A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 134 Comprehensive Development

After a period of training, the soldiers and horses of the three thousand households of Lu Cheng's two Haizhou guards were all adjusted to young and strong men, and the rest were used as miscellaneous servants and reserve forces.

At the same time, Lu Cheng also spent a lot of money to update weapons for all the soldiers, and purchased a batch of high-quality war horses, forming a cavalry team of 500 people.

Of course, the number of special forces members has also expanded to fifty, and they are currently being trained by Ding Xian.

In the era of cold weapons, there was a lack of ultra-long-range and mass-destructive weapons. Even the best special soldiers could only defeat ten at best, and it was difficult to defeat a hundred at best.

Therefore, when selecting special forces members, Lu Cheng lowered some standards and increased the number.

These fifty special forces members are required to be able to ride horses, shoot arrows, and fight with long and short weapons. They also have to learn camouflage, lurking, assassination, harassing behind enemy lines, spreading rumors, creating chaos, etc.

Moreover, these fifty special forces members were not on the roster of the three thousand households. They were a private armed force completely supported and trained by Lu Cheng himself.

Even the base of these fifty special forces members is not in the military camp, and their usual training is also very covert.

There are many mountains and forests outside Haizhou City. Lu Cheng specially selected a suitable location in the mountains and built a mountain stronghold as a training base for special forces members.

After the special operations team expanded to 50 people, Lu Cheng specially gave it a name, Dark Blade, which means a sharp blade hidden in the dark.

In addition to the fifty special forces members, Lu Cheng also established a second-level reconnaissance battalion, which is a special scout team, with a total of one hundred and fifty people, all of whom are cavalry, specially used for reconnaissance and killing the Later Jin scout teams.

If the reconnaissance battalion and the special operations team are included, Lu Cheng has 700 cavalrymen under his command.

None of the generals in Liaodong had so many cavalrymen, mainly because the cost of maintaining cavalrymen was too high. It cost as much to support one cavalryman as it did to support several infantrymen.

Moreover, Lu Cheng also equipped his cavalry with leather armor, and cavalrymen above the rank of hundred were also equipped with iron armor.

As for Lu Cheng himself, he also specially asked someone to customize several sets of armor, one set of mountain armor for infantry combat and one set of light armor for cavalry combat.

As for the guerrilla general's exclusive armor issued by the court, it does look good, but the quality is a bit worrying. Lu Cheng only wears it when attending important occasions or when giving speeches to soldiers.

A good set of armor can block attacks from swords and arrows, and its defensive power is still very strong.

For example, the Shanwen armor that Lu Cheng customized, the armor plus the helmet, weighs 40 to 50 kilograms, and the defense is absolutely unbeatable, very suitable for defending the city or fighting on foot. If worn during cavalry combat, the warhorse will be unable to withstand it.

After a busy period, the more than 3,000 soldiers of Haizhou Guard completed their training and started their daily training, so Lu Cheng no longer had to worry too much.

There are people specifically responsible for each matter. Lu Cheng only needs to sign some documents and handle some issues, and rarely takes charge of specific matters.

Of course, Lu Cheng would often go to the barracks for inspection. Among the more than 3,000 combat soldiers in Haizhou Guard, Lu Cheng knew all the officers above the rank of general flag and could remember their names accurately.

In fact, among these more than 3,000 soldiers, there are only seventy or eighty general flags, more than thirty centurions and trial centurions, three thousand commanders and deputy thousand commanders, which add up to more than a hundred people. With Lu Cheng's current memory, he can still remember them accurately.

Moreover, Lu Cheng could not only remember their names accurately, but also their hometowns and family situations. He would show concern and comfort them from time to time to ensure the loyalty of the middle and upper-level officers.

Compared with ordinary soldiers, officers above the rank of general flag have higher additional subsidies.

The entire army also holds a competition every month to test subjects such as horse riding, archery, swordsmanship, and physical fitness. The winners will receive food or cash subsidies.

Lu Cheng will also have a good meal with the winners and encourage them.

Under such circumstances, a good competitive environment was formed in the entire army. Everyone worked hard and not only gained tangible benefits, but also won honors and was appreciated by Lu Cheng.

By the end of the year, more than 3,000 soldiers of Haizhouwei had completed basic training, and their discipline, obedience, physical fitness and combat skills had improved greatly.

Looking at the entire Liaodong, or even the entire Ming Dynasty, the only one that could keep all soldiers in high-intensity training was Haizhou Guard.

After all, the more intense the training, the more physical energy the soldiers will consume, and the more food will be consumed.

While generals in other places were still thinking about how to get paid without doing anything, the soldiers under Lu Cheng were all receiving full salaries and additional food subsidies.

Sometimes the court's food and wages could not be paid on time, or even in arrears, Lu Cheng would directly take out his own savings and pay the military wages on time without delay for a single day.

Although this would cost a lot of money, isn't money earned to be spent? Only by turning money into strength can you earn more money.

The large amount of property that Lu Cheng had obtained before, including jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, were all sold by Lu Cheng to merchants from Jiangnan in exchange for food, vegetables, salt and iron.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the end of the year. Lu Cheng asked the logistics department to purchase a large number of pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, etc. to ensure that every soldier could get two kilograms of meat.

In addition, ordinary soldiers were given an extra one tael of silver, small flags were given an extra two taels, general flags were given an extra five taels, hundred households were given ten taels, and thousand households were given fifty taels each.

When distributing silver, Lu Cheng personally went to one centurion after another, watching the soldiers line up to receive their rewards, ensuring that every ounce of silver would fall into the hands of the soldiers.

In this way, all the soldiers would naturally be grateful to Lu Cheng.

In addition to the soldiers, the servants also received a reward of 100 coins each. The craftsmen in each workshop also received different amounts of rewards.

There is no doubt that all the soldiers of Haizhou Guard will have a prosperous year this year.

On New Year's Eve, Lu Cheng also hosted a banquet for officers above the rank of general flag to encourage them for their contributions to training in the past year.

After this operation, and comparing them with soldiers from other places, officers at all levels developed the idea that a soldier should die for his friend.

Of course, during the Chinese New Year, Lu Cheng did not forget to travel around and visit Xiong Tingbi and several generals in Liaodong, to build good relationships with these colleagues and superiors, and to give them gifts and so on.

After the Chinese New Year, the whole army's training became more enthusiastic. As long as the weather was suitable, even if it was a little cold, the soldiers were willing to train.

At the same time, seeing that Nurhaci had not sent troops recently, Xiong Tingbi personally went to Shenyang, Fushun and other places to inspect the situation. He then discussed with a group of generals to deploy garrisons and build fortifications in Shenyang, Fushun and surrounding castles.

After half a year of rest and conscription, the military strength of the entire Liaodong has recovered a lot. Xiong Tingbi is also planning to rebuild defenses in those cities that were conquered and abandoned by the Later Jin.

After the beginning of spring, the entire Liaodong region took action. Towns large and small were actively building defensive fortifications and strengthening the training of new recruits.

Lu Cheng's training is also in full swing.

Not only that, after a winter of training, Lu Cheng has accumulated a group of mature craftsmen and started to mass-produce soap and glass, selling them to merchants from Jiangnan, earning more money to support his own team.

With a stable source of income, the troops' supplies became more sufficient, and Lu Cheng has been continuously stockpiling food, fodder, ironware, arrows, etc.

Not only that, Lu Cheng also mobilized all the previously screened servants, veterans between the ages of 35 and 40, as reserve forces.

These reservists were not considered soldiers and did not receive any military pay. They usually engaged in farming and labor, and regularly underwent certain military training. During military training, Lu Cheng would provide them with a certain amount of food subsidies.

These soldiers were half-farmers and half-soldiers, and did not participate in the battles outside. They were needed to assist the soldiers in defending the city at critical moments. On the surface, Lu Cheng still had more than 3,000 soldiers under his command.

In addition, Lu Cheng set up a special welfare institution last winter to adopt and provide for orphans from all over Liaodong.

These orphans are taken care of by the logistics department, which also arranges teachers to teach them reading and literacy, divides them into different classes according to their age, and provides them with appropriate physical training.

For children over ten years old, they not only need to learn cultural knowledge, but also undergo simple military training and learn military skills.

Lu Cheng also values ​​these orphans very much. If he wants to grow and develop in the future, this will be his talent reserve base.