Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 77 General Staff and Military Intelligence Department

At this moment, accompanied by a burst of noise, Li Xingyuan's master ran in hurriedly from outside and spoke with a happy face.

"My lord, my lord, good news, good news!"

"After the long-haired bandits who had raided Xunzhou withdrew from Xunzhou, they moved eastward along the Xunjiang River and attempted to invade Teng County. Teng County Magistrate Chen Guangguo personally led the county's yamen servants to defend the city, fought bravely and resisted the bandits."

"When the enemy's power gradually weakened, Chen Guangguo personally selected brave warriors, and they escaped from the city walls at night, raided the enemy's camp, and destroyed it!"

"Big Destruction!"

The master looked quite excited.

We are excited about this rare victory for the Qing Dynasty in recent times.

Upon hearing this, Li Xingyuan stood up from his seat and asked in disbelief.

"Is this true?"

The master nodded vigorously.

"This is indeed true. The yamen runners from Teng County who came to report the victory said that they not only defeated the bandits in this battle, but also seized a batch of weapons, armor, flags, guns and cannons used by the bandits."

"Teng County Magistrate Chen Guangguo has ordered people to send the spoils to us!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xingyuan clapped his hands and laughed.

"Yeah!"

"That's good. That's the best."

"Even if the battle report can be faked, these spoils of war are real and cannot be faked. It seems that Chen Guangguo really won a great victory over the bandits this time."

"Hahaha!"

"I must report this victory to the court and ask the court to reward him handsomely, hahahaha..."

The good news brought by Chen Guangguo was the only good news Li Xingyuan had received in recent times.

This piece of good news immediately dispelled most of the gloom in his heart!

After such a victory, he, as the imperial envoy, can give an explanation to the court.

Even if the imperial court was dissatisfied with Li Xingyuan's recent defeats, after this victory, the most they could do to Li Xingyuan would be dismissal from his post, but not exile.

After being happy, Li Xingyuan turned around and gave instructions to his master.

"Master, you should immediately prepare the documents to report the victory."

"We can make a lot of use of Chen Guangguo's victory in Teng County, so we can't miss it."

Upon hearing this, the lawyer nodded immediately to show that he understood, then bowed and took his leave.

……

On February 1851, , the first year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign in the Qing Dynasty, Li Yi led his troops into Cenxi County.

However, he did not attack Cenxi County immediately. Instead, he chose to keep a low profile and stationed in Guiyi Town within Cenxi County.

After leading his troops to Guiyi Town, Li Yi immediately summoned all his generals to begin military discussions.

"Our troops have arrived in Cenxi and can be temporarily settled down according to the plan."

"Next, there are a few things that everyone needs to do."

"First, we need to expand our army. Although our army has escaped the pursuit of the Qing monsters and is temporarily safe, the threat of the Qing monsters is still everywhere, and the Qing monsters' pursuers may come to chase us at any time."

"Next, whether our army actively attacks and expands its power, or passively resists the attack of the Qing monsters, we need to have enough troops."

"Therefore, the expansion of the army is imminent!"

Upon hearing this, all the generals responded in unison.

"I'll understand later!"

Li Yi nodded slightly, then looked at Wang An and spoke.

"For the time being, Chief of Staff Wang will be in charge of the military expansion. The first phase of our military expansion goal is to expand the size of the combat force to 5,000 people and complete the establishment of a brigade."

"any questions?"

Upon hearing this, Wang An immediately stepped forward and promised, "I understand. I promise to complete the task!"

When Li Yi led his troops to station outside Teng County, he was not only expanding the army, but also colluding with the Qing officials and bandits in Teng County to make profits.

Li Yi also took advantage of this opportunity to carry out internal reforms of the Li family army.

He eliminated the Taiping Army's military and official systems and fully adopted his own new military system and corresponding military rank system.

For example, Li Yi was promoted from a military commander to a brigade commander, and his military rank was changed from general to major general.

Wang An was promoted from division commander to brigade chief of staff and was given the rank of colonel.

Well, in the current Li family army, there is only one general, Li Yi, and the others are all colonels.

Li Yi avoided the random issuance of military ranks in the army by restricting his own military rank.

Well, after all, he, the leader, is only a major general. It’s impossible for others to surpass him, right?
That doesn't make sense!
After giving Wang An the instructions, Li Yi continued.

"Secondly, we need to recruit craftsmen in Cenxi, build an arsenal, and set up production lines for gunpowder, muskets, cannons, etc. This general needs our army to have the ability to produce its own weapons as soon as possible."

"This matter will be handed over to Chief Zhao An of the Armaments Department under the General Staff Department!"

"any questions?"

During this period, in addition to reforming the army and initially eliminating the Taiping Army's military and official systems, Li Yi also set about establishing a General Staff.

Under the General Staff Department, there are departments such as operations, logistics, ordnance, conscription, and ideological and educational departments.

Zhao An was the head of the ordnance department chosen by Li Yi.

He is the younger brother of Li Yi's mother Zhao, and Li Yi's uncle. He used to make a living by running a blacksmith shop. His status is close enough and his profession is also suitable.

Therefore, Li Yi appointed him as the chief of the ordnance department under the General Staff Department.

Upon hearing this, Zhao An immediately stood up and responded.

"I understand and I will complete the task."

Li Yi nodded slightly, and then continued to talk about the third thing.

"Third, our army will use Guiyi Town as the center to wipe out the Qing monster forces and work with the local militia to set up and manage the defense line to resist the Qing monster's attack."

"This matter will be handed over to Chief Fan Xiyuan of the Operations Section of the General Staff Department!"

"any questions?"

Upon hearing this, Fan Xiyuan also stood up and expressed his guarantee to complete the task.

After saying these three things, Li Yi began to instruct all military units to pay attention to military discipline and not disturb the people.

Then let everyone go!

After everyone left, Li Yi called Li Liang alone and began to explain.

"In war, the importance of intelligence is self-evident."

"But our army has serious shortcomings in this regard, which is of course unacceptable."

"So, I plan to draw personnel from the military to set up a Military Intelligence Department, which will be responsible for military intelligence investigation and espionage and counter-espionage work."

"I want you, Li Liang, to be the first director of the Military Intelligence Department and be responsible for the establishment of the Military Intelligence Department. Is that a problem?"

Upon hearing this, Li Liang nodded vigorously.

"Don't worry, General. I will never let you down!"

He knew that the Military Intelligence Department was roughly equivalent to the Jinyiwei of the former Ming Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, they are the court's lackeys, and their reputation is not very good.

But Li Liang didn't care about that.

Because he understood that since ancient times, those who could serve as lackeys for those in power were the most trusted ones.

Others want to do something like this but they don’t have the chance!

(End of this chapter)