Chapter 1433: Military Sub-district

The team searching for the Golden Autumn Gathering this year set out quite early; of course, it has now entered autumn. Although there are no obvious changes in the climate, Baifeng guesses it should be the "Autumn Tiger," but according to the calendar, it has indeed reached autumn.

This year, there is no longer a great general leading the way. Xiong no longer takes on these important tasks; he is gradually handing down his heavy burdens. He also feels it is time for him to rest and let himself enjoy a few years of comfort. He cannot be like Wu, who finally reached retirement age only to have his health fail him, unable to even leave his home—what a meaningless way to live.

He himself now just has legs that ache; when the wind blows or the rain falls, he cannot quite stand it. Using medicinal wine can only provide some relief. If he were in Huaxia City, he could go for moxibustion every few days to get some relief, and they even made him a pair of good knee pads—tiger skin—which are truly warm and very comfortable to wear, and the pain is not as bad. He didn't even want to take them off in the summer.

If he were not in Huaxia City, let alone enjoying these things, his injuries would have worsened even more. No matter how good the Tents of Huaxia are, they still leak wind where they should. Once that wind drills in and blows on his legs, it is a piercing pain. If it weren't for Huaxia and for his own little family, why would he suffer this? His power, his wealth, and his status were already enough for him to enjoy life; he could have ignored everything and still lived in comfort.

Now Shaoyin has also grown up and can support the family, so he does not need to worry too much. His own tiger sons have also grown up one by one and have their own places to go. Their work is all fine, and although it is very difficult to build a career and establish a reputation, they all look like they have a future.

It just so happens that Baifeng also needs Xiong to stay in Huaxia. Now that the training for the Huaxia City army is underway, Baifeng's requirement is that next year, Xiong will be stationed in Lema City to conduct training and management for the Lema City military camp and properly develop the military strength of Lema City.

The City Lord also has the power to mobilize the army. Baifeng is completely at ease regarding Yu, but what about after Yu? Surely someone else will have to take over Lema City; Yu cannot stay in Lema City forever. Therefore, the military strength of Lema City requires strict training and management. This task can be said to be meant for none other than Xiong. As the number two figure in the Military Department—and the actual number one figure—what difficulty could there be in him going to guide work in a place equivalent to a Military Sub-district?

The recruitment work in Lema City this year also concluded smoothly. There was one recruitment in the spring and one in the autumn. The quota for the spring recruitment was 1,500, and the quota for the autumn recruitment was also 1,500. After several rounds of screening, the quota for 3,000 Soldiers was filled.

The reason for such large-scale recruitment in Lema City is that they had never recruited before. They could only obtain a small quota given by Huaxia City. There were a large number of age-appropriate youths who wanted to join the army and wanted to perform meritorious service for the country, but they did not have the opportunity. How could that small quota from Huaxia City for the year be enough?

Therefore, once the news of this expansion and the establishment of a Military Sub-district in Lema City came out this year, how many people in Lema City were waiting! They hoped the quota could be a bit higher; three or four hundred would have been very good. After all, Huaxia City didn't have many in a year, basically in the hundreds.

Who would have thought that this first recruitment would directly release a quota of 1,500? After screening, pre-service training, and several rounds of physical assessments, 1,500 people remained. However, those who were eliminated signed up again in the autumn, and most of them successfully enlisted in the autumn recruitment.

The Soldiers who entered in the spring recruitment are now disciplined and have thoroughly developed the look of soldiers. The Soldiers who entered in the autumn recruitment still need to be trained well because they are all new recruits, so there are almost no tasks assigned to them. Furthermore, there is also a problem: the allocation of officers is insufficient.

The establishment of a Military Sub-district in Lema City is also a good thing for the Military Department of Huaxia City, because in Huaxia, they ushered in a wave of promotions. A large number of those who met the criteria, as well as those who almost met the criteria, were all promoted by one rank. In the past, this was impossible, because even if you met the criteria, you had to see if there was a position for you. If not, you could only be given the same treatment, but no actual post.

Now it is great; everyone was promoted at once. The only price is that some people need to be stationed in Lema City. They need to be responsible for the military construction of Lema City and the arrangement of military task execution, but they are very willing to do this. Now, all the officers in Lema City have been transferred from Huaxia City.

Regarding Lema City, it is naturally not as loose as other regions. If you are slightly outstanding, you can be given an Establishment System and allowed to be an official. Lema City is now a big city, after all, and education, medical care, and every aspect are not bad, so an Establishment System is also very strict.

The same goes for officers. They are short of officers. Even if they are promoted by a rank or half a rank from Huaxia City and then transferred over, they cannot let these new recruits who have just learned to march in step become officers. If you want to become an officer, then go build merit. Once you have merit, you can also become an officer step by step.

In the plan, Lema City is to eventually possess an army with a number that can be stabilized at 5,000. This year is the first year, so they must recruit in large numbers. Moreover, in the next few years, they will face large-scale wars, so the number of the army can be appropriately larger. This cap has been adjusted to 6,000.

That is to say, afterwards, Lema City can have a maximum of 6,000 Soldiers. After war attrition, replacement of old and new, and retirement due to injury or illness, it can be maintained at around 5,000.

Three years is one term. Once the three years are up, if you have not obtained any merit, have no obvious performance in regular training, and have no advantages in other aspects, you will be arranged for retirement to leave the position for others who need to join.

This year, the implementation was quite aggressive, and half the quota was cut at once. But Yu is confident in his heart. By next year, the Soldiers recruited in the spring will basically be able to go to the battlefield. In the end, there will inevitably be attrition, and the military strength in Huaxia City is empty, so Lema City must guard it. Therefore, in the first year, the number must be high.

Next year, it is expected to recruit 2,000 people in total, and 1,000 the year after. However, the plan is just that, but there will certainly be many dead Soldiers and Soldiers retired due to injury or illness. Therefore, the quota should be a bit higher. But no matter how it is arranged, it will certainly be possible to organize a powerful military force for Lema City, and only then can it fulfill the purpose set when Lema City was first built: to guard Huaxia City.