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

Chapter 808

On the third day of May, the fifth line of defense.

Under the planning of the Jingbian Army Zanhua, Yuanwanggou, Jingou, and Xiyuan outside Tongguan City were set up as three lines of defense, A, B, and C, respectively.

Yuanwanggou is more than 20 miles long. Except for the rough terrain, there are about [-] roads of various sizes. These roads that need to be defended are marked as No. [-], No. [-] and No. [-] respectively from north to south. No. [-] varies, and each number is divided into troops, and the responsibility falls to the individual.

Sun Chuanting had high hopes for the defense line of Yuanwanggou, and invested a total of 1 new troops, and most of the battalions from the three towns were also deployed here. In his plan, it would be best to hold this place and prevent thieves from entering the southern plateau.Even if the Yuanwanggou can't be defended, the forbidden ditch can be retreated in the wild, and if the forbidden ditch can't be defended, there is also the Xiyuan.

Of course, Xiyuan is the final bottom line, and thieves must not be allowed to detour to Ximen. Tongguan must have a three-dimensional defense line, and it cannot be an isolated city.

There are six battalions of the Shaanxi New Army, front, rear, left, right, middle, and heavy battalion. At this time, the one defending the No. [-] line of defense is the left battalion of the New Army with a thousand generals. Because the road is slightly wider, it may be a bandit One of the key attack points is also defended by guerrillas under the command of Gao Jie, the general soldier of Shaanxi.

The lack of pay for officers and soldiers in the hinterland is even more serious. Although the guerrilla has a guerrilla battalion, the actual number of battalions is only a thousand, and the firearms team and killer team in the battalion are not complete.

In the beginning, 26% of the Ming army was composed of firearms soldiers and [-]% of archers. In the [-]th year of Hongwu, it was stipulated that for every [-] soldiers, there should be [-] musketeers, [-] sword players, [-] archers, and [-] archers. Forty gunmen.

But because archery is a technical job, it requires a lot of physical aspects, making bows and arrows is not easy, and the rise of firearms, so the proportion of firearms in the Ming army is getting higher and higher. above.

The formation of the firearms team and the killer team of the Qi family army was also widely practiced in the towns of the Ming army. In Shaanxi, the firearms team has 12 people in each team, and there are ten bird gunners in it. However, due to the poor quality of the bird guns, Most of these bird gunners became three-eyed gunners.

The proportion of archers in the army has also decreased. Because of less drills and short pay, there are fewer people who can use strong bows.Also because of the lack of maintenance, the bows and arrows of each battalion are generally weak, and the arrows shot are not very threatening to the armored soldiers, so more and more archers like to use rockets.

The same is true for the battalion. Originally, the killer team included the team leader. The first team should have five archers and two rocket players. Now it has been reversed. The only ones in the battalion who can use strong bows are the guerrilla fighters with more than a hundred servants. .

In the camp, there are generally spearmen and archers, stickmen and archers, and now more and more people like to use palladium, because palladium can be used to shoot rockets from a distance, and it can also kill the enemy with it.

Of course, this made the organization messy. Although the individual combat capabilities of the new army are not as good as those of the battalion, over time, their role will still gradually give way to the new army.

The sky gradually brightened, and the noise gradually increased. Amidst the resounding wake-up call, the sergeants on watch put out the torches, yawned and changed shifts with everyone in the department, and some people dragged a few bloody corpses to the plain.

Last night the damn thieves sneaked into the No. [-] line of defense, but some of them were unlucky enough to step on a barbed wire, and even more unlucky to step on a buried mine. Fearful and at the same time quite relieved.

Landmines have been widely used in the long-term struggle between Shaanxi and the Mongols. Now, trigger mines are often used. Flint is used as the ignition device. When people step on it, the pulley drives the flint to rotate and rub to generate sparks, then ignites the fuse, and finally explodes.

At this time, the power of the landmines is not very great, and they often cannot kill people, but it is certain that they will paralyze the body.These are the masterpieces of the guard battalion. They are good at planting mines and firing rockets. I saw those night watch battalion soldiers happily dragging the corpses to the plateau.

In order to encourage the soldiers to fight the enemy bravely, Sun Du set up generous rewards, and these corpses allowed them to get a lot of rewards.

Not to mention those who can attack at night, but also the elite in the bandit camp, at least at the level of horsemen, not elite, how can they be seen at night?
This kind of military exploits is the favorite of the battalion soldiers. No, after the bandit who sneaked in last night was hit by a landmine, the rest immediately ran back in fright. The defense line was safe and sound, and some heads were left behind. Safety.

It's a pity that landmines are expensive and complicated to process, so they can only be used in a small area.

In the hustle and bustle, red streams flowed from the tents of the camps, cooking vehicles gathered on the plateau, and the smell of food was wafting. The new troops of the No. [-] defense line were busy eating, flatbread and broth, and big pots. Vegetables and even meat jars purchased from Xuanfu Town.

This meat porcelain pot is a good thing. The meat inside is cut into pieces with salt and various seasonings and mixed well. After a little frying, the strong fragrance spreads.

For the soldiers, such a breakfast is extremely rich, but many people are unwilling to eat it.

Since yesterday, more and more thieves have gathered on the opposite side. It seems that there will be a war today.Although the battalions of the new army had practiced for several months, many people were still restless like fifteen buckets when they were about to face a fierce battle.

This meal this morning will not be my last meal, right?

Seeing them, the camp soldiers who were eating next to them couldn't help but feel a little superior.

The new army was treated well and favored, which made the battalions of the towns feel jealous. In the past, when they marched and fought outside, they would eat rice and miscellaneous cakes, with a little hard salt and vinegar at most. If you can't even eat these, how can you eat the food these days?
The sumptuous meal satisfies everyone, but it is full of the new soldiers, so it is unavoidable that they are psychologically unbalanced. When they seize the opportunity at this time, they are all whispering and laughing.

But that being said, seeing so many thieves on the opposite side, which they had never seen before, made them a little apprehensive.

But compared to the new army, at least they have seen blood and fought many battles, so they are somewhat despised.

"I've never seen blood, no matter how well you practice, you're still a recruit."

Looking at the panic-stricken new troops, Han Kaihui, who rode his horse over from the plateau, thought thoughtfully.

Although he was satisfied with the line of defense, the new army was fighting for the first time, and there were many battalion soldiers who were used to fleeing to assist them. Therefore, Sun Chuanting was a little worried and asked the mercenaries to supervise the battle.

In the first battalion of the Jingbian Army, apart from Huang Wei, who was a guerrilla, led the First-class Army of the Second General Command to assist Governor Feng Shikong to guard Shangzhou, two second-class troops, each responsible for supervising a part of the defense line, and the rest of the First-class Second General Army. Sun Chuanting's side.

There are also a thousand hussars and chasseurs as rangers, who appear everywhere to fight at any time.

However, under Wu Zhengchun's suggestion, the cavalry hunters in the battalion still scattered into the defense lines to wait for an opportunity to shoot and kill the leader of the bandit army.

The hunting cavalry in the Jingbian Army used to be sharpshooters from various departments. Although they are all equipped with horses and riding guns at this time, each of them has at least two hand guns on the horse. exist.

Therefore, they can disperse into each line of defense and shoot and kill important figures of the bandit army.

However, they move freely and do not have to stay in one place exclusively.

The two second-class armies have to supervise the defense line of more than 20 miles, and the overall tasks are very heavy. Han Kaihui, the general Jing frontier army, is responsible for supervising the two places of No. [-] and No. [-], but Han Kaihui is mainly in charge of No. [-] No., the deputy general led two teams of soldiers to be in charge of No. A[-].

Their station is also a small fort on the nearby plateau, and the working and rest conditions are better than staying in the wild.

They also ate early. At this time, Zan Hua, Fu Wei, Zhen Fu and others from the headquarters were by Han Kaihui's side, and there was a guard, and two Zhen Fu soldiers followed. Wherever they went, the new troops who had eaten came With awe-inspiring gazes, many people even stood up to say hello, and showed reassuring expressions.

Although there are many thieves on the opposite side, but with the instructors around, everyone will not be afraid.

Walking in front of No. 23, Han Kaihui got off his horse, and the new army commander Qian and the battalion guerrillas who were in charge of the defense rushed up to meet him. Although the commander in front of him was handsome and handsome, he looked like a boy with a young face, but he was only [-] or [-] years old. He is not a big official, but he is the general of the Jingbian Army.

Both the Chief Qian of the New Army and the guerrillas of the battalion knew that it was not easy for anyone to occupy a high position in the Jingbian Army, even a random armor commander should not be underestimated.

They also inquired in private, this Han Bazong in front of him is a person who fought in the bloody battle of Songshan and outside the Great Wall, no matter whether he was a slave in the east or a prisoner in the north, he is extremely cruel, he can win and survive and get promoted, it can be seen that Boss Han is not simple .

And they also knew that Han Ba ​​always had a backer. He not only married the niece of Mr. Fu, the commander-in-chief of the Beijing camp, but also the younger brother of Mr. Zhong of the White Tiger Army.

The Zuoying new army, whose surname is Yang Qian, admired Han Kaihui a lot. Most of his inquiries were about Han Kaihui's past battles, and he was particularly interested in the Songshan battle.

The Guerrilla's surname is Gao, and he is interested in the affairs of Xuanfu Town. He also has careful thoughts, hoping to curry favor with Mr. Han, and immigrate to Xuanfu Town in the future, especially if his family members send him away first.

Although Shaanxi is good, it seems that it is better to send the family to Xuanfu Town or Duhufu.

When he was a small soldier in the past, Han Kaihui’s life was very simple. Once he was promoted, especially after he became general manager and helped Shaanxi, he felt that life became complicated. Too many people wooed him. Many people saw him as handsome, and they kept introducing him. The daughter and niece at home made Han Kaihui tireless.

He has already married a young lady from the Fu family, so how could he care about others?In particular, Mrs. Fu also came over with two personal maids as house maids, and he couldn't handle three women who were as fierce as tigers.

The same is true for Gao Guerzilla, who, overtly and secretly, sold his family's three daughters and five nieces to him. Han Kaihui was already a little afraid of seeing him.

Seeing that Gao Guerrilla seemed to have something to say at this time, Han Kaihui took out a pack of cigarettes, distributed a cigarette to Mr. Yang Qian and Gao Guerrilla, and said, "Go to Yuanpo to have a look."

Although Han Kaihui didn't smoke, he found that it was good to have a pack of cigarettes on him. Sure enough, Gao Guerrilla had forgotten what he wanted to say. He took the cigarettes and said in surprise: "It's a lot of Zong brand small cigarettes, Mr. Han Proud."

Nowadays, the habit of smoking is very common in the North of Daming, especially the Xuanfu Town Cigarette Factory is famous far and wide, producing big cigarettes and small cigarettes respectively, and the big cigarettes are Yunyan named by Yongning Houye, which belongs to the governor, governor, and department director , the object enjoyed by Bohou grade characters.

Small cigarettes are suitable for more groups, including Sergeant Brand, Lao Jiachang, Daba Zong, Gao Qian Zong, Mighty General, etc., but even so, the most common Sergeant brand small cigarettes, Gao Guerrilla dare not say every day purchase.

(End of this chapter)