stubborn thief

In May of the seventh year of Chongzhen.

On the evening of the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, General Feng Ru of the Marshal's Mansion led a battalion of full-strength vehicles to the west of Shandan Acropolis, stationed at Hejiazhuangzi, five miles outside the west gate, and sent troops to Shucheng.

Commander Zhu Houji of Shandan Guard went to the city to look out, took the letter very calmly and unfolded it on the city. The letter paper was made of exquisite official green paper, and the handwriting was very special. It can be seen from the outline that he has excellent pavilion style skills. , but the writing is illegible.

The letter was written very politely on the letterhead, respectful brother Zhu Houji.

Zhu Houji opened the letter with doubts, thinking that it was some acquaintance captured by the Marshal's Mansion, so he would send the letter to him at this time, but unexpectedly, the content of the letter was murderous.

"Siege the city tomorrow, and think for yourself, if you can abide by the rules, if you can't, you will surrender--brother, Liu Chengzong. '

Zhu Houji folded the letter expressionlessly and put it in his arms. In the shadow on the north side of the gate tower of Shandanwei, he looked at the camp of Feng Lubu who was not far away with smoke rising from the kitchen until the shadow moved back and the sky was dark. fades.

He thought about how polite this Liu Chengzong, who had never met before but who was like a thunderbolt, was really polite, and besides being polite, he really didn't save any face for others.

Where is there such a persuasion to surrender, at least say something nice, and make people think about themselves without saying anything?

Zhu Houji walked down the gate tower, spent a quarter of an hour weighing the strength of the enemy and us, and expressed regret to Emperor Chongzhen in the Forbidden City in three seconds. Do everything you can do.

It's nothing more than the combat style. Gao Yingdeng concentrated his elite to crush the enemy, while Zhang Tianlin repeatedly maneuvered to crush the enemy.

It is five feet one in length, six inches in inner diameter, spherical chamber, straight up and down, and lower in diameter. Not sure.

They have held a military meeting all afternoon, arranging a series of things such as reorganizing the army as soon as possible, making rockets, and discussing the next step of strategic deployment. After the reorganization, the army will be pushed to the east to fight to see how the effect is. Then I heard the guards in the yamen come to report: "Marshal, General Feng Shen's subordinate Qian Zong from Shandanwei is here."

But if the ammunition is not supplied, Liu Shizi can still accept the delay of the marching speed caused by the weight alone.

"General Feng called you over, tell me, what happened to Shandanwei?"

On the contrary, since entering the customs, with the growth of troops, the command and dispatch of battles have become more and more difficult. By the time of occupying Ganzhou, his huge army with a strength of nearly [-] has reached the critical point before it collapses.

Because the soldiers led by others were all recruited by defeating himself, he said it would be no problem to cut it, and it would affect the enthusiasm of the generals, and he still had to bear the consequences.

In the afternoon of the ninth day of the ninth day.

General Hongwu is the big iron general cannon cast in the year of Hongwu. There are quite a few of these guns in various cities in Gansu. The shape has neither a front sight nor a cannon ear. The shape is relatively backward, but it is superior in uniform specifications and excellent workmanship. Excellent control.

He himself is another extreme. He first requires himself to be undefeated, because he can't afford to lose, so he can only have battles within battles and battalions within battalions.

Among all the captured artillery, Liu Chengzong chose two types of artillery from two years as the conventional artillery of Qian Zong and Ba Zong. Door.

The newly added battalion commander Qian led two commanders, who were the commanders of the Chinese army and the commanders of the artifact.

In addition, at the level of Baizong, many small cannons such as Yongzhu and Mielu were distributed, but Liu Chengzong didn't plan to let the army always have such small cannons, so he didn't make it available to every Baizong. There are cannons, even if small cannons are distributed, they are allotted ten or twenty rounds of ammunition, and the follow-up does not care about the delivery of ammunition.

Liu Chengzong gave Lian Daqi a pair of iron-encrusted forehead hair scarves every year, for fear that his forehead would be injured again.

However, the establishment is given to the big battalion, but three battalions need three thousand technicians from the headquarters. Even if they have [-] soldiers outnumbered by Sha Tai, they still don't have enough people. The follow-up troops still need Cao Yao to slowly find them in Gansu. Replenish.

The first army to be reorganized was the three battalions of Zhang Tianlin, Gao Yingdeng, and Wei Qian'er, which were seriously overnumbered. They were all reorganized into large battalions. The basic combat methods remained unchanged, and the ability to fight alone was enhanced.

Fortunately, Liu Chengzong already had a plan in mind for this matter. During this period of time, he first communicated with the generals of the battalions in private. Of course, the reason for the expansion was not to satisfy the vanity of the generals, but that the military exploits could not change them for the time being before the end of the war. official position, so advance a little war rewards in advance.

At the same time, as the biggest hero of the Eastern Expedition to Gansu, Liu Chengzong also fulfilled Zhang Tianlin's small wish-to mobilize Ganzhou craftsmen to make a batch of rocket launchers for his Zuoqian headquarters.

After shooting, even throw away the cannon belt and ammunition box and it's over.

Liu Chengzong's heart skipped a beat when he heard this, because Feng Ru arrived at the Shandan Guard on the evening of the eighth day of the lunar new year, so he would definitely not be able to fight at night, and attacked at dawn.

After a few summons from the governor's yamen, he soon saw Mr. Qian, who was wearing an iron inlaid hair scarf and holding a bowl, quickly entered the hall.

Zhang Tianlin said, Marshal, we have no shortage of gunpowder. This thing is much easier to use than a gun. Although two or three hundred of them are fired at a time, the weight is very heavy, but the rockets carried by three hundred general brigades can solve a problem. question.

Therefore, the small tactical advantages brought about by increasing the allocation of small artillery to the Hundred Corps cannot densely cover its disadvantages in terms of delaying the marching speed and increasing the difficulty of replenishment.

Lian Daqi is a veteran of the Marshal Army, nicknamed Erlang God. He fought against He Huchen in the battle of Huanglong Mountain. He was the captain of the left post when he was practicing Daqi. He led the troops to resist the enemy on the left mountain ridge. The frontal bone was not pierced, and the soldiers in the army thought it was amazing when they pulled out the arrow after the battle and jumped on the spot.

The distance between Shandanwei and Ganzhou City is 120 miles. Even if the envoy changes horses along the way, it is best to set off in the morning if he wants to arrive in Ganzhou before dark on the ninth day of the lunar new year. However, the two armies have just fought in the morning, so there will be no results.

His existence has popularized a common sense to the Marshal's Mansion. The human frontal bone is very hard. Even for many soldiers of the Marshal's Army, it can be directly concluded that the frontal bone is the hardest bone. Otherwise, you would think that Erlang God came here.

Lian Daqi is also very clear about his physical condition, and is very satisfied with this arrangement.

The cost is very high, and the cost performance is extremely poor. The range is 250 steps and the diffusion is [-] steps, which means that there is only a safe range of [-] to [-] steps.

Specifically, on the basis of the standard battalion of 600 people commonly used by the Marshal's Mansion, a battalion commander, who is directly managed by a general, was added to make the standard battalion a large battalion of 5000 to [-] people.

This weapon is incompatible with Liu Chengzong's tactics.

If the battle fails, this kind of gun runs out of ammunition or does not run out, and it does not feel bad to just throw it away. It can increase the transfer speed and does not need to resupply shells.

Lian Daqi greeted him with a fistful salute with a smile, saw many generals in the hall, and hurriedly saluted all the generals solemnly, then said with a smile to Liu Chengzong: "The commander-in-chief is really clever, the journey is not rushed. "

This is what Liu Shizi thinks. Anything that can be done by small guns such as Yongzhu and Mielu can be done with a gun; tactical tasks that cannot be done with a gun will not work with Yongzhu and Mielu.

But correspondingly, they seized a large number of general cannons and Franco cannons, so they distributed these artillery pieces to Qian Zong and Ba Zong as supplementary firepower.

This problem has almost eliminated the way to become a general. Generals are not afraid of losing limbs, getting old, sick, and disabled. Even if they are carried in a sedan chair, they can command battles, but they must be mentally strong. The huge pressure brought by various intelligence.

"Returning to the commander-in-chief, it all depends on the letter written by the commander-in-chief to persuade him to surrender. Commander Zhu Houji of Shandan opened the city to surrender this morning. General Feng asked me to come back to help the commander-in-chief to ask for an official. General Feng suggested , the Marshal considered his situation and granted him an official position."

As for General Nantang, it is the invincible general of the Frang machine improved in Qi Jiguang's era. This one is much more advanced in shape. It has a front sight and a cannon cart, and can shoot solid iron bullets continuously and quickly to break the formation. , or play scattered pieces to form a suppressed barrage.

The general manager of the artifact has five hundred general managers, who are in charge of three thousand catty cannons, ten lion cannons, equipment maintenance, ammunition, donkeys and mules respectively.

At the same time, the quality is better than that of General Hongwu, and some of the guns are forged, which are light and easy to use.

But this kind of defective rocket with a wide coverage, a wide range of damage, and a huge consumption, for Zhang Tianlin who is good at maneuvering, scurrying all over the ground, and good at cavalry chaotic combat... Special!do not!Cool!

Army organization is a very sophisticated technology. The selection of personnel and equipment in each organization has its own tactical purpose. The generals of each battalion are satisfied with the false prosperity brought about by the surrender of the army. The result is bloated organization, difficult command, and complicated equipment. , Combat power declines.

Liu Chengzong knew about his physical problems, and seeing that he was the one who came here, and he didn't look particularly nervous or painful, he knew that Shandanwei's problem was not serious, and said with a smile, "Daqi, did you leave in the morning?"

Liu Shizi thought about it, and asked Bai Guangen's evaluation of the rocket to find an opportunity.

The reasoning is that the reasoning is correct, whether the rocket is useful or not, it doesn't matter if he says it, and Bai Guangen is the one who is most qualified to evaluate it.

Because of this, Huang Shengxiao, who was fighting side by side with the team leader who practiced Daqi back then, has become a general.

The supernumerary troop strength will certainly give the generals the illusion of "I'm really good at commanding so many troops", but from Liu Chengzong's point of view, he is very clear that the increase in troop strength brought about by the occupation of Ganzhou has not enhanced the combat capability of the army.

But it can basically meet the defense or assault firearms needs of the generals when they encounter the enemy in the field on the basis of having battalion artillery.

To be honest, Liu Chengzong didn't pay much attention to the rockets made by the Marshal's Armament Bureau. Rockets are of course very important, but what they made in Hehuang was a defective product under certain conditions. There are many restrictions on weight.

Liu Chengzong was a typical educated man leading a reckless man in battle. All the generals under his command were born in poor battles. The combat habits he developed were all concentrated elites, forced breakthroughs at one point, and repeatedly rushed or pulled until the enemy collapsed.

On the contrary, the most important accuracy, range, and power of the rocket launcher have all given way to portability. A ten-pound rocket contains seven pounds of fuel, one pound of blasting powder, and 53 iron pellets.

However, taking Zhang Tianlin, Gao Yingdeng, and Wei Qianer's three seriously overstaffed battalions as an example, Liu Chengzong was really unwilling to directly reduce the troops commanded by them to the standard.

Then the problem is much simpler.

If the battle is successfully won, then there is no need to replenish ammunition, the Ming army has it!
Isn't the problem solved?

Therefore, the expansion of the battlefield is a foregone conclusion. For Liu Shizi, what needs to be considered is how to maintain the generals under his command without affecting the combat effectiveness of the army under the premise of limited equipment.

Fortunately, there is another promotion path in the Marshal's Mansion. Liu Chengzong had a chat with Lian Daqi, and he was not able to endure hard work due to physical problems, so he asked him to do more theoretical records and study. In short, put them into the military office as a military trainer or the academy as an instructor for military officers.

It is very risky to change the organization in the course of the war, but at this time Liu Chengzong's army stationed in Ganzhou has as many as eight battalions, and except for the Huben battalion and Fengru battalion in the headquarters, the remaining six battalions are all overstaffed, and the normal command, march, and supplies are very good. Difficult, let alone fighting.

In Liu Shizi's heart, if the Marshal Army wants to deploy rockets on a large scale, it needs to develop a normal rocket that weighs [-] kilograms. It should be equipped with a balance bar. After five or six hundred steps, let's talk about mass production and assembly.

It's like building a civil engineering project. Although the Mielu Cannon fires a catty of shells, and the gun is only two and a half lead bullets, but the ratio of the gun to the diameter is high, and the wooden wall that the gun can't penetrate, the west side The commonly used [-]-jin wrought iron cannon can't penetrate it either.

This is Zhang Tianlin's practical experience on the battlefield. Once the cavalry charge, the enemy will form an formation. No matter what kind of car battalion or infantry battalion you have, no matter how advanced your equipment is or how powerful your guns are, just throw three thousand catties of gunpowder down, and there will still be people standing. After that, another three thousand catties would be smashed, and the battle would be over as soon as the cavalry charged.

If the envoy set off in the afternoon, arriving in Ganzhou at this time would mean that two horses ran to death on the road, then there is no doubt that something happened!
Liu Chengzong immediately stopped discussing matters with the general, and quickly said to the guards: "Hurry up and welcome in."

Such a change in organization is to put the heavy firepower directly under the generals. The firepower of the original three thousand headquarters has been severely weakened. headquarters.

The general of the Chinese army has five hundred generals under his jurisdiction, who lead the staff guards, the flags and drums accompanying the army, the siege equipment, the military doctor, and the pond riders.

Liu Chengzong is convening a general military meeting at the governor's office in Ganzhou City. The main focus of the military meeting is the establishment of the Marshal's Mansion at the battalion level.

But even though he was alive and kicking, practicing Daqi also left behind the root cause of violent fighting and headaches when he was excited.

The price/performance ratio is very high!
The two armies are facing each other, and the ammunition of ten thousand-kilo cannons has to be fired for a full four hours. It is really hard to bomb the battalion. But if the range of the artillery on both sides is similar, what is the loss of four hours of bombing?
The rockets swish and it's over, even if the heavenly king Laozi comes, he can't catch these Liu Guoneng who fell from the sky.

Liu Chengzong nodded slowly: "Then tell me first, what's his situation, clan?"

"It's not from the clan, but he is very sensible." Lian Daqi smiled and handed over a long letter, saying: "Zhu Hou has received a letter from the commander-in-chief. He invited the soldiers in the city to have a meal last night. After eating, he started to act. He controlled the son of Prince Taibao Military Department Shangshu Wang Yunzhong, the Jinshi of Shandan who was at home, and the king Jianhou of Jibei who participated in politics."

"Afterwards, the armaments, horses, food, grass, and supplies were rectified overnight to appease the hearts of the military households in the city. When the city opened in the morning, the entire Shandanwei army did not carry weapons and armor, and the knives and guns were put into the warehouse. Wait at the gate of the city to receive it from the Marshal's Mansion."

After Lian Daqi finished speaking, he looked at Liu Chengzong and clasped his fists and said, "General Feng thinks this commander is a role model, please commander-in-chief to make a decision."

Good morning!