Cutting 1719

Chapter 402 The Battle of Kuizhou
"Okay, since you have such confidence, then I will naturally not be stingy. Whenever you need something, I will grant it."

Ning Yu had a look of joy on his face. The cultivation of military horses can be regarded as a century-old project, especially in this era. Although firearms have begun to develop rapidly, the status of cavalry is still difficult to replace, and it has always been an indispensable strategic arm. .

For the Fuhan Army, the biggest shortcoming at present is the cavalry. After all, once the Northern Expedition is launched, it will face the impact of the Eight Banners and Mongolian cavalry on the plain. Although Ning Yu has defeated the Eight Banners cavalry in the previous battle, but That's also because of the terrain restrictions. If it's really in an open area, it's not sure.

Therefore, before the Northern Expedition next year, Ning Yu urgently needs a related cavalry unit, preferably a trained cuirassier, which is the force most needed by the Fuhan Army at present.

In the future, the Fuhan Army will also be equipped with a large-scale cavalry unit, so that they can compete with Lao Maozi in the north, otherwise all this will be impossible without the support of the cavalry.It is precisely because of these needs that Ning Yu asked Ernst to search for Roman experts and related cavalry talents from the West.

John smiled slightly. He already knew from Ernst how generous the Great Emperor was, but he was not polite at all, "Your Majesty, if it's a personal reward, title and money are what I need. If it's an improved horse If you need a lot of stallions first, then alfalfa."

When John finished speaking, the faces of the ministers frowned slightly, and they secretly despised this Westerner because he had never seen the world, how could he ask for money and titles like this?It is too vulgar and too unrefined.

However, after listening to Ning Yu, he felt that this person was quite straightforward, so he laughed and said: "John, I will never let down the hero of the empire. How about adding 20 silver dollars?"

count? ! 20 silver dollars? !

A greedy look flashed across John's face, and then it turned into ecstasy. This was a huge reward that he never dreamed of, and then he quickly knelt down on the ground.

"His Majesty the Great Emperor is so generous! I am willing to breed qualified military horses for His Majesty the Great Emperor!"

With the temptation of money and title, this person's motivation to do things is different. John quickly introduced to Ning Yu: "Your Majesty, if you want to breed Arabian horses, the current pastures are not good enough, you have to change them." into ryegrass and alfalfa to better meet the needs of horses."

"Clover? Ryegrass?"

Although Ning Yu doesn't understand animal husbandry, he also understands the importance of forage, and there are many requirements for it, such as high grass yield, tender grass, strong regeneration ability, and various rich nutrients. It can be used as grass if it has better sex, so not all grasses will do.

"Yes, Your Majesty, we need to replace all the pastures here with these two types, and then we need to plant pastures in other places in order to expand our farming scale."

John said seriously: "With these two types of pasture, you can feed them together, avoiding the problem of a single type of pasture causing the horse to get sick, and it can grow faster."

This problem is not too big, so Ning Yu readily agreed to John's request. Anyway, the cultivation of military horses will continue for many years, and the money spent may be like running water, but it is not important.

After Ning Yu left the Huangzhai Military Horse Farm, he immediately ordered the Privy Council Military Horse Department to carry out military horse breeding work at the Huangzhai Military Horse Farm, and the Westerner John, as a consultant of the Military Horse Department, personally participated in the military horse breeding. In other words, it is actually taking charge of the entire horse breeding work.

For the breeding of military horses, Ning Yu also specially allocated 100 million yuan in silver dollars to let Ernst continue to send people to search for Arabian horses in various countries, and send them all to China as stallions. Suitable place for planting as grazing land.

This is also Ning Yu's helpless move at the moment. After all, Mongolia is not in his hands right now, so he can only choose to plant grass and raise horses in the south, but after the reunification, the Mongolian grassland will be able to be used.

In addition to the long-term work of breeding war horses, Ning Yu also allocated a full 200 ​​million yuan to buy war horses in Western European countries. Since the price of war horses is cheaper than that of stallions, it is about 120 pounds to [-] pounds a horse. It is directly from [-] silver dollars to [-] silver dollars, which can basically buy about [-] war horses.

Although it is said that there are 8000 war horses, but it really needs training and equipment and so on. Counting the loss, it can probably be equipped with a guard cavalry division, which is about [-] people.

Of course, for Ning Yu, a cavalry division of the imperial guards is not enough, and a large-scale dragoon cavalry, that is, cavalry infantry, is needed, and the cavalry infantry is enough to use Mongolian horses, which are relatively cheap in price Not a lot, so three or four mounted infantry divisions can be equipped.

War horses alone are not enough. After all, a large number of draft horses and draft horses are needed in the war for logistics use, so the related logistics horses are also being searched quickly. Not too much money, but will be relatively large in number.

Since the establishment of the cavalry unit itself is in the Privy Council, this part of the budget is originally on the account, just waiting for the horses from the West to be in place, and to collect Mongolian horses from various channels.

In this way, Ningchu has cuirassiers as the arrows of the charge, and cavalry infantry as the fast-moving strategic force. The cavalry has a certain ability to compete with the Qing court, so there is no need to worry too much about the shortcomings of the cavalry.

As for the more distant plan, after the breeding of war horses is completed, large-scale breeding and stocking will be carried out. In the future, Ningchu will need at least 50 war horses in stock, and more than 200 to [-] million draft horses. Matching stock, in order to achieve large-scale rationing.

After returning to Nanjing, Ning Yu got the news of the war in the southwest. Ning Zuyi had already submitted the new plan made by Cheng Ming and others, and he did not express his position too much. After all, it was related to the frontline troops, and it was difficult for the rear Master the situation first-hand and try not to intervene indiscriminately, this is the rule customized by Ning Yu.

"The result of this battle may be faster than we expected."

Ning Zuyi looked a bit cautious, and said softly: "The current plan of Vice Minister Cheng and the others is actually to force Ertai. If Ertai does not protect Guiyang, he has to withdraw now, otherwise once he is rehabilitated by the Han army The three divisions blocked the back road, and I'm afraid it would be ugly if I wanted to leave."

"Hmph, Ertai is indeed the person Yongzheng valued. He wants to join our army, but the people I send are not vegetarians, so we will join him instead!"

There was a sneer on Ning Yu's face. In fact, the first battle in Guizhou Province was not so complicated. The main reason was that the chieftain stood beside Ertai, which made Ertai determined to fight head-to-head with the Fuhan army. The root cause still lies in Ning Chu's policy towards chieftains.

But for Ning Yu, if this can force him to retreat, wouldn't it be a distrust of the frontline soldiers?Besides, the battle against the chieftain was originally in the plan for the Southwest War, but it could not be changed.

"Since we want to fight, we might as well fight harder. Instruct King Chang Shan that the battle of entering Sichuan can be advanced, and Yue Zhongqi can't be left to help Ertai. As for Cheng Ming, let him fight at ease!"

"Yes"

With Ning Yu's order, the [-] troops led by Changshan King Ning Zhongyi finally launched the first battle in Sichuan, that is, the Shuiluer Passed Wushan and attacked Kuizhou Mansion, the gateway of Sichuan. With an army of [-], it is difficult to conquer it for a while.

As the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, Yue Zhongqi was gloomy looking at the map spread on the table when Kuizhou Mansion was besieged, while the governor of Sichuan, Cai Ting, also had a gloomy expression. As for the newly appointed admiral of Sichuan Zhang Guangsi, on the other hand, had a serious look on his face.

"Chu Ni's [-] troops won't fight sooner or later, and at this time they are attacking Kuizhou. I'm afraid they are targeting the two provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou."

Yue Zhongqi had a bit of dissatisfaction on his face. When the fight broke out in the south, he was going to let Zhang Guangsi bring his supervisor and the green battalion of several towns to support Ertai, but he didn't expect this to be a show. It looked good, and the flames of war were drawn to him all at once.

Governor of Sichuan, Cai Teng and Nian Gengyao had always been at odds, and he didn't have much dislike for Yue Zhongqi. He said softly, "Du Xian, even if the [-] Chu Ni army has ulterior motives, we have to be cautious. Judging from the previous battles, if Kuizhou is not rescued in time, I am afraid that the [-] troops will not last long."

As soon as these words came out, Yue Zhongqi's face changed. He had suffered from the Han army in Anqing City before, so he naturally didn't have the slightest intention of looking down upon him, so he nodded immediately and said: "I'm not going to lie to Mr. Cai. The governor intends to use all the troops in central Sichuan to fight to the death with the Fuhan army."

After hearing this, Cai Ting nodded. After all, there are currently 8 Qing soldiers in the towns of Chengdu Prefecture, plus the [-] Green Battalion in Kuizhou Prefecture, a total of [-] people. It is still possible to resist the attack of [-] Fu Han troops. Yes, after all, the terrain of Kuizhou Mansion is difficult and dangerous, it is a good place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is not completely undefensible in a real fight.

"But my lord, we have to beware of Chu Ni's other schemes. After all, Chu Ni is in control of the current waterway. If the other party bypasses Kuizhou Mansion by waterway, it may be very disadvantageous to our army."

Zhang Guangsi euphemistically suggested that this is not false. After all, the Fuhan Army has a powerful navy. If you want to defend Kuizhou, you can do it. When the time comes, you can directly come to your heart and bypass Kuizhou, Suiding, Zhongzhou and other places. , Take Chongqing and Chengdu directly, what do you use to defend?
If the Fuhan army took over the heartland so easily, I am afraid that the [-] Qing troops in Kuizhou would be disbanded in an instant. After all, everyone’s back road was cut off, and even the family members fell into the Fuhan army. In your hand, what else is there to fight?

When Cai Ting heard Zhang Guangsi's words, he felt quite reasonable again, and said softly: "Du Xian, what Mr. Zhang said this time seems to be quite reasonable, is it too reckless for us to send troops like this? "

A slight smile appeared on Yue Zhongqi's face, "Who said I must go to guard Kuizhou? He Chu Ni can draw my attention from Chongqing Mansion, so it's possible that the Governor can't go directly to Yichang Mansion?"

(End of this chapter)