In order to exterminate Erwangzhai, the People's Army spent ten years before and after, plus the material preparation before the expedition, and the rest and training after the expedition, which used up more time, so Fang Nan decided to go out to the bandits once a month.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, four months had passed since the initial training of the People's Army was completed, and since the first expedition to exterminate Erwangzhai, the People's Army had exterminated three groups of bandits.

The bandits in Erwangzhai are very weak, and the second group of bandits exterminated by the People's Army is not strong, but the strength of the third and fourth bandits is much stronger, at least the robbery targets of these two groups of bandits are no longer limited to the poor people, and they are also trying to do it against the big landlords, and they dare not directly attack the well-guarded manor, but they dare to attack the caravan passing by or the team of the big landlord.

After the People's Army exterminated these gangs of bandits, the people's army seized a great increase, with a total value of more than 1,000 taels of silver, gold, silver, jewelry, antique calligraphy and paintings, and other valuables.

Compared with the Erwangzhai bandits, the grain reserves of the two gangs of bandits have increased greatly, and the least of the bandits is enough to eat for half a year.

The vast majority of the thieves in Erwangzhai are afraid of death, and most of the thieves who dare to act on the big landlords belong to the type of licking blood with knives, and they dare to rush forward when they attack the big landlords, knowing that there will be deaths and injuries.

Therefore, when the KPA encircled and suppressed such bandits, the bandits dared to launch a counterattack under the leadership of the leader, and the KPA was no longer superior in numbers, and the more numerous bandits thought that they had a high probability of defeating the incoming enemy, rather than mixing up after seeing the KPA attacking.

The weapons of the bandits are basically broadswords and spears, no matter how fierce they are, they are not the opponents of the People's Army, and the Tiger Head Gun in the hands of the People's Army shoots a wave, killing and wounding dozens of bandits, and basically the bandits will be defeated.

In dealing with such bandits, no matter how strong and careful the KPA is, it cannot avoid casualties, and on the four expeditions against the bandits, the KPA has already seen one casualty, two seriously wounded, and more than 10 people lightly wounded.

It's okay to be slightly injured, and it will recover soon, but it is very easy to be disabled if you are seriously injured, and the recovery time will be relatively long, basically you have to quit the People's Army, and sacrifice is something that is difficult for Fang Nan to accept, every People's Army soldier is very valuable in Fang Nan's eyes, and they will become regiment commanders at worst in the future.

For the sacrificed and seriously injured soldiers, Fang Nan will compensate the soldiers or their families, and the compensation is divided into two parts, one is the compensation of silver taels given immediately, and the other part is the farmland compensation given when the People's Army achieves initial success after raising the flag, plus tax deductions.

When a soldier died, not only Fang Nan's heart ached, but his comrades-in-arms were also very uncomfortable, and there might even be thoughts in his heart that he was afraid to fight, but fortunately, Fang Nan gave high enough compensation to the sacrificed and seriously injured soldiers, so that the thoughts that had just appeared in the hearts of many soldiers were crushed.

"Even if I die in battle, my family will be compensated and I will be able to live, not to mention that our People's Army is so strong, we have exterminated four groups of bandits, killed hundreds of bandits, and only sacrificed one person, the chance is very small, I will not die in battle, I will follow the governor to overthrow the Ming Dynasty!"

Eight months have passed since the formation of the People's Army, to four months of training, to four months of bandit expedition and training, and the People's Army has rapidly matured, and the soldiers who have seen blood dare to fight in any situation.

Put the People's Army equipped with tiger head guns and tiger head cannons to all the armies of the Ming Dynasty, it is definitely an elite level, and with the same number, any Ming Dynasty army will not be an opponent, and even several times the Ming army can be defeated.

Of course, Fang Nan knew that this was too strong for the tiger head gun, and the soldiers of the People's Army would not be too different in physical fitness compared to ordinary soldiers in the Ming Dynasty, only in terms of ideology.

Armed with ideology and advanced firearms, the People's Army will be invincible and invincible!

The only drawback was that the KPA was too small in number, and Fang Nan knew that it was time to expand the KPA and prepare to expand the KPA from a company to a regiment.

The original establishment of the KPA:

10 soldiers, deputy squad leader, squad leader, a total of 12 people in a squad;

Three squads, a 5-man artillery group, deputy platoon commander, platoon commander, a platoon with a total of 43 people;

Three platoons, a 5-person reconnaissance group, deputy company commander, company commander, and a company have a total of 137 people.

After the expansion of the People's Army, there will be no changes in squads and platoons, and instructors will be added at the company level.

three companies, a reconnaissance (communications) squad of 12 people, deputy battalion commanders, instructors, battalion commanders, a battalion with a total of 426 people;

Three battalions, a reconnaissance and communications platoon of 38 people, a female platoon of 38 people, an artillery company of 117 people, deputy regiment commander, political commissar, regiment commander, a regiment a total of 1474 people.

That is, the People's Army, which originally had 137 people in a company (3 people has been reduced), will reach 1,474 people when expanded to a regiment.

It would be difficult to find nearly 1,500 young men who could join the army in the mountains, and it would be necessary to recruit suitable personnel from the villages in the area around the mountains.

After the expansion of the People's Army, Fang Nan continued to serve as the regiment commander, Hu Zhuang served as the deputy regiment commander, the political commissar was vacant, Wang Shengrong, Zhou Yi, and He Yan served as the battalion commanders of the three battalions, all officers were promoted to two levels, and the soldiers were promoted to deputy squad leaders and squad leaders on the basis of merit.

In Fangnan's KPA expansion plan, there are two aspects that are the most important, one is the establishment of female platoons and the other is the establishment of health workers.

The number of female soldiers is 38, and the specific number may change, and there are two main sources of female soldiers, one is a three-year education graduate, and the other is a woman who was captured by bandits and sent to the cottage.

Those women who were kidnapped by the bandits to the cottage can be said to be unfortunate women, because they wanted to keep the secret of the existence of the People's Army for the time being, they did not let these women go home, and were brought to Hutou Village.

In fact, even if the People's Army let them go home, they no longer have the face to go back to the place where they once lived to see their parents, their bodies are no longer clean, chastity is very important in this era, even the mountain people, they are very repulsive to women with unclean bodies.

Most of the mountain people are reluctant to marry such a woman, and even if they marry home, they will be beaten and scolded lightly on weekdays, and they will not be treated well.

The establishment of female soldiers is very important to the People's Army, and when encircling and suppressing bandits, male soldiers cannot be allowed to search the families of bandits, and this work is best left to female soldiers.

But there are very few women who are willing to join the army, not only mountain people, but also graduates of three-year education, limited by this era, generally women who have married or have a partner are not suitable to join the army, so the women who were rescued by the People's Army from the cottage of bandits are the most suitable source of female soldiers.