Chapter 33

PS: First update is here! Please follow and give recommendations! "Everyone, I have an announcement to make! Starting today, I will no longer serve as the leader of Feiyu Company. The position of leader will be taken over by Long Yufei! I believe he is more suitable for this role and will lead Feiyu Company to greater strength and ultimately achieve our goals!"

After returning from the shooting range by the sea, the senior executives of Feiyu Company held a meeting. At the meeting, Luo Sangu announced to everyone that she was stepping down from her position as leader and handing over the entire Feiyu Company to Long Yufei to manage.

"Yuhua, isn't this a good thing? You can be the leader, and I can be the deputy leader, it's the same!" Long Yufei frowned. Previously, Luo Sangu had not discussed this with him, which left him unprepared.

"No! Yufei, since the establishment of Feiyu Company, I have not contributed much to the company. Your talents, I believe everyone recognizes! You taking over as the leader of Feiyu Company is the best outcome. I believe you can definitely lead us to a better life. In the future, I will focus on taking care of your life!" Luo Sangu said firmly. She was not a person who coveted power. After marrying Long Yufei, she understood what kind of life she truly wanted. Therefore, she made this decision.

"I agree that the deputy leader should take over as the leader of Feiyu Company! Feiyu Company's achievements today are largely due to the deputy leader! Now that Feiyu Company is in a period of rapid development, having the deputy leader lead Feiyu Company will certainly make us develop even better!" Logistics Officer Zhao Yi was the first to agree. When Feiyu Island was established, Long Yufei presented the design drawings of the new rifles, and Zhao Yi already knew that Long Yufei was no ordinary person. Subsequently, Feiyu Company was established and developed to its current scale, which made the three of them even more admiring of Long Yufei.

"I also agree! The situation is different now compared to when we started. Feiyu Company is now a large and prosperous enterprise. Having the deputy leader manage Feiyu Company is the best option! Besides, the deputy leader and the leader are already one family, so it doesn't matter who is the leader!" Military Affairs Officer Niu Meng also said. The establishment of the Feiyu Army, the new rifles, and the recently tested mortars being equipped to the troops made Niu Meng feel that the future of the Feiyu Army was limitless. When he was a pirate, he never imagined such a day. He was completely convinced by Long Yufei, the creator of all this. After all, without Long Yufei, there would be no Feiyu Company today, and they would still be living in constant fear at sea, possibly losing their lives at any moment, unlike now, where they command the entire Mindanao Island.

Political Affairs Officer Li Decheng did not oppose it either. After all, this was a decision made personally by Luo Sangu, and he could not say much. As Niu Meng said, Luo Sangu and Long Yufei were already one family, and Feiyu Company was essentially their private property. The newly joined Political Deputy Officer Liu Mingde and the mayor of Feiyu City, Wu Yongxing, also expressed their support. From the beginning, they believed that Long Yufei was the true leader of Feiyu Company. The results proved their judgment correct; Luo Sangu was merely the nominal leader, while Long Yufei made all the decisions. They had no resistance to Long Yufei becoming the official leader of Feiyu Company and even thought it was appropriate.

In this era, even overseas, the status of women was not high. Having a woman as the leader of Feiyu Company still felt a bit awkward to them!

The next day, Feiyu Company officially announced that Deputy Leader Long Yufei would take over as the leader of Feiyu Company. This change did not cause any dissatisfaction within the entire Feiyu Company; it seemed everyone thought it was appropriate. Even the newly joined Chinese members of Feiyu Company felt it was appropriate. There were not many old-timers on Feiyu Island, and most of the strong and able-bodied had joined the Feiyu Army, becoming the backbone of the Feiyu Army, and they also strongly supported Long Yufei. This made Long Yufei's position within Feiyu Company very stable!

After Long Yufei took office, he immediately reorganized Feiyu Company. Initially, Feiyu Company had a small population, and even after Wu Family Village joined, there were only about 1,500 people. Now, the population of Feiyu Company had expanded twentyfold and was still growing. As the leader, Long Yufei was busy every day dealing with Feiyu Company's affairs, leaving him little time for scientific research. Therefore, he urgently needed to reform the organizational structure of Feiyu Company to free himself from these trivial matters and focus on scientific research. He only needed to be responsible for the major direction of Feiyu Company's development!

Under Long Yufei's leadership, Feiyu Company first separated military and political affairs. In the military aspect, the Feiyu Army Command was established, with Long Yufei personally serving as the Commander-in-Chief of the Feiyu Army. The Feiyu Army Command oversaw both combat and logistics. In the combat forces, the former Military Affairs Officer Niu Meng was appointed as the Commander of the First Brigade of the Feiyu Army. At this point, the Feiyu Army already had twenty infantry companies. After the successful development of the mortars, each infantry company would add a six-person fire team responsible for operating a mortar, increasing the number of personnel in each infantry company to 150. Additionally, every four infantry companies formed an infantry regiment, with a regimental headquarters directly overseeing a guard platoon, a reconnaissance platoon, and an artillery platoon with six mortars. Including the other personnel in the regimental headquarters, the entire infantry regiment had about 750 people. The First Brigade of the Feiyu Army currently had four infantry regiments, and the missing artillery pieces were waiting for production from the armory. However, according to the current organization, at least 40 mortars were needed, and the Feiyu Armory would need two to three months to produce them.

In the logistics aspect, the Feiyu Army Logistics Department was established, with the former Logistics Officer Zhao Yi serving as the minister. He was responsible for the logistics support of the Feiyu Army and the research and production of military equipment. In the political aspect, the Political Affairs Department was established, with the former Political Affairs Officer Li Decheng serving as the minister. The Political Affairs Department oversaw finance, civil affairs, industry and commerce, agriculture, and internal affairs. Among these, finance and industry and commerce were handled by the former Deputy Political Affairs Officer Liu Mingde, agriculture was overseen by the mayor of Feiyu City, Wu Yongxing, civil affairs were managed by a person named Zhou Yuan, who was the head of a Chinese village that later joined Feiyu Company, and internal affairs were handled by Wu Yongxing's son, Wu Daniu. Previously, Wu Daniu served as an infantry company commander in the Feiyu Army, but he was not young, being almost forty years old, and frontline combat units were not suitable for his age. Therefore, it was appropriate for him to handle internal affairs.

As more Chinese joined Feiyu Company, a round of elimination was also carried out within the Feiyu Army. Those over 35 years old, except for officers above the rank of company commander, were required to retire. After retiring, they directly became police officers in Feiyu City, responsible for maintaining the city's security. This reform of Feiyu Company made its organizational structure more reasonable, and Long Yufei was freed from these trivial matters, fully dedicating himself to scientific research. Soon, Feiyu Company successfully developed steam engines and could produce small steam engines on its own, which provided a significant boost to the industrial development of Feiyu Company. The power supply issues for factories were resolved, and various factories sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

Additionally, under Long Yufei's leadership, the armory began the development of small-caliber field guns. Although mortars were light, they had a short range and low power, making them unsuitable for suppressing enemy artillery. Mortars were sufficient for dealing with the indigenous people, but one day, the Feiyu Army would face Western powers, and at that time, more powerful and longer-range field guns would be needed. Moreover, the Feiyu Army was destined not to remain in one place. Whether it was to capture Luzon Island or expand to other regions in the South China Sea, a powerful navy would be required. In terms of naval warships, the Feiyu Army could not compare to Western powers, so it had to find other ways. Compared to Western powers still using round solid cannonballs in naval battles, the Feiyu Army, using new artillery, would have a significant advantage. This would give the Feiyu Army a chance to win with fewer resources!

After the reform of Feiyu Company was completed, the entire company entered a period of rapid development. Chinese villages continued to join Feiyu Company, further increasing the population of Feiyu City. The construction of Feiyu City also accelerated. Feiyu Company organized a large number of people to cultivate tens of thousands of acres of good farmland around Feiyu City along the Agusan River, sufficient to feed the entire population of Feiyu City. By mid-1836, the total population of Feiyu City had exceeded 50,000, accounting for more than half of the Chinese population on Mindanao Island! After the Feiyu Army formed four infantry regiments, it intensified its training. To improve the combat capability of the troops, the new brigade commander, Niu Meng, spent most of his time with the troops, eating, living, and training with the soldiers. Although the training of new recruits was tough and exhausting, it was also highly effective. By January 1836, the training of the new recruits was completed, and the four infantry regiments had formed combat capabilities. Two new infantry regiments were also formed and began training. After Niu Meng's urging, the armory worked overtime and finally produced 40 mortars, which were equipped to the front-line troops. After half a month of training, the artillerymen, having fired over a thousand rounds, finally became proficient. At this point, the war preparations of the Feiyu Army were complete!