The Lunar New Year of 1907 was undoubtedly a joyful and lively New Year for the Wu family. In the past year, the Wu family has expanded from a single province to the whole of northern China. Although the Mongolian region has not yet been officially annexed, it is only a matter of time. Wu Haoxuan was already preparing to start making plans to send troops to Mongolia after the Chinese New Year.

The officials of the northern government and the generals and officers of the northern army also had a good year. Originally, most of them were not doing well. However, now in the seven northern provinces, they have found their own position and found their own platform to play. The generals and officers of the Northern Army will be promoted this time. The Northern Army will carry out a large-scale expansion, which means that many deputy division commanders, division chiefs of staff, or regimental commanders will be promoted to division commanders. Many deputy regiment commanders and battalion commanders can be promoted to regiment commanders.

The people of Jilin Province and Heilongjiang Province were also able to have a prosperous New Year. Under the rule of the northern government, they had to pay much less exorbitant taxes and only one agricultural tax. In addition, the government encourages the reclamation of wasteland and sells fertilizers and pesticides at low prices, so that the grain harvest is basically abundant. With more grain collected and less taxes paid, everyone's life will naturally be much better.

In comparison, the lives of the ordinary people in Mukden Province are a little harder. Especially in places where war broke out, many people's homes were destroyed by the war. Although the government provided compensation and subsidies after the war, and helped them build houses, it would take some time for life to get better. Fortunately, after the beginning of spring this year, large-scale construction will begin. When the time comes, as long as there is a handful of labor. You will be able to find a job and earn a lot of wages, and the life of the family will soon be better.

The entire Northeast will usher in vigorous vitality after the beginning of spring. War is like breaking old shackles. It freed people up like that.

During the Spring Festival, the northern government took half a month's vacation, and it was not until the end of the Lantern Festival that it officially began to work. Of course, it is necessary to keep the people on duty during this period, so as not to find someone to deal with the unexpected incident.

And the General Staff Headquarters does not have this leisurely holiday. Only after the seventh day of the first lunar month, the staff headquarters has already begun to get busy. From this year onwards, the Northern Army will begin a large-scale expansion. First of all, it is necessary to assemble. It was several cavalry brigades. After the beginning of spring, several provincial governors of Mongolia and Xinjiang will take up their posts. Without the protection of the army, it would have been impossible to establish the rule of the northern government in Mongolia. In the vast Mongolian steppe, cavalry is undoubtedly more suitable for combat than infantry. Therefore, Wu Haoxuan planned to build the shelves of several cavalry brigades before the arrival of spring, and then fill them with troops. Fortunately, spring in the Northeast came relatively late. It is often not until April that the weather warms up.

On the ninth day of the first lunar month. Wu Haoxuan convened a meeting of the General Staff Headquarters, which was attended by responsible persons of various departments under the jurisdiction of the General Staff Headquarters. This meeting was held to discuss the formation of a cavalry brigade.

The formation of a cavalry brigade is a matter that has already been decided. However, decisions need to be made on the establishment, equipment, and personnel arrangements of the cavalry brigades. Divisions of the Northern Army. It's often a big setup. Although the establishment of infantry divisions is not as large as that of the Japanese Army, the units below the division level are much larger than the units below the division level of the Japanese Army. For example, a wing of the Japanese Army has only more than 3,000 people. But an infantry regiment of the Northern Army, with a strength of up to 4,500 men. A brigade of the Japanese army had only more than 900 troops, less than 1,000 people. But one infantry battalion of the Northern Army was more than 1,100 men. A squadron of the Japanese Army had only about 200 people, while an infantry company of the Northern Army had the same number. The Japanese squad below and the infantry platoon of the Northern Expeditionary Army were also equal in number.

However, as far as cavalry is concerned, a cavalry wing of the Japanese Army has less than 750 people, and a cavalry brigade has only more than 3,100 people. and the cavalry brigade to be established by the Northern Army, there is no comparison at all.

"Ladies and gentlemen, after careful consideration, I am ready to build seven cavalry brigades. Among them, one cavalry brigade is deployed in each of the three provinces of Inner Mongolia, and three cavalry brigades are deployed in Mongolia Province, which are deployed in Kulun, Uriya Sutai and Kobdo. Another cavalry brigade is deployed in Heilongjiang Province. Wu Haoxuan said. Six cavalry brigades were deployed in the Mongolian region, plus the cavalry brigade in Heilongjiang, which was also mainly deployed in the Horqin grassland. As soon as something happens to the Mongols, these seven cavalry brigades will be the first to go into battle.

The responsible persons under the General Staff Headquarters all nodded their heads one after another. In the event of a war with the Russians, it became a difficult question how the Northern Army would defend Mongolia. Especially when the railroad was not yet built, the deployment of cavalry became the most appropriate. After the construction of the railway, the infantry could be quickly transported to Mongolia for deployment by rail.

"Regarding the formation of cavalry brigades, I plan to adopt a large formation. That is, each cavalry brigade has six cavalry battalions under its jurisdiction, plus a two-company artillery battalion, a two-company reconnaissance battalion, a baggage battalion, and so on, directly under the brigade headquarters, with a total strength of more than 8,500 troops, which is equivalent to the strength of an artillery brigade. Wu Haoxuan continued.

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, if each cavalry brigade has more than 8,500 men, seven brigades will need 60,000 men. We simply don't have that many cavalry now. Even if the cavalry battalions directly under the divisions and the cavalry companies directly under the regiments are all added, it will not be enough. Major General Ren Yulin, head of the training department, frowned. Obviously, he thinks that Wu Haoxuan has taken a big step.

"I know that there are no more troops. However, seven cavalry brigades, each cavalry brigade can first build a shelf, and first form two cavalry battalions. The remaining cavalry battalions can be gradually formed in the coming period. The Mongols were good cavalry, and if we could get their support, would we still be short of cavalry? At the same time, recruiting cavalry from the Mongols will allow us to quickly gain their support. Wu Haoxuan said.

Although, the Mongols of today are not as heroic as the Mongols of hundreds of years ago. The Manchu Qing ruled for more than 200 years, and the Mongols had been castrated. However, even so, the Mongols, who grew up on horseback, were still more suitable to become cavalry than the Han Chinese.

Before the Manchu conquest of Mongolia, the total number of Mongols was in the millions. But now, the entire Mongolian ministries combined, I am afraid that there are only more than one million, less than two million. In particular, there are only more than 500,000 Mongolians in Outer Mongolia. The main reason for this is that the Manchus poisoned the Mongols.

After the Manchu government of Mongolia, it feared the revolt of the Mongols. After all, the Mongols at that time were much more numerous than the Manchus. The Manchus' cavalry and archery skills were not much stronger than those of the Mongols. Therefore, the weakening of the Mongols became the policy pursued by the Manchu rulers.

In Mongolia, the Manchu Qing Dynasty established the supremacy of Lamaism, established large and small lama temples, and used Lamaism to imprison the Mongols. In addition, the Manchu Qing Dynasty also stipulated that in each Mongol family, except for one son to inherit the family business, the rest of the sons had to become lamas. As a result, the Mongol population became smaller and smaller. It also made the Mongols completely tamed by the Manchus.

Wu Haoxuan plans to abolish this regulation throughout Mongolia. Whether or not the Mongols bid to become lamas was entirely voluntary. In this way, it is completely possible to win the support of the low-level Mongols. Gradually, the Mongol population will also recover.

As for whether these Mongols would rebel, Wu Haoxuan was not worried at all. After the implementation of the economic policy for Mongolia, the economy of the entire Mongolia will be tied to the northeast. Everyone became a prosperous whole, and those Mongols were not fools, so naturally they would not rebel.

"The Mongols are indeed very good cavalry, their ancestors are even stronger than the Cossacks, but I don't know if the current Mongols are worthy of a war." The Chief of Operations, Major General Harry, was a little worried.

"Rest assured, the Mongols will definitely not be worse than the Cossacks. As long as they are equipped with advanced weapons, they are the best cavalry. Wu Haoxuan still believes in the combat effectiveness of the Mongolian cavalry.

"Regarding the equipment, the equipment of the individual cavalry battalions is the same as that of the army. However, the rifle was replaced with a mounted spear that was more suitable for fighting on a warhorse. Plus one more saber. As for mortars, light and heavy machine guns, etc., they are all well equipped. The artillery battalion directly under the brigade headquarters is a two-company system, each equipped with nine 75-mm field guns, a total of 18 guns. Wu Haoxuan said.

In his plan, the firepower of the cavalry must not be weakened. War has proven that cavalry can be very tragic when faced with automatic fire. Therefore, training cavalry as mounted infantry will undoubtedly take a great advantage in future battles.

Compared with the Cossack cavalry of the Russians, the cavalry equipment of the Northern Army was undoubtedly much more advanced. In the event of an encounter, the cavalry of the Northern Army could dismount and fight, using light and heavy machine guns, mortars, and cavalry guns in their hands, to give the Russian Cossack cavalry a head-on attack. Although this tactic is a bit shameless, as long as you can win, what is the point of being shameless?

The choice of brigade commanders for these seven cavalry brigades was selected from the cavalry battalions subordinate to the infantry divisions. The commander of the 1st Cavalry Brigade was Zou Fang, the commander of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade was Kan Chaoxi, the commander of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade was Liang Chaodong, the commander of the 4th Cavalry Brigade was Zheng Diansheng, the commander of the 5th Cavalry Brigade was Cai Pingben, the commander of the 6th Cavalry Brigade was Wang Liangchen, and the commander of the 7th Cavalry Brigade was Liu Xiangjiu. Their military rank was to colonel, and they were promoted to brigadier general at a later date. (To be continued......)

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