There are many advantages to having 20 people at a time, and the troops have been adapting to and becoming familiar with this kind of establishment during this time. Now the general is only responsible for three teams, and the command pressure is not very great, and even in the heat of battle, he can calmly organize the formation, which is very important for the officers on the front line.

Xu Ping felt that what Zhou Dongtian said was a reason that could not be ignored, and the trouble caused by the sudden reduction of the fruit was probably more than the trouble that this kind of reform could solve, so Hu Chen put forward a compromise suggestion: "What if we make the fruit like a battalion, and each fruit chief is equipped with two adjutants?" Isn't it much better? ”

Since Changsheng Island, although non-commissioned officers have been a new class that the Marquis of Zhendong attaches great importance to, there is not much difference between the chief and the soldiers, except that they enjoy preferential salaries - and this preferential treatment is given by the Marquis of Zhendong in his personal name. In the new army, Shangfeng acquiesced to the status of Guochang higher than ordinary soldiers, but Zhendong Hou personally did not want to give them extra salaries, in the eyes of the imperial court, they were soldiers rather than officers, and their treatment was no different from ordinary soldiers. The Guards Battalion, which had inherited almost all of the new army system, was initially treated as ordinary soldiers, but because of the size of the Guards, although they were not officers in name, the Guards Battalion treated them as officers.

"In the future, the various departments of the camp may ask us for more people, and there is no shortage of soldiers in our expansion army, the most lacking are officers and non-commissioned officers, if we add two deputy fruit captains to each fruit, then we can train more sergeants, and it will be easier for us to select officers in the future."

Hu Chen's words aroused everyone's approval, and Zhou Dongtian felt that he could avoid a few worries just after raising a few worries, and it also had the advantages of Hu Chen's original plan, but he felt that the two deputy fruit chiefs might not be good: "It's better to add three, these three sergeants and fruit chiefs are collectively referred to as spear-wielding sergeants, so that there are more preparations, even if one fruit is particularly unlucky, and a sergeant is knocked down by the first one in the confrontation, he can still control the troops." ”

Xu Ping asked, "Brother Zhou said that these four people are all called spear-wielding sergeants, do you plan to equip them all with spears?" ”

"Yes, my lord," Zhou Dongtian had already made up his mind: "The experience of this shooting against our army is that if no one maintains order, the large number of flintlock pistols will not work at all, and whether the soldiers with guns lie down or run away, their flintlock pistols are considered a waste." That's why we need a large number of sergeants, let them supervise the soldiers at all times, if they are also equipped with flintlock pistols, they have to shoot while maintaining order, it is always bad to be distracted by one person, it is better to let them concentrate on controlling the soldiers. ”

"In addition, spears are good against cavalry." Another staff officer said: "Although the firepower of our battalion has been reduced by two percent, the strength against the cavalry assault is stronger, and the spear is also useful in hand-to-hand combat. ”

"And it can also boost morale, if everyone uses flintlock pistols, the fight is chaotic, and the smoke of gunpowder is filled, the soldiers may not be able to distinguish who is the sergeant, they hold a spear in their hands, the soldier will recognize it at once, and it is also majestic." Another staff officer said: "It is also much more convenient for officers to find sergeants. ”

"Since everyone agrees, let's settle it like this." Xu Ping ordered the immediate implementation of this reform, and soon there would be long marches and possible battles, and the new establishment could be tested and adapted in battle.

……

In the past two days, the prisoners of the Xuanfeng Battalion have been busy building 1,500 simple coffins and collecting all their fallen comrades into coffins.

Yesterday, Xu Ping had already buried all the dead men of the guard battalion next to the county seat, and today when the Feng battalion buried their companions, Xu Ping took the guard battalion to watch the ceremony. More than 1,000 soldiers of the Election Battalion first lowered the coffins of their companions into the tomb one by one, and then lined up in a neat formation as eight men buried the remains of their commander, Homer, who would lie beside his men.

The etiquette of the new army made the people who broke into the camp feel novel and interesting, and Li Guo, Li Dingguo, and Sun Kewang also brought their respective cronies and subordinates to watch every move of the Xuanfeng battalion around. Xu Ping, the military doctors, veterinarians, craftsmen, and artillerymen in the battalion, while the staff officers and infantry were not detained, and he also informed the friendly troops of this decision.

Li Guo was a little puzzled when he learned of Xu Ping's idea: "Huang Hou's soldiers are so powerful, this time the losses are so big, it was not easy to catch them, how can they be easily released?" ”

"Huang Hou's infantry, most of them are just recruits who have only been trained for three months, as long as Zhendong Hou's teaching team is still there, as long as the imperial court still pays Zhendong Hou's military salary, let him say one or two silver a month to recruit soldiers, how much he wants this kind of infantry. Even if I let these more than 1,000 people go, it will take almost a few months for them to walk back to Beijing, complete their identification, and reorganize into the team. Xu Ping felt that with this effort, the teaching team could almost train a group of recruits, and the size of the new army would always be restricted by the establishment given by the imperial court, not the number of trained soldiers: "If I leave them today, it is inevitable that there will be rumors circulating, saying that I will kill prisoners and so on, and if I fight with the new army in the future, the other party will fight to the death." ”

The ceremony on the side of the new army was almost ready, Xu Ping no longer said too much to Li, he clenched his fists and shouted "offend", and walked to his own army in front.

Looking at Xu Ping's distant back, Li Guo asked Li Laiheng beside him: "What do you think of this General Xu." ”

"The kid likes this guy."

"Why?"

Li Laiheng frowned and thought about it, he had never had a good impression of the Ming army officers who surrendered from the officers and soldiers: "He is different from other officers and soldiers. ”

Li Guo asked, "What's the difference?" ”

"Other people who have been thrown from the officers and soldiers are the most ferocious when they meet the officers and soldiers, disemboweling their hearts and digging out their hearts, drinking their livers and lungs, and not leaving any prisoners, and even more tricks when they are killed, lest these people die quickly, lest we will not see their performance, for fear that we will feel that they still want to stay behind, and want to return to the court one day." Li Laiheng said with some disdain: "Whenever I see them behave like this, the child will think: 'This is also a person?' But it's true that if they don't, the child will be worried. ”

"This General Xu doesn't kill prisoners and treats the old master's subordinates well, why aren't you worried?"

This time, Li Laiheng thought for a long time before he replied slowly: "In the past, when those traitors tortured and killed officers and soldiers, the children thought that they could treat the rebels so cruelly in the past, and today they can treat their former comrades like this, so if there is a chance tomorrow, they will not be soft on us." "However, there are some things that the camp does not want to do by themselves, and there must always be this kind of villain to do it for them, and Li Laiheng also knows something about this, but even if these people do this kind of thing, they are still unreliable: they are desperately trying to provoke the imperial court, so that the imperial court cannot easily pardon them - so that the camp does not have to worry about their rebellion, but if the imperial court really says that they are not to blame for the past, they will still rebel back. Li Laiheng looked at Xu Ping in front of him: "General Xu is different, the child thinks he is a kind person, and he is also very good to the people." ”

"That's the truth," Li Guo nodded, "Torture and killing prisoners of war does not guarantee that a person will not return to the imperial court." If necessary, anyone in the court can pardon it. But as long as a person treats the people well, then he can't be a member of the court, so General Xu doesn't need to draw a line with the court by killing prisoners, and he will never be pardoned by the court. He secretly pointed to Sun Kewang in the distance, Li Guo was a little dissatisfied with the policies formulated by Sun Kewang in Kaifeng Mansion, and felt that Sun Kewang was quite similar to those officials of the imperial court: "Maybe one day the imperial court can pardon General Sun, maybe one day he can defect to the imperial court, but General Xu will not." ”

At this time, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo were also discussing the issue of prisoners, and with the victory of this battle, Xu Ping's prestige was even stronger, and he had clearly ordered: killing prisoners is ominous, disaster will affect the whole army, and violators will resist their orders.

"I can imagine that when this group of prisoners of war returned to Beijing, the Zhendong Hou was in a dilemma." Sun Kewang smiled: "This Brother Xu is more sophisticated than I imagined. "Sun Kewang had assumed that he was in the top echelons of the New Army, and he felt that the release of these prisoners would be a great trouble for the New Army, that the existence of these prisoners would be a humiliation to the New Army, that they would shake the morale of the New Army, damage the prestige of the New Army, and that it would be a testimony to Xu Ping's kindness to the prisoners; If the New Army refused to allow these prisoners to return to the army, lest the soldiers in the New Army spread the leniency of Xu Ping, I am afraid that it would also have a negative impact on the morale of the army, which abandoned the defeated soldiers and their own people.

Li Dingguo seems to have a different opinion on this: "Maybe it's not because he's sophisticated, but because he's different from Zhendonghou." ”

Sun Kewang knew that Li Dingguo had never had a good impression of Zhendonghou, and when Xu Ping first came to the camp, Li Dingguo was also very prejudiced against Xu Ping: "I found that the fourth brother's opinion of Brother Xu has changed a lot. ”

"Yes, I thought at first that since it was a disciple trained by Zhendong Hou, it was probably the same thing." Li Dingguo snorted lightly: "Especially if he is still a long Hou Ye and a Hou Ye is short, I think since he admires Zhendong Hou so much, then he will most likely act similar to Zhendong Hou." ”

"Well, Zhendong Hou's skills and scheming, that is quite remarkable, if Brother Xu is also his kind of person, I don't dare to work with him." When Li Zicheng just sent Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo to Kaifeng before, the two of them had privately talked about Zhendonghou and his disciple: "No one who worked with Zhendonghou has ever had a good death, and those who value him will end up even more desolate, Kong Youde's confused account is forgotten, Mao Wenlong, Zhang Pan, all those who stand in the way of Zhendonghou have not died well, to say that Zhendonghou's viciousness to the Beiyu and the sneak attack on Lushun Zhangpan I don't believe he didn't think of it at all; With his vigilance against Yuan Chonghuan, I don't believe that he was unforeseen by the changes in the two islands; These characters that Zhendong Hou loves and admires repeatedly, he can watch them die, and then shed a few tears afterwards to attract people's hearts. ”

"It's Sun Degong's incident—" Li Dingguo continued: "With the power and wit of the Marquis of Zhendong, could he not be aware of it at all?" I guess nine times out of ten, the Marquis of Zhendong watched Sun Degong sell the people, the city, and his comrades coldly, and it is more likely that he is an accomplice at all, and then suddenly makes it difficult to grab the rank of advancement! It is indeed as Zhendong Hou wished, and it moved Liaodong in one fell swoop. Li Dingguo was reluctant to say these words in front of outsiders, after all, the people who had received the favor of Zhendong Hou were everywhere, and only in front of his own brothers would Li Dingguo be so careless: "I remember Ji Huisi declared that on the way to Lushun, Zhendong Hou killed all the people he met along the way, lest he reveal his whereabouts." Hmph, if I really don't believe that Xu Ping is a disciple he taught, how can it be completely different? ”

"What did Brother Xu do? What does it mean to be completely different? ”

"The third brother doesn't know, a few days ago when I was recruiting troops, I met several people who claimed to have seen Brother Xu, Brother Xu fled to Henan on the way, the road was uneven, drew a knife to help, although there were not many people who received his favor along the way, but he was trying his best to help others, the Qingzhi Taoist priest who defected to Brother Xu, I once carefully asked how he and Brother Xu met. It turned out that Brother Xu once distributed his only rations to the hungry people, and it was because I knew these things that I gradually let go of my vigilance against Brother Xu. Li Dingguo suddenly smiled slightly: "Every time I look for Brother Xu to ask for someone, his reluctance is clearly written on his face, but after all, he still sees us frankly and treats us as brothers." ”

"I also had such worries before, Zhendong Hou's military training secret will never be leaked, unless he is willing to be annexed by him, no matter how much he respects and loves him verbally, he will not care if you live or die." Sun Kewang said lightly: "Fourth brother, do you think that Brotherhood Xu will be a very good ally?" ”

"Allies?" Li Dingguo asked rhetorically: "Aren't we now?" ”

"Against the officers and soldiers, yes, but I mean our allies in the camp in the West Battalion." Sun Kewang sneered: "In the name of the general, if no one doesn't have a gun, it's bullshit." But if the general has soldiers under his command and a few brothers who are like-minded, it is a different matter.

……

Homer's grave was filled with earth, the burial ceremony was completed, and the departing remnants of the Election Battalion saluted their comrades who remained here one last time. The Guards Battalion also gave the Election Battalion twelve muskets, which a small squad of soldiers now use to salute the sky.

Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo walked to Xu Ping's side, looked at the soldiers standing still in the wind, and said in an envious tone: "General Xu, these are all good soldiers, if you don't want me, I want it." ”

"They may not be good soldiers under Brother Sun and Brother Li, and it is better to use our own soldiers to defend them all day long." Xu Ping was reluctant to backtrack.

After the ceremony, Zhang Biao walked to the front of the Guards Battalion and thanked Xu Ping. Xu Ping took out He Ma's sword and other relics and handed them to him: "Take it back and give it to General He's family." ”

After Zhang Biao thanked Xu Ping again, he said loudly: "General Xu, there will be a period later." ”

"There will be a date later."

Xu Ping smiled slightly, and planned to leave just like that, but after a sweep, he found that Yu Shenhe and the others around him looked at Zhang Biao with hatred in their eyes. Xu Ping cleared his throat and added: "Mr. Zhang Qian, go back and tell Jin Qiude that I can't play conspiracy and tricks, and he can't fight a war." ”

As soon as Xu Ping's words came out, everyone laughed and applauded in unison: "Yes, let Jin Qiude take out any ability." ”

"Jin Qiude's baby son Jin Shentong, isn't he crazy? Didn't you always lift your chin to heaven? Haven't you always claimed to be the first in the new army? There is a kind of coming to Henan to have two moves with General Xu to see who won the battle in Texas? Chen Zhe, who didn't know the inside story, shouted loudly, there have always been two sets of sayings among the disciples of Jiangmen and the children of Hanmen: Jiangmen said that Jin Shentong saved Xu Ping's life, and if he didn't directly guard Xu Ping, he was chopped into meat sauce, he was just stained with the light of Jiangmen's new star; And the children of the Hanmen generally believed that if there was no Xu Ping's three-hour fierce battle, if Xu Ping had not fought Ji Huisi's morale and elite and defeated the enemy once, and if Xu Ping had not rushed down the mountain in time to stop the rebel army, then Jin Shentong would have escaped with his tail between his legs. Because the merits of the poor disciples in the new army are always taken away by the disciples of the general sect and cannot be promoted, they are even more convinced of this point: "The credit we have taken away will sooner or later be repaid by you with your lives." ”

The expression on Zhang Biao's face changed a few times, and he returned the salute again: "Obey the order, General Xu, I will definitely bring the words to you." ”

The Xuanfeng battalion beat their drums with a bang, and more than a thousand soldiers slowly departed eastward towards Guide.

"The first battle of Texas was a common victory for me and Jin Shentong." After Xuanfeng Battalion left, Xu Ping said to Chen Zhe nonchalantly - this is the consensus of Jin Shentong and Xu Ping.

"Lord Xu, you are just too generous." Chen Zhe told Xu Ping and them about the previous drinking of the guards, and after hearing this story, Zhou Dongtian and the others all had their faces colored.

Yu Shenhe, who also participated in the First World War in Texas, scolded hatefully: "Jin Shentong, this scum, must not die well." ”

Only Xu Ping shook his head slightly: "I don't believe it, this Zhiwei is talking nonsense, Brother Chen should really report this person to Jin Shentong - but it's okay, the more such people there are in the Zhiwei, the better it is for us now." ”

Several subordinates who knew the inside story of Xu Ping and Jin Shentong's grievances had stunned expressions on their faces, and Yu Shenhe argued: "My lord, the father and son of the Jin family, they did this kind of thing!" ”

"Jin Qiude - another matter." Xu Ping's face was calm, and his subordinates couldn't see the emotional ups and downs in his heart at all: "But in the first battle of Texas, Brother Yu was also there at the time, can Jin Shentong's performance that day be pretended?" ”

"Jin Shentong is just a gentleman, and he has no real learning." Chen Zhe also talked about some of his views on Jin Shentong when he and Han Dake were classmates with Jin Shentong.

"To despise the enemy is to bring defeat upon oneself." Xu Ping still couldn't help shaking his head, the lieutenant generals and the poor men of the new army hated each other, and they usually belittled each other as a pleasure. Xu Ping's contempt for the Chizhuo Battalion before the war had already made Xu Ping suffer, and he always secretly reminded himself not to do it again. However, this hostility has been deeply rooted, and now because the camp confrontation is becoming more and more intense, Xu Ping knows that he can only take his time and cannot solve it all at once, and he does not plan to continue arguing on this issue.

"Well, the new army in Henan has not been wiped out yet." Xu Ping waved his horsewhip and pointed to the north: "March to Lanyang." ”

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