Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1544 Shandong Earthquake ([-])

"Wu thief dare not raise troops!" Liu Guochang said slowly as he filled the pot with shredded tobacco and smoked it.Shredded tobacco is hand-grown near Fang County. Liu, who is addicted to cigarettes in Ningbo, loves this refreshing plant very much. He will not stop smoking a bag every day. Guo Puxia, a former intelligence officer of the Gendarmerie, was similarly breathless.

"Wu Thief's spirit, we used to think highly of him, but after all these years of getting along, who else doesn't know what he is?" Liu Guochang took a few puffs of cigarettes, then looked at Guo Puxia who was sitting opposite, He said disdainfully: "Wu Thief's greatest hope is probably to separate himself from Sichuan and become a tyrant in a feudal town. He is only at this level. In the past few years, he has had the opportunity to clean up those lonely ghosts in Xiying several times. , but he was just playing the trick of playing hard to get, and in the end he was allowed to join forces with the descendants of the Zhu family and gained a respite. If he wants to move them now, it may not be so easy."

"Isn't your ministry worried that Wu Sangui will attack?" Seeing Liu Guochang talking about Wu Sangui in Xichuan, Guo Puxia couldn't help asking, "If what I heard is correct, the soldiers and horses led by generals Tan Hong, Tan Yi, and Tan Wensan of the Qing army will Stationed in the area of ​​Kuizhou Mansion, facing off against the troops of the two generals Zhang Guangcui and Zhang Jingchun in your camp, and having a huge advantage in military strength, is it true that your department is really not worried that the old thief Wu is shaming this time, intending to kill him? Are you attacking tens of thousands of troops in the Zuoying camp? You know, it is said that the Qing army in the Xiangyang camp has also mobilized recently, perhaps not just to cope with the actions of the old bandit Wu in Sichuan."

"If the old thief dares to come over, I will tell him to come and go. Tan Hong, Tan Yi, and Tan Wen are people who have forgotten their ancestors. Although my old Liu's soldiers and horses are not as good as the emperor's silver guns, but trust me Thanks to you, the drills of these sons and daughters have not fallen behind. Zhang Guangcui and Zhang Jingchun have more than 20 people in total, more than [-] muskets, and more than [-] old and new small cannons. It is no different from large-caliber muskets...), and the practice is a new method of warfare. It is unreasonable to compare it with Tan Hong, Tan Yi, and Tan Wen. What's more, General Quan of the camp (referring to Liu Zhonggui) I have already returned from the Gucheng area, and I will lead the army westward to Kuizhou Mansion in a few days to see what the old man is up to." Liu Guochang didn't take Guo Puxia's mention of the Wu army's change, so he didn't take it seriously. From the bottom of his heart, the boy looked down on Wu Sangui and the gang of birds, and he didn't know why, so he continued to say: "But no matter what, if the Wu bandits go south to attack Xiying this time, children like Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, and Liu Wenxiu , our Zuoying also needs to move a bit, otherwise Wu Sangui will think that there is no one here, and I can't afford to lose this man!"

Liu Guochang has a strong temperament, and he has never been favored by Li Guo, Li Laiheng and his son, but his hatred for the Qing and Ming troops is beyond doubt.Moreover, he has been well-known among the Mesozoic generals since the time of Li Zicheng, and he is not a fool. He knew that once the old thief Wu really captured Yungui, the arc-shaped encirclement circle of the Tazi court against Dashun would be formed. Everyone knows how it will end.

Liu Guochang also listened to the military courses of the people on the east bank several times in Ningbo. He knew that during the Southern Song Dynasty, Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, suggested that he lead his army to bypass the Xiangfan area where the Song army was defending, attack Dali, and threaten the Song Dynasty from the flank.Liu Guochang reckoned that if Wu Sangui could successfully integrate the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan (although the possibility is not very high), then it would be very difficult to control, and it would definitely pose an extremely powerful threat to the Dashun court, so he had to guard against it.Therefore, no matter where Wu Sangui sent troops to attack this time, their left battalion had to express that even if the pressure on the Qing army from the right-wing Xiangyang direction was quite heavy, there were some things that had to be done.

Hearing what Liu Guochang said, Guo Puxia immediately felt relieved.Although Liu Guochang is rebellious and likes to rely on the old to sell the old, but after all, he is the only few veteran generals left in Zuoying and even in Dashun. They will no longer be sent out to receive envoys from the east coast.He said that he wanted to put pressure on Wu Sangui's troops and not force them to go south to attack Ming. That was probably true, and this was also one of the most important tasks of Guo Puxia's trip.After all, before coming here, he was very worried that the court of Dashun would be moved by the immediate interests, and would be so foolish as to attack Ming together with the Qing army. Then the situation in China would completely collapse. , Fortunately, none of this will happen now, so the situation should be able to continue.

However, Guo Puxia also had some doubts about the strength of the Zuoying, and worried whether they could effectively take on the important task of containing Wu Sangui's flank, preventing them from going south with all their strength.You know, there are more than 20 Xiangyang Qing troops on their flanks. Although they are also facing the containment of the Dashun Middle Camp, Front Camp, and Right Camp, a negligence may bring heavy losses to the Left Camp.There are only 7 of them, with average equipment and average training, and their combat effectiveness can only be said to be so-so. Once their strength is greatly reduced, can this Yunyang Mansion be able to hold on?

According to the information held by the people on the east coast, the Dashun Zuoying Camp cannot be called a modern army in any way.Although in recent years they have begun to gradually change their minds, innovate their tactics, and purchase more weapons, but this pace is really too slow, not much faster than that of Wu Sangui next door.At present, there are more than [-] old and new firearms in Zuoying. There are more than [-] Eastern-made artillery pieces transported from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. traditional weapons.

Moreover, the soldiers of this unit are generally not very strong - this is also an old problem in the Dashun control area at this time - after all, they are poorly nourished.People from the East Bank once conducted a small survey on the physique of the sergeants of the Fifth Battalion of Dashun. It was found that the average height, bust, frame, and weight of the sergeants in Dashun were far lower than those of the sergeants in the East Bank, and some skeletons were even significantly smaller than those in the East Bank. The weight of the soldiers of the Shun Army, who are large sergeants, is also much lower than that of the people on the east coast. This may be because the sergeants on the east coast have sufficient nutrition and pay attention to physical training on weekdays. This can also be intuitively reflected from the difference in grip strength between the soldiers of the two sides. come out.

There are gaps in physical fitness, muscle strength, and cardiopulmonary function (the average vital capacity of soldiers on the east coast is more than 500 ml higher than that of the Shun army), and there are gaps in battlefield motor function and emotional stability, not to mention the military combat skills of the two sides. There is a gap in the knowledge of the new tactics. Once the two sides fight, the same number of soldiers from the Shun Army and the East Bank will definitely decide the winner in an extreme time. Naturally, the Shun Army will lose a lot, you know Well, the East Coast officers and soldiers serving in the Far East are not rookies with no combat experience. In terms of experience, the Shunjun Army can't take advantage of it.The only thing they can rely on is probably the aura of killing a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood that some elite camp leaders have, but it is hard to say what effect they will have when facing the people from the east coast.

Can the level of Zuoying really have a big enough containment effect on the Qing army?Guo Puxia was slightly suspicious.This group of people is short of food, money, supplies, ordnance, draft animals, and even people—the average age of soldiers in the left camp of the Shun Army is 8 years and 5 months older than that of the middle camp and the rear camp, and older than that of the Qing army in Xiangyang. 4 years and 6 months older, Wu Sangui's army, which is generally aging, can "comparable" with him, and the age distribution of the soldiers in the whole battalion is extremely uneven, with a huge gap. Guo Puxia has seen leftists under the age of 15 Records of battalion soldiers fighting in battle——War is a systematic science, and people must follow its objective laws. If you want to win a war, you must start with little things, not like many literati in Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is enough to read a few military books, come up with a few tricks, and talk about righteousness. If so, how could Yang Dushi, who was full of knowledge at the time, be defeated by an illiterate old slave?

That's all!No matter what level they are, as long as they can make correct strategic decisions, keep their minds clear, and know how to contain Wu Sangui at critical moments so that they don't break the balance of the Chinese battlefield, that's all. Don't ask too much.The big deal is that I can find a way to send more weapons and equipment to Zuoying, help them train more modern troops, and let them have more confidence to deal with the rising strength of the Qing army.You must know that the battle order of the Qing army in Xiangyang is also more and more equipped with arquebus and artillery. There are also mercenary professors secretly sent from the Dutch East India Company in tactics, and its overall strength is slowly rising. Yes, the gap with the people on the east bank is also narrowing. If the Shun army does not keep pace with the times, it may not last long!

After talking with Liu Guochang and others about military aid and future responses, Guo Puxia asked whether it was possible to collect and purchase some herbal medicines from Kuizhou Prefecture controlled by the Shun Army, such as a certain kind of "stinky Artemisia" or "Annua Artemisiae" "plant.This kind of thing is a request sent by the local Ministry of Health. It is said that it is to purchase some of these plants and send them back to China for research and analysis. The level of technology and craftsmanship is not up to standard...), and I don’t know why it has to be designated as Kuizhou Prefecture.

He only vaguely heard that the plant produced in Kuizhou Mansion has the highest content of a certain chemical component, which can be used to treat malaria common in tropical areas, and he doesn't know how the gentlemen of the Ministry of Health learned about it.Logically speaking, they have never been to the Eastern Continent. It is really amazing that they can name a herbal medicine produced in the inland mountainous area of ​​Sichuan.

Zuoying is naturally very willing to trade herbal medicines. They live in a remote and poor valley, and they have nothing to ask for. There is almost no trade commodity that can be sold. On weekdays, it is almost unilateral assistance from the people on the east coast—in recent years At the request of Li Guo, Li Laiheng and his son, Lai also began to hand over aid materials from Changsha. After all, it is necessary to highlight the point of "gratitude comes from above", otherwise what prestige does the Changsha court have? Liu Guochang and the others were overjoyed to see some medicinal materials produced by them, and they finally have some living money on hand in the future, although they don't know how much.

After dealing with these matters, Liu Guochang took Guo Puxia and others to visit the craftsman's workshop in the outskirts of Fang County.This workshop currently has more than [-] craftsmen, one or two thousand young apprentices, and the number of helpers is unknown. They are mainly for the Dashun Zuoying army of more than [-] to make all kinds of equipment, from flags and drums to armored knives and spears, From bows and arrows to gunpowder and pellets, they can produce everything, but the production is very tragic, and it can rarely meet the needs of the army, and it is simply impossible to maintain it without relying on external supplements.

Guo Puxia noticed that there were quite a few familiar-looking utensils in the carpenter's yard. After Liu Guochang's introduction, he realized that these were some processing utensils imported from the east coast. Shun Jun gave a very good evaluation and felt that they were very strong and durable. , Fine, and helped them a lot.

Of course, Liu Guochang and others also suggested that they could get them some useful production tools like those in the Changsha gun factory, such as some hydraulically driven machines that Liu Guochang had seen in Ningbo.For their request, Guo Puxia can only hehe. Li Guo was able to obtain a few hydraulic machines that had been eliminated in the east bank for many years, and he spent a lot of favors in exchange for a large amount of food. This is still considered by the people of the east bank. It is also possible that the Dutch East India Company will introduce some hydraulic machinery to mainland China. In addition, Shandong was hit by a disaster, and the food was extremely scarce and unsustainable. How could it be possible in normal times?

What capital do you Zuoying have now to negotiate such a deal with me, Dadong'an?Did you capture Xiangyang or Chongqing?You are just a dog raised by people from the east coast, and you want this or that, you are simply beyond your control!Therefore, Guo Puxia was very unhappy, but he didn't show it too much on the surface, but declined it politely.

At the same time, he began to become more vigilant in his heart. After all, Shunjun has his own will. Even if he is begging you like a dog because of the current situation, once he gains power, the situation will definitely change. It is very different, and more things will inevitably be required, many of which may be very embarrassing for people on the east coast.

What's more, if the Shun army was lucky enough to unify the whole of China and establish the Dashun Empire under the conquest of the South and the North, then their attitude towards the East Bank might be even worse in the future.It would be good if the two sides did not go to war over the issues of Ningbo and Denglai, let alone other things such as trade.

Guo Puxia was also a little depressed about this, the situation in China is becoming more and more difficult to control, this time Wu Sangui's change in Sichuan is an example.What if some unexpected event happens on this vast land one day, causing the fragile balance to be broken, and the situation undergoes major changes in a short period of time, how should the people on the east coast deal with themselves?Thinking of this, Guo Puxia felt more and more that Liao Xiaoyao's move to dredge the Jiaolai New River, build a defense line, and vigorously reclaim the land in Liaodong was extremely correct, because it was obviously to prepare for future changes in the situation.

I only slept for three hours in the past 24 hours, barely coded a chapter, try to keep updating, this month has been suspended for two days...

(End of this chapter)