Ming Zuo

Chapter 187 Post-War Summary
After leaving Qian'an, Houying embarked on the road back home.

When they came, they set out with full load; when they went back, they returned with honor.

The situation of the battle of Qingshuiguan has been spread all over the vicinity of Qian'an.

Wherever the flag of the rear battalion passed, they were greeted with admiration.

The other armies couldn't hold their heads up in front of the rear battalion.

This march, Zuo Menggeng felt, should not be wasted.

When resting in Kaiping that night, Zuo Menggeng gathered the whole army in one place.

"This time we fought northward, we fought a total of three battles. The first battle was to conquer Zunhua; the second battle was to ambush the Han tribe; the third battle was a bloody battle at Qingshui Pass."

Zuo Hua reminded from the side: "Qianzuo, there is still one more battle. Zhang Badai was raided by the Tartars, we can withdraw safely."

Zuo Menggeng waved his hand.

"Does that count? With the quality of my rear camp, I can still be stolen by the Tartars?"

The whole camp laughed and said yes.

That night the whole battalion was very calm and did not encounter any difficulties at all.Afterwards, he took Hou Jin Dajun around in circles in the ravine, which was easier than daily training.

After the whole army laughed, Zuo Menggeng's expression became serious.

"This campaign is the first time our army has been on the battlefield. Everyone has seen the results. When we set off, there were nearly [-] people. Now more than [-] comrades have died, and one-third of the entire army has been killed or injured."

Hearing what he said, everyone's expression became sad, and many people wept silently.

No matter who it is, almost all comrades around him died.

In the past, people who ate and slept together and shared joys and sorrows are gone, which inevitably makes it difficult for the living to adapt.Not to mention, many sacrifices are right in front of their eyes, making them unforgettable all their lives.

In the oppressive atmosphere, Zuo Menggeng also expressed his thoughts.

"The dead are gone, we can remember them, we can pay homage to them. What are you most afraid of? What you are most afraid of is not learning from the sacrifices and making the same mistakes in the future."

The whole army listened attentively to his speech, even the most stupid people now know, and can learn a lot from Zuo Menggeng.

How to make a post-war summary, except for Zuo Menggeng, no one else has experience.So this head can only be opened by him.

"Let's talk about the first battle first, Zunhua."

"Originally, according to the plan of the battalion, this battle was a siege battle. Although Zunhua's city defenses were strong and there were a lot of Tartar soldiers. But we have artillery, and our muskets have a longer range and are more accurate, and we also have explosives. With so many methods, it shouldn't be difficult to break the city, right?"

Zuo Menggeng's voice suddenly rose three degrees.

"I've thought of everything, but I didn't expect the Tartars to leave the city!"

At this moment, the big guy burst into laughter immediately.

Although Ke Zunhua was the first battle of the rear battalion, it was really not difficult.Except for the Fourth Battalion and the Artillery Battalion, almost no one fired.

Afterwards, it wasn't that no one discussed it, and their opinions were similar to Zuo Menggeng's.

"Why do they dare to come out and fight with us?"

If it was in the past, when Zuo Menggeng said that, the soldiers would definitely feel that he was bragging.

That's a tartar!
Da Ming has no power to fight back against the Tartars!
But now, having personally fought against the Tartars and won the victory, in the minds of the soldiers, the Tartars are just like that.

The reason why Zuo Menggeng mentioned the battle of Zunhua was not only because it was the first battle of the Houying, but also because this battle was relatively easy, so there was not much to say.

This is relatively easy for the rear battalion who is conducting a post-war summary for the first time.

"The Fourth Brigade and the Cavalry Brigade participated in the siege battle. Tell me, what are our shortcomings?"

Zuo Yong stood up.

"Let me just talk about the problems discovered during the siege."

The soldiers immediately became serious and listened very carefully.

Having seen the sacrifices of comrades-in-arms, they are very clear that this kind of experience can save lives in many cases.

"Our weapons are mainly muskets. Compared with bows and arrows, they have a much longer range and are more accurate. However, when attacking the city, the enemy is on the city, so the range of bows and arrows is longer. Don't take the usual If you compare them with your own bows and arrows, you will suffer a lot.”

The back camp has popularized the most basic knowledge of physics. The same force at a higher place can make an object fall farther. Everyone understands the principle.

"Also, there are turrets at intervals on the city wall. The recessed place between the two turrets must not be close. That kind of place will be attacked by the turrets on both sides, so it is not easy to guard against."

The city wall was not built in a straight line.

Such a wall would have defensive dead ends.

Therefore, at intervals of the city wall, there is a protruding building, on which a tower can be built to store materials.It also gave the defenders angles to attack the enemy from the flank.

Whether it is the ancient Chinese city walls or the western bastions, there are similar designs.

Once the attacker enters such a place, it will be attacked from the front and both wings by the defenders at the same time, resulting in a sharp increase in casualties.

"What's more, when we attack the city, the defenders on the city will stick out their bodies if they want to shoot arrows. I suggest that when we attack the city in the future, we must keep enough guards and aim at the city wall at all times. As long as the defenders dare to shoot arrows, the early warning people can shoot first."

What he said was the experience gained by the fourth brigade in exchange for blood.

After that, Zuo Yong talked a lot about the understanding of the siege, which really opened everyone's eyes and learned a lot.

Not only the brigade leader Zuo Yong, but also the squadron leaders, squad leaders and ordinary soldiers below were all called out to speak, analyzing a siege battle from various angles.

When the same thing is analyzed from different angles, Zuo Menggeng is inspired by the conclusions drawn.

In the military knowledge he received, siege warfare was also blank.

After all, cities after hundreds of years seem to have no walls.

At the beginning, the soldiers were very nervous when they spoke. Many of them were introverted and shy, and with low self-esteem, they were confused by so many eyes.

However, under Zuo Menggeng's encouragement, coupled with the heated discussion atmosphere, no matter how shy people were, they let go.

This is how the next days of the march were spent.

During the daytime rush, during the break, the team is recording the results of discussions within the team based on each team.

When the whole army discusses at night, the individual speeches will be changed to team speeches, which will become more targeted and make the content of the discussion more professional.

And the one with the most experience and lessons that everyone has learned is undoubtedly the battle of Qingshui Pass.

As the head of the general logistics team, Zhang Yan deeply reflected on the shortcomings of the general logistics team.

"No matter how powerful our muskets are, we cannot avoid being approached by the enemy. Once the enemy enters the range, our shortcomings of not having armor will be exposed. I think we can improve on vehicles. When fighting, we can Use vehicles as cover."

His idea was recognized by everyone.

In the battle of Qingshuiguan, the casualties of the rear battalion, except for the Houjin artillery, were mostly caused by the firecrackers and bows and arrows when the Houjin soldiers attacked within a range of [-] meters.

"Our artillery brigade also has a big problem."

Jia Yunzhi stood up and spoke on behalf of the Artillery Brigade.

In this battle, Li Xiangzhu, the actual chief officer of the Artillery Brigade, was killed in battle, which had a great impact on the Artillery Brigade.

If anyone has the strongest post-war reflections, it must be the Artillery Brigade.

"When the Tartars covered the artillery with smoke and dust, we only saw that the Tartar artillery posed a threat, and all of them were red-eyed. They went to the anti-Tartar artillery and did not provide good fire support. Otherwise, It is not so easy for the Tartars to rush in front of the infantry. In the future, we must firmly remember this lesson and maximize the lethality of the artillery."

Li Xiangzhu's sacrifice certainly had his bravery.However, the command error in the early stage caused the latter Jin Bing to rush forward, which also made him extremely self-blame.

After the war, the soldiers of the artillery brigade did not know how much discussion they had, and finally began to correctly understand the role of artillery.

In addition, Zheng Shao Xinzhang of the third team raised a more serious problem.

"Qianzao, our guns have to be changed. When firing, the cartridges came out of the barrel several times. Several of us were injured by the cartridges."

In this battle of Qingshuiguan, the artillery had a big problem.

That was because the cartridge was not heavy enough, and when the gunpowder exploded, the cartridge actually flew out of the barrel.

"We thought, could the breech be changed to be closed. The shells are inserted through the breech breech at the back?"

Good guy, I even came up with a breech-loading gun.

However, Zuoying Pao's defect really needs to be corrected.

But Zuo Menggeng didn't know if it could work, and he had to go back and hand it over to the artillery factory.

"Your opinions are very valuable, and I will pass them on to the Cannon Factory."

(End of this chapter)