Chapter 098
"Cheng Shuai, you also know that our Dongjiang Army is too poor. The court has forgotten us and does not give us food, grass, or equipment."
"We also know that wooden guns are terrible. Not to mention Jiannu's white-armored soldiers, even if they are red-armored soldiers wearing a layer of iron armor, we will suffer big losses!"
"We also know that this equipment is too poor, but the Dongjiang Army is too poor to provide us with better equipment!"
"Cheng Shuai, our Dongjiang Army is really poor. What can we do if we are poor?"
"We also want everyone to wear iron armor and carry horses and spears, but we are poor and have no money!"
"We have nothing but this life."
"Don't worry, Commander Cheng. You hand over the stone castle to our Dongjiang Army. Unless Jiannu kills us all, they can't even think about getting there!"
"Cheng Shuai...we don't want to make do with it. It would be nice to have a wooden gun, at least not with bare hands..."
"Cheng Shuai, even if we don't have good weapons, our heroes in the Dongjiang Army will not give up. Even if we bite him with our teeth or smash him with our fists, we will do our best to kill Jiannu!"
"Cheng Shuai..."
As Cheng Shijie said that the equipment of the Dongjiang Army was not good, the soldiers and generals of the Dongjiang Army began to complain. Although Cheng Shijie controlled the Dongjiang Army, he could not regard the Dongjiang Army as the Ning Haijun.
This is also human nature. Even if it is one's own biological child, he still hopes that the eldest will give way to the younger. This is actually unfair to the eldest child.
Of course, there is no real fairness in the world.
Cheng Shijie said: "The quality of weapons is related to the outcome of the war, how can we just make do with it!"
In fact, Cheng Shijie originally wanted to repair the weapons captured on the battlefield and give them to the soldiers of the Dongjiang Army, but now Cheng Shijie also changed his mind.
The Dongjiang Army is now poor. It can be said that because of their poverty, it is easier for them to bribe them.
"Zhou Yandong!"
"exist!"
"Bring over the new equipment produced by the Ordnance Bureau!"
Unlike other generals who want to buy equipment, Cheng Shijie produces most of his own equipment, especially improved animal-powered machinery and equipment, which makes weapon production faster, of better quality, and most importantly, of lower cost. When quelling Kong Youde's rebellion, Cheng Shijie not only received the money captured by Kong Youde, but also received a large amount of equipment.
These equipment were being repaired or recycled at the Ordnance Bureau of Ninghai Haijun. Especially after selling the iron mines and factories in Ninghai Prefecture, it was naturally impossible for Cheng Shijie to leave the precious steel to Gu Shizhang.
Not long after, Zhou Yandong brought over long guns processed by animal-powered machinery from the Ordnance Bureau. The shafts of these long guns were made of fine rubbing wood, commonly known as white wax poles, and were processed with a planer.
When Ning Haijun moved, not only the property of Ninghai Prefecture was taken away, but also a large amount of wood, including the rubbing trees used to make gun shafts, were cut down, branches and leaves were cut off, and boats were also used. After being shipped over, there were more than 600,000 gun barrels placed in the Jinzhou Guard alone, enough for Cheng Shijie to arm 300,000 to 400,000 spearmen.
The long guns placed on the cart at this time were wrapped in black Gebu strips, just like large bundles of sugar cane. They were all super long guns, with a length of more than four meters, which was longer than the wooden guns in the hands of the Dongjiang Army soldiers. The gun is three meters long, almost half as long. Especially the blade of the spear is actually one foot eight inches long.
The biggest difference between a spear and a spear is in the spear head or spear head. The spear head is generally a triangular pyramid or a four-sided pyramid, a polygonal pyramid, or even a cone. The spear head is longer, flatter, and has edges on both sides, which can be used to stab, sweep or chop.
On the battlefield, spears are naturally more powerful than spears, but the problem is that the cost of making the same spear is almost twice that of a spear, and two spearmen can easily deal with one spearman. Therefore, in terms of cost performance, long guns have more advantages than spears.
Therefore, the spear, like the horse spear, was gradually eliminated due to its high cost. Except for the Han and Tang Dynasties, the other dynasties that were able to equip a large number of horses and spears were relatively weak.
Looking at the spear on the cart, Mao Chenglu's eyes widened: "This is not a spear, this is a horse spear!"
"What the hell!"
Cheng Shijie smiled disapprovingly and said: "The horse is so expensive, this is a spear!"
Cheng Shijie pulled out the Tang straight sword and waved it lightly, and a bundle of spears scattered with a sound. He sheathed the sword, picked up a spear, and handed it to Mao Chenglu: "General Mao, try the power of this spear!"
Mao Chenglu reached out and took the spear, feeling its heavy weight. Especially the gun blade part is not the common triangular shape, but a long and narrow sword shape, with deep blood grooves, and the blade glows with a cold light.
Mao Chenglu said: "What a gun!"
In fact, ancient cold weapons were generally not heavy. Ancient spears generally did not exceed ten kilograms. The weight of the spear used in the martial arts examination in the Tang Dynasty was eight kilograms (the spear was one foot eight feet long, one inch and a half in diameter, and weighed eight kilograms). The average spear in the Ming Dynasty ( It is also one foot and eight feet long) with a total weight of only three kilograms, and the spearhead does not weigh more than one or two pounds. The reason for the lightness of the spearhead is simple. Even if the spearhead is only the size of a nail head, it can kill the aorta in the heart if it is stabbed in the chest.
But the problem is that the weight of this spear is definitely more than ten kilograms, at least about twelve kilograms. This is mainly due to different strategic purposes. Ning Haijun's spearmen are not meant to fight in battle. What they need is to block the impact of the cavalry.
When fighting, just place the butt of the spear on the ground, point the blade in the charging direction of Jiannu's cavalry, hold it firmly, and wait for Jiannu to rush over. As for fully armed marching, Ning Haijun's spears were transported on baggage trucks during the march. He only carried a two-and-a-half kilogram crossbow and a four-pound and sixty-pound dog-leg knife.
Mao Chenglu grasped the spear tightly, shook his wrist, and a gun flower suddenly appeared. He shouted loudly and stabbed the horse post.
"Puch..."
There was a muffled sound, and the thick horse bolt was pierced by a gun, and the spear blade was stuck in the horse bolt.
Mao Chenglu looked at a Dongjiang Army soldier holding a shield and said, "Yulang, bring the shield over here!"
The Dongjiang Army soldier named Yulang stood a heavy shield with a height of one meter and four meters on the ground, and then used a wooden stick to support the shield.
Mao Chenglu took out his gun again, and with one shot, the heavy shield covered with iron sheet, which even the crossbow could not penetrate, was pierced by the shot, and the tip of the gun penetrated nearly half a foot from the inside.
"Good gun, really good gun!"
Mao Chenglu put away the spear and couldn't put it down. He looked at Cheng Shijie and said: "Cheng Shuai, this gun is good, very good. Mao likes it very much, but...how much does it cost for one? It's too expensive for us to buy!" "
"Buy, who do you look down on?"
Cheng Shijie waved his hand: "I promised you, Commander Huang, that as long as you guys come, I will be responsible for changing your equipment. There is no charge for these equipments. Take them all!"
The soldiers of the Dongjiang Army who were present were in a daze at first, then rushed towards the dozen or so carts and began to fire the long spears wildly. The soldiers of the Dongjiang Army were also frightened and were still reluctant to throw away the broken wooden sticks in their hands.
After getting the spears, many Dongjiang Army soldiers stroked the spears affectionately, as if they were holding a beautiful woman, with eager and dangerous eyes.
Soon, more than 3,000 long guns were snatched up.
A soldier of the Dongjiang Army held a spear and danced impatiently. Suddenly, a hay popped out of the soldier's clothes. Cheng Shijie's eyes fell on the hay, and he seemed to understand something.
Cheng Shijie walked towards a Dongjiang Army soldier. The clothes of this Dongjiang Army soldier were bulging and looked very thick. However, the problem was that as soon as he reached out to touch, Cheng Shijie felt the Dongjiang Army soldier's clothes. The clothes were stuffed with hay.
This kind of yellow hay has slender leaves, and he couldn't tell the difference. But he was sure that this kind of grass was not very effective in keeping out the cold, especially since the Dongjiang Army soldier's hands were cold.
Cheng Shijie walked towards another soldier and stretched out his hand to touch it. The same thing happened.
Cheng Shijie looked at Mao Chenglu. At this time, Mao Chenglu was like a primary school student. During the physical education class, his pants fell apart due to excessive force. He knew what Cheng Shijie had discovered, so he seemed a little embarrassed.
"Cheng Shuai, the Dongjiang Army is poor..."
Having said this, this tall and thick man's eyes turned a little red.
"Stop talking, stop talking, I'm handsome!"
Cheng Shijie said to more than 3,000 Dongjiang Army soldiers: "Brothers!"
As Cheng Shijie spoke, the scene immediately fell silent. These Dongjiang Army soldiers knew very well that they had a well-made spear in their hands, which meant that in the future, when they fought against Jiannu on the battlefield, they would have one more weapon. If you are distracted, such a sharp and strong spear will not be helpless and unable to fight back when encountering the white-armored soldiers of Jiannu.
"Meet the Marshal!"
Cheng Shijie looked at the generals of the Dongjiang Army and said: "I have been ordered by the Holy Spirit to control the Dongjiang Army. I have the right to act expeditiously during the temporary formation. Do you know what control is?"
"I am willing to listen to the commander-in-chief's orders!"
"Now your Dongjiang Army, like Ning Haijun, is also my Cheng Shijie's soldier. Since you are my Cheng Shijie's soldier, the imperial court does not care about your supplies, nor does it care about your food and clothing. I will take care of it!"
These Dongjiang Army soldiers clenched the spears in their hands with a dazed look in their eyes.
They have been disappointed by the court so many times that they have become numb. His goodwill and loyalty to the imperial court were reduced to little by the suppression and deception again and again.
"Zhou Yandong!"
"The general is here!"
"Bring over the cotton-padded clothes that Ning Haijun has in stock in Jinzhou and distribute them to the brothers of the Dongjiang Army!"
"Commander, we don't have many cotton-padded clothes in stock, but..."
Zhou Yandong was about to tell Cheng Shijie that although both cotton-padded clothes and military uniforms were available, the problem was that they were prepared for future military expansion. Ning Haijun's invasion of the state took place as soon as more than 4,800 people completed the change. , Cheng Shijie reorganized the Dengzhou Army Navy and the captured cavalry rebels under Kong Youde, which put great pressure on Ning Haijun's logistics.
Now Cheng Shijie was openly inviting people to buy people's hearts, but the problem was that Ning Haijun's family was not rich, and Zhou Yandong just wanted to explain.
Cheng Shijie interrupted Zhou Yandong rudely: "Nothing but, execute the order!"
"yes!"
Zhou Yandong already knew clearly Ning Haijun's military discipline and must act according to orders. Cheng Shijie's orders were above all else.
Zhou Yandong turned around and met Song Xiance. He hurriedly said: "Commander Song, you'd better give the commander some advice!"
"Persuade? Why do you want to persuade?"
Song Xiance looked at the Dongjiang Army soldiers in front of him and said, "What do you think of these soldiers?"
"Although they are a little thinner, I have to admit that these are good soldiers, with a strong will and sharp eyes. They are all elites who will fight for the rest of their lives!"
Zhou Yandong seemed to understand.
"What kind of life do our Ning Navy officers live? We don't talk about big fish and meat every day. At least we can eat and drink enough. With this kind of treatment, in the Central Plains, ordinary small and medium-sized landowners will not have the opportunity to eat so well!"
Song Xiance continued: "As the saying goes, it is easy to get from frugality to luxury, but it is too difficult to get from luxury to frugality. The commander-in-chief will feed these Dongjiang Army soldiers well, wear them well, and use the best weapons, so that they can return to their employer in the future. Did the army have a hard time?"
"this……"
Zhou Yandong suddenly understood: "From now on, these three thousand soldiers and horses can only have the surname Cheng!"
"Yes, you can see it, why don't you execute it?"
Zhou Yandong hurriedly carried out the order happily. The cotton-padded clothes of Ning Haijun were heavier than the cotton-padded clothes of later generations. They weighed ten kilograms and eight taels. They were divided into three pieces. The cotton trousers weighed about two and a half kilograms and the cotton-padded jacket weighed about three kilograms. A pound and a half, the coat weighs about four and a half pounds. This is just the weight of cotton, not including the weight of the fabric used to sew the cotton-padded clothes. If the weight of the fabric is included, the three-piece set of cotton-padded clothes weighs a total of twelve kilograms.
These three types of cotton-padded clothes will not cause frostbite even in an environment of minus 20 or 30 degrees Celsius. But the problem is that cotton was much more expensive in the Ming Dynasty than in later generations. Since there are no pesticides and chemical fertilizers, the cotton yield in this era is barely over 100 kilograms per mu, and one acre of cotton cannot even produce ten sets of cotton-padded clothes.
When Zhou Yandong transported the cotton-padded clothes to the school field, the soldiers suddenly cheered. As cotton-padded clothes began to be distributed one by one, these three thousand Dongjiang Army soldiers, like Ning Haijun soldiers, wore black cotton-padded jackets, black cotton trousers, black cotton coats, and black cotton Gebu shoes.
He was holding a spear in his hand, almost exactly the same as Ning Haijun. Of course, due to the poor military discipline of the Dongjiang Army, they always swarmed forward when sending out items, and the whole scene was in chaos.
As the cotton-padded clothes were divided, these Dongjiang Army soldiers couldn't wait to put them on. Then more than a dozen carts rolled over. Each Dongjiang Army soldier was distributed a dog-leg knife. This was Ning Haijun's soldier. As standard equipment, every Ning Navy soldier, no matter what branch he is in, has a dog-leg knife.
Seeing the arrival of the dog-leg knives, these Dongjiang Army soldiers howled and swarmed forward, pounced on the convoy transporting the dog-leg knives like hungry tigers, and robbed them. There were at least three thousand dog-leg knives in a dozen four-wheeled carriages, which was supposed to be enough, but looking at the ruthlessness with which they looted, it was even more ruthless than African refugees robbing food!
The driver who was driving the carriage immediately dodged five hundred meters away, and the slower ones would have been flattened.
Mao Chenglu was no longer embarrassed now. He just said with some self-deprecation: "These bastards, how do I usually teach them? They are as fast as the wind, as slow as the forest, as motionless as a mountain, and as aggressive as fire. They forget these in the blink of an eye. How can they become bandits with just a little good equipment? It’s really embarrassing..."
Cheng Shijie nodded and said with deep approval: "General Mao is right, the military discipline of the Dongjiang Army should indeed be improved!"
Mao Chenglu actually just said casually that when the Dongjiang Army fought against Jiannu, they almost never fought positional battles or attacked openly. There was no way. The equipment of the Dongjiang Army was not even as good as the guard posts in the interior. In this case, They can only fight cleverly, that is, take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and surprise them with a ruthless trick.
Military discipline is not very important, especially since the Dongjiang Army actually has at least a thousand female slaves. These are the trophies of the soldiers of the Dongjiang Army. There are also more than 2,000 real slaves, but they are all Haixi Jurchens. Most of these Jurchens could no longer survive with Jiannu and defected to Mao Wenlong. They participated in the military operations of the Dongjiang Army and served as the leading party. It was precisely because of the existence of these leading parties that the Dongjiang Army was at home behind Jiannu. He was not surrounded, ambushed, or severely wounded by the slave-building army.
Cheng Shijie asked the Dongjiang Army to improve military discipline. At this time, Mao Chenglu had just taken Cheng Shijie's 3,000 spears, 3,000 dog-leg knives, and 3,000 sets of cotton clothes. At this time, he had no way to refuse Cheng Shijie, his new boss.
Mao Chenglu sighed and said, "I wonder how Commander Cheng will improve the military discipline of the Dongjiang Army?"
Cheng Shijie looked at the soldier Ning Haijun who was on duty in the distance. He said to the officer on duty: "Here comes someone!"
As the officer on duty turned around, he ran towards Cheng Shijie. He was still ten steps away from Cheng Shijie. Then he stood at attention and saluted Cheng Shijie: "Report to Commander-in-Chief, Ning Haijun Youdu Division, Twelfth General Fourth Division, the garrison Chief Qin Liancheng reports to you that there are no abnormalities in today's enforcement, please give instructions from the commander-in-chief!"
"Answer to General Mao, what is the duty of a soldier!"
"yes!"
Qin Liancheng said to Mao Chenglu: "Soldiers take obedience to orders as their bounden duty. They must follow orders in all actions, be brave and tenacious, and resolutely complete tasks. Train hard, master various techniques, and always keep fighting to kill the enemy, which can protect the safety of the people!" "
Cheng Shijie nodded and said: "The answer is correct, continue to hold on!"
"yes!"
Cheng Shijie looked at Mao Chenglu and said, "How is Ning Haijun's military discipline?"
"Rare in life!"
Mao Chenglu thought for a while and said: "I heard that Marshal Qi's Qi family army back then could also do what Ning Haijun did!"
Cheng Shijie nodded and said: "Yes, my commander's method of training troops is to study Qi Shaobao's "New Book of Jixiao". The equipment has been sent to you. There won't be any large-scale wars in the past few days. You must hurry up. Time to train, adapt to the new equipment, and prepare for the next decisive battle! This battle is related to the fate of the Han people in Liaodong, and the whole country is paying attention..."
Mao Chenglu said: "Cheng Shuai, just do whatever you tell Mao to do!"
Cheng Shijie said: "Tonight we will add salted fish and horse meat!"
"Commander Cheng is mighty!"
"Cheng Dashuai is domineering!"
"Shuai Cheng Wansheng!"
"Shuai Cheng is wise!"
"Long live Marshal Cheng!"
That roar made the ground of Jinzhou Acropolis shake violently.
This shows how encouraging Cheng Shijie's words were.
When Song Xiance heard the Dongjiang Army soldiers shouting the slogan "Long live Marshal Cheng", a proud and proud look appeared on his face.
"Do you see it!"
Song Xiance pointed at Zhou Yandong and said: "Lord, give these spears, dog-leg knives, and cotton-padded clothes to the Dongjiang Army that even the rich can't buy. This is called pattern. The commander's things are not so easy to get! "
"atmosphere!"
Zhou Yandong had to admit that what Song Xiance said was true. Cheng Shijie was not a stingy person, especially since Ning Haijun had received military honors, which were all generous rewards.
Especially giving away good things like this is so unambiguous.
It looked like Cheng Shijie had suffered a big loss, but the problem was that this army would have the surname Cheng from now on.
In fact, there is no shortage of smart people in the Dongjiang Army. Mao Chenglu's generals Mao Yongjie, Mao Yongjie, Geng Zhongming, Mao Youjie, and Mao Hongjie are known as the three heroes of the Dongjiang Army.
It's just a pity that Mao Hongjie was the only one among Mao Wenlong's adopted sons and grandsons who was present when Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong. He originally wanted to rebel and kidnap Yuan Chonghuan, but it was Mao Wenlong's order that told him not to act rashly. Because Mao Hongjie was considered by Yuan Chonghuan to be Mao Wenlong's best friend because he knocked out the Shang Fang sword from Yuan Chonghuan's hand, after beheading Mao Wenlong, Mao Hongjie was beaten to death with sticks on Yuan Chonghuan's order.
When Mao Hongjie died, all the bones in his body were broken, and even his internal organs were spit out from his mouth. It was so miserable.
Mao Youjie looked at Mao Chenglu and said, "Father, Cheng Shuai has ulterior motives!"
"How can a father not know this!"
Mao Chenglu sighed and said: "Since my father was in trouble, our Dongjiang Army has become a rootless duckweed. If I let my father choose, the Dongjiang Army should be the Dongjiang soldiers of Liaodong people, and it must not become the Dongjiang lackeys of Liaoxi." military."
The running dog of Liaoxi is Huanglong. In fact, Huang Long's ancestral home is Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. He was originally a junior officer who aided the Liao Dynasty. He was promoted little by little after accumulating military merit. However, all his promotions were concentrated in western Liaoning. He was also recommended by his ancestor, and was promoted to deputy commander-in-chief, and then transferred to the commander-in-chief of the Dongjiang Army. Military officer.
In fact, this was Huang Long who was unjustly accused. Huang Long was the main force in suppressing Kong Youde's rebellion in history. He chased Kong Youde to the sky with no way out and no way to the earth. Kong Youde's generals Li Yingyuan, Su Yougong, Chen Guangfu and his party Gao Zhixiang and other sixteen It is a wonder to get a thousand heads of a man, but it is futile to take back a woman, and offer him as a prisoner to the court.
Mao Chenglu was very unhappy with Huang Long, but there was nothing he could do about it. As Mao Wenlong's adopted son, he was a bit petty and not good at uniting Mao's generals. If he knew how to win over people's hearts, he would not turn the Dongjiang Army into a mess.
After eating the dinner arranged by Cheng Shijie for the Dongjiang Army, these Dongjiang Army soldiers slept in underground dens with fire walls and fire pits. Although they were semi-underground, they were extremely warm, especially since they now had brand new cotton clothes, which kept them warm and comfortable.
"Boss, why do you think Cheng Shuai is so nice to us?"
"Showing kindness for nothing is not adultery..."
"Shut up!"
A veteran scolded: "Cheng Shuai's food is worse than feeding the dogs!"
The soldiers were collectively silent.
"This person must have a conscience. Pat your chest and ask yourself, what do you have? What else do you have that deserves Cheng Shuai's calculations?"
"He wants us to be loyal to him!"
"What's wrong with being loyal to Cheng Shuai? You have food to eat, clothes to wear, and you will be buried when you die. Even if you don't have a son and your incest is cut off, you can still enter the Loyal Soul Garden. What else are you dissatisfied with?"
"Then let's be loyal to Cheng Shuai!"
"You don't have to be loyal, but take off your new clothes immediately and get out of here!"
Huanglong sent the Dongjiang Army to Jinzhou Guard in batches, and Cheng Shijie sent equipment, cotton-padded clothes, and warmth to the Dongjiang Army.
Slowly, the Dongjiang Army's surname was Cheng, and General Huang Long was no longer in their eyes!
They have only one object of allegiance, and that is Cheng Shijie.
PS: There were a lot of things going on today. I got up at around 7 o'clock in the morning and coded more than a thousand words. I went to the hospital. I took some time to code some in the corridor. If it wasn't for Old Cheng's heart, there was really nothing I could do. There is no surgery now, it costs thousands a day, and the surgery can only be done on Monday. I didn’t have time to modify this chapter. Everyone saw typos and wrong places, and Lao Cheng will correct it later. Sorry!
(End of chapter)
