As one of the main initiators of this war, Chen Yixin was determined to win, so he dispatched nearly 80% of the combat troops in the northern region and only retained a part of the garrison in the east of Liaodong to prevent the Manchus from taking the opportunity to cause trouble.
Despite this, in order to fully garrison the vast newly occupied area, the number of troops invested in the northern region is still seriously insufficient. Chen Yixin had to mobilize reserve troops and militia forces from various places to maintain public security and order in various newly occupied areas.
The combat effectiveness of these second- and even third-line armed forces is uneven, and naturally they are far from being comparable to the regular army. However, it is basically enough to perform some non-combat tasks, such as escorting supplies, maintaining law and order, escorting prisoners of war, etc.
But it is indeed a very risky move to let such troops guard the newly captured Cangzhou City. What's more, these troops have different backgrounds. How to make them obey orders and move in step is a problem that Shen Zhixiang must solve first.
Shen Zhixiang immediately convened a meeting with the commanders of these teams. To make good use of the limited armed forces at hand, one must first have a sufficient understanding of them.
After several commanders reported to him the basic situation of their respective teams, Shen Zhixiang's worries were not relieved, but his headache worsened.
These teams had far more problems than he expected.
Among the four teams, the most promising is the militia force from Fushan County, Dengzhou.
As we all know, Fushan County was the first stop for Haihan's army to enter the Shandong Peninsula, and it was also Haihan's first stronghold in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea areas. It has been under Haihan's rule since 1634, and it has been more than 20 years.
Most of the members of this militia are local children. Many of them have grown up under the Haihan Double Color banner since birth, and their loyalty to Haihan is absolutely unquestionable.
Thanks to the Zhifu Island base located in Fushan County, more than half of the militia members are veterans. They can also practice with the garrison troops from time to time, so the training level is very high.
The local mining and maritime trade in Fushan are extremely developed, so the military budget of the militia is also very sufficient, and the individual equipment is almost in accordance with the standards of the regular army.
Although this militia only brought one company of men, its configuration was that of a strengthened company, and it even brought two small-caliber field guns.
You must know that this thing has not yet been fully popularized in the Haihan regular army. It is usually installed at the battalion level or above, but the Fushan Militia is so arrogant and can use such high-end goods at the company level.
Its commander was also a lieutenant officer who retired from the Fifth Army Division. He had participated in the battle of Haihan to regain Liaodong and had certain practical experience.
It can be said that the strength of the Fushan Militia is not only second to none among the militia organizations in Shandong, but is even stronger than most of the Ming army. Except for the difference between the green uniforms and the gray uniforms of the Haihan Army, they are almost the same as the regular army in other aspects.
But this is also the only one among several teams that can satisfy Shen Zhixiang. The situation of the other three teams is not so optimistic.
The militia company transferred from Pingdu County, Laizhou, is said to be a new team established last year. It trains three times a month during the off-season, with each training lasting two days.
In other words, the total time spent on training this militia from its establishment to the present is probably enough to complete the training content of Haihan Army recruits.
Except for a few officers who were veterans, most of the other members were civilians with no military experience and little combat experience before this. As for the equipment, it is far different from that of the Fushan Militia. The soldiers still use the old flintlock guns of Type 33, which are probably old items that have been eliminated by the regular army.
Even the military uniforms they wear are old and new, obviously not distributed in the same batch, which shows that their budget is not as generous as that of the Fushan Militia. It is obviously unrealistic to expect how strong the combat effectiveness of this militia will be.
The Qiaoqi from Pyongyang are said to be the elite troops under the Fenglin Maharaja Li Hao. All members, including the commander, completed preliminary training in Jinzhou, and everything from saddles and bridles, clothing to weapons and equipment were purchased from Haihan. It can be said to be a replica of the Haihan armed cavalry.
Chen Yixin ordered the troops to be transferred back from the Datongjiang base to join the war. Naturally, Li Hao had to be notified of this matter, lest the other party mistakenly think that Haihan was giving up his protection. After Li Hao learned of the situation, he took the initiative to send his troops to participate to show his loyalty to the suzerain country.
It is worth mentioning that Li Hao's brother, King Li Zhi of North Korea, also sent a troop to Haihan to participate in the war. However, Li Zhi had always been attached to the Donghai Region, so his troops went directly to the Donghai Region to follow Shi Diwen's command.
Of course Chen Yixin would not arrange for the North Koreans to fight in the front line, but it would not be impossible to leave tasks such as maintaining law and order in the occupied areas to the North Koreans. Moreover, these North Koreans have all learned Haihan Mandarin during their training in Jinzhou, so there will not be too many problems in daily communication and conveying military orders.
The North Korean cavalry still seems to have a certain degree of combat effectiveness, but Shen Zhixiang's main task in Cangzhou is to defend the city. It is hard to say how useful these armed cavalry can be.
What makes Shen Zhixiang feel most uneasy is the team that came from Tianjin and originally belonged to the Ming army.
Although Shen Zhixiang also knew that the soldiers were actually soldiers raised by the generals. The purpose of their existence was not to fight for the country, but to serve their masters. However, these people were Ming soldiers a few days ago, but now they have to switch camps to join the Haihan army. Fighting against the Ming army made Shen Zhixiang feel a little uncomfortable, and it was difficult to confirm the reliability of these people.
Sun Quanming's purpose in sending this team was probably the same as that of the Koreans. He hoped that his men could make meritorious service in the Haihan Army so as to gain more benefits for themselves.
Although Shen Zhixiang had doubts about the reliability of this team, he had to admit that Sun Quanming must have spent a lot of money when building this team. The armor, swords and bows were all well-made and high-quality, and they were all equipped with standard equipment. Flintlock gun.
Shen Zhixiang specially checked the flintlock guns they were equipped with. The structure should be copied from Haihan's Type 33. However, due to the lack of Haihan's smelting and machining technology, there is still a relatively obvious gap in the materials and production processes of firearms.
However, such weapons and equipment are still beyond the reach of ordinary Ming soldiers, and indeed only a handful of elites are qualified to use them.
In addition to trust, Shen Zhixiang found that this team has another problem, which is the lack of actual combat experience.
Sun Quanming's purpose in forming this elite was to consolidate his power, but in fact these soldiers of his had only dealt with some daily disputes, but had never set foot on a real battlefield to fight with others.
Seeing that the Haihan army had reached the gates of Tianjin, it was time for them to play their role, but Sun Quanming surrendered directly. Then they were handed over to Haihan by Sun Quanming, and they were sent to Cangzhou in a daze.
If the Ming army launches a counterattack against Cangzhou next, then this is likely to be their first combat mission.