Chapter 136
"As long as we seize the Guangning Acropolis after the fall and push the defense line along the Guangning Guard, I will have enough territory to feed more soldiers!"
Cheng Shijie made up his mind to take the route of elite soldiers, and it was absolutely impossible to lower the treatment of Ning Haijun's soldiers. Give the soldiers a low-quality knife or spear and send them to the battlefield. Such soldiers are not soldiers, just cannon fodder.
Cheng Shijie has no interest in cannon fodder, and he is not like the Guan Ning Army. The Guan Ning Army is said to have 200,000 troops. In fact, Cheng Shijie guessed that the Guan Ning Army, including the garrison with relatively low combat effectiveness, has at most fifteen Ten thousand men and horses, of which only 15,000 to 20,000 servants are capable of fighting.
These less than 20,000 combat-effective servants are scattered among more than a dozen generals. It is strange to be able to defeat tens of thousands of Eight Banners and Mongolian soldiers. Therefore, the Eight Banners' ability to defeat these soldiers actually relies on using more to defeat fewer soldiers, rather than how strong the Eight Banners' combat effectiveness is.
Ning Haijun's expansion plan was formulated in this way, and a Guards Division was added. The Guards Division was under the jurisdiction of four generals and a total of eleven bureaus, including eight infantry bureaus, one cavalry bureau, one artillery bureau, and one fire support bureau. bureau.
The Guards Division, like the left and right divisions, has a total strength of more than 7,600 troops.
In Cheng Shijie's plan, one of Ning Haijun's commanders must have the strength to carry the flag of Jiannu. In the case of a field battle, Ning Haijun can now pull out the left and right commanders, the guards and cavalry commanders, a total of four All are in charge.
The focus of the army expansion is the Guards Division and the Cavalry Division. Of course, the Ning Navy is a whole system. It is not only the soldiers that are expanded, but also the supporting Military Supervision Department system. Each division adds medical and paraphernalia troops.
Among the sixteen bureaus in the newly established capital division, six of them are cavalry, and three of the cavalry bureaus are dispersed to each capital division, one artillery bureau, one fire support bureau, and eight infantry bureaus.
Cheng Shijie's newly established artillery bureau is not actually equipped with Folan rapid-fire cannons, but the newly developed flying thunder cannons. The caliber of this flying thunder cannon reaches an astonishing one foot eight inches and four minutes, which is about Five hundred and eighty millimeters. Flying thunder cannons can also be called heartless cannons.
The Jiannu have not yet tried the power of this giant cannon, but in the near future, they will have the opportunity to taste this power.
Although the artillery bureau of the Konoe Miyagi is subordinate to the Konoe Miyagi, during battle, it will be flexibly adjusted according to the actual situation and deployed to the left and right Miyagi.
As for the bulky, small-caliber front-loading smoothbore cannon that can only fire solid shells, Cheng Shijie has no interest in playing with it at all. The artillery unit he retains is, on the one hand, the seeds of artillery to cultivate artillery talents for the future. Secondly, when facing enemy artillery bombardment, it can effectively suppress the opponent.
As for using artillery to bombard enemy infantry or cavalry units, that is what flying thunder cannons should do. Since the cost of flying thunder cannons is extremely low, just pour molten steel with manganese powder into the mold, and then cool it. . As for adding cannon hoes and wheels, that's not necessary either.
When the thunder cannon is fired, it uses the recoil absorbed by the soil. Even though it is just an artillery bureau, it is equipped with more than 160 thunder cannons with a diameter of 580 mm. This If more than a hundred flying thunder cannons were spread out and fired at the enemy, the effect would be absolutely refreshing.
What Cheng Shijie wants to play must be a breech-loading rifled gun, but it is not easy to make a breech-loading rifled gun. Just carving the rifling in the barrel is a big problem. In addition, there are also shell processing, fuses, explosives, etc. They are all necessary. The most unfortunate thing is that he basically knows nothing about these. Looking up some publicly available information from later generations is of very limited help to the craftsmen.
To achieve a breakthrough, a lot of money and experiments are needed.
After the recruitment of new recruits is completed, the training of the new recruits in the combat training bureau only lasts for half a month. These recruits are assigned to various divisions and units to undergo more rigorous training together with the veterans.
Li Zhixiang, Shen Shikui, Li Fang, Chen You and other naval officers were very disappointed. This military expansion, like the last time, had nothing to do with them.
However, after the meeting, they were taken to Lushun by Cheng Shijie.
At the southwest end of the Liaodong Peninsula, on the north shore of the Yellow Sea, there is the majestic Golden Mountain to the east, the Laohwei Peninsula to the west, and the majestic Laotieshan Mountain to the southwest, surrounded by the Port of Port Arthur. "Lushunkou" and "Shizikou" are the mouths to the sea nearly 300 meters wide and formed by two mountains facing each other. There is only one 91-meter waterway among the 300 meters, and only one large warship can pass through it at a time. It can be said that "one man can guard the pass, and ten thousand men cannot open it." Strategically, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
The current Ning Haijun has no pressure from the sea. After negotiations between the Administrative Committee and the Dongjiang Army, the jurisdiction of Lushun was transferred to the Administrative Committee, and it was used by Cheng Shijie as Ning Haijun's new naval base.
Li Zhixiang and other naval generals saw a scene that shocked them. Thousands of workers were working on the project. Large amounts of steel, cement, sand, stone, and wood were transported from all directions. Thousands of workers were busy working.
"Commander...this is..."
Li Zhixiang became excited.
Cheng Shijie explained: "This is a large-scale naval base built by this commander for the navy. The pressure on your navy is very heavy. The security of a total of eight ports from Lushun, Jinzhou, Haizhou, Fuzhou, and Gaizhou requires For your navy protection, there are still a large number of immigrants that you need to transport!"
Li Zhixiang looked at the wood on the shore, which had piled up into a hill. He said with some uncertainty: "Commander, we can't use so much wood to build the port!"
"This is not for building a port, this is for future shipyards!"
Cheng Shijie pointed to the dilapidated battleships on the sea and said: "Take our Ning Navy's current main battleship, the 400-material gunboat, as an example. This kind of ship is too small. If it encounters larger waves, it cannot go to sea at all. Even if it is forced to go to sea, It will also face catastrophe!"
At this point, Li Zhixiang was also a little embarrassed.
During this period of immigration work, it was not all smooth sailing. The Ninghai Navy lost seven 400-material warships and eleven old and broken ships. The loss was nearly half of Ning Haijun's, which was enough for a small-scale naval battle.
Since the Navy joined Cheng Shijie of the Ninghai Navy, the Navy has almost been divided into two shifts without a break for a whole month. It has been very hard work transporting supplies and immigrants to southern Liaoning.
If it weren't for Cheng Shijie's improved treatment for navy officers and soldiers, navy soldiers would be paid four cents more per month than infantry soldiers. Moreover, these navy soldiers are the first to come into contact with refugees when transporting immigrants. , if you meet a woman you like, then find someone to talk to you.
If they were originally poor soldiers, naturally no one would want to marry their daughter to these poor soldiers. But the problem was that Ning Haijun was different. They lived and ate in the military camp for almost no money.
Every month's military pay can be saved. The navy officers and soldiers are the same as the infantry officers and soldiers. Each of them has a minimum of fifty acres of military land and a homestead ranging from one to three acres. Today's Ning Haijun soldiers are all wealthy people with land and houses.
Many soldiers of the Ninghai Navy have recently gotten married. Even if they are old bachelors who have been working for 20 or 30 years, there are still people who are willing to get married.
For these newly married soldiers from Ning Haijun, Cheng Shijie stipulated that each person should receive two red beddings, sheets, a washbasin, a large wardrobe, plus 60 kilograms of flour, 60 kilograms of rice, 10 kilograms of oil, 10 kilograms of maltose, and There was a congratulatory gift of two or three taels of silver.
Added together, these things are almost equivalent to half a year's salary of a soldier.
Of course, officers' congratulations are more generous. The standard for this congratulations is to multiply the military pay of Ning Haijun soldiers by two, which is equivalent to two more months of salary.
This is what Cheng Shijie learned from Hansteel Group. Hansteel Group has its own large supermarkets, shopping malls, and more than a dozen hotels such as Hanhai Grand Hotel, Hanhai Grand Hotel, and Hanhai Business Hotel. When employees get married, in Hanhai’s internal For banquets at the hotel, you can enjoy a 20% discount. When you have enough wedding supplies, you can also enjoy a 20% discount, including 20% discount on home appliances, furniture, etc. purchased by newlyweds.
These discounts add up to tens of thousands of yuan. If there are more seats, more tobacco and alcohol are needed, and the discounts are more. When Cheng Shijie organized a baby banquet for his son Cheng Jialong, he saved only 20 tables of seats. Six to seven thousand yuan.
Cheng Shijie said: "I plan to change our name to Ning Haijun Navy in the future. Do you know the difference between navy and navy?"
Li Zhixiang shook his head and said, "I don't know!"
"Now the warships of our Ning Navy can only undertake offshore operations. Only the fleet that can perform ocean operations can be called a navy. The difference is very big."
Cheng Shijie said: "In our Ming Dynasty, it can be called a navy. Zheng He's fleet can be regarded as a navy. Part of Zheng Zhilong's fleet can also be regarded as a navy!"
Li Zhixiang seemed to understand: "What the commander-in-chief means is that the navy must have large ships that can sail across the oceans?"
"There is actually no necessary connection between the size of a ship and its quality!"
Cheng Shijie said: "The key is to have ocean-going capabilities. Our Ninghai Navy can go as far as the Korean Peninsula, or in Dengzhou, Jinzhou and Haizhou. In such a short distance, we can sink nearly twenty Ship...you guys are really good at it!"
Shen Shikui explained: "Commander, the transportation task is just too tight!"
"This is nonsense. No matter how tight the task is, if the ship is not properly inspected and repaired, can it go to sea?"
Cheng Shijie stared at the generals and said: "You know best what you are thinking. Transporting immigrants and equipment is not a war mission. Everything is about safety... However, I am considering that our Ning Hainan Navy will develop and grow in the future. , I will build more and bigger warships!"
Li Zhixiang stared at the small mountain of timber, and there were still many timbers nailed into rafts, dragged over by big ships, and piled on the dock.
“How many ships can be built with this wood?”
"It doesn't take much, as long as we can plant the flag of Ming Dynasty in every corner of the world, and our flag will be everywhere where the sun shines!"
"That would require thousands of ships!"
Cheng Shijie smiled and said, "Are thousands of ships a lot?"
"Thousands of ships are indeed not many!"
At this time, a foreign devil who was working not far away raised his head and said with a proud face: "In our Republic of Venice, we have more than 3,000 armed merchant ships. There are our merchant ships everywhere in Europe, and there are also our merchant ships." The golden lion flag of Venice!”
Catherine has always wanted to meet Cheng Shijie. In order to meet Cheng Shijie, she was even willing to become Miss Xu Si (according to readers' comments, Miss Xu Si's name is now Xu Shumin). Unfortunately, she still failed to meet Cheng Shijie.
However, as a laborer, Giovanni struck up a conversation with Cheng Shijie due to some strange combination of circumstances.
"Listen, Venice is only a small country with a population of more than 100,000 people, but it has more than 3,000 ships!"
Li Zhixiang said in disbelief: "A country with only a hundred thousand people, not an army of hundreds of thousands? How many people do they have on a ship?"
According to the population ratio, at least half or almost half of the hundreds of thousands of people are women, so Venice only has 780,000 people. Of these 780,000 people, more than 20 to 30% are old and weak, and no more than 70% are young and strong. Thirty to forty thousand people.
On average, there are only ten people on a boat. How small is this boat?
Giovanni shook his head and said: "We Venetians have more than 2,000 merchant ships and employ a large number of foreigners as our sailors, boatmen and helmsmen. We Venetians only need to be the commanders of the fleet!"
"I see!"
Cheng Shijie beckoned: "Come here!"
…
Ningyuan Guard, Xingshui Fort, garrison mansion.
Wu Sangui received the news that more than a hundred of his subordinates had fled, and his face was livid with anger.
The new Minister of Rites, Fang Yizao, after Xu Guangqi entered the cabinet, his official position was the Second Assistant to the Cabinet, and the position of Minister of Rites became vacant. Fang Yizao replaced Xu Guangqi as the Minister of Rites, as a bachelor. , served as governor of Liaodong.
Fang Yizao, the new governor of Liaodong, planned the Battle of Youmashan for political achievements. The young general Wu Sangui was dismissed from office because his father Wu Xiang fled without fighting during the Battle of Daling River. Wu Sangui wanted to save his life. When his father came out, he led the Wu family's soldiers in a frantic charge and successfully beheaded fifty-four Jiu slaves and captured more than a hundred Mongolians.
If this battle happened under real circumstances, it would definitely be a great victory that shocked the imperial court. However, the problem is that Wu Sangui was so unlucky that his victory documents were sent to the capital one after another along with the Haizhou victory that Gao Qiqian sent to the capital.
Then, there is no more.
In the Battle of Youmashan, although the number of Guan Ning's troops participating in the battle was over a thousand, the total number of slaves was less than 300, so the scale was too small. Wu Sangui's luck was actually not bad. In the original history, Fang Yizhao, the Minister of Rites, served as the governor of Liaodong and was responsible for the military affairs of Liaodong.
But the problem is that at this time, Cheng Shijie became the manager of Liaodong, while Fang Yizao, a dignified Jinshi, Minister of Rites and Governor of Liaodong, became Cheng Shijie's subordinate.
He couldn't afford to lose this person, so Fang Yizao stayed in Ningyuan Acropolis and didn't move at all, nor did he go to see Cheng Shijie, the superior official. But the problem was that Cheng Shijie didn't understand the scale of the officialdom at all, and he didn't notice it. He actually has a subordinate who is the governor of Liaodong.
In order to rescue his father, Wu Sangui became a disciple of Fang Yizao, and purely to disgust Cheng Shijie. The first thing Fang Yizao did when he took office was to recommend Wu Sangui to become the Ningyuan Guard and the Xingshui Fort Guard. What's even more coincidental is that, He ordered Wu Sangui to form the Xingshui Army, with no more than 2,500 troops.
According to the practice of Guan Ning's army, not to mention Wu Sangui, a fourth-grade garrison general, even a third-grade general, actually only commanded more than a thousand people.
Wu Sangui was born in Jiangmen, and grew up in the big dye vat of Jiangmen in western Liaoning. He had seen a lot of intrigues and deceit, and he had seen a lot of mountains of corpses and seas of blood outside the customs. His ability to nourish Qi was naturally extraordinary. It might be possible to say that Mount Tai collapsed in front of his eyes without changing his expression. I can't do it, but it's absolutely fine if I can't show my emotions or anger.
However, now, he was furious and roared again and again. In his rage, his study room seemed to have been swept by a tornado. All kinds of books and documents were swept all over the floor, and several pieces of precious porcelain were violently thrown away by him. It fell to pieces on the ground. Just as the servant was about to come in and take care of things, he kicked him over and kicked him until he was rolling all over the floor...
"It's too much to bully others...it's too much to bully others..."
In fact, Cheng Shijie's only contact with Guan Ning's army was to sell more than 8,000 ancestral army prisoners rescued from Azig to Zu Dashou.
He had no contact with Wu Sangui from Guan Ningjun. However, due to the development of Liaonan, the Ninghai Navy in Liaonan had good treatment and good equipment. When the soldiers under Wu Sangui heard that Liaonan was recruiting troops, they ran away in groups.
This matter had nothing to do with Cheng Shijie, but Wu Sangui believed that Cheng Shijie was bullying him.
Wu Xiang walked in with a frown, without saying a word, and stared at his son with a sullen face. Seeing his glare, Wu Sangui immediately calmed down a lot, let the servant go, and said calmly: "Dad..."
"Snapped!"
Although Wu Xiang was released from prison, he was not reinstated. Wu Xiang cheated Zu Dashou. If according to history, Zu Dashou was left alone, he would not have any power to check Wu Xiang or take revenge on Wu Xiang. .
However, in this time and space, Zu Dashou had 8,000 direct descendants of the ancestral army in his hands. He successfully regained power in Jinzhou, controlled Jinzhou, and began to pay attention to his brother-in-law.
Wu Xiang begged Zu Dashou for forgiveness many times and put the blame on Song Wei, but Zu Dashou no longer believed him. In this day and age, having soldiers is strength, and having no soldiers is nothing.
Wu Xiang slapped him across the face, and Wu Sangui suddenly had a blood-red palm print on his left cheek. Blood oozed from the corner of his mouth, but he remained silent.
Wu Xiang pointed at his nose and cursed angrily: "You are the eldest son of Wu, and all the hopes of the Wu family to become a great family fall on you! Look at what you look like now. I think you are simply terrible He’s just a mad dog! How can I safely hand over the Wu family to you!"
Wu Sangui raised his head and said, "Dad, the man named Cheng is bullying people!"
Wu Xiang asked sharply: "Why did he bully you?"
Wu Sangui frowned and said: "The man named Cheng seduced my soldiers away! The elite soldiers I trained with great difficulty were seduced by him and more than a hundred people!"
"You really disappoint me!"
Wu Xiang said angrily: "You have lived like a dog all these years? And Cheng Shijie bullied you, who are you, worthy of him bullying you? Don't say you are in Xingshui Castle, even if you are in front of Cheng Shijie, he will not even look at you. You have no interest at all. Are you qualified?"
Wu Xiang is very right. Before the rise of Ning Haijun, Guan Ningjun was the heart and soul of the imperial court.
Now Guan Ningjun has become Mrs. Niu.
How often will Cheng Shijie get into trouble? He does not need military pay from the court, nor money and food. He raises his own food and grass, recruits his own soldiers, and builds his own armor and weapons.
The imperial court didn't spend a penny and got such a capable army for nothing, so why not?
Although it is said that Liao's salary has fattened a large group of moths in the imperial court, the problem is that the imperial court currently has no money. The Battle of Daling River wiped out the last bit of wealth of the Ming imperial court.
Wu Xiang continued: "As for those soldiers you mentioned, if they run away, they will run away!~"
Facing Wu Sangui, Wu Xiang was both sad and worried.
The current Wu Sangui cannot be said to be a good or bad person. He is ambitious, full of energy, skilled in bow and horse, and has superb martial arts. He is a rare hero among the young generals of Guan Ning Army. Both he and Zu Dashou are very optimistic about him.
However, Wu Sangui had never suffered any setbacks. He had his eyes set high and finally led an army on his own. He was ambitious and wanted to do something great. As a result, more than a hundred soldiers were lost just after they had achieved some success in training.
He immediately lost his mind!
This is actually like some employees in the workplace complaining that their boss deliberately wears small shoes for them.
In fact, the boss may not even know him. The real reason is that he did not do his job well.
Wu Sangui's mood slowly calmed down. Of course, he was only calm on the surface. He clenched his fists loudly, and he was obviously still very angry. He didn't listen to Wu Xiang's words at all.
Wu Xiang said earnestly: "I know you are arrogant and don't want others to be better than you, and you don't want others to stand out and be proud, but... I must tell you, Cheng Shijie is the sharpest sword, and no one can cover it. With his sharp edge, it’s definitely not a good idea to antagonize him!”
…
Jinzhou City, General Pingliao's Mansion.
Zu Dashou then received the report, and the spy made Wu Sangui lose control. Wu Xiang angrily rebuked Wu Sangui and reported it to him in detail.
Zu Dashou was very angry that Wu Xiang, his brother-in-law, was eager to step on him and get the upper hand.
As the saying goes, you will gain wisdom if you take a hard time.
Now Zu Dashou will not believe Wu Xiang's words, and there is no need to reuse Wu Xiang. In the army, he has consciously purged Wu Xiang's people, and all the generals who were close to Wu Xiang were sent away by Zu Dashou. .
Although he has not really broken up with Wu Xiang, the real reason is that the Wu family is originally a wealthy family in western Liaoning. Although Wu Xiang is not good at fighting, he is good at managing family power. The Wu family was originally a powerful force in western Liaoning. After Wu Xiang entered the officialdom, they expanded their strength with great fanfare and annexed military villages. At that time, it had become well known that the generals of the Ming Army in Liaodong had invaded and occupied military villages.
Although Wu Xiang also embezzled military villages, Wu Xiang used all the money to train his own private soldiers. Wu Xiang himself wore coarse brown clothes, but his private soldiers wore dandelions. Wu Xiang ate simple meals, while his private soldiers ate fine wine and fat sheep.
Even though the court sometimes owed wages, his private soldiers could still live without worries. Wu Xiang also distributed the land that had been seized from military households to his private soldiers. Each servant had hundreds of acres of farmland. Such a private soldier who was absolutely loyal to the Wu family was what made Zu Dashou very afraid of Wu Xiang.
The Wu family's retainers already numbered 3,000, composed of Wu Xiang's children, their brothers, and relatives. And Wu Xiang knew that in order to keep the family's power from declining, it was necessary for the family to continuously produce talents.
For those with foreign surnames who can fight, such as Wu Xiang's fierce generals Li Chunhua, Liu Jiwu, and Wang Gui, their wives are all Wu Xiang's adopted daughters.
Zu Dashou thought about it and decided to learn from Wu Xiang.
Of course, he had never thought about getting married to Cheng Shijie and giving him a daughter or granddaughter to be Cheng Shijie's wife. Cheng Shijie was not a fool, so how could he agree to this.
Zu Dashou said: "Here comes someone!"
"master!"
"Go and call Hui'er!"
"yes!"
Hui'er's real name is Li Hui.
But she is not a Han, but a Korean. She comes from a clan. This is the beauty that the King of Joseon gave to his ancestor in order to celebrate his birthday.
However, Li Hui was only twelve years old when he was sent to Zu Dashou's mansion in Jinzhou. Now Li Hui has been raised by Zu Dashou for six years.
At first, Li Hui could barely speak Chinese. Zu Dashou found more than a dozen teachers to teach Li Hui Qin, chess, calligraphy, painting, and poetry. So proficient.
Not long after, Li Hui, dressed in fine clothes, moved lightly with lotus steps and came over with a gust of fragrant wind.
Li Hui's sideburns are combed, and her long hair flows straight down to her waist. She is as smooth as silk. She is dressed in white clothes. Her face is very clean. Her oval face has willow eyebrows, and her starry eyes, beautiful nose, and red lips are naturally matched together. The country is overturned and the city is beautiful, but there is a tranquility as quiet as water.
"Huier, meet daddy!"
Li Hui's voice was so waxy and soft that it made one's bones feel lighter.
"Hui'er, how are you doing recently?"
"Thank you, Daddy, I'm thinking of you. Hui'er is fine!"
"You haven't gone out to play in Jinzhou in the past few years, now you go to Jinzhou!"
Zu Dashou actually raised Li Hui in order to curry favor with the court bosses. He was promoted by Sun Chengzong. Before the Battle of Daling River broke out, he realized that Qiu Hejia, the then Liaodong governor, was at odds with Sun Chengzong. A governor dared to Contradicting Liaodong Jinglue, his immediate boss, shows that there are people behind him and instructions from certain people.
In this case, it was only a matter of time before Sun Chengzong resigned, so he randomly found an adopted daughter and gave it to Qiu Hejia, but kept Li Hui.
When Zu Dashou thought about it, if Cheng Shijie accepted Li Hui, even if he didn't give him a status, as long as Li Hui could enjoy the pillow, he could maintain his relationship with Cheng Shijie.
You should know that the pillow will be of infinite use when the wind blows.
Officialdom is the same as Jianghu, it is not only about fighting and killing, but also about human relations.
Zu Dashou was deeply shocked by this approach.
(End of chapter)
