The 30,000 elite troops who accompanied Xia Xun to the Western Regions were selected from the Beijing camp. This massive selection event was called "selecting the front" by the military officers and soldiers.【】
In the early Ming Dynasty, the officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp were indeed the elite of the country. Not only were their equipment far superior to that of the frontier army, but their combat effectiveness was also superior to that of the frontier army. From these hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, the 30,000 soldiers selected were naturally elite and strong.
General. On the battlefield, it does not mean that the army's absolute numerical superiority will guarantee victory. An elite force can completely defeat a large number with a small number and influence the situation of the battle.
Thirty thousand sharp soldiers, the leader of the hall is Saihazhi, a shoe official. When Zhu Di sent Xia Shizhi to attack Daning, he teamed up with Xia Xun to go first. The two were old acquaintances. When the army was about to leave, Xia Xun arrived.
At the military camp, Sehazhi received the notification and immediately led his generals to greet him. The two of them had fought side by side and were extremely happy to see each other again today. After exchanging pleasantries, they ran to the camp gate side by side.
The army is about to break camp and set off, and all the elites of the three armies have been assembled.
As soon as the two entered the camp, they were met by a group of neatly dressed light cavalry, wearing light cowhide armor and mandarin duck war robes. The mighty helmets were decorated with bright red tassels. They were filled with murderous intent and military majesty!
This army is an army that has actually fought a war. Not to mention the four-year peace period, these people have all participated in the war. Veterans and recruits who have spent their entire lives in battles have the same rein in their horses and stand in the same stand.
They were silent, but naturally there was a different aura coming out of them, it was a real murderous aura. It was just after the first snowfall, it was early morning, the weather was cold, but standing among them, the only thing you felt was their aura.
Full of murderous intent.
"My lord, these soldiers are elite soldiers who have fought hundreds of battles. You don't have to worry about riding, shooting, laws, military discipline, etc. They are proficient in food, shelter, transportation, walking, fighting, hiding, and ambush. These people are proficient in all skills.
Just adjust it and use it. As long as you get used to it a little, they will work together seamlessly."
The one who spoke was the deputy general Jing Feng on the other side of Xia Xun. Saihazhi was brave and good at fighting, but Yu'er, who was a big man, didn't know a lot of things. Therefore, the deputy general assigned to him was considered a Confucian general and was not complementary to him. Xiang Xia
When the poem introduced the situation of the thirty thousand elites selected, Sehazhi knew that he was poor at speaking, so he entrusted them all to him.
"Well, where's the rough weight?"
Xia Shi looked at the selected elite soldiers with satisfaction and asked Jing Feng again.
"In addition to the horses that the soldiers ride, there are also ten thousand horses prepared. Uh... this is already half of the horses in the Beijing camp!"
Xia Shi nodded, and Jing Feng added: "The tents, cotton-padded clothes, bedding, armor, weapons, arrows, gunpowder, and medicine are all ready, and they are transported by the soldiers and servants. As for the food and grass soldiers, they only carry three days of rations.
The prefectures and counties along the way are responsible for supplying the necessary supplies. If there are only 30,000 soldiers and horses, the Ganliang area can bear them, and there is no need to transport them from the capital, so there are not many things we need to transport, so we don’t have to waste too much time on the road."
Xia Shi smiled, shook his head and said, "Isn't the number of soldiers and servants more than our 30,000 elite soldiers?"
Jing Feng curled his lips without leaving any trace, and thought to himself: "Isn't this nonsense? In expeditions to fight, the number of soldiers and servants is always several times that of the soldiers. Does this man know anything about soldiers?" he thought to himself.
He didn't dare to say it, but he just said respectfully: "It's because we don't need to transport food and grass, so we don't need many soldiers and soldiers. The number of soldiers is only about ten thousand more than the soldiers!"
Xia Xun sighed: "I just know..."
He suddenly tightened the reins and said in a deep voice: "We don't want any servants, and only ten thousand soldiers are left to prepare them. Let them carry some things that are difficult for the soldiers to carry. All other items must be carried by the soldiers themselves."
, pick it up! Jing Feng said in surprise: "My lord, these are the elites selected from the Beijing camp. They are going to fight. Let them do these jobs..."
Xia Xun smiled and said: "Do you think I am overqualifying myself for my talents?"
Jing Feng hurriedly said: "I don't dare, I will say so"
Xia Xun interrupted him and said: "The Western Region is vast and sparsely populated. Do you think that once we get there, when a war breaks out, the logistics will be as convenient and timely as now? Each of our thirty thousand elite soldiers is equipped with a war horse.
, why do you think it is? To defend the city, why bother to select the best among the best in the capital camp? Once a war breaks out, they will ride outside and act as surprise troops.
By that time, field battles were just commonplace for them. It was nothing compared to guarding the city. When they were hungry, someone would bring food, and when they were thirsty, someone would bring water. They would take turns to go to the city to rest at night. If you were injured, someone would take you down to bandage your wounds and give them medicine. They were going
It’s the Western Regions! If the war really breaks out, it’s hard to see a human being in the Gobi desert for thousands of miles, so you have to learn how to carry all kinds of materials needed for combat and survival on your own. You have to figure out how to carry more materials, and you have to figure out how to bundle them.
You will not get lost when you are marching in a hurry. You must adapt to long-distance running under heavy load, camping, eating, taking medicine, and dressing wounds!
From here to Gansu, they will pass through various terrains and the journey is very long. It is indeed very hard for them to carry these things on their own. But only in this way can they develop sufficient endurance and strong endurance.
In the upcoming battle, try your best to save your own life! Just continue with your instructions. This kind of behavior, I call it training! The selection of the forwards has ended and the training has just begun. Can you go all the way from Nanjing?
Only after practicing with Pong in Jiayuguan did I admit that he is truly sharp!"
"The Duke of Guo said it well!"
Sehazhi raised his flying beard, his green bean eyes shone brightly, and he said with extraordinary approval: "The Duke is right! When we Mongolians fight, we have never seen a soldier leading a group of people to serve.
This kind of veteran soldier will never be able to fight no matter how hard he fights. On the desert grassland, he will be dragged down by others. Especially our 30,000 elite soldiers, who are originally used as sharp knives, with a large group of people waiting behind them.
Can this sharp knife still pierce through? Lao Jing, just do as the Duke of Guo says, and whoever dares to disobey will be slapped by me!"
Jing Feng had no choice but to agree with a wry smile.
Further forward, there are heavy armored cavalry. Their horses are more elegant. There are four thousand people, sitting on tall and elegant horses. The armor is bright, the saddle and scabbard are neat, and a black lacquered cowhide riding shield hangs in front of the saddle.
, painted with patterns of beasts, and the long lacquered gun with red tassels in the right hand pointed upright at the sky. The barrel of the gun was as thick as a chicken egg, the tip of the gun was one and a half feet long, and the blood groove was like a blood groove, reflecting the cold sunlight.
After that are the firearms soldiers, with the fire blunderbuss on their shoulders and the bowl-mouth blunderbuss on the stand. The murderous weapons are not as murderous as those of light and heavy cavalrymen. However, people who know how powerful these firearms are will not think so.
Xia Xun gnawed and said: "Firearms will one day completely replace swords, guns, swords and halberds and become the mainstream weapon for winning on the battlefield. However, it is not yet possible. It still has many shortcomings, such as the rate of fire and the influence of weather. So, we
You have to maximize its strengths and discard its weaknesses, and let it cooperate with other weapons to unleash its maximum power.
Tamerlane's soldiers were all brave and skilled cavalry, their horses were as fast as the wind, and the Western Region was mostly flat, which was conducive to a quick attack. If we use firearms to fight the enemy, even if we use three-stage attack, the enemy will be defeated in a few breaths.
Riders can also kill in front of them, and firearms are not enough to rely on. However, if they are attacking and defending a city or when two armies are building trenches for confrontation, firearms are more useful than crossbows. Even if someone has superior arm strength, how many arrows can he fire? And
Firearms can be used as long as you still have some strength.
At the same time, firearms are far more powerful than arrows in attacking and destroying fortresses, especially artillery such as bowl-mouth blunderbuss, which can fire hundreds of projectiles in one shot and have a wide range of damage. Therefore, I specially selected this firearm, not to call them
Instead of going to fight Tamerlane's cavalry, he asked them to be masters and taught Gan Liang and other castle soldiers how to use the many newly developed firearms made by firearms craftsmen.
Therefore, these three thousand firearms soldiers do not need to participate in training. They will leave the brigade, protect the firearms and gunpowder transportation camp, and rush to Hexi as soon as possible to teach the troops directly under General Pingqiang how to use firearms. Therefore, they do not need to carry heavy loads.
There are also heavy cavalry, so there is no need to carry heavy loads!"
Although Xia Shi comes from a later generation, he is not superstitious about firearms. Having been in this era for so long, he has clearly realized that in this era, the mainstream of battlefields is still cold weapons. In fact, until the 18th century, firearms still could not be completely replaced.
The role of fast horses and hard bows, in terrain suitable for cavalry, even makes firearms at a disadvantage.
For example, in the eighteenth century, the Prussian King Frederick the Great's linear musket tactics were invincible throughout Europe. It can be regarded as the pinnacle of musket tactics in the eighteenth century. Later generations could not even imitate its essence. However, such a team encountered the Russian Cossacks at that time.
However, the spear cavalry did not have the slightest advantage, and Xia Shi's era had just entered the fifteenth century, and firearms were even further behind than they were then. It is unrealistic to expect firearms to completely replace cold weapons and adapt to all combat environments.
Practical.
Xia Xun's words were exactly what Sai Hazhi meant. Lao Sai had been fighting all his life and was used to using spears, bows, and galloping horses. He had no regard for these so-called firearms soldiers who went into battle with iron barrels.
Now, Xia Shi wants to move these thousands of people out to use them alone, which is exactly what he wants, and of course he will not object.
The group continued to walk forward, inspecting each branch of the army as they walked. When they reached the end, Sehazhi said: "My lord, we are about to set off. Do you want your lord to give some more instructions to the three armies?"
Xia Xun laughed and said: "There is still a long way to go from here to Lanzhou. What kind of teacher are you swearing? Even if you give them all the energy and courage, by the time they reach Lanzhou, they will have premature ejaculation!"
Sehazhi touched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly: "Well, the general doesn't really like this kind of trick. It's just that Han officials like to do this before sending troops. I thought you, the Duke of the country, also like this...
The flattery has gone to the horse's feet, and the general will feel so ashamed!"
Sai Hazhi's temperament was so cute and silly that Xia Xun and Jing Feng couldn't help laughing after hearing this, and couldn't help laughing loudly.
After the three armies hurriedly read, Saihazhi immediately ordered the troops to leave the barracks. Xia Shi rushed back to Jinling City to pick up Princess Ancheng. He went to the Western Regions with a stick in one hand and a carrot in the other. This Princess Ancheng was clearly Yongle.
The emperor gave Song Chen a carrot. He was going back to the city to pick up the princess's Luan Jia, and then reunited with Sehazhi's team after crossing the Yangtze River.
After returning to the city, he first went back to his home in order to pick up the two girls from Qiuci. As soon as Xia Xun stepped into the door of the house, something happened in the backyard...
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