The rise of the prince

Chapter 240 Sending Troops + New Army Plan
At the beginning of February, the third and fourth chambers of the Shenwu Army were preparing to leave Beijing.

This time, the morale is not as high as last time. Because this time we have to travel thousands of miles over land, so the formation is huge. There are more than [-] servants transporting supplies, food and supplies, plus auxiliary soldiers and servants. It can be said that it is a waste of people and money. up.

I don’t know how much it cost compared to the last time the troops were dispatched. The third chamber and the fourth chamber will go directly to Guazhou and wait for Yang Hongzhao’s dispatch. However, not only the army is accompanying them, but also an imperial edict to dispatch troops immediately.

Because of the defeat in the last battle, many people were not optimistic about this dispatch. It could even be said that there were complaints. Many wives, daughters and parents gathered around the Forbidden Army camp outside the city, crying to send their husbands and sons away from Beijing.

Outside the south gate, the spring breeze was raging, the flags were flying, and a mighty crowd surrounded the Forbidden Army camp, spreading for dozens of miles.The atmosphere was generally not very good, many people were sobbing in a low voice, and forced to hold back, after all, crying farewell is always bad
But at this point, how many people can hold back, the future is unpredictable, it all depends on the destiny, only a few thousand people died in the south, countless injured, and the number of missing people is unknown. At this time, if you continue to go south, who can Don't worry about your family?

Li Xingzhou followed behind He Zhao. As the Governor of Kaiyuan, he had the responsibility of maintaining order and appeasing the people, and the task of the emperor's farewell for the army was also entrusted to him.

He Qian was also dressed in heroic armor, and with her personal sword, mixed in with the crowd.

He Zhao hinted to Li Xingzhou several times before, wanting him to talk about how to comfort people and boost morale, but He Zhao still couldn't hold back his face after all, and finally asked He Qian to help him ask around.

Inspire soldiers?

Of course it is swearing. From the perspective of war psychology, swearing is the most effective way to eliminate fear and boost morale, so there is no need to talk about civilization in war.

But he didn't know if He Zhao could really scold him.

Sure enough, when he stepped forward to speak to the Ming people and the Imperial Army, He Zhao said that a lot of soldiers served the country, defended their families and defended the country, lived a great life, and died like an official. As the chief official of the capital, he is grateful to you all. Yes, I spoke impassionedly and sincerely, but unfortunately the response was not good, and no one echoed.

Li Xingzhou couldn't help shaking his head, He Zhao was still not shameless enough, like Zhong Daoyu and the old emperor, they would definitely do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.

In a depressing atmosphere, the army began to set off.

The leaders were the two commanders, the four deputy commanders, and the two princes of Du Yu. They were all dressed in black and exquisite armor and rode tall horses.Behind is the tall general flag and the mighty army
He Zhao served farewell wine for everyone, and then talked politely for a while, both sides bowed their hands to each other.

Amidst the sound of firecrackers, several yamen servants came up with a cart hung with red silk cloth, which was full of cattle and sheep, which were sacrifices.

In ancient times, it was necessary to kill people to sacrifice the flag when sending troops, which meant victory when the flag was opened. At the same time, the soldiers were allowed to see and smell the blood, so as to avoid fear when they first saw blood on the battlefield.

But now it has been gradually changed to killing livestock. These livestock are also called "sacrifices". The butcher in red began to kill cattle and sheep. Bloody water, and then several soldiers as strong as cattle carried it to the front of the general flag and splashed it with all their strength.

Immediately, the bloody smell permeated the air, and the strong bloody smell made people who were not used to it even feel sick. The flags were bathed in blood, and the army went out!
The Forbidden Army camp began to beat drums and trumpets, and the long queue moved slowly at this moment, and the soldiers bid farewell to their relatives and walked away slowly.
I don't know if I can come back safely.

In the past two years, Jing Chao has suffered many disasters, and Li Xingzhou couldn't help but sigh, he has encountered all kinds of bad things.

"I'm going to your house in the afternoon." At this time, He Qian quietly tugged at the hem of his clothes and whispered behind his back, afraid that her father would overhear.

"If you want to go, go, I can't stop you anyway." Li Xingzhou spread his hands.

"I want to shoot."

"No!" Li Xingzhou immediately refused.

The little girl quit, glared at him, raised her delicate chin: "I'm going to hit him!"

It's a pity that Li Xingzhou pressed it down when he raised his head: "Reject." Who told you that you are short?
"Me!" The little girl still wanted to be tough, but probably knew that this move was useless to Li Xingzhou, so she shook his big hand and said coquettishly, "Just five shots! Okay."

Li Xingzhou shook his head.

"I beg you!"

Li Xingzhou shook his head again.

"Hmph! Cheapskate." He Qian shook off his arm, with a dissatisfied expression on his face, his mouth was almost raised to the sky.

"Ahem!" At this moment, He Zhao, who had finished speaking, walked towards the two with a dark face: "Go back to the government office!"

He Qian angrily ignored Li Xingzhou, and when He Zhao spoke, the officials of the Kaiyuan Mansion quickly followed He Zhao back, because there were too many people around them, and the carriages and horses could not move, even the governor of the Kaiyuan Mansion could only go back. I can walk now.
Due to Li Xingzhou's status, except for He Zhao, most of the other officials of the Kaiyuan Mansion respected him and often fawned over him.

While walking, the officials of the Kaiyuan Mansion subconsciously gathered around and said some good things, most of them praised him for his outstanding literary talent and talents. Well now, after the Shangyuan Festival, some people think that Li Xingzhou is the number one talented person in Kyoto, and the officials of the Kaiyuan Mansion can be regarded as finding an opportunity to flatter the emperor's grandson, so how can they not hurry up.

These people are more shameless than each other, and each one is better at licking than the other. Li Xingzhou is really, really comfortable.

He Qian stuck out her tongue in contempt, but most of these people were her elders, and it was hard to say anything, but she couldn't interrupt, and was very upset, kicking the stones on the side of the road angrily.

It wasn't until He Zhao turned around and coughed twice that the crowd dispersed wisely and stopped being a licking dog.

He Zhao took a few steps back, with a serious expression on his face, and asked in a low voice, "Tell me, how did you go this time?"

"Are you asking me?"

"Nonsense!" He Zhao looked unhappy, and looked around carefully, only to feel relieved when he found that no one was paying attention to what they were talking about.

Li Xingzhou spread his hands: "What else can I do? Master He must be aware of what this time is for."

He Zhao stopped talking, and sighed, "Is it worth it?"

"It's worth it, of course it's worth it, at least it's worth it for the emperor." Li Xingzhou said bluntly: "After all, the emperor is the country, the country is the emperor, and the crown prince is the future emperor. It's nothing to die for him."

"Are you angry?" He Zhao asked sullenly.

Li Xingzhou didn't bother to talk to him, in fact, he could avoid this matter these days.

Whether it's practicing shooting, or blacksmithing with Tieniu, or staying overnight at Shiyu, I don't want to let myself think about those annoying things. trouble.

It's just that people's emotions are always difficult to control, and they will spew out when they are slightly touched. The difference is that some people are good at concealing and controlling, while others are not. Li Xingzhou belongs to the club, but he is just an individual, not invulnerable.

"Why don't you try it? Don't you have a lot of conspiracies and dirty tricks?" He Zhao said casually again.

Li Xingzhou glanced at He Zhao again, no, did He Zhao take the wrong medicine today?
"Look at what I'm doing!" He Zhao stared.

"No, why didn't Master He argue with me today?" Li Xingzhou looked him up and down.

He Zhao was so angry that his seven orifices were filled with smoke, and his eyes were about to burst into flames. He stared at him fiercely for a long time, and finally snorted heavily, and then suddenly became serious: "I am also thinking about Jiangshan Sheji."

"So you have thought about Jiangshan Sheji for a long time, and the only conclusion is that you don't argue with me?" Li Xingzhou asked amusedly.

"You're as good as you are! I'm too lazy to argue with you." He Zhao said in a low voice, "I'm not joking. After thinking about it, maybe you can save them."

Li Xingzhou shook his head quickly: "No, Mr. He, don't think about bringing bad things to me. If you want revenge, just say so."

"You! Hmph" He Zhao snorted, and then said with a dark face, "You are also the heir of the royal family! You are the direct descendant of the emperor, and King Xiao's rank is already higher than that of the crown prince. You should think about it carefully."

"So? What do you want to say, let me go to the south to die." Li Xingzhou looked at He Zhao warily as he walked.

He Zhao really nodded: "I think you will always have a way."

Li Xingzhou almost wanted to hit him, but he came up with such a bad idea, and he didn't know where He Zhao's inexplicable trust in him came from. Didn't he show him face every day before?
It is said that women are fickle, how can a man like He Zhao be so fickle?
Unless he is given two thousand firearms and two thousand well-trained spearmen, he will be sent to die. The situation in the south is complicated now, and there are too many uncertain factors, so there is a high probability that he will be sent to death.

Li Xingzhou is not a fool, he needs to do what he can.

"Don't even think about it." Li Xingzhou refused without hesitation: "I said, Mr. He, you are really deliberate in order to harm me. You can come up with such a bad trick. If you think it is useful, you can go to the emperor and talk to him." I said why."

"You..." He Zhao glared at him, then waved his sleeves: "That's all! Rotten wood can't be carved." Then he walked away angrily, leaving only a handsome back.

The old man also scolded people.
"Shoot!" Li Xingzhou waved the flag, bang!boom!boom!
There was a burst of unison, and the first row of guards who were kneeling on one knee fired in unison, and the wooden target in front was smashed into pieces.

Soon, Li Xingzhou raised the flag again, and the guards standing in the back row quickly handed the loaded firearms to the first row, and the guards in the first row quickly raised the muzzles, leveled them, and took aim!

Li Xingzhou waved his hand, bang!boom!boom!Another salvo.

After a few days of practice, the guards have been able to shoot three to four times in one minute, but it is not fast enough. The tactic is the famous three-stage shooting.

In fact, three-stage shooting is not what many people imagined. Each person has a gun, lined up in three rows, and then the front row shoots and then the back row shoots.

This kind of formation is not easy to maintain, not to mention that it takes a lot of energy to change the formation for a long time, and the shooting accuracy cannot be guaranteed, because the soldiers' shooting skills are inherently uneven.

Three-stage shooting is to select the soldier with the best shooting skills, and then assign him two deputies, a group of three, and a group of three guns.

When shooting starts, the soldiers who are good at shooting are in the first row, kneeling on one knee and ready to shoot, and then the two soldiers behind are responsible for loading ammunition and adding gunpowder to the gunpowder chamber, and then hand the loaded gun to the front. The platoon of soldiers who are good at shooting shoots.

The advantage is that the shooting is all done by the soldier with the best shooting performance. He only needs to concentrate on shooting, so that the shooting accuracy is improved; at the same time, the two loading soldiers in the back perform their own duties and only need to be responsible for one job. Assembly line work, practice makes perfect, Filling speed is increased.

Now there are 32 Sui-fire guns in the palace, and more guns are being produced continuously, which is just enough to form a three-stage shooting with ten people in a row.

These more than 30 people were all drawn from the Wangfu nursing home, led by Yan Shen. After several days of training, they are already familiar with the shooting of Suifa guns. Now they can shoot three or four times in one minute, which is very fast. up.

But sharpshooters are all fed by bullets. Li Xingzhou doesn't care about the money, and still makes them train every day, even consuming pellets and gunpowder.

The nurses are also very enthusiastic. After all, no one has seen this new weapon before. Its terrifying lethality also makes people's blood swell. The most important thing that inspires them is the deep recognition and sense of belonging to the palace.
The practice lasted until the afternoon, and then everyone chanted slogans from the back hill and walked back to the palace in unison. For these new troops, discipline and morale are far better than bravery.

Bravery can be gradually replaced by weapons, or even eliminated, but discipline and morale are eternal and the foundation of an army's combat effectiveness.

At first, the nurses didn't know much about Shizi's training methods, but they gradually got used to it. Shizi obviously wanted to train soldiers. After all, King Xiao had also trained at the beginning, but when Shizi trained people, the nurses realized that it was completely It's two different things.

Not to mention a lot of strange training methods, Shizi training does not even hang a flag.
After dinner in the evening, Ji Chunsheng hurried to look for him in the courtyard.

"My lord, Zhong Daoyu has entered the palace!" Ji Chunsheng shouted as soon as he entered.

Li Xingzhou was overjoyed, this is what he asked Ji Chunsheng to help pay attention to, because the matter of the army restructuring has been decided, and when Zhong Daoyu enters the palace, he will almost be able to intervene in the imperial army.

This is not only for the safety of the palace, but also because he needs a new army, a new army that uses firearms and has been trained.

The nursing home of the palace is obviously not enough. His status as the eldest son brings him a lot of convenience, but it also has a lot of troubles and constraints. The so-called success and failure of Xiao He, probably so.

In Luzhou, thousands of miles away, his sister-in-law's mansion casually recruited five or six hundred nursing homes to strengthen security.

But as the emperor's grandson and his residence is in the capital, if he dared to recruit five hundred guards blatantly, nine times out of ten, a bunch of people would come to him the next day to join him in plotting against him with ulterior motives.

Li Xingzhou is also helpless, so he can only cooperate with Zhong Daoyu, trying to win the military power of the Imperial Army by beating around the bush. In Kaiyuan, there are only three armed forces that are legal and lawful and not suspicious. .

Shangzhi's personal guard and Wu Desi are the emperor's bodyguards and guards, so he doesn't have to think about it, the rest can only be the idea of ​​the imperial army.

The imperial army is not allowed to enter the city, but it is reasonable for him to send troops into the city on the grounds of protecting the grenade production line. After all, there are still 500 Wude division sergeants stationed in the camp in the back mountain. Sergeant will do.

The supplies in the Houshan camp are all ready-made. Once the imperial army arrives, they can pack up and move in, and they can be stationed there. It is also easy to carry out firearms shooting training.

Army Commander!The imperial army has more than 2000 people, which is enough for now.

Thinking of this, Li Xingzhou happily asked Yan Zhuo to cook a few good dishes, prepared some good wine, and called Yan Shen, and the three of them drank a lot, and got very drunk that night
(End of this chapter)