"From a military point of view, it is very difficult to defend Wuhan in this way!" Fan Chong touched his one-eyed and shook his head slightly.

"Logistics! The key is logistics. Our logistical supply lines are stretched too long. It can only be relied on by air. The teaching team had run out of ammunition for the day of fighting today, and had to continue transporting it with them. If something goes wrong. If the ammunition supply is not available, then the soldiers in front will suffer great damage. Through the intensive firing of firepower, it was easy to defeat Yue himself, and the morale of the army certainly rose, but it was not very good to rely too much on weapons and equipment. Fan Chong reminded.

Meng Xiang nodded, he had already paid attention to this. The soldiers of the vanguard army have become accustomed to the original tactics, and if they are allowed to change to the method of counting bullets one by one, although the logistical pressure will be reduced, the casualties will only increase greatly. The reason why he sent the training team this time was because the soldiers of the training team had better individual skills and tactics, and they could quickly adapt to it even when there was a shortage of logistical supplements.

In the Wuhan area, the Central Army has also accumulated a lot of ammunition supplies, and this time the vanguard army passed, and the Central Political Axe promised to replenish some ammunition and fuel. But so far, it's just a promise on paper. Meng Xiang also did not count on the replenishment of the Central Army. At all times, rely on yourself first.

"It will be better in the future. Today's transport capacity is mainly focused on transporting personnel, and later it will be transferred to the delivery of ammunition and materials, which can ease the logistical pressure. Some supplies can be solved on the spot. Meng Xiang said.

These problems are also known, but the passage in the sky is not very safe. Today's air interception, even with the escort of fighter planes, was still shot down by them at a heavy cost. Both the pilots and random soldiers on the plane were sacrificed. If I had strengthened my interception, it would have become more and more difficult to transport in the future. And with the second division of the teaching team stationed in the past, the daily consumption will be greater. Air transport alone is not enough.

"We need a land passage." "For example, the Pinghan line. ”

His spearhead was directed at Henan.

Now, the vanguard army, which had been resting for a while, had several options for external expansion.

One is the northward and westward development that has already begun. Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang Province and other places are all what Meng Xiang wants to grasp. Only by mastering it well can we earn benefits for the Soviet-German confrontation in the near future. But in those vast areas, the most critical thing is the internal cleaning and stabilization. Relations there are complicated, and without a year or two of stability, it is impossible to provide logistical support for sorties.

One is the Northeast region. If it occupies the northeast region, it is equivalent to cutting off the main blood transfusion artery outside the person. At this time, Meng Xiang was thinking about the powerful Kwantung Army and the series of impacts brought about by the early decisive battle with the unwilling Yue himself.

The other is the Lianghuai region in the south. But in order to prevent the devil from digging the Yellow River embankment like Lao Jiang, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng and other places also need to be occupied.

More and more land will be occupied, and it will become more and more difficult to plan to enclose the base into an impermeable wall. Many problems need to be solved in a realistic way. Therefore, every time you occupy a place, it takes a relatively long time to stabilize and digest. No matter which side of the attack is wanted, the vanguard army needs to deal with it with all its might. Thinking of an all-out attack, the vanguard army at this time did not have the ability to digest it.

The first contingent of 1,000 cadres of the Vanguard Army has completed three months of training. And the next batch of 3,000 will have to wait another half a year. They plus three thousand clones were the foundation of political management that Meng Xiang could rely on. Without them, relying only on the original officials and gentry, I am afraid that many situations will become the same again. Even if the best policy is lower, it will be misunderstood. The idea of the whole people being the masters, after the words of those people, will become represented.

Just like the base in Meng Xiang's hands, Meng Xiang would rather take a steady step and a slower step than leave a bane, and it will be more troublesome to deal with when the time comes.

"Now we need more soldiers and more troops!" When the vanguard army began to move closer to the figure of 600,000, Fan Chong and others were worried about the problem of weapons and equipment. Although military factories in the theater have begun to produce 7.92 mm and 9 mm ammunition, the output is only enough to meet the needs of two divisions. Others need to be imported. The increasing military spending has always worried them.

In order to reassure them, Meng Xiang gave an explanation that the forces behind it could meet the needs of a million troops. This made Fan Chong think about the size of the army of one million in advance.

"Conscription requires a population base, Henan, Anhui, and northern Jiangsu have always been large sources of soldiers, and if those places are occupied again, then the vanguard army can have half the country's strength." Pharmacist Tang also agrees with this.

Previously, they also agreed with Meng Xiang's proposal to occupy the northwest and slowly plot the Central Plains. But when the defense line on the periphery of Wuhan was broken through by Yu himself and forced Wuhan, they saw more opportunities.

Compared with his helplessness with the vanguard army, the breach of Wuhan's periphery was a turning point. The collapse of the authority of the Central Army was more serious than Chiang and others imagined. Almost at the same time as the news broke, some local bigwigs began to lean towards the vanguard side. Some even plan to join the Vanguard directly. And the attitude of many people has changed. The vanguard army held off the attack, proving that although the Seventh Theater was in danger, its safety was guaranteed.

And Wuhan, where the Central Army was gathered, was attacked again by Yu himself, which greatly reduced the security surname. Many others had to consider their options.

It was this change in attitude that made the keenly grasped Tang pharmacist more inclined to recover the Central Plains first.

Those who win the Central Plains win the world. Although such a statement is not very appropriate, the Central Plains, as the birthplace of Chinese civilization and the center of Kyushu, has always valued its strategic position. But at the same time, it has also become a place of competition and war. Especially in modern times, the Central Plains has long lost its glory.

The way of thinking of the people who survived the war has long lost the shadow of the rich and noble and ceremonial state of the past. It is not without reason that some of the bad folk customs in later generations have been criticized. After all, after the war, those who can survive will use all kinds of means. The reason for helping him to beat Tang Enbo is not clear in one sentence or two.

However, no matter what, the strategic position of the Central Plains has not changed. After occupying the Central Plains, they can attack from all sides. Of course, there will be enemies on all sides. However, as long as you have the strength, it is up to you to fight others. Therefore, Fan Chongcai put forward the proposal of expanding the army by one million.

Meng Xiang was also tempted by this proposal, at this time, the land of Lianghuai had not yet passed through the Yellow Flood Area, and it was still a major food-producing area. After the Central Plains War, the Central Plains region is also slowly recovering at this time. They have not yet experienced several wars and disasters in later generations, and they have not yet run out of vitality. The most important thing is the population.

The role of the population is not just to pump out the army. If it is to develop to the northwest and northeast, it needs to be supported by a large number of people.

Whether it's the Northeast or the Northwest. One of the biggest characteristics is that the land is vast and sparsely populated. If we want to stabilize those places quickly and produce something, not just a drag on consumption, we can only slowly transform them through a large number of immigrants. It is not enough to rely on local people or the army, and without enough people, there can be no development. The ethnic minority areas in the west also need to have more mainstream ethnic groups to balance. Even taking into account the ecological balance of the Northeast region, there is still a large amount of wasteland, which needs more people to reclaim.

In later generations, whether it was the northwest or the northeast, their development was not only for land and resources, but also for national defense. The development of production in those areas can greatly reduce the logistical supply pressure of border defense. This is also one of the factors why Meng Xiang wants to start the northwest in advance. Relying only on long-distance transportation is too costly.

If you want to expand, you can't do it without population. The British held Canada and Australia because their populations were too small to take advantage of. Soviet Russia faced Siberia, also because the cost of development was greater than the cost of population pressure, so it was only used as a resource for a long time.

Similarly, if the Vanguard Army makes its next move into the Northwest and Northeast, where will those immigrant populations for stabilization and development come from? Relying on the population of Shandong and Hebei alone, it is still a little nervous to expand the northeast and northwest, but with the population of Henan and Lianghuai, a large number of people can be drawn.

With the implementation of the Pioneer Army's subsistence allowance policy, a large number of idle laborers will be vacant in some areas with more people and less land. If more preferential policies are introduced in sparsely populated areas, it will attract people to the country and alleviate some of the financial pressure. At this time, it was supported by the cost of selling arms, and with the rise of the economy in the future, it was necessary to subsidize this part with finance. Rationalized savings are naturally better.

The demographic dividend and the important surname of the Central Plains region itself, Meng Xiang also understands. But he also knows that the meaning behind the occupation of the Central Plains region is greater, which represents his performance on the foreground. If he occupies the Central Plains again, he will no longer be a simple name for a great warlord.

"The land of the Central Plains is available to the commander." Pharmacist Tang's private conversation was straight to the point. He also had some regrets in his heart, if the vanguard army did not go to the rescue, Wuhan would be lost in the hands of the Central Army, and the results would be better.

But this was directly vetoed by Meng Xiang. He is not a politician who can sacrifice everything for the sake of the goal, the purpose of the army is ultimately to defend the country. In the original Battle of Nanjing, he was unable to prevent the tragedy from happening. But in this battle of Wuhan, he has the ability to block the pace of his own attack and prevent more tragedies from repeating. Even if he loses some more so-called opportunities, he doesn't care. The vanguard army relies on strength, the absolute strength that makes others look up to and sigh.

"A million troops, the establishment and the like need to be adjusted again." Meng Xiang's suggestion for the model can be regarded as recognized.

"Fu Zuoyi's 7th Army and Sun Lianzhong's 2nd Army are coordinating at this time, and they are handled well, plus our 3rd Army, we can accommodate a million-strong army." Fan Chong said with a smile.

When Fu Zuoyi was in Baotou, his heart was moved. None of the generals who were invited to visit the barracks of the vanguard army were not impressed when they saw the weapons of Zhang Zizhong's army. Moreover, the good treatment of the vanguard army was previously more attractive to soldiers and middle and lower rank officers, and now it is also more attractive to senior officers.

Sun Lianzhong was also persuaded by the high treatment and weapons and equipment of the vanguard army.

The salaries of the senior generals in the vanguard army were not very high before, and they were not attractive at all. In response to this situation, Meng Xiang re-adjusted according to the salary system of other [***] teams.

There are five categories.

One is the basic salary, which is unified into 20 vanguard yuan, regardless of officers and soldiers. Because of the appreciation of the vanguard yuan, this is a little more than 10 oceans.

This basic salary is also called the recruit salary, and each recruit basically takes these.

The fact that they all receive the same basic salary can be regarded as a reflection of the unity of the officers and men in the vanguard army. However, it is very difficult to achieve equality between officers and soldiers in the military. The only thing the vanguard can do is to ensure the fairness of the merits.

The second category is rank salary. Different rank allowances are distributed according to the rank. Lieutenant generals have different promotions at all levels.

The third category is military age salary. This piece is given according to the age of military service. Every three years, at the beginning, only one yuan per month in the second year, three yuan per year in the fourth year, and 10 yuan per year in the seventh year.

The fourth category is job wages. This is a salary that is subsidized according to different positions. With the same rank of major, there is a difference in the salary of the battalion commander and the staff officer.

The fifth category is various allowances. Some special areas and special tasks can be given to the executive part of the allowance and subsidy. Fighting armies also have combat allowances. This is similar to when the Central Army went to the battlefield, carrying a box and dividing silver dollars. But this is also what the soldiers who go to the battlefield to fight for their lives deserve.

If a military merit is established, there will be honors, and material rewards. However, because material rewards cannot be judged in detail, they are classified as military ranks according to military merits.

After such an adjustment, under the guarantee that everyone's salary will not be lower than the original amount, naturally no one objected.

The payment of pensions has also been uniformly adjusted, and it is still the same promise that has remained unchanged for 20 years. It's just that the amount of it is only the first three items. But it is basically the same as the original or even improved. Because this time the adjustment is the increase of the common surname. Coupled with the appreciation of the vanguard yuan, this has increased the attractiveness of the vanguard army even more.

The amount of the pension is not very large, after all, the number of casualties in each battle of the vanguard army is not very large, and the casualties of thousands of people are considered local battles with large losses. The total number of pensioners is now only about 30,000, of whom more than 7,000 are clones. The cost of this piece is not very stressful for the vanguard army at this time.

Even if the pressure on the pension becomes greater in the future, there are ways to adjust it.

In general, the currency of each country is depreciating relative to goods. The main factor is the realignment of various expenses.

In the case of pensions, the number of deaths at this time is small, but as the number of people increases later, the fixed annual payment accounts for a large part. After a long time, it needs to be adjusted, and it can only be adjusted up and not lower. People have a kind of lazy surname, even if the treatment is high, if it remains the same for a long time, it will be slack. Increasing the benefits means an increase in costs.

The most hidden way is to depreciate the currency, and the currency depreciates. If the cost of 10 billion should have been reduced to 8 billion, and the cost of increasing by 1 billion can be diverted for other purposes.

With the development of the times, the redistribution of interests is inevitable. This method can be used to adjust the new structure and regulate the flow of capital and talent.

But the disadvantage of this approach is that the redistribution is unfair. The person who adjusts is always biased, and for those who hold the power of distribution, of course, they are biased towards the side that is beneficial to them. As a result, the originally balanced social distribution will slowly widen in the process of continuous invisible adjustment, resulting in an imbalance.

The way of pension can also be adjusted in this way, and the adjustment of soldiers' life money is really a bit guilty. But this is the general trend, and the adjustment of the currency involves more than one aspect. Sometimes adjustments are necessary for the sake of economic development. At that time, the amount of the pension will be increased accordingly. It can be adjusted to a more reasonable degree.

This reshuffle of the army was aimed at more regularization. As the number of troops increases, some simple ways are no longer suitable. Even the staffing is also being reorganized.

For example, the original squad of fifteen people, under the leadership of the clones, can still maintain stability. But as the number of recruits has increased, the role of the clones as the backbone has weakened. It is a bit difficult for a squad leader to manage fifteen people, especially the group of machine guns and snipers, which is too much and affects the flexibility and mobility.

The same is true when it comes to attack transport. As the battle intensified, the way to climb into the tank was a little too dangerous, and the survivability of the trucks on the battlefield was unreassuring, and the off-road level was even worse. The SDKFZ.251 "Hanomag" half-track armored personnel carrier produced by the Vanguard Army proved to be very practical in real combat, and it can quickly and safely put soldiers where they are needed.

But it can only transport ten people at a time, except for the driver and the commander. A class needs a car and a half, and it is a hassle to assign and assemble.

When the teaching team was expanded, the first mechanized division had already begun to be distributed according to the establishment of ten people in one class. At that time, it can also be divided into three groups of three and two teams of five to cooperate with each other.

In each squad, there is still a three-person machine gun team, and the reduced number of squads has formed a machine-gun core tactic.

A heavy fire group of 2 people was armed with an iron fist to deal with tank armor, after all, the armament of the SDKFZ.251 was only two machine guns. If you encounter a tank or fortress fortification, you need an iron fist to support you nearby.

The other five are all in the configuration of Suomi submachine guns, and each of them is also in the configuration of one person with a pistol.

The management of snipers is directly assigned to the platoon level. Because snipers need to flexibly use the terrain of the battlefield and have a large range of activities, it is somewhat inappropriate to limit them to the squad level.

Before that, the adjustment of such a squad was only limited to the first division of the teaching team, and the experimental surname was constantly groping for experience. Confined to the small establishment of the vanguard army, this large group was taken in the form of a large-scale implementation.

If it weren't for the tightness in Wuhan and the disappointment of the Central Army again, Meng Xiang's adjustment would have been delayed. But at this time, the vanguard army no longer needs to be low-key, it needs to make Yue himself consider the cost of the attack in a high-profile manner, and it needs to let others make a choice in front of the more powerful vanguard army and the central army, at this time, it can be reorganized and reorganized.

"Once reorganized, this arrangement is more conducive to attack. It's just that this establishment may be a little insufficient. "Meng Xiang is still unwilling to tear his face with the Central Army now. Once you make a new title of formation, it will be almost the same as establishing yourself as a king. None of the warlords of so many jumped out. Even if the Red Party obeyed the Central Committee's organizational arrangements, the other armed groups were not considered formal armies. Meng Xiang didn't want to set this bad precedent by himself, and he couldn't predict the chaos caused by it.

Unless it is to the point where he is sure to clear all the troops, it is most appropriate to hang up a self-standing sign. Now the strength of the vanguard army is enough for defense, and the offensive is still lacking in shortcomings.

"The Armed Police Force can be expanded. The excess strength can be arranged in it as a reserve. Pharmacist Tang interjected.

"The name of the armed police is a bit inappropriate, and the police themselves are a kind of control from the top down. Whereas, the reserve force is a type of militia organization from the bottom up. It's a bit inappropriate for the two to be mixed together. After a long time, it is easy to confuse the public. Fan Chongdao.

"Then arrange a National Guard to manage the issue of the militia. It is possible to expand the number of staff. Meng Xiang was also a little helpless about this. The functions of the armed police played a prominent role in the non-war period in later generations, and Meng Xiang was deeply impressed by it. However, if the National Guard is established, most of the functions of the armed police will be transferred to the National Guard. In dealing with some contradictions in the country, the name of the people's militia is more conciliatory than the name of the armed police. In this way, the existence of the armed police occupies a single establishment, which is somewhat redundant.

"The armed police are still under the jurisdiction of the police department and are used to deal with special incidents." Meng Xiang added, "However, the army is the army, and it is not good to be confused with the militia too much." Some of the warlord leaders' demands can be granted to them. In this way, the number of troops will be larger. ”