Hou Shengwu has accumulated merit and been promoted to the commander of the engineering corps. Responsible for commanding the engineering corps.
This time Yang Fan led the army on an expedition and needed to repair the roads along the way to ensure the transportation of military supplies. They were half a month in advance, and the engineering corps had already set off before the Spring Festival.
Their main task is to open roads across mountains and build bridges across rivers. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were financial difficulties and the official system fell into disrepair. Yang Fan's logistics supply is subject to road transportation conditions. Therefore, the road must be repaired in advance.
Although the train is not open yet. However, Yang Fan's transportation group already has a four-wheeled caravan. These heavy transport carriages were pulled by more than a dozen strong oxen and could pull a load of seven tons at a time.
But the road conditions must be similar. If the roads are all bad, a caravan with rubber tires will get stuck. Therefore, the roads along the way must be repaired first.
It is impossible to rebuild it. First of all, the court will not pay for it.
Yang Fan doesn't have the time or energy. It can only be repaired on the original basis first. Fill in any holes. The narrow road widens. The narrow part of the mountain was blasted with explosives, transforming the road into a sandy gravel road no less than a two-lane road.
The army had just set off, but the engineering regiment had already arrived in Huailai.
Yang Fan deliberately converted two newly equipped steam engine cars into bulldozers and road rollers and gave them to the engineering corps for use. With these two machines, the construction speed is greatly accelerated.
The steam engine was very large, heavy, and slow, and could only reach a speed of less than 10 kilometers per hour. The vehicle weight reaches 28 tons. However, it is perfect for use as road rollers and bulldozers. Although the speed is slow, the kinetic energy is amazing.
During this half month, we started from Changping and entered the mountains and valleys, traveling along the official road.
The demolition team directly drilled holes and fired artillery to widen the hillsides on both sides. Then, the bulldozers push directly over to flatten the road surface, and finally the road rollers drive over to compact the road surface.
Finally, the engineers unloaded truckloads of lime, covered the road, and then watered it. Lime will generate heat when it meets water and melt the ice and snow on the road. Use stone rollers pulled by oxen to fill the soil again and compact the road back and forth. This way the ground is hardened.
There are many lime mines and kilns for burning lime, and these can be abundantly supplied near Gyeonggi Province.
In the past half month, 3,600 people from the engineering corps have worked hard to repair this most difficult mountain road to a very good condition.
On this expedition, Yang Fan took the 3,600 cavalry of the Jia Ding Regiment as his personal soldiers. The Dragoon Regiment and the Xinghe Regiment were training, and Yang Fan stayed in the territory to prevent the invasion of Jiannu.
The military power was handed over to Xiao Niangpi. Lin Yueru serves as Xiao Niangpi's deputy and provides intelligence support.
Because of Chongzhen's action to withdraw troops. Yang Fan has handed over the 3,600 Cheying soldiers who guarded Qianhu Station in Hexi. These car camps were handed over to Zhang Shize by Chongzhen to lead the expedition this time.
The six thousand Rumi gun soldiers trained by Zhang Shize were handed over to Zhou Yuji.
The army stationed in Changping that was defeated by the pirates was replenished and reorganized into three battalions, each with about 5,000 men, for a total of 15,000 men. They co-organized it with Zhou Yuji, with a total army of 21,000 people. Stationed in the capital, it was used to fill the emptiness after the Beijing camp went out for the expedition.
Twenty thousand men were stationed in the Jingshan Houxiaochang military camp that Yang Fan had repaired. In the future, the army from the Beijing Camp will return from the Western Expedition and will be stationed at the Nanyuan Military Camp.
The original commander of Changping's army mobilized from Xuanfu was veteran general Dong Jishu. However, he was dismissed because his soldiers were defeated. Zuo Liangyu, Meng Ruhu, and Hu Dawei remained in office, and each continued to manage a camp head.
Now the temporary commander was replaced by Zhou Yuji by the emperor.
The emperor raised money from everywhere and equipped these 21,000 people with horses. Changed to cavalry. Six thousand Rumi gunmen rode on horseback and maneuvered, and when they arrived at the battlefield, they dismounted and fought.
The emperor also considered waiting for Yang Fan's return and handing over the troops to Zhang Shize.
At the same time, the Hexi Shouyu Qianhu camp was also added. Plus Zhang Shize's personal military camp of a thousand people. A total of twenty-five thousand six hundred people.
This unit has a car camp as a barrier during field operations. There are 6,000 Rumi gunners who can use the car camp cover to shoot outwards. At the same time, the car camp also has 500 thousand-jin copper-haired heavy artillery. There are also three battalions with fifteen thousand cavalry inside the carriage camp. You can attack outward from the car camp at any time.
Chongzhen believed that his arrangement was foolproof. By integrating the best armies, he would have the confidence to clear the army in the next step. In the second year of Chongzhen's reign, everything was put on the back burner, and only the Qing army was the top priority.
The emperors of the Ming Dynasty, as long as they came to power, all wanted to conquer the Qing army. Yingzong's Qing army was halfway through the Tumu Fort Incident. Forced to stop. After his restoration, he wanted to invade the Qing Dynasty again, and then rebelled in the capital, which was known as Cao Qin's Rebellion in history. After the rebellion was suppressed, Yingzong was again seized power and basically ignored. He died within a few years.
Wu Zong wanted to get rid of the Qing army again, but later fell into the water. Jiajing also tried it, but later backed down. Zhang Juzheng also did it, but later he died and the government ceased. Now Chongzhen also had this idea. The reason why he took away the car camp that Yang Fan had trained so hard and tested in actual combat was to do this regardless of his appearance.
From now on, this unit will be permanently stationed at Jingshan Military Camp as a personal army under his personal command.
Chongzhen saw the combat effectiveness of this car battalion in Yang Fan's victory in the war against Haraqin and Duoyan this year.
So, he took the car camp away from Yang Fan without hesitation. As for the money and effort Yang Fan spent on this car camp, in his opinion, the title can more than make up for it.
The title of Ming Dynasty is so precious, Yang Fan should be grateful.
Yang Fan had actually long expected that the emperor might be interested in his army, so he arranged a car camp in advance that looked fat but was actually insignificant to Yang Fan.
At this time, the engineer battalion was resting outside Huailai County. During this period, the engineers and soldiers were exhausted. Although there were bulldozers, road rollers, and dynamite to blast away the rocks, it took a full ten days to reach the valley from Changping Nankou Town into the mountain, a total of 16 kilometers long.
Out of the valley is the Yanqing Plain. There are two Great Wall passes on this valley road, Juyongguan and Badaling. After this section, it's all plains, large pieces of flat land in the mountains, and you can go directly to Huailai County.
The Engineer Corps is Yang Fan's private army. They don't wear military uniforms and are known as the Zunhua Road and Bridge Construction Trading Company. In the name of Dingyuan Bo's employment, the roads along the way were repaired. In order not to cause trouble, they did not go to the county to station. Instead, I went to a very special place.
This place is not far from Huailai County.
This place is called Tumubao, the place where Yingzong wiped out all the troops in the Beijing camp.
"Let's camp here and wait for the master's army. The rest of the way is easy." Hou Shengwu said to the battalion commanders and captains.
