The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The sun was blazing in the sky, and the sunlight shone on the hot sand, mixing with the flying dust.

The mountains in the distance are looming in the dusk, like sleeping giants, quietly watching over this land.

In the military camp outside Santun Camp, the air seemed to be filled with a heavy solemn and tense atmosphere. The soldiers were fully armed and their eyes were firm. They stared straight ahead, full of confrontation and tension.

Not far in front of them, a cavalry team stood quietly. The three leaders were Wei Guangde, Tan Lun and Qi Jiguang.

Today, Qi Jiguang is wearing a helmet and armor, exactly as he would be on the battlefield, while Wei Guangde and Tan Lun beside him are wearing first- and second-grade scarlet official uniforms.

Soldiers may not know what the official's chest patch is painted on, but seeing the color of the official uniform, they know that he is a super official. The color of the official uniform is at the same level as Governor Jiliao, which speaks volumes.

"How are you going to show us today?"

Wei Guangde stared at the motionless army in the distance and asked beside him.

"Mr. Wei Ge, Mr. Tan, since it is possible to set off to Liaodong to participate in the war this time, and the local terrain is dominated by mountains, rivers and water networks, I made plans last night.

It is difficult to find places with water networks around Santun Camp, but there are still mountains and rivers. "

When Qi Jiguang said this, he pointed to a big mountain not far behind him and said: "The big mountain behind us is called Jingzhong Mountain, which is five miles away from here. After a while, the whole army will march here quickly and quickly deploy battle formations for drills."

Wei Guangde became interested when he heard that Qi Jiguang planned to conduct drills in Jingzhong Mountain five miles away.

He also wanted to see the mountain warfare level of Qi Jiguang's army. You must know that in this place, the vehicle formation would not play any advantage, and he did not know how Qi Jiguang planned to demonstrate it.

He doesn't have much time to stay in Santun camp. He may return to Beijing in the next two days.

Speaking of which, it has been several days since I came out this time, so I can't delay any longer.

"Okay, let's wait and see."

Wei Guangde glanced at Tan Lun and smiled happily.

As Qi Jiguang raised his right hand, the guard beside him took out his horn and blew a long trumpet sound, and several flag bearers behind him began to wave the military flag regularly.

As the trumpets and flags were sounded, the military formation waiting in the distance began to slowly change.

At the beginning, the cavalry camp was divided into more than ten horse-exploring teams of about 20 people and dispersed in all directions. Then the two infantry battalions lined up at the front of the team, behind them was the vehicle camp, and finally the cavalry camp.

The infantry soldiers in front were carrying large shields, pointing their spears diagonally at the sky, and there were also non-Ming dynasty weapons such as rakes and wolf spears. The gunsmiths carried the gun on their shoulders and trotted forward.

The chariot behind them, pulled by two mules and horses and pushed by the chariot soldiers, actually kept up with the advancing camp. From a distance, it seemed to be a perfect fit.

After the foot camp and the vehicle camp, there is the riding camp with billowing dust and smoke.

Different from the Beijing camp, Qi Jiguang's cavalry camp was actually organized according to the Yuanyang formation, and each team was assigned different weapons.

In addition to the guns, sticks, and blunderbuss that are common in the army, there are also longer rakes. There are also many large vehicles in the team, and you can tell at a glance that they are used to carry artillery.

"Yuan Jing, isn't your cavalry going to fight right away?"

Wei Guangde asked.

Tan Lun had mentioned it before, but he was still a little worried after seeing it with his own eyes.

"Mr. Geng Ge, of the eighteen rounds of the cavalry camp, only four are mainly horse battles, and the remaining fourteen rounds are all foot battles."

Qi Jiguang replied from the side.

"Equestrian infantry."

Wei Guangde vaguely remembered that the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty were similar. In fact, there were not many armies that mainly fought on horseback. They were mainly mounted infantry. Riding horses only improved the mobility of the troops. The battle was still based on horse-based infantry warfare, attacking cities and forts. Invincible.

"That old boy Nurhaci, let's not be Qi Jiguang's horse camp who stole his lessons."

Wei Guangde had no reason to think about it.

Although the army organized and trained by Qi Jiguang did not appear in Liaodong at that time and space, and would not have any intersection with Nurhaci, when the Ming Dynasty sent a large army into North Korea, that is, the war to aid North Korea in the Anti-Japanese War, Wei Guangde still had the impression that Qi's army participated in the war .

It is said that he had a very unhappy relationship with the then-Admiral Li Rusong because of his grab for credit.

The fact that the Liaodong Army took the credit has spread throughout the world since then. It can be said that other armies participating in the war have no favorable impression of the Liaodong Army.

If you think about it this way, although Nurhachi did not participate in the Korean War, he might not necessarily know anything from the Ming army generals who returned.

"Equestrian infantry is really appropriate."

Tan Lun suddenly intervened and said.

"Haha, Mr. Wei Ge hit the nail on the head. The general initially rebuilt the horse camp and initially wanted to train a group of horse warriors. Unfortunately, there are too few of us Ming people who are accustomed to riding horses. We need to train slowly, which is time-consuming and laborious.

Therefore, the general had an idea and directly let the infantry ride horses. All they needed was to be able to ride horses, maneuver quickly, assemble quickly, and fight on foot below the place.

As long as they are properly trained, the attack power of such cavalry is not much weaker than that of cavalry. "

Qi Jiguang said.

"If we face a force with insufficient machine power, our chances of winning are quite high."

Wei Guangde just reminded him.

What is not mentioned in the last sentence is that when encountering an enemy who also has a large number of horses, the cavalry should not be sent out casually, as they can easily be eaten.

"Let's go, it's time for us to set off. Let's catch up and see how Yuan Jing is going to practice."

Tan Lun spoke at this time.

Five miles is not very far, and the soldiers and horses of Jizhen marched all the way down, so they arrived at the foot of Jingzhong Mountain in a short time.

As the infantry camp quickly moved to the two wings and began to form formations, each square formation was formed with the division as a unit.

Wei Guangde already knew the organization of Qi Jiguang's infantry battalion. A general commander was the strength of a battalion in later generations. Several hundred people formed a square formation, leaving a certain gap between each other for the cavalry behind them to pass.

The chariot camp also quickly swung sideways, pushing the chariots to the front line to form a central army. In the gaps between the chariots, there were also troops accompanying the chariots gathered on standby.

In later generations, there was the so-called infantry-tank coordination. In fact, in this era, the Ming military vehicle camp was equipped with ten regular troops composed of vehicle soldiers who were responsible for operating the Fran cannon and blunderbuss on the vehicle. Each vehicle was equipped with ten skilled soldiers. Mandarin duck formation against the enemy's surprise troops.

"When the enemy troops rush up, the strange troops will form to protect the shield wall and fight. The distance forward is limited to ten steps. The main thing is to rely on chariots to kill the enemies.

The row of small vehicles behind the chariot formation was formed after the chariot camp was breached by the enemy. The infantry used the light vehicles as a cover to block the gap and recapture the chariots."

Qi Jiguang kept introducing Wei Guangde's tactics to Che Ying.

Generally speaking, the car camp is a unit that defends the strong and attacks the weak. It is mainly used to stabilize the army's position.

As long as Che Ying is there, according to Qi Jiguang, he can be guaranteed to be invincible.

Even if the enemy cannot be defeated, at least it is a draw.

"Should we take the initiative to attack or focus on the infantry camp? The horse camp will be a roaming operation, or we can cover and kill the enemy after they retreat?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"Yes, although the horse camp is not strong enough for horse fighting, it can still be done if it pursues and defeats the enemy."

Qi Jiguang replied immediately.

"If it is a defense, there will be temporary arrangements in front of the infantry camp to stop the horses and scatter iron caltrops to prevent the enemy cavalry from directly breaking through the camp."

At this time, a row of squatting tiger cannons had been neatly placed in front of the infantry camp. They were lifted directly from the infantry camp cart by two infantrymen and placed in front of the formation.

"Is that the Crouching Tiger Cannon? It uses shotgun?"

Wei Guangde asked again.

"This cannon is based on the Jiujiang Guard's Little General Cannon. Considering that we are facing the Mongols who mainly rely on cavalry, they are usually loaded with shotgun shells to specifically attack the cavalry on the opposite side."

Qi Jiguang also explained, "If you are attacking a city, you can use solid bullets, but the power is not as powerful as a cannon shot from a general."

"This cannon is very powerful. When the Japanese pirates, who claim not to be afraid of death, encounter this cannon, they will destroy a large area with one shot. The remaining Japanese pirates will turn around and run away."

When he was fighting Japanese invaders in the south of the Yangtze River, Tan Lun had seen the power of the Crouching Tiger Cannon, so he highly praised the cannon. "It's a pity that the range of this cannon is too short. If you use the General Cannon to fire shotshells, the power will be close to nothing. There’s no way to aim at it.”

Wei Guangde nodded. He was actually the one who made the little general cannon. Although he didn't do it himself, he came up with the idea.

The original intention was actually to make a prototype that could fire a few cannons. The purpose was to embezzle the copper materials. But after the experiment, they thought it was okay, so the Jiujiang Guards replaced all the old artillery pieces, leaving only a small amount of iron. A bowl-mouthed blunderbuss cast from raw materials.

At this time, Wei Guangde noticed that the horse camp also had a row of squatting tiger cannons placed outside, so he smiled and said: "Your horse camp is also equipped with squatting tiger cannons. You have a special liking for this thing."

"Considering that when the cavalry camp goes into battle, the opponent may also gather cavalry to attack, so the cavalry camp is equipped with a large number of squatting tiger cannons to defeat the enemy. The tactics are actually similar to the infantry camp."

Qi Jiguang explained on the side, "The four cavalry units were specially formed to launch a counterattack after defeating the enemy. They were carefully selected from the original cavalry units in Ji Zhen."

"In the fight against Duoyan's tribe, can the infantry battalion successfully block the attack of Duoyan's cavalry?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

"Yes, when the Duoyan tribe retreated, the car camp changed and the pursuit was a bit slow. Even the infantry camp directly pursued them. There were several battles, but they were all repulsed."

Qi Jiguang was still very proud. He defeated cavalry with infantry, which was rare among Ming generals.

"Well, okay, the military formation is set up, let's get started. Let me see the firepower of Ji Town's soldiers and horses."

Wei Guangde smiled.

He probably understood Qi Jiguang's three-blade axe, and now he wanted to see how terrifying the firepower of Jizhen's army could be to defeat the charge of the Mongolian cavalry.

"Let them start the drill."

Qi Jiguang turned around and gave instructions to the soldiers next to him. As the horn and flag sounded again, the military formation in the distance finally began to move.

"Boom boom boom"

The ten general cannons in the carriage camp opened fire first, and ten solid iron bullets flew out of the barrels and hit the distance.

Then, green smoke billowed out in front of the entire row of tanks, which was the scene of the firing of 256 Fran machine guns, and then there were bursts of green smoke in the camp, which was the projectiles fired by the blunderbuss on the tanks. result.

After the cannon sounded, there was a continuous firing drill of the Fran cannon, interspersed with the firing of the cannon.

As the remaining barrel of the Fran cannon was fired, suddenly another dense rocket was fired from the tank.

The rockets equipped by the Ming army were actually often introduced in later books. They were similar to cannons, except that the small wooden stick became an arrow.

The rocket equipment of the Ming army was very large. Not only the infantry had a large amount of equipment, but also many cavalry used this type of firearms.

In terms of lethality, it can only be said to be average, but the movement is very terrifying.

After the vehicle camp drill ended, the infantry camp also began a similar performance. After firing the tiger crouching cannon, the gunners returned directly to the military formation, leaving the cannon in front of the formation and ignoring it, followed by a linear formation of cannon fire.

Different from the three-stage shooting or even the five-stage shooting that Wei Guangde thought, there were only two rows of gunmen in Ji Zhenbuying. After the shooting, they retreated directly to the back of the formation. They did not see them loading ammunition, but they all pulled out their short knives and prepared. Melee.

"According to my request, the team officer will judge whether the gunman needs to reload based on the enemy's situation. This time there will be no repeated firing drills."

Qi Jiguang explained.

At this time, Wei Guangde keenly noticed that the infantry in the first row of the infantry camp were not sword and shield soldiers, which was unprecedented in other troops of the Ming army.

The soldiers standing in the front row at this moment were clearly the sergeants who used rake and wolf rifle. They took out several rockets from their quivers, placed them directly on the rake and wolf rifle, and then quickly ignited the rockets.

After the rocket launch is completed, quickly take out the rockets from the quiver and set them up again until all the rockets are launched.

At the same time, the spearmen and swordsmen behind them had already taken out the bows and arrows they carried. When the trumpet sounded, they raised their bows and fired a volley, throwing a hail of arrows at the enemy.

"The musket fires at sixty paces?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked Qi Jiguang.

"Yes, Mr. Wei Ge, sixty steps is the best distance for a bird's gun to break armor. After two rounds of bird's-gun shooting, and another round of rocket attack, the enemy will be less than thirty steps away. In this round of arrow rain, if the enemy does not collapse, it will be time to join forces.

In fact, during the war, the infantry and horse battalions would cooperate with the vehicle battalions, and there would be support from more than 200 Fran cannons on the front line, instead of the segmented drills like today. "

Qi Jiguang explained.

Now Wei Guangde finally knows how Qi Jiguang trained Ji Zhen soldiers to fight. What kind of cold weapons are they? The soldiers who use cold weapons either carry rockets or bows and arrows, and they rely on firepower to kill the enemy. force.

With such a powerful profit, and the blessing of the Yuanyang Formation in close combat, the Ji Zhen Ming Army might really be the most powerful army in the world in this era.

"It's just too expensive."

Suddenly, Tan Lun muttered.

"hehe."

Wei Guangde just smiled, he understood the meaning of Tan Lun's words.

Just for today's drill, I don't know how much money was thrown in. Gunpowder, lead, and rockets all cost a lot of money.

"At the beginning, I was still wondering how you would use tens of thousands of rockets in each battalion. That's it."

Wei Guangde smiled.

"What about the step-by-step camp attacking the mountain? The Yuanyang Formation?"

Wei Guangde asked with a smile.

"What Mr. Ge said is absolutely true. The infantry camp is divided into small teams. The distance between the small teams varies from eight to nine steps, and the two-level advance is carried out."

Qi Jiguang was explaining how to fight in the infantry and mountainous areas. At this time, the swan horn sounded again in front and the infantry began to move forward.

Seeing this, all Wei Guangde could think of was the People's Liberation Army's three-by-three tactics, in which three combat groups attack and assist in defense in a triangle.

Qi Jiguang's team fighting method is very similar to Qi Jiguang's, except that the number of people is slightly larger.

Considering the difference in weapons, it seems reasonable.

At this time, the Jizhen Infantry Battalion was like countless three-three battle squads, advancing like waves. (End of chapter)