An infantry company of 140 men would have 130 battle infantry, and given the wounded and killed, the company could still be lined up in a horizontal column of 50 men in width, and the third row would have a certain number of soldiers to supplement the attrition during the battle.

As long as it does not suffer very brutal casualties and more than one-fifth of its personnel is reduced, then this infantry company can still be used as a normal unit like other infantry companies that are not damaged.

Thus, an infantry battalion of army standards turned into six companies of eight hundred and forty people. Considering that Lee Zhaoji planned to leave a total of eight infantry battalions, then the army had 6,720 infantrymen.

The current number of infantry is 7,200 men, which does not mean that the Eastern Brigade will only reduce the size of 500 men.

Because Li Zhaoji believes that not all infantry battalions must be at full strength.

The fact is that the reform plan given by Li Zhaoji is to allow the army to maintain a small but capable infantry, and then form a unit that can be expanded and strengthened at any time.

In this concept, the former was an infantry regiment with three infantry battalions, and the latter was an infantry battalion with five infantry battalions lacking only lined infantry.

Of course, this does not mean that the land force will be reduced, because Lee has authorized the Navy to build three Marine battalions to enhance the projection and reaction capabilities of the trading company.

Li Zhaoji's meaning is very clear, there is no need to maintain a large-scale army, only the elite and technical branches of the army.

For example, artillery, cavalry, and chasseurs have not only not been eliminated, but have also been partially expanded.

According to Li Zhaoji's idea, this infantry battalion should have two complete companies, namely a grenadier company and a chasseur company, and the remaining four companies should only need 50 men, equipped with sufficient officers and adjutants.

The reason for this is that the line infantry itself is an easily trainable infantry, and a completely inexperienced farmer is likely to become a qualified line infantry after only a hundred days of training, and the cost is only a few dozen rounds of ammunition at a minimum.

Of course, if the time is very tight, fifteen days, you can also train a soldier who can use a musket, but they cannot be used as line infantry, because they cannot master the horizontal formation, column and change, such a soldier, a small amount can be used as a supplement to combat attrition. If most of the soldiers in an infantry company are veterans, it is also possible to temporarily add some recruits, and the recruits are carried out by veterans to carry out various operations, which generally does not affect the combat effectiveness.

But most of the cannon fodder that has been developed quickly is still used by stragglers, they learn to shoot in fifteen days, and they learn to master the signals of various skirmishers in fifteen days, so they can go to the battlefield and fight with their own instincts as skirmishers, and as for combat effectiveness, then there is no need to expect too much.

Therefore, Lee still pinned his hopes on the qualified line infantry who had been trained for more than 100 days, who could skillfully use muskets, change various battle formations, and recognize various flags and sound signals.

And the basis of all this is that the Eastern Trading Company is a maritime power and does not need to maintain too many standing armies.

When it was time to complete all the infantry battalions that were missing, it was necessary to carry out large-scale military operations such as the Northern Expedition, and the trading company army at sea had complete control of the initiative and could expand its armaments in advance. Anyway, only the Oriental Trading Company came to the door at any time to fight the Manchus, and there was no such thing as the Manchu Eight Banners rushing to the island of Taiwan.

As a result, the army had three full infantry battalions and five infantry battalions of only 400 men, and the number of line infantry was reduced from 7,200 to about 4,500.

Obviously, such a large-scale disarmament would lead to the loss of many elite soldiers, but even if it is not disarmed, it is inevitable, and this was determined when the Eastern Brigade was first formed.

In order to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, many of the guards in the Eastern Brigade came from the guards in Guangdong, and because of Shen Youlong's acquiescence, these guards were qualified to join an army that was not a Ming army without being considered deserters.

Li Zhaoji and Shen Youlong agreed that all the guards in the Eastern Brigade could leave the guards as long as they were willing to stay in their posts, and the Guangdong side could not stop them. Shen Youlong agreed, but he also made a request, that is, these soldiers could only choose one of the guards and the Oriental Trading Company.

Obviously, there will be many people who are unwilling to leave their homeland, and there are also people who want to remain loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and even if this part is not disarmed, they will leave the Eastern Brigade next year, that is, in the first year of Hongguang.

Li Zhaoji didn't want them to return to the guard to continue to be oppressed by the hereditary officers, in fact, many people couldn't go back, Chen Ping sent people to recruit some people in the Eastern Brigade, but it was obvious that Chen Ping was no longer Shen Youlong's descendant, out of order to find a better way out for his fellow brothers, Li Zhaoji also preferred to choose Zheng Sen.

The reform of the army is still in the conception, although the scale will be reduced, but the interests of the officers will not be reduced, and even expanded, the entire Tamsui, the entire Oriental Trading Company knows that the Northern Expedition has made a lot of money, Chongzhen Seventeen years, for the Ming Dynasty is the year of Jiashen national disaster, but for the Oriental Trading Company, it is a year of harvest and rise.

This New Year is destined to be lively and grand.

But on the mainland, the reaction from all sides has been much duller. Even if it is Dashun, although it has the Central Plains and occupies the capital, as long as Shanhaiguan is not recaptured, there will always be a sharp knife in his heart. And in the distant Liaodong, Shengjing City, it is also a scene of depression and sadness.

In the Battle of Liaodong, the Eastern Brigade smashed the southern city wall of Shengjing, and burned a lot of buildings with molten bombs, making this Manchu capital full of some dilapidated appearance, and more sadly, whether it was entering the customs or the Eastern Brigade sweeping, it caused great damage to the Manchu Qing.

Many families in the city wore filial piety clothes for mourning, and the streets and alleys were full of refugees of all ethnic groups and flags, as well as newly captured clothes, and they endured the cold air miserably.

A small piece of Prince Rui's mansion was burned to the ground, but this was not bad, and only the courtyard walls remained of Prince Yu's mansion. Of course, these are all the handicrafts of the Empress Dowager Bumu Butai, but the bad debts are all counted on Li Zhaoji.

Dorgor moved into the palace of Prince Rui, and Azig, who had made great contributions to the war, was also made a prince, while the other side of the war, Zilharang and others, were frustrated in the battle against the Eastern Brigade, and Dorgon's authority and prestige not only did not decrease, but increased.

It's just that Dolgon didn't fall into the trap, arranged for someone to replace Zilharang, and then took over the government alone.

The reason is simple, he has no one to use, and Duoduo has been repeatedly frustrated, and the merits and demerits are offset by the demerits. Although Azig was crowned prince, he was ambitious and did not obey Dorgon.

Another reason, of course, was that Dorgon needed to enlist more support.

Because the Dongfang Brigade swept the garrisons of the two white flags, a large number of people were taken captive, villages and cities were burned, livestock were slaughtered, and southern Liaoning was almost uninhabited.

Dolgon needs to draw enough from the Dingkou captured in the pass to make up for the loss of the two white flags, although the gain this time is huge, but the loss of each flag is also large, it is still a situation where there are more wolves and less meat, and Dolgon needs the support of Zilharang.

In the end, Zilharang was only fined, and Abatai demoted his title, but Bolo and Yue Le both became Beizi, and they didn't actually hurt their bones.

The cold north wind cut the cheeks of the people on the street like a knife, the snow was thick, and two carriages came one after another in front of Prince Rui's mansion, and the carriages did not show their titles and identities, and the people who came down also entered in a hurry, obviously not wanting too many people to notice.

The house was lit with fires and charcoals, and those who entered immediately felt a wave of heat, and sweat appeared on their foreheads.

"Haha, Dolgon, you're going to enjoy it, it's hot." Abatai shouted in a loud voice.

Dorgon said, "I'm fine, Dordo is sick in the pass, and he is not in good health, so it is not good for him to catch a cold again." ”

"Dordor, are you feeling better? There is a doctor in my house, and I will let him come to show you in the afternoon. Zilharang also came up and said.

Dolgon pointed to the few seats around the brazier and said, "Sit, sit, there are no outsiders here, I called you here today just to talk openly and honestly, everyone relax, and don't save too much face." ”

One after another, the participants arrived, and on the two white flags, Dolgon, Dordor, and Sukh Saha, while Zilharan himself came, and Abatai brought Bolo. In addition, there are representatives of the two yellow flags, Sony and Aobai.

As for the forces of Azig, Daishan and Hauge, they were excluded.

"The two of you also sit, although you are slaves, but in the end you are also the people approved by the Queen Mother." Dolgon motioned for Sonny and Ao Bai to sit down, and his eyes glanced at a maid who followed behind Sonny, Su Mo'er, apparently she was listening, and then went back to be a microphone.

After the parties were seated, Abatai was the first to say, "If you don't speak, then I'll speak first." Dolgon, are you still fighting over there? ”

Dolgon shook his head slightly: "I mean withdraw the troops, I wanted to occupy Jizhou and Yongping, but the thieves are endless." After so many battles, the Eight Banners no longer wanted to fight, and the outer feudal Mongolia withdrew most of it, and if it continued to fight, it would only increase the attrition.

Those green flag soldiers are simply useless, Yongping has already begun to surrender Li Zicheng, and if they hold on, they will waste grain and straw in vain, stop fighting, withdraw their troops and come back a year ago, and guard the mountain pass. ”

"That's what I mean, if you withdraw, you should withdraw early." Zilharang nodded.

Sony and Aobai both said yes again and again, obviously the Manchu Qing did not want to fight a protracted war, and in fact they could not fight a protracted war.

"Fortunately, Wu Sangui is here to vote, plus Gao Di, we will add more than 10,000 new troops, and it is no problem to defend Shanhaiguan. Azig is in charge of guarding the customs, and after the New Year, he will choose people to change. It's just that this time when I entered the customs, the damage was too great, and the agricultural time in Liaodong was all delayed, not to mention, and it was robbed by thieves in southern Liaoning.

All the flags had a hard time, and they all had to live on the food they brought back from the gates.

The emperor has changed in the capital, the side wall has changed the defenders, and the previous smuggling routes have been broken. There are still thieves and thieves in southern Liaoning, and the situation is really unstable.

Seventh brother, you just came back from southern Liaoning, how is the situation? Dolgon asked, at the end.

Abatai said: "The Dongfan thieves built fortresses and fortifications in southern Liaoning, and there were many artillery, and I arranged for people to try several times, but they couldn't beat them. All the way was robbed, if you want to take down the fortress, you have to use a large army, but there is no food to supply the army, you have to wait for the recovery of southern Liaonan.

However, there are not many thieves in southern Liaoning. There is a man named Liu Li on my side, he is the leader of the East Thieves, he has a very high status, and he knows a lot. Tell me that the two thief armies in southern Liaoning add up to seven or eight thousand people, so there will be no action. ”

Duoduo nodded, added some charcoal to the brazier, and said, "In this way, you can live a peaceful year." ”

"The price of grain and cloth in Liaodong is high, and I killed a few people who don't know how to die, and I gave them relief, and finally barely stabilized. However, the grain reserves of each banner were not enough, and after the New Year, the spring famine was also made up. Ao Bai said in a deep voice.

"That's what I called you for, what do you think?" Dorgon asked.

Sony, who had never spoken, said: "Prince Rui, Weichen thinks that if you lose it in the west, you can make up for it in the east." ”

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