prosperous age

"One car, 40 soldiers, form a team; combine the thirteen teams to form a small battalion; combine ten small battalions to form a large battalion."

Seeing Yu Dayou's conception of the Bingche Battalion, Wei Guangde murmured.

Continue to look down, and then I understand what is the combination of 40 people in a chariot.

Yu Dayou's 40 men for each vehicle are not pure infantry, but a team of mixed arms. He is now advocating the low-cost tactics of winning with infantry and surprise soldiers, which is similar to the tactics that Wei Guangde saw in Zhejiang Qi Jiguang trained recruits.

Qi Jiguang's tactics, Wei Guangde is also well-known in later generations, that is the mandarin duck formation, the soldiers in the squad use a variety of weapons to cooperate with each other to kill the Japanese pirates.

The battle formation is varied, it can not only encircle and suppress single Japanese pirates, but also confront and even attack and kill a large group of Japanese pirates. This also let Wei Guangde know why later generations boasted that the mandarin duck formation is so magical.

Needless to say, the battle formation designed by Qi Jiguang must be very effective in use, otherwise it would not be possible to pass on to future generations and become a myth.

It's just that when Wei Guangde went to Hangzhou to supervise and kill Wang Zhi, the recruits hadn't conducted a large-scale actual combat, so it was inconvenient for Wei Guangde to brag to Qi Jiguang in front of Emperor Jiajing.

And when he was in contact with Qi Jiguang, Wei Guangde keenly discovered that the relationship between Qi Jiguang and Hu Zongxian was very deep.

Although Wei Guangde and Hu Zongxian met several times and everyone was very polite, but Wei Guangde was on the side of King Yu, and was naturally hostile to officials from Yan Song's family, or Jing Wang's family.

Qi Jiguang seemed to be on Hu Zongxian's boat, and he didn't need to make a wedding dress for the enemy and flatter him in front of the emperor.

Yu Dayou's chariot formation consisted of ten infantrymen on horseback, 20 cavalrymen, one chariot, and ten infantrymen. A total of 40 men formed a team.

When encountering the enemy, use chariots to line up in front. The sergeants on the chariots fire bows, crossbows and cannons. Immediately, the infantry rides out on horseback. When the distance is close enough to intersect with the enemy's horses, they fire guns and bows. The cavalry took the opportunity to rush into the enemy's formation and hacked, and the ten infantrymen were in charge of beheading.

The chariot is in the form of a single wheel, with a spear in front of the chariot, which is light and easy to transport, and can be lifted by several people when encountering a pit.

"Unicycle?"

Wei Guangde touched his head, and then he turned out the last page of the letter, on which was a pattern of a wheelbarrow drawn with a brush.

However, the unicycle designed by Yu Dayou is quite different from the unicycle Wei Guangde has seen.

The wheelbarrow used by Yu Dayou has a wheel diameter of four feet and six inches. Two large logs are laid straight, each one foot long and two feet long. Between the two large logs, there are three small logs horizontally for pushing and transporting. There are also three ropes for hanging on the shoulders.

A six-foot-long piece of wood is placed across the front of the cart, and two small straight pieces of wood are installed vertically as a barrier.

There are four big gun heads, one big Buddha Lang machine, two shields, two small moon flags and one cloth curtain on the car.

There is a standing tree in the middle of the rear of the car, which is equivalent to the steering wheel of the car, and it is held by the team officer alone. There are two brackets in front of the car, which are lowered to serve as the frame when parking. There are two iron cones at the back of the car, which are inserted into the ground when parking. Equivalent to a ship's anchor.

The total weight of the vehicle itself plus the blunderbuss, cards, guns, etc. on the vehicle is less than 16 kilograms. [-] people are divided into shifts, and they can pass smoothly even on rough and dangerous roads.The vehicles cooperate with each other, and when they move, they form an array, and when they stop, they form a battalion.

However, there is a shortage of horses in the border town, and Yu Dayou's thirty riders per cart is only an ideal assumption, and it must be greatly reduced in practice.

For example, cavalry infantry can only stay in the imagination stage. The imperial court does not have enough military horses, so they will only be infantry in the end.

Of course, Wei Guangde also understood the reason why Yu Dayou compiled as many as [-] riders, "asking for prices all over the sky, and paying back the money on the ground."

No matter how simple he designed the military formation, if the court approves it, a large part will be cut off, and strategic resources such as horses must bear the brunt.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but twitched the corner of his mouth into a smile, and General Yu has also learned badly.

At first, Wei Guangde thought it was weird when he saw Yu Dayou wanting ten horse-riding infantry. Can a unicycle outrun a war horse?
What do you need so many cavalry for?
Those cavalry infantry might as well arrange the infantry to go up directly. What kind of means of transportation are needed? Aren't the chariot soldiers walking on two legs.

Wei Guangde still didn't know what Yu Dayou's letter said, what achievements he had made in the border town with this set of chariot tactics, and he didn't know that Datong had any good news sent to the capital recently.

"Has the messenger arranged to stay?"

Wei Guangde asked Zhang Ji beside him.

"It has been arranged to live in the front yard. He claims to be Master Yu's servant."

Zhang Ji replied hastily.

"Go and have a look. If someone doesn't fall asleep, call him here. If he falls asleep, we can talk about it tomorrow."

Wei Guangde knew that these letters made the errands often travel day and night, and now there are bandits, large and small, in various places in Ming Dynasty, and their travel is also full of dangers, which can be said to be a great physical and psychological test.

Not long after, Zhang Ji came back to report: "My lord, the room is turned off, so I should be asleep."

"Then remind me tomorrow, I'll go back to the mansion for lunch at noon."

The Imperial Academy was not far from my home, so I stopped eating outside with my colleagues at noon, and went home to eat, and met the messenger by the way to ask about the situation in Datong.

Yu Dayou is smart.

Looking at the letter on the desk, Wei Guangde felt happy.

Of course, the imperial court wanted to find a way to defeat the Mongolian Tartars, and it definitely welcomed the development of this new tactic to attack the enemy.

But Wei Guangde also knew very well that the imperial court actually had another dilemma, that is, they didn't have much money in hand.

The financial predicament of the Ming Dynasty is almost unsolvable, at least in Wei Guangde's view.

It can be solved, but it is almost the enemy of the gentry and scholars all over the world.

The Ming court can now receive about 300 million taels of silver every year, of which nearly 200 million taels are military expenditures, all of which are used to provide military pay for the Nine Frontiers. This is still a little insufficient, and this does not include the grain and other materials transferred from the south.

Even if the real things are stored, according to the official discounted price, it is more than 2000 million taels of silver. These real things include grain, cloth, tea and so on.

It can be said that the extremely high military expenditure on Nine Sides has always been a big problem that the Ming court is eager to solve.

Why did Zeng Xian want to regain the Hetao as a barrier, and at the same time obtain the source of horses, was not approved? In fact, the most important reason was that he wanted to gather a large corps to fight, and the idea of ​​accomplishing all his achievements in one battle was beyond that of Ming Dynasty. The court's affordability.

The Ming court could not pay for his military actions. It might be okay to say that he won, but if he failed, Emperor Jiajing could not bear the responsibility.

The establishment of a troop battalion will also greatly increase the military expenditure of the border town. Although it is a sharp increase in the short term and will fall back later, it is an inevitable result that the expenditure will definitely increase.

According to Li Wenjin's thinking, there must be a certain risk in going directly to the court to make a decision.

The most important thing is that, judging from what Yu Dayou wrote in his letter, Li Wenjin set up a troop battalion for him, and he seemed to have fought against the Tartars in the border area, but he didn't see the result.

What impact will it have if something that has no actual combat effect is sent to the court?
Yu Dayou thought about it, and Wei Guangde naturally knew that if he wanted to repay his merits, he had to make achievements first, and there must be a justifiable victory, so that the court felt that the money was worth it.

The purpose of Wei Guangde's meeting with the messenger was naturally to ask about the situation in Datong and the detailed process of Yu Dayou's chariot battalion fighting the Tartars in the border town, so as to consider how to deal with the matter.

Now Wei Guangde feels more and more that he seems to be able to serve as the chief minister, and it seems that many of the things he participates in are related to the Ministry of War.

Forget it, don't think so much.

Even if he holds the position of Minister of the Ministry of War, the family's military registration will not be considered cancelled. If he can upgrade the hereditary hundred households to the hereditary thousand households, that is the goal.

At that time, even if the job is with the big brother, if you don't live up to it, you can sneak into the guard, and you will have a meal no matter how bad you are.

Military membership does not affect one's own family becoming a landlord and gentry.

At this time, the maid beside Xu Jianglan came over to remind him that it was getting late, so please go back to the house early to rest.

Wei Guangde put away Yu Dayou's letter, got up and walked out of the study to the bedroom.

The next day, Wei Guangde returned home from the Imperial Academy at noon, which was already scheduled.

In the flower hall of the outer courtyard, Wei Guangde met the messenger from Datong, Yu Dayou's servant.

At first glance at the person, this person has dark skin, he doesn't look like a military household in Datong, but looks like a person from the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so I asked curiously.

"Chen You, a humble officer, has been following the general as a personal soldier when he was in Fujian, and now he is the general banner of the Datong Army Battalion."

The man replied after saluting Wei Guangde.

"Oh, you have always been General Yu's personal soldier?"

Wei Guangde nodded upon hearing this, motioning for him to sit on the stool next to him and talk.

"Is General Yu okay in Datong?"

Wei Guangde didn't bother to ask them how these personal soldiers got to Datong, presumably it was also arranged by Lu Bing at that time.

Afterwards, Chen You briefly told Wei Guangde about Yu Dayou's experience after arriving in Datong.

It has to be said that those who are capable will not worry about food wherever they go.

After the official document of distributing Yu Dayou arrived in Datong, Li Wenjin saw that Yu Dayou, the general soldier of Zhejiang Province, was actually dealt with by the court this time. Although he didn't know how Yu Dayou got into such trouble, he knew that Yu Dayou was capable of leading troops to fight.

So after Yu Dayou and his party arrived in Datong, they were received by Li Wenjin. As for the distribution, it was considered a distribution when they arrived here. Could it be that they really want to get a town chief soldier to be a small soldier?

Yu Dayou was also a restless person. After resting in the yamen for a few days, he proposed to Governor Li Wenjin that he wanted to go out and look around Datong.

Yu Dayou's request was naturally approved by Li Wenjin, and he began to carefully inspect the guards and border forts in Datong, and inquired from the soldiers at the bottom about the fighting methods of the Tartars.

With the introduction of the low-level soldiers, although it was the first time for Yu Dayou to go to the north, he probably understood the main reason why the border town suffered from the Tartar cavalry's poor record in recent years.

He was already used to being a soldier, so he naturally didn't want to be idle at home, so he thought about how to narrow the difference in combat power between the Ming army and the Tartars, and that's how the unicycle chariot appeared.

"I read General Yu's letter saying that the one-wheeled chariot was used in the border fort, and the effect was very good. What's going on?"

Knowing the ins and outs, Wei Guangde asked curiously again.

If there is a convincing record, the unicycle can still be mass-produced to equip troops, but Wei Guangde didn't think about how this thing actually fights.

How much combat power can a unicycle increase?
Wei Guangde expressed doubts about this.

"Lord Wei, when Governor Li dispatched a force from his standard battalion to be commanded by my lord, they set up camp outside the city for training, and at the same time they were also exploring the method of using unicycle chariots.

At that time, more than a thousand people from the Tazi Division wanted to attack Niuxin Fort on Youwei East Road in Datong. The news came that our army was not far from Niuxin Fort, and our troops had nearly a thousand people. In addition, Niuxin Fort also stationed Youwei There are three hundred households under its jurisdiction, so my adults sent people to report to Datong City, and at the same time took us up to meet the enemy. "

Chen You introduced the encounter with the Tartars. In fact, it was not so much a fight as the Tartars were a little hesitant when they saw the strange attack sequence of the Ming army, so they chose to run away.

At that time, the Tartars were besieging Niuxin Fort, and a large number of Tartar cavalry circled around Niuxin Fort looking for defensive loopholes, and at the same time shot dense arrows into the fort from time to time to cause damage.

After Yu Dayou's chariot battalion arrived, they directly used their wheeled chariots to attack the Tatar cavalry in a fan-shaped formation. When the Tartars entered the range of firearms, they parked and attacked with the Franco cannon and bird guns on the wheelbarrow. A team of 200 cavalry roamed left and right to protect.

The chariots are closely connected, and the Tartar cavalry cannot break in alone.

The unicycle chariot is light, no matter how the Tartars move left or right, or face-on impact, they always defend against the enemy from the front. When the Tartars shoot arrows and rain, the soldiers hide behind the baffle to load ammunition, and use the Fran cannon to quickly reload and strike. .

While the Tartars attacked by dividing their troops, the weaker side would be attacked and restrained by the Ming cavalry.

At this time, the Ming army in Niuxin Fort also began to gather under the city to help out the fort. The Tartars saw that they could not find a way to defeat the enemy in a short time and chose to retreat.

After listening to Chen You's words, Wei Guangde closed his eyes and thought for a while, probably trying to understand the scene of the battle.

The strength of the two sides is actually relatively close. Yu Dayou may have a thousand troops under his command, and there are two hundred horse troops. This group of troops can be regarded as a strong army even if it is placed in a border town.

This style of play reminded Wei Guangde of those chariots he saw in Xuanfu.

The only difference is that the attack and retreat of the equipment made by Zeng Xian are somewhat troublesome, and they need to be pulled by pack horses. Although they can also be pushed by human power, they can only maneuver for short distances.

If a small group of Ming troops fought against the Tartars, it seemed that the unicycle would have some miraculous effects.

If there is a big war, this unicycle can only play a role in a local battlefield. After all, the cover of a unicycle is not as good as that of a four-wheeled chariot. Wei Guangde has carefully studied the use of that kind of chariot. The law is similar.

The tanks at that time were not just accompanying the infantry, serving as firepower points and shields.

And in the frontier army at this time, they also treated the batch of large chariots in the same way, accompanying the infantry to move, forming a camp in wartime to prevent the Tartar cavalry from raiding.

However, the difference from a tank is that it can be used as a defensive tool but not an offensive weapon. Unless the commander is superior in strategy, surround the Tartars and block them with a car array, there is a chance to wipe out the enemy.

And Yu Dayou's invention can be regarded as a light tank with a little defensive power. The point is that this thing is light and can be used in offense.