shooting, and intelligence tests. Among the first batch of applicants, more than one-third were rejected.

The rejected soldiers were in low spirits, and some even cried.

"Sir, I have been following you since the bandit suppression days. We have fought so many battles, why don't you want me?" An old soldier with a stubbly face squatted by the training ground, his eyes red.

Li Ling walked over, squatted down, and patted his shoulder: "Old Zhang, it's not that I don't want you, it's that the mission of the Heavy Combined Arms Brigade is too heavy. You old veterans might not be able to handle the training intensity there."

"I can handle it!" The old soldier stood up abruptly. "Sir, what kind of hardship have I not endured? Back in the Nanshan bandit suppression, I killed three bandits by myself! If you don't believe me, I'll show you right now!"

Li Ling smiled and pulled him down to sit. "Old Zhang, listen to me. The Heavy Combined Arms Brigade is a sharp knife, a fist, used to fight the hardest battles. But garrison troops are equally important. You are guarding our homeland, our parents, wives, and children. Without you, we would not be at ease fighting on the front lines."

The old soldier's tears finally fell. He wiped his face messily with his sleeve and choked out, "Sir, I... I will listen to you. Whatever you want me to do, I will do it."

Li Ling stood up and patted his shoulder: "Work hard. When the Northern Expedition is over, I will invite you for a drink."

The old soldier broke into a smile through his tears: "Sir, that's a promise!"

"It's a promise." Li Ling turned and left, his back appearing exceptionally tall in the cold wind.

Similar incidents were everywhere during the initial stage of the reorganization. Most of the veterans who had followed Li Ling since the bandit suppression period were rejected due to age or physical fitness, and their moods were very low. Li Ling spent a whole week visiting each barracks to appease the veterans' emotions.

He reasoned with them, talked about feelings, talked about the future, until his throat was hoarse and his legs were weak. But the effect was significant—the veterans' moods stabilized, and the morale of the garrison troops not only did not decline but rose due to Li Ling's personal care.

Meanwhile, the formation of the Heavy Combined Arms Brigade was also proceeding in full swing.

The first batch of selected soldiers were elites carefully chosen from various units, all strong and well-trained. They were concentrated in a secret training base outside Jiangning Prefecture for three months of intensive training.

The intensity of the training was unimaginable for ordinary people.

Waking up at four in the morning every day, running five kilometers first, followed by shooting practice, tactical training, physical training, night combat training... Sixteen hours of training a day, with rest only during eating and sleeping times. The instructors were Special Forces manifested from the system's Production Base, and their training methods were extremely harsh. Any movement that was not up to standard had to be repeated dozens or even hundreds of times.

"You are the trump card! You are the sharp knife! You are the fist!" The instructor stood on the training ground and roared at the more than three hundred new recruits, "What you need to do is to crush the enemy on the battlefield! Not just defeat them, but crush them! Make their legs go weak when they see your flag, and make them surrender when they hear your gunfire!"

"Do you understand?"

"Understood!" The new recruits roared in unison, their voices shaking the leaves by the training ground.

Li Ling occasionally went to the base to inspect. He stood by the training ground, watching those soldiers crawling in the mud, practicing live-fire shooting in the cold wind, conducting tactical drills in the night, and a sense of pride welled up in his heart.

These people were brought up by him single-handedly. They were not virtual characters manifested by the system, but ordinary people recruited from all over the Qingxia Kingdom—some were farmers' sons, some were blacksmiths' apprentices, some were down-and-out scholars who failed in their studies, and some were hopeless wanderers. They might have spent their whole lives digging for food in the fields, wandering the streets, or doing hard labor in factories. But now, they were the best soldiers, the sharpest swords on this land.

"System," he whispered in his heart.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think, what will happen to these people in the future?"

"If the host unifies the country, they will become heroes." The system's voice was calm and firm. "History will remember them, and future generations will remember them."

"That's good." Li Ling smiled. "Letting them become heroes is the best reward I can give them."

While the reorganization work was being carried out, Li Ling was also doing another big thing—establishing a military education system.

Outside Jiangning Prefecture, a piece of land covering three thousand acres was fenced off, walls were being built, and foundations were being excavated. According to Li Ling's plan, the first modern military academy in the Qingxia Kingdom would be built here—the Qingxia Army University.

Li Ling personally designed the layout of the school. Teaching buildings, libraries, dormitories, canteens, training grounds, shooting ranges, gymnasiums... He deliberated on the location, function, and specifications of every building until he was satisfied.

"Sir, what kind of people is this school going to train?" The engineer in charge of construction stood on the construction site, holding blueprints, looking confused.

Li Ling stood on a piece of land that had just been leveled, pointing to the foundation being dug in the distance: "Training generals. Not the kind of bookworms who only know how to recite military manuals, but commanders who understand tactics, technology, logistics, and soldiers. They will study military strategy, history, geography, mathematics, and physics in the classroom, hone command skills on the training ground, and test tactical theories in field exercises."

The engineer gasped: "Sir, this... how much money will this cost?"

"Money is not the issue." Li Ling waved his hand. "The point is quality. Every brick, every steel bar, every bag of cement must be the best. The school is not built to look good, but to be used. One hundred years from now, it will still be standing there, training the next generation of generals."

The engineer stopped talking and buried his head back into the blueprints.

Li Ling also made careful arrangements for the school's faculty. Some instructors were modern military experts manifested from the system's Production Base, responsible for teaching the most cutting-edge tactical theories and knowledge of weapons and equipment; others were outstanding officers selected from various units, who had rich combat experience and could provide students with the most realistic battlefield cases; there were also several returnees who had studied in the German Empire, who were proficient in foreign languages and could translate and introduce advanced experiences from foreign armies.

The selection of the first batch of students was even stricter. Li Ling personally set the selection criteria: age not exceeding twenty-five, at least two years of military service, combat experience, an education level not lower than higher primary school, and passing multiple tests including physical, intelligence, and psychological tests. From the five hundred thousand strong Army, he only selected three hundred people.

Three hundred people, three hundred future generals.

On the day of the opening ceremony, Li Ling stood on the podium, facing the three hundred students below, his voice loud and clear.

"You are the first batch of students, and you are also the seeds. Three years later, when you graduate, you will go to various units as instructors to teach what you have learned here to more people. Five years later, some of you will become regimental commanders, brigade commanders, division commanders, or even corps commanders. Ten years later, the best among you will become generals, commanding thousands of troops."

"The burden on your shoulders is heavy, but I am not worried. Because you are the best candidates, the most outstanding young people on this land."

"Remember, wars are not won by brute force, but by brains. You have to think further and calculate more accurately than the enemy to lose fewer people and win more battles. Every piece of knowledge you learn here may save the lives of hundreds or thousands of brothers in the future."

"Therefore, study hard and improve every day!"

The students were stunned at first, then burst into warm applause.

They didn't know what "study hard and improve every day" meant, but they saw trust and expectation in Li Ling's eyes. This kind of trust and expectation was more powerful than any reward.

Three months passed quickly in busyness.

The reorganization work was basically completed—the framework of the five Group Armies was set up, one hundred and fifty thousand elite troops completed the reorganization into Heavy Combined Arms Brigades, and weapons and equipment were all updated. The garrison troops also completed their training, and their combat effectiveness was greatly improved. The first batch of students at the military academy completed their basic courses and began to enter the professional learning stage.

Everything was going according to plan, just waiting for the spring.

On New Year's Eve, Li Ling stood on the observation tower of the military camp, overlooking the entire camp.

The barracks were brightly lit, soldiers were wrapping dumplings, singing, and playing cards, with laughter and joy echoing one after another. In the distance, the chimneys of the Production Base were emitting white smoke, and workers were working overtime to produce weapons and ammunition. Further away, at the pier of the naval port, several Dreadnoughts were quietly docked in the darkness, and the signal lights on the masts were flashing like stars in the sky.

"System," Li Ling said softly.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think, where will I be this time next year?"

"The host will be on the front line." The system's voice was calm and firm. "In the midst of war, in the smoke of gunpowder. But the host will not be alone, because thousands upon thousands of brothers will be with the host."

Li Ling was silent for a moment, then smiled.

"You're right." He turned and walked down the observation tower. "With them by my side, what do I have to fear?"

He strode toward the camp, and behind him, the New Year's bell echoed in the night sky.