The permission arrived yesterday, and soon after arriving, ships successively brought over weapons and prisoners captured in the battle.
Among these weapons, there are quite a few well-made firearms, especially more than a dozen bird cannons and light Buddha cannons. This is something bandits rarely have.
Firearms of bandits have also been seized during security operations and bandit suppression in the past. Most of them were crude tubular firearms made by blacksmiths in villages and towns. Their appearance imitated the firearms of officers and soldiers, but their texture was extremely rough and their shape was inaccurate. At first glance, it is a fake product. Even the great sea lord Zheng Zhilong and his ilk have many crude and crude privately made cannons and muskets on their ships.
Are the weapons used by these bandits clearly the standard weapons of Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers?
Could it be that the bandits are all supported by Xiong Wencan? On second thought, it might be possible to support, but Xiong Wencan probably didn't have the ability to directly provide weapons to the bandits-nine times out of ten, these things were seized from the Ming army, or simply brought by the defeated Ming army. This is reflected in the confessions obtained from the prisoners in the preliminary trial. About one-third of the prisoners were officers and soldiers.
The Yao Rebellion destroyed many Ming army camps and camps, and captured many counties. A large number of firearms of officers and soldiers were scattered. They were not only captured by Yao people's armed forces, but also flowed into bandits along with the dispersed officers and soldiers.
No wonder the current security war situation has become so complicated. Xu Xu thought to himself that the scattered soldiers and the lost firearms had directly or indirectly strengthened the strength of the bandits and Yao people's armed forces. At that time, the most effective troops under Li Zicheng were also the mutinous troops of the Ming Army in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia area.
These additions of personnel and firearms were not only reflected in equipment, but also in combat: these wooden cannons are proof of this.
This was the first time he saw a wooden cannon - he had heard of this primitive firearm: the barrel was dug out of a hardwood trunk with a large diameter at breast height and fine, hard wood, and was used as an artillery piece. In the north, old elm is mostly used, while in Guangdong and Guangxi, ironwood and lychee wood are mostly used.
This type of non-metallic artillery has appeared in Asia and Europe. The Korean army used wooden cannons during the Imjin Japanese Rebellion, and the Swedes and Russians used leather cannons. Both leather and hardwood are inferior to copper and iron in strength and toughness, so this type of cannon cannot be loaded with too much gunpowder, and the size of the shells it can fire is not large. It is mostly used to fire shotgun shells. Even though the 4-pound shells are large, their range is not far. And most of them are not very durable and will deform and crack after being hit a few times. North Korea's Famuji also had a chamber explosion accident during the battle, so the officers and soldiers they encountered before were not equipped with this thing.
The wooden cannons in front of him were made of lychee wood, a common local tree species. The cannon bores were dug in a regular manner. They were obviously not made by hand. They should have been dug out with some kind of hand drill. After touching it, the inner wall was smooth and probably polished. Although the inner diameter of the barrel was pitifully small compared to the outer diameter, it could probably fire a 4-pound shell. Several iron hoops were added to the wooden cannon.
Although the manufacturing is very sophisticated, wooden cannons are still much easier to process than iron cannons for bandits. Lychee wood and iron wood can be found everywhere in the local area. If it's not used, just throw it away if it's broken.
Although this thing is crude and bulky, as long as it is arranged properly and the timing of firing is good in battle, it can still achieve results. In this ambush battle, the bandits sank the gunboat. Although the luck of the blind cat dragging the mouse to death was involved, the effect was still very obvious.
"...There is no doubt that the bandits we are facing are not ordinary gangsters or local gangsters, but more irregular troops mixed with Ming army soldiers. Both their equipment and combat effectiveness are much stronger than ordinary gangsters. "Xu Xu concluded, "Summary of the recent public security war battle reports, it can be seen that the military quality of the bandit leaders is also good - they are likely to have Ming army generals."
"Right now, three groups are working together to deal with our family." Bei Wei smiled, "But it's okay, the reason why bandits are difficult to control is that they are small, scattered, and wandering. Now they want to join forces to do big things, but it will hinder our suppression. Gangsterism has its benefits.”
Xu Xu said: "But once they continue to attack the city, it will have a negative impact on our political reputation on both sides of the Xijiang River, so the political factors involved must also be considered."
Bei Wei nodded: "So we still have to use the same method as Xue Ziliang."
"Gathering villages into villages?"
"Yes, our troops are too small to protect every village," Bei Wei pointed at the map under the glass. "Big villages have many strong people and can defend themselves, while small villages have almost no defense capabilities. Put small villages By merging into a village with better defense conditions and organizing militia, we can form a certain self-defense capability. Only in this way can we effectively prevent bandits from attacking, and we can be free to hunt down bandits - otherwise the troops will be exhausted.
"Both sides of the Xijiang River are our key areas for public security. They are also the main agricultural areas of the counties along the river, where most of the population and fields are concentrated, so our focus for public security is here." Bei Wei said and glanced at the three naturalized people. Civilian officer. There was no need to talk about battle considerations in front of the naturalized civilian officers, but he felt that it was better to talk about them so that they could establish an overall awareness from now on. "You must have an overall awareness now, and don't just limit yourself to the guard captain." Or a role like infantry company commander."
"Yes!" The three of them stood at attention.
Next, Bei Wei announced a new order: Mi Longtao was appointed as the captain of the police mobile team of the three counties of Cangfengyu and Yu, and was fully responsible for the public security war in these three counties. The security forces of these three counties were mobilized and commanded in a unified manner, with Li Shenggang serving as deputy captain.
"...As for you, you still lack actual combat experience, but your squadron performed well. You will have more experience with the two captains."
Zhu Si secretly complained that this was the rhythm to keep him. He originally wanted to find a reason to go back to Wuzhou, but he didn't dare to say it directly, so he quickly saluted: "Report! Thank you to the commander for cultivating me! It's just that I am still the captain of the Wuzhou National Army Garrison Brigade. If I stay in the Mobile Guard, Should you go through the relevant procedures..."
"There's no need to worry about this." Bei Wei smiled slightly, "Didn't you also have Captain Li on the cruise this time? I heard that he performed well, so I will let him temporarily act as your deputy."
Zhu Si quickly said: "Yes, yes." But he felt uncomfortable in his heart.
The analysis meeting lasted until noon, and the joint security model of the three counties was discussed. Including key warnings in the direction of Wuzhou. The meeting decided that all current reconnaissance forces in the three counties would be dispatched to collect surrounding intelligence. Focus on collecting intelligence in the direction of Yunan County and Wuzhou to ensure that once a large group of enemies is found gathering in this area, we will concentrate our efforts to attack.
The field hospital in Fengchuan County is located in the Confucius Temple in Fengchuan County. Fengchuan is a small place. Although there are many temples, most of them are small in area. The only one with more houses available is the Confucius Temple.
Confucius temples in prefectures and counties are not only places for worship, but also the locations of prefectural and county schools. There are many houses to facilitate the placement of the sick and wounded. So Lin Motian, who was in charge of field rescue in western Guangdong, set up the field hospital here.
Lin Motian is a surgeon. He originally applied to Guangzhou to establish the Provincial and Hong Kong General Hospital and then establish a medical school. However, now the frontline is in urgent need of experienced medical staff. He came to Guangzhou to "support the frontline" before his buttocks were even hot. "Yes.
"The conditions here are simply unbearable..." Liu San, who came here to inspect with Bei Wei, said to him after visiting the field hospital.
Although Liu San is currently only responsible for medical work in Guangzhou, he is actually the default person in charge of health clinics in Guangdong.
"You should be mentally prepared." Lin Motian had a cigar in his mouth. Smoking was not allowed in the hospital, but he had started smoking since arriving in Fengchuan. No amount of disinfectant could hide the strong smell of blood in the hospital.
"Yes, yes, I was mentally prepared. I knew the situation would be bad, but I didn't expect it to be so bad." Liu San let out a rough breath, "I originally thought that the basic health centers we built in Hainan were extensive enough. , I didn’t expect that when I got to the front line, I saw that the simple health center is simply a top-level hospital..."
In the entire western Guangdong field hospital, there is only one veteran doctor, three naturalized civilian doctors, and ten "medical doctors" - these people are probably at the level of the "barefoot doctors" of the old time and space. According to the standards of the old time and space, the only person who could qualify as a "doctor" was Lin Motian.
Not to mention the level of medical staff, to ensure the wartime medical service of the more than 10,000 naturalized civilian soldiers and civil affairs cadres deployed to western Guangdong, these people are just a drop in the bucket.
The front and back halls and corridors of the small Confucian Temple were all turned into wards. Because there were too many people in the hospital, several other temples had to be requisitioned in the city. As inpatient departments, the hospitalization of the seriously injured and the sick was barely separated.
It's morning now. The last batch of wounded and sick patients sent last night have been processed. No new wounded and sick people have arrived yet. Lin Motian is temporarily free and can chat with Liu Sanxian who came to inspect. .
"To be honest, our health care work is seriously underprepared: personnel, materials, medicines... are all in short supply, but there is no shortage of systems." Lin Motian complained.
In accordance with the health service regulations formulated by the Joint Logistics Headquarters "adapted to local conditions", lightly wounded persons go to the battalion health station on their own, are simply bandaged and sent to the brigade field hospital; moderately wounded persons are sent to the battalion health station by the stretcher team. Then they are sent to the brigade field hospital by boat or stretcher team.
Because the troops basically operate along the river, the distance from the combat area to the supply point by the river is no more than ten kilometers at most. As long as the stretcher team transports the wounded to the river, it can use the motorized ship that delivers ammunition and supplies for the return trip. Then go to the brigade-level field hospital for final treatment. Then be sent back to recuperate.
As for the procedures for handling critically injured people, it is not covered by the regulations. With their current support equipment and medical level, seriously injured people would never survive to reach the evacuation assembly point.
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Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 371
