And the scope of the campaign was very wide, from the northeastern region of Hebei, and then to Liaoxi Province, Liaodong Province, Northeast Province, almost the entire Northeast region.

If there is no real military boss at the top, and the general-level boss is pressing, it is simply impossible to command so many troops and conduct such a wide range of operations.

As for the candidate for the commander of the Northeast Zhengyi, Li Xuan has been considering it since last winter, and it is not until now after the Lantern Festival in the eighteenth year of Xuanping that it is decided.

This person is Fang Xitong, outsiders contemptuously call him the general of the same army in the Tang Army, and paraphrase the statement of the same jinshi, saying that Fang Xitong is not an army general at all, at most he is just a general of the same army......

Speaking from the heart, this person's military talent is not good, at least in the Tang Army, which is full of talents, it is not very good!

But there is one thing about this person that Li Xuan appreciates, that is, this person is very loyal, his loyalty can even be said to be the kind of foolish loyalty, Li Xuan asked him to do whatever he wanted, he would do it, so that the army of 100,000 would be wiped out, and he would not frown even a little!

This kind of almost pathological foolish loyalty also allows him to maintain his status in the talent-rich Tang Army!

When the Tang Dynasty was still nesting in Guizhou and Guangxi Provinces, he was the major general and brigade commander of the Second Infantry Brigade of the main force, and then the commander of the Second Army, which was the earliest batch of army commanders.

He was also one of the first army commanders to be promoted to lieutenant general.

His career in the army is not commendable in terms of military achievements, far less dazzling than Hao Bonian, Li Chunjing, Chen Keqiao and others, but he has always served in the field army, and he has always held military power from beginning to end.

Although his military rank has not changed for more than ten years, he has always been a lieutenant general, but he has served as the commander of five armies, even a few years ago, he really can't press his rank, after Li Xuan promoted him to general, he was still not transferred back to the Gyeonggi Privy Council, but as an army general, he was exceptionally concurrently the commander of the First Army.

Take control of more than 100,000 troops in the four provinces of Zhili, and become the commander of the outer defense line of the Gyeonggi region of the Tang Empire!

This person is not dazzling in terms of combat performance, and many people in the outside world don't even know that there is such an army general as Fang Xitong in the Datang Army!

But in Li Xuan's heart, the importance of this person is no less than Hao Bonian, and even more important than Hao Bonian.

Most of the other high-level military officials also know the particularity of Fang Xitong, so over the years, in fact, many army generals have also complained about Fang Xitong, this person has no fart ability, and he has not won a few battles, but he has always controlled the whole army, and in recent years, he has made an exception as an army general and concurrently served as the commander of the First Army.

This kind of treatment, even Hao Bonian has never had!

Since the empire completely unified China, Hao Bonian basically did not control the actual military power, and lived idle in Jinling City for seven or eight years, that is, he became the minister on duty in the last two years, and then regained power.

And Li Chunjing, Chen Keqiao, these generals who were frightened when the former Ming monarchs and ministers heard it, are now all able to grow flowers and raise birds in Jinling City, and their names are that the Holy Son of Heaven treats meritorious heroes well and lets them enjoy glory and wealth, but the conscience of heaven and earth, they are all still about forty years old, and they are at the most golden age of a general.

But it can't be helped, that's the reality!

Now in the imperial military circles, except for Fang Xitong, the other field army commanders are all lieutenant generals, and the division commanders and brigade commanders are all major generals, and there is no general-level general who leads the troops outside.

After Li Xuan was unified in China, he recalled most of the high-ranking meritorious generals back to Jinling City, and awarded the rank of army general, either the position of the minister of the department, or the title of deputy envoy of the Privy Council, the title is the marquis, and there are several dukes, but this is all, it is impossible to continue to lead the troops.

If any of the three people Hao Bonian, Li Chunjing, and Chen Keqiao were allowed to lead the troops outside, to be honest, Li Xuan would have to worry that they would lead the troops to Jinling City that day.

If they lead the troops to rebel, there are really not a few generals in the Tang Army who can compete with them!

For example, Li Chunjing, this person is as cunning as a fox with soldiers, and ordinary people can't keep up with his thinking at all.

Back then, the Ming army was turned around by him, if one day he led the troops to rebel, Li Xuan probably had to be afraid, if he sent a general like Fang Xitong to fight against Li Chunjing, I am afraid that Fang Xitong and the whole army were annihilated, and he didn't know how to defeat himself!

Therefore, Li Xuan felt that it was better for Hao Bonian, Li Chunjing, and Chen Keqiao to stay in Jinling City to grow flowers and raise birds, at most, like Hao Bonian, to participate in politics and discuss politics, and change from a general to a politician.

As for leading troops to fight, as long as there are no major changes, such as the crisis of national annihilation, they don't expect to be able to lead troops to fight.

In fact, Li Xuan didn't plan to do anything about the Northeast Expeditionary Command, but the situation in the Northeast was more complicated, and there was no choice but to do it temporarily.

What's more, Li Xuan is also preparing to take this opportunity to integrate the current command system of the Tang Imperial Army, and now there are seventeen armies in the Tang Dynasty, theoretically each army is complex in one direction, but it is even more troublesome when there is coordinated operations.

In the future, as the empire builds troops in the South Seas and the Western Regions, there will inevitably be a larger range of defense areas, so it is inevitable to establish a higher-level command structure above the military-level troops.

It is an inevitable development to turn the army into a real field army, and to let a higher-level command replace the functions of today's army-level command.

In addition, this will allow for the placement of more generals at the rank of general.

What happens when there are more generals?

It will share the prestige and power of the existing dozen active generals.

In other words, after there are more generals, these generals will be worthless, and the influence of Hao Bonian and Li Chunjing and others will continue to decline.

Although Li Xuan may also grant the rank of marshal in the future, it must be after Li Xuan can completely divide the influence of the existing generals in the army.

At that time, the rank of marshal should also be a purely honorary rank, at most, it will be awarded when the general is about to retire, and it will be regarded as an honorary military rank.

Fang Xitong became the commander of the Northeast Expedition, and there was no delay, after handing over the work, he made a ship and went straight to Liaodong, he was going to take over his 100,000 army and start the Northeast Campaign.

On the fast communication ship of the Army's First Maritime Transport Division, Fang Xitong stood on the deck, stroking a nine-pound naval gun while looking at the port ahead.

Now his ship has been running at sea for a long time, and he is finally about to arrive in Gaizhou, and after getting off the ship from Gaizhou, he will go directly to Shenyang, the provincial capital of Liaodong Province.

The city used to be a strategic town in Liaodong, not only a military fortress, but also an important reclamation area, after the Tang Dynasty recovered the Liaodong region, it was also used as the ruling center in Liaodong, and the provincial capital of Liaodong Province was set up here, and at the same time, a large number of immigrants from the Guannai area to Shenyang.

On the way to Shenyang, Fang Xitong was always thinking about how to complete the task assigned by His Majesty!

To completely conquer the Northeast region, if it is a simple military conquest, it is actually very simple, under the sweep of 100,000 troops, whether it is Chahar or Duoyan Sanwei or other chaotic tribes, it is impossible to resist.

The problem is how to completely eliminate the local barbarians after the military conquest and give a safe living space for the upcoming large-scale immigrants.

For this reason, Fang Xitong has prepared two paths!

On the one hand, it was a purely military strike, with the army sweeping north to deliver a devastating blow to the enemy's military forces, while on the other hand, it was to keep up with the reserve divisions behind and continue the task of purging operations.

Otherwise, although the army marched north, although it defeated the main force of the barbarians, after these barbarians escaped, they would still seriously threaten the rule of the empire, and after the arrival of the immigrants, they could only retreat to the cities and fortresses where the army was stationed, rather than to establish villages and reclaim them in the vast wilderness.

He had to ensure the safety of the migrants who were following the army for the settlement, so although the military attack in the early stage was heavy, it was actually more important to clear it in the later stage.

Leaving any barbarian behind can threaten the safety of unarmed immigrants at any time!

After all, although the immigrants in the cantonment had militia and were also armed with arquebuses and swords, after all, there were no flintlock pistols and no cannons, and it was still very dangerous to encounter barbarian bows and swords.

Therefore, the task of purging must be decisive and resolute!

On the first day of arriving in Shenyang City, Fang Xitong summoned several commanders of the reserve division who were expected to shoulder the task of purging the rear, and said this: "The purge task must be decisive and resolute, and this officer does not want any immigrants to be harassed by barbarians!" ”

"Fang Guogong rest assured, the last general will definitely do his best to complete the task!"

Fang Xitong is also one of the few dukes in the Tang Empire, although when he was named a duke, many people had a lot of complaints about it, but who made him really old, the earliest infantry brigade commander and commander of the Tang Army.

Regarding the answers of his subordinates, Fang Xitong is still a barbarian!

Although the follow-up purge task is more important, but the matter is too cumbersome, and it is not his main task, as a commander, his task is to lead the main force, defeat the military forces of many barbarians, and the purge task, he can only hand it over to his subordinates.

Fang Xitong said: "You all know the importance of the purging task, so the official won't say much, you go back and discuss!" After dispatching the division commanders of these reserve divisions, he summoned the division commanders, brigade commanders, and regiment commanders of several main forces to start the first formal military meeting.