Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

Feng Erlei attended a private school for two years when he was young, and he was quite intelligent, so he knew quite a few characters!

After joining the rebel army, no one knew that Feng Erlei could read, and of course no one cared whether he could read or not. So at that time, although Feng Erlei could read, he had no use for it.

After joining the new army, Li Chengming attached great importance to cultural learning. Upon learning that Feng Erlei could write, he immediately promoted him to platoon leader and asked him to teach his subordinates to write their names.

Feng Erlei not only taught his own subordinates to write their names, but also taught his comrades in other platoons to write their names. This pleased Li Chengming, so he promoted him to deputy company commander and asked him to teach his subordinates to recognize more characters.

Besides teaching characters, Feng Erlei not only excels at training tasks himself, but also possesses considerable skill in leading troops.

Although he was the deputy company commander, the company commander, who was also a member of the assault team, saw that Feng Erlei was able to fulfill his duties as an instructor well. After explaining the training matters for the new army, he basically let Feng Erlei lead the training and rarely caused the company commander any worry.

Compared to the other deputy company commanders, Feng Erlei's performance was second to none.

After the New Army was renamed the Restoration Army, Feng Erlei was the first to be promoted to the rank of company commander.

Sometimes, looking at the neat ranks of about a hundred people he led, Feng Erlei felt a sense of unreality, as if he were in a dream!

Li Chengming personally told Feng Erlei: "Treat every single person in the company well, treat them like brothers. You are the eldest brother, so be good to them when you should be, and be strict with them when you should be. In wartime, your company can defeat an average army of five hundred men!"

Feng Erlei understood the first part of what Li Chengming said, but he didn't quite believe the second part.

What kind of army of one hundred men could defeat five hundred men?

Before the Battle of Jiujiang, Feng Erlei did not believe it.

It wasn't until the Battle of Jiujiang, when Feng Erlei, under the leadership of Li Chengming, fought a bloody battle against the Jiujiang defenders and ultimately defeated tens of thousands of enemy troops with just over a thousand soldiers, that Feng Erlei truly accepted what Li Chengming had said.

They were also proud to be a member of the Restoration Army.

Compared to Zhang Xianzhong's army and the rebel army, the Xingfu Army was the real army!

Feng Erlei felt incredibly proud to be a company commander in the Restoration Army!

Many in the Xingfu Army only truly believed in Li Chengming's grand ambition after this battle: to pacify the world!

After the war, looking at the dozen or so new faces in his company, Feng Erlei suddenly felt a pang of pain in his heart:

More than a dozen such good comrades are gone just like that. They were all brothers who could entrust their lives to each other!

Although new soldiers were recruited, it could not make up for the loss of more than a dozen brothers.

He sighed inwardly but didn't show it on his face. Feng Erlei led his company in rigorous training to kill the enemy!

"Company Commander Feng!" Chen Qiliang rushed over and shouted, "Company Commander Feng, Commander-in-Chief Li wants to see you!"

"Alright!" Feng Erlei let the company train on its own, then followed Chen Qiliang toward Li Chengming's tent.

"Brother Chen, what does Commander Li want with me?" Feng Erlei asked in a low voice.

Chen Qiliang shook his head: "I don't know, Company Commander Feng, please don't ask so many questions. You'll know when you get there."

Seeing the smile on Chen Qiliang's lips, Feng Erlei guessed that Chen Qiliang must know, but he was unwilling to say and it was not appropriate to ask further.

In just over a month, Feng Erlei had undergone a complete transformation, not only demonstrating outstanding leadership skills but also significantly improving his ability to read people's expressions.

In the past, when people were struggling to get enough to eat, who had the time to read your expressions and moods?

Upon entering Li Chengming's tent, Feng Erlei found that all the assault team members were there, as were the first batch of company commanders who had been promoted at the same time as him!

"Company Commander Feng, please sit down," Li Chengming said, pointing to a seat next to him.

"Now that everyone is here, I have an announcement: The Restoration Army now has a total of twenty-one companies. If we continue to organize the army in the company form, it will be inconvenient to command and fight. Therefore, it is time to set up another level above the company."

Above the company level is the battalion level, with three companies forming a battalion, headed by a battalion commander and a deputy battalion commander.

Of the twenty-one companies, excluding the cavalry company, the remaining companies can be organized into seven battalions!

Considering your command abilities, seven of you eight company commanders will be promoted to deputy battalion commanders, and the battalion commanders will be appointed from among you!

Li Chengming pointed to the assault team members and said.

"Commander-in-Chief Li, what about our company commander? What is his position?" someone asked.

Li Chengming said, "There's also a company commander who will be promoted to battalion commander!"

"Ah!" the other company commanders exclaimed, but they all looked at Feng Erlei in unison.

As everyone knows, among the company commanders, Feng Erlei is the most capable, the bravest in combat, and the most valued.

So if there's one person who could be directly promoted to battalion commander, it would definitely be Feng Erlei!

Sure enough, Li Chengming then announced, "Battalion Commander of the First Battalion, Feng Erlei! The three strongest companies are now in your hands. Do you have any objections?"

Before Feng Erlei could react, he stammered, "Commander Li, I... I'm afraid my abilities..."

"You're the one!" Li Chengming declared decisively. "You have to take responsibility!"

"Okay, yes!" Feng Erlei was overwhelmed by a huge surprise, and his mind was still blank for a long time.

Although Feng Erlei did not consider himself a careerist, the promotion represented the Fuxing Army's recognition of him, which made him feel extremely excited, but also confused: Can I be a good battalion commander?

During this discussion, Li Chengming confirmed the establishment of battalions above the company level and appointed one battalion commander and seven deputy battalion commanders.

If these seven deputy battalion commanders perform well, they have a great chance of being promoted to battalion commanders.

Li Chengming gave the key test for promotion to battalion commander: besides his own name, he must be able to read and write one hundred characters!

This gives the deputy battalion commanders, who dislike learning to read, something to work on...

Besides the difference in the number of people under their command, the battalion commander and company commander also received a pay increase of one tael of silver.

Ordinary soldiers received two taels of silver per month, company commanders received three taels, and battalion commanders received four taels.

The deputy rank pays half a tael more than the rank above.

The rewards for each capture varied. For example, in the Battle of Jiujiang, each person received a reward equivalent to two months' salary.

After the initial excitement, Feng Erlei had a vague sense of worry: leading more than a hundred people was no problem, but if he had to lead more than three hundred people, could he manage it?

As he was leaving, Li Chengming patted Feng Erlei on the shoulder, gave him an annotated edition of Sun Tzu's Art of War, and told him: "Read more books in your spare time, read useful books!"

After Feng Erlei left the tent, the other deputy battalion commanders surrounded him: "Brother Erlei, you're amazing! We're all deputy battalion commanders, but you're the battalion commander. Commander-in-Chief Li said we can rest for half a day this afternoon, you have to treat us to a meal!"

"This meal must include not only meat, but also wine!"

Feng Erlei replied with a smile, "Treating me to a meal is no problem, and eating meat is also fine, but drinking alcohol is prohibited in the military!"

"Brother Erlei," someone tugged at Feng Erlei's sleeve, saying, "Don't be so rigid, we can just drink a little less!"

Feng Erlei glared at him and said sternly, "Military regulations are military regulations! Cherish your current position. I won't say anything if you secretly drink behind my back, but if I see you, I will definitely inform Commander Li!"

"Uh..." The deputy battalion commander, who had been choked by Feng Erlei, smiled awkwardly and didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Alright, alright," someone smoothed things over, "we won't drink alcohol then. We'll use tea instead and have a good time!"