Once the expansion of the three major regiments and battalions of the Eastern Expeditionary Army is completed in accordance with Yang Zhen's requirements, in the future, the musketeer regiment, grenadier regiment and artillery regiment will be expanded to form the front, rear, left, center and right communist forces based on the existing troops. Five camp heads.

A full battalion has five sentries, and a full sentry still has 300 men. In this way, a regiment and battalion have 7,500 men.

Even if the artillery regiment and battalion among them did not have so many heavy artillery, sky cannons, and thunder cannons,

It's not possible to fully fill the building at the moment, and it can't be calculated as 7,500 people, but it can still be done based on half.

Based on this calculation, the three regiments and battalions of the advance army for the Eastern Expedition together will soon be close to 20,000 troops.

This is the real main force of Jinhai and Denglai Second Town in the future. Zhang Chen and Li Lu know this very well, so when someone half-jokes and half-complains in front of them that they have not been reused,

They just laughed it off.

Because they actually know very well,

What is true reuse?

Isn’t being relied upon as Yang Zhen’s right-hand man called reuse?

Any smart person can see this.

For this reason, Yang Zhen filled in the remaining two empty letters of the General Officer of the Associated Defense Forces, filled in the names of Zhang Chen and Li Lu respectively, stamped them with the seal of General Zhengdong and awarded them to them. The other generals present, No one said anything.

Of course, at this commendation and awards meeting where Chu Xianzhang was present, Yang Zhen not only issued the appointment certificates for the new assistant generals, but also issued a number of appointment certificates for deputy generals, staff generals, guerrillas, capital divisions and garrison officers.

In terms of various naval forces, after Yan Shengsan was transferred to the commanding officer of the Jinhai South Road Naval Battalion, and Yu Liangtai led the navy to be transferred to the Denglai East Road Assistant Guards Chief, Hu Changhai was appointed to the Jinhai North Road Navy Deputy General, and Gao Chengyou was appointed as the Deputy General of the Jinhai East Road Navy, and his station was moved to defend Shicheng Island.

At the same time, Shen Yongming, the nephew of Xiangping Bo Shen Zhixiang, was also officially appointed by Yang Zhen as the Jinhai Middle Road Naval Battalion Guerrilla. With his troops as the backbone, it was expanded into one battalion and five sentries, and was stationed at the Longwang Temple Shipyard in Jinzhou Bay. .

After more than a year of observation,

Xiangping Bo Shen Zhixiang has gained Yang Zhen's full trust.

At the same time, Shen Zhixiang had always hoped that there would be a naval battalion in Jinzhou Bay that he, the shipping supervisor, could dispatch and command.

In this case, taking advantage of the opportunity of the original naval camp on Jinhai Middle Road to be moved to Fangfeng South Road, allowing him to realize this long-cherished wish can be regarded as a reward for Shen Zhixiang.

As for the warships needed for the new Jinhai Middle Road Naval Battalion to form an army, Yang Zhen cannot provide even one at the moment, so Shen Zhixiang can only find a way.

Fortunately, Shen Zhixiang is in charge of Jinzhou Shipyard.

With the current shipbuilding strength of Jinzhou Shipyard, it will be difficult for him to assemble large ships with more than 400 materials for a while. However, they can build warships with 200 materials, warships with 100 materials or even smaller sand ships and centipede ships within a few months. You can make some.

Correspondingly, Qiu Bixian, who was still young, was promoted by Yang Zhen and appointed to the naval garrison of Yuncong Island.

As for the mainland division, the scope of Yang Zhen's transfer, appointment and dismissal is relatively large.

When Yang Zhen led his army to move to Jinhai Town, Yang Zhan'ao, who was left in Songshan City to serve as the commander of the Songshan Troop Camp, was naturally not completely forgotten by Yang Zhen.

Of course, the old men under Yang Zhen who stayed behind in Songshan City together at that time have not been forgotten either.

This time, Yang Zhan'ao, the commander of the Songshan Troop Camp, was directly promoted and appointed to the post of General of Anzhou, Anqing Hou, the commander of Rufenggang, was directly promoted and appointed to the post of General of the Xiuyan, and Deng En was promoted and appointed to the post of Dingzhou guerrilla by Yang Zhen.

As for the vacancies they left, Yang Zhen also took them into consideration.

The position of the capital of the supply camp left by Yang Zhan'ao,

Yang Zhen's brother-in-law Qiu Biyong will return to Songshan City to take over.

Xia Chengde originally sent Qiu Biyong to deliver the message. In addition to Qiu Biyong being Yang Zhen's brother-in-law and able to gain Yang Zhen's trust, there was another thing that asked Qiu Biyong to come to ask for permission to marry the daughter of the Xia family.

In this regard, Qiu Biyong's mother Shen and his uncle Qiu Zhenhai also hoped that he would marry Xia's daughter and start a family as soon as possible.

In this case, Yang Zhen, as a brother-in-law, would certainly not have any objections.

Yang Zhen asked someone to check the almanac and set the date of Qiu Biyong's marriage as May 13. As long as Qiu Biyong returned to Songshan City by boat in early May, there would be no problem.

At that time, Qiu Biyong happened to pass Yang Zhen's series of reward promotion orders to Songshan City in western Liaoning.

As for the vacancies left in the Songshan regiment camp after the departure of Dunn and others after Anqing, Yang Zhen also determined the successors.

The vacancy left after Anqing will be taken over by Keji.

The vacancy left by Dunn was succeeded by Qiu Zhenhai's brother-in-law Guo Zengfu.

As for the middle and low-level generals in other directions in Jinhai Town, of course there have been quite a few changes.

On Jinhai East Road, Ao Rijin was promoted to Gushanzi guerrilla and stationed at the Gushanzi camp at Yanghekou. The headquarters was expanded to one battalion and five sentries.

On the Jinhai North Road, Xu Deyi, general of Xu Changyong's department, was promoted to Yongningbao guerrilla and garrisoned the Yongningbao city abandoned by the Qing invaders.

On the Jinhai Middle Road, Yang Dagui was transferred to the Tieshan garrison, and the duties he left behind were taken over by his deputy Jia Lizhu.

On Jinhai South Road, in addition to several people who had been given new appointments previously, Qiu Guangyi, a younger brother of the Qiu Zhenhai clan who stayed on Yingzhou Island, was also officially promoted to the rank of General of Yingzhou Island this time.

As for the major regiments and battalions of the advance army for the Eastern Expedition, in addition to Zhang Chen and Li Lu who were promoted to general officers of the left and right wings, Yang Shen, who commanded the artillery regiment and battalion, was promoted to deputy general by Yang Zhen.

Zhang Guogan, Li Shouzhong and others who were affiliated with the Musket Regiment Battalion, as well as Pan Xi, Zhang Tianbao and others who were affiliated with the Grenadier Regiment Battalion, also followed the rising tide.

Zhang Guogan was promoted to Zhang Chen's deputy from the staff general of a battalion under the Fusiliers Regiment, and became the deputy general of the Fusiliers Regiment of the Eastern Expedition Army.

Li Shouzhong was directly promoted to the battalion's staff general from the commander-in-chief of a battalion under the Fusiliers Regiment Battalion.

Correspondingly, Pan Xi was also promoted to deputy general of the entire Grenadier Regiment battalion due to merit, and Zhang Tianbao's acting battalion officer also removed the word "acting" and became an actual battalion officer and was promoted to the battalion's commander in one fell swoop.

General.

Wang Jun and Wang Yuyou were also promoted from the position of General Officer of the Grenadier Regiment to Commander-in-Chief of the First Battalion of the following battalions of the soon-to-be-expanded Grenadier Regiment.

At the same time, Sun Dengxuan, the chief artilleryman of the artillery regiment, also thought of his meritorious performance in the defense operations of Zhenjiang Fort. Yang Zhen directly promoted him to the rank of staff general of the artillery regiment and commanded all the sky cannon gunners in the regiment and camp.

As for the remaining people, especially those who have made meritorious deeds and should be promoted, Yang Zhen had already given them new appointments one after another when he returned to Lushunkou in the previous two or three months.

Because many of them were not of high rank, Yang Zhen had not used up the air letters from the Ministry of War that he had received previously, so there was no need to do this in front of Chu Xianzhang, an imperial minister.

On the afternoon of April 21, the 14th year of Chongzhen, Yang Zhen convened a military meeting in the main hall of the town hall in Nancheng, Lushun, and announced various rewards for the generals who had made meritorious services since last year.

The next morning, the eunuch and eunuch who had completed the mission of conveying the emperor's oral instructions and escorting him also said goodbye to Yang Zhen and embarked on the return ship.

On the occasion of parting, Yang Zhen went to see him off, and Chu Xianzhang worriedly asked Yang Zhen what he thought of the situation in the pass.

And Yang Zhen once again expressed his opinions straightforwardly.

Yang Zhen told Chu Xianzhang, and of course he also wanted to tell Emperor Chongzhen through Chu Xianzhang that he could not think of any other better way to deal with the situation in the pass than to mobilize Hong Chengchou to lead his army into the pass as soon as possible or to resume the work of Governor Sun Chuanting to suppress thieves as soon as possible.

.

Regarding the method Yang Zhen said, Chu Xianzhang knew that it would not be possible in a short time.

So he asked again and again, hoping that Yang Zhen could make some suggestions anyway.

Finally, under Chu Xianzhang's repeated questioning, Yang Zhen really couldn't resist, so he had to give what he claimed was the worst advice.

The next strategy Yang Zhen gave was to fully reduce the number of troops in the important towns on both sides of the canal, and then make every effort to ensure the water transportation from Jiangnan to the capital. As for the bandits from the three sides to Shanxi and Zhongzhou to Huguang, do not chase and fight them, but let them go.

It's rampant.

The reason given by Yang Zhen was that the Jiangbei areas such as Sanbian, Shanshan, Zhongzhou and so on had been completely destroyed.

Even if the government troops recovered these areas, they would do more harm than good. Not only would there be little tangible benefit, but they would also impose a heavy burden on the north.

If the officers and soldiers regained the lost land, they would have to come out to provide relief. However, the officers and soldiers did not have food on hand, and even if they had food, they would not be able to provide relief at all.

However, if the government and army fail to provide adequate relief after regaining the lost territory, then the government and army will once again fall into various situations of being passively beaten in these areas due to public dissatisfaction.

In this case, it would be better to just leave the place where the bandits are wreaking havoc to the bandits.

Although it doesn't look good on the face, and it doesn't sound good when spoken out, it avoids the huge risks caused by providing relief or not providing relief, and at the same time, it can avoid over-dispersion of the forces to suppress thieves.

Regarding Yang Zhen's so-called bad strategy, Chu Xianzhang was horrified when he first heard about it. Even after listening to Yang Zhen's explanation, he still had a solemn expression and was speechless for a long time.

In the end, Chu Xianzhang stood on the pier for a long time without saying a word. At about 4 o'clock that day, he boarded the ship and left.

The questions Chu Xianzhang asked were certainly not questions he wanted to ask on his own whim.

It was Emperor Chongzhen who specifically called Chu Xianzhang to the Palace of Qianqing before he left and asked him to ask the question on his behalf.

This is why Chu Xianzhang stayed in Lushunkou for one more day.

But for some unknown reason, Emperor Chongzhen did not allow Chu Xianzhang to put on a scene where the emperor asked me to question him, and only allowed Chu Xianzhang to question me privately in the name of a friend.

Emperor Chongzhen was fed up with the high-sounding nonsense and wanted to hear some real truth from Yang Zhen.

Of course, Emperor Chongzhen was not satisfied with the truth that Chu Xianzhang brought back to the capital from Yang Zhen.

Emperor Chongzhen believed that the so-called best strategy given by Yang Zhen was not the strategy of a gentleman based on benevolence and righteousness, but the strategy of an out-and-out villain.

Fortunately, Emperor Chongzhen also learned from Chu Xianzhang that Yang Zhen had sent an army of more than 13,000 people across the sea to go south to Denglai.

Emperor Chongzhen was still very satisfied with this result, and therefore, he finally gave up his doubts about Yang Zhen for the time being, and finally felt that Yang Zhen had not failed to live up to his appreciation and trust.

Yang Zhen, who was in Lushunkou, naturally had no way of guessing Emperor Chongzhen's reactions and the thoughts behind them.

Because Emperor Chongzhen carried a heavier burden, and he had many more pig teammates than Yang Zhenke.

The generals on Yang Zhen's side are united and have the same desires. The entanglements of interests between them are not that complicated, or there are no entanglements of interests. As long as they can continue to obtain new land suitable for farming, Jinhai Town can continue to develop and grow.

At the same time, as long as the common and powerful enemy Qinglu in the north always exists, people from all walks of life in Jinhai Town can always be closely united.

But the situation faced by Emperor Chongzhen was completely different.

For example, there were irreconcilable conflicts of interest between the clan kings and the scholars, farmers, industry and merchants, between different classes of scholars, peasants, industry and merchants, and even between different interest groups within the scholar-bureaucrat class, as well as between them and the imperial power.

Therefore, Yang Zhen could not speculate based on common sense about Emperor Chongzhen's perspective on the problem and his method of doing things.

Of course, Yang Zhen didn't have much time or energy to wonder what Emperor Chongzhen was thinking every day.

The day after Chu Xianzhang left Lushunkou by boat, Yang Zhen, in the name of the general town government, ordered all roads in Jinhai Town to immediately start the spring plowing and sowing operations in the 14th year of Chongzhen.

After all, the Liaodong Peninsula and its surrounding affiliated islands are different from Guanli. The time for spring plowing and spring sowing is later, and in most cases it is done between Qingming and Dragon Boat Festival.

Due to the cold and dry weather in the late Ming Dynasty and the inaccurate calendar, the farming season may be later than normal.

But Yang Zhen can't wait any longer, because he wants to officially announce the expansion of various regiments and camps in Jinhai Town, especially the three major regiments and camps of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, after the immigrant households under various jurisdictions in Jinhai Town have completed this year's spring plowing and sowing.
Chapter completed!