Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2417: The Duke is not an assistant, but a deputy (VIII) Joint Exercise

After lunch, the copper clocks at the four corners of the viewing platform were about to reach 3 p.m. Gao Youshi ordered people to remove the heaters, and walked onto the reviewing platform covered with icicles with his companions. The 60,000 imperial guards had already formed thirteen battle formations on the training grounds. Each town of the imperial guards had two divisions, and each division formed a battle formation designed by Qi Jiguang based on the existing equipment system, which was similar to the chariot battle formation he had organized in Jizhen in his early years.

The chariot camp of the Ming Dynasty was first created by Yu Dayou. After continuous development, it has changed into several versions according to the upgrade of the equipment system. The current version can be seen as a "Wanquan Formation" with various types of troops filled in an extra-large hollow square formation.

During the battle, the situation on the battlefield changed, and at the right time, the troops in the formation should be used to support the four sides, and at the most critical moment, elite cavalry should be sent out from the formation to charge or outflank. [Note: Interested friends can search for Qi Jiguang's Chariot Camp on Baidu and find a formation restoration diagram.]

In short, this is a very efficient fighting style that relies heavily on training to be mastered. If there is any flaw, it is probably that it is very boring when the fight really starts - Yu Dayou once used several thousand chariot camps to defeat tens of thousands of Mongolian cavalry, and at that time he was actually commanding several such chariot camps to advance in an overlapping manner.

(Of course, the Mongols later found that they could not win the battle head-on, so they stopped fighting the Ming army's chariot camp head-on. This also largely led to the fact that in real history, the Mongolian cavalry almost did not know how to fight on a large scale in the late Ming Dynasty, and specialized in small-scale cavalry looting like horse thieves. As a result, Lin Dan Khan, who almost unified Mongolia, was defeated by Huang Taiji in a decisive battle, and the Mongols were forced to become the Eight Banners of Mongolia.)

"Prince Shunyi, please have a look." Gao Youshi handed Han Naji a pair of binoculars. "Today's training subjects are too many, and we can't practice all the chariot camp tactics. Now we have to keep it simple... This is the three-stage attack method of the Imperial Guards."

Before he took the telescope from Hannaji and put it in front of his eyes, he saw the commanders of each town of the Imperial Guard drawing lots to choose which brigade would conduct the drill - it was impossible for all six towns to come.

Finally, the Second Brigade of the Third Town was lucky enough to get the only spot. The phalanx of about 6,000 people began to practice. As Ma Gui's command flag waved, they dismantled the phalanx of the chariot camp and changed to a line battle state.

Nearly 5,000 infantrymen were divided into three rows, with the front row kneeling, the middle row half-crouching, and the back row standing upright. As the central army waved the yellow flag three times, the front row suddenly fired a volley, and the light sound of the flintlocks exploded like frying beans. Before the smoke had cleared, the middle row had already loaded the bullets, and the back row began to reload.

"What a fast firing rate!" Behannaji's telescope trembled slightly, "This is almost as good as the volley of the best archers in my unit!" The firing rates were indeed similar, but Behannaji knew that there was no comparison, because the range of the Wanli Type 3 was much longer than that of an archer. He had heard this from the man next to him in the morning.

Gao Youshi felt that the blow was not fierce enough, so he smiled and added: "This gun does not require a matchlock, and it fires as fast as lightning." He suddenly raised his voice, "Order: Shoot in the rain!"

The drummer of the Imperial Guard immediately struck the bronze drum, and a large number of mules and horses pulled more than 40 water trucks, which were larger than sidecars, to the side of the training ground. These trucks were originally "fire trucks" launched by Beijing Hua for urban fire prevention. The sturdy trucks were equipped with an iron water storage tank with a diameter of nearly ten feet and a height of more than ten feet. When they were pulled to the position, they were started at the same time under the command, the water valve at the bottom edge was opened, and the high-pressure water column in the cowhide water pipe immediately sprayed towards the square formation, artificially creating a "rainstorm" covering a large area.

Under Hannaji's astonished gaze, the guardsmen in the rain did not move in a panic at all. The third row of soldiers actually completed loading the ammunition in the heavy rain, and the flintlocks still made crisp sounds.

The Mongolian leaders behind Hannaji exclaimed in surprise, and everyone recalled the early matchlocks of the Ming army that they had seen. They knew that if these guards were still using the matchlocks of the past, the matchlocks would have been extinguished by the rain by now.

Gao Fusi noticed the light sound made by Hannaji's knuckles tapping on the railing, and knew that he was calculating the difference in shooting speed in his mind - this three-stage attack can launch more than 15,000 projectiles per minute, while the Mongolian cavalry archers have a shorter range and must draw the bow at a closer distance. From drawing the bow to hand-to-hand combat, with the same number of troops, they can only shoot a maximum of 10,000 arrows.

"Anda, these three styles of Wanli..." Han Naji took a breath and his voice became a little tense.

"Don't worry, these firearms will be yours to rely on in the future." Gao Youshi interrupted him, "Moreover, your First Naturalized Cavalry Army will also be equipped with the same type of short carbine, but the range will be shorter. In addition, gunpowder, projectiles and other items will be distributed as needed according to the Class A Army's ammunition management system."

Before he finished speaking, the square formation suddenly changed. The front row of soldiers placed the butts of their rifles on the snow, pulled out the bayonets from their waists and inserted them into the mortise and tenon joints, then held the rifles in place and continued to advance - this was a simulation of close combat. Five thousand fine steel bayonets shone coldly in the rain, forming a dense wall of swords, and slowly advanced towards the other side of the viewing platform with the drumbeats of the central army.

As the Ming army's bayonet formation advanced, a neat "zha, zha, zha, zha" sound was made. That was the sound of the snow being crushed into powder under their iron boots. It sounded like a giant steel beast was approaching step by step.

"This is the art of combining gun and sword." Gao Youshi's voice was mixed with the sound of rain. "When the enemy cavalry rushes within thirty steps, you can insert the short blade and switch to the sword for close combat." He suddenly turned around and asked with a smile: "If the elite cavalry of King Shunyi encounters this formation, how should we break it?"

Bahanaji stared at the cold bayonet array and suddenly laughed: "If each of my cavalrymen holds two Wanli Type 3 carbines, perhaps..."

"Among all the tribes on the grassland, only your First Naturalized Cavalry Army is equipped with the Wanli Three-style Carbine." Gao Youshi interrupted him, "Look at my Ming cavalry."

Suddenly, a thunderous hoofbeat sound came from the east side of the training ground. Eight hundred armored cavalrymen rushed over like a black torrent, their dark light armor reflecting a cold light in the rain. On the face curtains of their war horses, the gluttonous armor plates rose and fell with their steps, as if ancient ferocious beasts had appeared in the world.

"Charge!" Ma Gui slashed down his general flag.

The armored cavalry gradually accelerated, and the stirrups and horse armor collided with dense and crisp sounds. The front-line soldiers of the imaginary enemy army borrowed from the Production and Construction Corps hastily erected the chevaux de frise and quickly withdrew. The cavalry on the other side timed it very well. When the imaginary enemy army withdrew from the front, they were just at the right distance, so they all pulled out their short guns from under their saddles and fired at a volley from thirty steps away.

What really surprised Hannaji at this moment was that there was an imaginary enemy of a thousand archers arranged not far to the side of this cavalry, who bent their bows and shot a rain of arrows at this cavalry.

At least three hundred cavalrymen or their horses were hit by arrows, but no matter whether the arrows were knocked off the armor or stuck in the protective gear, no one fell off the horse, and no horse stumbled, and the eight hundred heavily armored cavalry continued to charge almost without any hindrance.

"This armor has three layers," Gao Youshi's explanation sounded just right in Hannaji's ears, "The outer layer is made of fine steel scales, the middle layer is made of refined buffalo leather, and the inner layer is made of water-forged cotton armor."

He didn't care that Hannaji gasped again, and suddenly raised his voice, "Shoot another armor-piercing arrow!"

A row of Han army crossbowmen in front of the viewing platform suddenly fired a volley, and the three-edged armor-piercing arrows drew a parabola in the rain. Han Naji's pupils suddenly shrank - after the arrowheads hit the cavalry armor, although they rarely bounced off this time, they just trembled and stuck in the armor, and no one fell off the horse.

At this time, the armored cavalry had already reached the front of the barricade. Just when Hannajihai thought they were going to force their way through the barricade, the heavily armored cavalry suddenly dispersed to the left and right, revealing the light cavalry behind them. These light cavalry, armed with short guns, began to fire at the "enemy" behind the barricade, which was played by scarecrows.

Hannaji subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief: Yes, although breaking through the barricades is indeed one of the tactics of heavy cavalry, this tactic cannot be used for training - there will definitely be casualties.

"Is this the method used by the Imperial Guards' light and heavy cavalry to break through the enemy's formation and kill the enemy?" Ba Hannaji muttered to himself.

"That's right." Gao Youshi nodded. "The armored cavalry will charge, and the half-armored cavalry will follow up and kill them."

"Don't we need light cavalry to chase them?" Bahanaji asked in surprise. But as soon as he said this, he knew he was being stupid. As expected, Gao Fusi smiled and said, "Isn't that left to you Mongolian warriors?"

Bahanaji smiled awkwardly and was about to say something, but Gao Youshi suddenly pointed to the center of the training ground and said, "Now it's infantry and artillery coordination. Prince Shunyi, your elite cavalry can also be in place in advance."

At this moment, there were 48 No. 2 Army guns in front of the previous infantry line. They were raising their muzzles, and the gunners were using quadrants to measure various parameters. As the three cannon shots sounded, the 48 No. 2 guns spewed out flames at the same time, and the shells hit a section of the "city wall" built in advance a mile away like meteorites.

Through the telescope, Behan Naji could clearly see the solid bullets hitting the stone walls one by one, and the broken bricks and stones were flying all over the sky. If a defective position was hit continuously, it would almost certainly cause a collapse. There is no doubt that as long as the No. 2 Army Cannon is sufficient, there is no city that cannot be conquered, but... Behan Naji secretly glanced at Gao Youshi and thought to himself: Perhaps only the Ming Dynasty can afford such a luxurious siege method?

Ba Hannaji sighed and was about to express his admiration for the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty when three smoke signals suddenly rose from the north of the viewing platform. The three thousand scarecrow "enemy troops" were carried by the people of the Production and Construction Corps and rushed to the front to form a battle formation.

Gao Youshi glanced at Ma Gui and said, "Execute according to the predetermined plan." Ma Gui then raised his flag, and Li Rumei, who was in charge of the battle, rode his horse into the battle formation and began to dispatch the "attack." Li Rumei waved his flag in the shape of a Chinese character "品", and the Imperial Guards immediately divided into three combat groups:

The vanguard, consisting of 24 Type 3 Army guns, advanced quickly and deployed 500 steps from the enemy. When the gunners used quadrants to measure the parameters, the gun barrels were already covered with frost.

The central army consisted of five thousand musketeers arranged in three rows, advancing steadily with Wanli Type 3 rifles. The flintlocks glowed coldly in the snow, and the bayonets were like a forest reflecting the setting sun.

On the two wings, the 5,000 Mongolian light cavalry brought by Hannaji were deployed on the left and right, with the nine-flag white banners fluttering in the wind, and the blood grooves on the Mongolian scimitars glowing coldly. (Note: As the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty fled westward, Hannaji recognized himself as the orthodox Mongolian army and finally used the nine-flag white banners.)

"Prepare for artillery fire!" Ma Gui shouted and raised the flag at the command desk.

The front-line gunners pushed the solid bullets into the barrels, and with Li Rumei's personal orders, the shotgun shells hit the enemy formation like hail. Hannaji looked through the telescope and saw clearly that the cannon, which originally used solid bullets weighing four and a half pounds, fired thousands of bird egg-sized bullets, hitting the thousands of scarecrows in front of them, making the straw fly and the wooden stakes break into pieces - if it were a human, it would have long lost its human form.

"Forward!" With Li Rumei's order, the infantry in the central army shouted in unison and began to advance with rifles in hand.

The three rows of soldiers pressed towards the enemy like a steel wall. The front row soldiers immediately retreated to the back row to reload after firing. Ba Hannaji noticed that the soldiers in each row were three steps apart, which could avoid accidental injuries and ensure the density of firepower.

"Hold your guns and advance with bayonets!" When the infantry advanced to thirty steps, Li Rumei's general flag suddenly fell.

Five thousand fine-steel bayonets gleamed coldly in the sun. The soldiers advanced with bayonets in hand, and the blades formed three walls of swords.

"Encircle the enemy from both wings!" Gao Youshi suddenly ordered. Hannaji was stunned for a moment before he remembered that the order was directed at him. He quickly took out a bone whistle and blew out several syllables of varying lengths.

Hearing the Khan's whistle, Hannaji's 5,000 light cavalry rushed out from the left and right wings like a black wave. They bypassed the Ming army's square formation and attacked the enemy's sides and rear. The front row of cavalry easily drew their bows on horseback, completed two rounds of volleys at the "enemy formation", and then drew their sabers to charge.

Hannaji was indeed not bragging. His guards did not need to practice or even command this tactic. They launched the oblique attack naturally.

The five thousand cavalrymen were like two sharp blades, drawing two arcs diagonally and attacking from the scarecrow army formation. The two armies exchanged positions, and soon made a small circle, and once again launched a harvest on the rear formation of the "remnant army". At this time, the infantry of the Royal Guards also "fought" with the front army of the scarecrow army formation.

……

After the climax, Hannaji thought that today's training should be over. Although he still had some aftertaste, he also felt that today was indeed an eye-opener. No wonder that guy Burihatu would rather flee in the Western Regions without caring about his reputation than to fight with the main force of the Ming army again - what's the point of fighting? One by one, they will die!

However, at this moment, three streams of smoke suddenly rose from the west side of the viewing platform, and the "Wounded Soldiers Camp" at the north end of the training ground lit up with red lanterns. As Hannaji was surprised, thirty carriages with spring chassis cut into the training ground like black lightning. The specially made steel suspension carriages of Jinghua rolled out ice flowers on the not very flat frozen soil, but still remained stable.

"Pay attention to the wheels." Gao Fusi suddenly pointed at the first carriage. Hannaji then discovered that the special spring sheet on the side of the axle expanded and contracted rhythmically with the bumps, which actually absorbed most of the vibration of the carriage.

The carriage door fell to the ground with a bang, revealing the modular supply box. The baggage soldiers dismantled the wooden box at an incredible speed and piled the ammunition boxes, medical kits, spare gun barrels and other items on the sled in different categories.

Gao Guoshi explained: "Each vehicle can carry 2,000 kilograms, and various materials can be stored and transported separately, which has more than doubled the transportation efficiency compared to the past."

Han Naji then remembered Gao Youshi's explanation in the morning. He was not particularly surprised at that time, but now he was scared - if the Ming army had such efficiency in transportation, then their chariot camps might be able to make a thousand-mile raid!

At this moment, a scout came galloping over: "Reporting to the Prime Minister, according to the training plan, the bridge on the east road collapsed under the weight of the snow!"

Gao Youshi waved his hand at Ma Gui, who immediately ordered: "Order the engineering battalion to repair it immediately!"

Three hundred engineers rushed into the training ground carrying foldable floating bridge components and quickly ran to the broken bridge on the east road. They quickly started working beside the river full of icicles, inserted the prefabricated wooden bridge frame into the riverbed, fixed it with the metal components they brought, and then reinforced it with Jinghua's special quick-setting cement.

Hannaji dug his nails deep into the railing - these engineers built a pontoon bridge that could accommodate three carriages in parallel in just a quarter of an hour!

After the engineering drill, a muffled sound suddenly came from the southeast corner of the parade ground, and smoke came out of the barrel of a No. 3 Army gun. The gunners shouted in unison: "Explosion!"

The Mongolian leaders behind Hannaji were shocked, but they saw the guards quickly divided into three teams: one team used a special iron hook to drag away the faulty artillery, the second team set up equipment and gun positions, and the third team moved the unexploded ammunition to the explosion-proof bunker. The whole process took less than half an incense stick, and the spare artillery had been reloaded.

"This is a simulation of an emergency on the battlefield." Gao Youshi explained to Bahanaji with a smile, "The Imperial Guard requires that each gun be equipped with three emergency plans."

Han Naji breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought it was an accidental explosion, but it turned out to be part of the training exercise. Thinking of this, he could not help but say to Gao Youshi sincerely: "Anda, today I finally know what it means to run an army well."

Gao Fushi smiled, took his hand and said, "There is one last thing to show King Shunyi." He took Han Naji and brought him to the military tent behind the reviewing stand and came to a large sand table. In the sand table, there were plains and highlands, mountains and rivers, civil engineering works, chevaux de frise, artillery positions, and various flags representing different branches of the enemy and our army.

"King Shunyi, please look," Gao Fusi pointed at the sand table with a wooden stick, "If your cavalry encounters this formation here, they will probably harass with horse archery first, and then use heavy cavalry to charge the enemy after the formation is loose, and then use light cavalry to disperse and outflank and kill them."

However, when he got to this point, he suddenly pointed to the center of the sand table and said, "But if this enemy is our Imperial Guards or the various A-class troops, then the Ming artillery will bombard once from one and a half miles away, and fire another round of shotgun shells and chain bullets from about one to half a mile away.

When you approach, the musketeers will have already passed the artillery formation and will start preparing ammunition at 200 steps away, and will start firing volleys at 150 steps. After firing two three-stage shots, they will start preparing for a bayonet charge, while the armored cavalry or semi-armored cavalry will patrol a mile away, waiting for the front line to engage, and will charge your flank or rear when it is inconvenient for you to withdraw..."

Hannaji unconsciously put his hand on the Mongolian knife at his waist, but found that his palm was already sweating. He turned his head to look at Gao Youshi and laughed dryly: "Fortunately, this situation will never happen... Anda, Tumed is sincerely surrendered and will be one with the Ming Dynasty from now on. My Mongolian cavalry will always be a part of the Ming army in the future."

Gao Fusi smiled.

After more than thirty years, this wish was finally fulfilled.
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