On the banks of the Huangshui River, in the Juerwan Valley.
Liu Chengzong led his staff and entourage to stand on the westernmost pier of Xining Guard, and said to Wang Wenxiu beside him: "Let's get started."
The flags are fluttering, and the drums of the Buying Civil War are beating.
Well-equipped soldiers and lightly-armed auxiliary troops trotted out of their dens. Under the leadership of officers, they carried weapons and assembled columns to run outside the camp.
It took a short time to form his usual hollow square formation outside the camp.
Master Chen stood in the back row, eagerly looking at the military formation and observing Liu Chengzong's army.
Anyway, when it comes to military matters, he, a lama graduate, doesn't know much about it, so he thinks it's very fierce.
Master Buddha sighed in his heart, the eldest brother's vision of holding a thigh is really amazing, but he just doesn't have a good business mind, so he has to work hard in the warehouse building in the city.
He had already inquired about it. The Lion Army's military discipline was very strict and they were not allowed to intrude on the people. However, as long as there was consensual behavior, sex between men and women was not prohibited, and the soldiers also had rotational holidays.
He told his eldest brother that there were more than 10,000 singles who should spend all their capital and borrow money to open a row of brothels in the west of the city, which would ensure a lot of money.
But the eldest brother didn't listen, and said what to do if the troops were suddenly pulled away. Why were they pulled away? They were training troops. When the war drums sounded, countless ferocious spirits emerged from the dungeons. It was scary.
But Liu Chengzong could see the way. Overall, the soldiers were not very skilled in forming a line and were a bit slower than in the past.
He turned around and asked: "Is there a problem with the construction of the camp, or is there too many new recruits in the team and the combat effectiveness has dropped?"
Wang Wenxiu knew what he was asking, and explained from his side: "There are many veterans in the team, so it is very convenient to lead auxiliary troops in formation, but this period of training and running is a little more tiring than in northern Shaanxi."
"I asked the locals and they said it's like this from the east. You'll get used to it after a while, so I asked them to assemble slowly first and mainly practice the new camp formation. Remember that the rules are correct, which is more important than speed."
Liu Chengzong nodded slowly. When Wang Wenxiu said this, he understood altitude sickness.
Altitude sickness is mainly caused by a rapid increase in altitude. The body is not used to it. The march they came here was very fast, but it was much slower than traveling thousands of miles a day, so there was no widespread reaction.
Only Xining is higher than northern Shaanxi and has less oxygen, so soldiers are more likely to feel tired during strenuous exercise.
During these days, he could indeed feel that this reorganization was very effective. It at least allowed the three military camp generals to think about military issues from a clearer perspective and look like generals.
Wang Wenxiu introduced: "Now each battalion has six sentry posts, one on each side, one on the front, one on the left, and one on the left and right sides. There are two posts on the front and back of the formation, connected end to end."
Liu Chengzong took a brief look at the military formation, then picked up a telescope and observed carefully. Wang Wenxiu's formation was thinner than their previous formations.
It's a bit like Xu Lun's new Polu formation during the Jiajing period, with a hundred steps square.
There are one hundred soldiers, each of whom forms two columns. Each captain stands in the line with a small flag on his back, forming a large horizontal line of six people, with a width of about a hundred people on all sides.
The four generals each led their troops and stood in one corner of the military formation, strengthening the four corners of the military formation.
When Liu Chengzong saw that the soldiers in each line were holding the same weapons, he asked, "Did you redistribute the weapons of the twelve people in the department?"
"Yes, our team focuses on combat soldiers. There are two columns of twelve people, divided into four groups: left front, right front, left rear, and right rear, each with three people."
Wang Wenxiu introduced: "The brave commander on the left front is the commander, the commander on the right is the commander, the commander on the left rear is the fire commander, the first row of auxiliary soldiers holds spears, the second row of auxiliary soldiers holds swords, shields and javelins, the third row of brave commanders and commanders hold The fourth platoon of auxiliary soldiers holds the war bow, the fourth platoon of auxiliary soldiers holds fire blunderbuss, the fifth platoon of auxiliary soldiers holds three-eyed blunderbuss, and the sixth platoon of fire chiefs and chief commanders hold bird blunderbuss."
After saying that, Wang Wenxiu said: "Just like the captain's flag, this is just an idea. There are not enough flags, and we are still making them. The firearms are not so standard. The firearms in the fourth, fifth and sixth rows are all a mixture of fire guns, three-eye guns, and bird guns. There are too many three eyes, but not enough blunderbuss."
Liu Chengzong nodded: "Half of the firearms are very good. I will think of a way to use the muskets. When the weapons bureau is completed, one to three will be matched with a carrying gun."
Wang Wenxiu asked: "Raise the gun?"
"Yes." Liu Chengzong nodded: "The two of them used the big bird cannon. I see that your team has a gushing cannon. Is it used by the captain?"
"I thought each team would have 60 people and one branch of Yongzhu or Tiger Crouching. But the number is not enough at the moment. We can only have one branch for one hundred and twenty people."
Liu Chengzong nodded, there was nothing he could do about this situation.
For a long time, the only weapons that Lion Camp could independently manufacture were arrow shafts.
The biggest source of equipment is captured, and the production of other weapons depends on fate, so for them, it is one thing to equip them with what they want, and another thing to actually equip them.
Fortunately, this dilemma is over.
When the camp began to change formations, Liu Chengzong was thinking about all the resources around him that could be used by him.
He had seen Chieftain Chen's native horse soldiers, all carrying blunderbuss.
Spending money while cheating, a dozen chieftains should be able to make hundreds of muskets every month, or just let them forge the pipes, and supervise the quality of the harvest. You can do the musket making and polishing the pipes yourself.
There is also the Ordnance Bureau of Xining Guard, and they cannot be left idle. This matter must be discussed with the elder brother.
As for the Ordnance Bureau of the Lion Army, it will be more difficult to carry guns. If there are 300 guns to carry after this winter, fighting will be much more comfortable.
Thinking about it from his position, it is still difficult to make individual firearms, but it puts less pressure on raw materials.
Casting cannons is easier, but consumes too much raw materials.
Although clay molding takes time, it is actually just preparation time. When it comes to continuous production, that time can be ignored.
The most exciting time for the changes in battalion drills has arrived. The sergeants on all sides fired at each level under the command of the officer. First they fired arrows, then small cannons, then fire blunderbuss, three-eyed blunderbuss, and bird blunderbuss in turn.
Immediately, the military formation separated and was divided into a horizontal formation. The front headquarters did not move, and the left and right sides spread out from the back to the sides. From a column to a horizontal formation, supplements were placed on the left and right of the front guard, and the rear troops were supplemented on the left.
Together with the two headquarters of the Chinese army, a two-tiered horizontal formation with four in front and two in back was formed.
Wang Wenxiu said: "On the front left are General Zuo Qian Luo Rucai, on the front right are General Yang Chengzu of You Qian, and behind are General Zhong Qian Li Laojie. They can be three stacks. If there are cavalry at this time, they can cover behind or support the two wings."
Liu Chengzong couldn't help but smile when Wang Wenxiu announced the names of the three Bu Ying Qian generals.
The infantry and battalion generals are very particular about recruiting troops, and must require that one-third of the soldiers under their command should be composed of border troops. However, for generals at the level of commander-in-chief and general-general, they are not so particular.
Wang Wenxiu only had one requirement: to fight tough battles and be strong-willed, nothing else mattered.
So he was matched with these three people.
They have all fought tough battles, and sometimes they fought badly. They are all very strong-willed, but these three people have never led any good soldiers in their lives.
They were all peasant army generals.
Liu Chengzong actually appointed Luo Rucai and Yang Chengzu as Qianzong, which had a large degree of reward factor.
These two men made great achievements in instigating the Pingliang rebellion and raised a large amount of money and food for the team. His original intention was to give these two people the authority of semi-independent leaders in the future and continue to lead the team on their own.
After all, from the bottom of his heart, Liu Shizi still didn't look down on these two bad fighting masters.
He was deeply impressed by the two men's ability to lead troops and fight. Either the troops were blown up by themselves in the winter, or Yang Chengzu was picked out from the dead and Luo Rucai was knifed in the butt and escaped without a trace.
But Wang Wenxiu didn't see it that way and convinced him.
He followed Liu Chengzong and basically played the entire game as the infantry sentry commander. The biggest feeling was that every time he won a battle, he was indispensable, but he was never the opportunity to break the formation.
He only needs to hold the battle line, artillery and horsemen, and one of them will be able to break the formation.
Therefore, Wang Wenxiu's theory is that the victory of the battle depends on the horse and artillery; but the victory of the battle depends on the infantry.
In Wang Wenxiu's view, peasant army generals who have fought many bad battles have advantages.
Just Luo Rucai, Yang Chengzu, and Li Laozhen, each of them had the experience of being beaten to the point where they lost their armor and left nothing behind.
As long as there is still strength left to fight, the morale of the soldiers may not be able to hold up, but to their spirit, does it matter if more than half of them are killed or injured?
Those bad battles they fought, if they were placed in the regular army and only escaped with their own lives, the career of the officers would basically be over.
But they are different. Bad wars are caused by insufficient military knowledge. Inadequate knowledge can be learned, but the experience of tragic battles must be poured out with blood and human lives.
Liu Chengzong looked at the military formation. After a short period of practice, the three thousand soldiers in the infantry camp seemed to be just fine. He turned to Wang Wenxiu and said, "These three people are not bad."
Wang Wenxiu nodded and said: "They are happy to be incorporated into the training camp and become general officers."
While talking, the infantry battalion transformed into a large horizontal formation practiced a variety of battalion maneuvers in the river valley, such as marching and shooting, moving forward quickly, outflanking from horizontal formations, changing from horizontal formations to columns, and retreating outflanking.
Later, the large horizontal formation was transformed into a hollow square formation of three thousand headquarters, and then the horizontal formation drill was conducted with the thousand headquarters, which was successively reduced to a combined attack of the five sentries of the headquarters and the final hundred headquarters.
There were even columns of twelve soldiers attacking in units of tens.
When all the subject drills were completed, the army once again returned to the large square formation. This time they used donkey carts with baggage and formed a light cart camp.
Thirty chariots were deployed on each side, two chariots were connected, and three layers of caltrops were sprinkled twenty steps outside the formation. The gap left between the four chariots was filled by infantry, and the firearms soldiers fired according to the chariots.
Then the soldiers in the position put away the caltrops, and the soldiers attacked from the gap to practice chasing and fighting.
At this point, the entire camp exercise is over.
In many subjects, some soldiers are proficient, some are unfamiliar, and some formation changes are inconsistent; there is also a big gap in the many weapons required, and baggage vehicles also need to be modified in design to adapt to war.
But these are minor issues that can be remedied.
Under ideal conditions, a fully-equipped infantry battalion with 3,600 men would need 1,200 to 1,600 muskets, 100 to 300 rifles, and 60 portable cannons.
Liu Chengzong calculated in his mind that the cost of these equipment was about two thousand six hundred taels, and it would take half a year to build them.
The cost of making waist knives and spears is negligible, but it cannot be counted as armor. If a set of cloth is four taels, 2,500 sets will cost ten thousand taels.
It's not that Liu Chengzong cares about money, it's really that he can't turn silver into armor.
The limited manufacturing capacity of the Lion Army craftsmen is already very good if they can make a battalion of firearms in half a year, and there is no spare time to hammer armor plates.
Craftsmen, materials, craftsmen and materials are the big issues.
"Train them well." Liu Chengzong kept this matter in his mind and said to Wang Wenxiu: "Standardize infantry training, down to the number of subjects a recruit needs to practice when entering the camp, how many days for each subject, or how many days for the total subjects. "
Wang Wenxiu clasped his fists in response: "Yes!"
"Besides...it's not easy to train now. Most of our people can ride horses. In the future, the next batch of recruits will have to be taught how to ride horses. As long as they can march on horseback."
Liu Chengzong said: "How about one camp for half a year?"
Wang Wenxiu was a little embarrassed.
Training troops is not difficult, but the difficulty is that he doesn't know who Liu Chengzong will throw into his hands in the future.
Deserted frontier soldiers, deserters from guard posts, failed scholars, rural farmers, people fleeing famine and hunger, and old thieves.
The cost of training these people is different.
Those with a basic foundation can form an army within a month of reorganization.
And those without basic skills... Wang Wenxiu felt that the lives of most people in this world were not worth training for half a year.
These northern Shaanxi rebels have the same prices as Liu Chengzong. One stone of rice and grain is worth five taels of silver, and half a year of training is equivalent to thirty taels of silver.
Wang Wenxiu said: "General, I can make them understand the instructions and flags and go to the battlefield in one month."
Liu Chengzong knew that Wang Wenxiu was right.
No matter how long you train, you will still be a new recruit if you don't go to the battlefield. In fact, you will train exclusively for a month or two, mix with veterans, march, coordinate, and fight. If you survive the first three months, you will be a veteran.
"I know what you're talking about is whether it's a good deal or not."
Liu Chengzong shook his head and said: "But there are too few Han people here. This is not a question of whether it is cost-effective or not."
"When all the Han people die, others will think that your son is a Dazi and my son is a Fanzi. They may be anything in the eyes of others, but they will never be men."
"We really can only stay here in Yongzhen."
This is actually what Liu Chengzong is most worried about.
He shook his head and patted Wang Wenxiu on the shoulder: "That's it, one camp for half a year... Damn it, I have to write a letter to Wang Ziyong."
Wang Ziyong is a double-edged sword. Liu Chengzong never knows how to use it, but this time he needs Wang Ziyong's mobilization ability.
I don’t know how well farming Wang Gao Yingxiang is doing in Shishiwan. If everything goes well, Wang will be asked to hire some people from Shanxi, Shaanxi next year.
Gao Yingxiang provided some food for the people, waited for the King of Han to distribute rice, and then provided some food for him, which was almost enough to survive.
Immigration is a difficult task. If the hungry people in northern Shaanxi have enough food to go to Xining, then they are not hungry people.
Liu Chengzong's camp had just ended when he heard Dai Daozi report from a distance: "Commander, Gonpo Dorje from Riyue Mountain has come, and he has brought a Mongolian nobleman with him, saying he is Xiao Lazun's brother."
Xiao Lazun sent people over a little slower than he expected, but when he sent his brother, Liu Chengzong frowned and thought: I didn't ask him for protons either!
Soon, Baiyan Taiji, accompanied by several Mongolian cavalry, went to the outskirts of the camp and was taken to the pier.
Liu Shishi was very happy: "Tell me, what tribute does Lazun plan to pay me?"
