Ouyang Xuan has been very busy during this time, running back and forth to various places under the rule of the Pili Army. In addition to investing his energy in the construction of Hengyuan Fort, he spent more time going to various mines and factories in the mountains to inspect production and discuss production technical problems with the research institute. In addition, he also took time to walk around Wugen Mountain and inspect the Huaguoshan and Huangjiadang camps of the navy. Of course, the rest of the top brass of the Perak Army are also very busy. After the spring plowing outside the mountains, the weather in the mountains is getting warmer day by day, and it is time to sow seeds. This makes Li Shuang extremely busy. Lu Dezhi also suspended school and night classes to help He handles related matters. Yu Zhu and Cao Ergou were busy assisting in the construction of Hengyuan Fort. Basically all the off-duty personnel of the Pili Army were invested in the fort building project, only Dong Hu's inner guard battalion was not involved. Among the four companies of the internal guard battalion, in addition to the guard company responsible for the protection of important places and important personnel, the counter-espionage company, reconnaissance company, and anti-trafficking company all went out for reconnaissance under his leadership.
According to Ouyang Xuan's order, this large-scale reconnaissance expedition was divided into three directions. The first direction was Chengdu-Yunding City, with the focus on reconnaissance of the battle in Chengdu City; the second direction was Qiongzhou-Huojing. direction, because the Mongols stationed heavy troops after occupying Qiongzhou, the scouts of the Perak Army were unable to move within the boundaries of Qiongzhou for a time. Recently there are rumors that due to the unfavorable war in Chengdu, most of the Mongolian cavalry in Qiongzhou City have withdrawn to Chengdu; the third direction is from Meizhou to Jiading Prefecture. This direction mainly follows the waterway. There are contacts with Pengshan Village in Zhouzhou and Jiading Prefecture further downstream. For this reason, Navy personnel were specially dispatched to accompany them.
The main reason why Ouyang Xuan ordered the Internal Guard Battalion to carry out large-scale reconnaissance operations at the current time was that he needed to grasp and evaluate the situation. As the saying goes, "Only by knowing the enemy can you win a hundred battles." The current Perak Army is still too weak and cannot tolerate any strategic misjudgments. Although he knew the major historical events of the Southern Song Dynasty, he did not know the details of the events. And he doesn't know whether the time ripples caused by his time traveling have affected the course of history? Has the sudden emergence of the Perak Army changed the current historical trend? Only by grasping the current situation can he feel at ease.
Another consideration for sending out such a large-scale reconnaissance team is to absorb the population. If the original historical process is followed, Pu Zezhi will be defeated in the Battle of Chengdu. On the way to Chongqing, his soldiers fled one after another, countless people were massacred, and western Sichuan became a horse herding land for the Mongols. If we can absorb some of the defeated soldiers and refugees, this will not only save people's lives, but also greatly enhance the strength of the Thunderbolt Army. Although the current population under the rule of the Pili Army is close to 20,000, and the standing army has reached 1,400, coupled with the advanced concepts and technology brought by Ouyang Xuan that are beyond this era, the overall strength is not as good as that of state capitals such as Chongqing Prefecture and Jiading Prefecture. Compared with, but has reached or exceeded the broken state capitals such as Qiongzhou, Pengzhou, Hanzhou and Meizhou in western Sichuan.
Of course, with the current strength of the Perak Army, relying on the protection of the mountains and the strong fortresses, they can only protect themselves but cannot attack. If it were a field battle on flat ground, the combat power would be comparable to that of the elite Southern Song Dynasty army of the same number, but they would certainly not be able to retreat unscathed when encountering the Mongolian cavalry. In the battle to attack Dayi City, three companies of the most elite field battalion led by Cao Ergou were almost defeated by dozens of Mongolian cavalry. Although the Mongolian cavalry escaped without wanting to fight, the Pili army could only watch the enemy go away with no choice. Afterwards, Cao Ergou was still frightened when he told Ouyang Xuan about the experience.
Ouyang Xuan was well aware of Cao Ergou's helplessness. He knew that the cavalry of this era was unparalleled to the infantry. To deal with the cavalry, the Yuejia army could only use heavy armored infantry as human shields, then use dense spears to form a huddle formation, and use powerful crossbows to fire back, and then counterattack with the cooperation of their own cavalry. The Perak Army had no cavalry, but fortunately they had artillery. They could repel the Mongolian cavalry with the protection of their giant shields and spears. However, the artillery was heavy and heavy. If the Mongols broke into the formation before the artillery was set up, the Perak army would be defeated. In addition to relying on numerical superiority to deal with the Mongolian cavalry, another way is to invent and improve new weapons, such as increasing the mobility of artillery, or producing machine guns. The invention of the machine gun can make nomads good at singing and dancing. However, with the current productivity level of the Perak Army, the efficiency of making gun barrels is extremely low, and it is simply impossible to make a machine gun.
To defeat the Mongols at present, in addition to developing industry and technology, in the final analysis, we must have a sufficient population. On the one hand, the improvement of productivity level requires scientific researchers and a large number of craftsmen. On the other hand, under the current level of productivity, only more people can cultivate more land and produce more food, which can support mining, industrial production, road construction and fortification. Only by waiting can we raise more retired soldiers. Therefore, according to Ouyang Xuan's order, in addition to reconnaissance, this mission must also promote the Perak Army to attract the population. To this end, he ordered people to print a simple route map for the refugees and defeated soldiers to flee to Wanjiaping. He also compiled jingles praising the Perak Army, such as "The Paradise in Troubled Times, the Taoyuan in Sichuan", and he would publicize it wherever he went, so that the people of western Sichuan could I know there is a refuge in the mountains northwest of Chongqing Mansion.
"People are afraid of being famous and pigs are afraid of being strong." As for whether such a high-profile promotion would reveal his strength and be coveted by the powerful officials of the Southern Song Dynasty and the Mongols, the top brass of the Perak Army had a debate. In fact, Ouyang Xuan thought about this issue seriously for a long time, but after repeated weighing, he still decided to vigorously publicize it. In his view, after the Mongols occupy the entire Xichuan, they will definitely not be able to accommodate the nail-like Perak Army. The reason why the Mongols have not attacked the Perak Army now is because they are fighting fiercely with Pu Zhezhi and cannot free their hands for the time being. As for the powerful ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty who wanted to take over the Perak Army? Ouyang Xuan has absolute confidence in his prestige and control, and the Pili Army will never accept the corrupt government's behavior of adding sand and picking fruits. Military conquest by the government and army? In the defensive battle, the Perak Army was not afraid of the corrupt officers and soldiers at all. Besides, there were many state generals in Sichuan who did not listen to the propaganda. The Southern Song Dynasty court did not dare to send troops to conquer, for fear of pushing these power-hungry warlords to the Mongols. one party. Of course Ouyang Xuan and the Pili Army will never surrender to the Mongols.
Dong Hu divided the reconnaissance personnel into thirty reconnaissance detachments in groups of ten. Among them, the fifteen detachments in the direction of Chengdu-Yunding City were led by him personally, and the ten detachments in the direction of Meizhou-Jiading Prefecture were led by the reconnaissance company commander Wu Qing. , the five reconnaissance detachments in the Qiongzhou-Huojing direction were led by Yuan Shanhu, commander of the anti-traitor company. Going out for reconnaissance is much more difficult than building a fort. Not only does it cost you a lot of money, but your life is in danger at any time. Being attacked by wild beasts is the least serious, followed by numerous bandits along the way. The biggest danger is being attacked by enemy soldiers. In addition to the fierce Mongolian cavalry, ruffians in the official army also have to be on guard. Due to poor supplies and poor military discipline, the officers and soldiers were hungry and panicked, often robbing homes and looting homes without distinguishing between friend and foe. Therefore, Ouyang Xuan prepared the most advanced grenades and muskets of the Perak Army for this trip. Dong Hu also ordered the scouts to disguise themselves as wandering monks, Taoist priests, Confucian scholars and refugees. The first three types of people are quite respected by the world in this world. They generally do not cause trouble and do no harm. Even the brutal Mongols will spare monks, Taoist priests and Confucian scholars when they massacre the city. Another advantage of pretending to be these three types of people is that praising and promoting the Perak Army through their mouths is more convincing and effective, and can attract refugees and fugitive soldiers to join them.
