stubborn thief

Chapter 644 First Field Brigade

When Gao Yingdeng was sent to Huayan Temple, he was filled with anxiety.

Although he didn't know what it was, Gao Yingdeng thought that his guess was accurate and he would be scolded again.

Liu Chengzong was extremely lenient towards his subordinates and rarely cursed. Wei Qian'er was scolded almost as much as the other generals combined because he had a bad mouth.

But the number of times Gao Yingdeng was scolded was equal to the sum of the scolds Wei Qian'er and others received, or even a little more.

There are two main reasons for this.

Subjectively, the generals in the Marshal's Mansion are divided into two types for Liu Chengzong, one is collaborators and supporters, and the other is subordinates.

The former include his brothers Liu Chengzu and Cao Yao, Wang Wenxiu and Yang Yao who came here to join the team, and Liu Jiusi, Luo Rucai, Li Wanqing and Xie Erhu who also cooperated with their own troops.

The latter, like Ren Quan'er, Gao Yingdeng, Huang Shengxiao, Basang, the Han Zhong brothers, and Wai Liangzi, were promoted by Liu Chengzong in their humble beginnings. The huge changes in their life circumstances were determined by his single word.

Objectively speaking, among the serious subordinates of Liu Chengzong in the Marshal's Mansion, there are few who are as fierce and frightened as Gao Yingdeng.

He can really chase people into the deserter team, and he can really dare to fight when the enemy calls for a duel.

The result was that when he made a mistake on the front foot, he was scolded by Liu Shizi on the back foot. After scolding him, he corrected himself, and Liu Shizi would praise him from behind.

A virtuous circle.

By now, after so many years, Gao Yingden has long been accustomed to standing like a soldier, never mind what happened, and reflect on the mistakes he may have made before meeting the commander.

Until he anxiously walked around the hillside and entered Huayan Temple, thinking that it might be due to the recent lax military discipline of the besieging army, he made up his mind to admit his mistake before entering the temple without explaining.

As the siege protracted, the military discipline of the siege troops of the Marshal's Mansion outside Xi'an Mansion became increasingly lax.

During the day, sergeants went down to the river to fish, and teahouses and wine shops in Guanxiang outside the city were also opened. Soldiers setting up stalls for business often happened, and a few Xi'an defenders were even caught climbing over the wall to attend the market. .

There is no way, human patience is limited, soldiers are not machines, and morale cannot be locked.

When you are in a good mood, your morale is high, and when you are in a bad mood, your morale is low. This is normal.

If any army besieges a city for more than a month, the mental state of the soldiers will develop towards war exhaustion.

Under the pressure of military law, grassroots officers must curb the soldiers' war-weariness. They must not only make some people so tired that they have no energy to think about anything, but also let others find ways to enjoy themselves while maintaining combat readiness.

As senior generals like Gao Yingdeng, they don't control people, they only control speed.

They can neither let the soldiers be so nervous that they drop out, roar, mutiny, or rebel, nor can they be so relaxed that they are completely disorganized and vulnerable.

Because of this, it has always been a taboo for military strategists to attack a fortified city.

However, Liu Shishi was not a general who did not go into battle, and he did not think that the laxity brought about by the army's siege was a sign of the corruption of military discipline.

In fact, he believed that he was under a fortified city and had 20,000 people eating and drinking on the plains, which was more than the population of a state city in Gansu.

No one went to residential areas to kill people, steal goods, or commit crimes. Soldiers even knew how to entertain themselves, setting up stalls for business or entertainment, and even feeding chickens and sheep, and clearing land for farming to maintain morale.

This is a sign of very good military discipline and excellent self-control.

Every general who participated in the siege was credited, and even Gao Yingdeng would not be scolded.

Seeing Liu Chengzong, Gao Yingdeng was about to prostrate himself and admit his mistake on the spot, but he didn't expect Liu Shishi to raise his hand and hand over a page of paper, saying straight to the point: "The Chinese army is going to form a field brigade, take a look."

Gao Yingdeng was stunned on the spot as if his mind had shut down.

It wasn't until Liu Chengzong wondered what was going on with this fool and shouted again that he realized what was happening. He quickly took the establishment list, glanced at it, and said in surprise: "Four battalions?"

"Yes, with your main camp as the main camp, there will also be a deputy general's battalion of 3,000 people, a guerrilla battalion of 2,000 people, and a reinforcement battalion of 2,000 people."

Liu Chengzong looked at Gao Yingdeng and said, "You will be the chief military officer of the first brigade."

Gao Yingdeng now understood that the Generalissimo called him over to give him a promotion.

In fact, he has also speculated recently that his position will change.

After all, the destruction of Wei Qian'er Camp, one of the three major camps, was a big event in the Marshal's Mansion.

Wei Qian'er fought hard in Tongguan, destroyed his camp to stop the plague, and became the first Han count and the first hereditary commander in the Marshal's Mansion, but the camp was finished.

Zhang Tianlin also achieved success in eradicating the Tongguan plague. Coupled with her hard-fought achievements in Gansu and Shaanxi, she became the commander-in-chief of Tongguan.

Two of the three major battalions of the Chinese Army were missing, and Gao Yingdeng became the only direct line unit left. This was definitely not enough for the Marshal's Mansion.

So Gao Yingdeng's guess at that time was that Liu Chengzong would dismantle his camp.

Unexpectedly, instead of dismantling his battalion, he would directly expand it based on this, by three battalions at a time.

Gao Yingdeng was stunned by the huge joy. He knelt down and saluted Liu Chengzong at a loss, and said excitedly: "The commander-in-chief loves me so much. I am willing to go through fire and water for my humble position, no matter what!"

"Don't go through fire and water. As soon as I heard this word, I wanted to be Yang Jiamo."

Liu Chengzong smiled and waved his hand, signaling Gao Yingdeng to sit down first, and then said: "The mission of the field brigade is to garrison the two prefectures, and at the same time, it must be able to single-handedly destroy and defeat the enemy's three to four battalions on the battlefield."

"On this basis, as far as the main camp is concerned, I plan to assign you 240 guns, 720 heavy guns, 72 light and heavy artillery pieces, and 1,440 rockets. Five thousand mules and horses.”

The level of equipment Liu Chengzong mentioned directly stunned Gao Yingdeng.

Mainly rockets, huge amounts of rockets.

Gao Yingdeng has long been coveting the rocket in Zhang Tianlin's hand.

Of course, there are also artillery that are several times better than the original camp.

This earth-shaking change in heavy weapons will obviously bring unparalleled battlefield breakthrough capabilities to the camp.

However, Gao Yingdeng only briefly compared the original military equipment of the camp, and immediately said with a sad face: "Commander, why are there fewer guns, heavy guns and even mules and horses in our camp?"

Nearly a hundred guns were missing, and the heavy guns were reduced by half, not to mention mules and horses. In the previous three camps, everyone had horses, donkeys and mules, but now each person only has one. Horse or mule too.

Changes in the number of mounts can directly affect all aspects of strategy and tactics.

When Liu Chengzong heard this, he did not explain. He just got up and walked around the hall. After a moment of silence, he turned around and said: "The reduction in carrying guns and heavy guns is because light artillery has been added to the team level, and the ability to carry guns has been replaced on the battlefield. As for the War Horse."

Liu Shizi shook his head: "The field brigade is currently stationed in Guanzhong. Our army used to have too many war horses. Guanzhong must focus on military rations. Tens of thousands of horses are wandering here, and the grass on the graves has been eaten up."

"Whether it's war horses or heavy guns, this is the minimum establishment provided by the commander-in-chief to ensure combat effectiveness. If you are transferred to another place when the war starts, you will be supplemented with war horses."

Liu Chengzong valued the mobility advantages brought by war horses. In fact, he paid more attention to the number of war horses than Gao Yingdeng. Because war horses are almost the prerequisite for him to fight. Only by quickly maneuvering, quickly deploying troops, and quickly encircling the enemy to form a strength advantage over the enemy on the local battlefield can he achieve victory with less and win more in a larger strategy.

It's just that the current environment requires him to reduce the number of war horses at the brigade level.

Because Guanzhong is the next hub of the Marshal's Mansion, there will be at least two Chinese army field brigades and a locally stationed Guanzhong brigade.

If the 40,000 soldiers and horses were compared to the more than 10,000 mules and horses in a large camp in the Marshal's Mansion, eating horse chews would collapse Guanzhong's economy.

The Marshal's Mansion has always had a low cost of using horses. In fact, they raise horses in Qinghai. The cost of raising a horse is even cheaper than raising a soldier.

Horses can indeed eat, especially the tall and strong Hequ horses and Tianshan horses owned by the Marshal's Mansion. They are even more foodies among horses. They need more than ten kilograms of grass a day and three to five kilograms of beans to eat healthily.

But the most indispensable thing in Qinghai is high-quality pasture. Their horses can be let out to eat as they like. Even the cost of transporting fodder is very low. All it costs is one or two stones of bean feed per month.

One of Liu Chengzong's soldiers could eat much more than this.

But in Guanzhong, there is no pasture.

It's not that Guanzhong is not suitable. Guanzhong has flat terrain, fertile soil, and luxuriant water and grass. It is the best land for raising horses.

But the problem is that Guanzhong is more suitable for living people than raising horses.

Even if there was pasture here, Liu Shizi would have to level it and plant it on the ground, otherwise it would be a waste of natural resources.

This determined that the Marshal's Mansion could only raise troops in Guanzhong and maintain a small number of cavalry, supplemented by temporary recruitment of war horses before and after the war.

"But Commander, there are so few horses in the field brigade, do Tang Ma have to use infantry?"

As soon as Gao Yingden spoke, Liu Chengzong waved his hand and said: "This is impossible. Tangma is the most important thing for our army, and it cannot be replaced by Tangbu. Your Chinese army camp has 600 Tangqi under its jurisdiction, and there are also all the guerrilla battalions." Camp horse soldiers can be used in conjunction with Tang cavalry when necessary.”

"Guerrilla camp?"

Gao Yingdeng knew about the guerrilla generals. In the border towns, the guerrilla generals had a yamen station to handle daily affairs, but the guerrillas did not have a fixed station. Their duty was to act as a mobile regiment for defense.

But according to Liu Chengzong's opinion, it seems that he intends to use the Ranger Battalion as a special cavalry such as Tangqi.

"Yes, the guerrilla general's duty is not only to defend, but also to actively attack as a guerrilla, cutting off the enemy's retreat, disrupting the enemy's food routes, attacking the enemy's flanks, and penetrating the enemy's weak points, so this battalion, the whole battalion cavalry."

"The guerrilla battalion is composed of two cavalry headquarters. The first two cavalry divisions are equipped with Tangqi equipment, including spears, wild goose feather knives, three-eyed blunderbuss, soft bows and long arrows. They do not carry artillery, and are equipped with two more. Ten rocket cars and seven hundred and twenty rockets.”

"The second part is composed of a Monan Mongolian cavalry division and an Oara Mongolian cavalry division. The former is responsible for bow riding and fighting, and the latter is responsible for charging into the formation with spears."

now it's right.

Gao Yingdeng had a look of understanding on his face, and said in his heart that the Marshal's Army was originally an offensive force, and the Ming Army's guerrilla duties, which focused on defense, were not suitable for them.

On the contrary, this kind of guerrilla battalion that focuses on offense can be used as a flanking horse to break the formation during the attack, which is more in line with his thoughts.

Then Liu Chengzong said: "As for the reinforcement camp, it is composed of two infantry departments, using the official army's three-horse and seven-step organization. One of them is composed of Western infantry to form a musketeer team."

In fact, when Gao Yingdeng heard these words, he had already calmed down from the initial excitement of getting more artillery rockets.

In his opinion, only two large battalions, fewer troops, and more war horses and equipment are needed to form a majestic formation and unleash stronger combat effectiveness.

The current design seems to be more concerned with garrisoning.

He asked: "Commander, if it is for offense, the organization of three battalions as in the past will be fine; if it is for defense and garrison, it seems that it will be troublesome to organize the Mongolian soldiers into the army and command and train the garrison."

"I plan to dismantle the Mengfan Brigade and waste the establishment."

Liu Chengzong spread his hands and said: "The Mongolian and Fan armies each have their own advantages, but a large organization like the Mongolian brigade cannot be used for great purposes on the battlefield. It is better to break it up and organize it into brigades, with a thousand headquarters and the head of the general department to fight. There are also some opportunities to make meritorious deeds.”

"Then thanks to Brigadier General and Brigadier General Ba, the two brigades will be withdrawn?"

Liu Chengzong shook his head and said: "You don't have to worry about those things. Just focus on selecting generals and deploying troops, setting up the first brigade, and completing the reorganization."

Liu Chengzong's plan was to transfer the troops of the two Mongolian and Fan brigades, less than 20,000, into the nine new brigades that would be formed in the future, in order to strengthen the combat effectiveness and give the Mongolian and Fan soldiers better opportunities to participate in the war.

As for the two brigade marshals, Xie Erhu and Basang, Liu Shizi had no intention of abandoning them. The Marshal's Mansion was big enough and there was a place suitable for them.

Qinghai will be divided into two roads. Xining Prefecture and Kangning Prefecture form the Xikang Road, and west of Qinghai Lake are the tunmu camps of the Mongolian tribes.

The external military pressure on these two roads is relatively small. The former needs to deal with the three Huo Luochi brothers on the snowy mountains, while the latter has to be careful about Oirat going south.

At least for now, Uszang and Oirat are like allies and vassals. At the same time, I haven't figured out their internal problems yet. It's a blessing that the Marshal's Mansion doesn't cause trouble for them.

Therefore, compared with foreign aggression, banditry and small-scale civil strife after the eastward transfer of the army are more likely to occur.

There is a certain need for garrisoning, and there is no need to send elite troops and strong generals. It just happens to be the total military establishment of the two towns.

These two positions do not require high military talents, but only loyalty to Liu Shizi.

Liu Chengzong planned to let Basang garrison Xikang Road and Xie Erhu garrison Haixi Dao. After selecting soldiers and generals from the army, he would transfer some second-line troops to guard the saltpeter production areas and pasture salt ponds, and deal with some horse bandits. They would continue to fight and train in the future. If it is necessary to mobilize to fight within the pass, you can still have the strength to fight.

"Choose generals and deploy troops?"

Gao Yingdeng opened his eyes wide and asked: "Commander, can I choose this general?"

"You can recommend a few people first, and we will discuss them later if they can be used." After Liu Chengzong said this, he added: "Things below President Qian are a matter for the military office, so you don't need to talk about it."

"Who do you think is suitable, the deputy commander-in-chief, the guerrillas, the staff general, and the camp officer of your Chinese army camp?"

Hearing this, Gao Yingden thought deeply for a moment, then raised his head and said: "Commander, the general will lead the musketeers, and I think Tang Tong is good. As for the guerrilla general, Zuo Guang, the general manager of Qian of Huben Camp, can do it first. For the mid-level officers sitting in the camp, I think Tang Tong is good." What a crooked person in the camp."

"Crooked person?"

Liu Chengzong had no objections to the first two people, but when he heard Wailiangzi, he laughed directly: "This guy is from Tangma of mine. Now I have forgotten his name. Do you know his name? Ask me when you have time. It’s inappropriate to use a bandit number even though he’s already at the rank of general.”

After laughing, he asked, "Where is the deputy general?"

Gao Yingdeng shook his head, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Ask the commander-in-chief to inspect the deputy commander. The NTUC cannot ask Zhang Tianlin to be the deputy commander."

"You have selected these people who are relatively reliable, so how about I send you an unreliable one, Li Hongsi, the former deputy commander-in-chief of Gansu Province?"

Gao Yingdeng was happy when he heard this name: "This is also an acquaintance."

After selecting the officers, Liu Chengzong felt much more relaxed. He patted Gao Yingdeng on the shoulder and said: "The establishment of the fourth battalion has been established. Next, we will organize the battalions into brigades. Let Ren Quan'er and Zhang Tianlin come over to watch. The second brigade and Guanzhong Brigade , and also be organized according to the organization of your brigade."

　good afternoon!

　　(End of this chapter)