Chapter Sixteen: Sending Out the Troops

  "That's all I have to say, everyone go back and think carefully! Now issue combat mission orders!"

  Upon hearing this, all the officers straightened their backs, lifted their heads and chests, and looked at their instructor with a serious expression, their eyes gleaming with excitement that could hardly be concealed. Three months of hard training had been for this day. Now it had finally arrived!

  He picked up the self-made folder and opened it. He looked up at the bright-eyed officers below and shouted: "Huo Hu!"

  "Arrived!"

  "Your troops will set out for Fujian, establish a base in Fujian, and our fleet will send you to 'Sansha'! After your troops have stabilized their foothold, immediately organize the troops to expand towards Yacheng, Shuimen, and Qinyu directions, gradually expanding the base while stabilizing the local area, and actively organizing the army, developing from northern Fujian province to the south, but resolutely not allowing attacks on county towns!"

  "I understand!"

  "Alright, sit down!"

  "Deputy Commander Liang Wendong of the Second Regiment!"

  "Arrived!"

  Seeing this high-ranking officer who was personally taught by himself, Huo Shan's eyes also showed a look of joy and admiration. This guy is a true military genius, although he has only been in contact with the military for just over three months, he has completed his studies with amazing talent, even the advanced teaching materials "Step Cannon Coordination" prepared by Huo Shan for high-ranking officers can often be countered with one move and three counters, it's really a rare general. So, after the army was officially formed, he also became one of the only five regiment commanders in the first batch of 200,000 troops of the Huo family army!

  "Your Second Division will land in the Swatow area of Guangdong, your five regiments of four thousand men will develop from south to north and gradually occupy the whole of Guangdong!"

  "I understand!"

  "Sit down!"

  "Commander of the Third Regiment, Huo Qiguan!"

  "Arrived!" He and the head of the General Political Department, Huo Rongguang, are also from the direct line of the Huo family, originally members of the militia!

  "Your three divisions go to Wuxuan County in Guangxi, occupy the towns and villages of Wuxuan, establish local defense forces, and expand in all directions!"

  "I understand!"

  "Commander Liu Wenqi of the 4th Regiment!"

  "Your mission, Fourth Regiment, is to capture Dien Bien Phu in Annan! When you go abroad to fight, I will allow you to occupy all county towns except those north of the Red River and along the coast, provided that you can hold them!"

  "Understood, mission will be accomplished!" Liu Wenji responded loudly with excitement.

  Look at him, Huo Shan smiled and waved his hand, "Don't be too happy! Overseas is not like domestic, where we don't have a mass base, so things won't go as smoothly as they do domestically. Your task is very arduous! Of course, there's no need to worry too much either, we also have enough advantages, Annan has been a vassal state of China since ancient times, the people there speak Chinese, use Chinese surnames, as long as we eliminate all the landlords, merchants and nationalists, then over 10 million Annanese will become Han people who support our rule."

  "I understand!"

  "Commander of the Fifth Regiment, Huo Jianguang!"

  "Arrived!"

  "Your mission is to occupy the island of Bali in Borneo and gradually develop it, where the indigenous people and the Dutch are not strong, so your task is to open up enough land to provide sufficient production materials and good fields for our future immigrants!" As he spoke, Huo Shan's face slowly turned cold.

  "I'm sure you've all seen the data on Southeast Asia. The blood feud of our compatriots requires us to avenge it, so within our occupied territory, except for women under 30 and children under 6, I don't want to see any living native people." The cold words echoed in the spacious war room, making everyone's heart feel a chill. Currently, Borneo has a population of nearly five million people, with the exception of the Lanfang Kingdom occupying western Borneo having around 500,000 Chinese people, the rest are all natives. Even if you exclude women and children, there are still nearly two million people left. Killing so many people is unbearable! However, seeing the instructor's face full of frost, no one dared to speak up to advise against it.

  Looking at the crowd's hesitant expressions, Huo Shan also didn't say anything. After all, the Lian Fang massacre that killed tens of thousands of Chinese people hadn't happened yet. It was understandable that it would be difficult for a newly formed army to accept killing so many people!

  "Establish the light, Borneo is in the tropics, with dense rainforests and a complex environment. Clearing land for farming requires manpower, and those indigenous people are lazy but also hard to come by, so let them contribute to our rule there! Besides, it's normal for a few people to die under heavy labor!"

  "Understood, don't worry, sir!" Huo Jianguang said with a nod.

  "Uh, the current combat mission is like this. When the next batch of five regiments are formed, they will be sent to other provinces for combat missions, so there's no place for you. If you want to become a division commander or army commander, then work hard to train and expand the army! Our newly established Army Officer School will give each regiment 50 training quotas per year. The appointment of battalion-level officers must be reported to the General Staff Headquarters, which has the final say. Local military commanders do not have personnel authority! Do you all understand?"

  "I understand!" Everyone stood up and said loudly.

  "Alright, now disperse, officers assigned to combat tasks go back and prepare! Depart on time three days later!" On April 1st, 1880, this day that would be forever remembered by future generations, the Chinese People's Army, which expanded territory and brought the glory of the Han people to new heights, was formally established in Taiwan!

  ——————

  In Taiwan in spring, the nights are cool and the sea breeze from the west brings a salty taste of seawater, driving away the heat of spring.

  Soft moonlight poured over the land, the mountain villa shrouded in silver gauze had become quiet, except for the loyal guards on duty, almost everyone had entered the realm of dreams! However, at 10 o'clock at night, it was not yet time for Huo Shan to rest.

  "Master, the fleet you need has been prepared and will arrive at Keelung in three days!" Huo Long, who was attending this kind of meeting for the first time, felt a bit uncomfortable, but his good education helped him adapt quickly.

  "Hmm, very good! Yunfeng, how's our army equipment now?"

  "When the young master asked, Li Yunfeng, who was already the Minister of General Logistics Department in charge of military equipment research and development and procurement, said as if it were a trivial matter: "The 80-style rifle has been equipped with half of them, each with two hundred rounds of ammunition, five hand grenades, three sets of combat uniforms, 80-style steel helmets and other individual combat equipment have all been distributed! However, our mortar is newly developed and there is not enough steel, so only ten mortars and three bases of ammunition are allocated to each regiment. Other new equipment including pistols, machine guns, infantry artillery has already had samples, as long as there is sufficient steel, it can be quickly equipped with troops!"

  "Now, being able to achieve this level is already quite good. Our heavy industry has just started, and the large batch of equipment ordered from Europe will take almost a year to return home and start production! Therefore, in the future, our ordnance factory's main task will still be to produce rifles, bullets, hand grenades, and a small number of mortars!"

  "Got it! Young master!"

  "Skilled workers are our treasure, their interests must be safeguarded. Moreover, the R&D funds invested in the factory can only increase and not decrease, whatever is needed can be approved by Mr. Fu!"

  "Yes, young master! Yunfeng remembers!"

  "Huo Lang! How's your military intelligence agency coming along?"

  "Following the young master's orders, we have already set up our informants in Taiwan, Fujian, Guangdong, Annan, Hainan Island and Borneo. In coordination with the Huo family's inns and shops in various places, our intelligence agency is confident to provide support for future military actions!"

  "Looks like you're doing a great job, Huo Lang!" Huo Shi said with a smile.

  "Hehe, thanks to the young master's 'Yan Wang', otherwise I wouldn't have been able to develop so quickly!" As he said this about his work achievements, the originally serious-looking guy couldn't help but crack a smile!

  "Huo Lang, remember that 'Yan Wang' can only be used abroad, not domestically. It's for foreigners, not our own people! If anyone disobeys this principle, I won't forgive them!" Huo Shan said with a cold expression. The so-called "Yan Wang" was the white powder obtained by repeatedly refining opium, and in later generations it would have a name that made people shudder: 'hailuoyin'. Although it was an evil thing, for his own ideals, Huo Shan still released it.

  "Yes, Huo Lang remembered!" Having witnessed the miserable state of addiction after taking 'Yan Wang', he also understood that Young Master would make a decision.

  For the sake of formality, I agreed without hesitation!

  "After that, the money earned by 'Yan Wang' will be used as the expenses of your Military Intelligence Bureau, and the rest will all be handed over to Fu Bo, as our development fund!"

  "Got it, young master!"

  "Huo Tian, Huo Di, Huo Xuan, Huo Huang, Huo Hong, Huo Huang, you six are now in charge of the family's business in various places. From now on, the logistics supply of the garrison troops in various places will be your responsibility! Moreover, you also need to recruit refugees from various places and send them to our occupied areas in Southeast Asia, understand?"

  "Don't worry, young master! We know what to do!" The six of them said in unison.

  "Zheng Qing, as the Minister of General Logistics Department, you need to pay more attention to the replenishment and transportation of firearms and ammunition! After all, we don't have military factories in various places, everything relies on Taiwan's supplies, your logistics department has a heavy task!"

  "Master, rest assured that the logistics department will do its best to ensure the logistical support for the troops!" Wang Zhengqing was very clear in his mind that in terms of military talent, he couldn't compare with other field army officers, and at his relatively old age, there was little room for progress in military affairs. If it weren't for Master's trust, he wouldn't have reached this position either. Therefore, Wang Zhengqing, who was deeply moved in his heart, secretly decided that the only way to repay Master's trust was with his own perfect work.

  Huoshan did not know that he had won the loyalty of his subordinates. When he chose Wang Zhengqing as the head of logistics and Li Yunfeng as the head of equipment, what he valued was not their military talent, but their management skills. After all, there are many people who can fight wars in this era, but those who can sort out the massive logistics supplies, diligently promote new equipment research, and turn the results into new equipment are indeed rare.

  "Huo Shi, Huo Rongguang, the next task is the heaviest for you two. As the highest leaders of the military department, you must firmly grasp the direction of the army's advance and ensure that every inch of land occupied will be held. In the several directions where we are about to deploy our troops, the Qing dynasty's army and the indigenous people of Southeast Asia are far from being our match. Therefore, our main task at this stage is to unconditionally execute all the policies we have previously formulated, make great efforts to carry out ideological education work, use the army's large melting pot to cultivate enough local officials for us, and ensure that every village chief and town mayor are retired soldiers who have undergone political education in our military!"

  "Alright, you guys have been apart for a long time, take this opportunity to have a good chat, otherwise when you get busy later there won't be much time to gather together!" Huo Shan said finally.

  "Ouch!"

  Just as everyone was about to get up and leave, a lovely little head suddenly poked in from the open door crack.

  "Ping'er, come here! Accompany Young Master to sleep!" Ho Shan said with a relaxed and playful tone after just finishing arranging the task.

  "Pfui! Young master, you're shameless!" The little maid's pretty face instantly turned bright red, and after a snort, she turned around and ran out.

  Seeing the strange eyes of the crowd, Mr. Huo rubbed his nose awkwardly, feeling a little excited in his heart and not paying attention to the occasion. This is quite embarrassing!

  "Hey, young master! Ping'er is still little, don't bully her!" Huo Feng said with a smile, his maternal instincts flaring up.

  "No way, how could it be!" Mr. Huo waved his hand repeatedly.