Emperor of the Red Chamber

Chapter 162: The Emperor's Military Review, the Mighty Dragon Riders

A few more days passed.

It is already February 16th.

That morning, Yuan Qingbai led dozens of princes and ministers to Xiangshan, located in the western suburbs of Shenjing City.

But I'm not here to enjoy the scenery of Xiangshan.

I’m here for the military parade!
According to the system of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the emperor held a grand military parade every three years. This was a grand ceremony for the emperor to test the results of military training and examine the combat effectiveness of the army.

The venue for the grand military parade is usually Nanyuan.

But today is not a grand military parade, but a temporary review.

Last year, Yuan Qingbai formed the Dragon Cavalry Battalion and the Jianrui Battalion, which has the characteristics of a special forces unit.

Among them, the Jianrui Battalion’s main camp was located in Xiangshan in the western suburbs.

The Dragon Cavalry Battalion's main camp is not in the western suburbs, but today the entire army went out and came to the Jianrui Battalion's main camp to accept the review of the current Emperor Tianlong, that is, the military parade, together with the Jianrui Battalion.

The reason why the venue for today's military parade was set at the main camp of Jianrui Battalion is not only because the main camp of Jianrui Battalion is large enough, but also because the training content of Jianrui Battalion includes ladder attacks, and its main camp has a fortress specifically used for training ladder attacks.

This is not the first time that Yuan Qingbai has reviewed the Dragon Cavalry Battalion and the Jianrui Battalion.

He attached great importance to these two armies.

In the past year, he has personally reviewed these two armies three times, and today is the fourth time.

This fourth review is quite special.

Today is both a review and a swearing-in ceremony.

Yuan Qingbai has issued an edict that on the day after tomorrow, February 18th, the Dragon Cavalry Battalion and the Jianrui Battalion will leave the capital together and head to the northwest. Once the two armies arrive in the northwest, the war between the Great Zhou and the Dzungar Khanate will officially begin!
In addition, Yuan Qingbai had reviewed the two armies three times before in secret, but today he led dozens of princes and ministers. Yuan Qingbai wanted these princes and ministers to witness with their own eyes the extraordinary nature of the two armies, so as to support the Northwest War, support his decision to overthrow the Dzungar Khanate, and reduce resistance from the court during the war.

Today is a warm spring day, and the sun is shining brightly.

Outside the Jianrui Camp is the magnificent spring scenery, with flowers in full bloom, trees competing for glory, fields covered with green grass, and valleys filled with gurgling streams, creating a scene full of vitality.

Inside the camp, there was a solemn and quiet scene.

Yuan Qingbai led dozens of princes and ministers and gathered on the parade tower in the camp.

Among the princes and ministers were many princes such as Prince Heduan Yuan Sichun, Prince Zhonggong Yuan Siyi, Prince Yizhong Yuan Qingliang, Prince Surui Yuan Qingshu, as well as many ministers such as Tang Chengyuan, Zhan Erting, Jiang Mingzhi, Song Jiahan, Jia Zheng, and Jia Yucun.

Prince Suqian Yuan Qingsong did not come. After he was promoted to prince in early February, he left the capital to inspect and promote potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn.

The former twelfth prince and former general, Wang Yuan Sijiang, was specially invited by Yuan Qingbai today.

This twelfth uncle had great military talent and was quite familiar with the situation in the west. In addition, he had been well-behaved after being released from confinement and was close and harmonious with Yuan Qingbai. Therefore, Yuan Qingbai asked him to assist in the Northwest War.

Dai Jin was also there. In terms of official position, he was inconspicuous among the group of princes and ministers, but now he was standing next to Yuan Qingbai. He had a very high status in Yuan Qingbai's heart. He was a doctor in the Imperial Household Department, and he was the one who took the lead in developing the flintlock rifle.

At this time, the Dragon Cavalry Battalion and the Jianrui Battalion marched out from both sides of the drill ground and gathered in front of the parade building, leaving an open space between the two armies for the emperor to test shooting.

On the parade tower, all the princes and ministers were surprised.

The Dragon Cavalry Battalion and the Jianrui Battalion usually train and review in secret. Except for a few people, all the princes and ministers have never seen these two mysterious armies. They were surprised when they saw them.

First of all, I was surprised by the neat appearance of the Dragon Cavalry Battalion and the Jianrui Battalion.

The army must be well-disciplined, which is an inevitable requirement for the grand military parade of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

But today is not a grand military parade, but just a temporary review. The appearance of the Dragon Cavalry Battalion and the Jianrui Battalion are very neat, even better than during the grand military parade, which is really rare.

Especially the Dragon Cavalry Battalion, with two thousand cavalrymen riding two thousand war horses, they were able to maintain an orderly military appearance and a well-organized formation when entering the battlefield, which was not easy.

There is a reason why we can do this.

The two thousand dragoons were carefully selected from the cavalry of the Great Zhou.

The two thousand elite soldiers were carefully selected from the brave men in the Great Zhou army. It can be said that almost every elite soldier is a brave warrior picked from a hundred.

The training of these two mysterious armies is extremely rigorous.

Regardless of the actual strength of these two mysterious armies, in terms of military appearance and discipline alone, they are the best in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and perhaps the best in the world today.

All the princes, dukes and ministers who watched were amazed at the appearance of the two armies.

In addition to being amazed at the military appearance, the princes and ministers were also amazed at the momentum of the two armies.

The individual capabilities are very strong, and coupled with their neat military appearance and orderly formation, the momentum they display is naturally extraordinary.

However, what surprised the princes and ministers the most at the moment was not the appearance or momentum of the two armies, but their equipment.

The two thousand dragoons each carried a specially shaped musket, which was a carefully developed flintlock rifle. All of these flintlock rifles were equipped with bayonets and were called "bayonet flintlock rifles."

This kind of musket is unprecedented.

Moreover, the two thousand dragoons were all wearing specially designed canvas uniforms and high leather boots with spurs installed on their shoes to control their horses.

Among the two thousand elite soldiers, there were five hundred cavalry, one thousand infantry, and five hundred ladder soldiers. Almost every one of them was equipped with a flintlock rifle, but other equipment was not uniform.

In the past, when Emperor Jing'an was in power, whenever there was a grand military parade, he would put on armor, ride out of the Parade Tower on horseback, and conduct archery trials on horseback. He could shoot seven arrows in a row, and rarely missed the target.

When Emperor Chengtai was in power, he would wear armor during every military parade, but he would not personally test the archery on horseback. Alas, he was not good at martial arts, and if he was not a good archer, it would not only undermine the emperor's majesty, but also affect the solemnity of the military parade.

Today is not a military parade, but Yuan Qingbai put on armor and personally conducted a test firing on horseback.

Yuan Qingbai was seen wearing a helmet and armor, fully dressed in military uniform, riding a majestic horse, looking very heroic. Under heavy protection, he walked out of the reviewing building and came to the open space between the Dragon Cavalry Army and the Jianrui Army.

Immediately, Yuan Qingbai stood in front of the formation and fired seven arrows in succession at the target in the distance. Seven arrows were shot one after another and hit the center of the target.

Seven arrows hit the target, and none of them missed!

Haha, he is worthy of being the person who passed the martial arts examination at the age of fifteen!

Over the years, Yuan Qingbai has been practicing martial arts, even after becoming the emperor. Although his martial arts training intensity after becoming the emperor is not as high as before, his archery and horsemanship skills are still superb.

"Long live the Holy One!"

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"..."

The Dragon Cavalry Army and the Jianrui Army immediately cheered and applauded.

The princes and ministers also cheered and saluted.

After the emperor finished his test shooting, the Minister of War Shi Yichi petitioned Yuan Qingbai to review the battle formation.

Shi Yichi was a Jinshi in the 39th year of Jing'an. He was highly valued in the Chengtai Dynasty and was a loyal minister of Emperor Chengtai. He served as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Governor-General of Fujian, Governor-General of Liangjiang, Left Censor-in-Chief, and Minister of War. He had a prominent career and was highly trusted.

Yuan Qingbai also valued Shi Yichi. Since he ascended the throne, he had never changed Shi Yichi's official position, allowing Shi Yichi to continue serving as the Minister of War.

At this time, following Shi Yichi's request, Yuan Qingbai personally reviewed the Dragon Cavalry Battalion and the Jianrui Battalion, led by Shi Yichi and accompanied by several princes and ministers.

According to the Zhou Dynasty's military parade system, the emperor would ride a horse during this segment.

Yuan Qingbai gave up riding a horse and chose to review the troops on foot. This way he could be more careful and better demonstrate his affinity with the officers and soldiers.

The scene was grand, majestic and spectacular with loud trumpets and flying military flags.

Yuan Qingbai was very careful when reviewing the troops. Although he could not see every officer and soldier clearly, he found many familiar people in the army.

For example, Niu Jizong, the commander of the Dragon Cavalry Battalion.

For example, the commander of the Jianrui Battalion was Shi Ding, and the four lieutenant generals of the Jianrui Battalion were Fan Zhongfang, Hu Liangbiao, Peng Yingju, and Ren Weicheng.

For example, Ni Er, the captain of the Jianrui Camp.

When Yuan Qingbai was planning to form the Dragon Cavalry Battalion and the Jianrui Battalion, he decisively chose Shi Ding as the commander of the Jianrui Battalion, but he was quite hesitant about the candidate for the commander of the Dragon Cavalry Battalion.

After some hesitation, he finally chose Niu Jizong as the commander of the Dragon Cavalry Battalion.

In those days, Taizu of the Great Zhou Dynasty conferred titles on twelve founding heroes of different surnames as "Four Kings and Eight Dukes", one of whom was Duke Zhenguo Niu Qing.

The current heir to the title and head of the Zhenguo Mansion is Niu Qing’s grandson Niu Jizon, and the title he inherited is the first-class earl.

Emperor Chengtai reigned for more than eight years, during which he disciplined many nobles, but he was quite appreciative of Niu Jizong. Not only did he allow Niu Jizong to inherit the title of earl normally, he also appointed him to an important position in the military.

The reason why Yuan Qingbai chose Niu Jizong as the commander of the Dragon Cavalry Battalion was because he believed that Niu Jizong was loyal and trustworthy, because Niu Jizong had great military talent, and because Niu Jizong was an important founding hero. Founding heroes were the trusted forces of the royal family. Yuan Qingbai could use this to win over the founding heroes and divide the cliques in this group.

There are only more than 4,000 officers and soldiers taking part in the parade today, which is not a large lineup compared to the grand military parade held every three years.

Yuan Qingbai spent a full quarter of an hour reviewing the troops, during which he had cordial conversations with many generals including Niu Jizong, Shi Ding, Fan Zhongfang, Hu Liangbiao, Peng Yingju, Ren Weicheng, and Ni Er, which made these generals very excited and boosted their morale.

After the review, Yuan Qingbai returned to the reviewing tower.

With his order, the Dragon Cavalry Battalion and the Jianrui Battalion began today's drill.

The first to conduct the drill was the Dragon Cavalry Battalion.

On the huge training ground, two thousand dragoons dismounted, divided into three groups, and fired in turn.

"Bang bang bang..."

In the first round, the dragoons fired together and reloaded their ammunition immediately after shooting.

At the same time, the second and third rounds of dragoons fired.

When the third round of dragoons finished shooting, the first round of dragoons had finished reloading their ammunition.

So we can shoot again...

What are the Dragon Riders?
To put it simply, the Dragoons were a type of cavalry equipped with muskets, but they did not follow the traditional cavalry tactics. The Dragoons' tactics were to gallop on horseback and shoot when they dismounted. They must always keep a distance from the enemy and mount their horses and flee when they encountered danger.

However, the Dragon Cavalry Battalion formed by Yuan Qingbai can also engage in close combat.

At this time, when the two thousand dragoons finished their shooting practice, with the order of the commander Niu Jizong, "put on bayonets, get on horses, charge", the dragoons put on bayonets on their flintlock rifles, jumped on their horses, and charged forward.

At this moment, most of the princes and ministers gathered in the military review building were stunned and amazed...

Dragon Rider is mighty!
(End of this chapter)