The secret guard leader Su Changsheng came to Lingyun Hall to meet Su He with several bamboo tubes.
"Your Highness King Qin, this is what we have reported from the hidden guards in various areas of the Ming Dynasty.
Based on all aspects of intelligence, the Ming Dynasty almost mobilized the entire army this time, mobilizing the maximum amount of troops it could mobilize.
In particular, more than half of the Guan Ning Army in Liaodong was mobilized.
The Ming Dynasty wants to destroy us in one go."
Su He looked at the intelligence compiled by Su Changsheng.
He saw that more than half of the Guanning Army in Liaodong was wiped out, and Sun Chengzong who was stationed in Liaodong was sent to Shaanxi by Emperor Chongzhen.
Ming Dynasty and Hou Jin Dynasty now have some tacit understanding, both overtly and covertly.
The Ming Dynasty will not unite with the Hou Jin Dynasty now, because the opposition force of the Ming Dynasty court is too great.
But Ming Dynasty and Hou Jin Dynasty must have reached some tacit agreement.
There was no Battle of the Daling River between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty this year, the fourth year of Chongzhen.
This is obviously Hou Jin's defense line shrinking and reducing the pressure on Ming Dynasty.
Huang Taiji is an extremely smart person.
In this period of history in later generations, whenever the Ming Dynasty had hope of annihilating Li Zicheng and other rebels.
The army of the Later Jin Dynasty would invade the Central Plains, forcing the Ming court to abandon Li Zicheng and others and return to deal with the Iron Cavalry of the Later Jin Dynasty.
Huang Taiji saw the danger of their force, and by reducing the pressure on the Ming Dynasty, he allowed the Ming Dynasty to concentrate on destroying them.
Huang Taiji wanted to let the snipe and the clam compete, so that he could reap the benefits of the fisherman.
Su He could see Huang Taiji's sinister thoughts.
But he had no choice. Huang Taiji was beyond his reach, so he had to overcome the difficulties in front of him first.
Su He continued to look at Su Changsheng's report.
The Ming Dynasty rarely took action against the gentry and carried out several anti-corruption campaigns.
The person in charge of this work was Xu Guangqi, the new cabinet minister of the Ming Dynasty.
He collected nearly 10 million taels of mineral taxes in Jiangnan, which directly made the Ministry of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty richer.
The Ming Dynasty sent 500,000 troops, divided into four groups to encircle and suppress them.
The road that made Su He feel the most dangerous was the Guan Ning Cavalry in Shaanxi.
Before Sun Chuanting's Qin Army and Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army were established, the Guan Ning Cavalry was the strongest force in the Ming Dynasty.
This is the Guan Ning cavalry that is still in its prime and has not been hit by Hou Jin many times.
The day before yesterday, Yang Qianhe of the Military Intelligence Bureau reported on the situation in Shaanxi.
A more detailed introduction to the situation of the Guanning Army in Shaanxi.
Guan Ning's infantry, Su He is confident of defeating them.
Eighteen thousand Guanning cavalry are really too difficult to handle.
As the cavalry increases in scale, the lethality caused will increase exponentially.
When Li Dazhuang's Guards Division was in Sichuan, it was almost defeated by a thousand cavalry.
There were basically no horses under the Qin Palace. Now there are only more than 2,000 cavalry, and the mounts are basically southwestern horses.
These people are no match for Guan Ning's cavalry.
To attack the cavalry in Suhe, you still have to rely on infantry, which is very disadvantageous.
If the cavalry can't fight, they can run away, but Su He's men can't catch up at all.
Even if Guan Ning's cavalry can't deal with it, regular troops equipped with rifled guns.
They focus on the logistics and transportation troops, cutting off the army's food supply, and also causing the frontline army to collapse.
Huddle in the fortress and use the terrain to block the cavalry.
Cavalry cannot attack cities, mountain battles and sieges.
This option is no longer within Su He's consideration.
The Ming army hoped he would do this even more.
The main purpose of the Ming army was to besiege them.
Just like how they dealt with Hou Jin, they blocked Hou Jin in the Liaodong area through numerous pass fortresses.
Later Jin could expand to Mongolia through the grasslands.
Trapped Shu and them in Sichuan and Hanzhong, the direction of expansion can only be like that of Tubo.
The resources there are not as good as Yunnan. This is an area that must be recovered after unification, not a priority area to occupy.
It really allowed the Ming army to complete the encirclement, and Suhe fell into a disadvantage as a whole, becoming a prince in a corner of peace.
Without the origin and market of raw materials, the ongoing industrialization cannot be completed.
Suhe wants to maintain the continued development of this team.
The only choice is to fight against the various Ming armies of the Ming Dynasty before completing the encirclement.
Only by taking the initiative and opening a hole in a certain direction can we hope to break the situation.
Suhe decided on the future strategic direction.
He put down the information and said to Su Changsheng:
"Xu Guangqi shed his last drop of blood for the Ming Dynasty.
This kind of official who was loyal to the Ming Dynasty was rejected by almost everyone in the Ming Dynasty officialdom.
The officials of the Ming Dynasty are already rotten."
Su Changsheng nodded and said: "Your Highness, King Qin, it is now basically confirmed that the Ming Dynasty will launch an attack on us before next year's spring plowing."
"Ergou, activate our secret hidden in the Ming army.
This Ming Dynasty's encirclement and suppression of us will be Ming Dynasty's last encirclement and suppression campaign.
We won, but Ming Dynasty did not have enough power in a short time to encircle and suppress us again.
If we are given a few more years to develop, the Ming Dynasty will definitely not have the strength to encircle and suppress us."
Su Ho ordered Su Changsheng to activate the secret hidden in the Ming army.
There are two types of people in Anzi.
Orphans they rescued and trained.
Most of these people are at the bottom and can only grasp some superficial information.
There are also some hidden people who hate the Ming Dynasty or certain people in the imperial court. These people had no choice before.
Su He gave them another option so that these people could obtain higher-level intelligence.
Yang Qianhe, director of the Military Intelligence Bureau, is a representative of this kind of person.
Su He summoned Li Fengming, Wen Jingming, Wang Zhongce, Qian Mingyi and others at Lingyun Palace.
He discussed with everyone how they should respond to the Ming Dynasty's encirclement and suppression.
These people all work in Wenhua Hall or Wuying Hall.
After hearing Su He's order, they quickly arrived at Lingyun Hall.
Su He showed the information obtained by Su Changsheng to everyone.
He also stated his strategy and asked these people for their opinions.
Su He finally concluded:
"We must fight this war, there is no way to solve the problem by avoiding it.
Please tell me your opinions on how to fight the key."
Wen Jingming briefly read the information and put forward his own opinions.
"Your Highness the King of Qin, the quality of our army is much better than that of the Ming Dynasty.
The morale of the soldiers is very high, coupled with the complete reward and punishment system, the soldiers are not afraid of fighting.
These people want to protect their families and the land assigned to them.
They will also have high morale and burst into powerful combat effectiveness.
In the face of the Ming army's encirclement and suppression, we must not compromise.
Whether we can win this time is closely related to the support of the people.
We have just conquered Sichuan, and now we have allocated land to the farmers. As long as they don't show signs of failure, these farmers are our die-hard supporters.
But their minds are also erratic. If we choose to defend, the Ming Dynasty will be able to concentrate its superior forces and break through some important cities.
The gap in military strength reaches a certain level, and even with our advanced firearms, we cannot defend some cities.
In the eyes of these farmers, that's a sign of our failure.
Even if they abandon the land, they will never continue to cultivate it.
We must take the initiative to keep the Ming army out of our borders.
Farmers who have just finished allocating their fields and are extremely psychologically fragile cannot be affected."
Wen Jingming supported Su He's ideas from the perspective of soldiers and farmers.
Li Fengming looked at the map and said:
"Your Highness King Qin, we must not sit still and wait for death.
This time is different from the past. If you choose to defend, you will fall into the Ming Dynasty's conspiracy.
My opinion is that the north and south should bloom and keep the center line.
The current intelligence is not perfect, and when the frontline intelligence is compiled, I will lead the staff to come up with a comprehensive combat deployment."
Su He heard that Li Fengming's thoughts were somewhat different from his.
He planned to focus on the northern front, while Li Fengming fought on both the northern and southern fronts.
"Jingming, you immediately ask the military commander to mobilize the soldiers and instill in them the idea of defending their own land."
"yes."
When Wen Jingming received Su He's order, he saluted with a military salute.
Wang Zhongce saw Su He looking at him and said confidently: "In the past two years, food has been abundant, and the development of industry and commerce has also led to an increase in tax revenue.
We have nearly 300,000 troops on register, and with our current reserves, we can fully afford them.
Even because of the war, the tax revenue and grain production under the Qin Palace were reduced by half.
As long as there is no massive conscription, we can survive five years."
Wang Zhongce calculated the time limit. Except for soldiers and heavy manual workers, every common person could only drink one bowl of gruel a day.
If grain production is halved, the current grain reserves will be enough to last five years.
This phenomenon is almost impossible to happen, and winter wheat has been planted on trial.
Even if the winter wheat production is only half of the normal wheat production, it can still make up for the possible decrease in grain production due to the impact of the war.
As far as he knows, the output of winter wheat is basically the same as that of summer wheat. As long as there are no natural disasters, there will be no starvation.
Qian Mingyi finally introduced the situation of each factory.
"His Royal Highness the King of Qin, as long as the Qinling Mountains of Sichuan are not lost, we can guarantee the origin of the factory's main raw materials and transport the products to Hanzhong and Chongqing.
We now have sufficient coal and iron resources, workers are highly motivated, and the output of weapons and ammunition will not be affected."
Su He listened to Wang Zhongce and Qian Mingyi's introduction.
He has sufficient money, food and weapons, which is his greatest confidence in facing the Ming army.
Boom, boom, boom.
There was a knock on the door outside Lingyun Palace.
Su He signaled the guards around him to open the door of Lingyun Palace.
Su He's secretary, Jiang Zhiyu, walked in with a stack of papers.
Jiang Zhiyu finished handling all the affairs of the salt company last month and returned to Hanzhong.
"Your Highness King Qin, this is the message from the communication tower.
It snowed heavily some time ago, causing messages from communication towers to be delayed a little longer than usual."
After Jiang Zhiyu finished speaking, he handed the news he had compiled to Su He.
"Xu Chengming in Guizhou and Hong Chengchou in Shaanxi are not at all restless now."
Su He turned around and looked at Li Fengming.
"Mr. Li, your staff department has arranged for soldiers from the new barracks to enlist in the army.
The Guards Division, the 2nd Division, the 4th Division, the 5th Division, and the 6th Division were all promoted to corps-level units.
I will let military students graduate early and serve as officers in these new units."
Su He advanced the expansion of the army and recruited many new soldiers in Sichuan.
Let the recruit battalion be responsible for training these new recruits.
But only the First Army and the Third Army were promoted.
He had previously prepared for the Third Army to take Shaanxi, but he did not expect the Ming Dynasty to take the initiative.
In order to cope with the encirclement and suppression of the Ming Dynasty, the only choice was to expand the size of the army in advance.
Fortunately, they are a pure firearms army. Even if the soldiers only train for a month, they can go directly to the battlefield.
Now the soldiers in the new camp have been trained for five or six months and have no problem going to the battlefield.
Li Fengming took a notepad and recorded Su He's arrangements.
The staff will make adjustments to the army based on Su He's ideas.
Su He knocked on the table with his hand and said: "The Ming Dynasty has taken action, and we are now starting to mobilize for war.
All soldiers have finished their vacation and all units have been mobilized to designated positions in advance.
The factory operates three shifts of production, with people taking breaks and machines not taking breaks.
The guard regiment sent out a teaching team to teach all junior officers the new infantry drill."
After Su He issued the order for war mobilization, he left Jiang Zhiyu and Li Fengming behind.
He looked at Jiang Zhiyu who looked expectant and ordered:
"Jiang Zhiyu, after this period of inspection, I am confident in your ability to do things.
I now appoint you as the Minister of Logistics Department of the Dudu Mansion to comprehensively manage the logistics and weapons and equipment of the army.
You must ensure that no major problems arise in military logistics.
If an army is defeated due to logistical problems, you will bear the main responsibility."
Jiang Zhiyu said excitedly: "Your Highness, King Qin, please rest assured that I will definitely do a good job in the logistics work."
"You should set up the logistics department as soon as possible. For arsenals related to military industry, the logistics department will send military representatives to ensure the quality of military products in the factory."
After Jiang Zhiyu received the order, he bowed and exited Lingyun Palace.
Su He and Li Fengming discussed his battle strategy on the northern and southern fronts.
Study troop movements in more detail.
…………………………
Su He personally saw off the military academy students who graduated early.
Most of these students do not have as good opportunities as their predecessors.
Except for a few talented students, there is no way to directly serve as division-level officers.
Most of these students are regimental and battalion-level officers.
There are these officers who have been trained in military schools, and then some elite veterans are removed.
The recruits trained in the recruit camp under their leadership can form basic combat effectiveness.
After fighting several battles, those who adapt to the battlefield will become elite soldiers.
Su He looked at the students walking out of the military academy with their graduation certificates.
I don't know how many of these students will survive, and how many of them will grow into independent generals.
He can only teach these students basic knowledge and provide them with a platform to display their abilities.
The battlefield is the best teacher. Real gold is not afraid of fire. I hope they can emerge with more talents.
…………………………
Qin Shanshui looked at his pregnant wife and lively and active daughter.
"Yun'er, take care of your mother, your father and I are going to the battlefield again."
Qin Yun doesn't want his father to leave, but she knows the mission of a soldier.
She took out a glass bottle filled with golden liquid from her pocket.
"Dad, take this bottle of allicin with you. It can save lives at critical moments."
Qin Shanshui solemnly put the glass bottle in his pocket.
He touched Qin Yun's head, turned around and left the house.
This time, as an instructor, he needs to go to several units.
Teach these officers who are new to rifled guns the newly compiled infantry drill code.
This infantry drill manual changes some things based entirely on the performance of rifled guns.
He estimated that he would not be able to return home again before the war was over.
New Year's Eve is only ten days away, and I can't spend this year's New Year's Eve with my wife and daughter.
Qin Shanshui took a carriage and rushed to Baoji Mansion.
He was going to the Third Army's camp at Dashanguan.
The carriage was speeding along the cement road.
Handlebar is a very talkative person.
He saw Qin Shanshui dressed in military uniform and chatted with him.
"I am old and blind, but looking at your clothes, I can tell that you are an officer.
My third son is also a soldier, and the daughter-in-law he brought back from Sichuan a few days ago is pregnant.
I specifically asked for leave to go home to see my wife, but within two days, I was called away by my superiors.
You are about to fight a big war again."
Qin Shanshui responded with a smile: "Old man, we have confidentiality regulations. I will not disclose any information to anyone."
The handlebar type chuckled.
"Your situation is exactly the same as that of my third child.
I won't be a bad person, so you just listen to my nagging.
The atmosphere in the market was very solemn, and I saw many people starting to stock up on food.
We ordinary people are not blind, so of course we can see it, and we have to prepare for a big war again.
It has only been two years since we had a peaceful life, and those dog officials of the Ming Dynasty will not let us live in peace again.
You must win the battle and teach them a lesson.
We can still live comfortably under the rule of King Qin. If those people really come back, we, the common people, will be the most unlucky."
Qin Shanshui listened to the nagging of the carriage as the carriage drove quickly on the cement road.
In the evening, they rushed to Dashan Pass in Baoji Prefecture.
Qin Shanshui got off the bus at Dashanguan, which was his destination.
When he walked into the camp dressed in this outfit, he was immediately scrutinized by the military police.
The guard regiment logo on Qin Shanshui's shoulder insignia is completely different from the regular army uniform logo.
After the military police confirmed his identity, they took him to the target camp.
As soon as he arrived at the camp, he saw Master Zhu with a loud voice mobilizing the soldiers' thoughts.
"Brothers, whether you are from Shaanxi or Sichuan, you all belong to the people of His Highness King Qin.
We all belong to the descendants of Yan and Huang, and we all share the same ancestor.
Now everyone's land has been allocated to their families, and we have our own land.
Now the Ming gentry and their lackeys are unwilling to lose their land.
Heavy troops came to surround us and take away the land that belongs to us.
They took away the land and killed your parents, wives and children who were cultivating the land.
The gentry and their lackeys will snatch away your wives and children and turn them into slaves.
Most of you have experienced these things, and I believe no one would want to experience them a second time.
Pick up the guns in our hands and let out our roar at them.
I - don't - answer - yes."
When the soldier heard his story, he looked extremely excited.
They shouted: "I won't agree."
Master Zhu then shouted: "I will defend the land that belongs to us to the death."
The soldiers also shouted loudly, and some of their voices were hoarse.
"Swear to the death to defend the land that belongs to us."
Qin Shanshui listened, and he felt a little hot in his eyes.
A majestic general came here, accompanied by many generals.
When Qin Shanshui saw this general, he immediately saluted with a military salute.
"Meet Mr. Baoji Hou, Qin Shanshui, the company commander of the humble guard regiment. Under the orders of His Highness King Qin, he is responsible for teaching the grassroots officers of the Third Army to learn new infantry drills."
Su Hu patted Qin Shanshui on the shoulder and said in surprise: "I've been waiting for you. All members of our Third Army have been equipped with rifled guns.
The Governor's Office only issued a few infantry drills, but the officers still had many questions they didn't understand."
When Qin Shanshui heard Su Hu's words, he clasped his fists.
"The Marquis of Baoji loves you. I'm not that capable, but I will try my best to teach these officers what I know."
"Humble, I know your name."
Su Hu ordered all officers of the company and above to form a platoon and listen to Qin Shanshui's guidance.
Their third army may start a war with Ming Dynasty at any time.
Su Hu had no other choice but to give company-level officers priority to master the new infantry drill.
These officers then lead the soldiers under their command.
Learning new infantry drills in this way will be many times faster.
Qin Shanshui agreed with Su Hu's suggestion that it would be simpler to only teach officers above the company level, as these officers were basically literate.
In the howling cold wind, Qinshan sailors held rifled guns.
He loaded the buckshot quickly without using a ramrod.
The lead bullet was put into the gun chamber. He shook it slightly with his hand, and the lead bullet slid to the bottom of the gun chamber.
He immediately leveled the gun and pulled the trigger.
Qin Shanshui fired eleven rounds of lead bullets in one minute, and the gun hit the bull's-eye.
This pistol skill directly shocked the officers who came to learn it, and each of them was convinced by Qin Shanshui.
Seeing that they were convinced, Qin Shanshui told them the techniques of using rifled guns.
"The new types of gunpowder used in rifled guns have less gunpowder residue. As long as the amount of powder is properly controlled, there will be basically no gunpowder residue left in the barrel.
This reduces the need for a brush to clean the gun bore and saves a step.
As long as you are trained and skilled, aiming can be done by hand feeling, and you don't need to aim for a long time with a crosshair.
An extremely skilled person like me can shoot more than ten rounds a minute with a rifled gun.
Ordinary soldiers who have just come out of the recruit camp can fire five or six rounds a minute without any problem.
The firing intervals of rifled guns are short, so there is no need to line up many rows and attack in waves.
Arranging rifled guns in one or two rows can ensure sufficient firepower density.
The rifled gun is still front-loaded, and you have to stand to complete the loading.
It has similar tactics to the previous muskets, except that its power and range and rate of fire are increased.
As long as you master the performance of the rifled gun, it is not difficult to learn the new version of the infantry drill."
After Qin Shanshui introduced the rifled guns, he trained these officers according to the new infantry drill.
In just seven days, these officers mastered the new infantry drills, returned to their respective armies, and began to train the soldiers under their command.
…………………………
"Your Highness King Qin, this is the current trend of the Ming army."
In the Wuying Hall of the Qin Palace, Chief of Staff Li Fengming introduced the current situation.
Su He looked at the map in front of him, which benefited from the cement roads that now extend in all directions and the post offices and inns scattered throughout the ruling area.
The detailed information ahead has been delivered to the Governor's Mansion via post office.
Li Fengming led the staff of the General Staff Department to produce a map of the current situation and specific strategic actions overnight.
"Your Highness the King of Qin, the Mingjun who surrounded us totaled 500,000 people.
Counting the corvee laborers, the Ming Dynasty claimed to have an army of one million.
In Shaanxi, Hong Chengchou mobilized all 80,000 guardsmen.
The Guan Ning Army led by Sun Chengzong and the Ming Army from Shandong and North Zhili totaled 120,000 people.
Among them, the Guan Ning cavalry led by Zu Dashou, Wu Xiang, and Song Wei need our attention the most.
In the direction of Huguang Xunyang Mansion and Jingzhou, there is the Huguang Ming Army led by Hou Xun.
Xunyang Mansion is led by one hundred thousand Ming troops led by You Shiwei and Zuo Liangyu.
Jingzhou is composed of 130,000 white-armed troops led by Chen Hongfan and Qin Liangyu, the commander-in-chief of Henan Province.
In the direction of Yunnan-Guizhou are the Ming troops from Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan-Guizhou, totaling 70,000 Ming troops.
The Ming army attacked us in four groups, with a total strength of 500,000.
We include the new soldiers we recruited after taking Sichuan.
There are a total of 250,000 people in the land and sea armies, of which 150,000 are new recruits."
Su He looked at the situation map in front of him. They didn't have enough troops, but they were an army with all firearms.
Hanzhong has basically realized the industrialization of water power, and the industry is competing with agriculture. The difference in military strength is only doubled, which is not too difficult.
He set his sights on Shaanxi. Eighteen thousand cavalry were the main threat.
"Your Highness the King of Qin, the strategy proposed by our general staff is to capture Shaanxi and Yunnan-Guizhou.
Shaanxi is short of food, and the host and guest armies are at odds, so it is very suitable for counterintuitive tactics.
If we only attack the Guan Ning army and not the other Ming armies, it will also lead to the suspicion of our own Ming army.
The Ming army in Yunnan and Guizhou is the weakest. After taking Yunnan and Guizhou, we can surround Huguang and expand our sphere of influence to Guangxi.
Yunnan and Guizhou are mountainous, which is conducive to defense.
There are more native people in Yunnan and Guizhou, and these natives can rule more easily than the gentry.
The natives are afraid of power but not moral. As long as we conquer the natives with strong strength, we can rule the Yunnan-Guizhou region.
Huguang is in a battleground with four battles, and it is difficult to defend even if it is defeated.
The Ming army in Huguang is also the least willing to fight, and we have a geographical advantage, making it easier to defend."
Su He learned more about Li Fengming's strategic plan.
He agreed with the strategy of attacking on both northern and southern fronts and immediately deployed troops and generals according to this strategy.
