Anti-Qing: Starting from the Reincarnation of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 84 The Nature of Military Strategies

Every time he recalled the names of the firearms currently used by the Ming army, Zhu Jianzhuo complained about his son's naming ability.

He secretly vowed that when he had grandchildren in the future, he would have to do the naming himself and would never give Zhu Jing'an another chance to do whatever he wanted.

Zhu Jing'an nodded, and then asked.

"What is the output of this type of artillery?"

Guo Dashan said.

"Back to the Governor, at present, only three Type 90 field guns have been produced, and now they are all here."

"But the iron mold casting technology of the Type 90 field gun has made a breakthrough, and I believe it will be mass-produced soon."

Zhu Jing'an nodded slightly and then asked.

"As for the arsenal, how is the development and mass production of heavy-duty long guns with a caliber of more than thirty times going?"

Now the Ming army can produce cast artillery itself, and it only has some short-barreled field artillery.

Although the output is good, the power is also considerable.

But if it is used for siege, the power of field artillery is somewhat insufficient.

We still need a special large-diameter, long-barreled heavy artillery!
Therefore, Zhu Jing'an was very concerned about the mass production of heavy artillery of the Ming army.

Hearing this, Guo Dashan spoke.

"If I get back to the Grand Governor, the arsenal has already made some progress in imitating the twelve-pound long cannon."

"My Ming Dynasty has copied a long cannon with a muzzle diameter of 120 mm, a shell weighing 3.84 kilograms, a barrel length of 32 meters, and a barrel diameter of [-] times."

"The effective range of this artillery is about 500 meters, and its damage effect is amazing..."

Zhu Jing'an heard this and asked.

"What about the weight of the cannon?"

Guo Dashan said.

"If I return to the Governor, the gun body of this long cannon weighs two thousand kilograms."

"Together with the gun carriage, ammunition boxes and other supporting facilities, the weight of this long gun is about three thousand kilograms."

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, he couldn't help but touch his chin and fell into deep thought.

Three thousand kilograms, that is, [-] tons. In later generations, it was the weight of a car, so it was not considered heavy.

But in this era when transporting supplies relies entirely on people pulling and pulling horses, this weight is not light.

If this is the case, then this long gun will not be used in field battles.

After all, if the artillery is too heavy, it will be inconvenient to maneuver, and its use in the field will be quite limited.

"What about mass production?"

Zhu Jing'an asked.

Guo Dashan said honestly.

"For the time being, we have only produced a prototype cannon under the guidance of those foreign craftsmen, and have not yet been able to overcome the difficulties of mass production."

Suddenly, Zhu Jing'an had a flash of inspiration. By the way, if the barrel of the twelve-pound long gun was shortened, wouldn't it be a twelve-pound field gun?
"Think about using the twelve-pounder long gun as the basis, shortening the barrel, and then producing a twelve-pounder field gun."

"For the current Ming Dynasty, the actual effectiveness of field artillery is greater than that of long artillery."

As that saying goes, the most advanced is not necessarily the most suitable, only the most suitable is the best.

The terrain in Guangxi is mostly hilly and mountainous. Apart from being used for siege, long artillery is really not as practical as field artillery.

For the current Ming Dynasty, defeating the enemy in the field is more important than building a stronghold through engineering.

Guo Dashan nodded to express his understanding.

Zhu Jianzhuo on the side asked.

"How are the preparations for the production line of Type 14 flintlock rifles recently?"

During this period of time, as the Ming Dynasty continued to conquer the north and south, expanding its territory, many craftsmen were recruited into the arsenal.

The addition of these craftsmen also brought the Ming Dynasty's ordnance production speed to a higher level again.

Hearing this, Guo Dashan spoke.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, there are currently two production lines producing Type 14 flintlock rifles at the Jintian Town Arsenal."

"After the large-scale deployment of water conservancy equipment and standardized assembly line production, each production line can produce approximately 14 Type [-] flintlock rifles with qualified quality per month."

"This production efficiency is not slow, but it still cannot meet the needs of our Ming Dynasty's military expansion."

"However, please rest assured that His Highness the Supervisor and the Chief Superintendent, the arsenal is already preparing to build the third, fourth, and even fifth production lines."

"I believe that the new production line will be put into production soon to meet the needs of the army's expansion."

Now the Ming army is expanding at a very fast pace. The army is fighting on the front line, and there are always long queues at the recruitment points in the rear.

Nowadays, the size of the Ming army has successfully exceeded the [-]-strong mark, and most of them are soldiers capable of fighting in a battle.

You know, less than half a year has passed since the restoration of the Ming Dynasty until now.

It only took half a year for the Ming army to grow from a mob of hundreds of people to over [-] soldiers today. This speed is not slow.

But the ensuing problem is that although the size of the army has been increased, it cannot meet the army's armament requirements in a short period of time.

A large number of Ming soldiers still only had one spear as a weapon, or were equipped with ordnance captured from the Qing army, and the quality was somewhat disappointing.

Zhu Jiazhuo nodded and said.

"The scale of the arsenal must continue to expand."

"When he turned around, the lonely king ordered Wang Shoufu to allocate another 1 taels of silver to the arsenal as development funds."

"The development and expansion of the arsenal is one of the most important things at the moment and must not be delayed."

Hearing this, Guo Dashan nodded to express his understanding.

Zhu Jing'an nodded in agreement.

Although money is not everything, to some extent, money does solve most problems.

And those problems that cannot be solved are not because money does not work, but because money is not spent enough.

Zhu Jing'an on the side also added.

"If you need anything at the arsenal, just ask and I will try my best to satisfy you."

At this moment, there was a sound of horse hooves in the distance.

A Ming army sentry was riding on horseback, galloping all the way.

The messenger ran all the way to Zhu Jing'an and his son, and then bowed down.

"This is reported to His Royal Highness, the Governor, and to the Grand Governor."

"After receiving the report from our military sentry, the Qing governors of Guangdong and Guangxi ordered to gather the main force of the Qing army in Guangdong at Zhaoqing Mansion, with the intention of marching into Guangxi."

"Please also ask His Highness the Supervisor to make a decision with the Chief Governor!"

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, the original smile on his face disappeared immediately.

His face turned dark and he asked.

"Do you know how many troops the Qing army gathered in Zhaoqing?"

The messenger shook his head.

"If you return to the Governor, I don't know, but there are at least tens of thousands of people." "It is said that the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi has arrived in Zhaoqing in person with his supervision badge. As long as the Manchu court orders to suppress the thieves, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi will He will lead troops directly into Guangxi to attack our Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Jianzhuo's face darkened when he heard this, and then he spoke.

"Summon the generals to the meeting hall to discuss matters!"

……

Jintian Town, supervising the country's royal palace and meeting hall!

Zhu Jianzhuo sat at the top, while Zhu Jing'an sat at the second place.

As long as the generals of the Ming army were still in Jintian Town, they gathered in the meeting hall as soon as they received the order.

Get ready to join the discussion!

After everyone arrived, Zhu Jiazhuo immediately spoke.

"The lonely king has summoned all of you to come here today. He has an urgent matter to discuss with you."

"Our army's sentinels reported that Yang Jingsu, the Qing governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, mobilized the main force of the Qing army in Guangdong and Guangxi. Tens of thousands of troops gathered in Zhaoqing. They may have the intention of invading our Ming Dynasty. How do you think this matter should be handled?"

When Zhu Jianzhuo asked this question, his face was quite solemn.

Tens of thousands of Qing troops gathered in Zhaoqing, eyeing the new Ming Dynasty regime. No matter how big-hearted Zhu Jianzhuo was, he would not feel relaxed.

As soon as Zhu Jianzhuo said this, the expressions of the Ming army generals in the assembly hall changed.

Many people's expressions also became serious.

Many people looked at Zhu Jing'an, seemingly seeking his opinion.

During this period of time, the important decisions and strategic planning of Ming Dynasty were basically made by Zhu Jing'an.

Therefore, everyone has formed a path dependence on him.

As soon as something happened, everyone subconsciously looked at Zhu Jing'an.

Seeing this, Zhu Jing'an pondered for a while, and then continued.

"If you ask me, the most important thing for Ming Dynasty to do now is to take the initiative, prepare to enter Guangdong, and seek a decisive battle with the main force of the Qing army in Guangdong in Zhaoqing, so as to defeat the enemy in one battle and open up the situation."

"Instead of continuing to operate the defense line, waiting for the Qing army to prepare and attack, and be surrounded and suppressed by the Qing government's army from several provinces."

When Zhu Jianzhuo heard this, he understood in his heart.

He still knew something about his son's character. He was sharp-edged, young and frivolous, and had a very aggressive character.

It's really not surprising that he would make such a decision.

However, Zhu Jianzhuo was still curious about the reason why his son did this, so he asked directly.

"What's the reason?"

When the generals of the Ming army heard this, they all looked at Zhu Jing'an, as if asking for his opinion.

Zhu Jing'an did not hesitate and stated his reasons directly.

"In order to destroy the Ming Dynasty, the Qing government mobilized tens of thousands of troops to fight in Guangdong Province alone."

"If the Qing army really sends high officials from the DPRK to Guangdong and Guangxi to command and coordinate the war with the Ming Dynasty, and sends troops from several provinces to join forces to encircle and suppress, then the situation that the Ming Dynasty will face will be even more severe than it is now."

"At that time, what we have to face is not just the tens of thousands of troops in Guangdong Province, but the main force of the Qing Dynasty that may reach the level of [-]."

"So, the best choice before my Ming Dynasty now is to take advantage of the fact that the forces of the other provinces have not yet been able to gather together."

"Take the initiative and kill the Guangdong soldiers who appear!"

When Zhu Jing'an said this, he paused for a moment, waiting for everyone to digest it, and then continued.

"As long as Ming Dynasty can defeat the leading Guangdong soldiers, even if the Qing government still sends senior officials to Guangdong and Guangxi to coordinate the war, the amount of troops he can mobilize will be greatly reduced."

"The Qing court had troops stationed in all the southern provinces, but Guangdong province had the largest number of Green Camp troops, reaching 9000."

"In addition, Fujian has the largest number of troops, with about 6 troops."

"The remaining provinces only have 4 or [-] troops at most."

"If our Ming Dynasty can defeat the Guangdong Green Camp in one go, we will be able to defeat the part of the coalition forces that poses the greatest threat to our Ming Dynasty before the Qing government joins forces with soldiers from several provinces to encircle and suppress our Ming Dynasty."

"Then in the next war, my Ming Dynasty's winning rate will naturally increase."

"If I could sum it up in one word, it would be to defeat them all!"

After Zhu Jing'an finished speaking, he looked around, as if asking for everyone's opinions.

Zhu Jiazhuo cleared his throat and spoke.

"Then how many troops do I think the Ming Dynasty needs to mobilize to defeat the main force of the Guangdong Qing army in Zhaoqing?"

Zhu Jing'an spoke directly without any hesitation.

"Go all out!"

"The situation in Guangxi is not serious now. The scattered green battalions and militia groups cannot pose a threat to our Ming Dynasty, and the main force of the Qing army led by the Guangxi admiral is trapped in Yong'an Prefecture."

"Under the threat of my Ming Dynasty, their troops don't even dare to leave the city!"

"Therefore, our Ming Dynasty only needs to leave some manpower to maintain the defense line of Dawei Mountain to prevent the main force of the Guangxi Qing army from Yong'an Prefecture from going south and threatening our Ming Dynasty's hinterland."

"It's best to mobilize all the remaining troops and join the war in Zhaoqing!"

In general, Zhu Jing'an's tactics were still the original idea, concentrating the main force to defeat the enemy one by one.

This is a stupid idea, but it is also the essence of a military strategist.

You can’t go wrong with this!
In history, there were actually many people who were good at using this method of warfare. The most typical example is Nurhachi, Taizu of the Qing Dynasty.

In the Battle of Sarhu, Nurhachi's strategy of "no matter how many ways you come, I only go all the way", to put it bluntly, is actually to concentrate superior forces to defeat the enemy one by one.

But stupid methods often have miraculous results.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jianzhuo nodded in agreement, and then asked the other generals for their opinions.

He Jin said.

"I am reporting to His Highness the Supervisor of the Kingdom that the last general has requested a battle and requested to serve as the vanguard."

Zhang He on the side also stood up and said.

"Jianguo, if our Ming Dynasty wants to attack Guangdong, the navy will be the top priority. I will ask the general to take charge of the navy to go out."

Zhang He turned out to be a water bandit on the Qianjiang River. He had a close relationship with the Tiandi Society and was also a member of the big family who fought against the Qing Dynasty and restored the Ming Dynasty.

After the Ming Dynasty defeated the main force of the Qing army in Guangxi and its power increased greatly, Zhang He came to surrender with three to four hundred brothers and fifty large and small ships.

Then, he was appointed as the Naval Battalion Commander by Zhu Jiazhuo, and he can be regarded as one of the top generals of the Ming Dynasty.

The current Ming Dynasty belongs to that kind. As long as you dare to lead troops to defect to me, then I will not refuse anyone who comes.

If you want officials, give officials, if you want money, give money!
As for the soldiers at the bottom, they were won over by dividing the fields.

As long as the field is divided, even if people have concerns, they will not be afraid of people running away again!
In the same way, as long as the land is divided, the soil for the existence of warlords will be eliminated.

People these days attach great importance to land.

Whoever controls the land controls people's hearts, and this is not just talk.

Zhu Jing'an heard this and spoke.

"If our army wants to march eastward to Guangdong in this battle, the navy is the key."

"General Zhang, the navy must make corresponding preparations. The burden on your shoulders is very heavy."

(End of this chapter)