Two hundred and seventieth eight chapters after the war to expand the army
Most of the post-war discussions in the past were fault-finding meetings, and the discussions were more about the shortcomings of the new army of the Tang Dynasty during the battle. But today, the focus of many generals' discussions was on grenades, and everyone was talking about it.
How sharp and important grenades are, the Tang Dynasty cannot live without grenades. Not only cannot it be without grenades, but it must be equipped with more, preferably countless grenades.
Frontline generals such as Huang Xueren, Wang Shanxu, Fang Dongquan, and Hao Bainian all pointed out that grenades are a big killer, and their importance is even more important than artillery or even muskets. They must be manufactured and equipped in large quantities.
At the same time, it was also proposed to establish a formal grenadier unit!
Huang Xueren even said: "If our army had more than three hundred grenades today and threw them out together, the Ming army on the opposite side would suffer at least over a thousand casualties. If there were a thousand grenades, even if ten thousand enemy troops came to attack, we would be at a loss
Tang Wangshi is also confident of successfully repelling the enemy!"
Wang Shanxu also nodded and said: "Hand grenades are extraordinary and extremely powerful. When used in defensive operations with muskets, the effect is absolutely better than any weapon. I also think that a large number of grenades should be equipped!"
Butcher Chen said: "Yes, as long as we have enough grenades in our hands, no matter how many people come from the Ming army, as long as we throw the grenades out, we still can't blow them up until their parents don't even know them!"
Hearing how much they valued and even praised grenades, Li Xuan was speechless. Grenades were indeed a strength in defensive operations, but they were not to the extent they said.
In today's battle, grenades were able to achieve extraordinary results. This was because grenades appeared on the battlefield for the first time, and the Ming army had no preparations for them.
More importantly, today's battlefield is extremely special. It is not a simple defensive operation, nor is it a simple crossing-river interception operation.
Thousands of people from both sides were crowded into a small area that was no more than 100 meters wide and 30 meters wide. The density of soldiers on both sides was very high, and the density was not considered high, and there was no tactical movement.
This situation is impossible to occur in normal field battles or even defensive operations.
In a field situation, who would stupidly line up to receive your grenade? They can maneuver.
In a battle involving more than a few thousand people, the two sides will definitely not approach each other in neat formations and then start fighting head-on. In fact, before the two sides develop hand-to-hand combat, they will conduct a large number of even frequent maneuvers. Through maneuvers on the battlefield,
To find the enemy's weak points and then launch an attack.
Therefore, Li Xuan does not have high hopes that grenades will be able to have the same miraculous effect as they did today.
Of course, even if the use of grenades in the future will not be as effective as it is today, it is undeniable that large-scale equipment of grenades can greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the Datang New Army, especially its defensive capabilities.
Many frontline generals kept talking about equipping more grenadiers. Even Wang Shanxu called out the plan of adding a grenadier unit to each infantry battalion. Huang Xueren felt that this was not enough, and suggested that specially
Form a Grenadier Battalion.
But when everyone was discussing with great enthusiasm, Bai Yunqi, who was in charge of logistics affairs, poured a spray of cold water on them!
"Hand grenades are indeed very powerful, and they should be manufactured and equipped in the future. It's just that it's too difficult for our army to equip too many grenades. The previous hundred grenades have exhausted our gunpowder inventory. Now we have the inventory in our supply camp."
The amount of gunpowder is already very small, barely enough for the musketeers to fight a high-intensity battle. Not to mention hand grenades, even the gunpowder for the artillery is not much left!"
As he spoke, he said seriously: "Our army is currently very short of gunpowder, and making grenades requires a lot of gunpowder. It will be difficult for our army to equip a large number of them in a short period of time!"
When Wang Shanxu heard this, his expression immediately changed slightly: "You mean, our army's gunpowder is no longer enough? As far as I know, the last time the transport team came, they also brought two barrels of gunpowder!"
Bai Yunqi did not refute, but said: "In today's battle, our army has used 80% of the gunpowder accumulated in the past!"
After that, he just didn’t speak!
His words caused changes in the expressions of many generals. Wang Shanxu and Huang Xueren remained silent, but their faces showed sadness.
It didn't take long for Butcher Chen to speak: "Didn't you say someone was selling gunpowder some time ago? We don't have enough gunpowder, so we bought more sulfur and saltpeter!"
Bai Yunqi said: "Even if we increase outsourcing, our army's gunpowder is still not enough. Nowadays, our army mainly relies on firearms. Muskets, artillery, and grenades all rely heavily on gunpowder. No matter how much gunpowder we have, it is not enough."
!”
Li Xuan listened to their words and sighed in his heart. After all, the Tang Dynasty was too weak, and the gunpowder used for the war was not enough.
If it were the Ming Dynasty, tens of thousands of shotguns and hundreds of artillery could be made every year, and gunpowder would naturally be available.
But this was an impossible task for the Tang Dynasty!
However, the shortage of gunpowder is no longer a problem for a day or two, and the new army of the Tang Dynasty lacks many things, not just gunpowder.
Whether it's soldiers, weapons or food, they are all in short supply!
Soldiers, excluding the logistics auxiliary force of the baggage battalion, their three infantry battalions, one mixed battalion, and directly affiliated teams add up to a total strength of about 1,300 people, which is not even as many as the number of prisoners they captured.
There were 1,800 prisoners captured.
According to past experience, most of these prisoners will surrender. After surrendering, some of the Ming army prisoners will be selected to join the sword and shield team and the archer team, while the rest will be organized into the supply camp.
But now there are more than a thousand prisoners, and it is impossible to cram them all into the supply camp. For this reason, separate arrangements must be made.
The grenade issue could not be solved for a while, so the generals later turned to the prisoners again.
As a doctor in the War Department, Zeng Ziwen has become aware of the great steward of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty in the past few days, and he quickly put forward his own solution: "Many of these prisoners are young men recruited temporarily by the pseudo-Ming Dynasty.
How much foundation, and the quality in all aspects is also very poor, and they do not meet the conditions of our army. This group of people can be sent back to Xikou Village and let them work in various workshops. This can also produce more weapons for our army!
"
Li Xuan nodded slightly after hearing this. This plan is good. Those young men recruited temporarily cannot actually fight. Even in the Ming army, they are typical cannon fodder. These people obviously do not meet the requirements of the new army of the Tang Dynasty for soldiers, but they were let go.
No, the New Army of the Tang Dynasty has never had the habit of releasing prisoners and making full use of them. This is the fine tradition of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty towards prisoners.
Therefore, letting them work as coolies is the best and easiest way to combat it. You must know that the various workshops in Xikou Village are in urgent need of a large number of labor forces. Otherwise, they will not be able to create enough new troops of the Tang Dynasty to expand in just a few months.
Weapons needed later.
"The remaining prisoners are here. Those who meet the conditions can be directly recruited into the sword and shield troops and the archer team!" Zeng Ziwen continued: "The sword and shield soldiers and archers are hard to find. Since you encounter them, you can't let them go!"
This is a fact. The new army of the Tang Dynasty can spend three months training musketeers and spearmen, and even artillery can be trained within a few months. However, the two arms of sword and shield soldiers and archers cannot be trained in a short time.
Training is available in just a few months.
Therefore, recruiting archers and sword and shield fighters from prisoners is also an important means to maintain or even expand the scale of these two arms.
Zeng Ziwen added at this time: "If the remaining ordinary prisoners are directly added to the supply camp, there are still too many. How to arrange these people, please ask His Majesty's Holy Judgment!"
Even if the coolies, sword and shield soldiers and archers are put aside, there will still be at least four to five hundred ordinary Ming army prisoners left. With so many people crammed into the supply camp, then the supply camp is not a supply camp, but a supply camp.
The baggage is packed.
Now there are four teams in the baggage camp, with a total size of more than 400 people, and this does not include the civilian men recruited temporarily.
If these more than 400 people are added in, the size of the baggage camp will be expanded to 800 people, which obviously exceeds the current needs of the Tang Dynasty's new army for baggage troops.
In addition, one thing must be taken into consideration. Most of the remaining 400 or so Ming troops are recruits from the Ming army, not guards. They have passed the basic military literacy and physical fitness. They can be regarded as guards of the Ming army.
It was not appropriate for the soldiers to handle it.
After all, these more than 400 people are soldiers who can fight. We cannot let them go to waste as laborers for transporting baggage.
Li Xuan thought for a while and then said: "These more than 400 people are organized into the first garrison infantry battalion. The organization is modeled on the regular infantry battalion and equipped with various captured weapons to assist in combat!"
Li Xuan also had an expected response plan to this. He had long thought about what to do if a large number of Ming troops were captured. It was impossible to release them directly, and it was not appropriate to directly integrate them into the main force, because the regular troops of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty
In terms of training and tactics, they are very different from the Ming army.
And the most critical point is that the regular infantry battalions of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty only included peasants in the areas controlled by the Tang Dynasty. Li Xuan did not even include the old bandits before, let alone these prisoners.
Therefore, it is the best solution to separate some of the Ming army's recruited prisoners who have passed the quality test into separate groups.
"Officers at all levels in this battalion are drawn from each battalion. As for this battalion officer!" Li Xuan looked at everyone when he said this, and then said to Cai Erhu: "Cai Aiqing, are you interested in this battalion officer?"
Cai Erhu immediately knelt down and said, "I would like to thank your Majesty for your kindness!"
Originally, Li Xuan originally planned to let Chen Tufu serve as the battalion officer of this garrison, but Chen Tufu had made it clear before that he wanted to switch to artillery. He didn't even want to be the team officer of the Sword and Shield Soldiers.
He said that he was willing to serve as Hao Bainian's deputy in the past.
The battalion officer of the garrison battalion, a second-line unit formed by prisoners, seemed to be a battalion officer, but his actual status was far inferior to that of a regular infantry battalion. Naturally, he would not go. Li Xuan insisted on arranging for him to go.
Although it cannot be resolved, there will definitely be a thorn in the heart.
So Li Xuan gave up the idea.
After dealing with the issue of prisoners and temporarily shelving the proposal to establish a grenadier unit, Li Xuan and others discussed other issues of gain and loss in this battle.
But these were minor issues, and Li Xuan didn't interfere too much, but let them discuss it.
This post-war meeting lasted for half the night before it ended.
Early the next morning, Li Xuan sent his bodyguard to quickly return to Xikou Village. This bodyguard also brought Li Xuan's order.
This order was to ask Qian Mengjiu, the Minister of War and others who were staying in Xikou Village, to speed up the recruitment of troops and expand the scope to the entire Zhengtai County.
At the same time, Liu Bagou was ordered to speed up the production of various weapons, especially muskets and artillery!
Both orders reveal the same message: Li Xuan is expanding his army again!