Chapter 81: The Western Frontier Army

In the blink of an eye, several months had passed since the spring military examinations. After bringing Xiping and Heyuan prefectures under his control, Li Wenyuan began the task of reorganizing the regional troops of these two jurisdictions. Now, throughout the Western Regions, all the populous prefectures—save only for Dunhuang—had fallen under his governance.

With sixty thousand official soldiers at his command, Li Wenyuan once again disbanded all original formations, dispersing entrenched cliques and localized factions within the army. For the sake of streamlined management, he unified his forces under a single banner: the Army of the Western Regions. After reorganization, this army was divided into four corps, sequentially named the First through Fourth Corps. These were entrusted respectively to Zhang Juntai, Li Wenyuan’s long-standing loyalist; Wuderu; and the outstanding talents Qin Qiong and Fu Wen, who had distinguished themselves in the spring military examinations—each man commanding one corps.

Of the four, Zhang Juntai’s First Corps boasted the most complete structure and the finest troops. This corps comprised two traditional Central Plains infantry divisions, two cavalry divisions formed from seasoned veterans, and a mixed division of polearm-wielders and musketeers—established with Li Wenyuan’s personal approval. The Second and Third Corps, led by Qin Qiong and Fu Wen respectively, each consisted of four traditional Central Plains infantry divisions and one cavalry division. The Fourth Corps, under Wuderu, was a pure cavalry force, comprising five cavalry divisions.

Under this new structure, Zhang Juntai’s First Corps was tasked with siege warfare and pitched battles; Wuderu’s Fourth Corps was responsible for raiding and harassing enemy rear lines; while the corps of Qin Qiong and Fu Wen were temporarily assigned to pacification and security duties in the newly occupied territories. This arrangement was not due to personal favoritism, but rather because the production rate of polearms and muskets remained stubbornly low. After half a year of strenuous effort, they had managed only to equip a single mixed infantry division.

Moreover, the soldiers harbored a wary respect—even aversion—for these expensive, thunderous weapons, which measured scarcely more than a meter and fired iron pellets with a deafening roar. Some even petitioned Li Wenyuan to disband the mixed division, arguing that its funds would be better spent raising more cavalry or traditional infantry. Yet under Li Wenyuan’s iron will, such murmurs were swiftly suppressed. When the time came to confront the Turks, the outcome would be clear for all to see.

"Who are you?" barked a red-faced instructor at a group of recruits undergoing physical training before him.

"The Army of the Western Regions!" the recruits bellowed back, their voices hoarse with exertion.

"What is your duty?"

"To defend our home and country!"

Scenes like these played out across Zhangye, Wuwei, Xiping, and Heyuan. Every aspiring soldier was required to train in the recruit camp for three months, earning their place in the ranks only after passing the final assessment.

"I hope you remember: these men are not mere common soldiers—they are sons of our great civilization. Not a single one deserves to be ostracized or sacrificed needlessly. As political instructors, your duty is to help them overcome the anxieties of being in a strange place. You must do all you can to help them with the hardships of daily life. If any soldier in your company feels dissatisfied or dejected by military life, that is your failure! Furthermore, after you join your units, never forget to continually improve your own military acumen. My hope for you is this: to be both commander of a hundred and a scholar." Thus spoke Li Wenyuan at the graduation ceremony of the company instructors’ training class, addressing the assembly of impassioned scholars before him.

As a transmigrant, Li Wenyuan would never forget the formidable power that political commissars had brought to modern armies. In his vision, his forces would one day stride across the entire globe. On such distant campaigns, soldiers would inevitably be plagued by homesickness—a problem impossible to solve with the limited communications and transportation of this era. Even with ideas in mind, it was unfeasible to lay thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers of railway in a short time just to facilitate home leave. Until modern transport could be developed, these instructors embedded at the company level would be the key to maintaining the army’s fighting spirit, representing Li Wenyuan’s largest investment in the army, second only to armaments and supplies.

Thanks to Li Wenyuan’s special attention, and under the guiding principle of being both commanders and scholars, the atmosphere across the Western Regions transformed overnight. Martial valor flourished among the people; whether scholar, merchant, or official, all took pride in bearing swords and blades at their side, ready at any moment for battle. The fashion of arms soon overshadowed the love of letters. Furthermore, with military drills now semi-public, the populace gradually abandoned passive defense in the face of nomadic invasions, turning instead to active resistance and counterattacks.

This signaled the beginning of an end to the traditional dovish outlook of agricultural civilization, now overshadowed by a hawkish spirit that dared to stand against invaders—precisely the result Li Wenyuan desired. History had shown there was no war ever won without the support of the people.

These four corps were the sharpest blades in Li Wenyuan’s arsenal, and blades, by their nature, must be pointed at the enemy. Security within his own territories was entrusted to local militia units led by those not selected for regular service—supplementary officers of the Eagle Command—drawing young men from local new recruit camps. The task of defending their homes fell to these home defense groups, composed of those not drafted into the main army.

Meanwhile, the officials surveying mineral veins in Leguan County brought Li Wenyuan news that gladdened his heart most: they had discovered a high-quality deposit of saltpeter there, ensuring a steady source of the vital ingredient for the gunpowder used by his musket troops.

With six months of gunpowder production behind them, the craftsmen had steadily refined their techniques and tools, greatly increasing output. After repeated experimentation, they had also raised the proportion of saltpeter in the formula, dramatically prolonging the powder’s potency. These developments finally gave Li Wenyuan the strength and confidence he needed to move against Li Gui.

Although the Western Regions had always been a remote outpost in the eyes of the Central Plains, Li Wenyuan was still subject to much impeachment for his inaction in the face of Li Gui’s rebellion. Though Yang Guang never voiced his displeasure directly, the repeated inquiries from the Censorate made it clear he blamed Li Wenyuan for failing to suppress the bandits. If he wished to retain his post in the Western Regions, Li Wenyuan realized, after much deliberation, that it was time to act against Li Gui.