Liu Chengzong had no expectations from the bottom of his heart for this so-called Mobei envoy team.
Mobei has a small population, a large area, and it is far away and cannot be controlled. Liu Chengzong did not think that he could control Mobei, not to mention that he, the generalissimo, could not control it even if the Emperor Yuan Dynasty could not control it.
That was the hometown of Kublai Khan. Kublai Khan established the Central Plains and set up the Helin Xuanwei Department in the administrative division of his hometown. Why? Can't control it.
Mobei is different from the Tianshan Mountains. Everyone knows that the Ili River Valley in the Tianshan Mountains is a good place. The environment is the cornerstone of power. Only good agricultural and animal husbandry conditions allow them to have a strong army and a prosperous economy.
In the same way, the Ili River Valley is the weakness of the Oirat. As long as a large group of troops is assembled to conquer the Ili River Valley, the united Oirat will become a straggler in the Gobi, and there will never be a good place like the Ili River Valley.
And they conquered Ili, which was enough for a group of 10,000 to 30,000 elite soldiers to live a very good life, be self-sufficient, and even pay taxes.
What is the environment like in Mobei?
A large group of troops was assembled to sweep away Hangai Mountain. The tribes ran all over the land in the southeast, northwest and everywhere. Wherever they went, they could find a place with a similar environment to that there.
This is equivalent to Liu Shishi leaving his hometown in northern Shaanxi and finding that the environment is very good everywhere and the harvests are not bad everywhere.
Even if his soldiers captured Hangai Mountain, they would not be able to stay there.
Without extravagant hopes and expectations that should not exist, people will not be disappointed. Liu Shizi is already prepared to be scolded by the Khalkha delegation from Mobei, saying something about him stealing the throne. Preparation for words.
Even scolding him won't do anything. It's impossible for him to go on an expedition to Mobei.
Liu Shizi's original intention was to take half an hour out of his reading, studying, and drawing time to deal with this mission. No matter whether it was good or bad, it would not affect the overall situation.
Unexpectedly, the news sent from the Navy Yamen on Sunday was that the leader of the Mobei Khalkha, King Subadi Khan, had come in person.
Liu Chengzong was immediately flattered. He put on a brand new dress and thought to himself, what's going on with Subadi?
This is not a question of sincerity. Liu Shizi suspects that this guy's lair has been captured by others. Otherwise, the alliance leader should not lead the team here in person... at least not now.
What are you doing here? What about testing Liu Shizi’s hospitality skills?
The Bureau of Industry and Commerce made him a winter dress some time ago. The underwear is made of plain satin mid-length pants, lined with cashmere short jacket and trousers, and the outer coat is made of finely tanned goatskin, with a mink collar and leopard. In addition to the tail decoration, cowhide is also used to embosse the dragon pattern and twelve chapter patterns on the chest, back, shoulders and hem.
It is a service where the username is wrong but the password is correct.
Regardless of why Subadi came, Liu Chengzong should go out of the city to greet him. To this end, he called over Batur Hutaiji, who was a monk in the academy, and Xie Erhu and Qututaiji, who were leading troops outside.
Batur Hutaiji was eager to run out. Among his classmates, the teenage Ezhe was considered an elder brother, mainly children from the Xincheng children's camp. They were very noisy in class, which made him miserable.
Xie Erhu and Qu Tutaiji were not far away. The four pastoral camps under their command were sheltering in the Qinghai pastoral area for the winter. There were only more than a thousand people at sea to teach horses and horses, so it was very convenient to come here.
Subadi thought too much about the school horse.
Liu Chengzong asked Xie Erhu and Guitu Taiji to go to school, not to beat others, but because he was worried that someone would come over and beat him after sweating.
On the way out of the city, Ruitu Taiji and Xie Erhu kept whispering, not knowing what they were talking about. Liu Shishi was curious and asked: "What are you two talking about?"
Batur Hutaiji laughed and said in unskilled Chinese: "Great Khan, they are going to form a Mongolian armored cavalry, haha!"
After saying that, Huitaiji pointed at the two of them on horseback and said: "What kind of armored cavalry is needed if you have muskets? Don't mess with my Junggar people."
"Armor Cavalry?"
Liu Chengzong looked at Xie Erhu: "Why do you want to bother with this?"
It was okay if Huetaiji didn't speak, but when he spoke, Huitutaiji was so angry that his eyes widened with anger: "You killed all my armored cavalry!"
"Hey, you can't blame me for this." Batur Hutaiji quickly rode his horse to catch up with Liu Chengzong in two steps. Then he turned around and waved his hand seriously: "My camel city has not moved even after it is deployed. Your brother commanded the cavalry to go there." Hit."
"Camel City, it is also a city; no matter how heavy the armor is, it is also a cavalry... You let the Great Khan judge." Huitaiji put down the reins and spread his hands: "I still don't understand how the cavalry can hit the city wall."
Liu Chengzong felt dizzy at first, but later he realized that what they were talking about was Lin Danhan sending away a wave of Guitu Taiji's heavy cavalry.
The two mascots of the Marshal's Mansion were quarreling here. Xie Erhu still looked like a general. He was half a horse behind and clasped his fists on the horse and said: "Commander, the Tuen Mu camp must have elite soldiers, otherwise we will have to herd sheep in the future." .”
Liu Chengzong raised his eyebrows and glanced at Xie Erhu: "Tell me what you think."
"From now on, if there is no war nearby, we have to transport food five hundred miles away. If we need to transport food, we must send troops close to the field camp." Xie Erhu looked a little aggrieved: "Then there will be no war between me and Commander Ba. ...Maybe it's his fault, I can't do it without elite soldiers."
In fact, Xie Erhu's idea has a lot to do with Ruitu Taiji.
During the war, Qututaiji discovered that the generalissimo was discriminatory against the Mongolian army.
This discrimination is reflected in all aspects of general rank, military supplies, soldier equipment, and military missions.
For example, in the war with Oirat, Liu Chengzong did not let his Mengfan troops go to the battlefield at all, but only protected the grain road from behind.
There is nothing wrong with this kind of deployment. The nomadic cavalry is really good at guarding food roads and serving as a fast-moving reserve army.
But Gututaiji didn’t want this. We Mongolians were not limited to this. When our ancestor Genghis Khan was doing it, he used heavy cavalry and light cavalry, heavy footwork and light footing, and the navy attacked cities. Why can’t we old Mongolians do that?
In the final analysis, this virtue can only bring out light cavalry, so it is not poor.
The problem is that following the Marshal's Mansion, the Mongolian generals headed by Xie Erhu are not poor. Their several pastoral camps rely on livestock and the Juerwan market to organize a Mongolian-style heavy cavalry to undertake the backbone of the battle.
Qututaiji is ambitious. He used to be one of the most powerful figures in Chahar, but now he has become a mascot in the Marshal's Mansion.
I didn’t think much of it earlier, but he is also a Taiji. Batur Hutaiji is so awesome that he is just a military commander of the Tunmu Camp, in charge of the 3,600 people in the Chahar Camp. , it’s nothing.
However, Qututaiji himself did not have the ability to promote the military reform of the Tunmu Camp, so he had to recruit Xie Erhu, the brigade commander of the Tunmu Camp.
Xie Erhu's starting point was not entirely to enhance the Marshal's Mansion's ability to cope with war. For the Mongolian horse bandit leader who was born in the desert, the Marshal's Mansion had conquered all the opponents he knew, and the external environment was unprecedentedly safe.
Although Xie Erhu, as Liu Chengzong's number one Mongolian warrior, supported him as Khan, deep down he actually did not want to admit that Liu Chengzong was a Khan.
After all, the so-called Duntaurus Khanate is not serious at all in his eyes. When the Khanate has developed to this stage, what are the powerful people doing? Unprecedented unity in preparation for the next war.
What should we do if the Khanate has developed to this stage? It’s time for all the princes to let go of their internal strife!
Xie Erhu didn't want to have internal strife. If there was internal strife in the Marshal's Mansion at this juncture, he would have no choice but to bully Ruitu Taiji, and no one else would be able to defeat him.
Even Basang, who is the brigade commander, can't beat him. Basang's brigade is well equipped.
Bu Chi, the general on the left, had Han artillerymen, Xifan noble cavalry, and Xifan civilian musketeers under his command.
The right commander, Ah Liu, whose backbone was She Chongming's Daliang rebels, trained a group of southwestern spearmen.
Not to mention whether it's awesome or not, it's scary to look at.
Xie Erhu wanted to reform the military system mainly for his personal future.
As the first Mongolian leader to follow Liu Chengzong, Xie Erhu liked the system of the Marshal's Mansion that rewarded meritorious deeds and punished delinquents, and he had benefited from this for a long time.
But since the Marshal's Office conferred officials and established the Thirteenth Battalion, and Officer Xie Erhu became the brigade commander of the Tuntian Camp, this situation has changed... Having received the benefits of being rewarded for meritorious deeds and punished for demerits, one must also bear the benefits of those who are capable. The price of giving in to the loser.
The system has not changed, but the situation has changed. It is almost impossible for anyone to suddenly rush to the sea to fight in the future. In the future, the Marshal's Mansion's wars will most likely be expeditions.
Expedition means transporting food. In a separatist regime established by hungry people and hungry troops in northern Shaanxi, cherishing food is the guiding ideology of everything.
How to save food during war?
The troops should be elite rather than numerous. The faster the march, the better. The earlier the decisive battle, the better. A single blow is fatal at the beginning of the battle.
Following this logic, Xie Erhu discovered that after his subordinates became the Tunmu Brigade, they basically went against these principles.
They are large in number, weak in combat power, and have poor military discipline. They are good at disrupting enemy troops on flank battlefields, cutting off food routes, and burning, killing, and looting.
Even the proud military speed of the light cavalry is actually not good enough.
In the wilderness, not only could they keep up with the field camp of the Marshal's Mansion, they could even travel three hundred miles in the first three days without much problem. However, after three days or when they entered mountains, hills and complex terrain, they would not be able to keep up.
The daily marching speed of the field camp is sixty miles with the animals. This speed is quite fast, but it is not so fast that no one in the world can beat it. Basically all the more elite regular army light infantry and light cavalry can reach this speed.
The problem was that Xie Erhu knew very well that the Marshal's seven field battalions did not have light infantry or light cavalry. It might be an exaggeration to say that they were heavy infantry, but they were definitely not light infantry.
What's more, they can only walk sixty miles a day. It's not that these people can only walk at this speed, but because of the artillery and carts, they can only walk sixty miles a day.
As a senior officer, Xie Erhu asked Mr. Hanwen to read him the infantry drill code of the Marshal's Mansion. After the gentleman read it, he returned the drill code to Huben Camp.
It's useless to have a code of conduct. The code of conduct requires infantry to be able to lead a mule for eighty miles a day under any road conditions, even if it is an animal road. Riding is not allowed under normal circumstances. The theory is that officers and soldiers can march every day. Sixty miles, they have to travel eighty miles a day.
Isn’t this nonsense? Xie Erhu told his subordinates today that they are not allowed to ride horses with their legs sixty miles away. His subordinates probably have no complaints. But if he dares to give such an order tomorrow, some people in the Tunmu camp will dare to call him a fool. ; If he dares to give an order on the third day, everyone will not want him.
This is the annoying thing about fairness. Xie Erhu suffered the benefits of fairness in his early years, but as the stall of the Marshal's Mansion grew bigger and bigger, he also suffered the disadvantages of fairness.
So he said: "Commander, it won't work unless you change."
"It can be changed."
Liu Chengzong nodded. In fact, he never expected Xie Erhu to take the initiative to reform the Tunmu Camp, because he knew that this system was unfair to Mongolian civilian generals such as Xie Erhu and Basang.
All the instructions in the army are in Chinese. The problems encountered by illiterate Han soldiers and officers can be solved by learning. However, these Mongolian civilian generals do not even understand Mongolian, and they have to go through several turns with an interpreter. , learning is much more difficult than others.
Therefore, since he was awarded the title of official, his idea was to let Xie Erhu and Basang each lead two Tunmu camps as brigade commanders. If they can learn, they can learn slowly. Learn from generation to generation.
But he also does not object to the general's desire to learn. Learning is always useful. Even if it is not used now, it will be used in the future.
For example, at this time, Liu Chengzong said that it could be changed, which made Xie Erhu elated, but then he heard Liu Shizi say: "But if your reform to the Tunmu Camp is to form armored cavalry, Erhu... The Tunmu Camp still can't send troops."
"Commander, why?"
Liu Chengzong gently reined in the reins and sighed: "Why do you want to reform the Tunmu camp? Because you know that when the commander-in-chief selects troops, he will definitely choose the most capable team under the limited consumption of food and grass."
Xie Erhu nodded, thinking that I have already practiced armored riding, but I still can't fight?
"It's easy for you to raise armored cavalry. The arsenal can provide you with all weapons, armor, and vests. Each pastoral camp has millions of acres of pasture land, but I can't afford the cost of moving the armored cavalry. "
Liu Chengzong spoke very straightforwardly, waving his hand and saying: "I think you might as well ask Brigadier Yang and Brigadier Wang for advice. Under the limited conditions of the Tunmu camp, each camp can train eight hundred to one thousand medium-sized infantry cavalry. Stop thinking about equipment."
The armored cavalry is very powerful under certain conditions, but it requires too many horses and cannot be replaced by mules. First of all, the armored cavalry marches without equipment and needs to be mixed with other troops for cover.
If possible, add horses and mix them with light cavalry. If not, mix them with light infantry. It is not difficult to raise this thing, but it is too expensive to operate. A uniformed cavalry should be matched with at least one light cavalry and one infantry, and the three horses themselves should charge in turns. War horses and light cavalry require a horse and a mule, and infantry requires a mule.
The rations of mules are similar to those of people. A light war horse can carry four people, and a heavy war horse can carry six people. A team of 1,000 people with 300 pieces of equipment consumes more than 8,000 light infantry, 5,000 horse infantry, and 3,000 horse infantry. Qingqi.
"No matter how heavy the vest is, it cannot protect against muskets and artillery, and it is difficult for bows and arrows to kill war horses. If you want to play, you can raise hundreds of horses for fun, but if you plan to participate in the next eastward journey..."
Liu Chengzong paused as he spoke, because a team of envoys not far away had already arrived. This team of envoys reminded him that in the future, the Marshal's Mansion may not only march eastward, but also have a high chance of sending troops to the Mongolian Plateau in the northeast.
"I plan to be ordered to be transferred to the battlefield in the east. I think the medium-sized equipment of the frontier cavalry is more in line with the needs of the war."
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
good afternoon!
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