Chapter 576: Who Will Be the New Regiment Commander

The term "Commander" was no stranger to Zhao Jin and his companions. The household guards and personal retainers of military officers used exactly this term to address their own master. Though these household guards and retainers were also on the military rolls, they were the officer's private subordinates, men who had faced life and death together.

But placing Zhao Jin in the position of Commander meant that everyone else would be equivalent to household guards and retainers — in an instant, brothers would become master and servant. Hearing this suggestion, Wang Zhaojing's expression stiffened. He glanced sidelong at his companions, paying closest attention to Chen Sheng, and saw Chen Sheng nod slowly. As for Shi Manqiang and Ji Xiang, they nodded vigorously.

Before Wang Zhaojing could react, the wry smile on Zhao Jin's face deepened. He waved his hand and said, "How did this suddenly turn into pledging loyalty? Do I really not trust the bond between us brothers? We still have a long road to travel together. I can't be the one making every decision — you all need to use your heads too."

"We brothers will still offer ideas, reminders, and advice, of course, but in the end, Big Brother must be the one to decide!" Wang Zhaojing said with a smile.

Zhao Jin stretched out a finger and pointed at his companions, a complicated smile on his face, but he made no sound. Ji Xiang, perhaps not noticing, simply asked with some urgency, "Big Brother, why expand only one regiment? We're short of manpower everywhere right now. Can't we do two regiments, or three?"

"It's the same old saying — others are watching us very closely. The Zhao Battalion's current structure already slightly oversteps the bounds, making many people anxious and on edge. If our numbers grow any larger, the authorities won't just sit back and do nothing. The reason we can expand by one regiment now is because we've gained the Qingjiangpu territory. Though our numbers have increased, our territory is even larger. Spread out across it, we won't attract much notice." On ordinary days, when things turned solemn among the brothers, it always felt awkward. Ji Xiang had changed the subject, and Zhao Jin seized the chance to follow up.

Ji Xiang heard this and nodded thoughtfully, then stared at Dong Bingfeng for a few moments, and also glanced at Wang Zhaojing sitting calmly to the side. In the end, he said nothing.

Zhao Jin took the opportunity to lay this topic out openly: "This time, we need to send out those camp soldiers who have performed well and earned merit to lead the new recruits. Under the current structure of the personal guard unit, the cavalry unit, and the two regiments, there are simply no positions to promote them. By establishing a new regiment now, we can promote those outstanding and capable ones. A good household guard can now serve as a squad leader; a good squad leader can become a company commander. But this regiment cannot be made up entirely of new recruits. We need to spread people out from the personal guard unit and the three regiments, mixing veterans with newcomers."

"Big Brother is right. When one person leads the same group for too long, it's easy... easy to grow slack. Our Zhao Battalion will expand its structure again in the future, and we'll always need to mix with new recruits. If we don't get familiar with it in advance, how will it work?" Wang Zhaojing stumbled over a word mid-sentence, but he recovered quickly and changed tack, continuing on.

Zhao Jin shot him a glare. Wang Zhaojing merely lowered his head. The other companions paid it no mind. Zhao Jin, of course, knew what Wang Zhaojing had been about to say — when one person leads the same unit for too long, cliques naturally form, and then all sorts of hidden dangers arise. It was just that while this was something to keep in mind, saying it outright would make things awkward.

"Big Brother, the elite troops from the mixed regiment training have been absorbed by us. As for the ones who remain — even though our Zhao Battalion looks down on them, if you send them out to the countryside, they're still top-tier fighters. The gentry and local strongmen everywhere will certainly put them to use. And if they train them using our methods, well, trying to draw a tiger and ending up with a dog — but that dog can still bite!" Wang Zhaojing, eager to change the subject, spoke up.

Among Zhao Jin and his companions, aside from Liu Yong, who came from humble origins, Shi Manqiang and Ji Xiang were from middling households. As for Chen Sheng, Wang Zhaojing, and Dong Bingfeng — and counting Zhao Jin himself — all four of their families were standard local powerhouses and great households. Though this was their background, they had always remained wary of Xuzhou's powerful gentry. The mixed regiment training was far inferior to the Zhao Battalion, but it was still a force. The Zhao Battalion was about to disband and gather up all the township braves and private soldiers across Xuzhou — this force could very well become a problem.

"No one is going to get the chance to use them. All these mixed regiment trainees will be sent to the refugee stockades in various places and made to form teams and work there. As for those here in Xuzhou, they'll certainly say the Zhao Battalion can't attend to every detail and that they need to keep some able-bodied men with blades for self-defense. They don't need to worry about that — we'll send our own people to defend them!" Zhao Jin answered very crisply.

At this, everyone grew solemn. Wang Zhaojing followed up, "Three regiments certainly won't be enough!"

"Why must the Zhao Battalion do it alone? There are so many able-bodied young men among the refugees. The best will be organized into the Zhao Battalion. The next tier will be assigned to garrison various places. These men will be the township braves of each locality. Since they have the silver and grain to support their own private soldiers, they can just as well support the ones we send over. No one can say a word against it!" Zhao Jin had thought it through thoroughly.

Everyone paused for a moment, then broke into knowing smiles. Ji Xiang chuckled and said, "With this, who could possibly turn the world upside down!"

"This is an excellent method — it won't draw suspicion or resentment, it allows us to support several thousand able-bodied men in Xuzhou, and it lets us keep every place under control. Truly killing several birds with one stone!" Wang Zhaojing nodded in approval.

When this topic had first begun, Ji Xiang had seemed on the verge of speaking but held back. As the discussion went on, Ji Xiang had drifted off in thought again. But since this was a private discussion among the companions themselves, no one paid it any mind. Still, everyone had noticed — Ji Xiang had something to say. After Wang Zhaojing finished this remark, everyone looked at Ji Xiang.

Ji Xiang himself didn't realize his expression and manner had been noticed by everyone. He was still somewhat distracted. Only when the silence fell did he sense something was off. He paused, looked around at everyone, and still had no idea what had happened.

"Do you have something you want to say?" Zhao Jin asked.

"Big Brother... well, that... who's going to be the commander of the Third Regiment?" Ji Xiang hesitated, then stammered out his question.

The question was expected, but no one burst out laughing, nor did they exchange glances. They all looked at Zhao Jin.

A regiment had ten companies, with a full complement of one thousand men. In practice, however, counting all the various support personnel, a regiment commander had over eleven hundred household guards under him. That might not sound like a large number, but on the ground in Xuzhou, such a man was already a figure of the highest order. The Xuzhou Mobile Corps Commander himself had only a little over three hundred household guards and personal retainers at his side...

To put it in perspective, the various powerful gentry and strongmen across Xuzhou could each mobilize around a thousand men in theory. But if you needed men who could be pulled out and thrown into a fight at a moment's notice, that thousand men instantly shrank to a hundred or so — and even that was only achievable by the greatest of the powerful houses. After all, able-bodied men were needed to farm the land and work to sustain the household; they couldn't be training and preparing for battle at all times. Not to mention the common folk — even among the so-called ten-thousand-strong army under the Xuzhou Mobile Corps Commander, many of the soldiers had to farm and labor in peacetime, or else they couldn't even feed themselves.

But a regiment commander of the Zhao Battalion had over a thousand men ready to fight at any moment — and these were over a thousand able-bodied young men who trained every single day without pause, who ate their fill and drank their fill, and who were well-equipped. Not to mention that these thousand-odd able-bodied young men had been on the battlefield and seen blood. Beyond that, most of Xuzhou's territory was flatland. The farthest march on foot was less than ten days. Over such distances, the Zhao Battalion didn't even need to worry about supply lines and logistics — it could strike any place within the territory.

With such numbers, such combat strength, such advantages, and on top of that the prestige of the Zhao Battalion — a regiment commander of the Zhao Battalion was naturally one of the top figures in Xuzhou, someone everyone had to treat with deference and respect.

The Zhao Battalion had the personal guard unit, the internal guard unit, the cavalry unit, and the First and Second Regiments. Though the titles of the leaders in each unit differed — some were unit commanders, some were regiment commanders — they were equal in rank, all being battalion captains. But outsiders hardly cared about the internal details of the Zhao Battalion.

In their eyes, the commanders of the First and Second Regiments each had their own sphere of authority, while the personal guard unit, internal guard unit, and cavalry unit were merely Zhao Jin's direct subordinates. Those with a bit more insight would even say that the personal guard unit, internal guard unit, and cavalry unit were much like the personal troops and household guards of the Xuzhou Mobile Corps Commander, whereas the First and Second Regiments at least counted as something on the level of a Mobile Corps Vice-Commander or a Regional Commander — men who held their own garrison and governed a territory.

Because of this perception, Shi Manqiang's father, Old Blacksmith Shi, now held very high status. Even gentry with official degrees, when they met him, would politely address him as "Lord Shi." With such an outstanding son under his roof, of course everyone had to show respect. As for Chen Sheng's side, the Chen family had always been a powerful house in Xuzhou, and everyone had always treated them with deference. The change in attitude there wasn't particularly great.

Ji Xiang's temperament was rather flamboyant and fierce. Staying by Zhao Jin's side all day, tightly reined in, naturally made him feel very uncomfortable. Furthermore, the personal guard unit was roughly six hundred men strong. Though its household guards were elite and well-equipped, its numbers were smaller than both regiments, and the two regiment commanders had far more autonomy than he did.

Of course, in the current Zhao Battalion, the training and all operations of every unit were directed by Zhao Jin. After all, three thousand men were all in a single encampment, so there wasn't much autonomy to speak of. But compared to the others, Ji Xiang was indeed watched very strictly. The others merely had it a bit easier. Any comparison revealed a gap.

With all these reasons combined, Ji Xiang naturally wanted to be this regiment commander. By his reckoning, among the brothers, if there was to be another regiment commander, there was no one else besides him. Dong Bingfeng and Liu Yong each specialized in commanding their own units, and no one could be found to replace them in those two units. Wang Zhaojing was busy with civil and clerical affairs. Only he himself was the most suitable. Compared to the First and Second Regiments, aside from the difference in scale, the personal guard unit was no different in any other respect.

Ji Xiang also knew it would be best if someone else raised the question, so he wouldn't appear so impatient. But having mulled it over day and night, when the topic came up, he simply couldn't hold back. The moment he asked, it slipped out.

Zhao Jin's answer was just as crisp: "Let Bingfeng serve as this regiment commander."

The room fell silent. Ji Xiang stood there stunned. The others were equally astonished. Even Dong Bingfeng himself looked completely caught off guard. Everyone had thought Ji Xiang was the right choice for this regiment commander. Wang Zhaojing and Chen Sheng, however, reacted very quickly. The two exchanged a glance, both smiling faintly.

Zhao Jin glanced at Ji Xiang and said, "Bingfeng has studied military strategy and is steady in his actions. I can be at ease with him as regiment commander."

Dong Bingfeng was the son of a Xuzhou Guard Thousand-Household Commander's family. He had trained in martial arts since childhood and could more or less be considered a military household's son. Among the companions, only Dong Bingfeng had received a traditional Ming-dynasty military family education. Add to that the years he had spent leading troops and fighting in the Zhao Battalion, and he was certainly suited to be a regiment commander.

Thanks to "Paper-born Cloud and Smoke, Twilight Cry, Immovable as a Mountain, Yuan Heng Li Zhen, Sweet Sugarcane" and several other old friends for their tips. Special thanks to the book friend "Immovable as a Mountain" for the generous reward. Thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly tickets.