Chapter 1240: Reserve Force

After a period of rest and reorganization, the military strength within Jinghua City has gradually recovered.

The number of City Guard Official soldiers has reached twenty thousand. In addition to the city guards, there are three thousand Imperial Guards and a total of one thousand various types of escorts within the city. Coupled with the Qinwang Army not far from the Capital and the bailiffs from nearby prefectures and counties, there should be no problem holding Jinghua. However, what Liu Zheng wants is not just a simple "should be"; he wants absolute certainty. Therefore, he came up with an idea for Yu Qian.

Reserve Force.

The so-called Reserve Force is a group composed of people with a certain level of combat capability; they are civilians in times of peace and soldiers in times of war.

They are slightly different from traditional soldiers. Traditional soldiers need to stay in military camps year-round, while the Reserve Force only needs to be in the military camps temporarily.

Traditional soldiers need to be deployed according to current events, but the Reserve Force does not. As long as they are registered with the government, they can leave their local area. Furthermore, they do not need to serve in the military; regardless of how the war goes, they can refuse to serve, and the government is not allowed to forcibly conscript them.

Moreover, the benefits of the Reserve Force are not limited to this; in times without war, the taxes for the Reserve Force are also halved.

This is somewhat similar to the previous garrison system.

But the differences are also significant.

The garrison system still has some limitations, but the Reserve Force is different; it is more inclusive. Some retired soldiers will automatically transition into the Reserve Force, and even some elderly people, women, and craftsmen can be part of the Reserve Force.

Of course, this only applies to cities under the threat of war. Liu Zheng does not intend to implement this in southern cities. If implemented in the south, where the heavens are high and the Emperor is far away, the scholar-officials would likely register their distant relatives just to avoid taxes. Moreover, the south is a high-tax region; if many people relied on this to reduce taxes, the imperial court would suffer a huge loss.

Furthermore, the Reserve Force receives no military pay when there is no war. However, in times of war, their military pay is double that of regular soldiers.

In this way, it not only solves the problem of insufficient troop sources but also avoids the phenomenon of redundant soldiers.

Not only that, they are defending their own homes locally, and because of the "heavy rewards," their conviction to fight will be unprecedentedly high, and their combat effectiveness will be greatly improved as a result.

In this way, the problem of city defense is solved once and for all.

Originally, Yu Qian was also a bit nervous about defending the city, but after Liu Zheng's proposal, the problem that worried him the most was also solved.

Now, he has to look at Liu Zheng in a new light once again.

Problems that had stumped them for thousands of years and could not be solved were resolved by Liu Zheng in just a few words. Perhaps it is empty talk for other emperors to want to do five generations' worth of work in one generation, but Liu Zheng might truly be able to.

Since that is the case, he must stand even more firmly behind Liu Zheng. He wants to help Liu Zheng build a super-prosperous Longyan!

The tax burden of Longyan is not heavy, but a fifty percent tax reduction is still a significant temptation for the common people.

On the day of recruitment, the scene was overcrowded.

The common people squeezed until they were bruised and bleeding just to sign up, and it took the Imperial Guards to barely control the situation.

Liu Zheng planned to recruit thirty thousand members for the Reserve Force. Of course, these thirty thousand people were not just anyone who showed up; they had to undergo very strict selection. After signing up, they were not hired immediately; to become an official member of the Reserve Force, one had to pass through layers of selection.

The first was height.

Although height is not the key factor in determining combat effectiveness, height and arm span do indeed have a certain advantage in fighting.

Then there was strength and jumping ability. Liu Zheng set standards for them, and those who could not reach them were all eliminated.

The most important thing was endurance. Liu Zheng did not require them to run very far, but shuttle runs were mandatory.

After all, the combat arena for these Reserve Force members is near the city gates, requiring them to move repeatedly within a small combat area, so this item is the most important.

Of course, there were many other technical branches, and the conditions for those were different.

The number of people who signed up this time far exceeded Liu Zheng's psychological expectations. Although hundreds of registration points had been set up, the registration still continued

for most of the day. Fortunately, Liu Zheng had not received news of the Youzhou army moving out, so there was still time.

After the registration ended, the selection followed immediately. After layers of screening, the thirty thousand people with the strongest combat effectiveness were finally selected.

These thirty thousand people would act as regular troops this time, coordinating with the City Defense Army to resist the Youzhou Army!

With the appearance of the Reserve Force, Yu Qian's tactics were adjusted accordingly. Except for a small number of generals left behind in Jinghua City to be responsible for command, the entire Jinghua City Defense Army was deployed in formation outside the city.

Yu Qian wanted to use these twenty thousand elite city guards to blunt the edge of the Youzhou soldiers first. Once the Youzhou soldiers' momentum faded, he would lead the army to retreat and wait for an opportunity to deploy troops.

With the Jinghua side's deployment completed, Youzhou also dispatched its troops.

An army of one hundred thousand marched majestically toward Jinghua.

At this time, the orders from the Jinghua side had already reached Liaodong. The Liaodong Commander-in-Chief received the news: move out secretly and, at the appropriate time, conduct an encirclement of the Youzhou field army.

This news made the Liaodong Commander-in-Chief Li Wenlong extremely happy.

Ever since Liaodong changed hands, the status of their Liaodong Army had plummeted. Although they had changed their banners, they still wore the label of "Rebel Army" wherever they went.

Last time he went to the Ministry of War for a meeting, most of the commanders-in-chief isolated him, and even that group of generals from the south who had almost no combat effectiveness dared to look down their noses at him, which infuriated him.

He was a commander-in-chief of a region, after all; when had he ever suffered such indignity?

At that time, in a moment of hot-headedness, he really wanted to rebel. However, they were already troops who had surrendered, and they had no leader; rebelling would be a dead end.

There was no other way; he could only endure it.

Moreover, with the development of Liaodong, they had also enjoyed a large wave of Dividends, so naturally, they would not really consider rebelling.

But.

The Liaodong Army desperately needed a comeback battle, and this operation against Youzhou was the opportunity!

As long as they could severely damage or annihilate this Rebel Army, the Liaodong Army would become a heroic army!

With the halo of suppressing the rebellion, no one would dare to look down on him when he went to Jinghua for meetings again!

Liaodong was keeping an eye on the Youzhou Army, and the Mongol were also keeping an eye on the Youzhou Army.

Upon hearing the news of the Zhao King declaring himself Emperor, Tiemucheng was overjoyed.

With the Zhao King declaring himself Emperor, he became an irreconcilable enemy of Longyan and Liu Zheng, giving him a solid and reliable ally!

Now that they were weak in strength, they could huddle together for warmth with the Youzhou Army and resist Longyan together!

However, his thoughts were not just about defense; he wanted to attack!

The humiliation of the one-hundred-thousand-strong army's failed attack on Jinghua was still etched in his heart. As the Great Khan of the Mongol tribes, his pride fueled his desire to wash away the shame!

"Military Advisor, the Youzhou Army is attacking Jinghua. Should we also get involved? If two armies attack at the same time, I think there is a very good chance of taking Jinghua!" Tiemucheng asked with an expectant look.

Tiemucheng waited for Zhongxing Yue to give him an affirmative answer, but Zhongxing Yue just shook his head.

"Why? This is our best opportunity right now. As long as we can take down Longyan, my Great Mongol will not have to worry about the Longyan people's northern expedition!" Tiemucheng asked, puzzled.

"It is still too early for the Great Khan to be at ease. Do not forget, he, Meng Zan, is also a Longyan person."

Zhongxing Yue said with a vigilant expression.

"What do you mean? Isn't he our ally?" Tie Muchen frowned. This whole affair had been instigated by Zhongxing Yue, so why did he still have doubts? Recent pop-ups are severe, please click to download to avoid pop-ups.