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Chapter 750 New Military System 3
The Land Guard has developed faster than the Naval Guard. It now has three guards with a total of more than 16000 troops, mainly due to the occupation of southern Annam and Luzon Island.

In order to adapt the troops to the humid and hot climate and primitive forest terrain of Southeast Asia as quickly as possible, the Naval Staff tried to recruit some local natives into the army. After more than a year of training, it was found that the effect was surprisingly good.

These indigenous soldiers are not only more adapted to the climate and terrain of Southeast Asia, but also have a more positive attitude and a very firm belief in fighting. With the salary of the Lu Zhanwei, even if the temporary soldiers can only get half, it is still a windfall in the local area, and can easily support a large family with some surplus.

In order to keep this hard-earned job, the indigenous soldiers would fight bravely in every battle, often refusing to leave the front line even with minor injuries, and they were really fighting for their lives, fearing that they would be dismissed for being lazy.

As for who the person was killed and whether he belonged to the same clan, it was all secondary to the happiness of the whole family. Even if they met their in-laws, they would swing the machete without hesitation.

Seeing this trend, the Naval Staff decided to submit a petition to the General Staff, requesting that some well-performing Annan and Luzon native soldiers be allowed to formally join the Marine Guard.

This move not only solves the problem of military resources, but also subtly changes the concepts of local people, making them increasingly identify with the Ming Dynasty, slowly integrating into it, and no longer having strong aversion to being invaded by foreign races. This is similar to the assimilation policy advocated by the emperor.

Hong Tao certainly would not object, but he also put forward a few requirements. For example, the indigenous soldiers could not be organized into a separate army, and even among the ten soldiers under the sergeant, the indigenous people could not account for more than 50%.

For example, it is best to station them in other places, and try to avoid carrying out missions in their own villages or regions, let alone force them to attack their family members. The desire for a happier life is the driving force, and there is no need for additional stimulation.

The result of the approval was that the Marines had 3000 more recruits that year, and the number was still increasing. If the Navy General Staff had not strictly enforced the quota, it is estimated that the Marines would have exceeded 30000 troops in the next few years.

In this way, in addition to the three official Marine Guards, there were more than 3000 temporary indigenous soldiers who only received half of the salary but undertook more than half of the security tasks. They were called auxiliary soldiers.

Would Nguyen Huong Giang of Annan be happy to lose so many young and strong men? The answer is that he is both sad and happy. Huang Nanping is indeed a pirate, full of bad intentions.

When recruiting soldiers in Annan, he was strongly opposed by Nguyen Huong Giang, who even wanted to file a complaint with the emperor. He did not use force to solve the problem, but adopted an exchange method.

The navy regularly sent ships to the islands south of Luzon Island, and when they spotted someone, they would go ashore and capture anyone who was still able to breathe, young or old, male or female. They would then be sent to Da Nang and handed over to Nguyen Huong Giang, who would exchange them for young and strong Annanese at a ratio of three to one.

Now Ruan Xiangjiang had no reason to object. You're worried about not having enough soldiers, right? I brought back so many people for you, and there are many young and strong men among them. After a little training, they can wear armor and hold knives to fight in the battlefield. They only need food and drink, and they don't even need to be paid.

Worried about no one cultivating the land? There was no need to worry about that. The young and strong among the captured people could be selected as soldiers, and the rest could be made into slaves or farmhands who worked all day without being paid. As for whether they would be treated as farmhands or slaves, that was none of the Navy's business.

In addition, after asking for authorization from the General Staff, Huang Nanping transferred 2000 native marines from Luzon, secretly transported them to Nguyen Huong Jiang's cargo ship and landed in Nghe An Province in the north, attacking Zheng's army in the north from behind.

In one battle, they defeated tens of thousands of enemy troops and captured more than 3000. They cooperated with the Nguyen army to capture three provinces in one fell swoop and pushed the battle line northward to Yanzhou County in Nghe An Province. The Zheng family in the north suffered such a heavy blow that it is estimated that it will take three to five years to recover. And they can't accuse the Ming Dynasty of bias. Although the fighting army is holding muskets and artillery, they are % of the appearance of Nanyang natives, not the Ming army at all. As for where the muskets and artillery came from, you can investigate it yourself. The Ming emperor is not obliged to answer every question.

Unlike the Naval Guards, the Land Guards were not split up, but became the Land Guards Command, which had three Land Guards under its jurisdiction: the Cancer Guard, the Tuolong Guard, and the Armor Guard.

Hong Tao racked his brains and, with the help of the Queen, finally found three relatively formal and meaningful names. To put it simply, they are crab, crocodile, and hawksbill turtle, three animals that are not afraid of water but can go ashore.

Li Rumei, the former general of Luzon, was appointed commander-in-chief of the land forces and was awarded the rank of General Xuanwu, a fourth-rank official; You Bukuai (Zhu Bashi), the former chief of naval staff, was appointed chief of staff of the land forces and was awarded the rank of Lieutenant Zhaoxin, a sixth-rank official.

Jieji, the former captain of the Marine Corps, was appointed as the commander of the Cancer Guard and was awarded the rank of General Wude of the fifth rank. He led the guard to garrison in Luzon and Annan, with its capital in Da Nang.

Zhu Neng (Zhu Twenty), the former captain of the Lu Zhan Wei, was appointed as the commander of the Lu Long Wei and was granted the title of the sixth-rank Zhao Xin Xiao Wei. He led the guard to garrison in Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang, with Fuzhou as its capital.

Gao Lie, the former captain of the Warrior Battalion of the Imperial Horse Administration, was appointed as the commander of the Wenjia Guard and was granted the rank of General Xuanwu of the Fourth Rank. He led the guard to garrison in Southern Zhili, Shandong, and Northern Zhili, with its seat in Weihai Port.

In addition to the two fleets and the Land Warfare Command, there is another special department in the navy, namely the Maritime Transport Office.

In theory, shipping has little to do with the military and should be managed by the civil affairs department. However, due to technical and equipment issues, this department still needs to rely on the navy for a period of time.

But there was a big disagreement in the navy over who should be in charge. The fleet and land warfare commanders were not enough for the middle and senior officers who had rich sailing experience and had experienced actual combat. No one was willing to leave the front-line troops to become a transport officer.

There are a few older and more experienced middle and low-level officials who are willing to join the Maritime Affairs Office after retiring to continue making use of their remaining energy, but most of them come from pirate and grain transport offices, and their personal qualities are not up to the level of managing a large department.

Finally, Wang Sheng was at his wit's end. He was afraid that if he picked someone blindly, he would not do a good job in the future and would displease the emperor. So he simply submitted a memorial saying that he was short-sighted and could not select a qualified person, and asked the emperor to choose one.

As a result, the next day, the oral order arrived, and the candidate was not only available, but also in the navy. Therefore, Wang Sheng was verbally criticized by the emperor, saying that he was too short-sighted and did not dare to use a capable person because of trivial matters. In the future, we must learn from the lesson, know how to use people, and be bolder.

Who is this person? Actually, it is not Wang Sheng's fault that he is too conservative. If the emperor did not say it, most of the high-ranking officers in the navy would not be able to remember it. Because this guy is a Portuguese, a former prisoner of war. Although he has joined the navy for several years, his presence is very low. So far, he is only the captain of an armed cargo ship.

(End of this chapter)