Chapter 172 Expansion into Town 2

Of course, if you use an old-fashioned gun, it will be cheap. The price will be reduced by at least half, and 200,000 yuan will be able to get an artillery battalion.

Even if it is equipped with a German-style Fuyuan machine factory's 75mm tube retreat cannon, it will take more than 300,000 yuan to get an artillery barracks!

If a new infantry division is built from the perspective of equipment alone, most of the equipment funds will be used to purchase artillery and shells.

Although Zhao Dongyun made a lot of money from military trade, and Fengtian's fiscal revenue last year also had more than 10 million yuan, there are more places to spend money. Zhao Dongyun, who has greater financial pressure, can only care about every taels of silver like Yuan Shikai in previous years.

This means that the more money you have, the less money you have!

So last year, I moved left and right and finally squeezed out more than 10,000 taels of silver. First, I bought 20 1903 75mm tube retreat guns produced by Krupp from Germany, and then ordered 20 Fuzo 75mm tube retreat guns from Fuyuan Machine Factory. Of course, it was only the artillery itself. Millions of taels of silver, most of which are used to purchase shells.

The price of shells themselves is expensive these days, and the Far East was affected by the Russo-Japanese War, and the price of this ordnance has skyrocketed. Not to mention the price of international arms dealers, 75mm shells made in Germany actually cost 40 taels of silver, at least more than half the price before the Russo-Japanese War.

Even the 75mm shell of Fuyuan Machine Factory, which claims to be of high quality and low price, although it claims that its quality is not inferior to that of German shells, it has some performance defects, but the price has risen to 31 or two shots!

Last year, 50,000 shells were purchased worth more than 1.6 million taels of silver in order to reserve shells for the artillery units of the Third Town, the First Mixed Association and the Second Mixed Association, which made Zhao Dongyun spit blood!

It can be said that whether Zhao Dongyun expands his army in Fengtian or Yuan Shikai expands his army in Zhili, most of the funds needed for the expansion in the early stage are used to purchase artillery and shells.

Of course, this is just an early investment. If it is long-term, then the maintenance of the army is the largest.

In short, the cost of raising a teacher for a year is enough to build a new teacher!

So for those ambitious people who want to expand their army, although it is difficult to expand their army, it is more difficult to maintain these expanded armies.

Hit more than 10 million at a time to train the new army in two towns, which is recognized by gritting their teeth for many local governors, but if you let them go down tens of millions every year to raise the army, most people will not be willing!

Anyway, in contemporary China, except Yuan Shikai, no other governor is willing to do this.

Well, we have to add a Zhao Dongyun now.

And these two people have something in common, that is, they take military power as the core of their own power, so they spare no effort to expand the army. As for how to raise it after the expansion of the army, it will be a problem in the future.

Whether it is Zhao Dongyun or Yuan Shikai, in fact, they have not paid attention to this problem! If this problem is considered every day, the six towns of Beiyang will not be able to be built, and Zhao Dongyun will not have to expand the two Fengtian mixed associations.

"Now that our two mixed associations have begun to take shape, and it's time to change the association into a town!" Xu Bangjie once again suggested to Zhao Dongyun: "Now that the new military training has been put on the track, although our two associations are still slightly inferior, if they are adapted into a town, even if there is a temporary word, it is less true than the current name!"

Zhao Dongping did not speak directly, but looked at Meng Enyuan: "Lao Meng, what do you think?"

Meng Enyuan also nodded and said, "Seeing that other provinces have established new armies one after another, some people below have also talked about this matter frequently. In my opinion, this matter should not be delayed!"

The reason why Meng Enyuan and Xu Bangjie, the two leaders of the mixed association, have repeatedly asked Zhao Dongyun to expand the two mixed associations into a town, on the one hand, they want to take the opportunity to pass the level of leader and directly step into the town, and on the other hand, many middle and lower-level officers are also looking forward to expanding the association as a town.

What is the representative of the expansion into the town? Those two control positions have little to do with ordinary middle and lower-level officers, but there are still four co-integrations and twelve standard systems. As for the battalion officers, there are more, and these extra positions are their opportunities to take office!

It's okay if it hasn't been expanded last year, but now the two mixed associations have been expanded. Although it is less than the index of the two towns, there is no problem in setting up a shelf, so no wonder those officers are looking forward to it.

In the face of this situation, Zhao Dongyun knows that although the current financial pressure is still relatively large, the expansion of the association into a town can no longer be dragged on, because it is related to the promotion and wealth of his subordinates, and cannot wait to wait for it.

To put it bluntly, what are the confusion between Zhao Dongyun and many officers following you? Isn't it just to get promoted and get rich? In fact, it's the same as Zhao Dongyun willing to be behind Yuan Shikai. The reason is very simple, that is, Yuan Shikai can let him take the top!

Most of Zhao Dongyun's subordinates are also similar. Why are several direct officers under Zhao Dongyun loyal to Zhao Dongyun? It is because Zhao Dongyun climbs up step by step, but also climbs up with these direct hands step by step, such as Lin Yongquan, who used to be a big soldier and only followed Zhao Dongyun. He is just a team officer, but now he is already a senior military and political officer, in charge of military education and new military affairs in Fengtian Province. Well, he also serves as the general office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

Gu Lanyu, Kong Guanbei and others used to be just ordinary team officers, but now they are standard.

If Zhao Dongyun doesn't have the benefits of being promoted and making a fortune, why do you want others to be loyal to you? Do you really think you are the son of destiny, and there will be a lot of people who will die with you as soon as you are angry?

People live in the world with a pursuit, and what they do is nothing more than fame and fortune. If they talk more deeply, it is 'desire', no matter what they want? Fame, money, power, and female sex are all one of the desires.

For example, there is a big corrupt official who likes money and women. You can say that he is greedy, but another person is a good official who loves the people like a son, but from the perspective of human nature, 'loving the people like a son' is actually a kind of greed.

Maybe it's not straightforward enough, so to use some extreme examples: even if you want to die, it's a desire!

People always have all kinds of things to ask for, and if they want their subordinates to be loyal to themselves, they have to satisfy their various pursuits. Those who like money give him money, those who like power give him full power, those who like to be clear officials give him false reputation, and those who like to fight war for him, and those who are willing to see the country and The great people of the rise of the nation will give them hope.

Of course, in these various pursuits, it varies from person to person, but most people still want to get promoted and get rich!

So even if military reform is not considered, just to give his officers a channel for promotion, Zhao Dongyun has to expand these two associations into a town.

In late January 1906, Zhao Dongyun officially reported to the court, saying that the two towns of Fengtian Standing Army, which began to train at the end of last year, had initially formed an army and officially changed from a mixed association to a town.

As a result, the First Mixed Association and the Second Mixed Association of Fengtian Standing Army were officially renamed the first and second towns of Fengtian Standing Army.

At the same time, Zhao Dongyun also attached the list of military chief officers of these two towns. Naturally, there is no surprise that this list is Zhao Dongyun's direct officers, all of whom are the backbone of the Soviet system in the foreign population.

Meng Enyuan is in charge of the control of the first town of Fengtian Standing Army. Needless to say, this person's resume is one of the several generals under Zhao Dongyun, and it is natural to reuse it.

Lin Pingxiong is the leader of the first town. He is also an old subordinate of Zhao Dongyun. He has served as a machine gun battalion officer, the third town gang, and Fengtian's first mixed association.

The leader of the Second Association is Sun Hanchen. Although he had a close relationship with Wang Yingkai, he also turned to Zhao Dongyun early. He has served as the third town management belt and Fengtian's first mixed association belt. Now he is a newly rising senior general in the Soviet system.

The artillery standard led Lu Jin, who was originally the first battalion management belt of the third town artillery standard.

The cavalry standard belt is Lv Chengtong. Ordinary people may not be familiar with this person's name, but his nickname is 'Lv Shuanggun'. After defecting to Zhao Dongyun, he has also developed. From the cavalry officer to the management belt to the current standard, he climbs up as fast as other Zhao Dongyun's direct line. .

Xu Bangjie is in charge of the control of the second town of Fengtian Standing Army. There is no need to say more about this person's resume. He is a senior general of the Soviet system. Coco is a veritable veteran general in the Beiyang system. In terms of seniority, Meng Enyuan and Chen Guangyuan are willing to bow down. When Xu Bangjie was in charge of the infantry in the Wuwei Right Army, Meng Enyuan and Chen Guangyuan, including Zhao Dongyun, were still at the grassroots!

The leader of the third association of the town is Li Chun, who is also a direct descendant of the old Beiyang. He was mixed in the third town in his early years. When Zhao Dongyun edited Fengtian's second mixed association, he was transferred to serve as the third infantry standard leader. Now it is also appropriate to be the leader of the first association.

The commander of the Fourth Association is Zhou Fulin, who was originally the fourth standard belt of the Second Mixed Association of the Fengtian Standing Army.

The artillery standard is headed by Ren Cunggao, who was born in the Battalion School of the Third Town. He has served as the officer of the artillery team in the third town and the management belt of the second artillery battalion of the Second Mixed Association in Fengtian.

The cavalry standard was held by Wang Anlong, who was originally the first battalion of the cavalry standard of the third town. As early as the end of 1903, he participated in many bandit battles with Meng Enyuan. At that time, he and Hua Zhenji were the backbone cavalry officers in the third town system, and later Hua Zhenji Jin He was promoted to the third standard leader of the cavalry in the third town, and he was transferred to the first battalion and also served as the cavalry standard group. This time, he was transferred to the second town to be in charge of cavalry. On the one hand, he was reusing, and on the other hand, he hoped that he could get the cavalry in the second town.

In addition to the above positions, the remaining eight infantry soldiers are also from the direct line of Zhao Dongyun. Strictly speaking, most of them are from the third town.

It can also be seen that the status of the third town under Zhao Dongyun is a little special. Although the importance of the third town for Zhao Dongyun has gradually decreased over time, as the cradle of Soviet officers and the foundation of Zhao Dongyun's army expansion, the third town still plays a role that cannot be ignored. .

It can also be seen why so many bigwigs in Beiyang want to control a town's army, because this town's troops can be said to be the foundation of their expansion of power, such as Wang Yingkai's first town, Zhao Dongyun's second town, and Duan Qirui's fourth town.

Zhao Dongyun expanded the association into a town. In addition to the changes in the establishment of numbers and a large number of officers, it is a large amount of money invested for Zhao Dongyun. Let's not talk about anything else. It will cost millions of silver just to supplement enough artillery for these two towns!