back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 67
Wang Shao, who was eagerly studying at the Royal Military Academy, suddenly received a secret order. Lu Chengqi clearly told him in the handbook that he was given [-] musketeers, and asked him to immediately take [-] cavalry and [-] foot soldiers to Youzhou City. , Waiting for an opportunity to assist the frontier army to beat the invading Khitans.Originally, Lu Chengqi wanted to equip the front of the rifle with a bayonet, but due to the rush of work by the military inspector day and night, there was only time to produce parts on the assembly line, and there was no time to make a standard bayonet.And the bayonet that doesn't use steel is useless, and Lu Chengqi doesn't like it either.In desperation, the Musketeers could only be equipped with a simple knife for the time being.

Wang Shao was both surprised and delighted. He had never actually been on the battlefield, but Lu Chengqi entrusted him with such an important battle. Doesn't it mean that Lu Chengqi trusts him and plans to reuse him?
After he received the secret order and the soldier talisman, he rushed back to the Forbidden Army camp overnight, and Di Qing had already assembled the army and handed it over to him.At the same time, tell him the three-stage shooting technique that the 500-man musketeer team has trained these days.Wang Shao had only seen the first rifle made by the Military Weapons Supervision, and he was still skeptical about the practicality of this weapon.

But Lu Chengqi gathered the crystallization of the top craftsmen in the country, and made the Hongxiang-style rifle, how could it be an ordinary one?If it weren't for the limited production capacity, Lu Chengqi would have liked to immediately equip the imperial army with two-thirds rifles.It's a pity that this idea can only be thought about before there is no large-scale rifle workshop.

First, steel output from blast furnaces is unstable.The quality of iron ore and the quality of coal converted into coke, these top craftsmen have not been able to grasp it well.After all, this is an earthen blast furnace, and it is not bad to be able to tap steel.Not long ago, due to improper operation, several craftsmen were scalded by molten iron.Lu Chengqi ordered to appease those craftsmen who lost the ability to work, and the court would give enough money to let these craftsmen spend the rest of their lives safely.Lu Chengqi repeatedly emphasized the awareness of safety, and even made people sew heat-resistant clothes that are not easy to catch fire. The outside is sewn with animal skin and the inside is cotton, which can well insulate the heat.But the heat outside the blast furnace was too strong, so Lu Chengqi even asked people to make ice with saltpeter and boil sugar water to cool the craftsmen.

Now every craftsman has an apprentice, at least one or two, as many as five or six, and they are all learning to make new things.Although the division of labor proposed by Lu Chengqi has been promoted to a certain extent, in Lu Chengqi's eyes, a lot of labor is still wasted.

The Military Weapons Supervision has also expanded its scale again and again. Now the Military Weapons Supervision employs more than 500 people, almost all of whom are craftsmen.Except for the vigilant inspectors and the officials of the Ministry of Industry who help the craftsmen eat and drink, they are all technicians.Lu Chengqi set up a complete training plan for talents. When talents were discovered, officials from the Ministry of Industry were required to continue to follow up to ensure the creativity of the craftsmen themselves.

To put it bluntly, the Military Weapons Supervision is now a logistics department, and the craftsmen of the original Military Weapons Supervision have been passed down from generation to generation, and are responsible for making cold weapons.The military supervisor is now located in Chang'an City, specializing in the production of cold weapons, bows and arrows, swords, spears, saddles, horseshoes, armor and so on.The finished products are sent to the Forbidden Army first, then to the Frontier Army, and finally to the Xiang Army.The Military Weapons Supervisor outside Chang'an City is actually the Military Weapons Invention Department, specializing in the research of gunpowder and gunpowder.

This is just the logistical work of weapons, as well as the collection of food and grass.In the past, whenever there was a big war, the officials of the Ministry of Households secretly had fun, and they could do everything in terms of food and pay.Now that Lu Chengqi is cracking down on corruption, they restrained themselves a little.What's more, Lu Chengqi ordered to use the debit and credit bookkeeping method, so they can't do anything with the account books. In addition, the inspectors perform monthly routine inspections, even if they have crooked thoughts, they can't do anything. Send it to the three armies.

Lu Chengqi secretly ordered the Minister of the Household Department, Lin Zhenzhong, to prepare food and pay for [-] troops in March, and also ordered him not to make any announcements to ensure the secrecy of the march.There are quite a few Khitan spies in Dashun, if they find out this news, not only will the [-]-strong army not be able to make a surprise soldier, but there is also the danger of being wiped out by the Khitan in a field battle.

Lin Zhenzhong was also considered a capable person, quietly took out the food and salaries of the original Xiang army, and sent them to the imperial army barracks in batches.It also includes fried noodles "invented" by Lu Chengqi. Three to five catties of fried noodles can guarantee the amount of dry food for individual soldiers, and they can be eaten with water. The taste is also good, and it is not easy to go bad.

Before the imperial army set off, Lu Chengqi went to the imperial army camp in person, summoned Wang Shao secretly, and said, "Commander Wang, you have three missions here. One is to send the people in the wild along the way to the city. The Khitans use war to raise opportunities for war; second, inform the city guards of Youzhou to guard the city strictly and not go out to fight; third, you lead the army to watch the battle from afar and wait for opportunities. If the Khitans are defeated, you will beat the dog who is in the water; The Khitan retreated relatively neatly, so don't chase them. You are a general, and you know this truth better than me. There are some poor bandits who don't chase after them, but it depends on the situation. There is also a saying, "It is better to chase the poor bandits with remaining bravery, not for fame." Learn Overlord'."

Seeing that Lu Chengqi's logistics and other things were all done for him, Wang Shao felt inexplicably moved and said, "The final general will live up to His Majesty's high expectations, and he must show the prestige of the imperial army!"

Lu Chengqi also repeatedly urged that the musketeers should be reused.He told Wang Shao the range and power of the Hongxiang rifle, and Wang Shao was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped: "If there are three thousand Musketeers, why are you afraid of Khitan Wanqi?"

Lu Chengqi also smiled wryly. The Hongxiang-style rifle was manufactured by gathering all the top craftsmen in the country. Although it is extremely powerful, the output has always been a bottleneck.Only more than ten guns can be manufactured every day. When will it be able to equip the whole country's army?Lu Chengqi can only increase the number of apprentices while stepping up the research and development of hydraulic machine tools.

Lu Chengqi smiled wryly and said: "The musketeers are not omnipotent, and their melee combat ability is too weak. If the cavalry rushed in front of them, or attacked from both wings, they would be defeated. Originally, I wanted to add a bayonet to the front of the rifle, but the battle waits for no one. Make a batch of rifles first before you can display your combat effectiveness. Wang Qing, you have only studied in the Royal Military Academy for a month, and you don’t know the battle mode of the Musketeers. This time, after entering the battle, you can’t interfere with the actions of the Musketeers. Letting them play on their own will definitely scare you! I can't wait to see those barbarians fleeing in embarrassment."

Wang Shao nodded and agreed, but he didn't know what he was thinking.Seeing that it was getting late, Lu Chengqi didn't say much, and encouraged Wang Shao, who was leading the army for the first time, and then let Wang Shao mount the horse and set off.

Taking advantage of the darkness, batches of imperial guards secretly withdrew from the camp. No one spoke in the darkness. Even the horses were tied with thick cloths on their hooves, and the horses had rings in their mouths, so they didn't make a sound.

Through observation, Lu Chengqi found that these forbidden troops, after more than a month of training by the officers of the Royal Military Academy, gradually became a bit like a strong army, and at least they managed to prohibit them.

Lu Chengqi hoped in his heart that this forbidden army could create miracles, and it didn't take much, just a small victory, so that the people of Dashun could get excited and give birth well.

The imperial army, like a black dragon, marched firmly and steadily towards the north. In the dark night, it seemed that there was a hidden murderous intent.A bloody battle seems to be brewing in the north...

Looking at the [-]-strong army, Lu Chengqi murmured to himself: "The speed of the ancient marching army is not flattering. Can you reach the city of Youzhou in half a month?"

There is a reason for Lu Chengqi's worry. The ancient official roads and post roads have been in disrepair for a long time, and it is even more difficult to move an inch in rainy days.In the official history, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were still a lot of troops in the whole country, but there was nothing to do with the Manchu Manchus, who had only tens of thousands of people, because it was not easy to deploy troops, and the roads were corrupt.There are no large troop carriers on the waterway, and there are as many pirates on the sea route as a cow's hair. Coupled with insufficient food and salaries, officers drink blood from soldiers, and the combat effectiveness and morale of the army are extremely low.If troops were transferred from Sichuan, it would take less than a year or so to go to Liaodong.

Lu Chengqi was also worried about this place. He was afraid that the [-] forbidden troops would march to the city of Youzhou by force. By that time, the Khitans had already plundered them and left...

(End of this chapter)