Chapter 455: Inspecting the First Division!
Because Ye Mingsheng's attack was sudden without any prior warning, Yuan Song was caught off guard. He waited until Ye Mingsheng and his men walked into the village gate before he hurriedly brought his men to greet them.

After the two sides exchanged greetings, Ye Mingsheng, under the guidance of Yuan Song, began to inspect the First Division...

It was morning drill time, and we could see the various units of the First Division doing jogging warm-up exercises under the leadership of their respective generals.

"One two one, one two one"

“Whose food are we eating?”

"Marshal Ye's meal!"

"Whose clothes are we wearing?"

"Marshal Ye's clothes!"

“Who do we pledge our allegiance to?”

"Marshal Ye!"

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Listening to the uniform and deafening slogans of the First Division soldiers on the martial arts stage, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but clap his hands and said to Yuan Song beside him:
"The soldiers of the First Division are great!"

Yuan Song was very happy about Ye Mingsheng's praise and replied very respectfully:

"These are the soldiers' heartfelt voices. As long as you are mentioned on the battlefield, the soldiers' morale will soar!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and nodded, then turned his attention back to the training of the First Division. As the fist force of the Fengwu Army, the First Division under Yuan Song had a very large amount of training. After running for about half an hour, they began the professional skills training of each branch of the arms, as well as the coordination exercises between the various branches of the arms.

After watching the training for a while, Ye Mingsheng turned to Yuan Song beside him and said:
"What do you think of this expedition to the palace?"

After hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, Yuan Song hesitated for a while. He knew that Ye Mingsheng didn't like those flatteries that didn't have much nutrition, so he answered honestly:
"Reporting to the Lord, during this expedition to the palace, our army experienced many tough battles. During this process, I deeply realized that compared with fighting outside the city, our army still has many shortcomings in tough battles, especially in siege. At the beginning, when our army was attacking the city, both the soldiers and the generals were a little at a loss..."

"Luckily, the battle strength of the Gongdu army is far behind ours. In addition, their fighting spirit is low and they are internally divided. In addition, the cities in the Gongdu are not strong cities. This is why our army has been able to advance so quickly. If our army had to face those big cities in Youyan, we might have encountered some troubles!"

Ye Mingsheng's expression became more serious when he heard this. What Yuan Song said was very sincere and reasonable. Although his Fengwu Army had fought many battles of varying sizes since its establishment, most of them were field battles. There had not been many offensive battles, especially siege battles. In this regard, neither the commander-in-chief, such as the general, nor the grassroots, such as the captain and sergeant, had much experience.

Ye Mingsheng's next target was Youyan. Because it was located in the northern border of the Great Zhou Dynasty and had been facing nomadic tribes for decades or even hundreds of years, the cities there were built stronger and stronger than the last.

Although if the plan succeeds and nothing unexpected happens, the Fengwu Army will have the advantage of a surprise attack and will not have to face the main force of the Yan Army, and the difficulty will be greatly reduced. However, if they want to make smooth progress in Youyan, they must strengthen the siege...

Of course, the experience of siege can only be gained after going through the baptism of war with blood and fire. There is no shortcut to this, and Ye Mingsheng has no way to do it. The only thing Ye Mingsheng can do is to make some breakthroughs in weapons to help the Fengwu Army.

"The Manufacturing Bureau has recently developed a new type of red cannon, which is said to have made a significant breakthrough in terms of power. In addition, some improvements have been made to siege equipment such as ladders and battering rams. I will have them send the equipment to you in a few days. Try them out and give me your opinions!" Ye Mingsheng instructed Yuan Song:
Hearing Ye Mingsheng's words, Yuan Song was filled with surprise and joy. He knew that Ye Mingsheng's words were not just about letting the First Division use the new weapons, but were probably hinting that their First Division would take on the main task in the upcoming battle to enter the pass!

After considering his words, Yuan Song took the initiative to say to Ye Mingsheng:
"Sir, this is great! The red cannon is the patron saint of our soldiers. The enemy is so scared when the cannon sounds that they almost pee their pants. With the help of these new weapons, when we enter the pass, our First Division will definitely kill all the Yan army without leaving a single piece of armor..."

Hearing the temptation in Yuan Song's words, Ye Mingsheng smiled, patted his shoulder and said:

"Don't worry, your First Division will be indispensable in this battle!"

After receiving Ye Mingsheng's promise, Yuan Song was overjoyed. He bowed to Ye Mingsheng and said excitedly:

"Thank you, sir! All of my colleagues in the First Division will become the sharpest sword in your hand to chop off the head of this old man Zhao Fuqu!"

Feeling the strong fighting spirit in Yuan Song's heart, Ye Mingsheng nodded with satisfaction, and then asked:
"Besides siege, what else do you think our army needs to improve?"

Yuan Song thought for a moment and said:
“Sir, I have been in the army for decades, and I found that both the enemy and our soldiers are not used to fighting at night. Even the most disciplined and skilled troops will panic and be at a loss when they encounter a sudden attack at night. I think our army can strengthen its training in this area…”

Because Ye Mingsheng from modern times had conducted special training for his Fengwu Army in this regard before, such as launching surprise attacks without any notice, simulating a nighttime raid by the enemy, waking the troops from their sleep and sending them to their respective combat positions for defense, or suddenly pulling people out at night and marching five miles fully armed.

Therefore, when Yuan Song said that he wanted to strengthen this aspect, he couldn't help but become interested and said:

"Yuan Song, if you have any ideas, why not tell us in detail!"

"Yes!"

"I think the night training we conducted before was mainly to guard against the enemy's attacks at night. I think our army can do more than just defend. We can also take the initiative to attack. This time, our First Division was able to quickly eliminate Wang Kangxin's troops, largely because of the advantage of the night raid!" "At night, our army's strict discipline and the quality advantages of the soldiers will be more reflected. This can be seen in this expedition to Gongdu. Our army has enough food, and we have a meat meal every two or three days to improve the diet!
“In addition to having better food than the enemy, our army has also received more training, so our military formations are more coordinated than theirs. Three or five people forming a small formation can often deal with seven or eight, or even ten, enemy troops…”

"I think our advantage in this regard will be even greater at night. We can even conduct a night siege. Even if we fail, we can still harass the enemy, making them exhausted and affecting their rest!"

Yuan Song's words made Ye Mingsheng's eyes light up. He might have been a little conservative before. The Fengwu Army could indeed do more in terms of night battles, especially the night siege that Yuan Song mentioned. Since the Fengwu Army lacked experience in sieges, they could think of more methods and tricks to make up for it.

After a moment of silence, Ye Mingsheng ordered:

"Yuan Song, this is a great idea. Come up with a specific method to train the First Division first and see how it works. If the results are good, then promote your advanced experience to the entire army!"

"Yes!" Yuan Song was very happy to see that Ye Mingsheng accepted his experience.

After talking about tactics, Ye Mingsheng shifted the topic to soldiers and asked:

"How is the status of the troops that the General Staff planned to send to your First Division?"

The overall casualties of the Gongdu Fengwu Army were not high this time, but because the First Division undertook most of the toughest battles, their casualty rate was over 10%. According to post-war statistics from Yuan Song and his team, 1,131 people were killed and 2,089 were injured...

Among the 2,089 injured, 1,570 were lightly injured and could continue to serve in the army after treatment, and the other 519 were seriously injured and could not continue to serve in the army.

According to the Fengwu Army's method of dealing with the disabled, for those who could no longer serve in the army, if they were still able to move, the Fengwu Army would allocate a few acres of thin land to them locally to allow them to engage in productive labor, and would give them tax incentives based on their military achievements and the degree of their disability, or simply not collect taxes.

In other words, the government can arrange a job for them at the post station or in a business owned by the government, or help them find a job in a private business or store. The government will give certain tax incentives to businesses and stores that accept retired or disabled soldiers to increase their enthusiasm.

If there are seriously injured and disabled soldiers who cannot move, they will be given some silver and sent back to their hometowns to be given to their families and clansmen. Then the local government will distribute some rice, vegetables, cloth and the like to them from time to time to ensure their basic living needs, and organize doctors to visit them regularly to treat them and alleviate their pain...
As for the severely disabled soldiers who have no family members, the government also has a way to deal with it. If there are other families willing to take in these soldiers, the government will give tax incentives and regular subsidies for treatment. If no one is willing to take them in, the government also has nursing homes under its name to adopt them in bulk.

The above methods basically ensure that the wounded soldiers can be properly resettled, which eliminates their worries, ensures the combat effectiveness of the army, and allows the soldiers to fight desperately on the battlefield, at the line between life and death, and dare to fight with the enemy for their lives!

In response to Ye Mingsheng's question, Yuan Song said without hesitation:
"We have been recruited with about 500 soldiers. They are capable men drawn from militias from all over the country, so they are all strong and muscular men with no problem in martial arts. They only need to undergo some battle training for a period of time before they can be fully integrated into my First Division..."

Hearing that only 500 people were added, Ye Mingsheng asked again:
"Did the General Staff say when they would send you the remaining personnel?"

Yuan Song hesitated for a moment and said:
"The General Staff said that it will take some time to train these militias, so the remaining 1,000 people should be replenished for us this month!"

Ye Mingsheng frowned slightly when he heard this, and Yuan Song explained:
"Sir, the new recruits coming in this month will be enough time. I can guarantee that they will not affect the combat effectiveness of my First Division!"

Ye Mingsheng shook his head and said:
"Things may change. Our troops may have to enter the country earlier!"

Yuan Song was somewhat tempted by what he heard, and after hesitating for a moment, he tentatively asked Ye Mingsheng:

"My Lord, what happened?"

Ye Mingsheng explained:

"The matter is not settled yet. I will urge the General Staff to recruit you with at least 2,000 men as soon as possible. This time, your First Division is allowed to return to Dongning and live in the camp in the north of the city. This is mainly because the General Staff plans to let you and the First Division take the lead. In a few days, He Jingyun and Huo San should find you and introduce you to the situation of the Yan army in Jizhou. You should be mentally prepared..."

Finally getting the exact number from Ye Mingsheng, Yuan Song was very excited. He nodded heavily to Ye Mingsheng and said:

"I know in my heart that I will not let you down!"

After discussing with Yuan Song, the soldiers of the First Division had basically finished their training. Ye Mingsheng took this opportunity to give an impromptu speech to the soldiers of the First Division, encouraging them to defend the country and fight bravely. Ye Mingsheng's appearance undoubtedly ignited the passion of the soldiers, and his short speech was interrupted many times by applause from the soldiers.

Afterwards, Ye Mingsheng met with generals at all levels of the First Division, as well as soldiers who had made some important contributions, and had a cordial handshake and conversation with them.

Three days ago, at the triumphal ceremony of more than 100,000 people, Ye Mingsheng only met with a few representatives due to time constraints. This time, one of the purposes of Ye Mingsheng’s coming to the north camp was to meet with more generals and meritorious soldiers, to show his affinity to these people, and to express that even though he was the governor of Liaoyang, his heart was still with them...

Because the Fengwu Army was very strict in recruiting soldiers and only recruited simple-minded, honest and hardworking farmers, miners and others, so for many soldiers, before joining the army, the highest official they had ever seen in their hometown might be the village head or the head of a village.

Seeing Ye Mingsheng, the Liaoyang governor and local emperor, they were already very excited and in a panic. But at this time, Ye Mingsheng encouraged them with a smile on his face. Many people couldn't help crying with excitement. They believed that at this time, even if Ye Mingsheng asked them to go through fire and water, they would carry out Ye Mingsheng's orders without hesitation!

(End of this chapter)