In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 110 Equipped
"Rui Lang, you came just in time. Last night we caught hundreds of people trying to escape. We can't continue like this. Why don't we kill some people to shock them!"

As soon as Lin Rui arrived at the big tent, Na Muzhong said with a worried look.

Those who escaped were naturally mercenaries. Ever since the news spread that there were powerful enemies on both sides, mercenaries have become popular among the mercenaries and have captured 3000 to [-] people.

But since they were employed, and they had promised to leave at any time, they only gave each of them ten sticks after they were caught.

Now that he heard that hundreds of people trying to escape were arrested in one night, Lin Rui frowned and his face became serious.

Now the Ming army and Jiannu are watching. Although the combat effectiveness of these mercenaries is not high, their numbers are there after all.

Once Jiannu and the Ming army learn that there is a large-scale escape on their side, it may break the current balance.

"How many frontier troops are there?"

"There are only a dozen or so border troops, and they are all minor officials such as corps commanders and commanders." Na Muzhong quickly replied.

"What do you two think?" Lin Rui looked at Zhou Meng and Huang Ben again.

After all, the two are responsible for managing these mercenaries.

"Sir, I'm afraid we really have to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, otherwise we won't be able to stop the ordinary soldiers from wanting to escape." Huang Ben said with a murderous look on his face.

Zhou Meng also nodded.

In fact, Lin Rui also knew why these mercenaries were fleeing. Firstly, these people had made money, and secondly, most of them had wives and children. They came here to make a fortune, and now there are strong enemies on both sides. , and did not continue to attack the city and take them to make a fortune. Naturally, everyone wanted to go back and reunite with their wives and children.

Because of this, Lin Rui did not treat them as deserters. If there were not strong enemies on both sides and wanted to go back, he would definitely not stop them.

"Let me tell you, wait two more months. After two months, each person will be given another five taels of silver. Those who want to go back will not be stopped. But within these two months, if anyone escapes again, they will be killed if they are caught. No mercy!"

Although these mercenaries are unreliable and a headache, archers still have to be recruited.

After all, the 1600 archers in eight battalions are too few. Longbows are easy to make. Naturally, the more the merrier. Think about [-] longbowmen shooting at the same time. Who can withstand the scene?
So after two months, if the Ming army and Jiannu are still stationary, then he will take the initiative to attack the Ming army first, and then fight Jiannu.

If he remembered correctly and did not incite the historical trajectory, in the ninth year of Chongzhen, the Jian slaves entered the customs in June and wreaked havoc in the capital, and did not return to the Great Wall until September.

The number of slaves in the east suddenly doubled, and it was July again. I think more slaves should have gone to the capital. This time, the history of the large-scale invasion of slaves in the capital of the Ming Dynasty was not changed by him.

In other words, Ming Dynasty won't be able to take care of this before winter, and he still has at least two months of training time.

Of course, the premise is that the three parties continue to confront each other like this and no one retreats.

After breakfast, [-] mercenaries were gathered together. It was said to be recruiting, but in fact it was just to set up a few pillars and place a few stone locks. Everyone had to measure their height and test their arm strength. If they were tall enough, they could lift the stone locks. Yes, no matter whether you are willing or not, you have to be an archer.

After three days of testing and selection, a total of [-] archers who barely met the requirements were finally selected.

Fortunately, in the past month, we have had two meals a day, the infantry boys have eaten meat, and the mercenaries can also drink soup. Otherwise, there would not have been so many people who could lift a stone lock weighing a hundred kilograms with one hand. .

If they weren't worried about their wives, children, parents and just food, no one would be willing to escape.

"Next, I will conduct some simple training for you. Don't think about escaping. I am true to my word. As long as you train steadily, I will naturally let you go back after two months. And Each person will be given an extra five taels of silver, so you will have 20 taels of silver, which will be enough to support your family when you go back..."

Lin Rui looked at the eight thousand unwilling archers and said with a livid face that he was not deceiving these people. This time, he stole hundreds of thousands of taels of silver from the city, which was enough to pay off their bills.

After he finished speaking, he didn't care whether they listened or not, and said to Zhou Meng who was standing aside: "Anyone who refuses to train seriously, cheats and cheats, will be served with a military stick, and anyone who dares to escape will be killed without mercy!"

"It's Young Master!" Zhou Meng also replied with a fierce look on his face. He had long felt that Young Master was too kind to these guys.

Then Lin Rui explained to him the training subjects in detail. First of all, the formation must practice, but it does not need to be practiced all morning like the young soldiers.

Then there is the training of arm strength, which is also the most important. Each person must lift the stone lock [-] times every day and do push-ups for an hour. After the long bow is ready, just practice a little bit on opening the bow and releasing the arrow.

After all, they were temporary archers. Lin Rui didn't have the energy to train them slowly. He also didn't bother to consider their feelings. He just forced and rough training.

So after explaining, he left alone.

Zhou Meng, on the other hand, led several hundred veterans of the frontier army, carrying sticks and riding whips, and began group drills.

Anyone who doesn't do well is given a whip. If he doesn't do well, he just takes off his pants and uses some military sticks.

Using whips and sticks like this, although the archers who were beaten were filled with resentment and cursed a lot behind their backs, the effect was surprisingly good.

In just half a month, the formation was moving in a decent manner, and the bulging muscles on each arm looked scary. They were actually stronger than the training results of the young infantry for one and a half months.

This gave Lin Rui the idea of ​​using whips and sticks to train eight infantry battalions.But he gave up after just thinking about it. After all, he wanted to train these eight young infantry battalions as direct descendants.

Physical fitness is important, but ideological education is more important.

It would not be good if they were beaten to make them feel resentful, not to mention haste makes waste. The teenagers were not too lazy during training, so there was no need to force them to do better.

"From today onwards, the daily morning run will be changed to armed cross-country running, running along the moat, exiting from the south gate and entering through the north gate. Anyone who finishes the run within one stick of incense will have meat for lunch, and those who have not finished can only drink. Soup.

In addition, the training in the morning will remain unchanged, and in the afternoon, we will practice with real swords and guns. "

After Lin Rui finished speaking, he waved his hand, and hundreds of carts of weapons, armor, bows and arrows were pushed over, and the young men's eyes suddenly widened.

"Distribute armor first..."

Immediately, a thousand veterans began to distribute armor to their men according to different types of arms, and then carefully taught them to put on, remove and pack each other's armor.

Three types of armor, three types of helmets, whether it is cotton armor inlaid with a visor, or pure cotton armor and leather armor. Wearing them for an hour on this hot day is likely to cause heat stroke, so the training of wearing and removing armor is absolutely not allowed. ignore.

Lin Rui's requirement was that the armor of the sword, shield and spear soldiers must be put on within 3 minutes.

The spearmen and archers only have one vest and one helmet, which must be put on within 1 minute, and then help the spearmen and sword and shield soldiers put them on.

You must carry your own armor and helmet at all times when marching. How to tie it up is also a technical job.

The spearmen and longbowmen were okay, and they could wear them after just one lesson. However, the sword and shield soldiers and the spearmen had too many accessories, nine in total. Several times, everyone was sweating profusely because of the heat, and finally managed to wear them.

"Ha ha…"

Originally, the spearmen and longbowmen were envious of the spearmen and sword and shield soldiers who were covered in armor, especially the gleaming shields on the chest and back, which looked very powerful and domineering. But now they see them all He was so hot that he started laughing happily again.

"Well, you don't have to laugh at them. Although summer is indeed a bit uncomfortable, in winter, you will envy them."

Lin Rui, who was also wearing armor, wiped his sweat and waved his hands to stop their laughter, and then the veterans began to distribute weapons again.

"Hiss, such a long bow, my God..."

"This spear is too long. How can I march with it?"

This time it was the longbowmen and spearmen's turn to complain, especially the spearmen. The spears, which were more than three feet long, weighed twenty kilograms. It must not be carried on the shoulders, otherwise the team will be stretched too long. When they think of marching with their heads raised to the sky, each of the more than 2000 spearmen stretched their faces longer than a donkey's face.

"Although this spear is a bit long and heavy, you just get used to it. The long bow is usually unstrung. Okay, we have a half-day holiday today. Let's all get familiar with our weapons and armor. Let's disband."

When they heard that they had a half-day holiday, everyone immediately cheered, and Lin Rui didn't care about their reactions.

After all, they are all young men of seventeen, eighteen or nineteen, and it is not good to be lifeless all day long. As long as they do not violate military rules and disciplines, they can laugh and play on weekdays and make the atmosphere more lively.

After experiencing more battles and killing more people, his temperament will naturally become calmer.

The other three arms only played with their weapons symbolically for a while, and then took off their armor and returned to the camp. The longbow soldiers had to learn to wind and unstring the bows, and they were not disbanded until they had learned everything.

The next day, as the wake-up call sounded, the seven thousand young soldiers got up and put on their clothes one after another. Then they put on each other's armor, took their weapons and went out to assemble. The speed was more than twice as slow as in the past.

"This is the first time, so there will be no punishment. Tomorrow, those who fail to finish dressing and rush here to gather before the hourglass is finished will be fined with fifty push-ups for their team."

Looking at most of the people on the school field who were late, Lin Rui said loudly.

The young people were filled with despair, knowing that they might not have a good life in the future, but they didn't complain much. Although the daily training was hard and tiring, they knew that only by practicing their skills could they be successful in the future. Change your destiny.

Immediately, the eight battalions began to trot towards the south gate in order. The sound of tramping footsteps woke up the people along the street. They opened their windows and peeked into the street, looking at the young men who were only wearing single clothes in the past. Today, Not only were they holding weapons, but they were also wearing armor. They were all amazed and talking in low voices.

"This gang of rebels is going to heaven. Isn't this formation almost catching up with the Qi Family Army back then?"

"Bullshit, a bunch of dolls with no hair at all. How can they be compared with the Qi family's army? This means that the imperial army hasn't arrived yet..."

"Master, shut up now, be careful of trouble coming from your mouth..."

A woman quickly covered her man's mouth and dragged him back.

Although this group of rebels has never harmed the people in the city, rebels are rebels after all, and they may kill people if they are offended.

After leaving the south gate, the Mongolian boys, girls and mercenaries also ran over to watch the fun. They were also stunned when they looked at the equipment of the young infantry. The border troops and Mongolian soldiers were quite envious. As for the ordinary The mercenary didn't pay much attention.

(End of this chapter)