Chapter 1276 – Eight Warzones

12th month, 25th day, a day before the winter solstice, the Great Xia Army welcomed its largest-scale adjustment ever.

Imperial decree, establishing the Jingji warzone. The Divine Martial Guards, Imperial Palace Female Guards, Jinwu Guards, Guards Legion Corps, Imperial Palace Guards, City Protection legion corps, Emperor Squadron, and Nanjiang Navy would be under the Jingji warzone. They would be in charge of defending the Jingji Region.

Specifically, the Divine Martial Guards were the personal troops of Ouyang Shuo. The Imperial Palace Female Guards defended the inner palace, the Jinwu Guards were in charge of the treasury, and the Guards Legion Corps were in charge of defending the imperial capital.

Ouyang Shuo’s Personal Guards were naturally under the Divine Martial Guards.

The Imperial Palace Guards were in charge of the Shu Lands, Chuanbei, Xiangnan, Jiangchuan, and Minnan. Each province would have one legion, and the headquarters would be in Quanzhou.

Apart from that, Yizhou Prefecture, which was an ocean away from Minnan Province, was listed under the Imperial Palace Guard warzone.

These five provinces formed a defensive line stretching east and west, providing safety around the imperial capital.

The City Protection legion corps was in charge of Beihai City, Mulan Stronghold, Yunnan, Chuannan, and Lingnan. Their headquarters was in Tianjing City.

These three provinces formed a middle defensive circle that protected the core region of the Jingji region.

The Emperor Squadron was in charge of defending the Gulf of Tonkin, the ocean gate of the imperial capital. The squadron’s headquarters was in Beihai City. On the other hand, the Nanjiang Navy was in charge of the entire Jiangnan ocean path; its headquarters was in Poyang Lake.

The Jingji warzone included all the direct legion corps of the Empire and both the navy and army. They defended the Jingji region and protected the authority of the emperor. It was the strongest and most reliable military power of the Empire and was their calming needle.

Hence, Ouyang Shuo personally took charge as the Jingji warzone commander. This warzone did not have a headquarters. Normally, the Privy Court would be in charge of daily administrative work.

…

The southeast warzone would be renamed the Zhongyuan warzone. This warzone would have the Leopard legion corps, the Xiangjiang formation, the Yingzhou formation, and the Binhai Squadron under it. They would be in charge of defending the entire mid plains, especially the eastern ocean region.

Sun Bin’s Tiger legion corps backed out of the southeast warzone; there would be other arrangements for them.

Specifically, the Leopard legion corps would be in charge of Beijiang, Jingdu, Ludong, Donghai, and Jiangnan. Each legion was housed in a province, and the headquarters would be in Jianye.

The Xiangjiang legion corps was renamed the Zhongyuan legion corps and was in charge of Guanxi, Hedong, Zhongyuan, Jingchu, and Wannan, their headquarters being set in Luoyang.

The Yingzhou formation would continue to defend the Yingzhou Province, defending the eastern gate of the Empire.

The Binhai Squadron was in charge of defending the Bohai Sea, Yellow River, East China Sea, and the ocean regions around Japan. It was the strongest ocean protection power of the Empire, and its headquarters would be moved from Binhai Bay to Jiaodong Bay.

At the same time, the Binhai Squadron would have navy bases in Binhai Bay, Haijin Bay, Jiaodong Bay, Haizhou Bay, Shencheng Bay, Zhoushan Bay, and Jinshan Bay.

Some bases were newly constructed, while some were just Great Zhou Dynasty navy bases that were modified and upgraded.

The Zhongyuan warzone was equipped with both the navy and the army. Not only was it the core power defending the mid plains, but it was also the empire’s sharp sword in the east to scare people off.

Commander in chief Han Xin would be removed from his roles as southeast warzone commander and Leopard Legion corps marshal.

The Leopard legion corps marshal position would be taken over by north settling general Yue Fei. Shortly after the beginning of the war of Mongolia, the Imperial Court removed him from his position as marshal of the Beijiang legion corps. Deputy marshal Chen Yucheng would take over.

For Yue Fei to take over the Leopard legion corps to defend the Empire’s ocean land showed Ouyang Shuo’s faith in him.

The original southeast warzone deputy commander Sun Bin was promoted to Zhongyuan warzone commander. Hence, he was removed from his role as Tiger legion corps marshal.

The new Tiger legion corps marshal was really surprising. Li Xiucheng from the 5th legion was promoted.

Rising from a legion general to a legion corps marshal was a huge upgrade, and he became the brightest light amongst the young generals of Great Xia.

Ouyang Shuo’s promotion of Li Xiucheng showed his recognition of the latter’s ability. Li Xiucheng’s firearm background was one of the key reasons behind his promotion.

Compared to Chen Yucheng, who shone on the Mongol battlefield, Li Xiucheng would only be stronger.

Of course, he was already a member of the Tiger Legion corps, which was part of why he was able to stand out from all the challengers.

Ouyang Shuo wanted to make use of this appointment to wake up all the long serving generals in Great Xia, especially those old ones. He wanted them to know that their position in the military was not based on how long they had served but who could improve with the times and be useful in future wars.

If one were happy with the status quo, they would only be eliminated.

The Zhongyuan warzone had a really interesting phenomenon – warzone commander Sun Bin’s original force, the Tiger legion corps, were moved outside of their original warzone. Meanwhile, Han Xin’s Leopard legion corps stayed.

Obviously, this was not a coincidence and was carefully planned.

The goal was to remove the blood relationship between the warzone commander and the troops under him to prevent the warzone commander from becoming greedy for power and biased.

Although the army had not shown signs of such so far, Ouyang Shuo had to prepare in advance.

In the Africa warzone and the southwest warzone, the Imperial Court had made similar arrangements. The following few warzones would remain the same, forming a habit and even a systematic approach.

…

The North Asia warzone would be established with the Phoenix legion corps, Beijiang legion corps, and the Beiyuan formation under it. Their duty would be to defend the northern territory and defend the Mongol grasslands to prevent attacks from the Romanov Dynasty.

The Phoenix legion corps would be housed in Beiyuan Province and the Beijiang legion corps would be housed in Liaojin Province. At the same time, they would work together to defend the eastern parts of Beiyuan Province. After all, the Beiyuan Province was too huge, and the Phoenix legion corps could not manage it alone.

It was called the North Asia warzone and not the north warzone because the long term goal of the warzone would be to go head on against the Romanov Dynasty. Defending the north region was only their current role.

Northwest warzone deputy commander Li Mu would be promoted to North Asia warzone commander. He would be removed from his role of Eagle legion corps marshal.

The new Eagle legion corps marshal would be the recently promoted Bear legion corps marshal, Zuo Zongtang. The vacancy he left behind would be filled by Great Tang famous general Li Shiji.

Li Shiji was a famous Great Tang general on the same level as Li Jing and was good enough to succeed at the role.

Such crisscrossing appointments were done to prevent the warzone commanders from working with their old forces. Moreover, it was to separate the awkwardness of Li Jing and Li Shiji working in the same warzone.

The main matter was also the latter.

The North Asia warzone and the Beijiang Governor-General House jurisdiction zone was completely the same, one military and one administrative power to defend the Empire’s north territory.

…

Establishing the West Asia Warzone, under it would be the Bear legion corps, Hedong legion corps, and the Xijiang construction formation. Apart from defending the west border, it was the Empire’s main force to attack the Persia Empire.

The Bear legion corps would be housed in Xijiang Province. The Hedong legion corps would be renamed the West Asia legion corps with its headquarters in Xihai Province. At the same time, it would help to defend the east of Xijiang Province.

Great Qin famous general Wang Jian was appointed as the West Asia Warzone commander and was awarded the great general title.

Wang Jian had an obsession and determination toward killing Ogedai. As such, giving him control of the West Asia warzone would give him a proper stage to use his abilities.

…

The northwest warzone was renamed the South Asia warzone. Under it was the Eagle legion corps, South Asia legion corps, and Xikang construction formation. They would be in charge of the development of Xikang Province, and they would be the main force in the Empire’s attack on India.

Commander in chief Li Jing would become the South Asia Warzone commander.

The Xikang Province was pretty much leveled after the war of Tibet. It needed large-scale re-construction and their logistical ability was currently limited, so the South Asia legion corps was temporarily housed in Shu Lands border.

Before the Xikang construction formation got onto the right path, the Shu Lands Province would be in charge of the logistics of the South Asia legion corps. Luckily, the Shu Lands were famous for being a treasure trove of the land and was rich in resources. Hence, it was able to take up the responsibility.

…

The southwest warzone was renamed the Nanyang warzone. Under it would still be the Dragon, Hanoi, Heluo, and Beijiang legion corps. They would be in charge of defending Southeast Asia and Australia.

At the same time, the Yashan Squadron would be under the Nanyang warzone. They would be in charge of the ocean defenses of the entire South China Sea. In the future, the Indian Ocean Squadron would slowly shift toward the Indian Ocean region.

Based on the Empire’s plan, after destroying Java, they would adjust the Nanyang warzone once more. After all, with the stable Nanyang situation, there was no need to have four legion corps.

…

The Africa warzone would remain unchanged.

Apart from the seven warzones discussed above, the Empire created the America warzone in secret. Under it was the Tiger legion corps and the South America legion corps. They would be in charge of the America region war.

Due to the uncertainties there, the Tiger legion corps would still be housed in the mid plains. When the time was right, they would teleport over. That would be the time when the America warzone shone bright.

The ex-southeast warzone commander Han Xin would be moved over to the America warzone.

The America Continent was the second focus of the Empire apart from Africa. In the future, it would face the direct threat of the Dawson Dynasty. Arranging Han Xin over there showed Ouyang Shuo’s trust in him.

Only Han Xin, such a meritorious God General, would be able to succeed in such a role.

Baiqi, Han Xin, and Li Jing were still the three biggest trump cards in Ouyang Shuo’s hand. Hence, they were arranged to the front of the Empire and would undertake the most difficult missions.

After this round of adjustments, the Grand Council also welcomed an adjustment.

Before this, the Guards, City Protection, Imperial Palace Guards, Dragon, Tiger, Leopard, Eagle, Bear, Wolf, and Phoenix legion corps, a total of 10 marshals, were all part of the Grand Council.

After this adjustment, only the eight warzone commanders could be ministers of the Grand Council. Due to the Jingji warzone commander being Ouyang Shuo, there were only seven commanders who were part of the Grand Council.

Next would be Du Ruhui and Zheng He.

Huo Qubing, Shi Wanshui, Xu Da, Guo Ziyi, Meng Tian, and other generals in similar positions would leave the Grand Council.

Even Ouyang Shuo’s most trusted Huo Qubing could not be excluded. Ouyang Shuo wanted the rules to be rules; they could not be easily broken and challenged.

Even Ouyang Shuo chose to do things carefully.