In most areas of Lapp Prefecture, the Tang Dynasty actually only established colonial strongholds along part of the coast and rivers, mainly for armed garrison and provision of supplies. In terms of immigration development, it was mainly concentrated on both sides of the lower reaches of the Lapp River.
Apart from Lapu State, the Tang Empire had only one Principality of Chile left in South America, but the Principality of Chile was quite special.
Although it is already one of the overseas territories of the empire, it is nominally the principality of Elizabeth. Elizabeth still retains the title of Duke of Chile and has greater independence in handling internal affairs.
In addition, according to the agreement between Datang and the Spanish, Datang had colonial development rights in the central and southern regions of South America. The Spanish would not enter the above-mentioned areas, and this area theoretically included the entire Argentina, Uruguay and part of Paraguay in later generations.
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However, this agreement is just an agreement between the two countries to carve up South America. It does not mean that the Tang Dynasty has actually controlled these areas. In fact, large areas of the local area are still under the control of the local indigenous people.
Therefore, the colonial rule of the Tang Empire in South America did not really begin.
It is North America that has truly launched comprehensive immigration development.
At that time, North America launched a movement toward the interior that lasted for many years, fully helping the local indigenous people move southward into the Mexican areas controlled by the Spanish.
After years of continuous operations, except for the occasional small number of indigenous people in the central inland areas, most of the other areas are on the coast, the Great Lakes, along the rivers and other areas where transportation is relatively convenient and can be reached by the Tang Dynasty people.
Basically there are no traces of the indigenous people.
If there is, then it certainly won't exist for long.
After all, the movement towards the inland has not stopped yet, and when these new immigrants from the Tang Dynasty headed inland, they all brought muskets with them.
This was also a feature of the Tang Dynasty's overseas immigration. In order to guard against attacks by local indigenous people, the Tang army would organize the young and strong immigrants to form militia.
And ensure that every village and town where immigrants gather has a militia force to ensure the safety of immigrants.
At the same time, the militia troops among these immigrants were also an important means for Datang to expand outward.
Simply using regular troops to carry out military strikes would at best be able to defeat the indigenous kingdoms, kill their armies, destroy their ruling institutions, and capture their cities.
However, no matter how elite the regular army is, it is difficult to completely clear every inch of land.
This work can only be completed by the imperial immigrants themselves, and the military will only provide them with necessary protection and support.
There are at least one million militias in North America. They surround their immigrant villages and towns, expand to the surrounding areas, and drive out every native they see.
The huge number of immigrants ensured a sufficient number of militiamen.
A sufficient number of militiamen was important, and could even be said to be the only force, to ensure the Tang Dynasty's rapid expansion in North America.
After all, the number of troops stationed by the Tang Dynasty in North America is not very large. The army troops are only about 50,000, and the navy is about 8,000. However, most of the navy are non-ground combatants such as sailors. The Marines
There are only two pitiful regiments, with a total of more than 4,000 people.
Just relying on these 50,000-odd regular troops is impossible to completely clean up the vast North America, and it is even impossible to garrison every place.
Therefore, the military adopts a model of garrisoning in strategic locations in North America, even in all overseas territories, and even in home areas.
The main force is stationed mainly in places with convenient transportation and strategically important positions. For example, the three major port cities of Sanhe Port, Xinnan Port, and Xinjinshan Port are where the Tang military's military forces are most concentrated in North America.
In addition, small and medium-sized troops are stationed in other areas with convenient transportation, mainly along rivers and coastal cities.
The strategic garrison model, coupled with the rapid maneuverability of steam ships, allowed the Tang Dynasty's army to maneuver to many places in a short period of time. Of course, it was only limited to places that steam ships could reach, and most small-scale towns
, the village needs the local militia to carry out its own tasks such as guarding and suppression.
In this way, a wider area can be controlled with fewer regular army troops.
After all, no matter how strong the Tang Dynasty's national power was, it was impossible to maintain an army that was too large without restraint.
At present, the total strength of the three major military services of the Tang Dynasty, namely the Army, Navy, and Guards, has reached more than 1.7 million. This number does not include military employment but civilian employees without military status.
And this number is still rising, and the rate of rise is very fast. According to the current situation, it is estimated that Datang's regular army will reach two million in less than a few years.
Among the current total strength of more than 1.7 million, the Guards troops occupy the smallest number, only about 100,000. This includes the escorts sent by the Guards to various overseas lords. In the 34th year of Xuanping
At that time, the Holy Emperor formally reformed the palace guards of each vassal king.
Completely integrate all the original escorts into the army and transfer them out of service.
At the same time, troops were mobilized from the local Guards to serve in overseas territories to serve as escorts for each vassal king. Each vassal king would be given a number of ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 men depending on the size of its fiefdom, the degree of threat it faced, and its strategic status.
The palace guards of the other palaces are responsible for the military expenditures of the guards. At the same time, under normal circumstances, they are under the direct command of each feudal king. The premise is that it is limited to protecting each feudal king and conducting wars with the indigenous people. It does not include fighting with the army and navy.
, other feudal princes' escorts went to war.
Because these royal guards are still under the jurisdiction of the Guards Headquarters and rotate every few years.
These royal guards are under the dual command of the Guards headquarters and the feudal prince.
The royal guards in various places also belong to the Guards system, which has led to the expansion of the total strength of the Guards to about 100,000 people.
In addition to the Guards, there is also the Navy.
The navy has a relatively large number of troops, with a total strength of about 200,000.
The reason why the number of people in the Navy is so large is purely because there are too many ships in the Navy. Regardless of the number of large-tonnage main ships in the Navy, the number of small-tonnage warships in the Navy is extremely large. These small ships also need to be controlled by officers and soldiers.
In addition, there is another reason why the Navy has a large number of people, that is, when the Navy performs tasks overseas, it often needs to be responsible for ground operations alone. Therefore, the number of Marines in the Navy has always been relatively large, and it has gradually expanded from a few thousand in the early years to tens of thousands.
People, coupled with the garrison troops of naval bases, coastal defense forts, and fortresses, have resulted in the navy having a relatively large number of ground combat troops.