Chapter 526 The Street Fighting Weapon of the Tang Dynasty
Due to combat needs, the powerful First Army was split into two armies, forming the First Army with the First Infantry Brigade as the core and the Fourth Army with the Third Infantry Brigade as the core.
As for the garrison force, its strength has been relatively well preserved, and the fifth garrison brigade that still has combat effectiveness has been assigned to the First Army. Because the First Army will march eastward to Zhaoqing and even Guangdong, the time is urgent, and the tasks are heavy, so
It requires the cooperation of garrison troops in good condition.
As for the Fourth Army, they will march north to Guilin, and Guilin is not heavily defended by the Ming army, so it won't take much effort to capture it. By the time they capture Guilin and reach Huguang, it will probably take more than half a month. With these
With time as a buffer, the new recruits can be effectively trained and integrated into the army.
In addition, we should take advantage of this period of time to equip the Sixth Infantry Regiment with some guns and artillery. Otherwise, we cannot always let the Sixth Infantry Regiment assume the title of the main regular army, but the actual combat effectiveness and combat methods are
It's all garrison mode.
Then following the Fourth Army to Guilin, there is the Sixth Garrison Brigade, which currently only has a designation and has not yet been organized. At the same time, the First Regiment and the Second Cavalry Battalion will also join the Fourth Army's combat sequence, and there will also be some
Second Artillery Battalion.
The reason why it is said to be a part is because Li Xuan directly split the two parts of the troops into two halves. One half retained the designation and was incorporated into the Fourth Army, and the other part was changed into the Guards Artillery Battalion and was incorporated into the Near Guards Artillery Battalion.
Guards.
In this way, the Guards had three formal infantry battalions, an artillery battalion with twelve cannons, and a cavalry battalion with nearly 200 cavalry, a total of five battalions.
The First Army went to Guangdong, the Fourth Army went to Guilin, and the remaining Guards and other units naturally stayed in Wuzhou.
In addition, the 7th garrison brigade, which has not yet been formed, also has its whereabouts. If nothing unexpected happens in the future, this unit will also march eastward to Guangdong. However, although the Ming army has surrendered troops and can be formed directly, it is also necessary to reorganize the garrison.
It takes time.
From the early First Guard Brigade to today's Seventh Guard Brigade, there are now seven garrison brigades organized using prisoners of the Ming Army to serve the Tang Army.
Moreover, most of the garrison brigades in the King's Division of the Tang Dynasty were fully staffed. Although they were often replenished directly after the battle with surrendered troops and captured weapons, the total strength was as high as more than 40,000, and they were generally equipped with sufficient cold weapons.
Unlike the regular army, it is troublesome to replenish soldiers, and even more troublesome to replenish guns and artillery, which makes it extremely difficult to expand the regular army of the King's Division of the Tang Dynasty.
Just look at the 6th Infantry Regiment, which still has no guns and artillery, and the 4th Infantry Brigade, which has been established for more than a month but still only has more than 2,000 soldiers and more than 100 muskets.
It was easy for the garrison to expand, but it was very difficult for the regular army. This resulted in the number of garrison troops in the Tang Dynasty's royal division far exceeding the number of regular armies.
And this was something Li Xuan didn't expect at the beginning.
At first, Li Xuan used Ming army prisoners of war to form a garrison, just because the Tang Dynasty king's division was extremely short of troops at the beginning, and the number of captured Ming soldiers was too large, which was not easy to deal with, so he used the Ming army to surrender.
Form a garrison.
Originally, Li Xuan didn't have much hope for the garrison formed by the Ming army's surrender. As long as they could serve as cannon fodder, that would be enough.
But I don’t know that because the system of the Tang Dynasty was better than that of the Ming Dynasty, these Ming troops surrendered and became the Imperial Army of the Tang Dynasty. Their combat effectiveness increased linearly, which not only shocked the Ming army opposite, but also greatly
Call these traitors.
Even the senior generals in the Tang Dynasty's royal division were actually extremely surprised by the combat effectiveness unleashed by some of the garrison.
In many previous battles, the garrison has performed relatively well. Although it is still unable to assume the position of the main force and is often defeated by the enemy's superior force, resulting in heavy casualties, it is normal for an army to have victories and defeats.
The important thing is that these garrison brigades formed by the Ming army's descendants were still very resolute and decisive in executing orders.
In the Battle of Wuzhou, the 3rd Guards Brigade suffered heavy casualties, especially the 5th Guards Regiment. The whole regiment only had 3,000 people, but it suffered more than 1,000 casualties, with a casualty rate of more than one-third. Even so, the 5th Guards Regiment suffered heavy casualties.
The regiment still persisted in fighting.
This kind of courage and resilience to fight to the death is something that many main regular armies do not have.
It's just that at this time, many people simply ignored that when the 3rd garrison brigade launched the charge, there were many supervising troops guarding the rear, including two hundred cavalry from the 2nd cavalry battalion.
Moreover, the Fifth Guards Regiment retreated not just once, but several times, and each time they were forced by the supervising team to turn around and launch another attack.
In this battle, more than a hundred soldiers of the Fifth Guard Regiment died at the hands of the Supervisory Team.
Without such strict military law and a powerful supervising team, the Fifth Guards Regiment and even the entire Third Guards Brigade would not have been able to continue fighting despite such heavy casualties.
This point was obviously ignored by Hao Bainian and other senior officials, or they thought it was normal.
But no matter what, the garrison brigade in the Imperial Army of the Tang Dynasty has grown into an important military force in the Imperial Army of the Tang Dynasty, and it is certain that it will play a major role.
Thanks to the large number of garrison troops, the Tang Dynasty King's Division, which lacked regular troops, was able to calmly fight on multiple fronts and fight with the Ming army in Guizhou, Guangxi and even Guangdong in the future.
After the Operations Department put forward the plan to divide the troops and march northward, Li Xuan naturally did not reject this unanimous result that had been discussed by many middle and senior officers, and soon began to issue imperial edicts in accordance with this combat plan.
The Fourth Army was ordered to be established for operations in the direction of Guilin and Huguang. It has jurisdiction over the 3rd Infantry Brigade, the 6th Garrison Brigade, the 1st Regiment, the 2nd Cavalry Battalion, the 2nd Artillery Battalion, the 2nd Baggage Regiment and other units.
.Major General Chen Keqiao, commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade, also serves as the commander of the army.
The remaining units of the First Army have also made certain adjustments. The main adjustment is to transfer the 3rd Garrison Brigade, which was seriously damaged and performed outstandingly in the Wuzhou Battle, to directly belong to the Privy Council and prepare to stay in Wuzhou for a period of rest.
.
As for the First Army, it has jurisdiction over the First Infantry Brigade, the Fifth Garrison Brigade, the First Artillery Battalion, the First Artillery Battalion, the First Baggage Regiment and other related units. Hao Bainian, the commander of the First Infantry Brigade, also serves as the First Army Corps.
long.
And Li Xuan is no longer the commander of the First Army himself!
Among the above-mentioned troops, the 6th and 7th garrison brigades cannot be put into battle in a short period of time, unless they are really used as cannon fodder and sent to death.
After splitting the First Army, Li Xuan ordered the First Army to march eastward to Guangdong the next day, making sure to capture Zhaoqing and control other areas of Guangdong as quickly as possible.
At the same time, the Fourth Army was ordered to go north to Guilin, must capture Guilin as soon as possible, and then advance into Jingzhou, Huguang to support the friendly forces in Xingquan Prefecture.
After the order was officially issued, the troops of the two armies no longer stayed, and soon moved east or north from Wuzhou. The remaining clearing and defense tasks in Wuzhou City were handed over to several other troops, including the recent ones.
Guards, Liuzhou Independent Regiment, Third Guard Brigade.
At the same time, the Sixth Infantry Regiment did not follow the Fourth Army north immediately, because they had to stay in Wuzhou to wait and receive new recruits, and they would also receive the first batch of guns and equipment.
After a long period of trial production in Liuzhou, the output of guns and guns has gradually increased and recovered. These guns and guns are often used to supplement the existing main forces at a time, but the Sixth Infantry Regiment has become an army.
For a long time, there have been no muskets and artillery available, so that they have been in a very embarrassing position. For this reason, Li Xuan personally intervened and gave the 1st Infantry Brigade two muskets as backup and replacement guns.
One hundred guns were given to the Sixth Infantry Regiment, and three 150-pound shotguns were also allocated to the Sixth Infantry Regiment.
Although this number still cannot help the 6th Infantry Regiment get rid of its current embarrassing position, it is better than nothing.
After the troops were sent out, the troops staying in Wuzhou also had a lot of things to do, but Li Xuan himself was free.
In his spare time, he visited almost the entire Wuzhou City under the protection of a large number of guards, and then came to a conclusion: This city is really broken!
A large section of the city wall on the east and west sides was blown down, and Wuzhou City was bombarded almost countless times. Some of the shells hit the city wall, causing pits on the wall, and some of the shells were deflected and flew directly.
Cross the city, then fall into the city, destroying many buildings.
In addition, when entering the city, it may have been caused by chaos, or it may have been deliberately set on fire by the Ming army, so there were fires in many places in the city. If the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty had not entered the city early and sent people to control the fire, even if it was not
As for the whole city being burned down, it is still very possible that several streets were burned down.
The buildings these days are basically brick and wood structures, and they are mainly made of wood and supplemented by masonry. If it is burned and if you don't pay attention to control, the whole city may be burned down.
After entering the city, Li Xuan originally wanted to stay at Wang Yue's Governor's Mansion of Guangdong and Guangxi and enjoy the style of the feudal ministers of the Ming Dynasty. However, when he entered the city, the Governor's Mansion of Guangdong and Guangxi was regarded as a stubborn resistance by the defeated Ming army.
location, and finally suffered an almost devastating blow from the Tang Dynasty King's Division, shelling with shotguns, firing with muskets, and even throwing a lot of grenades.
The grenadiers found that grenades were more effective in clearing the city than in the field.
In field battles, grenadiers often need to risk great danger by rushing up to 20 to 30 meters to throw grenades, but in street fighting in the city, this grenade is very easy to use. After a grenade is thrown in, the grenade inside
The room immediately became quiet.
The Governor's Mansion of Guangdong and Guangxi, which was used as a strong fortress, was reduced to ruins during the fierce battle, but it was also in such dilapidated condition that no one could live in it.
So Li Xuan simply found a house that had been raided to live in just like he did in Liuzhou, and acted as the command center.
Anyway, it is impossible for him to stay in Wuzhou for long. After the First Army takes Zhaoqing, he will immediately go to Zhaoqing with a group of civil and military officials and the royal family.
Zhaoqing was the intended capital of the Tang Dynasty, at least until the Tang Dynasty did not sweep the country.