weaving

On May 20th, the 15th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, the sky was clear and cloudless.

The scorching sun hanging in the middle of the sky mercilessly scorched all the people and plants on the earth. It made no difference whether you were a government soldier or a bandit, and it treated everyone equally.

Outside Daguantou Village, thirty miles south of Kaifeng City, smoke and dust rose up, fell down, and rose up again, over and over again...

Small groups of bandits in different armors kept clashing back and forth. They were wearing different armors and battle robes, rushing from one side to the other, and from the other side to this side. Their horses' hooves stomped the ground quickly, raising billows of dust...

The cavalry of the Yongyi Army were wearing uniform armor and uniforms. They used "sentry" as their basic combat unit, and rushed out from the Central Camp, West Camp, and North Camp to harass the various bandit troops that were setting up camp.

The same was true for the bandit army, with only one team of a hundred or two hundred cavalrymen charging out from various locations to engage in battle. The cavalry teams of both sides crossed each other, and after a burst of chaotic sound of gunfire and arrows, they separated again. There were very few times when they rode against each other, and even if there were, they would be separated quickly.

  After all, they were just harassing and testing each other, and it was far from a real confrontation!

However, most of the rebel cavalrymen were equipped with three-barreled guns, a habit they developed when fighting against the Mongolian cavalry on three sides. Logically, although the three-barreled guns were not as convenient to shoot as the Yongyi Army's hand guns, they could fire three rounds in a short period of time.

However, it is a pity that most of the three-barreled guns of the rebel army are old guns, and they are not properly maintained, so the misfire rate is very low and the accuracy is also very satisfactory.

However, the hand cannons of the cavalrymen of the Tengshe Battalion of the Yongyi Army were different. Almost all of them were newly made and sophisticated. Although the misfire rate was more than 20%, they were extremely accurate and powerful.

Comparing the two, the difference is obvious. Although the bandit army occasionally suffered casualties, the cavalry of the Tengshe Camp were not only 100% armored, but also wore high-quality cloth armor. Not only did most of the arrows shot by the bandit army fail, even their three-barreled guns rarely hit the target, and even if they occasionally hit the target, it was difficult to be fatal.

Here we have to mention the medical system of the Yongyi Army.

The chief medical officer of the Yongyi Army is Shi Jianneng, the chief of the Weiyuan Camp Medical Department, and the medical officers of the other camps are almost all his apprentices. These medical officers have been fighting with the camp for a long time, and are the best at treating wounds caused by crossbows and gun bullets. Therefore, whether it is an arrow wound or a gun bullet wound, it is no longer a fatal injury in the Yongyi Army.

  Of course, those that hit the fatal spot are excluded!

Although casualties continued to increase, the bandit army was like a chicken with its blood pumped up. Teams of them continued to rush out of the camp to meet the cavalry from the left and right sides of the Tengshe Camp, and the fighting continued.

Fortunately, there are two elite cavalry units stationed in the Tengshe Camp here. Otherwise, we would have to watch the enemy army build fortifications and would not be able to leave the camp to harass and fight.

However, although the two cavalry units of twenty sentries kept leaving the camp to harass, they were blocked outside the camp due to the large number of the enemy cavalry, and did not cause any damage to the enemy's camp.

"Pass the order, sound the gong!"

"General, are you not going to stop the bandits from setting up camp?"

Wei Zhice glanced at the officer Yu Deshui and said, "It's useless. The enemy cavalry is much larger than ours. Although we have achieved great results, we can't rush over and burn down their camp. And if we continue to fight like this, it will consume too much of our soldiers' physical strength. It's better to let them return to the camp to rest and recuperate."

…………

At the end of the hour of Wei, the outlines of the bandit army's camps had already appeared. Although the camp walls had not yet been erected, a circle of shallow trenches had been dug outside each camp, and the excavated soil was being transported to the front of the camp, apparently to be used to build the camp walls.

Looking further away, one could vaguely see groups of ragged hungry people rushing towards this side. They were carrying various tools on their shoulders, hands or backs, and they were walking slowly with heavy steps. They looked hungry and tired, which was obvious at a glance.

However, they were either divided into teams of 500 to 600 people or 1,000 to 2,000 people, and there were very clear boundaries between each team, which showed that the bandits had already acquired extremely strong organizational skills.

They no longer drove the hungry people away like ducks as they did before, but organized them into teams like soldiers. In this way, whether they were driven to fill trenches, dig cities, or even serve as cannon fodder in feint attacks and die, it would be as quick and convenient as moving one's own arm.

As they continued to join, the enemy's camp was built at a speed visible to the naked eye. The trenches became deeper and the walls became higher and thicker.

The bandits who were originally building the camp also put down their work, picked up their weapons one by one, and began to organize their formations under the orders of their leader.

Tong Shoushan, the chief of the "Shan Camp" of the Chuang Army, has now been changed from being under the command of Liu Tichun to being directly under the command of Liu Zongmin, the chief of the Chuang Army, because of his merits in attacking the Baoding Army camp and pursuing the government troops led by Hu Dawei.

Although only his direct superior had changed, it was already very rare in the Chuang camp, because being under the command of Liu Zongmin was the only way to become a general of the Chuang army.

Just like Liu Tichun, Li Guo, Yuan Zongde, Gu Ying and others who once served under Liu Zongmin, now they have become generals who can stand on their own in the Chuang camp.

Tong Shoushan also rescued more than a thousand bandit soldiers under Hao Yaoqi when he was chasing Hu Dawei. All of them were ordered by King Chuang to be temporarily under his command. The final decision would be made after Hao Yaoqi's life or death was confirmed.

This is actually equivalent to announcing: If Hao Yaoqi really died in Banpodian, then Tong Shoushan will take his place and become a general in Chuangying.

Now, his "Shanzi Camp" was deployed opposite the West Camp, responsible for attacking the Xuanfu Army positions on this side. In order to further observe Tong Shoushan's abilities, Liu Zongmin did not send other generals to take charge on this side.

The Shan Camp originally had 800 cavalry, 4,000 infantry, plus 500 to 600 miscellaneous soldiers and their families, which together numbered about 6,000. But now, with the addition of the more than 1,000 bandits in Hao Yaoqi's camp, plus the old, weak, family members and miscellaneous soldiers in Hao Yaoqi's camp, Tong Shoushan's direct troops already numbered nearly 10,000.

Moreover, in the process of defeating Yang Wenyue and pursuing Hu Dawei, more than a thousand government troops were captured. Most of them were coerced and induced to join the Chuang army camp and became Tong Shoushan's subordinates.

Therefore, the Shan Camp now has a total of more than 12,000 troops, among which the cavalry has increased to more than 1,100, which is the absolute main force of the Shan Camp.

He also re-divided the infantry into six groups. In addition to the original four groups, he promoted a small leader named Fang Zhengxian who was originally under Hao Yaoqi to be the new deputy commander, in charge of more than a thousand infantrymen.

Another one is the deputy commander Yin Wutang who is in charge of logistics. He originally only managed 500 menial workers and 200 to 300 dependents, but now he has 1,000 infantrymen and 1,500 menial workers under his command, plus nearly 2,000 elderly and weak people and their dependents.

If we only consider the number of people, Yin Wutang's old camp naturally has the largest number of people; but if we consider the combat power, Bao Jiqiang's cavalry battalion ranks first. Therefore, the cavalry, which is the core combat power of the Shanzi Camp, as well as the money, food and dependents of the Shanzi Camp are all under the complete control of Tong Shoushan.

In addition, the old brothers Qi Dakan and Yan Mingda firmly control the two battalions of infantry. It seems that even if the remaining three people, Xiao Yunshan, Lu Zhen and Fang Zhengxian, want to do something weird, they will not be able to cause any big waves.

Because Zhang Nai's firearms battalion had not yet arrived, and Liu Zongmin had not yet finalized the main attack direction, all the battalions were only concerned with building fortifications and digging trenches. However, Tong Shoushan's Shanzi Battalion was a different beast, because Tong Shoushan was usually close to Zhang Nai, so he knew a lot about firing artillery. In addition, his cooperation with the firearms battalion during the previous attack on Baoding Army also gave his subordinates experience in building gun mounts.

Therefore, he did not care whether the chief sentry Liu Zongmin had determined the main attack direction, but only ordered his leaders to command the soldiers and hungry people to build rows of empty gun mounts in front of the camp in case of emergency.

From this point of view, Tong Shoushan's being an outlier in the Chuang Army and the Yongyi Army being an outlier in the Ming Dynasty's official army have many similarities - they are full of confidence, like to do things that others think are stupid, and often get unexpected results.

…………

"Has Zhang Nai not arrived yet?"

"My Lord, Young General Zhang is urging the Firearm Battalion to speed up their march and has not arrived here in advance."

Liu Zongmin glanced at Li You and ordered him, "Go and pass on my military order. The hungry people behind should not come here directly. All of them should go to help Xiao Naizi push the cannon."

"Yes, sir."

Looking at Li You's back, Liu Zongmin suddenly said, "Erhu, our cavalry injured many people in order to stop the Xuanfu army from harassing the camp?"

"Yes. I heard from the soldiers from Shaanxi that this group of Xuanfu cavalry is a little worse than the ones that stopped our scouts before. However, they are only inferior in cavalry combat, but their equipment is second to none. Everyone is equipped with a hand cannon, and they are all wearing helmets and armor. They are very luxurious."

"Look, are they any different from the Xuanfu Army we encountered in the eleventh year?"

"This one……"

What Liu Tichun was most reluctant to mention was the incident in the eleventh year of Chongzhen when he was captured by Zhang Cheng. But now that these words came out of Liu Zongmin's mouth, he was helpless and had to think about answering this question.

  This is the true portrayal of "a higher-ranking official can crush people to death"!

"There are more men and horses, they are better trained, and their equipment is newer and more complete."

"Yeah. That's all I have."

"Master, in Erhu's opinion, that's all."

Liu Tichun went on to say: "According to intelligence reports, the Xuanfu troops on the other side are not all Zhang Cheng's troops, and some of them are from the border troops of Datong and Shanxi.

It seems that although there are 60,000 to 70,000 troops, after removing the troops from Datong and Shanxi, and deducting the auxiliary soldiers and miscellaneous servants who follow the army, the remaining troops are at most 30,000 to 40,000 Xuanfu troops.

Among the 30,000 or 40,000 Xuanfu troops, cavalry can account for at most 40%, and the rest are infantry. So, whether cavalry or infantry, they are more than twice as strong as us. Even if they are well-equipped and well-trained, what can they do?"

"Hmm. That makes some sense. Go on."

"The military strategy says 'if your force is twice as strong, divide it'. Now we have sent out all our forces to separate them so that they can't take care of each other at the same time. And at this critical juncture, it seems that there are no more than 10,000 government troops here, which is in line with the principle of 'attack if your force is five times as strong'. Even if we have to fight hard, we can still defeat them."

"Hahaha……"

Liu Zongmin couldn't help but burst into laughter when he heard this, and said, "Okay, Erhu, you're starting to use military tactics!"

Liu Tichun scratched his head in embarrassment when he heard this, but then he heard Liu Zongmin continue, "Your words make sense, but it's okay to learn military tactics, but you can't believe everything in them.

Although the military strategy states "if there are ten, surround them; if there are five, fight them", it also depends on the actual situation on the battlefield.

  Just like the situation before our eyes today, the Xuanfu army will not exceed 10,000 troops. If you remove those auxiliary soldiers and miscellaneous servants, there will be no more than 5,000 or 6,000 troops at most. And all of us added up are more than 50,000 troops.

Even if two of those hungry civilians following the army were worth one, or even three were worth one, they could still be worth at least 10,000 elite soldiers. Add to that 10,000 cavalry, 20,000 infantry, and more than 5,000 men from Zhang Nai's firearms battalion. That's more than five times their number, but almost ten times.

Moreover, the Xuanfu troops on the other side have been divided by us, and have no reinforcements, becoming an isolated army. Under such circumstances, even if they are less than ten times the number of the government troops, we can still surround and kill them on all four sides. Moreover, they are camped by the river, so we only need to surround and kill them on three sides, which is a much simpler matter. "

"The Master is still able to see through it."

"Erhu, you must remember that battlefield situations are ever-changing, and military tactics are just some basic methods. Under normal circumstances, it must be 'surround them if there are ten, and attack them if there are five'. However, there are many special situations on the battlefield, and you must be flexible and adaptable to the battlefield situation.

Didn't Mencius say, "If you believe everything in books, it is better to have no books at all"? Just as Sun Tzu said in the Art of War, "Warfare is the art of deception", so the art of war should be "learned and applied flexibly", and sometimes even used in reverse, it can have miraculous effects."

Just as Liu Tichun was nodding his head, Liu Zongmin suddenly said, "It's just... what a pity!"

Liu Tichun asked him doubtfully, "Master, what's a pity?"

"Ugh!"

Liu Zongmin sighed first, then said: "Prince Chuang is anxious to capture Kaifeng. Time is too tight. We can't rely on siege to force the Xuanfu army to run out of food and collapse. I don't know how many soldiers will be lost here!"

"Yes. It's not just the King who is anxious. I think the soldiers are even more anxious."

Liu Tichun also said: "Now everyone is looking forward to taking Kaifeng Prefecture as soon as possible so that they can support Prince Chuang to sit on the dragon throne and become emperor. Not to mention the soldiers, even I can't wait any longer!"

As soon as he mentioned this, Liu Zongmin also seemed excited. He took two steps forward, stared at the high platform on the opposite mound, and said: "Then you all have to perform well. The first one to rush to the top of Kaifeng City is destined to be awarded the title of Earl or Marquis in the future!" (End of this chapter)