Chapter 190: Formulating Military Development Plans (Part 1)
It took another two days to unload the grain and get the troops on board. It was at dusk the next day that the fleet officially set off. This time, according to Wu Shigong's request, the fleet traveled day and night, basically not stopping along the way. Indeed,
, everyone is eager to return home.
However, no matter how big Tang Liu's fleet was, there were more than 4,000 people crammed into it. The space for each person on the ship must be relatively small. But these people had basically never been on a ship, so it was like Wu Shigong's first time leaving Beijing.
Like the guards back then, they were all close to the edge of the ship, looking at the scenery on the canal and on both sides with great interest.
In Wu Shigong's cabin, Qiong Niang secretly looked at the silly looks of the soldiers through the window. She smiled and said to Wu Shigong: "Master, they are quite happy. Look at those children singing folk songs."
La."
Wu Shigong walked over, followed Qiong Niang's gaze, and said with a smile: "Don't look at how happy they are now. After one or two days of seasickness, they may not even be able to cry. But now,
Just let me be happy, master."
Qiongniang, who was suddenly hugged by Wu Shigong, let out an exclamation, and then she bit her lips tightly to prevent herself from making any more noise. Qiongniang's chest rose and fell rapidly, her eyes were blurred, and she exhaled like a fragrance. Wu Shigong looked at
Seeing Qiong Niang's seductive look, he put his hand into her skirt and touched it along her thigh...
Wu Shigong was actually well prepared for the seasickness of his soldiers, and had purchased a large amount of seasickness medicine in the past few days. Moreover, this time on the boat, Wu Shigong also asked Zhou Xun, He Fei and other officers to lead the teams respectively, and also provided cavalry cover on both sides of the canal.
Fleet training.
Wu Shigong knew that in the Ming Dynasty, transporting troops by fleet was the most economical, fast, logistically secure, and safe, so it was the most common way of marching.
But in the past, Wu Shigong's army did not have the conditions to train by boat. With this opportunity, Wu Shigong wanted his soldiers to train on water marching. Besides, Wu Shigong knew that most of his soldiers were northerners and would get seasick on the boat.
There are a lot of them. Therefore, it is also very beneficial to let them experience the feeling of vomiting more and let their soldiers form combat effectiveness faster after transporting troops on the water in the future.
After resting on the ship for a day, Wu Shigong invited Deng Qifan over and discussed the development of the army with Deng Qifan. In the next ten days, Wu Shigong consulted other officers for their opinions, and combined with this process of King Qin, the army
With the problems exposed, Wu Shigong finally formulated a military development plan for the next few years.
This time, King Qin, Wu Shigong felt that there were two biggest problems in the army: one was the problem of logistical support, especially the supply of food and grass for the army; the other was the problem of the speed of the march.
After Wu Shigong passed the Qinwang this time, he had completely lost confidence in the Ming Dynasty local government's supply of food and grass to the army. Especially when his army was a guest army and went to fight outside his own station.
In this regard, Wu Shigong had no good solution. He did not have the ability to change the rules of the Ming Dynasty, and he was even less willing to let his troops plunder and behave like bandits.
Therefore, Wu Shigong could only formulate a very stupid death system: as long as his own army goes on an expedition, each soldier must carry ten days of rations with him, and the army's carts must also transport the two supplies needed by the entire army.
Ten days of food and grass. With this month's food, the army's food shortage problem can basically be solved. For this, even at the expense of some of the army's marching speed.
As for the speed of the march, Wu Shigong discovered a contradiction. Because the army spent a long time setting up camp every day, there was less time left for the army to march. Although this time heading north to King Qin, the army marched at a speed of twenty miles every day.
There was a reason why Wu Shigong passively avoided the war, but even if this reason was removed, Wu Shigong still found that his army could march up to forty miles a day.
But for the army, it is also essential to build a strong camp. In the process of serving the king this time, Wu Shigong also tasted the benefits of having a strong camp for the army. At least with a strong camp, his soldiers can rest in the camp.
, the mentality will not be too nervous, and there will definitely be no incidents of enemy troops hijacking the camp or your own soldiers shouting at the camp due to nervousness.
Therefore, in addition to Wu Shigong's decision not to leave his base and fight on the outside unless absolutely necessary in the future, he also made the following two decisions:
One is to form his own mobile corps. Wu Shigong plans to expand his cavalry team to 1,000 people after returning to Henan this time. Of course, the number of cavalry troops may be somewhat lacking, so Wu Shigong plans to deploy some soldiers with good performance, plus the
The young soldiers who raised horses in the cavalry asked Xue Yongli to step up their training, so that in half a year, the cavalry would basically become combat effective.
Wu Shigong is also preparing to form a mobile 1,000-man team in the mobile corps. The infantry training of this 1,000-man team will form a standard 1,000-man phalanx. Because there has never been any experience in training such a large number of phalanxes, this
Wu Shigong planned to gradually improve the phalanx's training plan, weapons, equipment and tactics during training after returning to Henan.
But it is worth mentioning that in this phalanx, in addition to the previous firecrackers and spearmen, Wu Shigong plans to add an additional unit, that is, the axemen. This axeman will be used when the enemy's cavalry rushes into the phalanx.
, used for fighting with cavalry. This solves the problem of long gunmen being unable to fight close enemies.
But why is it called a mobile thousand-man team? Wu Shigong plans to equip each team with two to three large vehicles in this thousand-man team, and this large vehicle will also be pulled by two draft horses. One large vehicle will carry
Soldiers and another cart carry weapons, armor, food and other items to ensure the good mobility of this mobile thousand-man team.
In addition, the large vehicle used by the Mobile Thousand Troops will also be modified. It will be converted into a sidecar. When marching and camping, the sidecar can be easily surrounded by a simple wall to block the wall.
defense.
Of course, there is also an artillery team in this mobile army. Because Wu Shigong's cannons are relatively weak, so in order to ensure the firing speed of the artillery, Wu Shigong only plans to keep ten Franco machine guns in the artillery team. There are also those two
Three-pound artillery. Wu Shigong planned to place the other cannons and three-eye muskets in the three fortresses as firepower to defend the city.
Wu Shigong has also decided that if he wants to manufacture artillery in the future, he will mainly manufacture artillery of more than three pounds. Wu Shigong will prepare to purchase artillery of less than three pounds. Because this time, the process of exchanging the Tatar heads for artillery was passed.
, Wu Shigong discovered that there were not many small-caliber artillery in the Ming army, and they were not expensive.
Another thing to mention is that this time Wu Shigong is planning to add a centurion of infantry to the artillery team. The task of this centurion is to protect his artillery from enemy attacks. Therefore, the total number of people in the artillery team will also reach three
Hundreds of people.
Finally, there are Wu Shigong himself, the commanders and guards. Wu Shigong will maintain a guard of 200 people. The members of this guard will be drawn from the deputy captain or above of the ten-man team.
Here. On the one hand, these soldiers will protect Wu Shigong and other commanders. On the other hand, they will receive comprehensive training from infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineering and other arms, as well as command training. It can be said that these soldiers
The escort is an officer school of Wu Shigong.
Therefore, Wu Shigong's mobile army will reach about 2,500 people. With a large amount of animal power, Wu Shigong estimated that this mobile army will march about 300 miles in three days and 800 miles in ten days.
Left and right (because both personnel and horses have to rest, the long-distance march is slower).
And this mobile army will be Wu Shigong's main army in future battles.
Another decision made by Wu Shigong was to focus on strengthening the army's night marching and night fighting capabilities.
Through this Qin Wang, Wu Shigong discovered that the battles at that time were not like the ancient wars described in modern literary works. Night was basically abandoned. The army did not march and fight at night.
Since others have given up, if Wu Shigong uses it himself, he will take a very active position in future battles. As for the impact of physical conditions such as night blindness, Wu Shigong is preparing to increase the nutrition of the soldiers' food and strengthen the selection of soldiers.
It's just that the number of qualified soldiers is smaller, but for an elite force like the Mobile Corps, this is not a big problem.
There is also a lack of experience in training the army for night marches and night battles, which is not a problem. Then find problems in future training and solve them one by one.
Not to mention the pay of the officers of the mobile corps, the pay of ordinary soldiers will range from full military pay to twice the military pay. The specific standards will depend on the soldier's military branch, length of service and other conditions.
Then there is the second-line army, which consists of the following units:
There are 600 defense troops for Qianhusuo Fortress, 300 defense troops for Li Yaozi Village, 500 local soldiers and 300 militiamen recruited by Wu Shigong to defend the Runing Camp after arriving at Runing Mansion.
.
These 1,700 soldiers will receive military pay ranging from 50% to 80%. The specific standards will also depend on the soldier's type of service, length of service and other conditions.
An exception is the 700 soldiers from Yu Ji's Guide Guard Army whom Wu Shigong accepted this time. They will receive 50% of the military pay. However, because the Qianhu Station where these people are located is relatively far away, how will they be trained after they return?
We can only talk about it after arriving at Guide Mansion.
Of course, the salaries of officers in the second-line army are the same as those of officers in the mobile corps.
Finally, there are the auxiliary troops. Currently, Wu Shigong’s auxiliary troops are only the more than 400 in Qianhusuo who are trained during the slack period and receive only 10% of the military pay. There are also those in the mountainous area in the northern part of Runing Prefecture and Guide Prefecture.
, the more than 600 bandits who surrendered to Wu Shigong only needed food supplies.
Wu Shigong planned to mobilize all the young and strong men among his domestic slaves after returning, so that they could all receive military training during their leisure time and join the ranks of the auxiliary soldiers.
Wu Shigong also estimated that in this case, the total number of auxiliary soldiers would reach more than 2,400.
Of course, there is also a boy scout army of about 700 people led by his apprentice Tao Xin. However, this boy scout army is focused on the future, and at this stage, it is basically useless.