I want to be emperor

Chapter 829
In the autumn and September of the 35th year of Chengshun, just after the Mid-Autumn Festival, outside the city of Hefei, a very special army came: the First Division of the Great Chu Empire Army.

For the Great Chu Empire itself, this army is actually normal, but it is just one of more than ten first-class infantry divisions in the army.

Although the number is high, the history is long, and the military exploits are profound, it is not special.

But for the contemporary Great Chu Empire, this army is very special.

Because this first division is the first infantry division in the army to be fully equipped with rear-loaded rifled weapons and form combat effectiveness in the local area.

The division has been stationed in Zhengzhou, an important city in the Central Plains, for several years, and it is the core force of the strategic mobile force in the hinterland of the Great Chu Empire.

Relying on the convenience of Zhengzhou's cross railway network, the division can quickly go to any place in the empire that has a railway, whether it is Liaodong in the northeast or Central Asia in the northwest, or Guiyang in the southwest, or Guangzhou in the south, or even Songjiang in the east.

can be reached in a short time!

The Great Chu Empire Army will garrison such first-class combat readiness divisions and relatively powerful second-class divisions in many railway and inland river transportation hubs in the country.

The first division was transferred from Zhengzhou to Hefei City, not for a change of defense, let alone for an outing, but to participate in a large-scale exercise held by the Army: Yuqian Hefei Exercise!

Also participating in the exercise were a first-class division and a second-class division that had not yet completed the dress-up, as well as a cavalry brigade.

The goal of this exercise is very simple, that is to verify the actual combat effectiveness of the new army equipped with rear-loaded rifled weapons in large-scale operations.

Everyone now knows that breech-loading rifled weapons have a huge advantage over all kinds of old weapons, and that new armies have an advantage over old armies.

But how big the advantage is, how it is embodied, and whether there are further goals, all these need to be verified one by one.

In the previous overseas battles, although breech-loading rifled weapons and skirmishing tactics have exploded with strong combat effectiveness, to be honest, the armies of Burma, Siam, and even North American natives are too weak to serve as the whetstone of the Chu army. , Let Chu Jun expose more problems.

But the overseas indigenous armies are not the only ones that are still transitioning from cold weapons to hot weapons, or are simply cold weapons.

There are also European armies that have been widely equipped with flintlock guns and the Ottoman armies in West Asia. The indigenous armies in these areas have also learned from the Chu army and began to widely use line tactics.

In the future, the Chu army will definitely confront these armies. After all, the expansion of the Great Chu Empire will not stop.

Even if it does not fight other European countries for the time being, Russia will definitely continue to fight... After all, the two countries are still at war so far. The two sides have never signed a treaty such as an armistice agreement, but it has been many years. No real-scale battles broke out.

Under such circumstances, in order to further find out the problems of the new army, better use tactics, and better deal with the indigenous army that adopts line tactics, the army held a live-fire exercise.

There are not only new armies like the First Division, but also the Sixth Division, No.40 Third Division, No.80 Ninth Division, and No.30 Sixth Cavalry Brigade, which are still equipped with front-loading smoothbore guns.

Luo Zhixue is also more concerned about this... Well, he is not interested in the new army beating the old army. He mainly wants to see the tactics and tactics of the new army, and even watch the confrontation between the new army.

So Luo Zhixue not only went to see it, but also brought the First Division of the Guards with him, planning to arrange a drill between the First Division and the First Division of the Guards.

At the same time, this exercise is not just a simple live ammunition exercise, but also exercises the combat readiness troops' long-distance attack capabilities, logistics supply and many other capabilities.

Therefore, the exercise this time did not start after the first division arrived in Hefei.

Actually started two days ago!

Three days ago, the exercise headquarters officially issued an exercise instruction to the First Division stationed in Zhengzhou by means of an expedited train, requiring them to immediately take the train to Hefei City to participate in the exercise.

After the First Division received the exercise instruction, it immediately completed the assembly and prepared the troop carriages. Only three hours later, an infantry battalion of the division stationed at Zhengzhou Railway Station boarded the train and headed south!

They went south along the Youhan Railway, and then in Xinyang, along the Jingxin Railway (Jinling Pukou-Hefei-Xinyang) eastward.

After serving as a combat-ready infantry battalion in the front, more train skins were urgently dispatched and ready, and at the same time more troops of the First Division also began to pedal.

And it is rare to use the night train transportation method...Contemporary train transportation is limited by technical conditions and backward communication. Generally, it operates during the day and is overhauled at night. The Railway Corporation also tried to open night transportation before. However, after a few accidents, it was suspended.

However, this is just ordinary civilian transportation. In fact, night transportation is also possible under special circumstances, especially military transportation tasks.

Of course, the speed of train transportation at night is far less than that during the day.

The first division set off by train one after another at the fastest speed, and went straight to Hefei all the way.

It took only two days to travel more than 600 kilometers to arrive in Hefei, and this has to include the emergency assembly of the first division in Zhengzhou, raising train skins, and boarding time.

This shows how much the use of railway transportation will help the mobility of the army.

In the original time and space of the Wuchang Uprising, the Qing army relied on the railway, and it took only two days to transfer the 58th Biao [-]st Battalion under Zhang Xiyuan's Division in Kaifeng to Hankou.

In the next few days, the Manchu Qing Dynasty relied on the railway to mobilize thousands of troops to Wuhan to participate in the encirclement and suppression.

This is still an emergency!
For this battle, let's not discuss other things first. If we only discuss military issues, this battle perfectly reflects the speed of railway transportation.

The reason why the First Division of the Chu Army was able to carry out this exercise so quickly was because this exercise was not a temporary idea. The First Division of the Chu Army knew that there would be such an exercise half a year ago, but they did not know the specific content of the exercise and the detailed time. .

But there are all kinds of preparations that need to be done.

For example, train skins... This is actually communicated with the railway company in advance. Although it is impossible for the railway company to have a large number of train skins waiting for you, they can also make arrangements from the train dispatching and keep more in nearby places. Train skins, and unobstructed contact methods, so that when the military needs them, the locomotives and train skins can be quickly in place.

Another example is the procedures for emergency assembly and boarding. The first division has already made detailed plans in advance, and it also conducts frequent internal drills.

Therefore, the division can go directly from Zhengzhou to Hefei within two days, which is inseparable from a lot of preparation in advance.

But then again, the first division was originally a first-class combat readiness division, and it was located in Zhengzhou, a strategic location.

The contents of these exercises were originally the daily training subjects of the First Division.

Luo Zhixue was very satisfied that the first division could arrive in Hefei so quickly, and arrived in Hefei with full staff.

This is the mobility that a first-class combat readiness division should have!
Otherwise, why spend so much money on raising these combat-ready troops... You can raise two second-class divisions with the money you need to raise one first-class combat-ready division...

After the first division arrived in Hefei, the main generals of the first division first went to meet with Luo Zhixue, and then led the team to develop the scheduled exercise venue.

This is a typical offensive and defensive exercise. The old-style armies acted as indigenous troops, using front-loading muskets and line tactics for defensive operations. For this reason, these old armies still built bastions that have not been used for some years in the exercise site. Defense system... In Europe, the bastion defense system is still the mainstream, and there are many bastions...

The first division's exercise goals are long-distance raids and offensive capabilities.

This long-distance raid is not only railway transportation, but also land marches after leaving the railway.

Therefore, the exercise site is actually not in Hefei, but in the suburbs of Dingyuan in the northeast of Hefei, with a straight-line distance of about 80 kilometers!
However, in order to verify the ability of long-distance raids and logistical supply, the exercise command abruptly asked the first division to go around in a circle and formulated a full 140-kilometer marching route, aiming to simulate an attack on an indigenous target 140 kilometers away.

The whole process can only use the carriages and pack horses owned by the division itself, and they cannot take the official roads with good roads... The roads in the Great Chu Empire are in good condition. Many official roads are good gravel and cinder roads, but overseas When fighting with the natives, there is no such good way for you to walk.

Therefore, the first division took some dirt roads, and there were no bridges in some places, so they needed to build emergency bridges by themselves.

This is quite frustrating!

But even so, many generals in the military who have experience in leading troops abroad believe that the basic conditions for the First Division to advance are still very good... How can there be such a good level dirt road for you to fight against the natives in overseas areas? In many places, there are small roads that even horse-drawn carts cannot pass.

For example, when we were fighting in Burma before, how could there be any flat roads for you to walk... When the Chu army was fighting, the artillery maneuvers were basically carried by packs, which is why the army in Burma urgently needed 75mm mountain artillery.

But... the first division of the family is a serious plain type first-class combat readiness division. Its subordinate artillery regiment is equipped with 36 75mm field guns and eighteen 75mm mountain guns.

There are also a large number of four-wheeled and two-wheeled carriages carrying countless baggage.

You ask them to go climbing with a full crew, and you also require a high-mobility model, that's unrealistic!

In the Chu army, it is the mountain and forest troops that undertake this kind of task, such as the 14th Division and the No.75 Division that fought in the Nanyang area before. The artillery they are currently equipped with is all mountain artillery...even the [-]mm field artillery. No.

According to the exercise plan, the first division galloped on the dirt road for a full four days, and finally arrived at the scheduled exercise site to start the exercise.

In the following exercises, both sides used blank ammunition specially used for exercises and training, and it was very lively when you came and I fought.

After all, the old-style troops participating in the exercise consisted of three divisions and one cavalry brigade. They had a huge advantage in strength. Although they were at a disadvantage in terms of armed equipment, they still relied on their advantages in strength to resist in various ways.

Especially the use of cavalry units for harassment and strikes.

It was still a lot of fun.

But in the end, the First Division relied on its absolute superiority in firepower to push all the way... abruptly overthrowing the old-style army that was several times its own strength.

Especially in the final offensive and defensive battle, the dense artillery firepower and rifle firepower directly hit the opponent who couldn't hold his head up, and could only rely on fortifications to resist.

After this exercise, Luo Zhixue spoke highly of the commanders of both sides.

According to the results of this exercise, some generals in the army proposed to equip division-level troops with larger-caliber rear-loading rifled artillery.

The 120mm howitzer is too heavy to equip, but it can be a howitzer about [-]mm taller.

After all, when the enemy hides in the fortifications, although the power of the 75mm caliber shells is not bad, it is still not good enough. If there is a howitzer of about [-]mm, then the shells are more powerful, enough to kill and hide in the fortifications enemy.

Luo Zhixue was too lazy to respond to this.

Because looking at the world, there is no second army that can build such a complete anti-gun fortification like the Chu army, and is equipped with a large number of advanced front-loading smoothbore guns.

Regardless of the backwardness of the old-style military weapons, that is relatively speaking. In fact, the so-called old-style troops participating in the exercise are equipped with a large number of 115mm field guns. Bullet support round spherical grenade.

And it can also be a more advanced flash cap percussion gun.

Hiding in the trenches to fight back, the power is quite reliable.

It is impossible for the natives of all countries to meet these conditions.

Therefore, the firepower of the new army mentioned by the army was not strong enough, and Luo Zhixue didn't even bother to talk to them.

After the old and new exercises are over, this time the live-fire exercise is not completely over, because there is still a live-fire exercise between the new army.

That was the exercise between the [-]st Division and the [-]st Guards Division.

It's just that this time the exercise did not involve the entire army of both sides. Instead, they each mobilized part of their troops to form a mixed force of about 4000 people to simulate a field encounter.

In this exercise, the equipment of the two sides is almost exactly the same, both are Type 75 rifles and [-]mm mountain guns. The training level of both sides is actually similar, and the tactics adopted are also similar.

As for things like morale and courage, after all exercises, all the soldiers are supermen who are not afraid of death!
So the exercise was more interesting to fight, but Luo Zhixue discovered that the encounter between the two sides had turned into a trench warfare just by fighting.

Therefore, at the beginning of the exercise, when the two sides encountered a battle, neither side had an absolute advantage to take the lead...the fight was evenly matched.

In order to avoid losses, they unanimously began to build field fortifications on the spot.

Then you come and go and start a roundabout battle...but you can't fight through the roundabout, which often turns into a positional battle after the roundabout.

This time the exercise also proved that in the case of a substantial increase in firepower density, in the absence of large-scale cavalry forces and large-caliber artillery, it is difficult for simple infantry attacks to break through the defense line.

After the exercise, the Army was quite satisfied, but the Guards quietly proposed to Luo Zhixue to strengthen the artillery firepower of the Guards!
The 75mm series of artillery is not enough, and it needs to be equipped with medium and large artillery.

Because the imaginary enemy of the Guards has never been a native, but the army and navy!
After the exercise was completed this time, the guards found that they hadn't gained any advantage, how could this be tolerated!

More and bigger artillery must be arranged, otherwise how would the guards control and defend Gyeonggi?

At the same time, they are also somewhat dissatisfied with the Type [-] rifles they are currently using... because the Army also uses this rifle, which defeats the infantry firepower advantage advocated by the Guards in recent years.

Guards urgently need a new type of rifle with more powerful firepower!
Regarding this... Luo Zhixue didn't respond either!
Because the opposite is the first division of the army... In fact, the army does not have a few such first-class divisions in the hinterland of the mainland, but there are more than 8 guards, but they are all the same.

Besides, although the main task of the Guards is to guard against domestic rebels... But this kind of defense is mainly to guard against small and medium-sized, sudden part of the army's mutiny, not to guard against the entire army!

If the army of more than 100 million people rebelled collectively, Luo Zhixue would still be the emperor of woolen wool, and he would go home and play with mud.

Furthermore, the Imperial Guards thought they were guarding the capital and guarding against rebellion...but in Luo Zhixue's mind...the Imperial Guards, the Army and the Navy were actually in a balanced relationship.

Usually, the guards are stationed in various parts of Yingtianfu, but the army has a first-class division stationed in Jiujiang, Zhenjiang and Xuzhou each, and the three first-class divisions vaguely correspond to Tianfu to form a strategic encirclement!
At the same time, there are also two marine regiments stationed in the Songjiang naval base. Under the cover of the naval fleet, they can march along the Yangtze River towards Jinling City at any time.

And the main generals of the three garrisons are all of the kind who don't have a good relationship... It is impossible for Luo Zhixue to put several generals who have a good relationship with each other in these key positions.

Under Luo Zhixue's deliberate arrangement, the army, navy, and guards actually formed a mutual restraint relationship, no matter who moved, it would attract a violent backlash from the other two.

This is also the army balance strategy that Luo Zhixue has been pursuing over the years.

Coupled with the addition of an armed tax police who has some relationship with the military, but is directly under the tax department, this also allowed the formation of a complex and stable military faction within the Great Chu Empire.

What Luo Zhixue has to do now is to maintain this delicate balance and let all parties check each other, instead of actively breaking the balance!

Therefore, the Guards want to advance their weapons and equipment by another generation... Don't count on it for the time being, it will easily break the balance.

In addition, the guards will upgrade their equipment on the front foot, and the army and navy will also clamor to upgrade their equipment on the back foot.

I don't know how many years it will take to complete the full refit of this breech-loading rifled weapon. How can I have extra money to do this mess.

So, let's do this first with weapons and equipment, and no one should upgrade the equipment.

After finishing the imperial exercise in Hefei, Luo Zhixue did not take the imperial special train back to Jinling City immediately, but made a simple inspection in several cities in Anlu to see the local economic development.

(End of this chapter)