The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 368 Huguang Sixth Battalion
By the time Huguang soldiers arrived in Fancheng, it was already the second day of August in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen.

The Huguang soldiers originally under the command of Chen Hongfan had a total of more than 8,000 people, consisting of six battalions of soldiers and horses, two reinforcement battalions of generals, and four guerrilla battalions.

These 8,000 people are the actual number, and the number of people receiving pay in the military register is more than 12,000.

It is normal to have empty pay. After all, the military pay issued by the court will be short of part of it.

If the pay and silver distributed by the imperial court every quarter were paid in full to the soldiers below, it would only be enough to distribute to nine thousand people, and it would not be distributed to 120,000 people at all.

And this is still during the war, because Yang Sichang was here before, so he was able to get so much salary.

In normal times in previous years, salary arrears were the norm, and the salary and food distributed were not even enough to support the family.

If it is true that only 8,000 people are reported to go up, the northwest wind will not be able to drink by then.

In the current situation in the late Ming Dynasty, sometimes it was not the generals and colonels at the bottom who wanted to eat empty pay and drink the blood of soldiers, but the current situation and reality forced them to eat empty pay and drink blood of soldiers.

For example, the Hanzhong Army led by Chen Wang did not take empty pay, but paid full pay to the troops. In fact, they were abnormal and outliers.

The reason why Chen Wang is able to raise so many soldiers and horses now is that he initially relied on the captured gold and silver as his first start-up capital. Later, after becoming a town general, he used his power to collect money.

Whether it is a camp in Jiubian or a camp in the interior, most of the camp generals are doing this kind of thing.

It's just that the layout of Jiubian has been determined. The mines and fields are controlled by local generals and wealthy families. The sale of salt and iron is an official monopoly. Those who are not at the level of the general soldier are not eligible to participate.

Therefore, at the border, many generals and commanders secretly had transactions with the Mongolian tribes in the north, just to make money.

This situation was repeated repeatedly in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

In the camps and towns in the mainland, with the emergence of a pattern of emphasizing civil service and neglecting military force, their power in their hands became smaller and smaller, and there was no way to earn a lot of money.

Chen Wang served as the town general in Hanzhong Prefecture, which was why he was able to collect so many acres and mines, and at the same time monopolized the private salt trade and customs tax revenue within the territory.

The biggest reason is that the destruction of rogue bandits broke the old order.

Whether it was Hanzhong Mansion, Yunyang Mansion, or now Henan and other places, it was because of the rogue bandits who sabotaged it first, so Chen Wang was given the opportunity to take advantage of it.

The military power in his hands and his growing status allowed Chen Wang to firmly control these wealth, making people afraid to peep.

Outside Xiangyang City, thousands of sails were crossing.

A large number of troops were landing by boat. The ferry in the west of Xiangyang City was also occupied. One after another flaming red flags were erected on the waterside.

Zhang Xianzhong captured Xiangyang, but he did not have any navy.

Originally, there was a navy in Xiangyang City. When Xiangyang City fell, the navy docked at the Han River Ferry naturally would not sit still and wait for death.

When Xianjun came to accept the ferry, Xiangyang's navy had already escaped from the ferry by boat.

Currently, half of the Ming army's navy outside Xiangyang City are the navy that came from Wuchang to help, and the other part is the navy from Xiangyang.

With the advantage of the navy, the control of the Han River was firmly held by Chen Wang, which also made Xiangyang City an isolated city.

Facing their landing, the city of Xiangyang only heard the sound of drums for a while, and then calmness returned again, without any other movements.

The defenders in Xiangyang City did not attack, and the gates of Xiangyang City were tightly closed.

On the southern pier in the west of Xiangyang City, more than a dozen warships of the Ming Navy were fighting in the surrounding waters.

One naval gun after another looked through the gun port, looking at the empty waterside not far away.

If the bandits in the city want to attack the dock from both sides, they will encounter fierce artillery attacks.

Among the warships of the Ming Navy, one of them, the Fu Ship, attracted the most attention because it was the largest and had the most numerous flags hanging on it.

That lucky ship was naturally the flagship of the Ming Navy.

At this time, Chen Wang was standing at the bow of the lucky ship, surveying the entire battlefield.

Although he is from the north, Chen Wang is not seasick.

Liaodong is near the sea, and he even has experience of going to sea. He has also been on many ships, including sea ships.

Therefore, Chen Wang did not stay in the camp, but directly boarded the flagship and went to Xiangyang City to take command in person.

"General, all the siege equipment has been transported to the city. It will probably take until sunset today to transport all the equipment to the shore. The attack can be launched early tomorrow morning."

Beside Chen Wang, a middle-aged man wearing a light armor and a general's uniform had his head lowered and his waist bowed in an extremely respectful manner.

Hearing the voice coming from beside him, Chen Wang also put down the telescope in his hand and looked to the side.

"Thank you for your hard work, General Sun Shen. After the equipment is transported, we still need your navy to guard the river to prevent the rogue bandits in Xiangyang City from attacking from both sides."

The general standing next to Chen Wang at this time is the commander of this navy. His name is Sun Shenwu, and he is a staff general of the Wuchang Navy.

"The general said something serious. It's a matter of state. How dare you say it's hard work."

Sun Shenwu showed a smile on his face and said with a smile.

"General, please rest assured. If the bandits dare to come, I will definitely let them have a taste of cannons."

Chen Wang is now the most prestigious general in the imperial court.

Today, he made even more eloquent remarks, praising him in front of the palace for his bravery in defeating the three armies. Later, he was named General Pingtei, and was given the power to regulate various ministries of the president.

Sun Shenwu naturally did not dare to offend easily.

"General Sun Sen's performance will be recorded truthfully in the victory document."

Chen Wang naturally knew what Sun Shenwu was thinking, and he made a guarantee immediately.

Although the naval forces in the inland rivers are lightly armed, in addition to their role in combat, they can also help transport food and grass, and undertake guard and other duties.

Moreover, the water network in the south is dense. If we can have a navy, it will naturally be a huge help.

Although the navy under Sun Shenwu's command only had more than twenty warships in total, and there were also many small boats, they were still usable.

Moreover, ships will not be a problem in the future, as long as the money is in place, it will not take much effort to launch the ships.

What is rare for the navy is not ships, but soldiers, experienced sailors.

As the saying goes, it takes ten years to build an army, but a century to build a navy.

Although it is not yet the era of battleships and giant cannons in the future, there are sailing warships and it is an era of alternating hot and cold weapons. It is still not easy to train the navy.

An army can achieve some success in a few months of training, and become a qualified army after a few battles.

However, the navy's training is basically calculated in years, and the navy's training is difficult and takes a long time.

Chen Wang also has no naval talents under his command.

During this period of contact, Chen Wang found that Sun Shenwu was indeed quite capable.

Sun Shenwu is not a general who waits for food, and the ships under his command are well maintained.

Although the sailors under his command may look lazy, they are extremely capable in everything they do.

There is also a murderous aura in his bones, he has obviously seen blood and fought in battles.

The information sent by the Supervisory Office also supports this point. Although Sun Shenwu, the general, spent a lot of money.

But Sun Shenwu actually had military merit.

Around Wuchang, Sun Shenwu wiped out many water bandits, and the sailors under his command had indeed seen battles.

That's why Chen Wangcai wanted to recruit Sun Shenwu.

Sun Shenwu didn't have much background, his family wasn't big, his clan power wasn't strong, and he basically didn't have anyone to look after him in the official circles, so he could be used as his own.

After Chen Wang finished speaking, he saw Sun Shenwu's eyes suddenly light up.

"Then...thank you, General..." Sun Shenwu suppressed the excitement in his heart, and his voice even couldn't help but tremble a little.

"This is a humble position...I will definitely work harder in the future..."

He has been in the position of general for five years, how could he not want to take another step forward?

It's just that he has used all the connections he could use and spent all the money he should have spent, but there is still no way to go further.

In the past few days, Chen Wang showed his support more than once in his words, and also inspected the navy under his command.

The opportunity to go further lies with Chen Wang. No wonder Sun Shenwu is excited now.

“Dang Dang Dang————”

The bell on the pier rang, interrupting Sun Shenwu's words.

The ringing sound is the signal for the ship to arrive at the dock.

Sun Shenwu also stopped talking at the right time.

After Chen Wang encouraged Sun Shenwu for a few words, he led a group of soldiers off the lucky ship.

On the pier, a group of military generals had been waiting for a long time. Before Chen Wang came near, several generals were already bowing down.

"The humble Zhao Zhenzhong (Lin Dechen), please see the general!"

"Just bring your coat and give a half salute."

Chen Wang raised his hand gently, and then all the generals stood up.

Zhao Zhenzhong and Lin Dechen are the two generals in the Huguang camp today.

When Chen Hongfan was in charge of more than 10,000 troops as the commander-in-chief, he naturally did not just rely on his less than 500 servants and cavalry.

The soldiers and horses in Huguang naturally have direct descendants of Chen Hongfan.

And Zhao Zhenzhong is Chen Hongfan's direct descendant in Huguang.

After Chen Hongfan left, he naturally explained everything about his subordinates to Chen Wang.

As for Lin Dechen, he was promoted from the army in Henan by Chen Wang.

Another general of the Huguang Battalion under Chen Hongfan turned out to be not Lin Dechen, but a veteran.

He doesn't have much fighting ability, but he does know how to camp.

So when he was in Henan, Chen Wang let the general die in battle on the battlefield at the right time.

Now among the Sixth Battalion of Huguang, two generals, including Lin Dechen, were also promoted by Chen Wang.

The guerrillas of the four guerrilla battalions, including two guerrillas, were replaced for various reasons.

After all, the war in Henan is still quite fierce, and weapons and weapons have no eyesight.

In today's current situation, it is so normal for one or two guerrillas and generals to die, and no one can find fault with it.

Zhao Zhenzhong is the direct descendant left by Chen Hongfan, so he will naturally listen to Chen Wang's words.

Three of the remaining five camp generals were promoted by Chen Wang later.

Of course, Chen Wang had done some research on the subsequent promotions of the generals, and they were all promoted as capable and willing people.

Moreover, before promotion, these battalion generals also placed their families and children in Yunyang Fucheng.

In addition to the replacement of battalion generals, the middle and lower-level officers have actually experienced a large-scale change of blood during this period.

As for the soldiers at the grassroots level, most of them are still soldiers from the Huguang camp. The main body has not changed and does not need to change.

They were once under Chen Hongfan, and the military pay they received was basically lacking.

The military pay issued by the imperial court was not much, and Chen Hongfan had to support his family at that time.

Chen Hongfan was from the north and had no influence in the south. He had no way to make money at all, so naturally he could only fill the gap with empty wages.

After Chen Wang took over, all military pay was paid in full and directly to each soldier.

The soldiers below receive full pay every quarter.

And these Huguang camp soldiers who received full military pay did bring a little shock to Chen Wang in Henan later.

It can be said that the soldiers and horses of Huguang Sixth Battalion are now firmly under Chen Wang's control.

"How is the military expansion going?"

Chen Wang walked closer and asked directly.

"Returning to the general, according to the general's request, each battalion recruited villagers to fill the vacancies. Now the actual number has reached 12,000."

Zhao Zhenzhong took a step forward and answered.

"well done."

Chen Wang nodded.

Most of the time, he left the Huguang Sixth Battalion under the control of Zhao Zhenzhong, and the same was true for this siege.

"The city of Xiangyang is strong and difficult to capture in a short period of time. This is a protracted war and it is just a place for military training."

Chen Wang did not hide his intentions or avoid any taboos.

He had already made his words clear earlier.

Siege is real, and so is training troops. It is normal to use battle as training.

This is not something that needs to be hidden.

"You all know the situation in Henan Province."

"I, Chen Wang, do not need incompetent generals under my command."

Chen Wang's eyes were cold, and his gaze slowly swept over the generals in front of him.

All the generals who were swept by Chen Wang's eyes lowered their heads involuntarily.

The pressure brought by Chen Wang's eyes was really unbearable for them.

"In this attack on Xiangyang, I am willing to lead the troops and be the vanguard!"

Lin Dechen was the first to speak, and he stepped out from the crowd, clasping his fists and begging for help.

"Please rest assured, general, we will never bring shame to the general's reputation again."

After Lin Dechen's words, the other generals also reacted and asked for battle. The atmosphere seemed quite agitated for a while.

Chen Wang agreed to Lin Dechen's request to attack first, and also responded to other requests to attack the military academy.

"You have been taking orders under my account for some time. You should also know what kind of person I, Chen Wang, am."

"Those who have merit must be rewarded, and those who have made mistakes must be punished."

"Since you have received military pay, you must be worthy of the military pay in your hands."

Chen Wang looked at the generals in front of him and said solemnly.

"For the capture of Xiangyang, I would like to send you a letter to express your gratitude for your merits!"

"Follow the order!"

After Chen Wang finished speaking, he was responded to by a chorus of responses from the Huguang Yingzhen generals.