Chapter 210 Ding Liao Army

Liaodong, Dagaoling, Central Army Camp.

Nie Shicheng looked at the telegram just sent by Wei Jichen and touched his beard helplessly. Nie Shicheng was promoted to the governor of Zhili because of his military exploits.

China and Japan are now negotiating on the issue of southern Liaoning. Once the negotiation is successful, Nie Shicheng will lead his troops back to Lutai, Tianjin, and the imperial court has also sent an order.

After Nie Shicheng returns to Tianjin, he will select and train 32 battalions of cavalry and infantry and organize them into Wuyi Army, so he is now busy preparing to return to defense.

"General, what is the matter with Wei Jichen's call?" Feng Guozhang, a staff member, saw that Nie Shicheng was silent for a long time and asked curiously.

"He asked me to recommend one or two talents for him to Dingliao Army so that he can use them to train the new army." Nie Shicheng looked at Feng Guozhang with a strange look.

Feng Guozhang was surprised to see Nie Shicheng like this. It can't be!

Nie Shicheng did not disappoint him and continued, "He also mentioned you by name and said that he admires you very much."

Feng Guozhang quietly swallowed his saliva and asked, "What does the general mean?"

"Of course I have no problem. Since Zijie said so, I have to give him face. It depends on your own wishes." Nie Shicheng said with a smile.

Feng Guozhang clasped his fist and said, "Everything is up to the general's orders."

Feng Guozhang naturally had his own plans in mind. Wei Jichen's Dingliao Army must be expanded with his Weizi Army as the backbone, but the Weizi Army was originally small and there were not many talents available. If he went to the Dingliao Army, he would definitely be reused.

But the Wuyi Army that Nie Shicheng wanted to train was different. The Gongzi Ten Battalions were full of talents, so he didn't have to squeeze here and get hurt.

Seeing Feng Guozhang agreed, Nie Shicheng smiled and nodded, saying, "In that case, you should prepare and go to Haicheng first. Now the Weizi Army is stationed in Haicheng. I believe that Zijie will select some veterans in Liaodong in addition to selecting soldiers from the various camps in Tianjin. You should go to help Li Yunfei first and wait for Zijie to come back to make arrangements."

"Yes, General." Feng Guozhang was delighted. Nie Shicheng's actions would allow him to gain a foothold in the Dingliao Army as soon as possible.

There were no job fairs in this era, nor were there good mechanisms for selecting generals. Generally, people would ask acquaintances to recommend them, or go to recruit them after hearing their reputations. Therefore, Nie Shicheng was not surprised at all by Wei Jichen's actions.

What's more, the Weizi Army was originally a branch of his Gongzi Ten Camps. Asking for people from him was like asking for people from his mother's family.

Haicheng was a big city in Liaodong. Since the signing of the contract, Song Qing moved the headquarters back here, but only left one army in Gaiping.

Li Yunfei has been managing Haicheng for quite some time, so the Wei army naturally returned to defend here.

Just when Nie Shicheng received Wei Jichen's telegram, Li Yunfei also received an urgent telegram with similar content.

Li Yunfei immediately summoned the generals of the Wei army to discuss the matter, including Wang Shizhen, Zhang Meng, and Zhao Hu.

Now, some small matters of the Wei army are generally decided by these people, and some major matters will be telegraphed to Wei Jichen.

"Everyone, I believe everyone knows that the court uses our Wei army as the backbone and expands it into the Dingliao Army. It is a serious matter, and the general is not here. We should do our best to make preliminary preparations." Li Yunfei said with a smile.

Several people nodded solemnly.

Li Yunfei continued, "Now the most important thing is to select elite soldiers. Our Wei army originally had more than 4,000 soldiers. The military commander is still selecting 6,000 elite soldiers in Tianjin. The rest of the soldiers will be selected by us here."

Everyone agreed and was speechless. It was really difficult to select here. First, Song Qing himself had to select elite soldiers to reorganize his Yi army. Second, he had to select from some troops that would be disbanded. These troops had fought side by side with the Wei army, which was a bit embarrassing.

"I have already talked to Jiang Guiti, the commander of the Gui army. Jiang Guiti is willing to lead his army to join our Ding Liao army." Li Yunfei first told a good news. Because the soldiers in the Gui army were recruited not long ago, it was inevitable that they would be disbanded. Jiang Guiti also joined Wei Jichen willingly, but Li Yunfei only selected 500 strong men from them, and sent the rest home.

Wang Shizhen also smiled and said: "General Xu is also willing to lead the guards to join us. We will select more than a thousand people. In this way, we have to select 3,000 people from other armies."

Li Yunfei didn't expect Wang Shizhen to do such a big thing without saying anything. He couldn't help but look at him with admiration. This guy looks deep, but he really has something in his stomach.

"These 3,000 people can be obtained by relying on the relationship between the military and Song Shuai, but it is difficult to guarantee whether they are elite." Li Yunfei frowned and said.

Song Qing's Yi Army originally had a large number of people, and later he accepted the defeated soldiers from Dalian Bay, Lushun, Jinzhou and other places, which was even larger, but the quality was mixed. Song Qing did not need to select soldiers from other places, and it was more than enough to select from his own army.

Li Yunfei and others first chose to select soldiers from the Huai Army system, and then to ask for some people from Song Qing, and finally to consider Nie Guilin and other original Sheng Army Zhenbian Army system.

"If we can invite General Ma Jinxu, even if we get more than 3,000 miscellaneous soldiers, it is not unacceptable." Li Yunfei said.

"Leave this matter to me. General Song has many talented people under his command. I believe he will help with this small favor." Wang Shizhen volunteered.

Li Yunfei nodded, paused for a moment, and then said, "Oh, I almost forgot that the general asked us to look for these people in Liaodong."

Li Yunfei raised the telegram in his hand, and Wang Shizhen took it and saw several names on it: Cao Kun, Wang Yingkai, and He Zonglian.

Wang Shizhen couldn't help but smile and said easily, "He Zonglian and I were classmates at the Tianjin Military Academy at the same time. I am still in contact with him. He is now a battalion officer and is stationed in Niuzhuang with his troops. It seems that the other two are also graduates of our Military Academy. This is easy to do. As long as I contact the instructors of the academy, I can find out where the other two are."

My dear, there is more to this chapter^.^,

"I have already found out about Cao Kun. He is now a sentry officer in the Yi Army and a subordinate of General Song Desheng." Li Yunfei immediately added.

Hu Zi said in surprise: "Damn, such a troublesome matter fell into your hands, and you managed to solve it in a few steps."

Li Yunfei and Wang Shizhen smiled at each other.

Meng Zi shouted: "I don't care about the others. After you select all the soldiers, I have to select the elite among the 500 elites. Now my fire brigade has the least number of people."

Tianjin, Dagukou.

Wei Jichen led several newly recruited generals and officials, including Ruan Zhongshu and Yan Dunyuan recommended by Li Hongzhang, who were some civilian officials who could stay in the camp office to serve, and some leftovers left by Yuan Shikai from Tianjin Wubei Military Academy, including Li Chun and Cheng Guangyuan.

Li Chun's second brother-in-law Tan Qingyuan was a captain in Nie Shicheng's 10th Battalion. He himself had stayed in the 10th Battalion and was later recommended to study in Tianjin Wubei Academy. Because he was proficient in German drills, he stayed in the hall as a classmate to assist in teaching military drills.

Yuan Shikai wanted to hire him as a teacher, but Wei Jichen arrived soon after. With the above reasons, he naturally chose Wei Jichen.

Wei Jichen and others came to select soldiers accompanied by Luo Rongguang, the general of Tianjin Town.

At this time, the army assembled at Tianjin Dagukou, Qinhuangdao, and Chengzikou had no less than 200 battalions and more than 100,000 troops. Of course, most of the soldiers here were newly recruited soldiers. The war was over before they participated in the war.

Wei Jichen selected more than 6,000 elite soldiers from the 100,000 troops. Of course, he picked the best choice.

Luo Rongguang respected Wei Jichen's anti-Japanese behavior in Liaodong and cooperated with him very much. Soon he summoned the army generals assembled at Dagukou and waited for Wei Jichen's dispatch.

"Dagukou is worthy of being the best sea defense in the world. General Luo built this place as solid as an iron barrel. Even if the Japanese really come to invade, I believe that with this solid fortification, they can resist." Wei Jichen admired as he walked.

He admired Luo Rongguang, who died in the Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China, although this has not happened yet.

Luo Rongguang trained his soldiers very strictly, and he could eat and wear the same clothes with his soldiers on weekdays, so he had a high prestige in this area.

"The country is weak, foreign enemies are bullying, and we have to cede land and pay compensation. As a national general, I feel deeply ashamed. I hope Admiral Wei can train the Dingliao Army into an elite force and recover the lost land as soon as possible." Luo Rongguang solemnly entrusted.

"Be careful, even if I work hard and die, I will train a strong army. You and I are both soldiers, and we are responsible for defending the land. We should work together to guard the country." Wei Jichen said with a firm face.

"General Wei, General, the soldiers have gathered in the playground, waiting for you to go and select them." Luo Rongguang's deputy general Han Zhaoqi came forward to report.

Wei Jichen nodded as an answer, and several people quickened their pace.

Luo Rongguang asked, "I don't know how Admiral Wei selects elites?"

"Anyone who wants to join my Ding Liao army must not smoke opium first." Wei Jichen had already drafted the rules a few days ago, and now he just needs to follow the rules.

Now opium is rampant in the army, and Wei Jichen doesn't want his army to become double-gun soldiers, so the first condition is that they cannot smoke opium.

Luo Rongguang nodded slightly and continued to ask: "Apart from this, are there any other requirements?"

"If there are people who can read and write, they will be selected first. The physical conditions can be relaxed, and then those who are strong and healthy will be selected." Wei Jichen stated his three most important conditions.

Luo Rongguang now had an idea in mind, and soon, a group of people came to the playground.

But there were more than 10,000 soldiers standing densely. Wei Jichen would select 2,000 people from here, and then go to other places in Tianjin to select the remaining 4,000 people.