After controlling the five towns in the northern part of Lianguan County, he learned that the battle on the county side was fierce, and it was estimated that it would not take too much time to determine the victory and defeat according to that method.

Therefore, Lin Ziran also accelerated the pace of his army expansion.

Of course, what is more important is the completion of the second phase of the expansion of the Tsingshan Petroleum Company's refinery, and after the kerosene production capacity is increased to more than 200 barrels per day, there will be sufficient funds to support the expansion.

Otherwise, there is no money to expand Mao's army.

After finding Zhou Li's order of thirty-six artillery pieces, and by the way, placing a total of five thousand Fuyuan muskets, and delivering them in batches and paying in batches, Lin Ziran asked Ding Quankun to continue the channel to see if he could purchase Nanzhou war horses from other places.

At the same time, he also made two preparations, and increased the purchase of Shayang horses, which are used as service horses and have a very huge amount of ownership in the people.

If it is really impossible to get a large number of Nanzhou war horses, then Lin Ziran is ready to recruit a large number of dragoons with Shayang horses.

It doesn't matter if it's a cavalry who charges on horseback or a dragoon who can only maneuver on horseback and dismount on foot!

In short, cavalry must have!

In the battle of Daheng, cavalry must be there, otherwise, infantry and artillery are basically a live target in field encounters or head-on battles or offensive operations.

In addition to engaging in weapons and equipping horses, Lin Ziran naturally will not forget to recruit more recruits.

Even though the population of the five towns in the north is not large, after continuous recruitment in the early stage, many high-quality soldiers who are willing to join the army have already been recruited.

But there will definitely be some left, and it shouldn't be a problem to recruit a few hundred more in the near future.

As for the more troops needed in the future, it is estimated that they can only go to other towns, or even go to Pingdan County next door or a few towns in the former Guang'an County in the north to recruit.

It's just that when Lin Ziran purchased weapons and equipment on a large scale and recruited new recruits, in fact, the third infantry battalion of the supplementary brigade had not yet become an army.

The 3rd Infantry Battalion had been recruiting new recruits for a long time and had begun training, but it had been unable to become an army for a long time.

This is not to say that Lin Ziran and his training of new troops are slow, but because in recent times, Lin Ziran has successively formed five infantry companies, each with the name of each town's militia group, and stationed in each town.

These five infantry companies were basically formed by directly transferring five infantry platoons from the original two infantry battalions, and then adding new recruits who had completed their training to expand the company.

The total strength of these five infantry companies reached more than 700 people.

As a result, the recruits originally prepared for the 3rd Infantry Battalion were all transferred, either into the five infantry companies stationed in various towns, or supplemented to the 1st Infantry Battalion and the 2nd Infantry Battalion.

Not only the source of troops, but also the weapons and equipment prepared in advance for the 3rd Infantry Battalion were also misappropriated.

As a result, the 3rd Infantry Battalion was almost to start all over again.

Fortunately, the recruitment of soldiers for the Supplementary Brigade has not stopped, and now it is easier to recruit under the name of the regular army than it used to be under the name of the Castle Peak Patrol Battalion.

After all, people have more trust in the regular army, and many people are reluctant to go to local militia groups to serve as soldiers.

These new recruits are still undergoing initial training in the boot camp, mainly supplemental influence, physical training, as well as platoon training and basic firearms training.

After a month-long training of recruits, they will be formally assigned to the 3rd Infantry Battalion for tactical training.

But the recruits of the Third Infantry Battalion have not yet arrived, and Lin Ziran has already begun to toss the Fourth Infantry Battalion.

Not only the 4th Infantry Battalion, but also the 4th Artillery Company, the 3rd Cavalry Company, and the 3rd Baggage Company were expanded.

Although the recruits have not yet been recruited, and the guns are not yet available, this does not turn over Lin Ziran to set up these troops in advance.

When Luo Mazi saw Lin Ziran's expansion plan, he took a deep breath, and then said: "I, Luo Mazi, have traveled south and north for decades, and I don't know how many heroes and heroes I have seen, but no one, no one has the courage of you!" ”

At present, Lin Ziran has two infantry battalions, two cavalry companies, three artillery companies, two baggage companies, and five infantry companies stationed abroad, with a total strength of 3,000 people, of which more than 1,000 have been formed in the last half month. Moreover, there is a third infantry battalion in the process of training, and if this part is added, the total strength will have to be more than 3,500 people.

However, the number of troops had just been expanded by 1,000 at the front, and now the 3rd Infantry Battalion of more than 600 people has not yet made a profit, and Lin Ziran wants to build a new infantry battalion, a baggage company, a cavalry company, and an artillery company, with a total of more than 1,200 people.

You must know that just a month ago, the strength of the various departments under Lin Ziran was only more than 1,000 people.

This speed of army expansion is terrifying to death!

At least Luo Mazi was shocked, otherwise he wouldn't have said these words without a head.

After this touting, Luo Mazi cautiously asked: "My lord, according to this plan, after the expansion is completed, there will be more than 5,000 horses, will we have enough money by then?" ”

According to Lin Ziran's current expansion plan, after the expansion is completed, there will be four infantry battalions, four artillery companies, three cavalry companies, and three baggage companies, and then five infantry companies stationed abroad, with a total strength of more than 5,000 people.

At least 2,000 of them belong to the newly expanded force.

The two thousand newly expanded troops need to purchase guns, armaments, clothing, horses, vehicles, and other miscellaneous military supplies for them, and then recruit new recruits and have to pay them a settling-in allowance, plus a month's salary during the recruit training camp and specially strengthened food to supplement the recruits' nutrition.

Before the army is formed, at least 200,000 must be spent, and this is still the foundation, and the actual expenditure must be more than 200,000.

After these recruits are formally integrated into the new troops, they are not yet able to form combat effectiveness, and they have to undergo at least two months of various trainings, during which they have to conduct a certain amount of live-fire training, and at the same time, they must continue to strengthen their nutritional supplements and continuously improve their physical fitness.

Don't underestimate eating, drinking, sleeping, and live-fire training, the cost is not low, and it is even higher than the maintenance cost in the army that has already become an army.

In these two months, I will have to spend another 100,000 yuan.

In other words, these newly trained troops will have to spend at least 300,000 in the three months before they can be pulled out to fight.

After the expansion of the army is completed, the total strength of the various armies under Lin Ziran will be able to reach more than 5,000 people, and these more than 5,000 troops are complete with infantry and artillery.

The cost of raising this army is very high, even if there is no war on weekdays, but you still have to train daily, you have to replace all kinds of ordnance and materials consumed, and occasionally you have to do a live-fire exercise or something, so even if the 5,000 army does not fight, it will cost at least 100,000 yuan every month, and how much depends on the intensity of the training, the intensity of the training is high, and the two live ammunition training at the two ends in three days, and the exercise or something, 200,000 yuan can't be stopped.

When it comes to carrying out tasks and fighting, it goes without saying that an army of 5,000 people, the artillery preparation before the infantry charge in a random battle, the four artillery companies can casually shoot out tens of thousands of yuan of shell money, a large-scale battle that lasts a little longer, if the shells are consumed, hundreds of thousands can't be stopped!

Nowadays, Tsingshan Petroleum Company is making money, but it can't stand the expenditure of tens of millions at every turn.

So Luo Mazi was very worried: "Hundreds of thousands in the early stage, and the maintenance costs in the back are not a small amount, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold it."

Regarding Luo Mazi's worries, Lin Ziran smiled: "The initial expenditure is a little difficult, but I can barely make it up by gritting my teeth, as for how to raise it after the expansion of the army is completed!" ”

"When we have 5,000 people, are you still worried that we won't be able to raise them?"