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

Chapter 536
Chongzhen 14th August [-]th.

It was just dawn, and the camps of the Ming and Qing Dynasties were already noisy.

Looking down at the land through the clouds and mist, the wilderness is picturesque, the houses in the city are like grids, and the camps are like small bulges, and mushrooms grow.

At this time, inside and outside these small bags, people like ants flowed in and out, filled with an atmosphere that the mountains and rains were about to come and the wind filled the building.

The Xiaoling River is like a jade belt, meandering from the city of Jinzhou to the southeast of Shimen Mountain. Looking at the north bank, the sea of ​​flags can't be seen beyond the horizon, and the continuous camps cover the land.From these camps, from time to time, some capable sentry cavalry of the Qing army ran out with small flags on their backs.They ran straight to the edge of the river, carefully observed the Ming army on the opposite side who were preparing to cross the river, and then ran back to the camp.

These sentinels came in waves one after another.

When the first traces of morning light broke through the mist, the sound of horns and golden drums rang out in the camp of the Ming army, waking up Huang Taiji in Rufeng Mountain City. Mirror, looking down the mountain.

Look at Songshan Fort, Songshan Ridge, Huangtu Ridge, and the west bank of Xiaoling River. Ming army messengers in livery and holding command flags rush in and out.

Outside each battalion, pieces of red flags continued to gather, and he thought to himself: "The Ming army is about to be dispatched."

……

In the Jingbian military commander's tent, Wang Dou opened his eyes and felt that he was full of energy and had inexhaustible strength. He had a good sleep last night.

It's also strange that before major events, Wang Dou can sleep soundly, rarely tossing and turning.

He lifted off the soft and smooth cloud satin brocade quilt, got up from the thick mattress, and stepped barefoot on the thick and soft cashmere carpet, a warm and comfortable feeling welled up in his heart.Not far away, a smoker is curling up and exhaling smoke, a faint fragrance wafts through the nose, and it has the effect of calming the mind.

Wang Dou is used to sleeping naked. Of course, it is impossible to be completely naked. He still wore a pair of obscene trousers, and the exposed muscles were knotted and shiny.
Stretching his body a little, his bone marrow crackled.

Wang Dou nodded in satisfaction, his body is in good shape.

Hearing the movement, several guard battalion soldiers on duty walked into the tent. They were all tall and burly, with hats and helmets, long body armor, and exposed armor leaves. They were all fine and exquisite, with copper buckles and belts. In the middle, sturdy and full of heroic spirit.It is not easy to enter the guard battalion, they have to go through multiple examinations by the Zhenfu Department and the Intelligence Department, loyalty is the first, and they are all outstanding in personal force.

When these soldiers came in, one of the guards with a head as big as a bucket and a simple and honest look picked up the middle coat on the hanger next to him, looked at Wang Dou's body and praised: "The general has a strong body."

Wang Dou took the middle coat and put it on, and said with a smile, "Big head, you are getting better at talking."

Seeing him scratching his head in embarrassment, all the soldiers beside him laughed and helped Wang Dou get dressed again.

To his subordinates, Wang Dou was actually quite gentle, and sometimes he would joke a few words. Everyone in the Jingbian army felt that the general was gentle with his majesty, and he was really a good lord.

Under their service, Wang Dou put on his clothes quickly, while other guards were sorting out the things in the tent.

In Wang Dou's big tent, apart from all kinds of weapons, there are as many bookshelves as possible, which are full of military books, history books, various books from past dynasties and so on.At this time, several famous works have been published, and there are also various versions of Jin Ping Mei. Wang Dou also collected a few sets, and watched them with dialectical analysis.

The style of his large tent is grand and thick.

In fact, with Wang Dou's current status, any luxury enjoyment is not a problem, but Wang Dou is relatively indifferent about it. After all, the various enjoyments of this era are not as good as those of later generations.

Of course, if you are indifferent, Wang Dou will not have the conditions to enjoy that kind of hard life on purpose. In terms of material requirements, he only has one thing, comfort and comfort.

In the tent, he finished grooming. In this era, toothbrush and toothpaste have long been available. Toothpaste is still made from pure Chinese herbal medicine, but ordinary people mostly use twigs and green salt.The Jingbian army is also the most hygienic army, just an ordinary soldier, with a toothbrush and toothpaste.

After putting on his armor, Wang Dou came out of the tent. Outside were layers of armored soldiers. When they saw Wang Dou, they saluted him with guns.

Wang Dou nodded slightly, and saw the camp of the Chinese army outside the tent, the sergeants were busy, packing up their armor and weapons, preparing for the upcoming battle.

However, there was not much nervousness on everyone's face. Fighting, fighting big battles, was already a routine thing for the Jingbian Army.

The distribution of Wang Dou's big camp is that the Chinese army is in the middle, and the remaining camps are separated from the front, back, left, and right, with a rigorous structure.Around his commander's tent, there are also tents for guards, praise paintings, appeasement, comfort and other officers and generals.Then there are the artillery battalion, cavalry battalion, sharp whistle battalion, supply battalion and other battalions below the Chinese army.

Zhong Tiaoyang, the officer of the middle army, is under the command headquarters, tidying up Wang Dou's Yuan Rong chariot, Jingbian military commander's flag, watch pole chariot, and various drum chariots.

In the battle of Huangtuling that day, Wang Dou lent the Yuanrong chariot to Yang Guozhu, and Yang Guozhu returned it after the war, and Wang Dou did not pretentiously refuse.

This time I also want to go to the front line. Of course I have to sit in the Yuan Rong car. After all, his car is a sharp weapon against Hongyi's heavy artillery.

Seeing Wang Dou coming out, Zhong Tiaoyang came to see him. He was usually in charge of camp affairs, so Wang Dou just asked a few questions as usual.

In fact, each department now performs its own duties. At any time, the Jingbian Army is well-organized. Most of the time, most of Wang Dou's work is to sign and seal.

Soon, Chi Dacheng, the governor of the Shuaiying headquarters, Wang Tianxue, the medical officer, Qin Yi, Zanhua and others came out of the account one by one, and all came to salute Wang Dou.

Wang Dou led everyone to inspect the Chinese army camp as usual.The cavalry barracks and the sentinel camp were also prepared early, but the supply camp was much more empty than in the past.After receiving Xie Yike's information, Wang Dou sent most of the soldiers in the battalion back to the Changling Mountain defense line, leaving only the few hundred bombardiers.

When they arrived at Zhao Xuan's artillery barracks, it was also a bustling scene.

Zhao Xuan was yelling over there, commanding everyone in the battalion to put the cannons on the mules and horses, load some shells and gunpowder into the ammunition cart, and then put the ammunition cart on the horse mules as well.

The battle of the Artillery Battalion is very critical. It is necessary to follow the cavalry to reach the Daughter River quickly and block the Qing soldiers who may cross the river.

On the ammunition cart of the artillery camp, many cotton medicine bags have been replaced by silk medicine bags.

After that day, with Wang Dou's consent, Zhao Xuan quickly ordered a batch of silk from a silk merchant, and hurriedly made a batch of silk medicine bags.

After experimentation, it is true that the firing of silk powder packs greatly reduces the overheating of the barrel compared to cotton powder packs. The Hongyi cannons of the Paojunying can even fire ten to fifteen rounds and then dissipate heat.There is also the priming medicine for Huomen. Zhao Xuan found a large number of goose feather tubes and chicken feather tubes. After experimenting, he finally decided to use the goose feather medicine tube.

These seemingly insignificant reforms greatly strengthened the power of Zhao Xuanpao's barracks, making him laugh from ear to ear all day long.

Look at the hourglass time, it is Mao time, and it is still some time before the time when all the armies gather. Wang Dou ordered all the officers and generals of the middle camp, as well as Han Chao, the general of the rear battalion, and Zhong Xiancai, the general of the right battalion, to come to his tent. Have a meal, and by the way, check and discuss the strategy of the war.

……

At this time, it was time for the entire Jingbian army to eat breakfast. Today's meals were very rich, mostly seafood.To be honest, many soldiers and civilians in the inland area are not used to eating seafood, but that is to say that later generations will be picky. In this era, as long as it is food and meat, no one will refuse to eat or drink.

The rear of the right battalion is the second team and the D team is the first team.

Han Kaihui took a sip of the oyster soup. It felt strange and had an indescribable taste, but after a careful taste, there was a fresh taste. If he drank too much, he thought the oyster soup was good.

I don't want to think about it, the war is coming soon, let's talk about it after eating. Thinking of this, Han Kaihui gulped down the rice in the bowl.

Looking at the brothers in Jiazhong, all of them are eating like a rat.

The Jingbian army is rich in various equipment, even camping in the wild, and there are also a large number of horses in the army, so they don't have to sit on the ground when eating.

At this time, among Han Kaihui's armour, there is a big horse tie, which is used as a table, and the rest of the soldiers sit on the small horse tie.

After the battles in the past few days, these second-class troops have matured rapidly. From the beginning of the expedition, they were hard to swallow food, and now they are devouring it. The upcoming battle will not affect everyone's appetite at all.

However, at this time, three people were missing from the Han Kaihui armor. It was the battle a few days ago. Chen Chong and several people died in the battle. From the armor leader Zhao Rongsheng to the soldier Han Kaihui, everyone was deeply grieved, but the comrades-in-arms The blood also allowed them to grow rapidly.Although Yijia has lost a few troops, it will not be replenished in a short while, and it needs to wait for the arrival of the Eastern Reserve Army.

After eating and drinking, the fire soldiers took away the big horses and the bowls and chopsticks. Han Kaihui took out a soft muslin cloth and carefully tried his beloved spear.

Looking around, all the soldiers of the Jingbian Army wearing hats, helmets, and bright red armor are all like this.

Especially for those bird gun soldiers, the work of equipment is even more cumbersome.

Sitting beside Han Kaihui was Liu Lie. Although he was smaller than Han Kaihui, he was tall and strong, and the pony creaked under his buttocks.

After polishing his long spear, he took out the knives and kept sharpening them with a whetstone. He gritted his teeth, his black face turned red.I heard him muttering to himself: "These damned Tartars, Xiao Tiantian who dared to kill me, when they meet in battle, I must use white knives in and red knives out of these tartars..."

After the battle ended that day, because Chen Chong and several people died in battle, the Zhenfu Division investigated Yijia and found that Liu Lie did not cooperate closely with the friendly forces during the battle and did not pay attention to the formation. He memorized the importance of military discipline several times.

In fact, Liu Lie had been blaming himself for Chen Chong's death in battle. At this time, the big battle was ahead, and he vowed to kill a few more Tartars to avenge Chen Chong's brothers.

He was gnashing his teeth, and with a "snap", his helmet was slapped by the armor chief Zhao Rongsheng, and he heard him scold: "Fuck it, we are pike soldiers, not sword soldiers...you are a killer, remember Now, we are an army, not stragglers, and formation is the most important thing in wartime, you don’t understand the principle of gaining wisdom while being in the trenches?”

Seeing the people around him snickering, Liu Lie opened his eyes wide and said innocently: "Chief Jia, I didn't say that, I'm a swordsman..."

"No matter how hard I try, I will remember the importance of formation..."

People in Yijia laughed loudly, and Han Kaihui also smiled. While wielding his long spear, he thought carefully and recalled all the details of the battle that day. After meeting again, what should he do.

He suddenly clenched his long spear tightly, with a cold light in his eyes: "This time, I will be more powerful than last time, and kill more Tartars!"

……

Han Kaihui tightened his spear again, leaned the body of the gun on his right shoulder, and followed the voice of the password, and slowly moved forward along the red ocean flow.

Not far from his queue, there was the sound of horseshoes from time to time, leading the sergeants on the mounts to their respective destinations.

A quarter of an hour before Chen Shi, the sergeants of the Right Battalion received the order and went out of the camp to assemble and prepare for battle.

Amidst the whistling horns, the Jingbian Army's tide-like troops poured out of the camp slowly. Five of them merged into one team, four teams merged into one group, and four groups merged into one group, forming distinct queues. , and finally merged into one piece, neat and orderly.

Standing in the army formation, looking left and right, there are all capable soldiers like himself. The phalanx is densely packed, and as far as the eye can see, it is full of hats and helmets, and the sun, moon and waves flags are waving.

Han Kaihui felt his insignificance, but also felt the surging power of the group.

The army formation slowly moved forward in the ground, heading towards the destination, and the ground trembled with heavy footsteps.

(End of this chapter)