However, what is shocking is not the establishment of the First Brigade, nor is it the promotion of Hao Bainian to major general, because after the Battle of Tonggu Acropolis, if rewards are given based on merit, it is normal for Hao Bainian to be promoted to another level based on his merits.
After all, many people have been promoted to colonel. For example, Li Chunjing, Fang Xitong, Wang Shanxu, and Zeng Ziwen were promoted to colonel on the first day after the end of the war. At that time, the battle was actually still in its infancy.
It’s the final stage!
With Hao Bainian's military exploits and even seniority, it was a natural thing for him to be promoted after the war, but it would be strange not to be promoted.
The establishment of the first brigade is normal. After all, the scale of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty is getting larger and larger. It is normal to establish another brigade above the infantry regiment, and even the establishment of infantry divisions in the future.
They were shocked because in this imperial edict, Li Xuan also established a second brigade with jurisdiction over the third infantry regiment and the fourth infantry regiment, but the position of the brigade commander was vacant.
Emperor Li Xuan did not immediately decide on the candidate for the commander of the second brigade!
This is the second brigade commander in the new army of the Tang Dynasty, and it is also the only brigade commander in the near future!
Hao Bainian and below, all the senior generals in the New Army of the Tang Dynasty are looking forward to it!
Needless to say, Li Chunjing, Fang Xitong, and Wang Shanxu are now colonels and commanders of the main infantry regiment. There is great hope for them to continue to advance to the rank of brigade commander!
Even Huang Xueren, Fang Dongquan and other veterans are looking forward to it!
Even Zeng Ziwen, the director of the Operations Department, used the excuse of reporting military information to request an interview as soon as the imperial edict was issued!
What he was doing was nothing more than the throne of the Second Brigade Commander. He wanted to be promoted to a general, so as to become a real senior general in the new army of the Tang Dynasty, and reach the pinnacle of his life!
For a time, those in the New Army of the Tang Dynasty who thought they were qualified to be promoted to the position of commander of the second brigade frequently used various reasons to request interviews. In addition to expressing their loyalty to Li Xuan in a circumstantial manner, they would also talk about the situation in detail.
His experience on how to lead a large corps in battle, etc., is to make himself a candidate for this second brigade, at least as a backup candidate.
However, Li Xuan did not decide on the brigade commander of the second brigade for a while, and was indifferent to the hints of his generals. Instead, he was more concerned about the preparations for the first and second brigade, and how to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the fifth infantry regiment.
Solve equipment problems.
Today, among the five main infantry regiments of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, the Fifth Infantry Regiment is still directly under the Privy Council, as are other artillery battalions, baggage regiments, and cavalry battalions.
Li Xuan was preparing to establish brigades, and there were two brigades at the beginning. This was Li Xuan's preparation for the subsequent establishment of a formal strategic unit "infantry division".
After the scale of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty continued to expand, it would eventually have to establish high-level command units such as brigades, divisions and even corps. Otherwise, Li Xuan would not be able to effectively command these troops even with three heads and six arms!
According to past battles, with the current size of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, even if it is organized into an infantry regiment of more than 2,000 people, Li Xuan still has no way to directly command each infantry regiment. Such command is more troublesome and too efficient.
Lower.
During the battle at Tonggu Acropolis, Li Xuan actually commanded the troops by directly commanding the forward troops, the Chinese commandos, the Chinese army and other troops. He did not directly command the infantry regiments. Otherwise, he would not be able to effectively command them.
An army of ten thousand people fights.
The brigade-level establishment is now established to better adapt to the war situation, and at the same time, it can be regarded as giving Hao Bainian a large enough platform to display his talents!
This Hao Bainian should be the first high-ranking general with potential and ability that Li Xuan has discovered in the new army of the Tang Dynasty so far. According to Li Xuan's training plan for him, this Hao Bainian's future is far beyond
He is the commander of an infantry regiment and a candidate for division commander. The current brigade commander is just a transitional one.
Besides, apart from Hao Bainian, to be honest, he doesn’t have any available talents!
As the saying goes, a thousand armies are easy to get but a general is hard to find. Today, Li Xuan is also trapped in the fact that he does not have high-quality senior generals under his command!
After the official establishment of the first brigade and the second brigade were issued, it immediately caused a shock within the New Army of the Tang Dynasty. Many senior generals were eagerly awaiting the throne of brigade commander of the second brigade.
Because this is a general position!
At present, in the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, Hao Bainian, who has the most outstanding military exploits and outstanding talents, serves as the commander of the first brigade and has been awarded the rank of major general. Everyone is convinced by this and has nothing to say!
But who will be the second brigade commander and second major general?
They didn't know. In fact, let alone them, even Li Xuan himself was very troubled because the generals under his command, except for one Hao Bainian, were actually not very suitable to be the brigade commander. Otherwise, before,
He has already started training, for example, first promoting the military rank to colonel, and then giving him the opportunity to command a temporary large corps, so that he can smoothly grow and be promoted to major general, and then serve as brigade commander.
In fact, except for one Hao Bainian in the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, Li Xuan actually didn't like anyone else. He was also very hesitant about the choice of brigade commander for the second brigade. Basically, he thought no one was suitable.
, that is the candidate for the brigade commander of the second brigade, many people will take this opportunity!
But this also created a situation, because except for Hao Bainian, Li Xuan felt that no one was suitable, so many senior generals had the opportunity to serve as the commander of the second brigade. After all, since the second brigade has been established, after all,
A brigade commander is needed.
But Li Xuan was not in a hurry for a while. Anyway, there were still a few days. Although the brigade commander of the second brigade had not yet been established, the brigade headquarters of the second brigade had already been established.
This time, in order to strengthen the command capabilities of the brigade, Li Xuan assigned the brigade a deputy brigade commander, a chief of staff and a combat staff officer.
At the same time, the position of chief of staff was also established in the infantry regiment to further strengthen command capabilities.
The chiefs of staff of the two infantry brigades were transferred from major-level senior staff officers in the operations department, while the staff officers of the infantry regiment were transferred from young and promising lieutenants.
At the same time, the deputy brigade commander of the second brigade also arrived soon. This person was Huang Xueren. Interestingly, the deputy brigade commander of the first brigade was Fang Dongquan.
The appointment of these two people basically eliminated their desire to become brigade commanders!
Appointing these two people as deputy brigade commanders can be regarded as a compromise by Li Xuan. According to his thoughts, these two people will actually end up being a battalion commander. However, they are both veterans of the founding of the country. The Tang Dynasty was only a few years ago.
When there are hundreds of people, they become the generals of one party.
In order to avoid giving people the negative impression of treating veterans harshly, adding insult to injury, and doing everything possible, Li Xuan had to continue to promote them, but this promotion could not give them actual power.
Give them the command of a brigade with five to six thousand troops, let alone the brigade, even the position of commander of the infantry regiment. Li Xuan is not going to give them the position, because in this case, Li Xuan will not trust anything he says!
Therefore, a colonel and deputy brigade commander who has a prominent position but does not have much real power and will not cause much negative impact is the best choice.
Regardless of what Huang Xueren and Fang Dongquan thought, they were promoted from colonel to colonel, and also served as deputy brigade commander.
Several others continued to stare at the position of brigade commander of the second brigade!
And this matter cannot be delayed forever. After resting for a few days in the Tonggu Acropolis, when Li Xuan got the forward of the Ming Army from the West Road and officially entered Liping Mansion, he finally made a decision, because this
At that time, he will lead his army to march westward, and he cannot let the position of brigade commander of the second brigade remain vacant.
After detailed consideration, Li Xuan finally decided to let Fang Xitong serve as the commander of the second brigade.
To be honest, before Fang Xitong, he had considered several people, such as Li Chunjing, Zeng Ziwen, and even Wang Shanxu and Bai Yunqi.
However, these people all have their own shortcomings. The first is Li Chunjing. This person is talented and quite outstanding, but his personality is too strong and he has a history of acting without permission. Li Xuan is quite worried about him messing around.
, one person might have ruined the Second Brigade of more than 5,000 people!
According to Zeng Ziwen, this person's qualifications, prestige and even theories are very sufficient, but his crying performance in Luohu Valley is unforgettable by many people. Li Xuan felt that this person had only empty theories, but let him actually lead
If we fight, it is very likely that we will repeat the disastrous defeat in Luohu Valley.
Wang Shanxu simply said that his ability, loyalty, and qualifications were sufficient, but what Li Xuan was dissatisfied with was that this person's knowledge of military theory was too lacking, and he was illiterate. He relied entirely on instinct and experience to fight. How could such a person be used?
, which is also a lot of trouble.
People like the brigade commander need to lead troops to fight alone, and need to make many tactical and even strategic choices on their own. Just relying on instinct and experience is not enough.
After much deliberation, he chose Fang Xitong. This person's abilities were not too strong, at least not as strong as Li Chunjing's, but he still had some abilities. At least he was more than enough to be a group leader.
The experience and qualifications are not as good as Wang Shanxu’s, but they are not lacking either!
This person is average in all aspects, not too outstanding, but not too bad either!
And this person also has an advantage that Li Xuan admires very much. This person is very loyal, and never forgets to show this loyalty. This kind of loyalty can even be described as foolish loyalty. He would rather the army be defeated miserably than
Disobey Li Xuan's orders.
This kind of behavior makes people think that he doesn't know how to adapt!
But this kind of inflexibility is what Li Xuan needs!
Compared with ability, qualifications, and prestige, loyalty is more important to Li Xuan!
So after some weighing, Li Xuan chose the taller one among the short ones, and finally chose Fang Xitong!