Ouyang Xuan appointed Cao Ergou to be responsible for the formation and training of the Perak Army. The size of the newly formed Perak Army was 300. In addition to the 200 people from the previous Liuliba training team, in the name of training military skills, the Perak Army was recruited from various departments. 100 people were transferred from the village. According to Ouyang Xuan's idea, in order to give full play to the role of firearms, the Perak Army no longer followed the organizational structure of the cold weapon army. Therefore, it was not set up according to "fire, team, battalion" and other organizational structures, but according to modern The army is organized into "squads, platoons, and companies" and implements the "three-three system." The smallest combat unit is a squad, with 10 people per squad. The third squad is a platoon, and the third platoon plus a company headquarters of 10 people, each company has 100 people. The entire army was organized into three companies, with Ouyang Xuan as commander and Cao Ergou as deputy commander. Cao Ergou served as the commander of the first company, Shi Zhongshu served as the commander of the second company, and Shi Zhongshu served as the commander of the third company. Yu San, the leader of Xiangshui Village who participated in the military training, served as the leader. His father was the previous leader of Xiangshui Village. Because he rose up to resist the brutal oppression of the Xiongben gang, five members of his family died at the hands of the bandits, and he was the only one to escape. Joint defense in each village At the meeting, he was the most determined and radical. This time Liuliba trained the military backbones of each village, and Yu San personally participated. Of course, Ouyang Xuan's appointment was not just from a political perspective, but because Yu San not only His calmness and perseverance were even more remarkable for his bravery. He once attacked lone bandits for a long time and killed no less than ten bandits in his hands, so much so that Xiong Ben placed a reward of 100 kilograms of salt on their heads.

In the era of cold weapons, it took more than a year to train a soldier with qualified martial arts skills, and it even took several years for an archer. The Perak Army did not have so much time at all. Fortunately, the emergence of firearms changed the way the army trains. Ouyang Xuan It is planned that the Thunderbolt Army will use firearms as its main output method and coordinate with cold weapons to quickly form an army. According to the new mixed and matched organization, each company of the Thunderbolt Army will have three squads equipped with folding giant shields standing at the forefront and On both sides, guard against enemy bows and arrows; three squads are equipped with spears about 3 meters long, which are placed closely behind the giant shields. In the future, the spears will be replaced with heavy spears up to 5 meters long in plain combat to prevent cavalry attacks; and another three squadrons are equipped with spears about 3 meters long. Each squad is equipped with light artillery as the main strike force.

The new formation method has a long range, high power, simple operation and easy training. It can take as little as one month or as long as three months to train to form combat effectiveness. However, it requires extremely high discipline. If the enemy, especially the cavalry, gets close, if someone is on top of it. Failure to attack and flee will lead to the collapse of the front or even the destruction of the entire army. Therefore, Ouyang Xuan asked the Perak Army to focus on discipline and strengthen the soldiers' obedience and execution ability in a harsh and ruthless way. Therefore, Ouyang Xuan did not choose to be gentle and generous. Instead, Huang Dagen let the resolute and tenacious Cao Ergou be responsible for the training. The soldiers of the Pili Army were carefully selected mountain people. They were already hard-working people, but they still complained endlessly under Cao Ergou's devilish training. They cursed secretly. The swords were sharpened, and the fragrance of plum blossoms came from the bitter cold. After a period of training, the casual expressions on the soldiers' faces faded away, and there was a faint look of iron coldness. This made Ouyang Xuan feel relieved. He believed Over time, the Perak Army will surely become an army of warriors with iron-clad discipline and a warrior army that will not change color despite the overwhelming weight of the mountain.

With the full spread of industrial and mining production and military training, the problem of insufficient money and food that Ouyang Xuan had previously worried about gradually emerged. Although the labor force for mining, logging, and smelting are prisoners of labor camps and laborers from various villages, there is no need for additional Pay money and food, but the above-mentioned labor and training are high-intensity activities, which consume a lot of food and salt. Food can be temporarily borrowed from various villages in the name of the Perak Army, or can be deducted with iron farm tools and weapons, but salt is not There is nothing to add. The villages used to be able to buy it from the Wanjiaping bandits at high prices, but now they have no access to it. This makes Yang Xiucai, who is in charge of logistics, frowning all day long. This salt is absolutely indispensable, and a short-term salt shortage can be OK. It is bearable, but if there is a long-term lack of salt, people will become weak or even fall ill. Not only will production activities be greatly affected, but the combat effectiveness of the army will also plummet.

Ouyang Xuan also wanted to take advantage of Xiong Ben's defeat to open a way out of the mountain. On the third day after defeating Xiong Ben's gang, he sent someone with a letter to Chongqing Mansion to report his merits, but when he passed through Wanjiaping, he was killed by the mountain. Although the courier risked his life to break through the blockade under the cover of grenades, the other escorting soldiers could not move forward and had to retreat. According to reports from soldiers who participated in the battle, the bandits seemed to have found a way to deal with grenades. , some tried to throw the grenade back, and some used iron shields to suppress the grenade. Fortunately, during the Battle of Liuliba, Ouyang Xuan also discovered the problem of the grenade fuse burning time too long, so he adjusted the burning time to 4 In about seconds, the improved grenade would explode shortly after landing. This time, the soldiers escorting the courier used the improved grenade. This new change caused the bandit who tried to throw the grenade back a big loss and was caught. The grenade in his hand exploded and his limbs flew away. However, the bandit used an iron shield to suppress this move, which greatly reduced the grenade's killing effect. This gave the Wanjiaping bandit soldiers the confidence to fight against Liuliba. What's even worse is The news is that after the messenger forcibly broke through the blockade, Xiong Ben began to imitate the Liuliba overhaul fortifications and started a huddle defense mode. He built a new earth and stone fortress above the mountain road at the Wanjiaping T-junction, tightly guarding the road in and out of the mountain. Now if the Pili Army wants to forcefully rush through, they will have to pay huge casualties, and it is even more impossible for the caravan to pass through. Therefore, going to the outside of the mountain to buy supplies through the secret path discovered by Dong Hu has become Liuliba's only option at present.

The purpose of conducting trade with Shanwai is not only to purchase necessary daily necessities, but also to earn the money needed for the development and growth of the Pili Army. In order to ensure that the first business event goes smoothly, Ouyang Xuan and others spent half a month planning and preparing. Because of this The trip was of great importance, so he decided to lead the team himself, accompanied by Huang Dagen and Dong Hu. Yu Zhu stayed behind at Liuliba, and in case of trouble, Cao Ergou and Lu Dezhi discussed it together. Now is the critical period for the training of the industry, mining industry and the Perak Army. It was impossible to spare more manpower, but they still squeezed out 250 people to prepare for this event, of which there were only 100 people in the armed caravan and the other 150 were logistics personnel. It was June, when the vegetation was growing wildly. , the hidden path was full of thorns. Two days before the caravan officially set off, Huang Dagen arranged for fifty logistics personnel to bring cutting tools and ropes to clear the road in advance. Another hundred porters accompanied the caravan to help carry the goods. Drinking water and mountain goods. Huang Dagen arranged this because the journey was long and difficult. After the armed caravan members arrived in the plains, in addition to carrying goods, they also carried weapons such as swords, shields, and grenades. The physical loss was too great. In reality, In order to reduce the load, the trading team carried high-value mountain goods such as animal skins and precious traditional Chinese medicines. Of course, these items were purchased on credit from various cottages.
Chapter completed!