Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 560 Recruiting soldiers
Before the New Year, Guo Kang's family left Dadu and headed to the countryside on the south bank of the Danube River.

It stands to reason that these are extraordinary times, and there are still a lot of things to deal with in the metropolis. The Guo family, father and son, and even Guo Ponu have a lot of things to do. But also because of the special circumstances, I had to go there again this time.

Although it has not yet been announced that Guo Kang will go on an expedition with the army, it is now a certainty and is just waiting for the official announcement. But until now, he still does not have his own official team.

Like other families, the Guo family also recruited a group of young people from military families to serve as servants, living and training with the family head's children. The few followers around Guo Kang also came here.

For example, Bu Lei's father is a war regiment leader who is now leading a group of people to cultivate land on the northern border; Yang Wenxian's father is a civil official in the Ministry of Personnel, and his grandfather was a member of the Hundred Households under Guo Di, and is now the village chief of their hometown; Chen Xiao's father was a general under Mametinikus, and was later transferred to Dadu as a coach. Now he is a subordinate of the war commander. These people had been nurtured in the military atmosphere since childhood and had merit in their families, so they were selected by the Guo family from among many candidates.

Of course, on the other hand, when people do this, they also have expectations. After all, by following the Guo family, you will definitely have more convenient access to military knowledge and experience, and it will also be easier to obtain military honors. After accumulating some, with these qualifications and connections, you can take charge of your own business.

However, these people who followed Guo Kang have not officially fought a war yet. Although he also practiced martial arts and read military books, the biggest battle he participated in so far was when he followed Theodora to save people.

On weekdays, Guo Kang didn't talk much about military affairs with them. Instead, he took this group of people to run back and forth between the Niangniang Temple and the Holy Light's Wish Monastery outside the city every day. As his followers, they had to help Guo Kang whenever they had something to do.

They were all well-educated people, so Guo Kang also made full use of this advantage. When he was busy, he would help them organize information and write calculations every day. He also spent time teaching them various calculation methods. As time goes by, I don’t know how many military skills I have learned, but my math level has improved a lot...

This situation cannot continue forever. This time, Guo Kang was ready to join the army and set off. Of course, before sending out troops, in addition to these people around him, he must be supplemented with more guards and followers as usual.

According to custom, the family should equip him with an entourage of sufficient ability and level. During the actual battle, the experienced officers arranged by the family are the ones who actually command the battle. Of course, there will also be many young people in the entourage, mainly the children of various sub-level military nobles and other officials and heroes. These people sometimes bring some of their own followers to form a rather large group.

Whether other branches are dissatisfied with theirs, Guo Kang is not trusted as an adopted son, or Guo Ponu fails to learn from Greek women and has some conspiracy... it will affect the family's reputation and make people doubt the order within the family. Whether it can still be maintained. Anyone with a little knowledge of history knows that for this group of people at the core of power, once the inheritance issue is not arranged well, big trouble will definitely happen.

And if it's the latter, the same is true. If Guo Kang really went to the battlefield with a group of Slavs, everyone's first reaction would not be the country's policy relaxation or strategic direction shift, nor would they think how strong his military training ability was, but they would first be suspicious. , is there serious internal strife in the Guo family?

Either situation can cause serious problems.

If it is the former, it means that there is a huge problem with the political influence of the Guo family. Nowadays, each pillar family does not rely on fiefdoms and private soldiers like European aristocrats, but relies on its own talent training system and old tribes spread throughout Rome to maintain its status. Guo was one of the founding ministers of the country and had held the highest-level position in the court for three consecutive generations. If something went wrong in his family, it would not only be the decline of the family, but also a large number of related people who would feel in danger, and the situation in the entire country would be in turmoil.

But in comparison, before the chaos in Dadu, Guo Kang had no sense of existence. If his father wasn't so good at fighting, and his cousins ​​were all muscle-minded people, everyone would probably have ignored him. Even after hearing his deeds, many people were still a little skeptical, because this was not a regular war after all, and it still had to be seen how his subsequent performance would be.

Guo Kang himself is also relatively unsatisfied. At that time, the actual leader of the Guo family was his uncle, but after his father commanded two battles, almost all the elders in the family supported him to lead the family affairs without hesitation. Guo Di's own sons also I didn’t try to compete with my eldest brother for a spot.

If I start in the spring, I estimate that even if I practice more intensively, I will only be able to train a few basic subjects. It is enough to patrol and train within the territory and maintain the security of the camp. If they really want to fight, they are probably no better than other people's cannon fodder soldiers.

Therefore, the status of these followers is also a manifestation of the Guo family's status, influence, and the importance they attach to Guo Kang. If even the heirs of the head of the Guo family do not have enough weight and number of people to follow, then there are only two results: either it means that the family has lost enough attraction, and if everyone follows them, they will not get the chance to fight. Military merit; or it means that the Guo family does not value this child at all.

Unlike others, Guo Kang had already recruited a group of soldiers before this, and now he is asking Guo Ponu to help train them, and they are doing well. However, the current time is obviously far from enough. Morale and enthusiasm cannot make up for this problem.

Moreover, this matter is not just a military issue. Guo Kang's expedition was also a political signal.

In the same way, the backbone of this army, those who are really responsible for fighting, are not the newcomers, but the veteran guards. In fact, the number of veterans that can be recruited is also a reflection of the family's strength. These soldiers are also part of the "military resources", because excellent soldiers and grassroots officers can also greatly reduce the difficulty of obtaining military honors and learning command. Without these conditions, others may not be willing to come.

Therefore, everyone is not surprised to receive the news of joining the army this time. Generally speaking, they would first go to a place that is easier to fight - such as crossing the sea to Italy, or going north to Lithuania and the Ross Grassland to practice their skills by fighting a few enemies that are relatively large but actually very good.

Some of these young people have no combat experience, and some have already been on the battlefield, but have only experienced some minor fights. In order to learn real warfare faster, they and the nominal commander Guo Kang actually followed as trainees.

But this time, the target chosen was a distant place that had never been visited in the entire history of the Purple Horde Khanate.

In the eyes of others, Guo Kang probably had the confidence and didn't have that much time, so he directly chose a big country - at least a big country on the surface, as the target of the cross-sea expedition. Although it seems a bit difficult, along with the risks are huge benefits. Everyone knows how wealthy Egypt is, and he himself has spoken about his business plan there. As long as you can win, you will immediately gain huge prestige, and everything from now on should be fine.

However, such a big plan for the first war is indeed suspicious. After all, you have never fought before, and no one knows whether you are Caesar or Crassus. With a group of deputies and veterans, it is also possible for the car to overturn. As for the final result, it depends on Guo Kang's own level.

Guo Kang's cousins ​​Guo Ru, Guo Zhaowen and others also accompanied them. Along the way, the adoptive father was chatting with them. Among the few men of Guo's generation, only three of them are still in Dadu. The others either died young, died in battle, or, like Guo Kangyuan's third uncle in the north, had no time to come back at all. Even these two uncles don't see each other often. Guo Kang felt that it was understandable for them to talk to each other more.

The foster mother also goes to interact with other people every day, keep in touch with them, and ask if there is anything we can do to help each other. Guo Kang and Guo Ponu also had to follow her and visit her back and forth. But fortunately, they don't have many tasks. After greetings, there is usually nothing to do.

Of course, they don't have time to relax now. Even when they were in a hurry, the two of them did not miss any free time and discussed more detailed plans in their carriage.

During the time he was away, the selection and training of new soldiers did not stop. Guo Kang handed all these tasks to Zhu Wenkui to help. But Zhu Wenkui was busy rebuilding the workshop every day and had no time, so he sent Captain Jessica to take charge.

Originally, they were in the camp outside the city, not far away. There was no problem in going there every day to take a look and complete the daily management and inspection work.

When she learned that Guo Kang and others were going back to their hometown, Theodora originally wanted to follow them. But Guo Ponu was very opposed, thinking that she was not from the Guo family, so why did she come to join in the fun. Although Theodora insisted on marrying Guo Kang, there was no formal procedure after all. If she wanted to participate in such a formal occasion, she would have to consider other people's impressions and even the negative political impact. In the end, she didn't bother her, so she had to give up temporarily.

Of course, Guo Ponu was not entirely selfish and only focused on his own affairs. She has really been helping out during this time. One day before her destination, she was still flipping through documents in the car and discussing with Guo Kang.

This car was used by Guo Kang for experiments and was a specially customized product. But after all, the carriage doesn't have much space, and there are a lot of documents, books and stationery supplies, so naturally there won't be enough room for anyone. Moreover, Guo Kang was afraid that the servants would make mistakes and mess up the documents, so he would not let them in. Currently, they were the only two siblings inside.

The foster father and his two cousins ​​​​had been riding in front, while the others had their own places. Guo Kang also rode with them several times and treated them politely several times. But everyone also knows that he is a character who prefers to use his brain, and he likes to stay in the room. Therefore, I did not continue to embarrass him, and quickly asked him to go back and continue working. He also lamented that this child worked too hard. He will probably be like Prime Minister Zhuge in the future. I hope he can do something big.

It's the same today. After having dinner in a nearby village in the morning, everyone set off on the road. Guo Kang and Guo Ponu greeted their elders as usual, then returned to the car and looked through the information they had compiled before.

"We'll be there tomorrow." Guo Kang said first: "Based on past experience, do we need to recruit enough people at once?"

"No need." Guo Ponu replied: "I estimate that three to five hundred people will be enough. We will pre-select based on five hundred people. We will look back at what the Ministry of War says and decide how many we will recruit in the end."

"Five hundred people are too many." Guo Kang doubted.

"Not much." Guo Ponu shook his head: "Before, dad brought back the news of the Zhuguo Conference. According to the current plan, we should prepare to use the main force of three legions, plus four to five thousand auxiliary troops to go Implement the entire plan. However, not all of these military forces can go to the front line."

"According to the estimates of the Ministry of War, at least one of the legions and almost all the auxiliary troops will be sent to strengthen the defense of Syria. We should only send two legions to Egypt to fight on the front line, and they are probably not full. Therefore, the quality of soldiers is very important.”

"There are too few people." Guo Kang shook his head.

"I can't help it. The situation there is a bit special. We had previously talked with the envoys of the Caliphate, Hafez's envoys, and some leaders in Syria. I asked them for records." Guo Ponu Picked up another document.

"We have always said that Egypt is a big country. I think this bigness is not the area, nor is it just the population. On the contrary, if you just look at the map, the habitable area of ​​​​Egypt is actually very small. I think it is only the area on both sides of the Nile River. At all, it may not be more common than our Henan region. However, if we march here, its key geographical location, rich material output, and various cultural and political influences will not only affect Rome. "

"What can be expected is that if we want to send troops, other nearby forces will obviously come to interfere. The various forces in Europe don't need to worry too much, but there will definitely be people in Asia who take advantage of the situation to cause trouble."

"The Turkmen tribe under the Black Sheep Dynasty has been harassing Syria on a daily basis. They should be used to it, and the locals can stop it themselves." Guo Kang said: "As for the main force of the Turkmen, they still have to deal with Shaharul As for the army - yes, can we think of a way to persuade Shaharul to also mobilize his troops? If he can attract all the Turkmens from the two rivers and the Caucasus, it will be much easier for us. "

"I guess not. I asked Stan before." Guo Ponu shook his head: "Shaharu is different from his father and doesn't like expeditions very much. When they were on a mission, they asked about possible military operations. Shaharu But he said that he would send people to Nanjing to pay tribute, and asked if we would go together. Later, they sent many gifts to Shaharul's prime minister and others, and then we found out that they even wanted to give up some controlled areas on the Persian Plateau. Reduce the number of troops so that they can go south to India - after taking over Delhi before, they are addicted. "

"If they cooperate with Yuan Ren, it might still be possible. If they cooperate with us, there is no hope."

(End of this chapter)