golden scales

At the beginning of March in the 18th year of Chongzhen, all parts of the country entered the busy spring season.There is also ripe land for growing grain in southern Shanxi, but this year is still a drought year, so the main food planting is alfalfa, potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes and the like that are easy to survive.These imported farm products have not yet been bred into high-yielding crops for later generations, but they are extremely tolerant to climate and land, and they are indeed worthy of the name of life-saving food.

After the officers and soldiers recovered Taiyuan, they quickly pushed the line of control to the south bank of the Hutuo River.The watershed of this section of the Hutuo River slopes from northwest to southeast. The water flow is turbulent and the flow is also large. Therefore, the land on the south bank can be easily irrigated, and the staple food such as corn is grown.

The wounded soldiers were left in the rear, waiting for recovery, or assigned to the village as instructors, or transferred to the local inspection department to help the new civil servants consolidate local rule.

The main task is to suppress bandits.

At this time, Shanshan is still densely covered with mountains and forests, not the loess flying dust of later generations. Bandits and bandits hide in the mountains and forests, and come out from time to time to harass villages and passing business travelers, which is really hated.Because the officers and soldiers were so powerful, there were no channels for selling stolen goods or purchasing after the villages were merged. Many bandits took advantage of the opportunity of the "rebel army" to be recruited, or to divide the land for farming, or to be incorporated into labor camps, all of which lost their harm. capacity of one party.

Only those old bandits who didn't believe that the officers and soldiers would just stay there, still refused to go down the mountain.At this time, the local inspection departments and village braves will have the opportunity to train soldiers.Facing the well-equipped national forces, these old bandits were wiped out in the end, and were sent to the mines to dig coal in the mines.

"The Third Guards Division still has to hurry up to practice and try to change their outfits as soon as possible." Zhu Cihong urged at the military meeting.

Tan Ning and other former officers of the third battalion were promoted in order, and the corresponding military ranks were also raised to normal levels.However, to Tan Ning's embarrassment, because he did not have the credit for the Battle of Taiyuan, the ranks of the two deputy division commanders of the third division have been equal to him.But think again that I have been guarding the Zhending Mansion all the time, because of Zuo Guangxian and Niu Chenghu's meritorious service, I was awarded the major general.This is already a mooncake falling from the sky, what else can we complain about?

But if you really want to complain, you can't find a reason...

After the military meeting, Dan Ning requested to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince alone.As the earliest bodyguard of the Eastern Palace, Dan Ning, who was born as a great Han general in Jinyiwei, has a high position, but he has no achievements to match him.

He had also heard from the elders in his family that Xiao Mo was the representative of Jin Yiwei's Great Han General, and Xiao Donglou was the representative of the bandits after they were incorporated.Zuo Guangxian and Niu Chenghu are the representatives of the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. The superiors must maintain a balance and not let one town dominate, so as not to lose the tail.

However, Tanning, who is in the army, doesn't see it that way.Although the East Palace Army comes from different sources, after the integration, they can all be regarded as the crown prince's direct troops. They did not receive more attention because of the old guard battalion, nor did they deliberately get stuck because most of Niu Chenghu's subordinates were soldiers of the trespasser Yuan Zongdi. his gear.

"But Your Highness, since the last general joined the army, he hasn't even participated in a single battle. Now that the three divisions are stationed in Beizhi and Shanxi, isn't it impossible to be the main attacking force?" Dan Ning couldn't help pouring out his bitterness: " Your Highness, if my teacher does not go through a real battle again, I am afraid that the blood of the soldiers will be cold!"

Zhu Cihong said: "In the past, we didn't have enough firearms, so we could only defend the city by letting more people go. Now that the first division's firearm equipment rate exceeds [-]%, it is really possible to leave it to them to guard. I originally planned to send you The third division gathered in Taiyuan and Pingyang to guard against the Qing army."

Dan Ning was overjoyed, and immediately responded: "The last general swears not to disgrace his life!"

"However, Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming's 5 troops have been transferred back to Shanxi from Shaanxi. We will cross the Yellow River in a few days, and the defense of Shanxi will be handed over to your third division." Zhu Cilang said: "If you lose Shanxi..."

"The last general raised his head to see His Highness!" Dan Ning excitedly said.

Zhu Cihong nodded.Said: "Geographical advantages and firepower have always been the treasures of our army's victory. Don't be foolish and fight with others because of excitement."

"Yes!"

……

Dan Ning will never be so foolish as to fight desperately with others, no general will leave the Yellow River natural moat alone.After the dispatch order for the first battalion of the third division was issued, Dan Ning directly pulled him to Yu's gate.Donggong won Li Zicheng's handsome title here in the first month of last year. Although he had to retreat in the end, it was still a great victory.

Now Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming planned to cross the river from here.Clamp down with Duoduo in the north and take back Taiyuan.However, the Yellow River has just shown signs of thawing. It can neither cross the ice nor use a ferry, so it can only die and wait.

Tannins take advantage of this time.He calmly built fortifications along the river, and even had time to dig a few canals for local farmers to divert water from the Yellow River to irrigate the fields, as if he was going to stick to it.

Different from Wu Sangui's head and tail ends, Kong Youde was determined to follow Man Qing.Speaking of which, this person's family, young and old, were also slaughtered by Jiannu, and they had an irresolvable blood feud.When he was in the Guangning Army in Liaodong, he was extremely determined to kill Jiannu.Later, when Guangning fell, Kong Youde defected to Mao Wenlong and became Mao Wenlong's adopted son. He was still fighting on the front line of killing Jiannu. If he died at that time, he would definitely be a well-known national hero in history books.

Later, Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, and Dongjiang Town was torn apart. Kong Youde was taken in by Sun Yuanhua and lived in Denglai.It's a pity that Sun Yuanhua loved talents, but he was useless. Liao soldiers were discriminated against in Shandong.

Later, Kong Youde's hatred for Daming even surpassed that of Man Qing.

Zhu Cihong also tried to analyze Kong Youde's psychology back then, but even he himself forgot what the conclusion was.Anyway, at that time, he was completely powerless to interfere with the trend of history, and the Dengzhou Rebellion soon involved party struggles, which was the sensitive area of ​​Emperor Chongzhen, and whoever touched it would die.

……

"Where did they get so many cannons?" Kong Youde held a long gun and was dressed in the uniform of an ordinary soldier. He stood by the Yellow River and watched the battle preparations in the east.

On the east bank, artillery carts pulled the artillery into the artillery positions.The gunner lifted the gun cover and wiped the dark cast iron, making these guns look extraordinarily powerful.

Sun Yuanhua was a student of Xu Guangqi and the host of the formation of artillery.Kong Youde was deeply trusted by Sun Yuanhua, so he naturally knew artillery well.If it weren't for him, the Manchurians might not be able to build a qualified artillery even in another 100 years.At this moment, Kong Youde carefully counted the number of cannons cast by Daming in one year.

Even if you let go of your courage and think about it broadly, being able to cast fifty cannons a year is already a phenomenal speed.In Beizhi, Shanxi, Henan, and Huguang, there are reports that the Ming army frequently dispatched dozens of artillery pieces.If you count the twenty cannons on the east coast now, wouldn't the Ming army have built more than a hundred Hongyi cannons in the past year?

According to the pass rate of three tenths, wouldn't the Ming army have to cast more than 300 cannons?How much clay is this?A mud fan needs to be dried in the shade for at least three months, which is impossible no matter how you think about it!

—Could it be bought from the Portuguese?

Kong Youde quickly refuted this conclusion: the price of a red barbarian gun of this size is 1000 taels, and the shipping cost may be as high as 200 taels.Ten gates are worth [-] taels of silver. Where did the Ming Court get so much money to buy so many cannons?And even if Jiangnan is rich, the Portuguese in Macau don't have so many guns to sell!

Could it be that these artillery pieces are all fakes?Is it just used to put on a show, to scare our army away from crossing the river here?

There was a gleam of light in Kong Youde's heart, as if he saw hope.

……

"Just fight the Qing soldiers on the opposite side. We've been watching us all morning." Long Fucai pointed to the Tartars on the other side of the Yellow River. He didn't know whether those people were patrolling the river or watching them. Anyway, they were uncomfortable looking at them.

The artillery team measured and fired at Zhuyuan one after another, turned the muzzle, and aimed all twenty artillery pieces at the strange group of Qing soldiers standing on the west bank.

Whenever Long Fucai saw the Tartars, he would be furious, wishing to tear them to pieces with his own hands.It's a pity that he is not an unworldly hero like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, but fortunately he has learned artillery skills, and now he has enough artillery for him to show off what he has learned.

"Aim!" Long Fu raised the corner flag.

"put!"

The gunners lit the fuse, and the twenty cannons roared one after another, firing heavy shells one after another. (To be continued, please search, the novel is better and updated faster!

ps: I don't even have enough time for proofreading, so embarrassing... But today there is no change!Ask for a recommendation ticket!monthly pass!