Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 367 0362 [Cavalry Training]

Before Qian Chen arrived in Jinzhou, Zhang Jinping took Chen Dong and other scholars, as well as some soldiers' families, to the south of Chengdu.

In ancient times, when soldiers fought in wars, if they were determined to be away for several years, they often had their family members to accompany them.

It doesn't have to be a wife, it can also be a brother.

For example, in the guards of the Ming Dynasty, the eldest son inherited the military status, and the second and third sons were military surplus, which is equivalent to the younger brother serving as the elder brother's auxiliary soldier.The military pay received by the elder brother and the trophies he grabbed would often be placed with the brothers, otherwise they would not be able to fight with a few catties of copper coins.

In the army, there are also places to store money, but soldiers are easily hacked when they die, and the money is often not delivered to the family members, or only part of it is given to the family members.

Family members accompanying the army can not only alleviate the soldiers' homesickness, but also make soldiers feel more at ease about their money.

These family members are not allowed to enter the barracks, and are often concentrated near the barracks.When not practicing, soldiers can live with their families, and the troops can save some rations.

When Zhang Jinping and his party arrived in Lizhou, they met soldiers who were going north.

The troops from Hanzhong were sent back by Zhu Ming to two armies (6000 people).These people can be stationed near their hometown, which is not only convenient for reunion with their families, but also allows these six thousand elites to guard Hanzhong, otherwise it will be difficult to carry the front of the Western Army.

As for Chengdu, Zhu Ming organized the auxiliary troops into three regular armies (mostly Jianmen officers and soldiers who surrendered), and recruited some young and strong men from the middle of Sichuan as auxiliary soldiers.

"Mom and Dad, take care!"

Before Jiameng Pass, Zhang Jinping said goodbye to his parents.

She wanted to go to Chengdu through Jianmen, while Zhang Gen and Huang Shi went to Langzhong.

Huang exhorted: "When you see your husband, you should be a virtuous housemate. Your status is extraordinary now."

Zhang Jinping said: "My daughter can save it."

Zhang Gen said: "If Zhu Chenggong is close to female sex, one or two is fine. If there are too many, you should persuade him. The foundation is new, and you can't indulge in pleasure, otherwise you will ruin the good situation."

Zhang Jinping said: "My husband is not a womanizer."

"People change," Zhang Gen said. "At such a young age, he occupies more than half of Sichuan. When he is full of ambition, it is inevitable that he will have other preferences."

"Daughter, remember." Zhang Jinping bowed and saluted.

"Oh, let's go."

Zhang Gen turned around and boarded the boat, and went down the Jialing River.

He, Xu Fuyan and Liu Yan did not say that they were willing to join the bandits, nor did Zhu Guoxiang discuss it with them.

After watching politics for a period of time, everyone's emotions are relatively relaxed, and they even occasionally point out mistakes and omissions in governance.

One day, Zhu Guoxiang hosted a banquet for the guests, and he didn't talk about business during the whole process, only talking about some old anecdotes.

The invited guests drank happily, and Zhu Guoxiang suddenly announced his appointment.

The three of them froze for a moment, looked at each other, and accepted it smoothly, everything seemed natural.

Thinking of the situation at that time now, Zhang Gen can't help feeling that his father-in-law is too resourceful, and getting along with him makes people feel like a spring breeze.

Everyone was half drunk that night, so it was inevitable that they were a little impulsive, but their minds were clear.Coupled with the experience of observing politics and Zhu Guoxiang's personal charm, such a major decision can be made naturally.

When changing to a time without drinking, or in other formal occasions, the three of them would never agree so easily!
The Jialing River was flowing slowly, and the sky was covered with sleet.

Zhang Gen couldn't wait any longer. He has been an official for 30 years and was always restrained by others. Now he can finally let go of his actions, as if his official career has ushered in a second spring.

But it is said that when Zhang Jinping traveled to Jianzhou City, he met thousands of people who went north.

Chen Dong was quite curious, and went up to ask the official: "In the middle of winter, why do these people help the old and the young to go north?"

The official replied respectfully: "Lizhou suffered a military disaster and the population was sparse. It happened that there were too many unemployed people in Chengdu, so the general sent thousands to fill Lizhou. He also bought paper clothes and quilts, and distributed some military rations to them. Let the wealthy households in Chengdu donate some food, and these people will definitely be able to settle down in Lizhou."

Wei Liangchen said: "This is a good law. If you don't change your original intention, you will embezzle the army and resettle the people."

Chen Dong said: "Mr. moved thousands of people to the north and recruited soldiers in Chengdu. There are not many unemployed people left in Chengdu who want to come to the city."

The best sources of soldiers are of course farmers and miners.

However, the "urbanization rate" in the Song Dynasty was very high. Many young people who lived in the country came from the countryside to work in the city. In fact, they were not much different from farmers. (The Ming and Qing dynasties were different. A large number of new towns developed across the country, which could absorb the landless farmers in the surrounding areas, without the need to swarm into cities like the Song Dynasty. The rise of towns in the Ming and Qing Dynasties established and improved China's rural economic ecology.)
When everyone came to Chengdu, the law and order there was really good, and there were no crowds of unemployed people.

They went to see Zhu Ming, and each got official positions. A few people, including Chen Dong, stayed under Zhu Ming to work, and the rest were assigned to be officials in various states and counties.

"Husband!"

Zhang Jinping smiled, the husband and wife have been separated for almost three years.

Zheng Yuanyi and the two children did not come, we will wait for Sichuan to settle down.

Zhu Ming took his wife to the back house, Zhang Jinping observed quietly for a while, and couldn't help asking: "My husband is away all year round, why didn't you take a concubine Ji to take care of your daily life?"

"I'm so busy all day, I don't have time to take concubines, I just hire a few maids to take care of them," Zhu Ming felt a headache when he thought about it. "Finally, dozens of scholars will come, and they can share a lot of government affairs."

Zhang Jinping was quite happy, and said: "Your husband should take a concubine. There are many famous families in Sichuan, so it's good to find one or two families to marry. You can serve your husband and win over the rich. It's a double win."

Zhu Ming shook his head: "These prominent families in central Sichuan are not comparable to small families. Even though I occupy more than half of Sichuan, they usually cooperate with my government orders, but they still regard me as a traitor. All ethnic groups have been slaughtered. There are a lot of assistants to the three princes, and they are not willing to give up the benefits of the Song Dynasty easily, and they are still counting on the imperial army to come back next year."

Zhang Jinping worried: "Can my husband be sure to resist the officers and soldiers?"

Zhu Ming smiled and said, "If it was the Western Army a few years ago, I would still be a little scared. What is the Western Army today? Even after returning from the Hebei battlefield, there is still a serious shortage of troops, and they have to go back to Shaanxi to replenish. The temporary replenishment of the Western Army , directly brought to Hanzhong to fight, what is the difference with the village soldiers?"

"That's good." Zhang Jinping said happily.

"Don't talk too much, I'll take a bath first." Zhu Ming called the maid to boil the bath water.

Zhang Jinping's face was flushed, and he went to prepare the bath himself. What he wanted to do in the bath during the day, he could guess without thinking.

After entering Chengdu, Ju Ming has never had a good rest, and today he directly gave himself a half-day vacation.

The couple spent half a day and a night at home, and they woke up refreshed the next day.

Zhu Ming rode his horse to the school field outside the city, which was originally the training ground for the Hou Shu army, and it also became the training ground for the Sichuan Imperial Army and the Xiang Army in the Song Dynasty.

The school field is too small and there are too many soldiers, so it is impossible to practice at all, so the troops can only rotate.

Today, the Tengxiang Army is training, including non-combatants, but also practicing riding skills, and they can go into battle at critical moments.

For the training of this mountain cavalry, Zhu Ming referred to Guanning cavalry and Napoleon cavalry.

Every 25 people is organized into a basic combat unit, with the captain in front, the supervisor in the rear, and the standard bearer and messenger follow the captain.The two divisions are arranged in four verticals and five horizontals, and two seniors live around the captain. 2 corps leaders led the troops behind Shichang's side and rear.This is the basic establishment of the Guanning cavalry.

When fighting, the five horizontal lines can be turned into two horizontal rows to expand the combat width, thus becoming the basic combat formation of Napoleon's cavalry.

The Tengxiang Army has 2500 soldiers, divided into 100 combat squads.

Arbitrary combinations and arrangements can be made, but no matter what kind of formation, there will be officers at the front, back, left, and right.Captains, supervisors, standard bearers, and superintendents will lead the cavalry under their command to advance, retreat, or change direction according to the higher-level order flags. These low-level officers are the core of the cavalry unit.

As for the specific details, it follows the European cavalry standards in the Napoleonic era.

The horizontal distance between cavalry is three feet.Every four cavalry squads form a large group, leaving enough space in the middle to prevent crowding at critical times.

When the cavalry marches, the footwork is also strictly set, divided into slow steps, quick steps, and canters.

These are summed up by the blood of European countries in the Napoleon era.Prior to this, the formation of European cavalry was denser, and it was constantly adjusted from actual combat.

As for the cavalry in the Song Dynasty, Zhu Ming asked the cavalry commanders of Xiang armies in various places. There seems to be no strict rules for the interval of cavalry, and they are roughly arranged based on experience.

Because there is no clock, the hourglass can only be used to time the time, and the speed is measured according to the running distance at a fixed time.

At this moment, four hundred cavalry are training, and the rest are resting.

After the four hundred cavalry are arranged horizontally in two rows, counting the gap between the four brigades, the width after deployment is 240 meters.

"Woooooo~~~"

It was snowing lightly in the sky, and with the sound of the horn, the captains of each team ordered the flag bearers to raise the flag.

In the beginning, it was a slow pace, and the formations of each row were relatively neat.

Then as soon as the flag order changed, the cavalry began to march forward at a fast pace, and the horizontal formation curved like an earthworm.Some are fast, some are slow, and there is no uniformity.

This situation is normal on the battlefield, but try to be as standard as possible during training.

Some of the current Tengxiang army are Han cavalry and some are barbarian cavalry.The former hadn't ridden a horse much, and the latter hadn't lined up much. It was too difficult for them to train a uniform pace.

"Wooooow!~~~~"

The sound of the horn became shorter and faster, and the standard bearer also waved the small flag at a faster frequency. The four hundred cavalry immediately charged forward, turning into a mess of loose sand.Some cavalry in the first row have been mixed with the second row.

The sound of the horn and the order of the flag changed again.

The two teams on the left and right, led by the leader on the outermost side, slowed down and changed directions, and the team leader accelerated to the front to lead the troops.

The two brigades in the middle gradually reined in their horses and stopped, and all of them turned around and moved from the rear to the front.The last eight supervisors temporarily led their teams to charge in the opposite direction.

Four hundred cavalrymen made three tactical changes, causing chaos in an instant.

There were even many cavalry soldiers who couldn't figure out where their squad leader was.This kind of light cavalry can only bully the weak when they go to the battlefield, and it is difficult to make quick tactical moves.

You have to train slowly.

(End of this chapter)