Chapter Eighteen Garrison Troops

  Yang Chengfeng's eyes sparkled as he looked at Ma Xiaoyan and said, "Miss Ma Xiaoyan has traveled thousands of miles to Wuwei, I wonder what important matter you have? Or does Second Brother have something?"

  "Prince Liao's intelligence is quite formidable!" Ma Xiao Yan said with a slight smile.

  "It's nothing, I just don't understand why Second Brother would let a beauty like Miss Ma Xiang come to this dangerous place in Wuwei. Second Brother is really not cherishing the flower." Yang Chengfeng shook his head and said.

  "It's an honor for Xiaoyan to do things for Your Majesty." After a pause, Xiaoyan said: "Your Majesty, this time I came to Wuwei is to bring gifts for you."

  Yang Chengfeng said: "Oh, is it Miss Ma Xiaoyan who gave me a gift? Or is it my second brother who gave me a gift?"

  "Of course it's for Your Majesty, King Xuan. Ma Xiao Yan is just a humble woman, how could she possibly have any good gifts to give to Your Majesty?" Ma Xiao Yan said.

  Yang Chengfeng said: "I don't know what kind of gift it is, silk or precious horses and treasured swords?"

  Ma Xiao Yan shook her head and said: "Neither, it's a silver note worth one million taels."

  "What? One million?" Yang Chengfeng exclaimed in shock. This couldn't be blamed on Yang Chengfeng's astonishment, as one million silver notes could basically cover the military expenses of the Tianlang Army's 100,000 troops for a year.

  Ma Xiaojuan was very satisfied with Yang Chengfeng's performance and nodded: "Not bad."

  "What does Second Brother want me to do?" Yang Chengfeng regained his composure. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world, and since Xuan Wang was being so generous, he must have had some demands.

  Ma Xiao Yan was surprised at Yang Cheng Feng's calmness and secretly warned herself, "The Emperor only wants Your Highness to quickly form the Tian Lang Army to resist the Mongols."

  "Is it just that simple?" Yang Chengfeng furrowed his brow. What exactly did King Xuan want to do?

  "That's right, it's just that simple."

  "Thus, I must thank Second Brother again."

  ……

  "Your Highness wants to expand the army?" Kong Zhao Wen arrived at the palace and was surprised by Yang Cheng Feng's words.

  "Not bad." With the one million two silver tickets sent by King Xuan, Yang Chengfeng's confidence was boosted. "Now our Tianglang Army has only 35,000 people, and the number is a bit small. Moreover, the tens of thousands of Mongolian iron knights in Lanzhou may advance east at any time, so we may not be able to beat them next time. Therefore, expanding the army is imperative."

  "But, Your Highness, what about the military expenses?" Wang Zuwei asked. He had been stifled in the Imperial Forest Army and was now finally able to exert his abilities in the Sky Wolf Army Corps, although his treatment was slightly lower than that of the Imperial Forest Army, he was very satisfied with his current position.

  "Don't worry about the military expenses, I have my own way to deal with it. Now I've gathered you all here to hear your opinions on expanding the army. According to the empire's military system, our Wolf Army can reach a total of 100,000 people. How many troops should we expand now and which types of troops should we expand?" Yang Chengfeng said.

  "Your Highness, the main enemy of our Sky Wolf Legion is the Mongols, so dealing with the Mongolian Iron Cavalry still relies on cavalry as the main force. I think we should expand our cavalry, and this time we defeated the Mongols and captured tens of thousands of war horses, which are enough to expand our cavalry." As the chief general of the cavalry, Wang Zuwei said first.

  "Your Highness, I also think so. However, our infantry now has only 25,000 people, which is too few. We should appropriately expand the infantry a bit." Kong Xiangwen said. Kong Xiangwen was an old general who had been stationed in Wuwei for many years and knew the Mongols very well. He knew that the empire's infantry could not withstand the impact of the Mongolian iron cavalry, and that cavalry was still useful against the Mongols.

  Yang Chengfeng was delighted that his generals were able to demonstrate their emphasis on cavalry, showing they were not conservative leaders. The purpose of cavalry is to attack, attack and attack again. If a leader is conservative, he will definitely consider infantry more important than cavalry.

  "That's it, our Sky Wolf Legion will expand by 5,000 infantry and 30,000 cavalry, making the total number of the Sky Wolf Legion 70,000, which is twice the current number. The combat strength won't decrease greatly either." Yang Chengfeng said finally.

  "Your Highness, the Heavenly Wolf Legion is composed of the former Northwestern Border Army, Blue Feather Legion, Wuwei Garrison and Imperial Forest Army. Now that there are no more garrison troops in Wuwei, will the Heavenly Wolf Legion be stationed here if a great war comes in the future?" Kong Zhao asked a question that Yang Chengfeng had not thought of.

  Yang Chengfeng was taken aback, only to realize that he had indeed overlooked this issue. Not to mention that after the expansion, the Wolf Army Corps had a total of only 700,000 people, and the Wolf Army Corps was established according to the empire's regular field army, which was his capital for competing for hegemony in the future. Letting the Wolf Army Corps guard the city was something he was unwilling to do. "General Kong, your meaning is to rebuild the Wuwei Garrison?"

  "Yes, Your Highness, the garrison of Wuwei must be built, and it can be a bit smaller, of course." Kong Zhao said.

  Yang Chengfeng thought for a moment and said: "Let's expand the Wuwei garrison by another 10,000 troops!"

  Yang Chengfeng thought that the garrison of Wuwei could serve as a reserve for the Heavenly Wolf Army, and in the future, if the Heavenly Wolf Army wanted to increase its forces, it could simply incorporate the Wuwei garrison into its ranks.

  Under the personal leadership of Yang Chengfeng, the tense recruitment work unfolded in Wuwei. A month later, that is, in September 1445, the expansion work of the Tianlang Army and the Wuwei Garrison was successfully completed, and the entire Tianlang Army and Wuwei Garrison were thrown into intense training.

  In this process, Yang Chengfeng incorporated the imperial cavalry into light cavalry, especially selecting 5,000 fine war horses from the tens of thousands of Mongolian war horses captured to form a heavy cavalry unit. This was also the first time that a heavy cavalry unit appeared on the mainland. To ensure the secrecy of the troops, Yang Chengfeng secretly established a military camp for training, and the leader of the heavy cavalry was Peng Yunlong, Wang Zuowei's deputy.

  After more than a month of busy work, Yang Chengfeng finally broke free from his busy schedule. On this day, he told Ye Er and Han Shuxiao at the Wang Mansion:

  "Yèr, Shū Xiǎo, how about we go for a spring outing tomorrow?" Han Shu Xiao had been in the Wang Manor for over a month now. On the very night she arrived at the manor, Yang Cheng Feng had already taken her as his own. After a month of pampering, Han Shu Xiao's entire being was filled with the charm of a young married woman.

  "Your Highness, is that true?" Ye Er exclaimed excitedly. Having been in Wuwei for over two months, Ye Er had never left the palace before, and now hearing Yang Chengfeng say this, her eyes were filled with excitement.

  Yang Chengfeng nodded and looked at Han Shuxiao.

  Han Shuxiao didn't have a familiar path like Ye Er and Yang Chengfeng, when she saw Yang Chengfeng looking at her, she just blushed and nodded slightly.

  "Alright, it's settled then. Tomorrow we'll go on an outing to enjoy the scenery of the northwest beyond the Great Wall." Yang Chengfeng laughed and said.