Mythical Three Kingdoms-Chapter 1406 - 1356: Troop Transfer
After discussing the relevant matters with Liu Bei, Chen Xi discreetly took Chen Bo to the military camp outside Ye City, where Hua Xiong basically lived.
"Military zone, unauthorized persons stay away!" Before Chen Xi got within a hundred paces, a soldier shouted from afar, unlike during the New Year when someone had notified the soldiers that people were here to offer condolences. At this time, the Xiliang soldiers were still undergoing closed training.
"Notify General Hua." Chen Xi stuck his head out from inside the carriage and handed his seal ribbon to the soldier. As for reprimanding the other party, Chen Xi would never do that, after all, the soldier was just following military regulations.
The rank of the seal ribbon was unknown to the soldier, but he recognized the seal ribbon, and promptly bowed in salute, then took the seal ribbon to find Hua Xiong who was training Xiliang soldiers in the camp.
"Why has Marquis Chen come?" Hua Xiong took the seal ribbon and was momentarily stunned before he had all the soldiers, who were said to be training but were actually fighting with knives, stop immediately and had those who were blood-stained dragged to the rear camp, fearing Chen Xi might see.
After handling these matters, Hua Xiong then led a group of middle-level officers to greet Chen Xi.
"Greetings to Marquis Chen," Hua Xiong said, clasping his fists in salute, "I wonder what brings Marquis Chen here?"
"Troop deployment." Chen Xi gestured and took Liu Bei’s sword, "And it’s to Yuzhou for battle, the opponent should be Cao Cao."
"Understood!" Hua Xiong’s eyes burned with excitement, having stayed so long in the camp that he was nearly growing moss, he finally could go to the battlefield, and like all Xiliang soldiers, Hua Xiong was the typical type that becomes restless without a war to fight.
"How many troops does Marquis Chen plan to deploy?" Hua Xiong asked, "There are over 23,000 stationed in the Ye City Camp, of which 19,000 are capable fighters who can engage in combat on horseback."
"12,000 people, including 4,000 infantry." Chen Xi thought for a moment and said, taking more doesn’t actually have much meaning, and bringing infantry is mostly to ensure the completeness of Hua Xiong’s regiment.
"12,000 people?" Hua Xiong frowned slightly.
Not because it was too many, but because it was too few. The Xiliang soldiers were already restless from idleness, and staying any longer might lead to a decline in combat power; unlike other soldiers who maintain combat power through training, the combat power of Xiliang soldiers might drop slightly if they leave the battlefield for too long.
"What’s the matter?" Chen Xi saw Hua Xiong’s expression and asked, for someone like Hua Xiong, elder figures whose requests Chen Xi would ponder carefully.
"The Xiliang soldiers have been idle in the camp for too long. Back in Liangzhou, there was no such thing as training; they just took their spears to the battlefield." Hua Xiong said as diplomatically as possible.
The local customs and harsh living conditions meant the Xiliang soldiers did not have as much training time as the soldiers in Xuzhou or Yanzhou, just like how every adult man in the Bingzhou border could ride into battle, and every man in northern Youzhou could shoot arrows, entirely due to environmental factors.
"So they want to go to war?" Chen Xi raised an eyebrow and asked in return.
"Exactly. In the past in Liangzhou, if there were no wars, the various garrison commanders would register with the military advisor and lead soldiers to hunt bandits, road thugs, and foreign clans," Hua Xiong said helplessly, in Liu Bei’s domain, it couldn’t be said there were no bandits or road thugs, but they weren’t at scale! 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
Just a group of bandits a few dozen strong couldn’t even cover the travel costs for an army to suppress them. As for foreign clans, Liu Bei now has no borders with northern frontier counties.
"That is indeed an issue. Could it be they aren’t accustomed to eating well and living well?" Chen Xi asked with a smile.
"Living like this for ten years, suddenly having it good, they’re actually uncomfortable, and Liangzhou soldiers are all hardened on the battlefield; training only yields average results." Hua Xiong sighed.
"In that case, take 15,000 men; for the remaining cavalry, find someone trustworthy to help manage them temporarily, nominally under Wen Ru’s command until the Northern Campaign to Eliminate Yuan, then go along with Wen He, how about that?" Chen Xi thought for a moment and said; honestly, 15,000 men were already plenty.
"I meant having the lord appoint someone as the commander-in-chief," Hua Xiong said, having been repeatedly reminded by Li Youu and Jia Xu that too much military power should not be held.
"Lord Xuande has appointed you, and you will go with me to Yuzhou for the handover, also it’s Wen Ru temporarily managing; the person you select can only be an assistant to Wen Ru," Chen Xi said with a smile.
Hua Xiong was unclear, but Chen Xi knew very well that Liu Bei really intended for these Liangzhou soldiers, after recognition, to all be nominally under Hua Xiong’s command; regardless of acknowledgment or not, those generals of Xiliang may not be powerful enough, but they each have an air about leading cavalry.
"In that case, Zhongming, come!" Hua Xiong turned and shouted behind him, soon Duan Wei rode up on his horse.
"Greetings General, greetings Marquis Chen." Duan Wei saluted with clasped fists.
Chen Xi assessed Duan Wei; he was somewhat notorious, yet a rare figure among the Xiliang army in history who was redeemed, and if speaking of competence, he was above average, but his nature over-suspicious, now with Li Youu overseeing, he’s rather a good general.
Speaking of which, actually among Dong Zhuo’s Xiliang army, there were quite a few capable military generals; their individual combat power was average, but as cavalry commanders, their ability was rather substantial, evidenced by Guo Si leading cavalry to defeat Lyu Bu in Chang’an.
Yet, considering Li Youu’s system of advancing the capable and demoting the mediocre, such a pyramid scheme in military management, rising to the mid-upper echelons requires at least one or two astounding abilities; otherwise, it’s hard to secure one’s position.
"I thought you’d recommend Hu Feng or Hu Zhen," Chen Xi nodded to Duan Wei and said, Hu Zhen had always been Hua Xiong’s deputy, while Hu Feng was Li Jue’s only nephew still in the army, but surprisingly Hua Xiong did not recommend either.
"Hu Zhen and Hu Feng are both inferior to Duan Wei, especially when directed by the military advisor." Hua Xiong said solemnly.
"Oh, I see. How many days do you need to complete the troop and officer handover?" Chen Xi nodded to indicate understanding and then asked.
"Half a day at most." Hua Xiong didn’t hesitate, the handover of military affairs was something that back in Xiliang, due to frequent changing, Li Ru strongly ordered a leader to complete within a day during the handover.
As time went by, Hua Xiong, Li Jue, and others had long gained clarity on how to clearly and efficiently hand over their respective military duties, moreover when the replacement was someone quite familiar with the situation like Duan Wei.
"Oh, after completing the handover, you’ll meet with Lord Xuande once and then can lead your army to Yingchuan." Chen Xi was slightly surprised.
