As a martial arts academy graduate with the first rank in infantry subjects, he was already a military rookie who concurrently served as the combat staff of the staff department during his studies at the imperial academy, and participated in the army strategy in the Nanyang Campaign and the Indian Ocean Campaign.
Although Ying Yikang's family background is not very good, he has won the praise of many big bosses in the military due to his down-to-earth talent.
When he was studying at the Imperial Academy, it was because of his outstanding academic performance and great talent in strategy and tactics that he was recommended by the teachers at the Imperial Academy to work part-time in the staff department.
As for the teachers at the Royal Academy, they are all senior military generals, the most junior of whom are brigadiers.
Many of them are senior military officials who have served as division commanders of main infantry divisions or even commanders of field armies.
Appreciated by them, Ying Yikang's starting point was higher than most people, even those children of powerful people could not compare with him.
And Ying Yikang is also a person who thinks very highly of himself and has great self-confidence. When he was studying at the Royal Academy, someone suggested that his own family background was not good enough, and his wife's background was not good enough, and his wife had not given birth to a son for him in the past few years.
, asking him to divorce his wife in a roundabout way, saying that as long as he was single, even a lot of military dignitaries would be happy to marry their daughters to him.
But he was flatly rejected by Ying Yikang!
This is not to say that he loves his wife very deeply. In fact, he is somewhat dissatisfied with his wife having nothing to do in the past few years, otherwise he would not have taken in several concubines in a row.
He refused because he didn't even bother to gain any background by divorcing his wife and marrying another.
Speaking of background, he also has a teacher!
This teacher also has a background and connections. Not to mention ordinary teachers, even the infantry director of the Royal Academy at the time admired him very much. And this infantry director had previously served as the commander of the 1st Infantry Division with real power in the military.
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He is confident that he can climb up even without relying on some disdainful in-law relationship.
And for such a man of extraordinary talent and great self-confidence, he was naturally content to remain gilded in a war like the Battle of Fuso, which was just an armed parade, without intervening.
It's just that soldiers have a bounden duty to obey orders. Since the superiors arranged for him to serve as the major battalion commander of the 56th Infantry Division, he couldn't refuse.
Ying Yikang had the ability to express his dissatisfaction with the Gilded Journey, but others would not be like this. In fact, most of the officers who were temporarily transferred to serve in the 15th Army and participated in the Battle of Fuso were those who spent a lot of time.
It took a little thought to get this opportunity.
Among them is Bi Zhian.
The father of Bi Zhian was one of the founding heroes of the country. His performance during the Unification War was also quite good. After the Unification War, he was promoted to the rank of Army Major General, and he also received the noble title of Baron.
However, it failed to survive the successive reforms of the Army and gradually became marginalized. In the 11th year of Xuanping's reign, he was transferred to a local area and served as the garrison commander. In the 13th year of Xuanping's reign, he was forced to become a reserve.
Bi Zhian, like many contemporary aristocratic children, regards joining the army as the best way to maintain or even revitalize the family's glory.
And his father also had great expectations for him. Bi Zhi'an had four brothers. They all originally wanted to join the army. In the end, only Bi Zhi'an, the eldest son, was admitted to the martial arts school. His three younger brothers were really
He has no talent, and he couldn't even pass the martial arts school.
If you can't pass the martial arts school, you can't just go and become a top soldier.
In the end, there was no choice but for his three younger brothers to settle down and apply for college instead, embarking on the path of civil service.
Although he was admitted to the martial arts school, not everyone is as talented as Ying Yikang. He was among the best when he was in middle school and preparatory school. After attending the martial arts school, he could continue to graduate first in the infantry department.
The school is still the first to graduate in the infantry department.
After Bi Zhi'an was admitted to the martial arts school, his grades could only be considered mid-to-lower. Among the more than 200 people who graduated in the infantry department, he ranked over 180th.
This result is not to say that he is at the bottom, but it can basically declare that his career in the army will not go very far.
Although it is said that the Tang Dynasty military did not strictly refer to the academic performance of the officers during the military academy and the ranking of the graduation examination when they were promoted, this just means that there was no complete reference. In fact, when the military was promoted, they would also tend to
Those who have better academic performance during their promotion period at school.
If there is a competition between two officers of the same period, and their merits and qualifications are equal, then the military will definitely choose the officer with a higher graduation score from the military academy.
At the same time, if two officers have the same rank and the same graduation grades, during the competition, the military will give priority to the officer who graduated earlier.
Although this is not explicitly stipulated, this is actually how it is done.
The opportunities and preferences available to those officers with excellent graduation grades are not available to those officers with average grades, even if their father is a noble.
Why does this happen?
Outsiders don't know much about it, but senior military officials basically know why they do this. This is to ensure a minimum level of fairness.
Nowadays, there are too many aristocratic children joining the army, and because of their status and background, the resources these aristocratic children have access to are far more than ordinary officers. At this time, how to ensure the promotion channels of civilian-born officers and avoid
All the channels for advancement are controlled by powerful people, which has become a very serious problem.
At that time, Li Xuan wanted the hammock number system of the Fuso people in modern times. Although the hammock number system had various flaws, one thing was very good, that is, it ensured that ordinary people could also obtain channels for advancement. Therefore, in modern times,
From the period to World War II, many of Fuso's top army and navy generals were from poor backgrounds.
Of course Li Xuan would not copy this hammock number system, it was too rigid.
However, it is still possible to make a few references. For example, when other conditions are the same, officers with better graduation grades will be given priority for promotion.
At the same time, key training will be given to students with the best graduation scores, especially young officers who rank in the top three in each subject. Li Xuan will personally give the command knife.
Just relying on a royal sword can make their military career smoother and their starting point higher.
Ying Yikang is a beneficiary of this unspoken rule.
Ying Yikang and Bi Zhi'an were classmates in the martial arts academy back then, but now, Ying Yikang has graduated from the imperial academy and became a major. What's more important is that Ying Yikang applied for the martial arts academy at the age of eighteen and was twenty-one.
He served in the field army, was admitted to the Royal Academy at the age of twenty-two, and graduated as a major at the age of twenty-five.
As for Bi Zhi'an, he was one year older than Ying Yikang. He was admitted to the martial arts school in 19 and joined the field army at the age of 22. After four years, he was still just a lieutenant.
If I have to say something consoling, he is a senior lieutenant.
Bi Zhi'an, on the other hand, is a serious nobleman, and he is also the heir apparent.
According to the empire's aristocratic system, he will be able to inherit his father's title in the future. Although the inheritance will be reduced, he will still be a lord in the future. Although his father has retired and has no good connections in the military,
If you don't want to lose face, you can still find a relationship.
Being able to be transferred to serve in the 15th Army this time was the result of his father's connections!
At the end of last year, his father learned from several old comrades that the empire's top officials were promoting the final solution to the Fuso issue. Although he did not know when the war would break out, he still made preparations in advance.
He personally wrote several letters to his old comrades-in-arms, and even one of his old subordinates.
That's why Bi Zhian was transferred to serve in the 15th Army at the end of last year, and it was not the main force like the 56th Infantry Division, but the captain of the Osaka Garrison Regiment.
However, this opportunity was obtained by operating in advance. If it were to wait until this year, the old relationship with his father might not be effective.
When Ying Yikang took the fast transport ship to Osumi County to report and take office, Bi Zhian had already been in Osaka for several months.
Bi Zhi'an, who was staying in Osaka City, was a little lucky to have arrived early. Otherwise, how could he have caught up with the Battle of Fuso and achieved military glory.
Osaka City, to be more precise, is the colonial city under the control of Datang. As one of the most important ports in the central Fuso region, business exchanges are very frequent. Many Datang trading companies have set up business offices here.
There are also many immigrants from Datang who came here to open companies and do business.
And many Fuso dignitaries, especially the daimyo, mostly purchased properties here, and even sent their families directly to Osaka City to live.
This is what creates the prosperity of Osaka!
In today's Fuso Islands region, the most prosperous one is Da Yu County, the overseas territory of the Tang Dynasty. This place is an important strategic transit point for the Fuso trade in the central and southern region of the Tang Dynasty.
Countless goods and funds from Datang and Fuso were gathered here, which created the abnormal prosperity of Dasumi County, a transit station economic model completely based on the trade between Datang and Fuso.
In addition to Osumi Prefecture, on the four major Fuso Islands, all the colonies with relatively good economies were those belonging to the Tang Dynasty. Some of the more important colonies were Nagasaki, Osaka, and Edo.
When it comes to strategic position, Osaka is the most important.
In order to seize Osaka, the Tang Empire beat all the surrounding daimyo aside, and finally captured the entire Osaka, allowing the Tang Dynasty to completely drive a big nail into the central Fuso region.
Based on the importance of Osaka, Datang also had many troops stationed here.
The first is the Osaka Garrison Regiment, which has more than 1,600 troops. Bi Zhian served in this regiment as the captain of an infantry team.