golden scales

Xiao Mo thought that he would be handy in commanding a branch in Yanjing, and there shouldn't be a big problem when he left Beijing.Who would have thought that leading the army is like getting married, if you don't walk through it yourself, there will always be times when people are in a hurry.His family had known for a long time that a general who had never been out of the capital would be in trouble, so he specially found two reliable old family members to accompany him.

Those two old family members are all soldiers who have really followed the commander in chief. Although they are old and their muscles and bones are weak, but the order prohibits them, when should they camp, when should they cook, where should they send more supporters, It is clear where to set up an ambush, it is far from the comparison of Xiao Mo who talks about soldiers on paper.

Because the East Palace does not allow the appointment of private individuals, everyone has to be registered in the roster.Because of these two family members, Xiao Mo went to ask the prince for instructions on how to arrange it.With a swipe of his pen, Zhu Cihong set up a staff department in each military department and appointed him as a staff officer.At the same time, training officers and quartermasters were incorporated into the staff department, making the staff department like a small east palace, with combat staff officers for combat, marching staff officers for marching, and logistics staff officers for logistics, each in charge of one.

These staff officers are not only under the jurisdiction of the military chief of the headquarters, but also under the vertical jurisdiction of various functional departments. It is inevitable that there will be some confusion when the powers and responsibilities are unclear.Xiao Mo's journey along the way is also a process of running-in for the staff group of the Right Army. Now that it is approaching the battlefield, this group is also running into each other. At least there will be no buck-passing or power struggles.

"Mr. Qian," the marching staff officer tried his best to straighten his waist, showing his yellow teeth, "Two groups of pond horses passed by tonight. I heard that the Central Military Department has issued an order: Pingdan cooks, camps at dawn, and must arrive before dark." Ruzhou."

Xiao Mo stood up and took a breath of the cool night air without feeling tired at all.He knew that this old family member would definitely not talk nonsense. Back then, he followed the general soldier Jun Jun in the Battle of Sarhu, escaped from the dead, and was a tough guy with strong bones.

"Since this is the case, we have to hurry up and let the logistics staff pass down the order, the rooster crows to make food, and the camp is pulled out at Pingdan!" Xiao Mo moved forward the time of the front army by an hour.

The rooster crows at about two o'clock in the morning, which is enough to restore energy for those who go to bed early.The Donggong Guards Camp paid special attention to the maintenance of the soldiers' physical fitness, not only to ensure the daily intake of oil and poultry eggs, but also to the cloth shoes and leggings worn on the road.Even the hot water scalding their feet every day when the camp was closed, everyone cared about it, which made these soldiers who were used to suffering deeply feel deeply, and long ago wished to go to battle to kill the enemy and repay the prince.

As soon as the voice fell here, the military order from the Central Military Department had already arrived.After Xiao Mo received the official military order, he unconsciously became nervous, wishing he could leave camp immediately.The scouts sent today have arrived in Ruzhou, and reported that although Ruzhou is occupied by the government and army, there are no people in the fields, the land is barren, and there are all broken walls and tiles as far as you can see. It may be difficult to collect food on the spot.

Xiao Mo doesn't care much about food, and now most of the food for the guard camp is transshipped from the south of the Yangtze River, unlike other military towns that rely on the local area.This also made the common people along the way have a little change in the view of the officers and soldiers - there are still officers and soldiers in the world who don't rob and plunder.

"I think there is no way to collect food in Ruzhou," the marching staff officer sighed. "Qin has [-] soldiers. Including Li Chuang's side, the area south of Luoyang may not recover in three to five years."

It is easy to abandon the land, but it is not easy to fertilize it again.Nowadays, natural disasters have been happening for years, even good land may not have a good harvest, let alone wasteland?There is no production in the field, and it is even more difficult to retain the people. It will become a dead land in less than a year and a half.

"No matter how many, let's kill the thieves first!" Xiao Mo unbuttoned his cuff buttons, turned his wrists, and buttoned them again, saying: "Get ready, we have to leave early, before His Royal Highness enters the city, you must occupy the entire territory of Ruzhou! "

The staff officer gave a military salute bluntly, quite a bit unaccustomed to this simple etiquette without kneeling.He inspected the barracks again, and found that more than [-]% of the soldiers were sleeping soundly, and they didn't even take off their armor.Thinking back to when I was in the army, no matter how high the morale was, I had never seen such an eager army.

The old staff officer who was over [-] years old sighed in his heart, and saw the training officer quietly patrolling the camp to cover the soldiers with quilts.

Since ancient times in China, there has been a saying that good men don't serve as soldiers, and iron doesn't nail nails.It is the privilege of literati to abandon their pens and join the army. The whole society is full of malice and ridicule towards illiterate soldiers.However, in the Donggong guard camp, even the lowest-level auxiliary soldiers are not untouchables trampled under their feet.

Phew~ bang!

After a sharp whistle, a white firework bloomed in the dark sky.

Phew~ bang!

The second firework exploded, this time with red sparks.

"There are police in the southwest!"

The whole camp woke up.

The old staff officer was startled, and secretly said: They are all recruits, don't shout at the battalion!

He was about to go back to find Xiao Mo, but suddenly found that the Xiao Ying he was worried about did not happen.After a short commotion, the entire camp blew short whistles, and the soldiers who were sleeping soundly in the tents came out one after another, each with bright armor.They lined up in a familiar way, stomping their feet quickly with their knees bent.

In the process of stamping their feet, not only did they get rid of the chill, but it also made the whole queue more orderly.

The short and powerful counting sound sounded immediately, and the chief officers of the posts, bureaus, and divisions accepted the reports one after another, arranged in a square formation, and waited for the military order from above.

Xiao Mo also saw the warning signal from the sky, knowing that the Ye Bushou sent out had encountered a target worthy of warning, so he immediately sent a commander to respond and entered the reserve position.Others are ready to go and support at any time.

This is the power of the Dian. Originally, the work that only famous generals could think of and do has become institutionalized in the Dian. Even a novice who is leading an army for the first time knows that if he wants to set up camp, he must first survey the surrounding terrain. Find the ambush position and the space needed to expand the formation.

Although Xiao Mo himself didn't know where to set up a battle position, as the commander of the first battalion, after the order was issued, someone would naturally do it, as long as the inspection work was done.

Although the marching staff officer was an old soldier, he couldn't figure out the depth of the crown prince for a while.To be able to include the unpredictable battlefield into a book, explaining clearly every step from basic necessities of life to meeting the enemy, this is no longer humanly possible in his opinion.

Xiao Mo was wearing iron armor and a bright helmet on his head. Holding the sword at his waist with one hand, he gave orders as he walked: "Send out horses again! Check carefully!"

Two scout horses galloped out of the camp, only looking at the knight's figure, but they were not very proficient.

The infantry formation was practiced the most in the guard battalion, and the spearman trained by Min Zhan was the most powerful.Due to the conditions, the cavalry did not form an organizational system at all.The "war horses" collected from Nanhaizi were barely enough for officers of all ranks to ride. As for the scouts, they were just a bunch of novices, with no experience and no skills.It is also sad that in Zhu Cihong's book, there is not much about the sentry, because he does not know what this ancient scouting unit needs to pay attention to.

Apart from the invention of camouflage clothing, Zhu Cihong's contribution to reconnaissance work is extremely meager.And even the camouflage suits adapted to local conditions were mediocre because of the young Tan Ma's lack of experience.

Xiao Mo looked at Tan Ma leaving in the dust, feeling anxious.He forcefully ordered himself to calm down, and summoned the officers of each department to inquire about the preparations.From the capital to here, there was no phenomenon of desertion along the way, which is enough to prove that the guard battalion is qualified to become a strong army in the world.

But in the end how strong it is, only after the tempering of the war can we know.

"Report!" Tan Ma finally came back.

"Say!" Xiao Mo immediately went up to meet him, took two steps before stopping in order to maintain his demeanor.

"Report to Mr. Qian, the previous alarm signal was that a group of hundreds of people was found, moving from the southwest towards our department." Tan Ma explained the situation: "After verification, it was found that they were local people fleeing from famine, and they had no weapons except wooden sticks."

"Escape from famine? At this time?" Xiao Mo is a child of the Jinyiwei family, who grew up in the city. How did he know that fleeing from famine is something that is not allowed by the law of the country. If you don't rush on the road at night, can you go in broad daylight?That is not fleeing from famine, but rebelling.

Fortunately, most of the soldiers below came from poor backgrounds, and many of them escaped the famine, otherwise they would not have become miners and trackers.At that moment, a marching staff officer stepped forward and explained in a low voice: "Most of them are tenant farmers who can't pay the rent, or small farmers who evade taxes, and military households who want to escape may also be mixed in, so there are more than 100 people now. It will be more than this amount after a few days of walking.”

"Maybe it's another bandit." Xiao Mo frowned.

"That's not possible." The staff officer was quite confident about this: "There are no deserters and routs as the backbone. These people are at most coerced by bandits, and they will be defeated after a beating."

Xiao Mo nodded, agreeing.There has been a biography in the East Palace for a long time, detailing the rise of the rogues and the Eastern captives.These two men who brought great trouble to Ming Dynasty were both disciples and grandchildren of the Ming army.Needless to say, the rogues, the core of which is the King Qin's soldiers who collapsed when the situation changed.Hundreds of thousands of households in many guards have also changed their appearances, playing bandits, and changing from mutinies to thieves.As for the Donglu, although they have their own customs, they have learned a lot from the tactics and tactics of the Ming army in terms of warfare.The old slave Nurhachi was a domestic slave of Li Chengliang in Liao Town of Daming Dynasty.

"But it can't be left alone, if the Chinese army is alarmed, death will be inevitable." Xiao Mo said: "What can you do?"

"Mr. Qian," She An, who has officially taken over as the commander-in-chief of the Fifth Division, stepped forward, "Can you join the army as an auxiliary soldier?"

Xiao Mo frowned slightly: "There is also a quota for auxiliary soldiers, how can you just accept them?"

"Mr. Qian," She An said without retreating at all, "Right now, we are only transporting food and grass, setting up camps, and the auxiliary soldiers are not enough. After the war starts, there will be a shortage of manpower for moving the wounded and building fortifications. Recruit more young and strong , When we arrive in Ruzhou, we can immediately start to garrison and defend.”

"She Bazong is right, but what about the old and the weak?" someone questioned.

She An slightly frowned: "The old and the weak will naturally let them go on their own. If they think about it, they can only follow us back to Ruzhou."

In today's troubled times, the old and weak, women and children may even become the rations of the hungry people. Without the protection of the young and strong, there is only a dead end. (To be continued.)