I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 856 Happy New Year!

In a valley about ten miles south of Shidiansi, there was a very strange army stationed.

There were nearly two hundred people, armed with muskets and carrying machetes and shovels.

They were wearing clothes with a grass green base and colorful camouflage patterns, long sleeves and long pants, their chests and backs soaked with sweat, and they were carrying backpacks with the same colorful camouflage patterns, which were bulging as if they had moved their entire home.

They wore cotton round-brimmed hats, also in colorful camouflage patterns.

This round-brimmed hat (Bonnie hat) is said to have been designed by the Emperor for the Marine Corps and is called a training cap.

The cylindrical hat is secured with a steel ring around its outer edge, and its round brim is narrow and small, so it can be worn very deeply.

The rounded edges can provide concealment in the desert and can prevent flying insects from falling into the collar in the island rainforest.

When needed, you can roll up the round edges on both sides for ventilation and cooling.

In comparison, the Marine Corps' M1 helmet is heavy, does not dissipate heat, and is very uncomfortable to wear.

As a result, the Marines began to wear training caps and it became a trend.

When the mountain infantry regiment was formed, they also hated the Army Type 40 Helmet (SSH- steel helmet), which was also heavy and hot. It happened that there was an instructor from the Marine Corps who wore a training cap.

This is good!
Mountain infantry regiments requested to change to training caps.

When Wang Yi'e was forming an elite commando team to attack the chieftain with a small force, he obtained camouflage combat uniforms, so he requested that the training caps be changed to camouflage as well.

This is why the army now has such strange equipment.

The officers and soldiers leaned on the grass by the roadside, opened their kettles, and drank the water slowly.

It is already winter and heavy snow has already fallen in the north, but this jungle in Yunnan is still hot and humid.

The officers and soldiers had beads of sweat on their foreheads and faces, but they refused to unbutton their chests, and they didn't even dare to unbutton their cuffs.

When traveling through dense forests, the camouflage combat uniforms with long sleeves and long pants provide protection from the bites of mosquitoes that are everywhere here.

There are also leeches that are hard to guard against.
These are valuable lessons the mountain regiment learned with blood and tears.

Commando captain Gao Guochun looked ahead for a while with a telescope.

He used the latest binoculars produced by the Beijing Optical Instrument Factory, which had a wider field of view and were relatively short, making them more convenient in places with dense forests and lush grass.

The two staff officers next to him unfolded the map and gestured on it for a while. When Gao Guochun finished observing and turned around, the two staff officers pointed at the map and spoke.

"Captain, this is it. We are here now."

"Okay, let's go back and have a meeting with everyone."

Gao Guochun, two staff officers, and four soldiers in charge of guard came back quietly and summoned the deputy captain An Jiangchen, the director of the general staff department and the political work department Li Hualong, and the platoon leader of the elite platoon Ma Lin.

"We are here," Gao Guochun said, pointing to the map. "In front of us is the Lujiang River (Nujiang River). I can hear the sound of the river. According to the map, there is a suspension bridge four miles to the south.

There is a garrison guarding there, and we will cross the river from there later.

After crossing the Lujiang River, we left the Yunnan Regional Military Commission's control area.

The area west of Lujiang River was under the jurisdiction of the Tusi of Mangshi. After Wang Du sent a commando to behead the Tusi and release him, the Tusi of Mangshi collapsed, and a large number of people fled to Yongchang Prefecture east of Lujiang River.

The military governor has not yet sent troops to take over the area, so the rampant bandits there must be spies from the Longchuan Yue family. We must be careful and never reveal our whereabouts. "

Everyone nodded and Gao Guochun continued.

"After crossing the Lu River, we still have a natural barrier, the Luchuan River (Ruili River). However, this river is not as high and dangerous as the Lu River, and its water flow is relatively gentle. The guide found a suitable route for us.

We arrived at Songpo, which used to be one of the ferry crossings on the Luchuan River. After the Yue family occupied Longchuan and rebelled against the Ming Dynasty, there were few travelers traveling to and from the Luchuan River, and the place became deserted.

We will go to Songpo to scout the enemy, control the garrison, gather boats, and quietly cross the Luchuan River."

An Jiangchen asked, "What if we are exposed, or if someone goes to Longchuan Tusi City to report the news after we cross the river? We can't kill all the people in Songpo."

He was the son of An Guoheng, the envoy of Shuixi.

The benchmark chieftain of the southwest, Yang Yinglong of Bozhou, was quickly destroyed under the planning of Wang Yi'e, shocking the surrounding chieftains.

Xuyong's Yongning Xuanfu Si She Xiaozhong, who was deeply connected with Yang Yinglong, died in fear. His wife and concubine She Shitong and his concubine She Shixu fought for power and seal, and civil strife broke out.

Yin Zhengmao unceremoniously sent Liu Xian to lead troops to attack the Yongning Tusi City and destroy the Yongning Xuanfusi.

The envoy to Shuixi was An Guoheng.

In the 41st year of the Jiajing reign, he took over the post of Shuixi Xuanwei Envoy from his great-uncle An Wanquan. His cousin, An Wanquan's two sons, An Zhi and An Xin, were immediately furious.

My father's chieftain position should be passed down to my two brothers anyway. What does it have to do with you? Thus, civil unrest in Shuixi began.

However, An Guoheng was able to succeed the post of Shuixi Xuanwei Envoy because he had support and troops at his disposal.

The Shuixi Xuanweishisi was the largest chieftain in the entire Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan regions, and much of its territory was seized by An Guoheng and his troops.

An Guoheng killed An Xin without mercy, and An Zhi fled to Xuyong, surrendered to She and pledged his loyalty, raising troops to attack Shuixi. The imperial court sent troops to persuade them, but they were defeated by An Guoheng, and An Zhi became arrogant and domineering for a while.

Shi Bangxian, a famous general from Guizhou, led his troops to defeat the local soldiers of Shuixi. An Guoheng then became honest and obedient. She Xiaozhong also withdrew his troops and secretly colluded with Yang Yinglong of Bozhou to plot against Shuixi.

The imperial court launched a campaign against the Yang family of Bozhou, and An Guoheng sent troops to respond and stationed them on the border.

Although I didn't contribute much, my attitude was still good.

Wang Yi'e was transferred to govern Yunnan and Guizhou, and the noose around your necks is getting tighter and tighter.

Many chieftains were desperate and were defeated one by one by Wang Yi'e.

An Guoheng also wanted to raise an army to resist, but he remembered what Shi Bangxian had scolded him for.

"Do you want to rebel?
I see you like a fish swimming in a pot. You claim to have tens of thousands of soldiers, which can be compared with the soldiers of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and the two lakes. Who has more? You have forty-eight chieftains, and the court casts forty-eight seals for them.

I'll give the order in the morning and kill you by the evening."

Shi Bangxian was the hereditary commander of Guizhou Qingping Guard (Lushan Town, Kaili City), a meritorious general, and was stationed in Guizhou.

During his 17 years in the town, he suppressed rebellions by the Miao and Yao chieftains many times, fought hundreds of battles, both large and small, was promoted four times, and received awards thirteen times.

He died of illness in the second year of Longqing.

Both Yang Yinglong and his father had suffered great losses at the hands of Shi Bangxian. Yang Yinglong also waited patiently until Shi Bangxian died before he dared to jump out and plot to seize Sinan, Tongren, Zhenyuan and other places.

Shi Bangxian's words made An Guoheng think again and again.

After Wang Yi'e pacified Yang Yinglong, he used both soft and hard tactics, and took a three-pronged approach in military, economic, and political aspects. The Miao people in Guizhou all over the country surrendered to him, and many chieftains were forced to accept the policy of being transformed from chieftains to officials.

An Guoheng had only hesitated for two or three months when more than half of the forty or fifty local chieftains under the Shuixi Xuanwei Office secretly submitted letters of surrender to the Qianzhong Regional Command.

An Guoheng was horrified and knew that the trend of the times could not be reversed, so he took the initiative to announce that he would accept the policy of returning the natives to the Han people.

Wang Yi'e was also aware of the influence of the Shuixi Xuanwei Mission and was willing to use Anjia as a benchmark.

He submitted a memorial to the emperor requesting that An Guoheng be granted the rank of Zhongshun Daifu, and be given the title of Xianyi Daifu, so that he could participate in political affairs in the Constitutional Council.

After accepting a large amount of land and slaves from the Shuixi Xuanwei Mission, the court gave a generous ransom as compensation and allocated tens of thousands of acres of land in Hubei and Hunan for it. The property rights and income belonged to the An family, but were managed by the Huguang Agricultural Reclamation Bureau.

The court also gave him many stocks and bonds, enough to make the An family one of the richest people in the Ming Dynasty.

An Guoheng's eldest son, An Jiangchen, was recommended to enter the Xishan Military Academy, and after graduation he was assigned back to Yunnan and Guizhou to serve.

The second son, An Yaochen, was recommended to study at Xuanhui University.

Gao Guochun waved his hand and said, "It's only more than 60 miles away from Longchuan Tusi City, and the messenger can't run faster than us.

After crossing the Luchuan River, we began to march quickly, heading straight to the Tusi City of Longchuan, while cutting off access to the outside world. "

An Jiangchen no longer had any objections.

Gao Guochun turned to Ma Lin, the platoon leader of the elite platoon, and said, "Platoon leader Ma, all the fifty Type 05 rifles issued by the higher-ups should be assigned to the elite platoon. You must pass on the order again and again.

Liu Dushi took a huge risk to distribute the new rifles. You must remember that as long as the person is there, the gun is there, and you cannot let a gun be lost.

We also recovered as many bullet casings as possible.”

There was room for the bullet shells, because everyone from Liu Xian to Gao Guochun knew that once a war broke out, they would only think about how to destroy the enemy and would find it difficult to consider collecting the bullet shells.

All we can say is that after the war, we will recover as much as we can.

Marin immediately responded: "Please rest assured, Captain, I have already conveyed the order and will emphasize it to each class every day."

Ma Lin is the second son of Lanxi Marquis Ma Fang. After graduating from Qinghe NCO Academy, he was assigned to Qianzhong Dusi, but he did not catch up with the Bozhou Campaign. However, he is worthy of being a son of a general, and as a sergeant, he ranked third in tactical command in last year's joint military training competition.

The elite platoon he now leads is a reinforced platoon, consisting of five squads and sixty officers and soldiers.

Although the entire commando team was organized as a company, it was a reinforced company, and with the elite platoon that was used to attack the enemy, there were a total of five platoons. However, except for the elite platoon which was a reinforced platoon, the other four platoons had three standard platoons, each with forty people.

There is also a firepower demolition platoon, equipped with five 60mm short-barreled guns, and six squads of grenadiers and demolition engineers.

After the discussion, Gao Guochun announced that they would rest for another half an hour, eat lunch, and then continue on their journey.

The officers and soldiers took out an iron box from their backpacks, opened the lid, and took out a piece of dry food.

This is made of milk powder, soybean powder, flour, and cane sugar, and is high in calories. One piece can replace three bowls of rice.

Tianjin No. 1 Flour Mill called it compressed biscuit, and its scientific name is Type 02 Class A military ration.

Throw it into the iron lunch box you carry with you and pour one-third of water from the kettle. The dry food melts when it comes into contact with water and soon absorbs water and expands into a bowl of paste.

He opened the slot at the bottom of the iron lunch box, poured out a steel spoon, wiped it on his clothes a few times, and then stuffed it into his mouth one spoonful at a time.

This dry food has the aroma of milk and beans, and tastes sweet, and is quite delicious.

But if the soldiers eat it for ten days or half a month, they will find it worse than dog shit.

An Jiangchen and Ma Lin leaned against Li Hualong and talked to him while eating lunch.

Both of them were children of "officials" and learned many things by themselves. In the entire commando team, Li Hualong was the most conspicuous. He was not only Ling Du's official, but also so young and had a bright future.

An Jiangchen was just making small talk.

"Colonel Li, you said that our Yunnan Province is fragmented, with dozens of counties and prefectures, which is too chaotic. Didn't the higher-ups say to change it?"

Li Hualong ate the porridge in the iron lunch box slowly, one spoonful after another. He was not disgusted like the other soldiers. His expression was calm, as if he was drinking boiled water.

"It needs to be changed. Governor Ling and Governor Gu have jointly submitted a report to the court, suggesting that the counties of Guizhou and Yunnan be adjusted."

"And our Guizhou, Staff Officer Li, how do we change it?"

"The Guizhou Provincial Administration is bordered by Zunyi Prefecture to the north, Sinan Prefecture to the northeast, Tongren Prefecture and Zhenyuan Prefecture to the east, Liping Prefecture to the southeast, Duyun Prefecture to the south, Guiyang Prefecture in the middle, Anshun Prefecture to the southwest, and Bijie Prefecture to the northwest."

An Jiangchen nodded. "The population in eastern Guizhou is relatively dense, so it is appropriate to divide it into more counties. The western part has high mountains and dense forests, and the population is not dense, so it is right to divide it into fewer counties."

His tone was very calm, and he was not at all surprised by the fact that the Shuixi Xuanwei Mission was changed to Bijie County.

Li Hualong glanced at him and continued while eating his porridge: "The central part of Yunnan is Kunming County and Chuxiong County, the northeast is Qujing County, the southeast is Lin'an County, the south is Weiyuan County, the southwest is Yongchang County, and the northwest is Dali County.

After chopping off the heads of Yue's father and son, Ling Du will issue an ultimatum to all the chieftains in Yunnan: either accept the policy of changing the chieftain system to officialdom, or go with Yue's father and son."

Ma Lin angrily cursed: "Yes, we should teach these toasts a lesson."

Next to the Songpo Ferry on the Luchuan River, the commandos were lurking in the jungle five or six hundred meters away from the ferry, quietly watching the ferry that had become very deserted.

"Old An took the reconnaissance team to the other side of the river. It has been more than an hour, why is there no movement at all?" Marin became impatient.

Li Hualong glanced at him and continued to lie quietly in the dewy grass.

Ma Lin seemed to remember something, "Today seems to be the New Year's Day of the sixth year of the Wanli reign?"

Li Hualong then turned around and said, "Yes, today is the New Year's Day of the sixth year of the Wanli reign."

"Then I am not mistaken. Staff Officer Li, I wish you a prosperous new year."

Li Hualong's face, as calm as the surface of a lake, finally showed a smile: "Thank you, and I hope you can be transferred back to the Northern Army as soon as possible and go to Tianshan to fight on horseback."

Marin smiled widely, "It's better to ride a horse and shoot a gun, it's free and happy.

I've been in Yunnan and Guizhou for two years and I'm almost suffocating, especially here it's so stuffy and humid, I feel like my body is full of mushrooms inside and out."

The officer in front suddenly raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, something was happening on the Luchuan River!

(End of this chapter)