Chapter 31: Expanding the Army

Bai Yindalai was seriously injured and died. Tao Ketao led less than 300 people to escape into Russia under the pursuit of Wang Houchun, Sun Liechen Wu Junsheng, Zhang Zuolin and other troops. The rampant bandits from Taonan to Tongliao were finally curbed.

After occupying Tongliao, Ye Chong placed most of his troops in Tongliao, and Xu Nan and Han Ying were also taken over.

"Yang Zijian, what are you holding?" Xu Nan walked towards Yang Ping, who was basking in the sun on the grass in the distance with something that looked like an imperial edict.

"Miss Xu, this is the governor of the three eastern provinces. Lord Xiliang ordered people to send it from Fengtian to the adults." Yang Ping said respectfully.

"For Ye Xingwu? Take it to me and see." Xu Nan said.

Yang Ping said in a little embarrassedly: "This..."

"What's this and that? Ye Xingwu blamed him for coming to find me." Xu Nan raised his eyebrows, reached out and snatched it from Yang Ping's hand, glanced at him slightly, and then took Han Ying to Ye Chong.

"Cough, cough." Xu Nan stood in front of Ye Chong and coughed twice, then said: "Ye Xingwu received the order!"

Ye Chong said in surprise: "Whose order should I accept?"

"What are you talking about? If you ask me to answer, you will answer." Xu Nan glared.

Ye Chong looked at Xu Nan, then looked at Han Ying with a pursed smile, got up from the chair, beat Qian and knelt on one knee, and said, "The criminal Ye Chong received the order."

Xu Nan almost couldn't help laughing out loud, and quickly suppressed it. He said in a ban: "Ye Chong, the former commander of the Fengtian Patrol Camp, calmed down Baiyindalai and Tao Ketao, and the special official was restored to his post, rewarded 5,000 taels of silver, and was granted the title of Taoliao Governor, and was in charge of military and civil affairs in the Tongliao area of ​​Taonan."

"It's only five thousand taels, so you're too stingy." Ye Chong stood up and took the paper in Xu Nan's hand.

"Hey, hey, you haven't thanked you yet."

"Go, go wherever you cool down." Ye Chong said angrily.

Ye Chong sat back on the chair and basked the warm sun. He looked at the paper. Taoliao garrison was pretty good. He was in charge of the army and the people at the bottom. He was considered the local emperor in this area. As for the five thousand taels of silver, it was only a small amount of money. The war horses captured alone were worth no less than 130,000 taels of silver. Baiyindalai was a poor man, but Tao Ketao was very rich. Mongolia produced gold and silver. Tao Ketao collected nearly 20,000 taels of gold from other places, including a huge wealth of no less than 400,000 taels of silver. Due to the financial tensions of the three eastern provinces, the sound silver sent by now is only 80% of the past, and Ye Chong would have to pay the silver himself. If it weren't for the attacks in previous battles, Ye Chong would have gone bankrupt long ago.

"Zijian! Come here." Ye Chong waved to Yang Ping and shouted.

"Sir, what are your instructions?" Yang Ping hurriedly ran over.

Ye Chong said: "Have we asked the batch of small generators and lights ordered from Fengtian to arrive?"

Yang Ping shook his head and said, "Sir, it's not yet, but Mr. Xu said that in about three days, he will come with the newly arrived foreign fire, Fengtian Jinjiu and white sugar and other substances, and the generator and electric light will also be transported together."

"It's really slow." Ye Chong shook his head and sighed, "I would have liked the railway from Fengtian to Tongliao."

To get rich, build roads first. Insufficient transportation capacity will sooner or later become the key to limiting the development of Tongliao. It’s a pity that the railway is not something Ye Chong can afford to build. The horses can still make do with it for the time being, so let’s talk about it when the funds are sufficient in two years.

"The heavy snow has just melted, the soil on the grassland is relatively wet, and there are a lot of things to transport, so the road is difficult to walk, so it is a little slow." Yang Ping smiled.

As he was speaking, another messenger came over. The messenger took out a large piece of paper covered with the Governor's seal from the paper tube, handed it to Yang Ping, and then handed it to Ye Chong.

Ye Chong opened it and saw it, and immediately laughed. Xiliang was really stingy.

Ye Chong asked for the expansion of five battalions on the grounds between Taonan and Tongliao as a reason why the vast territory between Taonan and Tongliao was not enough. Unexpectedly, Xiliang was correct, but he also added the four words "four grain" to raise money by himself. However, Ye Chong is not short of money now. If the army is expanded, it is better to wait for Sun Yong, Sun Qi and a few people from Fengtian Martial Arts Hall to come back.

Two days later, Ye Chong took He Rui, Wang Houchun, Liu Yongfeng and others to stand together, watching a large convoy coming towards this side from afar.

Ye Chong waved towards Sun Yong, Sun Qi, Liao Lizhi, Liu Yongqiang and Chen Feng who were coming from the front with a horse. Almost two years later, these people did not have the childishness they used to, and they had a capable and resolute style of hard-core soldiers in every move.

"Brother Ye Chong..."

Wang Houchun and others also greeted these old partners one after another.

"Welcome back, how did you learn in Fengtian Martial Arts Hall?" Ye Chong smiled and said to the people.

Sun Qi said: "Brother Ye Chong, now he should be called the Martial Arts Hall of the Three East China Provinces. There is something you taught us in the shooting. We can be teachers in the Martial Arts Hall based on our level. We mainly learn foreign artillery. In addition to reading and writing, we also learned the language of German by ourselves."

"That's right, it's okay to learn guns and cannons, but we can still learn that foreign language, which is really worrying." Liu Yongqiang scratched his head and said.

Ye Chong smiled and said, "It is of great use to learn now. In the future, I will send you to Western Germany to learn the most advanced military knowledge."

"Ah? You still have to learn?" Liu Yongqiang said dumbfounded.

"Of course, don't show me such a stinking look." Ye Chong pointed at Wang Houchun, He Rui and others who were secretly happy and said, "You guys can't escape."

"By the way, Brother Ye Chong, why are Erhu and Tang Zhi not here?" Chen Feng asked.

"The two of them are now stationed in Taonan. If you have time, you can go and see him. Let's get together." Ye Chong said again: "Let's go, you're back. Our army is going to expand and hold a military meeting. You can go together."

He led his group into the military camp. Sun Liechen, Guo Qikai and others had already been waiting there. After introducing each other, Ye Chong began to get to the topic and said, "This time we will gather everyone together, mainly because the territory we are under the jurisdiction of is insufficient, so we will expand our army. This time, the army will expand five battalions. Chen Feng, Sun Yong, Sun Qi, Liao Lizhi, Liu Yongqiang, you five are the battalion managers, deputy managers and sentry commanders, and the captains will be selected from the soldiers who have made military achievements in each battalion."

"Take these veterans away, the combat effectiveness of our battalions will be greatly reduced." He Rui smiled and said the thoughts of Guo Qikai, Liu Baoliang and others.

"Then train the troops quickly. Only when you have merits will you be rewarded, and the soldiers below will be enterprising." Ye Chong also smiled. "In addition, the original artillery soldiers were trained scattered in normal times, and they were camps during battles. Wang Bingnan, your artillery was accurately shot, and they served as the battalion manager during wartime."

"Thank you!"

"In addition, we must follow Fengtian and establish a police system. The daily order in Tongliao and Taonan is maintained by the police, and the police will first train according to the organization of the two battalions."

Sun Liechen said with some doubts: "Sir, you have expanded the army by nearly half in one breath. Is our military expenditure sufficient? This military sound can only go up, not down. After the officers and soldiers below have led the full sound, it is quite difficult to get them to get a half sound."

"We have built a new horse farm, and with our army supporting a barrier in the west to eliminate bandits, the business in the western part of the three eastern provinces will flourish again. Then tax revenue will be enough to support this army," Ye Chong explained.

Sun Liechen nodded and smiled, "After the expansion, the military strength of the adults will be upgraded to a town, which is enough."

Sun Liechen's words made others chuckled. Indeed, police could be converted into soldiers during wartime. 16 battalions of 8,000 combat soldiers, plus artillery and logistics, they were almost over 10,000. After the new battalions were trained, except for artillery, they were indeed similar to a new army town.

"Let's talk about these later. What we need to do now is to train our soldiers."

After arranging the specific things of the army, Ye Chong left the military camp and came to the place where he handled his affairs.

Xu Heiya was waiting there. When he saw Ye Chong coming, he quickly got up.

"Sit down. Have you brought all the things here?" Ye Chong also sat down and asked.

"Four 50-kilowatt generators, hundreds of electric bulbs, and more than 10,000 meters of wires. Relevant technicians and technicians have also invited them from Shanghai and Beijing. Construction can be started at any time." Xu Heiya nodded and said, "According to the adults, the machines such as the foreign ash factory purchased from foreigners have arrived in Fengtian and can be transported to Tongliao within ten days."

"Well, you must build the infrastructure of Tongliao as soon as possible. There are more and more merchants coming and going. You can't let them all live in tents." Ye Chong smiled and said, "I will mobilize enough horses for you to transport the machine to the fastest time to put it into production."

"The house cannot be built for a while, and in a short time, there is no other choice for the merchants passing by in the past." Xu Heiya also smiled and said, "We have produced five tractors from Fengtian. This year, which is much easier than horses. However, the production of tractors is still too low. The technicians in the factory said that it is mainly because the gasoline engine is not enough. It is too expensive to buy them all from abroad. Brother Yukun discussed with me and wanted to open a small gasoline engine manufacturing factory, but the cost is not low, including hiring technicians and purchasing machines, at least 300,000 taels of silver. I didn't make up my mind at the time. This time I came here and I happened to ask you for instructions."

"Gasoline engine?" Ye Chong suddenly felt energetic: "Yes, try to invite more foreign technicians to come and send more clever apprentices. In addition, small generator factories, hardware factories, etc., please pay attention to Cao Yukun. If it is appropriate to find an opportunity to drive it."
Chapter completed!