Chapter 1907: Renzijuan is in full swing and the war is about to begin.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!” As the diffuse smoke gradually dissipated, the entire formation began to change.
Spurred by the officers' whistle changes, the pike teams on both sides quickly assumed a defensive posture and began to advance steadily and rhythmically, with firm steps and neat lines. They remained motionless and maintained their position in the face of the menacing cavalry coming from both sides. Close formation.
The one-foot-long spears were as densely packed as a forest, and the angle they presented made the spearheads shine with a green-blue light in the sunlight. Not to mention, this could have a huge deterrent effect on any livestock, including cavalry on war horses. They all felt the same bone-chilling murderous intent, which forced them to slow down and start thinking about the high price they would pay if they launched a charge.
The hollow formation in the center is still a three-stage continuous changing shooting, and its orderly formation changing speed made Sun Chengzong couldn't help but sincerely admire it.
At first, Sun Chengzong had doubts about the situation of He Huchen and Yang Zhaoji. On the one hand, the reputation of the Beijing camp was really bad. Second, although many officers of He Huchen and Yang Zhaoji were from Liaodong Town, the main soldiers were still from Yongping Prefecture. The strength of the people, what their situation is, and whether they can go into battle cannot be explained in a simple sentence or two.
But after many days of actual combat drills, Sun Chengzong finally had a clear idea. Since the strength of these two units had been expanded after being assigned to the New Xuanfu Army and the Fifth Army Camp, the combat effectiveness of these two units appeared to be somewhat uneven. However, the combat effectiveness of the basic units Not bad indeed.
For example, Yang Zhao has a base of 12,000 people, of which 3,000 are the main fire gun soldiers. They are already elite and well-trained, especially in formation changes and the rhythm of fire gun shooting. They have been very smooth and perfect. , in Sun Chengzong's view, even the elites of the Denglai Army were at this level, and their strength was on par with the elite fireguns of the Datong and Xuanfu armies.
This may be due to the fact that this army has strictly abandoned the traditional infantry drill method from the beginning and completely accepted the fire gun army model. All training is completely centered around the step decomposition, combination and efficiency improvement of fire gun shooting. The resulting formation drills also greatly exceeded the training intensity of ordinary frontier troops, because their formation time was too short and they had to pay more.
In other words, this is a completely different fire gun army that was transformed from an infantry army in the past, but a force that has been positioned as a new fire gun army from the beginning. Everything is aimed at taking advantage of the fire gun army. The power is brought into full play.
Compared with the three thousand elites, the remaining nine thousand people will be divided into two parts. One part is to enrich the basic strength of some officers. This group of three thousand people is the backbone second only to the three thousand main elites. Through the early stage, Although the level of training is not comparable to that of the elite, Sun Chengzong, after careful observation and understanding, still believes that this force is enough to compare with Wang Ziteng's Denglai Arms and Gun Army. As for the other 6,000 people, it can only be said that they are The traditional sword, shield, spear and rifle infantry are basically qualified, but if compared with the fire gun army, they are still a little out of place.
The situation of He Huchen's tribe was roughly similar to that of Yang Zhaoji's tribe.
In contrast, Liu Baichuan's Northwest Army is a purely traditional infantry army, with less than 20% of its firecrackers. It has also just completed the switch from the original three-eyed firecrackers to matchlocks. , and its combat effectiveness is still recovering. Sun Chengzong believes that the strength of his fire gun team is similar to that of the basic army of He Yang's Second Division, and is a bit worse than the elite of the Second Division.
However, the combat effectiveness of the Northwestern Army's sword, shield and spear soldiers is very good. They can be called an elite division. They are not inferior to the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army. In particular, their eagerness to fight is even more intense than other armies. Incomparable.
Accompanying Sun Chengzong to watch the actual combat drills were You Shilu, Liu Baichuan, He Huchen and Yang Zhaoji.
These five people are basically the core command of the Northern Front Army.
The defeated army in Shanxi Town is still undergoing training. According to Sun Chengzong's point of view, instead of forcing an army that has lost its fighting spirit and morale onto the battlefield, the risk of which is completely uncontrollable, it is better to put it in the rear and reorganize it into a reserve force for use. Replenish the four main forces that are about to go into battle.
In Sun Chengzong's view, You Shilu's Jizhen Army is the most powerful in combat and is worthy of a big task. In addition, the Northwest Army is slightly inferior in firearms units, but has the strongest fighting will. He Huchen and Yang Zhaoji are the youngest and full of vigor, but Tenacity is still lacking, and he may be very good at fighting against the wind, but his performance when encountering setbacks remains to be seen.
But in any case, these armies are enough to support him in launching an offensive on the northern front.
Not to mention the Northwest Army, it is not an exaggeration to mention the Feng Family Army. The Ji Zhen Army and its commander-in-chief You Shigong were promoted by Feng Tang. The You brothers are all direct descendants of Feng Tang, and the two He Yang troops are related to Feng Ziying. Somewhat involved, many of the officers came from Liaodong Town, while most of the soldiers came from Minzhuang, Yongping Prefecture. After the army was defeated in the Santun Camp, Feng Ziying had a deep imprint on it.
But Sun Chengzong didn't care about this. In his opinion, as long as the army in his hands can fight, it is fine. As for factions in the army, this is not a new thing. This kind of habit has long existed in the border army. It is not surprising. The Feng family is a border area. The Wuxun family has been immersed in border towns for decades, so it would be strange if they don't have any foundation. However, this era is not the time when the feudal towns were separatist in the late Tang Dynasty. Not only are the censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate watching over them, but the key is logistics. Strangling the army, otherwise these warriors in the border town would have rebelled long ago.
Taken back the telescope, Sun Chengzong breathed a sigh of relief.
The combat effectiveness of He Yang's Second Division was satisfactory. During this period of time, he continuously dispatched various units of the Northwest Army and Jizhen Army to conduct actual combat exercises, in order to grasp the actual combat effectiveness of these armies in the most intuitive and realistic manner. This will do It served as the basis for his next deployment and decision-making on the northern front war.
He did not dare to make this determination without truly understanding the combat capabilities of these armies.
The imperial court could no longer afford another defeat, especially when the rebel rebellion in Shaanxi became more and more intense. The Ministry of War still resisted the pressure and did not force him to send troops to Shandong immediately, but he could feel the pressure.
“Sir, how are you doing?” He Huchen asked first.
Master Sun's standards are really too high. He checks combat readiness in various ways and has to prove it through actual combat drills. This clearly shows that he is not trusting himself and Yang Zhaoji.
However, even the Jizhen Army and the Northwest Army were treated equally. He Huchen couldn't say anything, and Mr. Feng also specifically warned them. Therefore, although He Huchen and Yang Zhaoji were a little dissatisfied, they still resolutely abided by the rules.
"It's okay. The Fire Gun Army is first-rate, the Spear Army is unsatisfactory, and the Sword and Shield Army is much inferior to the Jizhen Army and the Northwest Army. The overall situation is a bit rough and needs a few real battles to polish it." Sun Chengzong said unceremoniously, "Perhaps this Shandong war can help Hu Chen and Tai Chu realize their transformation."
He Huchen and Yang Zhaoji both rubbed their faces and smiled bitterly. Master Sun was really rude. When Liu Baichuan and You Shilu said this, Yang Zhaoji scratched his head and said, "Sir, your request is too high. ?”
"Taichu, if your 12,000 men can be as good as the Fire Gun Army, you will be able to conquer the world, but can other troops reach this level? Not to mention training, even the Fire Gun and Gunpowder cannot guarantee it. Right?" Sun Chengzong squinted, "And your artillery team, the training intensity is obviously not as good as that of the artillery team, and the shooting accuracy and efficiency are also not as good..."
"Sir, the life of the artillery barrel is limited, so we really don't dare to use it like a firecracker..." Yang Zhaoji quickly explained.
"Not only that, as far as I know, artillery is now different from what it used to be. The long-barreled artillery of the Westerners is far more powerful than before, and the requirements for the operators are also very high. They need to know arithmetic to calculate angles and landing points. 伱How many people in our army know arithmetic?" Sun Chengzong looked at each other, and then turned his eyes around the other people: "Someone talked to me about the importance of firearms and their impact on the original infantry. Replacement, I have been hesitant, but now I feel that he may be right, but there is a prerequisite, that is, if our muskets and artillery manufacturing can keep up, and our soldiers' training and learning can keep up, the imperial court will definitely have a future Things will begin to change in this direction, and those who are at the front will lead the trend. I wonder if any of you feel this way?"
Several people were silent. This involved a major change in the entire Great Zhou military system, from arms manufacturing to the overall change in the training system. No one person could make the final decision.
Although everyone has been consciously or unconsciously adjusting the number and proportion of various units in the army, such as gunmen, archers, spearmen, sword and shield soldiers, and logistics support teams, after all, everyone is just trying, and they are still In a process of exploration, and although firearms have shown great advantages on certain occasions, on the whole, no one dares to say that they can completely replace the equipment of the traditional infantry. Until today, Sun Chengzong clearly proposed this This perspective made a few people realize that perhaps an era of change is coming.
Seeing that everyone was thinking silently, Sun Chengzong didn't say much. The first task at the moment was to open up the situation on the northern front. He just felt it, so that they could consciously explore and summarize in future wars, but This premise is to win the battle.
"Okay, let's all think about it in the future. Now we have to consider preparing for a war." Sun Chengzong took back the topic and looked south, "Everyone can discuss where to start our first battle and how to complete it in one go. , a beautiful fight, the court needs this victory so much."
Everyone's eyes are looking to the south. It's time to stretch their muscles and have a good fight.
(End of this chapter)