Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1866 Guangzhou Bay

"You bastards, I know that you haven't trained well recently, and your skills have been abandoned? Why, come to Guangzhou, a world of flowers, and everyone is fascinated?" On a wasteland in Xiangshan County, a An officer looked at the cavalry galloping past in front of him, and said with a smile and cursing.

This is a cavalry training ground, and some cavalry from the Fifth Division of the Zhejiang New Army are undergoing riding and archery training.The props for training are a piece of wood carved in the shape of a rabbit. Everyone rides by in turn, shooting while running. The one who hits first wins.

The reason why in this era when hot weapons are already popular, the stunt riding and shooting of this cold weapon era is still trained, so to speak, in order not to waste the skills of these people.Yes, that's right, these cavalrymen are mainly Mongolians from the outer northeast and some nomadic Tungusians. They grew up on horseback since they were young, and their riding skills are naturally very clever.Moreover, in the harsh land of the outer northeast, archery is one of the most important skills that every adult man needs to master, so their archery skills are not bad, especially when using a riding bow for riding and shooting.

Considering that the cavalry regiments of several new military divisions are full of such herdsmen from the grasslands, the superiors stipulated that cavalry is still one of the assessment items for cavalry, but it is limited to these Mongolians who "bring art to the army" or The Tungusians and the Han Chinese cavalry recruited in Shandong do not need to assess these items. What they need to practice hard is horse chopping and cavalry sprinting-although the cavalry on the east bank has never been the main force in field battles, there is no need for them to be like Polish wings. The cavalry rushed to fight in groups like that, but some basic skills still needed to be practiced, even if they were not used very much at ordinary times.

"Okay, Mo Zhigen won this round, let's serve the wine!" The tall company commander jumped off the earthen platform and called to the soldiers next to him to bring a load of wine, which was cornel wine transported from the north Chrysanthemum wine and chrysanthemum wine are one of the favorite drinks of military athletes, and they have always been the best prizes for warriors.

Mo Zhigen was a Mongolian man, and he immediately grinned when he heard the words. He happily took the wine bowl handed over by others, and returned it reluctantly after a few gulps.However, he soon found a new joy, which was laughing loudly at those comrades who knelt on his horse and drank, making those rough ones grit their teeth secretly, and vowed to regain the first place next time, and not let this idiot Goods are more beautiful than before.

"You rascals crawling on the ground, don't be shameless with me. I'll let you off this time. If you behave like this again next time, I'll give you a whip." The company commander walked off the stage, While kicking and beating those cavalrymen who were kneeling on the ground drinking, they cursed: "I think when I attacked Xinchang County back then, my bow and I made the grandchildren on the top of the city unable to lift their heads. Now let you shoot one of them. The fake rabbits that move are all so virtuous, and how many people can they shoot on the battlefield. Yes, many archers in Qing and Shun countries are worse than you, but so what? I have higher requirements for you than them, What, is there anyone who disagrees?"

While the company commander and his soldiers were conducting daily training, Major Tang Moyu, who was in charge of the entire Guangzhou Bay area, was also visiting from a distance with his followers.After seeing these scenes of cavalry training from the north, I was very satisfied. I turned my head and said to Lu Xiaozhong, a naval officer who came to visit with me: "When it comes to riding and shooting, you still have to come from the men on the grassland. When it comes to charging, you have to look at the big nose of Poland." The armored heavy cavalry, but our cavalry is mainly used for chasing death and chasing the north, for fast maneuvering, and not required to rush into battle, so they are very good."

In fact, as Major Tang Moyu said just now, because of the differences in military thinking between the East and the West, the East Bank’s understanding of cavalry is the traditional "separate soldiers". what.This may be related to the culture since ancient times. The West is politically divided, with many princes and nobles who own small pieces of land. Therefore, if two nobles go to war, if they don’t want to cause trouble, then they can only be limited to a small area. internal warfare.In this way, the two sides can only fight head-on in a majestic formation, so most of the cavalry are heavy cavalry.

But in China, because of the vast territory and political unity, it is possible for the cavalry to maneuver in a large area. Intercepting grain roads, raiding the rear, and marching quickly, etc., each has a strategic role, not a limitation. In the battle of tactics.

The cavalry tactics of the people on the east bank mixed the ideas of ancient Chinese soldiers, and because most of the early cavalry were Cossack light cavalry, they also absorbed a lot of tactics from the grassland men, so in terms of style, they are extremely pure light cavalry tactics.The main force of the army in field battles has always been artillery, followed by musketeers. The main role of cavalry in field battles is to chase down the defeated enemy, because infantry must maintain formation, and it is impossible to run fast. Hand it over to the four-legged cavalry.

Of course, the east coast is not without heavy cavalry.In the two independent cavalry battalions commanded by Major Pei Dade, there are two companies of heavy cavalry, and the horses they ride are Chubut horses (that is, horses bred and raised in the Chubut River Basin) that have been bred for many years in the local area. The armor is strong, beautiful, and due to the advancement of material science, it is lighter than the same level in the Old World.As for the most critical tactics and tactics, they were taught by the outstanding ones selected from the trafficked Polish heavy cavalry prisoners of war. After these people were granted official status and received a high salary, their enthusiasm was rekindled. The heavy cavalry seedlings of these two companies have devoted a lot of effort to make them thick and thick.

"There are few horses in the south. If the cavalry is used well, it can often play an unexpected role." Although Tang Moyu was born as an infantry, he still has a very deep understanding of the role of the cavalry. He continued: "But most of our war horses come from In the north, it is difficult to adapt to the southern environment, and the death rate is not expected to be very low, so we have to use our brains on this point. War horses are very expensive, and it costs a lot of money to die. If they die in batches If so, I think Commander Liu in Shandong will have an ugly face."

"Now there is a battalion of cavalry here. There are more than 300 cavalry and more than 460 horses. It took a lot of effort to bring them in. For this reason, Commander Ma of Yin County and Commander Liu of Denglai jointly spent a huge sum of money. Military spending, if something happens, it's really hard for people to accept." Lu Xiaozhong echoed.Although he is a naval officer himself, he also has a war horse as a means of transportation on the shore. In the past three years, two horses have died. They all died of illness because they could not stand the local environment and climate. Horses are indeed delicate creatures. So he was worried too.

"There are two battalions in the back. The entire Fifth Cavalry Regiment is coming, and there is also a cavalry company from the First Mixed Battalion. It is even more difficult for those gentlemen in the capital to take care of them. There are more than 1100 cavalrymen and more than [-] horses. , if you count the draft horses, there will be [-] horses, and other draft animals such as donkeys and mules, the annoying days are still to come." Tang Moyu shook his head, and said with some concern: "My Haizhu Island The trading station needs to prepare more supplies, especially medicinal materials. The number of veterinarians coming with the army is definitely not enough, and we need to recruit some, and I don’t know if they can treat horses’ diseases, I hope they can.”

"Hey, that's right. The Portuguese in Macau also have a certain amount of horses. After so many years, they must have some experience. You can ask them to help. Anyway, these guys dare not refuse." Lu Xiaozhong's warships often hang around the mouth of the Pearl River, so the Portuguese in Macau have always been very respectful to the east coast, so if they are asked to help, if they have a normal mind, they should not refuse.

"Yes, you reminded me that this matter must be done as soon as possible. These more than 1000 cavalry will play a decisive role in many occasions in the possible future chaos in Guangdong, so there is no room for loss." Tang Moyu Wen Yan said: "Especially when the enemy is unprepared and quickly seizes strategic points, we can't do without them."

In other words, the current situation in Guangdong is really very tense, because Li Chengdong has not shown his face in front of everyone for more than a month, and only a few old ministers such as Xin Taihou were allowed to meet in the mansion. When they came out, they were all silent.At this point, everyone understands that Li Chengdong's death may be just a while ago. This butcher-like figure who caused countless murders on the land of China in the original history (this time and space also killed people a lot), is in the East Coast. In this time and space, his luck is quite good. He lived to the day when he died, and he has been enjoying himself in this colorful world of Guangdong for many years. He doesn't have too many regrets in his life!

However, Li Chengdong left without regret, but he left behind a huge hidden danger, which might ruin the good situation in Guangdong.That is, the battle between his adopted eldest son Li Yuanyin and his biological son Li Yuanhao may split Guangdong and even change the world, so it cannot be ignored.

At present, Li Yuanyin, who has a close relationship with the people on the east bank, is still hesitating whether to attack Li Yuanhao immediately after the death of his adoptive father Li Chengdong.Because according to the rules, he is the eldest son of Li Chengdong and the legitimate heir of Duke Huiguo, but now it seems that Li Chengdong in Guangzhou wants to pass on the big position to his own son. Li Yuanyin, who is more heroic and has a distinctive personality.Therefore, this is the source of the conflict between the two parties. If one is not handled carefully, it will be a succession war!

The people on the east bank were very worried about the possible war in Guangdong. On the one hand, they sent envoys to Chaozhou Prefecture to have a secret talk with Li Yuanyin, asking him to exercise restraint and not to use weapons when Li Chengdong's body was still cold. That would be a loss of righteousness.At the same time, they also sent envoys to Guangzhou urgently to talk with Li Yuanhao in the name of visiting Li Chengdong.The result is not very optimistic. Li Yuanhao doesn't seem to be able to tolerate his cheap big brother. It seems likely that after inheriting the throne of Huiguo Duke and obtaining the resources of Guangzhou, Huizhou and other elite areas, he will immediately raise his troops. The crusade against Li Yuanyin and the occupation of Chaozhou Prefecture made Li Yuanyin unable to do even one side of the separatist regime.

The people on the east bank were not particularly interested in the war between them, but the problem was that after hearing that Guo Shian, the governor of Jiangxi Province in Shunguo, had sent more than 1 elite soldiers to Ganzhou Prefecture, they became a little worried.In addition, the Zheng family in Fujian is not a good bird. They played bad things back and forth in the meantime, just wanting to fight Guangdong, and then reap the benefits of fishermen.

Such a situation is naturally unacceptable to the people on the east coast.Therefore, while using various relationships to make the final diplomatic efforts, they began to gather troops and ships in the Guangzhou Bay area, preparing for the worst situation.At present, there are only a few cavalry troops assembled here, but in the next month (October), technical arms including artillery, engineering soldiers, and heavy soldiers will also arrive one after another. The capital gentlemen of the first mixed battalion will also It will quietly arrive in Macau City at the end of the month and will not show up for the time being.

In short, with the comprehensive peace between the Southern Pioneering Team and the Qing Dynasty, the Denglai Pioneering Team and the Qing Dynasty have also begun to negotiate peace. Therefore, the people on the east coast can already deploy a large number of troops to go south to the Guangzhou Bay area, and be fully prepared for possible changes in the future. Prepare.According to the plan, except for a small number of people who made public appearances and were stationed near the Haizhu Island Commercial Station, the rest were temporarily stationed in Macau and Xiangshan, acting in a low-key manner.Until the situation becomes completely out of control, there will be officials sent by the superiors to take over the overall situation to unify the command and launch operations-to put it bluntly, if the intervention fails and the matter is no longer worth mentioning, then a large-scale move will be made immediately to take Guangzhou The city is occupied, and you can get the last benefit.

The Southern Pioneering Team has carefully calculated that if they want to successfully evacuate the city of Guangzhou, they need about 1 to 2 relatively capable troops.In addition, it may be necessary to recruit some rebels locally to help move people, property and food, etc., otherwise it will not be completed. There is no doubt that this is a big project, comparable to that of the people from the East Coast in the Huai'an Mansion. action.The Southern Pioneering Team should select a veteran general who can conquer battles to take command, so as to ensure completeness.

Of course, things may not come to this point. As long as Guangdong Erli can restrain each other and external forces do not get too involved, then the situation will still be controllable, but it seems that the possibility of this is relatively low at present. , so the people on the east bank made some preparations in advance, so as not to be caught off guard.You must know that the east coast is actually relatively short of population. The local economy is developing rapidly, and the land is being reclaimed rapidly. There is an urgent need for people to fill the pits. The population of Guangzhou City can just solve the urgent need.

(End of this chapter)