It turns out that Feng Tang didn't pay much attention to it, but when he really saw the hungry refugees struggling on the verge of death under the drought in northern Shaanxi, he realized that if he didn't have an army that could fight immediately, his three-sided
The Governor is afraid that he won't even be able to make it through the end of the year.
On the one hand, he wrote a letter to the Ministry of War, introducing in detail the current situation in Shanxi. The drought in northern Shanxi is approaching, which may lead to large-scale displacement or even civil riots. If there is another secret society like the White Lotus sect instigating it, I am afraid that there will be a massacre immediately.
A great rebellion.
On the other hand, he also wrote directly to the emperor and the cabinet, requesting attention to the drought in the northwest and the possible risks caused by the abolition of Guyuan Town. Once the soldiers of Guyuan Town were axed, I am afraid that these soldiers who were originally from the prefectures in northern Shaanxi would immediately become civilians.
The situation is unimaginable and the backbone of the movement may even become a rebellion.
Feng Tang frankly proposed in the letter that he should immediately cancel the idea of abolishing Guyuan Town, and even postpone the downsizing. At the same time, he should increase the food and salary guarantee for the four northwest towns. Otherwise, he would be unable to ensure the stability of the military morale of the four northwest towns.
After doing all this, Feng Tang knew that the most realistic and reliable thing was to firmly seize the available troops in the four northwest towns. At this time, Ziying suggested that the four towns should mobilize their mobile forces and gather them for training, or perform martial arts.
Anyway, holding it firmly in your own hands is the most reliable way to save your life.
No matter where an accident occurs, an elite force that is in hand and can be unleashed at any time is the most effective and reliable weapon.
Because of this, he did not wait to officially take office. On the way, he issued orders in the name of the governor of the three sides, requiring each town to select elites to Qingyang for training and selection. Based on his own understanding, he directly proposed to the four towns.
The first batch of military units took part in rotation training and martial arts exercises.
For example, Liu Dongyang's tribe, Tu Wenxiu's tribe, Liu Baichuan's tribe in Gansu Town, Ma Kongying's tribe in Yulin Town, and Qi Bingzhong's tribe in Ningxia Town were all directly named by him.
In addition to these troops, each town also selected several other troops that were considered the most elite in order to leave a good impression on the Governor in the first contact, and even Xiao Ruxun was no exception.
The ones performing martial arts today were the tribes from Gansu Town, namely the Liu Dongyang, Tu Wenxiu and Liu Baichuan tribes that Feng Tang valued most.
This is not to say that Liu Dongyang, Tu Wenxiu and Liu Baichuan's combat effectiveness is stronger than Ma Kongying, Qi Bingzhong and others, but for Feng Tang, these three tribes plus Xu Chao's tribe are a major hidden danger in the four northwest towns.
Although you can control the situation in the northwest, once you leave the northwest, these four parts will become a trigger for the northwest, and if you are not careful, it will lead to a big mistake.
In particular, Xiao Ruxun, the commander-in-chief of Gansu Town, is also a strong-tempered person. Although he has some abilities, he may not have much upper hand against local snakes like Liu Dongyang and Tu Wenxiu who have been operating in the northwest for many years.
The key is that now is not the time for internal friction.
No matter where the sparks may erupt, they are enough to ignite a fire. This requires me, the governor of the three sides, to be prepared to deal with these.
Because of this, Feng Tangcai decided to recruit Liu Dongyang, Tu Wenxiu and Liu Baichuan, leaving only Xu Chao to guard Hami and Shazhou.
In this way, only one Xu Chao would naturally be unable to compete with Xiao Ruxun, the commander-in-chief, and the internal strife in Gansu Town would not affect the defense of the Tumuts and Mughals.
Liu Dongyang's three troops and other elites drawn from Jizhen for training followed him and were stationed in Qingyang. Once something happened in the Central Plains, they could immediately lead the army eastward and southward.
As Feng Tang and the general soldiers from various towns took the stage, the martial arts performance officially began.
The infantry troops spread out their formations and began to separate and attack under the waving of the flag bearer's small flag. The entire loess wasteland was covered with smoke and dust, but it could not affect the high enthusiasm of the troops who were engaged in fierce military exercises.
As soon as the Governor arrived, he reissued half a year's food and salary, and the continuous flow of food made all the ministries in the four towns feel more at ease. Especially the Governor also clearly promised that the abolition of Guyuan Town would be suspended, and he would act like the Ministry of War and the Ministry of War.
The cabinet submitted a report and strived to cancel the court's plan, which further boosted the morale of the officers and soldiers in the four towns.
Even Guyuan Town will not be dismantled, let alone the other three towns. The dark clouds that originally enveloped the officers and soldiers of the Four Towns suddenly dissipated, which made the soldiers of the Four Towns feel panic and uneasiness because of the severe drought in the North.
Our hearts suddenly felt at ease.
Accompanied by the iron hoofs, the roaring cavalry formation circled past and began to attack according to the flag signal...
But soon Feng Tang's brows began to wrinkle, and the general officers of the nearby towns also observed the change in the governor's expression. It was He Shixian who spoke first: "Sir, but your performance is not satisfactory to you? In the opinion of my subordinates,
, the performance of the Gansu Town Three Division is remarkable, even if it is placed in Xuanda University, it can be called an elite, right?"
Feng Tang shook his head, "I don't have any opinions on the performance of the soldiers, but you all know in your mind that the number of firearms in our four northwest towns' Mabu is scarce, and their proportion is the smallest among the entire frontier army. The entire Ningxia Town
There are only thirty artillery pieces in the town, and most of them are old-fashioned artillery pieces from the Yuanxi era. There are less than 3,000 gunmen, and they are all old-fashioned three-eye fireguns, and this kind of gunfire has been completely eliminated in Liaodong.
Even the Beijing camp has been basically eliminated..."
After what he said, the faces of all the people on the high platform were as dark as water, and there was silence. The men below the high platform could only be heard shouting and fighting, and the roar was loud, but the situation on the high platform was extremely suppressed.
"Sir, is it so fast in Liaodong?" Xiao Ruxun couldn't help it. He was transferred from Jizhen and knew that Liaodong started vigorously promoting firearms replacement as soon as Feng Tang went to Liaodong.
Secret guns and bird guns began to be equipped in large quantities, but he did not know the specific progress.
The eyes of He Shixian, Qi Bingzhong and others also fell on Feng Tang.
Feng Tang sighed. Ziying once said a word or a sentence that he remembered very clearly. Time has changed. Keep up with the times. If you can't keep up with the times, you will definitely fall behind and have backward thinking.
If you fall behind in ideas, you will be beaten if you fall behind.
"Everyone, I don't know how much you know about the current situation of firearms use in the military, but I feel that compared to when I left Northwest a few years ago, everyone seems to be still in the same state a few years ago. Some of them are also
That's all, Ji Xin (characterized by Xiao Ruxun), you are also from Ji Town, don't you have any feelings at all?"
Feng Tang's question made Xiao Ruxun's face turn red, and he stammered for a long time before saying: "Sir, when I left Jizhen, Jizhen had just started to equip Lumi blunderbuss, and the number was probably less than a thousand, right? It turned out that those three-eyed fire blunderbuss
, clamp a gun, to be honest, I am not optimistic about it at all. It is a complicated process, takes a long time, has many chambers to explode, has a short range, and has poor accuracy. Compared with bows and arrows, it is simply far behind, and it is also affected by the weather. At that time, I felt that this
It’s really better not to use firearms. No matter how difficult it is to train an archer, once you’re trained, it’s much more powerful than a three-eye firecracker or a clip-on gun..."
"What about Lumi Gun?" Feng Tang asked coldly. Needless to say, this was a character who firmly supported the attack.
However, to Feng Tang's surprise, Xiao Ruxun actually hesitated, "I have seen the power of Lumi Gun in my humble position. It is indeed much stronger than the Three-Eyed Fire Gun, but it also has many disadvantages. The operation is complicated and the weather is greatly affected.
The shooting speed is slow,..."
"Have you ever heard of the Turtle Dove Gun?" Feng Tang asked again. He knew that if he didn't convince this guy today, he might have to completely subdue these arrogant warriors from the four northwest towns, which would not be easy.
Xiao Ruxun was stunned and hesitated before saying: "Sir, are you talking about the big Western gun that weighs fifty or sixty kilograms? I have only heard that it can hit a wooden board two hundred steps away and the lead shot can penetrate three points into the wood, but I have never heard of it.
Never seen it.”
This guy had some experience and had actually heard of it. Feng Tang nodded: "Yeah, almost. The Westerners call it Musket, and we call it the Turtle Dove Gun. Its power can reach two hundred steps.
If ordinary cotton armor is broken and the body is injured, if it is 150 steps, ordinary armor or iron armor can easily break the body..."
Feng Tang's words made everyone present take a breath. One hundred and fifty steps is almost unimaginable for bows and arrows. Even the Mongolian light cavalry archers who are unparalleled in cavalry and archery can only take one hundred and twenty steps at most, and
This is the maximum range. In a real confrontation between two armies, sixty to seventy steps is the distance at which the power of bows and arrows can be best exerted. However, this turtledove gun can actually double the range and more importantly, it is more lethal.
At this time, even He Shixian, who had always been calm, was a little unsteady, "Sir, the humble army has also introduced Lumi guns. Why is there such a big difference in power?"
"The Lumi gun and the bird gun are light fire guns, which are more convenient, but the Musketi is a heavy fire gun, which is more difficult to carry and operate..." Feng Tang simply explained, "But even the Rumi gun
Guns and bird guns, except for Yulin Town, there are very few in the other three towns. I am not saying that the other infantry and horse armies have no combat effectiveness. We have just seen that the performance of the various units in Ningxia Town is very good, but the importance of the fire gun army
You should be aware that the four northwest towns are lagging behind in this regard. However, Liaodong has more than 2,000 turtle dove muskets, more than 5,000 self-generated fire muskets, and more than 15,000 Lumi muskets and bird muskets, accounting for a step
Thirty percent of the army..."
Feng Tang kept talking and recounted the situation in Liaodong Town, which made the people in the four northwest towns dazzled. The smell of envy, jealousy and hatred could be felt even from the high platform and below.
"Sir, you have said so much, but our four northwest towns don't even have enough daily rations. How can we get fire guns from the Ministry of War to change our clothes?" Qi Bingzhong couldn't help but said angrily: "The current price of a Lumi gun is
It’s about twenty-five taels of silver. Even if one town is equipped with two troops and 6,000 people, that’s still 150,000 taels of silver. Can the Ministry of War agree to this?”