Chapter 88: The Army's Calculations

As Operation Engine progressed, the purified population was allocated as they arrived, according to the distribution ratio, to various sectors. The departments were unaware of how many more people would arrive, so there was little dispute over the allocation. Even if there were disagreements, it was relatively easy to accept the Planning Department’s explanation—everyone held onto the hope that “more people will come later, and we can make up for it.”

At this point, the long-avoided conflict over manpower was about to erupt with the publication of the internal bulletin. Locked in Yang Yun’s safe was a status report on the population from Operation Engine that had been distributed to various departments so far. The agricultural sector had received the most people, so the likelihood of Wu Nanhai getting another 120,000 people was extremely small. Yang Yun’s plan was to give him another 50,000.

He estimated that there would be a significant backlash from Wu Nanhai, not only because the “final allocation” was less than half of what he had hoped for, but also because the army would be taking a batch of people from him.

The Agriculture Committee was used by the Human Resources Department as a reservoir for immigrants. Immigrants fresh out of the purification camps were used as agricultural workers by the Agriculture Committee before a specific path was arranged for them. In particular, when some departments’ factories failed to start production on time, or a certain project temporarily didn’t need more labor, the labor originally planned for them would be temporarily assigned to the Agriculture Committee.

A considerable portion of the large population currently allocated to the Agriculture Committee was this kind of “temporary population.” As the First Five-Year Plan entered its final two years, some key projects were nearing completion, and a large number of industrial workers would be recruited from the agricultural population. Moreover, he faced another competitor: the army—especially the army.

The army had not undergone a major expansion since the victory in the Second Anti-Encirclement Campaign. The current battalions were fragmented into numerous detachments and squads scattered across isolated strongholds spanning thousands of kilometers, from Jeju in the north to Hon Gai in Vietnam in the south. Troops were dispersed everywhere, and defenses were set up in all locations. Some detachments had been deployed for nearly two years, separated from their original formations for too long. Long-term execution of various guard duties had a significant impact on their regularization and military training. Although some auxiliary forces had been established to replace them, the improvement was not significant—ultimately, it was a shortage of personnel.

The planned National Army had too small a population in the southern counties to form. After Operation Engine began, they barely managed to form county-level companies with the help of immigrants. The situation in the northern counties was slightly better, but compared to their population, the company-sized formations were still too small. The General Staff proposed that the northern counties should form county-level battalions, each with three companies, to basically meet their needs.

The army’s field and fortress artillery, engineers, baggage trains, and cavalry, due to a shortage of horses and livestock in the past, had only formed small training and student units as skeleton forces. After Operation Engine, a large number of horses, mules, and other large livestock were acquired from Shandong and Jeju Island, and these units began to be formed according to their authorized strength. In the past, they had relied on temporary levies of militia and laborers in wartime; now, they needed to fill their ranks completely. In addition, after the establishment of the Joint Logistics Headquarters, there was still a shortfall of several thousand logistics soldiers to be filled… All in all, not counting the navy’s needs, just filling the authorized strength of the army, the Joint Logistics Headquarters, and the National Army, even without adding more field infantry battalions, would require at least ten thousand new recruits. Not to mention that the army had explicitly proposed the formation of an infantry battalion in Hon Gai, otherwise, they “could not guarantee the safe supply of coal from Hon Gai.”

The navy, naturally, was not to be outdone. The navy’s expansion had been ongoing. In addition to commissioning new ships, the navy was also responsible for the security and construction of all ports under the Yuanlao Yuan’s jurisdiction: marines, base forces, and coastal artillery. These newly formed shore-based units took up a large number of new personnel slots. However, since a considerable portion of the navy’s personnel and ships had been transferred to civilian enterprises like Great Wave Shipping, Southeast Asia Shipping, and the Fishery Cooperative General Society in 1632, the navy’s total strength was basically the same as the previous year.

But the navy was now strongly demanding an expansion of the Marine Corps. Especially after the First Expeditionary Force’s successful amphibious assault on Xiamen, the navy had gained a strong justification, and their voice in the Yuanlao Yuan had grown much louder. It seemed they couldn’t be ignored.

“Old Wu is definitely going to flip out,” Yang Yun lamented after doing the math again. “The army and navy are also going to be at each other’s throats.”

The undercurrent of competition for population was surging. From Liu Muzhou’s “the weather is nice today,” Wu De’s increasingly dark eye circles, and Yang Yun’s progressively gloomier face, everyone knew: there weren’t enough people.

After the official bulletin on Operation Engine was released, all parties immediately launched into action. Some directly approached the personnel in charge, some went to the Executive Committee members, and others to the Standing Committee members. Some launched multi-pronged attacks, trying to “win over” the leaders of various factions within the Yuanlao Yuan, intending to use “bribes” to achieve their goals. Naturally, there were also those who constantly posted on the internal forum to argue for the “importance,” “urgency,” and “criminality against the Yuanlao Yuan of not allocating according to the submitted plan” of their own population needs.

The private rooms of the Agricultural Estate Teahouse were fully booked every day, with various Elders gathering. Suddenly, one day, someone mentioned, “This is Wu Nanhai’s territory,” and the private rooms fell silent again.

Amidst the clamor, commotion, and cursing, the final population allocation plan was finally released. Broadly speaking, like all similar resource allocation plans, everyone was dissatisfied, but they reluctantly accepted it. Firstly, because something was better than nothing. Secondly, there was still much to do after getting the people, and they really didn’t have more time for verbal battles—they had too much to do.

“Cheers!”

In a private room of the Agricultural Estate Teahouse, laughter followed the clinking of glasses. A group of Elder army officers in army uniforms were drinking heartily.

The table was littered with empty bottles of fruit wine, beer, rum, kvass, and soda water. Several large Xuande blue-and-white porcelain plates held snacks like braised duck tongues, necks, and feet. The table was covered with discarded bones.

The army was the most satisfied with this allocation. The army headquarters’ expansion plan was largely approved. Not only were the past shortfalls in their units filled, but they also received quotas for a new infantry battalion, four cavalry companies, a field artillery battalion, and a siege artillery battalion.

This was a great relief for the army, which had long been plagued by a shortage of troops and equipment, forced to watch the navy’s warships show off at sea. The Army’s Young Officers’ Club was gathering here to celebrate their “victory.”

The attendees were, of course, not limited to members of the Young Officers’ Club. All the Elder army officers currently in Lin’gao were invited. Dongmen Chuiyu, strictly speaking, was not an army officer, but because he worked in the General Staff, he was also invited.

Of course, not everyone came. The older Elder army officers generally did not participate in this kind of binge-drinking “gathering” to avoid affecting their image in front of the Yuanlao Yuan. So, this was more or less a young people’s gathering.

“Come, Chief of the General Staff Dong! I toast you!” Zhang Bolin’s collar was open, and he was drunkenly holding a glass of rum mixed with soda water.

The man called Chief of Staff Dong was none other than the Secretary of the General Staff, Dongmen Chuiyu. He wore a staff officer’s sash and was already slightly drunk. He shook his head and said, “First, my surname is not Dong. Second, I am not the Chief of Staff…”

“Who says your surname isn’t Dong? Your surname is Dong!” Zhang Bolin seemed to be getting drunk and rowdy. “If you’re not the Chief of Staff, who is?” He suddenly clicked his heels together, stood at attention, and gave a salute. “I salute you! Chief of the General Staff Dong!”

Several other Elder officers, also somewhat drunk, followed suit, standing at attention and saluting. One even gave a hand salute.

“Stop messing around!” Wei Aiwen, though he had drunk a lot, was still relatively clear-headed. He wanted to discuss something with Dongmen.

“Dongmen, have you heard about Huang Xiong?”

“I know.” Although Dongmen Chuiyu was a bit unsteady on his feet, his mind was clear. “The one who was privately involved with women, right? Isn’t that matter being handled by your department?”

“My recommendation is out, and I wanted to hear your opinion,” Wei Aiwen said, choosing his words carefully. “After all, this matter can be big or small, and it will set a precedent for the entire army. How it’s handled will affect morale.”

“Alright, let’s hear it.”

“My recommendation is to demote him one rank and assign him to the Korean Security Army,” Wei Aiwen said. “The Korean Security Army is expanding rapidly and lacks experienced officers. Let him get some good training there. He can return to the regular army after he has proven himself. The disciplined soldiers under him will also be transferred to the security army as non-commissioned officers.” He paused. “After all, their breach of discipline this time was very serious…”

Dongmen Chuiyu said without thinking, “I think that’s a bit harsh.” He was a bit excited from the alcohol and was in the mood for a long speech. He put down his glass and said:

“Regarding the Huang Xiong case, we must clarify a few facts. First, Huang Xiong’s detachment did not sell, privately divide, or arbitrarily dispose of Yuanlao Yuan assets. The food they provided to the women they were involved with was all food that the Yuanlao Yuan ‘allowed them to freely choose the recipients of.’ Second, the women Huang Xiong’s detachment was involved with all met the requirements for receiving the aforementioned food, that is, they were unplanned, self-arriving refugees. Therefore, in the distribution of food, Huang Xiong’s detachment faithfully carried out the Yuanlao Yuan’s instructions, and there is nothing to criticize.”

Wei Aiwen put on an expression of listening intently. In fact, this was also what he was thinking. Wei Aiwen had no intention of severely punishing Huang Xiong. He made this gesture, firstly, to do Dongmen Chuiyu a favor, and secondly, because there were quite a few admirers of PLA-style puritanical armies among the Elder officers. So he wanted to find support in this Secretary of the General Staff. With his words as endorsement, his own decision would be much more persuasive.