A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 337 Advancement and Suppression
On the second day of June in the 12th year of Chongzhen.

The deadline for the notice issued a month ago has come. According to the detection of the intelligence department, most of the hundreds of bandits in the territory have surrendered obediently, or fled to other places.After all, the power of the Shunxiang Army is no small matter, and the extremely vicious Tartars all fled, not to mention their shrimp soldiers and crab generals.

Of course, there are also some stubborn people, although they did not go down the mountain to loot during the notice period, but they are watching behind closed doors, waiting for the wind to pass.This is also their experience, the government's strict orders are always kept short.

For these people, Wang Dou has already sentenced them to death in his heart, even if they want to surrender to Zhaoan, Wang Dou will not allow it.

According to the intelligence department's scouts, there are still more than a dozen stubborn bandits in the territory of the East Road. The largest bandit is a bandit called "Tian Bawang". It is said that there are nearly a thousand people in the bandit. , near Chang'an Office on Fenxundao North Road, Xuanfu Town.

According to information, "Tian Bawang" was originally named Tian Dabang, a famous generation of bandits in Xuanfu Town. It is said that during the Wanli period, his family was a local general.In short, Tian Dabang was born in a bandit family, and he was deeply "educated".

His followers come from various sources, including horse thieves, swordsmen, local hooligans, gangsters, gangsters, etc. Their cottages are high in mountains and densely forested, sparsely populated, and conducive to activities.For them, whether it is the security guards or the officers and soldiers of the Chang'an Institute, they have surrounded and suppressed them many times, but there is nothing they can do about them.

Moreover, Tian Dabang is very cunning, he knows the truth that "rabbits don't eat grass by the side of their nests, and eagles don't eat under their feet", and he doesn't allow his subordinates to do evil in the security guards and Chang'an area, otherwise they will be investigated to the end and will not be forgiven lightly.The officers and soldiers failed in the siege many times, not necessarily without the result of the locals tipping off the news. Perhaps the officers and soldiers of the two places have their eyeliner.

They often entered Huailai, Yanqing Prefecture, Longmenwei and other places to plunder. Sometimes they gathered into big gangs, sometimes they divided into small groups, robbed pigs and sheep, raped and raped women, and the people suffered greatly.Wang Dou decided to exterminate them and return the east road to a bright and sunny day.

As early as last month, the Chief of Staff had formulated a detailed bandit suppression plan. Wang Dou decided not to rely on the officers and soldiers of the various guards and dispatched his own Shun Township Army to fight. one.However, Tian Dabang and others who did not accept the sentry in the night were still in the village, unaware of the imminent disaster.

After Wang Dou issued the order, cheers erupted in the vast teaching field of the Xishan Military Camp in Yongning City. Many soldiers formed a thick circle and were watching the competition between the two people in the field.On the high platform, sat Qian Zong Gao Shiyin and Qian Zong Zhong Xiancai.Several of their subordinates stood behind them.

Looking at the crowds of people's heads in the field, this competition seems to have attracted more than half of the sergeants in the barracks.

At this time, in the competition, one was a sergeant under Gao Shiyin's command, and the other was a sergeant under Zhong Xiancai's command.The sergeant under Gao Shiyin's command was named Zhao Rongsheng. He was not very old, probably in his early twenties, but he looked very strong, and he seemed to be a lot thicker than ordinary people.

At this time, his upper body was naked, his muscles bulged like rocks, his roar was like thunder, and his pair of fists were so powerful that his opponent was helpless to fight. Gao Shiyin on the stage laughed loudly. Zhao Rongsheng is his newly discovered seed. He has high martial arts skills and is very good at fighting. He really lived up to his expectations.

But to Gao Shiyin's pity, this Zhao Rongsheng's new army was born in the same group of soldiers who had been trained by Chongzhen for ten years, the pike army.Zhao Rongsheng was also unlucky. After the Han Dynasty led the new army to the battle, there were more than 600 of them, and they stayed in Baoan Prefecture. They had no chance to participate in the vigorous war in Chongzhen in 11 years, let alone make meritorious service.

With the honor of Gao Shi Yinqian, if there is no military merit under his command, he has to be promoted to a small army, and it will also attract a lot of criticism. First of all, the Zhenfu Division will not be able to pass.

After this reorganization, the original more than 600 new troops who had been well trained but had no combat experience were successively incorporated under the command of various Qian Zongs. Gao Shiyin and Zhong Xiancai's Qian Zongs each had a new army.

However, Zhao Rongsheng's skill is really good. Although he is a new army who has never been on the battlefield, he defeated the old army on the opposite side and finally surrendered.

There were boos all over the field, Gao Shiyin's officers and soldiers all cheered and shouted, while Zhong Xiancai's generals next to him felt ashamed.Although it is just an ordinary competition, it is also related to the honor of the two armies.

In order to encourage the spirit of martial arts in the army, Wang Dou thought about it and finally opened up the regulations for martial arts competitions in the army. From formation to single-handed martial arts, there are many tricks.And now the sergeant can leapfrog the challenge, of course he can only leapfrog one level.

Zhao Rongsheng, as a sergeant of medium skill, defeated a sergeant of superior skill, especially when the opponent was a veteran who had been on the battlefield, which immediately made people look at him with admiration.But he succeeded in the challenge, and immediately became one of the first-class sergeants, not to mention anything else, the food and treatment were different immediately, and he was even more respected in the army.

Surrounded by his comrades-in-arms, Zhao Rongsheng came to the stage and yelled at Gao Shiyin: "Return to Mr. Gao Qian, it's a good thing that the bid is not humiliating, and you didn't embarrass our brothers Renbu."

Gao Shiyin laughed loudly: "Boy, I will reward you with a penny for playing well. Work hard, and you will make military achievements in the future. It will not be difficult to be a captain or team officer."

Zhao Rongsheng happily accepted the penny that came to him. Grandpa loves drinking the most. In the future, he saved up money to buy some jugs of fine wine for his old man, Lele.I only regret that my luck was bad, and I couldn't participate in the war last year, otherwise, I would have made countless achievements by following General Dingguo, and the whole family would have enjoyed a lot of food and drink.

After Zhao Rongsheng withdrew, Gao Shiyin took a proud look at Zhong Xiancai who was beside him. Behind him, Tian Zhijue, Shen Shiqi, Lei Xianbin and others, the head of the Ministry of C, all had extremely ugly faces.Only Zhong Xian had a gentle smile on his fair and round face.

"Mr. Zhong Qian, do you want to compete again? Battle formation, spears, firecrackers, take your pick."

Gao Shiyin said triumphantly.

Zhong Xiancai said softly: "Okay, let's compare the firecracker, by..."

He paused, and looked towards the direction of the camp gate. Seeing him like this, Gao Shiyin also looked there. After a while, he said: "It's Old Wen, isn't the general calling him to discuss matters? Why did you come back so soon? "

At the gate of the barracks, a few horses were entering the barracks. The leader was an extraordinary general, Wen Fangliang.According to the military law of the Shun Township Army, except for the sentry cavalry who conveyed information, and the officers of Qian Zong and their guards, no one was allowed to ride horses in the barracks. Wen Fangliang, Gao Shiyin, Zhong Xiancai and others were qualified as Qian Zong.

Soon, Wen Fangliang came to the martial arts stage, and said with a smile: "The brothers are all here, Lao Gao, you have held Brother Zhong to compete again, aren't you too competitive?"

Gao Shiyin shouted: "I said, old Wen, when will you compare yourself with my brother? You old magistrate has so many things to do, when will you be free?"

Wen Fangliang smiled: "Don't worry, after the business is done, brothers from our two departments, let's compare."

Suddenly his face darkened, his expression became serious, he showed a document in his hand, and shouted: "Order of General Dingguo!"

No matter Gao Shiyin, Zhong Xiancai and others on the stage, or all the soldiers in the audience, they all knelt on one knee, clasped their fists with both hands, and shouted: "Biaoxia accepts orders!"

Thousands of people in the field shouted at the same time, and the sound was like thunder.

Wen Fangliang unfolded the document in his hand, and said proudly: "Bandits are rampant, harming the people. Today there is the leader of the bandit, Tian Dabang, who is stubborn and stubborn, and is fighting against the imperial court. For the sake of the livelihood of the people, I hereby order Renbu Qianzong Gao Shiyin to lead his troops to attack and punish them." Annihilation. The seven-day period is especially important!"

Gao Shiyin was overjoyed to receive the order, and his expression became ferocious: "That's great, I'm finally going to fight. I've practiced every day in the camp, and I can't hold back the birds."

Like him, all the soldiers under his command were elated and cheered: "It's a war, it's a war, it's finally a war."

……

In the early morning of the third day, Gao Shiyin led his sergeants to set off. Like all the generals of the rest of the Shunxiang Army, Gao Shiyin also had [-] soldiers under his command, including a new army that had been in Chongzhen for ten years.There are four hundred firecrackers in total, and one hundred of them are Lumi gunners.Wang Dou asked Emperor Chongzhen for [-] Lumi blunderbusses, and each infantry unit received [-] blunderbusses. Although they didn't change into flintlock styles, those firecrackers couldn't put it down.

After the army left the barracks, they quickly marched in the direction of security guards. The Shun Township Army was well-trained and marched in strict order, and Gao Shiyin's Renbu was no exception.

Unlike the former infantry general Qian Zong, now each infantry of the Shunxiang Army has a horse assigned to it.Wang Dou had already made up his mind to turn all his infantry into mounted infantry except for the artillery and supplies to improve their mobility, no matter whether they could become real cavalry or not.

Of course, although most of the soldiers in the army have horses, Li Guangheng's cavalry is still slightly different from the infantry in terms of equipment.

All their cavalry were dressed in cotton armor, equipped with sabers and pistols.If flintlock pistols are produced on a large scale in the future, each cavalry will be equipped with two to three pistols.In order to improve the armor-piercing ability of the handgun, the caliber of the handgun will be increased, so that within [-] steps, it can break through the cotton armor of Qing soldiers.

As for the long flintlock or arquebus, there is no need to equip them. The cavalry cannot aim and fire normally when charging.Later generations are also full of battle examples. Cavalry often discarded muskets before charging because they thought they were in the way.Although there was a financial penalty for losing the musket afterwards, the cavalry thought it was worth it.

Although it is said that cavalry is necessary for defense, or when dismounting to fight, Wang Dou believes that cavalry is an offensive unit, and if you want to defend, you can use infantry to defend yourself.The cavalry abandoned the long muskets, and the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.

In terms of tactics, the cavalry of the Shunxiang Army will also use sabers when charging and use pistols when fighting. This is an experience in the history of warfare.Only the cavalry in the front row added an extra spear.Of course, the current opponents of the Shunxiang Army are mainly cold-armed troops. In order to protect bows and arrows, each cavalry is equipped with a small round shield, which can be tied to the left arm with a belt during combat.

As a result of improving the mobility of the army, Wang Dou's burden was greatly increased. After all, horses consumed a lot of food and fodder.Therefore, Wang Dou plans to limit the number of regular troops to less than 5000.In the future, the garrisons will farm when they are busy and practice when they are free, and they will only exist as reserves.

(End of this chapter)