golden scales

Emperor Chongzhen was still full of ridicule at the beginning, secretly thinking that such nonsense was a waste of time in military discussions.Gradually, he discovered that from major to lieutenant colonel, and then to the rank of colonel, those seemingly crude plans have been enriched layer by layer, and they sound quite reasonable.

After Zhu Cihong listened carefully, he finally concluded: "As you all said, Li Chuang's three strategies of stability, eastward advance, and southward advance have been thoroughly analyzed. No matter what Li Chuang chooses, our army must first stand firm. Just now Lieutenant Colonel Cao Ning's policy of forming a village and joint protection is very suitable for me, and it is a feasible method."

Complacent, Cao Ning suppressed the smile on his face.The Zuo Military Department was the first to have the nickname of the Logistics Department, and it has always been weaker than the other two departments. Whenever there is a chance to show its face, the Zuo Military Department will be happy.Hearing Zhu Cihong's praise of Cao Ning, the generals from Xiao Donglou to the bottom all straightened up.

"But it's not okay to bloom everywhere." Zhu Cihong stood up and walked to the Shandong sand table.

The dough figurines made by these craftsmen are lifelike, and the sand table made of beeswax clay is like a bird's-eye view.It’s just that making this sand table not only requires craftsmanship, but also someone needs to search the local chronicles of various places in Shandong, determine the location of mountains and rivers, draw a map, and then make it.A group of people rushed to work day and night, and only made a sand table in Shandong Province, which is not easy.

Holding a bamboo whip, Zhu Cihong gently slid across the waist of the Shandong Peninsula, saying: "This line geographically divides Shandong into two parts, Jiaodong and Jiaoxi. Jiaodong is surrounded by water on three sides. As long as our navy is dominant, no matter who It is difficult to land and attack me. The west of Jiaozhou lacks barriers, and you can only fight hard when you encounter a large army. Although I don’t believe that Li Zicheng will ignore Wu Sangui behind him and march south, but this possibility cannot be ruled out after all, so I think the west of Jiaozhou can be given up. .”

Chongzhen sat on the seat, slapped the table heavily, and was annoyed in his heart, shouting: "Abandoning the soil and retreating again! Where are we going to retreat!"

Zhu Cihong ignored it, and the generals in the Eastern Palace didn't even blink when they sat down.Zhu Cihong continued: "Starting from Le'an County of Qingzhou Prefecture, through Weixian County of Laizhou Prefecture, Shouguang, Changle, Anqiu, Zhucheng and other counties of Qingzhou Prefecture, and ending in front of Xiahe Village in Lingshanwei, the vertical tangent line of four hundred miles , to achieve 'where there is a mouth, there must be a stronghold, and where there is a village, there must be a fort'. We must concentrate all the manpower and material resources that can be concentrated, and give priority to building this [-]-mile Great Wall, so that bandits cannot attack."

Chongzhen was about to ask why Shaanxi has Tongguan and Shanxi has the Yellow River, and if they just abandon it, Shandong will stick to it in this way.Zhu Cihong has already begun to announce the deployment of manpower and material resources, the garrison sites of each division, and the construction requirements for military strongholds and civilian forts.He didn't have a book in his hand, and he didn't have a slate in his hand. They were all the content he had memorized in his mind before. At this moment, Lang Lang said that he hadn't had a pimple, and the generals were stunned.

"Would you only use 3000 men to guard four hundred miles?" Chongzhen finally couldn't stand it anymore, and shouted loudly.

"Your Majesty the Father," Zhu Cihong turned around and saluted, "My son is about to continue."

"Say!" Chongzhen only felt his throat dry.

Zhu Cihong turned around and continued: "To this day, the establishment of the Donggong Guards Battalion is obviously unable to cope with the tens of thousands of intruders. Therefore, I decided to expand the Donggong Guards Battalion into two Guards battalions. The first Guards Battalion Xiao Mo served as the battalion officer, and Xiao Donglou served as the battalion officer of the Second Guards Battalion. In view of Xiao Mo's heroic performance in the battle on the river, he was appointed as a general. Xiao Donglou's outstanding achievements in the raid on Longmen Hancheng are well-known. Confer to the general. Its various parts are expanded according to the system, and the officers and men who have meritorious service will be promoted according to their merits."

Xiao Mo and Xiao Donglou didn't expect that such a good thing was waiting for them today. Not only did the series expand, but they were also promoted to generals as they wished. From now on, they can be accompanied by a star emblem made of gold. What an honor this is.Immediately afterwards, Zhu Cihong announced the establishment of the Guards Battalion. After including the battalion's supplies, drums, ambulance, reconnaissance, command, and staff divisions, each battalion has three thousand headquarters, and the final full establishment reached 200. to 300 people.

"The former Central Army Thousand Headquarters was split up, and the Reading Force Firearms Bureau was retained. The former battalion staff officer belonged to the General Staff Headquarters." Zhu Cihong announced.

The generals of the Central Military Department suddenly had no idea, and began to figure out which battalion to go to.However, the Central Military Department is often under the command of Xiao Mo, so there are always more people who tend to Xiao Mo.

"The arrangement will be completed within ten days, and you must leave before the fifth day of April." Zhu Cihong swept towards Xiao Mo and Xiao Donglou: "Is there any problem?"

"The last general takes orders!" The two newly appointed generals immediately stood up and gave the military salute, already thinking about who to take away.

Zhu Cilang took a breath and looked at Chen De.

Chen De already knew that his father had lost his integrity, so he became Li Zicheng's Wenshui uncle, and was also ordered to guard Xi'an.This made him quite embarrassed in the East Palace, and the relationship between people he was not familiar with before became more and more indifferent.Sometimes he even thought, could it be that Zhu Cihong put him in the engineer camp because he foresaw his father's unfaithfulness?

"Chen De." Zhu Cihong called out.

"The last general is here!" Chen De got up quickly.

"Among the craftsmen in Beijing and Tianjin, there are many people who are good at building bricks. Their boats will directly bypass Dengzhou and land at Lingshanwei. You lead the team directly to Lingshanwei, recruit craftsmen with auxiliary soldiers, and join Le (An )—the construction of the fort on the Xia (River) defense line.”

Chen De thought to himself: It seems that the crown prince doesn't doubt me, otherwise he wouldn't have handed over the 5000 people to me.But... when will I get rid of this foreman's errand!He thought that his father had lost his integrity and became a thief, and he had the idea of ​​fighting in battle.

Zhu Cihong could see Chen De's thoughts, and also knew that he wanted to go to war with all his heart.However, in Zhu Cihong's view, Chen De has more than enough talent, not enough composure, and can't stop major events when the opportunity arises. It's not a big problem for him to lead a battalion and fight a smooth battle. If he wants to fight to the death, he will make mistakes.

"Zhou Yuji." Zhu Cihong called his name again.

"The end will be here." Zhou Yuji stood up and responded.He followed all the way, but he didn't have a chance to have a detailed talk with Zhu Cihong.After arriving in Shandong, his servants were also a little restless.

"I want to use you as the battalion officer to organize and train the cavalry battalion." Zhu Cihong said.

Zhou Yuji was overjoyed, and immediately cupped his fists and said: "The last general will not disgrace his life!"

"However," Zhu Cihong gave a turning point of course, "There should be no more private towns in the Ming army." Seeing that Zhou Yuji was quite puzzled, he said again: "The supervisor can't control the general with Shang Fang and Long Jie. Private people are used everywhere in the army. When I was in Jiajing, the Qi family army and the Yu family army had at most one or two staff members. How can there be family members? There should only be superiors and subordinates in the army. They are all national tigers, and they must never recognize private masters and servants. What does General Zhou think? ?”

Zhou Yuji secretly raised his eyes to look at the emperor who was seated in the hall, and he knew it in his heart.Now that he has received the transfer order from the Eastern Palace, only the crown prince can protect him from the crime of abandoning the land.Thinking of the conversation with Xiao Mo in Taiyuan City that day, Zhou Yuji did not hesitate, and said: "Your Highness is absolutely right. The last general has no servants under his command, they are all members of the country!"

Zhu Cihong nodded in satisfaction, and said: "You are a loyal minister, I am very relieved to hand over the cavalry battalion to you. The good horses will land in Dengzhou. You bring someone to collect them, and you can choose suitable cavalry from the whole army .If any cavalry fails the examination, they will still be reduced to infantry."

"The last general takes orders!" Zhou Yuji echoed, pumped up his breath and said again: "Your Highness, the last general has something to ask."

"Let's listen to it." Zhu Cihong said.

"Since the last general has been ordered to train the cavalry battalion, he must cooperate with the two guard infantry battalions. To avoid confusion, I dare to ask His Highness to confer the rank of East Palace on the headquarters for easy identification." Zhou Yuji didn't come for a long time, but he was already very clear. The East Palace is a family of its own, and to put it bluntly, it is no different from Liaozhen and Zuozhen, it just occupies an orthodox righteousness.If you want to truly become a member of the East Palace, you must first be worthy of a military rank.

Zhu Cihong nodded slightly, and said: "First look at the establishment of the cavalry battalion after it is formed, and then confer titles, assign staff officers, training, and military law divisions. What do you think?"

"The general dare not have objections!" Zhou Yuji said happily.

Chen De trembled in his heart: I have been here for so long, but I didn't expect to ask for a military rank system!It turned out that this was the reason why he was sent to the engineer battalion!

Zhu Cihong glanced at the crowd for a week, and announced: "The specific orders will be issued to you by the military commander. Beiwang Shenjing fell into the hands of thieves. This is a shame for the warriors of my generation. I hope you will work hard and regain the mountains and rivers!"

"Keqin Keli, regain the mountains and rivers!" All the generals shouted in unison.

This is exactly, read the force to promote the new order, a thousand battalions call together! (To be continued.)