Daming kill

Chapter 168
In the early morning, Li Ping stood on a section of the city wall and quietly looked down at Huangpi County, the first city he captured in his life, and the city that already belonged to him.

Pride and satisfaction filled his heart.

He really wanted to sing loudly, dance with his hands and feet, and even pretended to be a fart, imitating the great people to point out and scold him.

But he held back.

His previous experience had taught him restraint, and he didn't want the soldiers to feel that he was not stable enough.

It's just that this kind of deliberate suppression is really not easy.

Especially the big, stupid Liu Qiang behind him was still giggling non-stop without concealing it, and kept chattering excitedly with the little boy Dong Jiangpeng who was full of arrogance.

It's strange to say that this Liu Qiang doesn't communicate well with adults, but he often has hot fights with children and teenagers.

Maybe Liu Qiang is not stupid, but just a child at heart.This also made him feel joy from the bottom of his heart for any success of Li Ping, as if it was his own.

As for Dong Jiangpeng, it was his first time to carry out a major task, so he naturally had a lot of excitement and wanted to share it with others.

But even Li Ping himself still doesn't quite believe what he sees.

Everything seemed like a dream.

Except for dozens of enemies who escaped by chance, Li Ping almost wiped out nearly a thousand peasant army veterans in Huangpi City and hundreds of recruits and surrendered soldiers who had just recruited and surrendered.

Although the exact number of enemies wiped out is still being counted, this is undoubtedly a shocking and huge victory.

Especially the capture of a city is enough to make people dizzy just thinking about it.

However, his troops only lost 23 people and wounded 41 people.

Li Ping knew very well that this victory against the elite vanguard of the Peasant Army and the disparity in casualties between the enemy and the enemy finally restored the morale of his troops, which had been severely hit in the Changhu offensive.

He also clearly saw smiles and confidence returning to the faces of every officer and soldier.

"Sir! Sir!"

While Li Ping continued to feel joy from his heart, Ma Yong jogged all the way to find him cheerfully.

This guy was sweating all over his head, and he hadn't been idle since he saw it.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Are you still so happy?" Li Ping asked with a smile before Ma Yong stopped.

Seeing Li Ping's indifferent face, Ma Yong seemed a little embarrassed, but he still saluted first, then took a few breaths to stabilize his mood, and then said:
"Sir, when I was counting the prisoners just now, I learned from an enemy leader that a troop under He Jin was very close to Huangpi. I would like to ask you what your plan is next, and I'd better go early." Make arrangements. At the same time, there is also a happy event that I want the chief to know as soon as possible."

Li Ping looked at Ma Yong in surprise, then nodded to Ma Yong with great satisfaction and said, "I have made progress, I know that I have prepared for a rainy day! Your consideration is right and very good."

Ma Yong chuckled, scratched his head inadvertently and said: "Since Zhou Wen, Qian Dongzi, and Du Sanjiang came to the office, I somehow think about more things than before, and my head is no longer always I feel dizzy all day long, and I feel much more relaxed."

"This is the power of the atmosphere. And when the subordinates can support you with everything, you will have free time to think and study." Li Ping said with a smile.

He likes Ma Yong's growth, this is the ability that a chief of staff should possess.

Plan ahead, don't stick to the present.

But he still wanted to test Ma Yong again, so he asked, "What do you think about the next step?"

"I?"

Ma Yong pointed to himself in surprise.

But under Li Ping's nod, he only thought for a moment and then answered smoothly: "I think we need to collect and seize Huangpi as soon as possible and withdraw from Huangpi. Although Huangpi people's hearts are unexpectedly very usable, it is not consistent with Zhou Wen's earlier judgment. , but we still do not have the ability to hold on for a long time. Therefore, we should resolutely implement the previously established strategy of only attacking the city but not defending the city.”

Li Ping understood that Ma Yong must have thought about it on the way here, which made him even more delighted, so he said happily: "Your thinking is right, and I also have the same opinion."

Recovering Huangpi is already a great achievement and a clear statement of attitude. It is actually meaningless to stick to Huangpi. This is completely different from the situation when Li Ping wanted to defend Huangpi a few days ago.

It is okay to block the enemy's striker, but it is beyond self-control to block the enemy's main force.

Although the hearts of the people in the city are indeed available, Huangpi is located in the salient part of the entire Hanyang and Wuchang defense lines.Once the peasant army attacks, it may be able to defend in the short term, but it is impossible to defend in the long term.

And Li Ping had no intention of being loyal to the Ming Dynasty, so naturally there was no need to seek death.

Even before, he actually just wanted to block the peasant army's striker and side divisions to release satellites, and had no intention of crucifying the main force of the peasant army in Huangpi.

"Since the chief also has the same opinion, let's arrange it immediately." Ma Yong said with a happy face, probably happy that he can agree with Li Ping's thoughts on this kind of decision-making, which is rare.

Unexpectedly, Li Ping waved his hand unexpectedly and said to him: "Don't worry! We have conquered Huangpi, and the bandit army must be shocked. They will be cautious when they don't know the details. He Yilong and the main force of He Jin's headquarters are still far away, and He Jin's light soldiers will not pose a major threat to us in the short term. We still have enough time to collect and replenish supplies. "

Ma Yong scratched his head in embarrassment, and then said embarrassedly: "It's still the commander who thinks comprehensively, I'm a little impatient."

Li Ping smiled, changed the topic and said: "By the way, didn't you say that there is a happy event that you want me to know as soon as possible, why haven't you said it yet?"

Ma Yong was stunned for a moment, then slapped his thigh and said, "Oh, sir. I almost forgot if you didn't tell me. The captured war horses and large animals have been counted. I think you must really want to grasp it early."

"Oh! How much is it?"

"217 war horses, 112 pack horses, 175 mules and horses, 136 donkeys, and 27 cattle."

"So much?" Li Ping was startled.

Li Ping glanced briefly at the concentrating seizures before, and had a rough estimate in his heart, but he didn't dare to estimate too much.

"That's right, sir! Although it is said that there are many bandits and horses and large animals, I didn't expect there to be so many. For this reason, after my subordinates reported the number to me, I counted it myself. Wrong." Ma Yong was also very emotional.

The peasant army with many horses was a great feature in the wars in the late Ming Dynasty.

Many historical books have records that the official army at that time usually had very few cavalry, while the peasant army often had a large number of cavalry.Even the cavalry of the official army basically has one man and one horse, while the cavalry of the peasant army can often have one man with two horses or one man with three horses.

Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides who had the longest encirclement and suppression of the peasant army in the Ming Dynasty and had the most outstanding achievements, once said in a memorial: "Everyone has a good horse, or two horses, and the officers and soldiers ride three steps and seven, and it is difficult to chase."

"Ming History Zuo Liangyu Biography" also said: "Thieves drive horses, hundreds of miles a day and night. I have many infantry and few riders. I am always tired after traveling for dozens of miles, so I am more afraid of thieves."

The sixth volume of "Ping Kou Zhi" records: "There are many horses in the bandit camp", "Since there are so many horses, one bucket of daily supplies for the big horses, six liters of horses, so it is full"; Two or three horses, more galloping without getting tired."

Give another Liezi.

In the Battle of Sanshui in the 11th year of Chongzhen, Sun Chuanting defeated the peasant army with 3346 people and beheaded 623.On the battlefield alone, 727 mules, 185 armors, and 1652 weapons were seized.Afterwards, 3050 peasant soldiers were recruited to surrender, but 3021 horses and mules were donated.

Isn't it shocking!

In fact, Zuo Liangyu was able to lose more than 7000 horse mules in the first battle in Zhuxian Town, but it was only because he had previously attacked Li Zicheng's storage base in Linying and seized a large number of horse mules.

Why are there so many war horses in the Peasant Army?

This has a lot to do with the fact that most of the peasant armies originated in Qin, that is, northern Shaanxi.

In the Ming Dynasty, the main economic pillar of northern Shaanxi was not agriculture but livestock. The "Song Chuang Mengyu" written by Zhang Han in the Ming Dynasty mentioned that the main economic products of Shaanxi were "a lot of land, donkeys, horses, cattle, sheep, fur, bones and bones".

Furthermore, northern Shaanxi was the boundary area between farming and nomadic animal husbandry in the Ming Dynasty, and had a natural and huge advantage in obtaining horse mules.And because it is far away from the warring areas of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has become the most stable area in the interior to obtain horse mules, and then it is still an area controlled by various peasant armies, large and small.

All these make the number of mules in the peasant army really large.

Coupled with the series of victories of the peasant army in Henan, most of the horse mules that were not many in the army were concentrated there.

In this way, it is not uncommon for He Yilong's vanguard Ma Duo, who has higher requirements for mobility, not to mention that after they occupied Huangpi, they gave priority to searching for horse mules.

"This really solves a big problem! With so many horses, we can do a lot of things. And with so many horse mules, the security camp will be easier in the future. That kid Song Baolai will probably die of joy."

Li Ping finally couldn't restrain his excitement, his face was full of smiles.

"Yes! Yes! Especially after we quit Xiangyang, there are many places to use horses, and the lack of horses is really too uncomfortable. This time, most of the women in the security camp will be able to ride in the car in the future. You don't have to work hard with our two legs every day with us old men." Ma Yong also echoed.

"217 war horses, in addition to supplementing the agency and the reconnaissance company, the rest is enough for us to form a cavalry company!" Li Ping quickly entered a happy imagination, and at the same time, the scene of thousands of horses galloping began to appear in his head.

"Sir, you are right! We do need a dedicated cavalry company. Otherwise, the reconnaissance company has to be both a cavalry and a reconnaissance sentry. It is really difficult to support."

"That Zhang Qing is not bad, he should be able to take up this position." Li Ping had a flash of inspiration.

"Zhang Qing?"

Although Ma Yong paused for a moment, but this time he quickly caught up with Li Ping's jumping thinking and said:
"Zhang Qing is really good. He has served in the Liaodong frontier army for many years. He has served as a far-sighted sentry, served as a cavalry captain, and killed Tartars. I am far inferior to him in both riding and bow and arrow. These days I am Looking at his nature, he is also very good, and he is a good man who values ​​love and righteousness, so he is indeed the most suitable candidate."

"No collection at night" is said to be a unique title for sentries or spies in the Liaodong frontier army in the Ming Dynasty.But in fact, this word was widely used in the Ming Dynasty, and in many cases it did not refer to scouts, and it was even called a place name.

But the basic meaning of the word "Jiayuanshao" is undoubtedly the professional scouts who arrived at the enemy's camp.

"Talents are hard to find! We have been short of people like Zhang Qing who are proficient in cavalry. His willingness to join us has indeed solved our big problem. His two brothers of the opposite sex are also good, and they can be considered." Li Ping seriously Get up and talk.

Zhang Qing and his two brothers made a deep impression on Li Ping during this period, and asked Li Ping to pay special attention and observation.

"Well! That man named Ma Xiaotian is also a hero, very bold and careful. This time he not only took the initiative to take the job of beheading the enemy general, but also did it very well. The Mongolian named Yuanye is also not simple. He is not only serving Ma He is a great expert in riding and archery. Both of them are very useful people."

"Is there a shortage of people who can use guns now?" Li Ping suddenly changed the topic again.

"Use a cannon?" Ma Yong really didn't react this time.

However, Li Ping pointed to a cast iron cannon not far away and said: "See! We have also seized a lot of artillery, which is also a big killer. Cavalry can build companies, and so can artillery." It can be built."

Although Huangpi was not a big city, it was a city after all, and it was not a small city. Of course, artillery was indispensable in the city, and the original guards were not willing to bother to take them away when they fled.

Now it is naturally cheaper for Li Ping, and there are more than [-] doors.

Li Ping had already seen most of these cannons, but he didn't know any of them except for a few obvious Tiger Cannons.

This can't be blamed on Li Ping for not doing his homework well. It is really that the artillery of the Ming Dynasty was very messy.

In addition to the Hu Zun cannon, which is relatively widely equipped and completely inconsistent in size and style, only a small number of elite troops have Flang cannons and Hongyi cannons. The jumble of artillery.

Such as big bowl mouth guns, wide hoop iron cannons, cast iron cannons, bronze cannons and so on.

This is the case for most of the artillery in Huangpi City. Not only are they generally small in size, some even look very primitive, but some are stronger than Li Ping's existing four small cannons. At least those few Huzun cannons are all big head.

Moreover, because Huangpi has all kinds of artillery, Li Ping also seized a large amount of gunpowder, which relieved his urgent need that his gunpowder stock had basically bottomed out in one fell swoop.

Although the production of gunpowder was not complicated, it was not easy to obtain the raw materials of gunpowder in the Ming Dynasty. As a result, gunpowder was always in short supply in the Ming Dynasty, and it was not everywhere anyway.

Without gunpowder, Li Ping's blunderbusses would all become decorations.

"The gunner training shouldn't be difficult! I think our original gunners learned pretty quickly!"

Of course, Ma Yong understands the importance of artillery, whether it is Sheepskin Beach or Long Lake, artillery has left a deep impression on him.

But he felt that the artillery was just more complicated than the use of the blunderbuss. Isn't it normal to choose the officers of the blunderbuss company?Why is it difficult for the officers of the artillery company?

"It's easy to know how to operate, but it's not easy to use it well, and a qualified artillery officer is far more difficult to find than a qualified cavalry officer." Li Ping simply explained.

"No way!"

Ma Yong was even more confused, and he couldn't figure out why the artillery officer was more demanding than the hardest-to-find cavalry officer?

"You really have to listen to me tell you about this, but let me think about where to start." Li Ping also scratched his head.

This kind of thing cannot be explained in a few words. After all, it is a matter of vision and knowledge, and it is a problem of this era.

Not to mention that Li Ping can't find a suitable candidate for an artillery officer now, in fact, even the entire Ming Dynasty has no real artillery officer at present.The artillery battalion leaders in the official army are not so much artillery officers as artillery captains or officers in charge of artillery.

The gunner and the artillery officer are completely different things.

Artillery is definitely the most complex and professional arm in the age of firearms, and its officers are also the arm with the highest level of knowledge. They must at least understand mathematics and physics, and they must not be at the elementary school level.

However, when Li Ping was unconsciously looking around for ideas, he found that Zhou Wen and Du Sanjiang were striding towards him.

(End of this chapter)