Chapter 27: The Central Army of the Imperial Court (Part 2)

  "The current Southern Army can be called the Imperial Guard, which is mainly divided into three parts. One part is managed by Guanglu Xun, one of the nine ministers, and includes seven offices: Wu Guanlang Office, Left and Right Lang Offices, Hu Ben Left and Right Offices, and Yu Lin Left and Right Offices. Another part is managed by Weiwei, also one of the nine ministers, including Nan and Bei Gongwei soldiers, swordsmen under the Left and Right Douhou flags, and gate guards under the various palace door officials."

  "In addition, the Colonel of the City Gates also has a garrison army under his command! Moreover, although the Temple of the Central Colonel had already transferred most of its powers to the Imperial Guard in the late Eastern Han period, it still had more than 200 mounted archers and more than 500 halberdiers. If I'm not mistaken, these are all the imperial guards currently stationed within Luoyang City."

  When Xu Shu heard Wang Xu mention so many names in one breath, she felt a bit dizzy and shook her little head, complaining: "Why are there so many formations? It's too complicated, it gives me a headache!"

  But after a long silence, he couldn't help but ask again out of curiosity: "Since there are so many troops, why is the army still so small?"

  Seeing Xu Shu's entangled face, Wang Xu couldn't help but smile. I knew that with this girl's temperament, it was absolutely impossible to give up without getting to the bottom of things! "Actually, I'm not sure about this question either. But based on what I read from the 'Hou Han Shu Bai Guan Zhi', the Tiger Bearer General led 1,500 Tiger Bearer soldiers, while the You Lin General was in charge of the You Lin Lang, with over a hundred people. The Left and Right Supervisors of the You Lin were in charge of the left and right cavalry, with over 800 people on the left and over 900 people on the right."

  "In addition, there were over 500 South Palace Guards under the command of Weiwei, and over 400 North Palace Guards. The Left and Right Imperial Marshals each had nearly 400 men, while the various palace gate captains had anywhere from a few dozen to over a hundred men. As for the five regiments of the Northern Army, the Tianqi, Yueji, infantry, and archers, there were over 700 men under the command of each regimental commander, with the Langshui Regiment being the largest at around 1,000 men. The City Gate Regiments had roughly 3,000 men."

  "Is that all?" Xu Shu asked somewhat perplexedly as she saw Wang Xu stop talking.

  "Hmm! All the troops have been deployed." Wang Xu nodded affirmatively.

  But as soon as he finished speaking, Xu Shu's bright big eyes suddenly widened in disbelief and exclaimed: "Is there something wrong? There are only so few people? What about the five officials of Langzhong and the left and right Langzhong? And it seems that there are also four Zhonglang generals in the southeast and northwest? Don't they have any subordinates?"

  "My head isn't a computer, how can I possibly remember everything?!" Facing Xu Shu's endless questions, Wang Xu rubbed the back of his head in frustration and gave her a slightly dissatisfied glance.

  After finishing, he still seriously recalled all the classics he had read. After a long time, he hesitated and continued: "I only remember that the Wu Guan Lang of the Wu Guan Lang were people with special talents over 50 years old, and there were not many in the organization. They are only responsible for rotating to guard the palace, protecting the safety of the royal family and waiting for the emperor's dispatch. As for how many soldiers there are in the left and right Lang camps, I really don't know, and it's estimated that they are about the same as other Lang camps! And the four Zhonglang generals in the east, south, west, and north are not frequently appointed, and there is no direct unit, only temporarily appointed when going out to battle, such as Lu Zhi being appointed as the Beizhonglang General during the campaign against the Yellow Turbans."

  "So that's how it is!" Xu Shu let out a disappointed sigh upon hearing Wang Xu's answer. But after a moment, her eyes sparkled and she suddenly laughed: "Then according to our current situation, those old men over fifty in the Imperial Guard are actually the legendary 'Masters of the Inner Court'?"

  "Top-notch internal expert?" Wang Xu opened his mouth, and he couldn't quite understand Xu Shu's brain either. He shook his head with a bitter smile: "I'm not sure about this either, but I used to think it was some very smart and experienced people, and they might have special talents. For example, being proficient in poison, mechanisms, formations, etc. But judging from the current strange situation where even internal energy exists, the people in the Five Officials' Office are probably the legendary top-notch guards! And they should be proficient in many extraordinary skills too."

  Actually, the problem of Wuguanlang's seal had always been a puzzle in Wang Xu's mind. He really couldn't understand why a group of old soldiers over 50 years old were brought up for nothing. Now he finally found a relatively reliable answer, although this answer is indeed somewhat bizarre, but the appearance of internal force has already overturned his previous understanding...

  "So, the central troops of the imperial court are at most around 20,000 people. This is really absurd, how can such a large dynasty have so few main force troops? I don't know how many soldiers those generals can lead to fight. Even small officers like school lieutenants and middle lang generals are enough to lead these soldiers." By the end, Xu Shu's delicate and lovely face also showed a thoughtful expression.

  But Wang Xu suddenly interrupted her daydream, "Wife, you actually don't even know common sense? Being with a history buff like me for so long, didn't you learn anything at all?"

  "What did you learn?"

  Looking at Xu Shu's bewildered face, Wang Xu painfully patted his own head and bitterly smiled: "You're still going to go to the battlefield with me soon, and you'll see those famous officials in the future. If you keep talking nonsense like this, something big will really happen!"

  He let out a long sigh and began to explain in earnest. "Wife, the Zhonglang Jiang and the school lieutenant with titles I mentioned earlier were not minor officials during the Eastern Han period. They can be said to be the real generals leading troops. As for those generals, they are not always present, only temporarily appointed when there is a war."

  Wang Xu had barely finished speaking when Xue Shu immediately retorted in doubt: "But I remember that during the Three Kingdoms period, there were many general titles?"

  "Alas! That's a matter for later. As the chaotic era began, battles were fought every day, and those who achieved merit were numerous, so naturally there was a shortage of positions. Moreover, as the scale of war expanded, this military system is simply not enough. If Cao Cao's million-strong army didn't have generals, how could he issue orders to each company commander? Wouldn't he be exhausted to death? But now the central army of the imperial court has only that many people, and a string of generals are appointed, so where can these generals be placed?"

  "So, in that case, is the Camp Commandant a high-ranking official?"

  Seeing Xu Shu's curious look, Wang Xu patiently explained: "The county lieutenant is not a big official, you need to understand the difference between the named county lieutenant and the ordinary county lieutenant. Let me put it this way, in each of the Eastern Han prefectures, there are prefectural army garrisons, right? Each prefecture has a prefectural lieutenant, and each county has a county lieutenant. Normally, they only assist the prefect or county magistrate in maintaining law and order, and during wartime, they follow orders from their superiors to join the battle. We can also call these lieutenants 'county lieutenants', but are their official positions very high?"

  Wang Xu also didn't know how to explain it in a way that's easiest to understand, because the military system of the Han Dynasty was really complicated and easy to get wrong! He had also studied for quite some time before barely understanding some of it.

  So, seeing Xu Shu still looking a bit confused, Wang Xu furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before continuing to explain: "To put it this way, the military system of the Han Dynasty was basically organized into units of five, ten, fifty, one hundred, and five hundred men. Five men formed a squad, with a squad leader. Ten men formed a section, with a section leader. Fifty men formed a company, with a company commander. One hundred men formed a battalion, with a battalion commander. Five hundred men formed a regiment, with a regimental commander who was also the military governor. Two regiments formed a division, which was also called a school, with a division commander who was either a military governor or a directly appointed colonel, and then the military governor served as his deputy."

  "The rank of Colonel is higher than that of Military Tribune, and sometimes a Colonel has several regiments under his command, so there are several Military Tribunes under him. Moreover, the number of troops in the army is not fixed, sometimes two hundred people form a regiment, and four hundred people form a battalion. In short, the formation of Han Dynasty troops is almost all based on actual needs, but basically still arranged in binary or quinary system. Understand?

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